Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars

Conception II is a role-playing video game with turn-based battles, in which players control a student at a high school that doubles as a training facility for demon hunters.[5][6][7] The protagonist possesses an extremely high amount of ether in his body, which allows him to conceive Star Children to fight demons by 'classmating' with his other classmates. During battle, fighters can be strategically placed around the enemies, allowing players to either safely target weak points or charge head on for bigger rewards.

The game's story follows Wake Archus (default name), a young teenage boy growing up in a world where demonic monsters pose a constant threat to society. These monsters are formed in Dusk Circles, which have formed in several locations throughout the world. After a monster attack kills Wake's sister on the day of her wedding, Wake discovers that he has the mark of the Star God on his hand. He eagerly agrees to attend a school that trains people who bear this mark, all of whom are in their early to late teens, as the mark disappears shortly after they become adults. Wake is discovered to have a particularly high amount of ether in his body, which allows him to enter the labyrinths within the Dusk Circles and still use Star Energy, a feat not previously believed to have been possible. As a result, Wake is called "God's Gift" and made an instant celebrity within the school. It is also discovered that Wake has a 100% chance of creating Star Children with S-rank female students (the highest ranking within the school), which Wake and the heroine can use to fight monsters. These children are created via a process called "classmating", which involves Wake and the female student touching one another and then forming the Star Child via a special matryoshka doll. As the game progresses players have the ability to follow several story lines concerning the heroines such as a ghost haunting the school pool that Fuuko's sports team practices in or Serina's frustration with her lack of height and physical development.

As Wake fights his way through several Dusk Circles, fellow student and school leader Alec grows more and more jealous of Wake's ability as Alec feels like a failure due to his inability to fight in the labyrinths. The latter confronts Wake over him not training enough, to which Wake readily admits. Alec's frustration is compounded after he slays a monster within the school, only to find that the monster was wearing a school uniform. It is believed that somehow students are transforming into monsters, possibly after ingesting a narcotic called "Trigger" that is supposed to enable users to more efficiently use Star Energy. Despite being ostracized by some of his fellow students, neither Wake nor his friends fault Alec for his actions and he remains friendly rivals with Wake. Alec's personal feelings towards fighting grow more tense over time, only mollified by the revelation that Chief Ruby, leader of the school's science lab, has found a way to help enable him to fight within the labyrinths using crystals discovered in previous Dusk Circles.

Wake (ウェイク, Weiku)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga

Wake Archus is a teenager that has traveled to the Academy with the intent to help fight against the monsters that are threatening the world. While his initial test scores placed him at A Rank, he is given a special perk like an S Rank due to his high concentration of Ether, allowing him to successfully create Star Children with S Rank girls at the academy. He is referred to as God's Gift due to this ability. He is placed in the 2nd year class. His character is driven to fight due to him having witnessed several monsters slaughter his sister a day before her wedding. Wake fights with Dual Blades called Twin Blades.

Fuuko (フウコ, Fūko)

Voiced by: Lynn

Fuuko Amicus is a pink-haired teenager with a chipper personality. She joins the Academy at the same time as Wake and is tested as an S-Rank. She joins the swim team and in her personal story line Fuuko interacts with the ghost of a female student that died while trying to eradicate an underwater nest of monsters. Her character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with. Fuuko fights with dual pistols called Zero Zwei.

Ellie (エリィ, Eryi)

Voiced by: Mariya Ise

Ellie Troit is a 1st year female student that works for the Church. She knows Wake from their childhood, although he initially does not remember their meeting, during which point they were attacked by a monster. Her character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with.

Narika (ナリカ, Narika)

Voiced by: Saori Gotō

Narika Shina is a shy, quiet female student that serves as the class representative for the 2nd year students. Her personal story line surrounds Narika's fear and seeming inability to speak in public due to her having a low personal opinion of her self-worth. Her character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with. Narika fights with a crossbow/cannon hybrid weapon called Brogue Arch.

Chloe (クロエ, Kuroe)

Voiced by: Satomi Satō

Chloe Genus is an Academy instructor whose advanced intellect allowed her to graduate early despite still being a teenager. She is the older sister of Chlotz and one of Wake's instructors. In her story line she pursues a side career as a singer and DJ, but is upset by the troubles and disruptions this causes. Her character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with. Chloe fights with Coquelicot, four airborne guns that she controls with a small handheld pistol.

Serina (セリナ, Serina)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi

Serina Leaf is a 3rd year female student that has the appearance of a child, making her seem younger than most of the cast. Her story line she struggles with her own self-image, as she dislikes that she looks like a child and is frequently treated like one. During her quest line, she discovers a spell that allows her to temporarily transform into a physically mature version of herself, but only when Wake kisses her. She character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with. Serina fights with a leg mounted cannon that fires ammunition when she kicks called Exiv Cannon.

Torri (トーリ, Tōri)

Voiced by: Mai Kadowaki

Torri Feiiji is a 1st year student with monochromatic hair. She is shown to be quite strange and is somewhat oblivious to it due being raised in a lab for most of her life. Her personal story line reflects her struggles to fit in with the people around her. Her character is able to be selected to go into the labyrinths and classmate with. Torri fights with a handheld Gatling Gun called Beehive.

Feene (フィーネ, Fīne)

Voiced by (English): Erin Fitzgerald[8]
Voiced by (Japanese): Chihiro Ishiguro

Feene Glass is a third year female student introduced early in the game as one of Wake's partners but is not seen nor playable until about midway through the story. She is an accomplished fighter and noted for her cool personality and good looks. She is grateful for the Wake after clearing the Gluttony Dusk Circle, which was threatening her hometown, sparking some interest in him to become a partner for classmating. Her story line follows her interest in photography. Feene fights with a Gunlance and Shield called Lotus Grin.

Chlotz (クロツグ, Kurotsugu)

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura

Chlotz Genus is the classmate of Wake and is the younger brother of Chloe. In the game, he joins the Academy the same time as the Wake and Fuuko where he is a B Rank, but slowly moves up in rank throughout the game. He works in the Academy's laboratory and will participate in several of the experiments involving classmanting, where male students can create star children with the main character and Alec. He has a crush on a fellow female student named Luce, which is initially not reciprocated due to her love for Alec.

Alec (アレック, Arekku)

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama

Alec Marker is a male student at the Academy and the son of the President of AngelMarker Industries. The initial story line shows him to be an outwardly cold character, which is shown to be false as the game progresses. He is very driven, which initially causes strife between him and the Wake. He later becomes a friendly rival to Wake.

Conception II was first announced in March 2013 as a sequel to the original Conception game in April 2012.[9] While the original was for the PlayStation Portable, the sequel was announced for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita platforms. The game's story was revealed to be roughly twice the size of the original.[10] It was released on August 22, 2013 in Japan, with a playable demo for the game being released two months prior in early June.[11]

Atlus announced an English localization of the game on November 19, 2013, to be released in early 2014.[12] A week prior, the company had a mysterious ultrasound-based teaser website hinting at the game's reveal.[6][13] The game's English title will be Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars.[14] While the original Conception was not translated into English after its release on the PlayStation Portable in April 2012, the two games' stories are not connected, allowing Western audiences to enjoy the game as a stand-alone title.[14] While the American and Japanese versions were released at retail (Japan on release date, and North America a few months later) and digitally (all regions on release date), the European release is digital only.[2]

Various downloadable content (DLC), both free and paid, was released for the game, including boss battles against Monokuma from the Danganronpa series.[15] Atlus announced they would release these DLC for North America and Europe between April and May 2014.[16]

The 3DS and Vita versions of Conception II received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17][18] Many reviewers negatively compared the game to the Persona series, and Game Informer commented that while the issues in Persona felt important, the issues in Conception II felt "laughably superficial".[22] The reviewer from EGMNow was mixed in their review, as they felt that there was a "Persona-esque addictive quality to the package" when it came to the dungeon crawling, but that they did not overly enjoy the game's dating sim aspects due to the shallowness of the interactions with the heroines.[20] Joystiq criticized the game's more repetitive aspects and stated that upgrading the various Star Children made it necessary to repeat multiple dungeons to level them up, and that the game as a whole felt mediocre.[26]

In contrast, Famitsu rated both the 3DS and Vita versions highly,[21] and Nintendo Life remarked that "With fun characters, unique and engaging combat, a cute central conceit, and an irrepressibly cool soundtrack, Conception II is a bundle of JRPG joy."[27]

• Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars at MobyGames