Shin Megami Tensei

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Shin Megami Tensei
Developer(s) Atlus
Publisher(s) Atlus
Release date(s) 1992, 1993, 1994
Genre(s) RPG
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) Super Famicom, PC, Sega CD, PS, GBA

Shin Megami Tensei is a console role playing game by Atlus that was released on many platforms. It was originally released on the Super FamiCom and was later released on the Sega CD. The game was later re-released on the PlayStation and the Game Boy Advance to build hype for the game Shin Megami Tensei III. Shin Megami Tensei is a Megaten game.

Spin offs include the Persona, Devil Summoner, and Digital Devil Saga series.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Shin Megami Tensei is a first person RPG, like many early computer/video game RPGs such as The Bard's Tale, and Aspic. The player moves around dungeons with a party of six characters. The combat is turn-based.

The game features two types of characters: Humans and Demons. Gameplay revolves around collecting demons. The player\hero (a human) acquires demons via negotiation, bribing and coercion. Once acquired, they can be stored in the party's portable computer and summoned for a small portion of Magnetite (a secondary currency in the game) to be used in combat.

[edit] Humans

There are four human characters in Shin Megami Tensei, with three of them of specific alignement. They are the Hero ("you", also known as the Neutral Hero), Law Hero, Chaos Hero and the Heroine (all named by the player). The Hero has the ability to converse with, recruit, extort and summon demons. The four protagonists were given names in the strategy guide, Steven Report 1, for the PlayStation remake of the game. These names are: Kazuya (Hero), Yuji (Law Hero), Takeshi (Chaos Hero) and Yuka (Heroine).

Human characters can equip firearms with special ammo, melee weapons, and multiple pieces of armor from helmet to boots, although certain weapons can only be wielded by a character of a specific alignment.

Humans are also the only ones capable of levelling up and have their Stats upgraded at the discretion of the player.

This, some might say, makes human characters considerably stronger than the majority of demons, especially since the guns' power and number of attacks per turn, in conjunction with ailments provided by the bullets, could decimate whole groups of enemies in a few turns.

[edit] Demons

There are a wide variety of demons from various mythologies in Shin Megami Tensei; each has its own unique statistics, and a skillset of up to three abilities or spells. These abilities are permanent (unlike the ability system in Shin Megami Tensei II or Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne) and cannot be changed. Also, each demon has unique resistances and weaknesses to certain attacks. As such, strategies revolve around having the right demon summoned for the right job, and keeping the ones too susceptible in the party's computer.

Note that the term "Demon" (akuma) in the Megaten games is a catch-all term; in contrast to the more traditional, malevolent demons, anything from a folktale creature (such as a Pixie) to an ideal Judeo-Christian Angel (such as Michael) is referred to as a demon. With this in mind, it is possible that the intended term was actually daemon, which refers to all beings of celestial origin.

[edit] Story

The setting: Tokyo, 199X. Demons from the Netherealm have found their way back into earth in Japan through computers, and as such have upset the balance of power. A charismatic Japanese human leader attempts a coup-d'etat using these demons as a potent military force, forcing America to intervene with its military. The player, as the hero, becomes involved when sent a devil summoning program via email by an anonymous benefactor.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Shin Megami Tensei begins with the player dreaming. In his dream, he encounters a stone slab that asks his name, a boy on a crucifix (a possible reason for this game never being released in western territories) and another boy being tormented by a demon. After this, he wakes up and receives an e-mail informing him that demons wander the earth once again. To allow him combat to the demons, a Devil Summoning Program is attached to the e-mail.

After these odd events, the Hero's mother tells him about a murder that occurred last night. He receives his allowance and hangs out at the mall. At the mall, he is attacked by a demon, after it eats a crazy man with a knife. After this, he goes home and goes back to sleep again. Then, he has another dream, this time, a girl is being sacrificed to summon a great demon. The Hero invokes her name, and she is set free from the summoners' control.

Eventually the Hero will be arrested and put in jail, where he will meet the Law Hero, who will become his first additional human member of his party, and Steven, who invented the Devil Summoning Program. After defeating his first boss, and returning to the mall, the Hero will meet the Chaos Hero, his second human companion. Upon returning home, the companions will warn the Hero that his mother has been taken over by the second boss, Jaki Amanosakugami, who says he has eaten her.

Upon his defeat, additional buildings on the present map will become available. At this point, the collection and fusing of demons to form additional members of the party becomes necessary. With the defeat of the third, much more powerful boss, Choujin Douman, in the Echobuilding, the Hero will gain access to his first Terminal, used for teleportation (and as a point for saving games). He can only immediately use it to go to the district of Tokyo which contains the City Hall. This is occupied by American troops, and the party must meet up with the resistance.

At this point, no matter what course the Hero takes—alliance with the American ambassador Thorman [Law affiliation], alliance with the chaotic antagonist Gotou [Chaos affiliation], or attempt to remain aloof from either [Neutral affiliation]—it will be revealed that Thorman is actually Majin Thor, another demon, who will start a nuclear war to destroy the demons who have infested the world.

When the party is released to the greater world after ordeals in an intermediary zone, it is twenty years later and Tokyo is in ruins.

[edit] External links

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