After a long, long journey it’s finally time for us to tackle what’s set up as the true, Golden Ending of the Triangulum Arc, and by extension Devil Survivor 2 as a whole. Apart from unlocking it in general by watching all of Yamato’s lecture scenes, we also need to max out the Fates of Miyako and Al Saiduq, which is easy enough to do. There might be one or two specific required dialogue options as well, but no one can really seem to agree if that’s so or not.
Some come the decision point we choose “Break Free from Control”, agreeing with Yamato’s plan to restore the world by dividing the Administrative Authority amongst the entire human population, even those who are currently deceased, and thus freeing Earth of the Administrator System. The concern that Daichi still has is that the new world will reflect the will of evil people too, but while Yamato admits that all people, himself included, have deep flaws and can be easily led astray, he believes that all of humanity, even the lowest of the dregs, have the capacity to grow and change, just like they all have during the Septentrione and Triangulum crises. If mankind can learn to put the welfare of the whole world over their own, then he believes that the new world they create will be even better than the old. Miyako says that she believes man to capable of great beauty as well despite their flaws, and we have Hibiki give the go-ahead for this plan. After words of endorsement from the others Al Saiduq once again reports that it will take him until three in the morning to complete the new Skill Crack Function, and once again everyone splits off for the night. Tico’s words are that this is a great plan for solving the problem at its source, but then again they are sad because they probably won’t be around in the new world. Still, that doesn’t mean we should stop, we’ve gotta tear Canopus down!
Last Day - Our Final Stand
The final set of scenes with the various party members before the final battle all follow generally the same format on this route: the various characters echo what’s been said already about how they only have one shot at this, that humanity can’t give in to their baser instincts if they want to create a better world, whether the plan will work at all, before gradually adopting a more optimistic tone that no matter what may come, humans are tough, and that they’ll remain together no matter what sort of world comes forth.
...except, when we speak with Miyako, she says that now is the only time she has left to stay with Hibiki and the rest of the party. When the new world is created, she will no longer exist due to her half-Triangulum nature inextricably binding her to the Administrator System. However, she says that she’s confident that Hibiki and his friends can lead the new world to a place of peace, happiness, and beauty. There’s no need to apologize, she says, for having even one soul mourn her will be proof that she once lived as a human and as a friend. Unfortunately Al Saiduq says much the same thing about himself when we speak with him. He says not to let this sway our actions in the coming battle, for he always has and always will believe in our potential and the potential of all mankind. I think you can see where those Fates stages are going to come into play...
Final Mission: To the New World
- The Factor of Heat must be defeated
- The whole party cannot die
As before there’s no change in this battle from the first time we did it. Once again we kick Canopus’s big, blue amoeba behind.
After the battle all fifteen characters are once again shown floating in the starry void left behind by the dissolution of Providence. Here Miyako reveals to the others how she and Al Saiduq can no longer be with the others, and tries to comfort the stricken Daichi by thanking everyone for the trust and friendship they have given them. Yamato speaks up, saying that while they don’t always agree, Miyako has done well in serving as a shield for mankind, and that she deserves to stand tall not only as a human being, but as the head of the Hotsuin family. He then turns to Al Saiduq, calling him by that name for the first time all story, to thank him for his own help in allowing them to reach this point, and promising that humanity will never lose their way. Al Saiduq in turn thanks Hibiki for everything he’s done, saying that there’s no reason for him to be anguished any longer. Despite the fact that they won’t be around in the new world, Hibiki’s dialogue options suggest that they will see each other again, and Al Saiduq says that he hopes they will too. After another round of thanks from Miyako, the two once again rise to the top screen to start the restoration process.
The sequence that follows is nigh-identical to what we saw at the end of the Triumphant ending, with each character floating up to Hibiki, saying one last bit, and then drifting off after imparting their portion of the Administrative Authority to Al Saiduq. Daichi comments that this is really the end this time and says that they should be best friends even in the new world. Io says that there’s still so much she wants to share with us, and that she knows that they’ll be together in the new world. Joe says he thinks humans will do just fine in the new world. Airi says that we better come to all of the Ai Hina Stars’ concerts, and Hinako thinks that this is the best possible future for humanity. Ronaldo says that all they can do in the face of uncertainty is to uphold their sense of justice. Jungo promises to continue making delicious food, and Keita repeats his offer from the Triumphant ending to look him up in the new world. Makoto says that she’s learned from fighting alongside everyone to never surrender her own beliefs, while Otome says that their bonds will remain no matter how the world changes, and Fumi is excited to see a world without the Akashic Record. Then Yamato says that it’s been a long journey, but as long as the two of them walk its paths there will be nothing to worry about. Finally it becomes Hibiki’s turn to impart is own portion of the Authority, and we get yet another thanks from Miyako while Al Saiduq says that he will pray that all our potentials truly do get to blossom. With the final piece of Authority given up, the screen goes white for the final time...
And what follows is another "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue montage, set in the new world to the track “Dawn”. It begins with Hibiki, Io, and Daichi leaving their school building, presumably after having graduated since Daichi and Io are wearing casual clothing instead of their school uniforms. After reaching the street outside Daichi hurriedly runs off. Airi and Hinako are once again an idol duo, holding the long-awaited concert at Karamachi Plaza, while we can see that Jungo has opened a small restaurant called “Cafe Jungo” there in the plaza. Naturally Jungo the cat is with him too, and if you’re paying attention you can actually see that Mari Mochizuki from the first game is seated at once of the tables. Well, it’s probably just asset reusage, but it’s an interesting easter egg nonetheless. Speaking of easter eggs, in Osaka we see a parade that’s being held to celebrate Keita winning some sort of boxing championship I assume, and you can see in the crowd waving a gray-haired man who I think is supposed to be his father, who was dead in the original world. Speaking of dead fathers, I don’t think Dera-Deka ever appears in this montage, or at least my eyes haven’t caught him yet. Moving on, we see Joe getting married to his girlfriend at last, and Fumi and Otome giving some sort of presentation to what I’m going to assume is either Japan’s Diet or the UN. Finally Yamato is seen within an expansive office within the Tokyo Government Metropolitan building, an open suitcase lying on a sofa. He spins a globe and throws a dart at it to determine just where he’s going to go on his trip, and it appears to land in the vicinity of Hawaii. Then he and Makoto are seen leaving the building, passing by officers at salute, and being greeted by a limo parked outside, out of which steps Ronaldo, now wearing a snazzy purple suit. The three salute each other, get inside, then drive away.
Then we cut back to outside the school where we see Daichi pulling up to Hibiki and Io in a new car of his own, presumably a graduation present. Nice parents. While the three are admiring it we get to see the benefit of maxing out those Fates: someone bumps into Io, knocking them both over, and then we’re shown an illustration showing us that it’s a very sheepish and much less guarded Miyako
, having either made the jump to the new world with the others or being reincarnated into it as a human thanks to the wills of the other thirteen presumably. After a brief amusing bit of spritework where Io crawls right up into Miyako’s face, she pushes the other girl into the car as Hibiki and Daichi look at each other, the latter makes a shrugging gesture, and then the four of them drive away.
The three credit tracks this time are the main theme of Record Breaker, “The Revolving World”, “Grand Finale”, and finally a surprise reprisal of “World of Dreams” from the DS game, which otherwise doesn’t play at all in this version. Once they’re over with we see Daichi’s car pull up to a public beach, and as the four friends play at the water’s edge they’re approached by the other ten: Joe, Ronaldo, Yamato, Makoto, Fumi, Otome, Airi, Hinako, Keita, and Jungo. Just when you think someone’s missing the camera pans a bit to reveal a black-and-red-striped surfboard floating in the water, and Al Saiduq’s head soon pops up next to it. Ha ha, leave it to him to make that sort of entrance. He wades towards shore, surfboard in hand, to join in the reunion, and the final image of the story is of the surf lapping against the beach beneath the bright, blue sky of a world that is finally free.
The future is yours.
Let’s survive.
Completing this ending fills in the silhouette of the Tokyo Skytree, as well as restoring the destroyed cityscape. If you’ve gotten all of the endings across both the Septentrione Arc and the Triangulum Arc on a single file and thus completing the picture (so to summarize: the Tokyo Tower, Tsuutenkaku, Nagoya TV Tower, and the Tokyo Skytree must be filled in and the outlines of the Beppu Tower, Sapporo TV Tower, and the Hakata Port Tower visible on the ground while the Big Dipper, Spring Triangle, Polaris, Canopus, and Cor Caroli must be lit up in the sky above) an aurora effect will appear in the sky to truly signify 100% story completion. And here are the final set of titles that I got on this ending:
- Record Breaker - Completed Yamato’s Triangulum Arc ending path. (30p)
- Demon Collector - Registered all demons other than those that must be unlocked. (200p)
- Tico Breaker - Defeated the Ticos. (300p)
So, wow. It took one year, two games, and a roughly three-hundred-page Word document, but we are finally done with Devil Survivor 2. As always, thank you readers for following along, whether it was from the very beginning or simply dropping by occasionally. The Devil Survivor games are definitely one of my favorite video game series, and I hope that Atlus will be able to get out a Devil Survivor 3 built for the 3DS from the ground up sometime in the near future; I definitely plan to liveblog it too if they do.
I still plan to liveblog a few more games after this (including, yes, more Megami Tensei stuff) but when I'm going to start on that I can't say. A year is an awfully-long time to spend on just one game after all, even if it did include an Updated Re-release in the middle. Regardless, once again I hope everyone who read this enjoyed it, and I will see you all next time.
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