Attack on Titan 2

Lore & Background

Attack on Titan 2 covers the plot of the first 50 chapters of the Attack on Titan manga, which also corresponds to the first two seasons of the anime adaptation. The player experiences major events through an original custom character who joins the 104th Cadet Corp as a child, intending to slay the Armored Titan for killing their parents during the breach of Wall Maria. The last mission of the base game features an original ending that is non-canonical to both the anime and manga. The DLC 'Final Battle' covers chapters 51 to 90 of the manga, which corresponds to the third season of the anime.

The game features cel-shaded graphics, fast-paced aerial combat, and allows players to defeat titans in large, open areas. Key new features over the first title include a story mode entirely playable in co-op and a character creator. Outside of combat, players can befriend and bond with the series' cast of characters in a mode called 'Daily Life.'

Development launched shortly after completion of the first title, with a key focus on making the AI more intelligent and the game more difficult than its predecessor. Koei Tecmo worked closely with the manga's publisher Kodansha and writer Hajime Isayama in creating additional story elements. Initially, the English voice cast were going to record dialogue, but this was not realized due to time constraints, similar to the first game. A demo was released in Japan on April 26, 2019, and worldwide on May 7, 2019, distributed until July 31, 2019. The DLC 'The Final Battle' was released on July 4, 2019, in Japan and on July 5 in North America and Europe.

Reader's Guide

Attack on Titan 2 is notable as a direct sequel that expands on its predecessor with cooperative play and character customization, allowing players to experience the manga's story through a personalized avatar. Its release across multiple platforms, including the PlayStation Vita and later Stadia, broadened its accessibility. The game's sales figures in Japan—28,480 copies on PlayStation 4, 22,941 on Nintendo Switch, and 15,621 on PlayStation Vita in its first week—indicate a modest but dedicated audience. The inclusion of a non-canonical ending in the base game and the 'Final Battle' DLC extending the narrative to cover the third season of the anime provided additional content for fans. The game was nominated for 'Sound Editing in a Game Cinema' at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards. A sequel, Attack on Titan 3, was announced in June 2026 and is scheduled for publication on December 10, 2026, marking the series' continued development.

Did You Know?

• The game was known in PAL regions as A.O.T. 2.
• The last mission of the base game has an original ending non-canonical to both the anime and manga.

Eren's Awakening at Trost

Five years after the fall of Shiganshina, the Colossal Titan strikes the city of Trost within Wall Rose, and this assault becomes the catalyst for Eren Yeager's most defining transformation. During the desperate defense of the city, Eren discovers he can shift into a sentient Attack Titan, a power his father Grisha had secretly passed to him shortly after Wall Maria's destruction. Alongside this revelation comes a recovered memory: Grisha telling young Eren that the truth about their world lies hidden in the Yeager family basement back in Shiganshina. The Survey Corps, led by commander Erwin Smith, take immediate interest in Eren's abilities, seeing in him a potential weapon to reclaim Wall Maria and access that basement. Eren, along with Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, is transferred into the Special Operations Squad under Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoë, marking the beginning of a far more dangerous chapter in his fight against the Titans.

The Female Titan and the Wall Titans

The season's most intense confrontation arrives when Eren and his squad encounter a sentient Female Titan during a forest expedition between the walls. The shocking truth is that this Titan is none other than Annie Leonhart, a fellow military comrade. Eren, with support from his friends, engages and ultimately defeats her. Annie's response is to encase herself in a crystal shell, and she is taken into custody. But the aftermath of this battle yields an even more unsettling discovery: Titans are lying dormant within the walls themselves, dubbed Wall Titans. This revelation shatters the assumption that the walls were purely protective barriers, suggesting instead that they may harbor a hidden and terrible purpose. The season also introduces the Beast Titan and the Jaw Titan, with Ymir revealing her ability to shift into the latter. These escalating revelations progressively dismantle the characters' understanding of their world, replacing the simple narrative of humanity versus mindless monsters with a far more complex and threatening reality.

The Nine Titans and the Thirteen-Year Curse

The series establishes a rigid hierarchy among Titans that fundamentally shapes the conflict. At the lowest tier sit Pure Titans, the common and relatively predictable human-eaters. Above them are Abnormal Titans, whose erratic behavior makes them far more dangerous to combat. At the apex stand the Nine Titans, also called Titan Shifters: the Attack, Colossal, Armored, Female, Beast, Jaw, Cart, War Hammer, and Founding Titans. Each Shifter can toggle between human and Titan form, accessing unique abilities, and many possess the capacity to harden parts of their bodies at will, rendering them nearly impenetrable or amplifying their strikes. The mechanics of inheritance are equally grim. Pure Titans are created by injecting Eldians with Titan spinal fluid. If a Pure Titan devours a human holding one of the Nine, that person reverts to human form and inherits the power, but is cursed with only thirteen years of life. Should the holder die without passing the power to another Eldian, it transfers to an Eldian baby born around that time, regardless of location or bloodline.

Production, Broadcast, and Cultural Footprint

The second season of the Attack on Titan anime was produced by Wit Studio, the same studio responsible for the first and third seasons, before MAPPA took over for the fourth and final season. Season 2 consisted of 12 episodes and aired from April to June 2017, following the 25-episode first season that ran from April to September 2013. The gap between seasons was notably long, spanning nearly four years, which allowed the manga's serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine to advance considerably. The manga itself ran from September 2009 to April 2021, with its chapters collected into 34 tankōbon volumes. By November 2023, the series had surpassed 140 million copies in circulation, cementing its status as one of the best-selling manga of all time. It has also collected major honors including the Kodansha Manga Award, the Attilio Micheluzzi Award, and the Harvey Award, reflecting its broad international critical recognition.