Overall I thought it was alright, but ultimately standard RPG fare in the DQ vein. One of my impressions of the game is that it's an updated rehash of the first one. I actually haven't played beyond a few minutes of the first game, but I'm curious to see how both compare. Although I will say I was starting to like the game towards the end, but they effectively killed it at the end with the cookie cutter ending. But on the whole it wasn't a bad game at all and definitely worth playing.

This game possesses unique qualities. The mercenary system and the way it hot swaps and is available throughout the game was something totally new to me.

The Idol system adds yet another hot-swappable team to the mix and it's merge capability absolutely blew me away.

Regarding the ending, I don't write dark, tragic endings if the raw translation doesn't indicate that. In fact, I rather enjoy upbeat, positive, romantic endings more than any other kind - outcomes that parallel my own life - overwhelming successes against most challenges, winning the girl of my dreams, and living happily ever-after in paradise - truly blessed and empowered every day of my existence by the Almighty.

Oh, I'm trained well enough in my craft to write the heck out of cynical, dark endings if they're indicated in raw translations. I wrote two such demoralizing "gloom and doom" alternative outcomes in the Feda Chaos and Neutral endings. People who thrive on anti-hero catharses and identify with villians in their internet aliases probably loved the continuing carnage in the "bad" Feda endings.

Also, some tales are more story driven than character driven. As in real warfare, the people around you who rise to occasions and become towering heroes for a moment are usually monumentally boring and quite ordinary characters in real life. Although many RPGs feature "characters" who are depicted as ten-feet-tall or offbeat and zany - even in their sleep - overall, SS-II appeared to be story-driven, not character-driven. Nothing is wrong with the former style of prose because some game players enjoy concentrating on stories more than getting constantly sidetracked and distracted by character shenanigans. Sometimes, a broad spectrum of anecdotes that relate to the survival of a whole civilization is infinitely more interesting than the quirks of so-called "heroes" that God drafted out of their mundane lives to help save His children.

Nevertheless, the constantly rotating folks who assist the Light Warrior along the way are counting on the hero to ultimately carry the mail for them and the gods. Quickly, these momentary fighters fade back into their on mundane lives of work, study, and daily responsibilities - same as most of the rest of us. Regardless, numerous vignettes of poignant moments in the lives of the average people in this Minelvaton Saga installment offer a more than adequate microcosm of viewpoints that sufficiently express the sufferings and stoicism of the both the stronger proactive types and the physically weaker "victimized" citizenry.

Finally, if the pleasures gamers derive from playing traditional, classic RPGs outweigh the glee of picking them to pieces - just because they can - I predict many will enjoy this "new" RPG out of nowhere.