Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars – My First Date Failed to Impress Me

When I first heard about the concept of the original Conception PSP game I was intrigued. The idea of having a male and female protagonist create magical children in order to fight monsters amused me. A pity the game never left Japan due to it being on a system that was as good as dead in the West. When the sequel, Conception II was announced I figured there would be no way it would be localized despite being developed for the PS Vita and 3DS. Then Atlus surprised us all with the news they were bringing it over for both handhelds. I pre-ordered it because of the ridiculous premise, i.e., I believed the method of creating Star Children and inevitable innuendo would be worth a few laughs. After immediately buying the game I took the plunge and so far I’ve been underwhelmed.

The first order of business was loading up my save data from completing the demo. As a bonus for getting through the demo I was given eight Matryoshka dolls. These dolls are used in the creation of Star Children. The next thing I did was change the protagonist’s name. “Wake Archus” would not do because it was lame. I renamed him “Silver Archus” and began my innuendo charged adventure. Within an hour I had established a relationship with the one of the heroines and together we created our Star Children– triplets in fact. The process involves both characters holding hands as they pour their different spiritual energies into a special container, aka the Matryoshka doll. The process itself is quite innocent but the sexually charged dialogue suggests otherwise and borders on insufferable. Be gentle Conception II, it’s my first time playing an RPG where dirty talk doesn’t result in the characters having actual sex.

At its core Conception II is a cross between a dungeon crawler and a dating sim. The combination is reminiscent of Persona 3 and 4 but is only a fraction as engaging. If the PS2 Persona games are like diving into a deep ocean then Conception II is akin to wading into the shallow end of a swimming pool. The characters I have to interact with never rise to anything more than standard anime tropes. We have the shy girl with big boobs, the popular teacher, the self conscious girl who constantly worries about her small breasts, the feisty third-year runt with the body of 10-year-old, the emotionless girl, the absent-minded ditz with too much responsibility and a few other girls I have yet to meet. None of the girls I’ve met so far are even remotely captivating. My talks with them often bore me to tears. The only point of keeping them happy is to create Star Children with better stats and to earn Bonding Points. BP is used to create more Star Children and to unleash powerful attacks in battle. So for the sake of the dungeon crawling it is best to endure the dating sim portions of the game.

Another complaint I have with the game’s story mode is the lack of actual choices when it comes to the dialogue trees. Whenever I’m asked a question I’m given three choices but only one of them actually matters. Even if I pick the “wrong” option the game still leads me to the same conclusion. For example, if I come off as a total ass to the girls they still fall in love with me. If I decide to be unhelpful I’m still roped into helping out. If I’m told to escape a boss fight the protagonist refuses to leave with all three dialogue choices being nearly identical. None of my actions have any consequences and the illusion of choice is almost insulting. I may as well have a brass ring and chain attached to my nose. It’s not like I have the freedom to decide path my protagonist will take.

The only bright spots in this painfully dull RPG are the battle system and creating different types of Star Children. Visually combat looks a little different from the standard turn-based system. Nine Star Children completely encircle an enemy while the party leaders (the protagonist and a heroine) stand behind the children. Attacks can be launched in any direction but attacking from behind or from the side generally deals more damage. Digging deeper, the combat isn’t much different from other RPGs with speed determining the turn order.

Interesting twists include the ability to increase the Ether count (the protagonist’s magical energy) to give the party a speed boost and the ability to literally chain an enemy down. To chain an enemy faster allies have to attack it from the front at the risk of taking extra damage. There’s also the ability to combine thee Star Children at time to form various battle mechs depending on job classes. Sadly, most of these strategies are wasted as most enemies can be beaten in one hit from behind. I seriously hope the difficulty ramps up later in the game so I can use multiple strategies against monsters.

The act of creating Star Children (classmating) may be a pain in the ass but picking job classes for the pint-sized warriors is actually fun. Right now I only have access to four out of the nineteen jobs. The children can even combine elemental attributes from their mothers for special attacks. The warriors do have a level cap which is also tied to the mother’s overall level. Once a child reaches their cap he or she can be sent off to open up shops around the city. This helps the protagonist obtain new items. The city itself also levels up depending on how many children are sent off to work. I’ve not gotten far into Conception II but I do look forward to unlocking more job classes and sending more of my Star Children off into the world.

To be fair, my first impressions of Conception II are quite negative but my opinion could change as I play more of the game. If early reviews are any indication this dating sim/dungeon crawler hybrid never escapes from of the quagmire of mediocrity. That said I might find some redeeming qualities in Conception II, as six hours aren’t enough for me to completely write this game off. After all, I can stomach the eye roll inducing conversations, the fanservice is only mildly annoying (I’ve seen worse in anime) and the combat makes the dungeons tolerable. I just hope the mixed bag of ideas eventually come together to keep me engaged long enough to finish the game.

Note: Since I had to repost this article (thanks to the May 9 fiasco) my opinion has changed slightly. I won’t be revisiting Conception II for a while and I have decided to focus on finishing more enjoyable 3DS games.