Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars

For twenty years, Attera has been under attack from monsters spawning from anomalies called Dusk Circles. To fight those monsters, people with the Star God Brand, called Disciples, are gathered and trained in a school in Fort City. The Dusk Circles are said to appear because of mankind's desires. Eight such circles forming the Pandora Labyrinth are known to exist: the original one, which is still inactive, and one for each of the seven deadly sins. The Disciples formed at the Academy are the first line of defense against the monsters, but they cannot enter the labyrinth since the energy inside nullifies their Star Power.

The player takes on the role of a new male Disciple whose name may be entered manually or chosen at random. On the day he arrives at the Academy, he meets with two other newcomers, Fuuko and Chlotz, whom he saves from a stray monster. Once at the Academy, they are to be assigned a rank, to know if they are standard Disciples or elite, and have their Ether count measured. All three are found to be elites, Fuuko is even an S rank, the highest possible rank. The protagonist is only A rank, but his Ether count is off the charts. That high amount of Ether (tens of times the average) makes him a special Disciple called God's Gift. This will enable him to create an Ether field which allows him to enter the Dusk Circles and make it possible for other Disciples to accompany him and use Star Energy inside.

In the dungeons, the player explores a randomized labyrinth with a party of up to four units: the hero and one of the heroines form the main unit, and three groups of three Star Children may accompany them. The enemies are displayed by icons that change depending on the foe's strength; the weakest enemies can be defeated without fighting. In battle, the units act in turn and are placed either in front, behind or on one of the sides of an enemy. Each enemy has a weak spot, a direction from which more damage is dealt. Attacking from dangerous spots fills the chain gauge; when the gauge fills enough, the monster's turn gets delayed. Another aspect of battles is the Ether level: depending what actions are performed, this level will rise or lower.