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Shin Megami Tensei is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. Originally released for the Super Famicom in 1992 in Japan, it has been ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2003. It is the third game in the Megami Tensei series and the first in the central Shin Megami Tensei series. The gameplay uses first-person navigation of dungeons and turn-based battles against demons. The player can recruit demons as allies by talking to them rather than fighting them, and two to three demons can be fused to create new demons.
Gameplay[]
In Shin Megami Tensei, players take the role of an unnamed protagonist, a teenage boy who can communicate with demons using a computer program. The gameplay is similar to that of other games in the series: players make their way through dungeons and fight against demons in a first-person perspective. The protagonist uses a variety of weapons and items, with the primary weapons being swords and guns. Such items are bought from merchants scattered around the world map. In special areas, the protagonist can use the in-game currency to restore health and magic points for themselves and their demons, remove status ailments, and revive fallen demons. Special Terminals scattered across the world map allow the player to save their game, and they can use them to teleport between terminals in different areas of Tokyo.
Battles are turn-based, and consist of players letting the characters in their party attack with swords or guns, summon demons, or cast magic spells; both demons and humans, with the exception of the player character, are able to use magic. By participating in battles, human characters in the player's party receive experience points; by accumulating these points, the characters' levels rise and new abilities are randomly learned. Players can choose to talk to demons instead of fighting them; they can ask the demons for items or money, try to get them to go away, or try to form an alliance with them. At some places, called "Cathedrals of Shadows", players can fuse two to three allied demons into one single, more powerful demon; as demons do not receive experience points, this is the only way for the player to increase their demons' power. Magnetite is used as a fuel for allied demons, and is used up by summoned demons as the player character walks around in the dungeons; if players run out of magnetite, summoned demons take damage.
The way demons behave is based on their and the protagonist's respective alignments. Alignments come in two types, Light-Neutral-Dark, and Law-Neutral-Chaos. A demon's alignment can range across both alignments, resulting in nine possible stances that affect how they behave and what actions in battle or story progression pleases them. The protagonist's alignment changes depending on choices made during the story, and in response the attitudes of people and demons change; for instance, demons who are law-aligned will refuse to form an alliance with chaos-aligned players. Additionally, depending on their alignment, players will not be let into certain areas; for instance, the Order of Messiah will not let chaos-aligned players into their churches.
Plot[]
The game begins with the Hero dreaming that he meets the Law Hero, the Chaos Hero, and a woman named Yuriko; she promises that she will become the Hero's partner. He wakes up, and receives an e-mail with a computer program for summoning demons attached. While out on an errand, he learns that a scientist has opened a portal to the Expanse, which allows demons to enter Tokyo. He also meets Yuriko, who says she will fulfill her promise. The next night, the Hero again dreams that he meets the Law Hero and Chaos Hero, and that they save the Heroine from a sacrificial ritual. The next day, he meets the Law Hero and Chaos Hero in reality; they reveal that they had the same dreams. News of the demons spread, and the US military, led by ambassador Thorman, decides to intervene. The Japan Self-Defense Forces, led by general Gotou, opposes them, as they see demons as the ancient spirits of the land. A third group, led by the Heroine, tries to prevent conflict between the other two. She gets captured by Gotou's forces; they are about to publicly execute her under supervision by Yuriko, but she is saved by the Hero, Law Hero, and Chaos Hero. Players can choose to support Thorman or Gotou, or to reject both; regardless of what they choose, the conflict escalates until Thorman launches missiles towards Tokyo. The Heroine is killed, but saves the Hero, Law Hero, and Chaos Hero by using magic to teleport them to another plane of existence.
When they return to Tokyo, thirty years have passed, and the world lies in ruins. Both demons and humans live in Tokyo, and two warring groups have formed: the Order of Messiah, who is building a cathedral and wants to bring about the Thousand-Year Kingdom, and the Ring of Gaea, who intends to summon Lucifer and wants freedom. While exploring the city, the Chaos Hero fuses himself with a demon to gain power, and decides to leave to pursue his own ideals; they move on without him and meet the Heroine, who has been reincarnated and rejoins the group. Soon afterwards, the Law Hero's soul gets taken by an attacking demon. The Chaos Hero joins the Ring of Gaea, while the Law Hero's soul gets reincarnated as the new Messiah. Both try to get the Hero to join their respective side; players can choose to support either, or to reject both. Regardless of what they choose, the Order of Messiah finishes building their cathedral, and a great flood appears, drowning people who were not inside the cathedral at the time. Survivors set up camps inside the cathedral; the Order of Messiah takes control of the top floors, while the Ring of Gaea occupies the basement floors.
After this point, the story continues differently depending on the Hero's alignment. If it is "law", the Law Hero gets killed in a battle with the Chaos Hero, while the Hero and the Heroine go to the basement. On their way they have to kill the Chaos Hero and fight Yuriko, who turns out to be the demon Lilith in disguise; she calls the Hero "Adam", and says she wanted to create a new age and live with him forever, which is why she tried to execute the Heroine. After defeating her in battle, the Hero and the Heroine reach the basement and kill the demon Asura-ou; they then go to the cathedral's roof, where they are thanked by a messenger from God. If the Hero's alignment instead is "chaos", he and the Heroine must go to the top floor and kill the archangel Michael, and on their way kill the Law Hero; in this scenario, Yuriko leaves the Hero and the Heroine instead of fighting them, while the Chaos Hero dies after trying to steal a magical ring from the Hero. On the roof, they meet Lucifer, who says that a new era will begin, where both demons and humans are free; he also warns them that God still is alive. If the Hero's alignment instead is "neutral", he and the Heroine must kill the Law Hero, the Chaos Hero, Asura-ou, and Michael, and fight Yuriko. On the roof, they meet Taishang Laojun, who thanks them and says that balance is needed to achieve happiness; he asks the Hero and the Heroine to lead humanity to a future that doesn't rely on gods or demons. The game ends with the Heroine saying that those who have died will be reborn, and that it is time for creation and rebuilding.
Reception[]
According to Ito, the Super Famicom release was a great success for the company, helping establishing it as both a developer and publisher. While a success, the game also received criticism from players for its high encounter rate and difficulties using the map and in-game instructions. At the end of 2001, the PlayStation version was the 119th best selling video game of the year in Japan, with 85,991 sold copies.
External links[]
- Shin Megami Tensei at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Shin Megami Tensei at GameFAQs
| Shin Megami Tensei series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | Megami Tensei • Megami Tensei II • Kyūyaku Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei • II • if... • III • IV (Apocalyspe) • V |
| Majin Tensei series | Majin Tensei • Majin Tensei II • Blind Thinker |
| Devil Survior series | Devil Survivor (Overclocked) • Devil Survivor 2 (Record Breaker) |
| Last Bible series | Last Bible • Last Bible II • Last Bible III • Another Bible • New Testament • New Testament II • New Testament III |
| Persona series | Persona 3 • Persona 4 (Arena Ultimax) • Persona Q • Persona 5 (Persona 5 Strikers) • Persona Q2 |
| Devil Children series | Black Book & Red Book • White Book • Book of Light & Book of Dark Book of Fire & Book of Ice • Puzzle de Call! • Messiah Riser |
| Other games | Jack Bros. • Strange Journey (Redux) • Soul Hackers • Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE (Encore) • Catherine |
| Related | Atlus • Katsura Hashino • Kazuma Kaneko • Shoji Meguro • Kouji Okada • Shigenori Soejima • Monark |
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