Shin Megami Tensei

"There's a reason this series is so popular in Japan..."

The Megami Tensei (MegaTen) franchise is one of the most heralded franchises on the video game market. Or at least in Japan. With the release of Shin Megami Tensei 3 (Nocturne in the US and Lucifer's Call in the UK) as well as Digital Devil Saga, the MegaTen universe is finally seeming to get a foot in the door of the western market. While the series officially started on the NES with Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei, this game is the one that began the Shin Megami Tensei series that Nocturne is a part of. And since this is one of the few games that has been translated and emulated, it is a good place to get a start for those interested in the series roots. And for those of you wondering what Shin Megami Tensei means, it is "True Goddess Metempsychosis" (that means the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Hence the apocalyptic stories in the series.)

Story:

It is difficult to comment too much on the story for a few reasons. One being the fact that all the main characters are named by you, the player. The second being it is very open ended. To condense an amazing story down for you, you play as a young boy growing up in Tokyo. At the beginning of the game you experience a dream sequence in which you rescue a man from a cross, another from being mauled by a demon, and then in a subsequent dream, a young woman from being sacrificed to open a gateway for a powerful demon to descend (or ascend) to Earth. Needless to say, this is not quite your typical RPG. The story begins to unfold and snowball to the point where you are faced with the choice of siding with Law (Mesians) or Chaos (Gaians) or taking your own path if their views of shaping the world do not suit your personal taste. Based upon which path you take the story changes and so to do the endings. One word of warning, the game does delve very deeply into religious doctrines. Not just that of western Christianity, but into that of Buddhism, Shinto, Judaism, and so on. Not too surprisingly, the game was never released in America or Europe. If that sort of thing doesn't bother you and you enjoy deep philosophical archaic stories, then you will absolutely love the amount of depth put into this game.

Graphics:

Ok, lets face it. Many of us have become a bit jaded with the graphics seen in Tales of Phantasia, Terranigma, or the beloved Chrono Trigger. Trust me, the graphics in this game are no where near those, but it doesn't have to be. Unlike those more traditional RPGs of the time, SMT is considered to be more of a dungeon crawler (and rightfully so). The world map is an overhead view of the city or area you are at and your party is portrayed by a little blue triangle. Those of you who have played Nocturne know exactly what I am referring to. The major difference is the dungeon/city maps. These are all displayed in a first person viewpoint similar to a first person shooter (think Doom without the gun). You progress through the maze-like dungeons and encounter demons along the way.
The demons graphics are very simple. Two or three sprites that alternate to show motion in the creature and that is it. Nothing too extraordinary. This tends to put many people off, but in reality it is part of what gives SMT the feeling that it has. It isn't meant to be a colorful world with lots of movement and whatnot, it is an apocalyptic world that is desolate save for the few remaining humans and thousands of demons. Too much color would just ruin the feeling. For those of you who feel that graphics are one of the most important parts of game over story and sometimes even gameplay, steer clear. If you can overlook that however, you are in for a treat.

Gameplay:

I've pretty much covered the basics of exploration, but lets get to what I'm sure you would rather know about. How about the basis of the franchises signature? The demon recruiting. You begin the game all alone and as you start to encounter demons, you will quickly realize that you are in big trouble and going it alone is pretty much impossible. Luckily you were sent a computer program from a mysterious man named Steven that allows you to converse with the demons. Doing this is much like trial and error since giving the wrong response will illicit a sudden attack from the demon. If you manage to get the creatures to hear you out however, you can extort them for money, magnetite (think money for summoning creatures), make them leave, or potentially get them to join your party (but not without a fee). This is the basics for building your party. You have the ability to visit a place called the Jakyou and fuse your demons together to create even stronger creatures. Sometimes though you will be short on options since the fusions will often result in a demon with a higher level than yours and cannot be done. While it can be frustrating, it is necessary for maintaining the games at times fiendish difficulty.

As for the battles you will only see one enemy sprite on the screen with a little indicator at the top of the window to see the number and status of the creatures your fighting. Like I said earlier, the graphics aren't much to gawk at. You have three options for any human characters to attack with (Sword, Gun, and Magic) and for the demons you get Attack, Extra, and Magic. Not every demon has an extra ability but some will sing or dance to put enemies to sleep or inflict other status ailments, just experiment a little bit. The magic and items will take a little while to decipher without an FAQ since there aren't any explanations as to what they do and they have their traditional Japanese names (Bufu or Subabu anyone?). Those of you familiar with Nocturne and DDS may be able to figure some out, others can be figured through trial and error.

The overall difficulty of the game is pretty steep. There are many demons that are capable of wiping your party out if you are unprepared, and the lack of save points and healing areas can add to the frustration. Of course though, if you have experienced a MegaTen game before this should be nothing new. The franchise is notorious for difficulty and lack of saves, nothing new here. If you like a little challenge though, the story more than makes up for it.

Miscellaneous:

The demons are mostly religious deities and mythos from nearly all religions of the world. So it isn't too uncommon to fight things like Angels and Seraphs. This confused and angered some people and when asked about it, one of the authors/creators said that he traced world religions back to what he felt was one uniform source. That being the Old Testament of the Bible. Gee, I wonder who some of the bosses might be depending on whether you side with Law or Chaos (don't worry, that doesn't ruin the story in any way). If that kind of thing bothers you, there are really only two choices. Take the other path or stay away from this game. Otherwise, sit back and prepare for a treat.

This game is unlike anything else created to date (save other games in the series), and should really be experienced at least once for any RPG fan who loves a deep, thought-provoking story and is interested in a good challenge. And if you like it, you can play at least two more times to achieve the other endings and see what your decisions bring upon the world.

On a final note, unless you know Japanese and can get your hands on a copy of this classic, the only choice is to emulate it. Be warned though either way that the game has strong language and some potentially disturbing images. Like I said before, it isn't your traditional RPG. If that doesn't bother you though, then just get ready to see why this is the third most popular RPG franchise in Japan and why it has spawned over 50+ games (including spin-offs like Persona).

Final score: 10/10
-or for those of you graphic biased -7.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/06