Megami Tensei
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Megami Tensei (Japanese:女神転生, often abbreviated as MegaTen) is a Japanese console role-playing game series that began from the Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani, and is one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country. The games are published by Atlus, with the exception of the Famicom games, which were published by Namco.
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[edit] Series overview
The Megami Tensei series is unique among Japanese RPGs because it generally eschews the pseudo-Medieval settings and swords-and-sorcery trappings of most games in the genre. Megaten games typically take place in modern or near-future Japan and mix occult and cyberpunk elements.
The enemies that appear are called Akuma (悪魔(devil, demon)), as compared to the "monster" used in other RPGs. The player can recruit the Akuma to his side so it becomes a Nakama (仲魔(friendly demon, homophone of 仲間, comrade)). It is also possible to fuse multiple Nakama to create another Nakama and also new weapons by fusing Akuma and weapons.
The player is often asked to make moral or philosophical choices that affect the game's storyline and ending.
Megaten games are full of mythological references: gods and creatures from Norse, Celtic, Judeo-Christian, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu and Japanese mythologies are featured, to be battled or recruited by the player.
[edit] Meanings behind the title
Megami Tensei translates to "Reincarnation of the Goddess", or more accurately, "Goddess Metempsychosis". The heroine of the first game was actually an incarnation of the Shinto goddess Izanami. This story feature does not occur in the other games, despite having the same name, although there are always characters who could be considered to be said Goddess. The first game was based after the novel "Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei" written by Aya Nishitani.
Shin Megami Tensei (真・女神転生) is often translated as "Reincarnation of the True Goddess" the Shin in the case being a pun on the shin (新 "new") used in the titles of many SNES games the same way Super is in English.
Majin Tensei (魔神転生) (one of the spinoffs) can be translated as "Reincarnation of the Demon God".
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei (the Super Famicom remake of the original two MegaTen games) translates to "The Old Testament Resurrection of the Goddess".
It should be noted that "Reincarnation" is a simplified version of what "Tensei" actually refers to. The Buddhist term that the word refers to is "Rinne", while a satisfactory Western (specifically, Greek) equivalent, "Metempsychosis", has been used in some English-language media. Both words mean the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation found in some Eastern religions.
[edit] Games
[edit] List of games by release date
The date (month/day) is the release date of first version of the game. The console names after the first are the consoles the game is later ported to.
Console index: FC = Famicom, SFC = Super Famicom, PCE = PC Engine, MD = Mega Drive, GB = Game Boy, GBA = Game Boy Advance, GG = Game Gear, SS = Sega Saturn, PS = Playstation, PS2 = Playstation 2, PSP = PlayStation Portable, PS3 = PlayStation 3, Xbox = Xbox, VC = Virtual Console, PC98 = PC-9800 series, WIN = Microsoft Windows
1987
- 09/11 : Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (FC, MSX, Mobile phone)
1990
- 04/06 : Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II (FC, Mobile phone)
1992
- 10/30 : Shin Megami Tensei (SFC, PCE, MD, PS, GBA, VC)
- 12/23 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible (GB, GBC, GG)
1993
- 11/19 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II (GB, GBC)
1994
- 01/28 : Majin Tensei (SFC, Win2000)
- 03/18 : Shin Megami Tensei II (SFC, PS, GBA)
- 10/28 : Shin Megami Tensei if... (SFC, PS)
1995
- 02/19 : Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis (SFC)
- 03/04 : Last Bible III (SFC)
- 03/04 : Another Bible (GB)
- 03/24 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special (GG)
- 03/31 : Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei (SFC)
- 12/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (SS, PSP)
1996
- 04/26 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner ~Akuma Compendium~ (SS)
- 09/20 : Megami Ibunroku Persona (PS)
1997
- 04/04 : Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku (PC98, Win 95/98)
- 10/30 : Ronde (SS)
- 11/13 : Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (SS, PS)
- 12/23 : Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Akuma Compendium Second Episode (SS, PS)
1999
- 06/24 : Persona 2: Tsumi (PS)
2000
- 06/29 : Persona 2: Batsu (PS)
- 11/17 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Black Book/Red Book (GB)
2001
- 07/27 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children White Book (GB)
- 07/27 : Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner (GB)
2002
- 03/28 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Black Book・Red Book (PS)
- 11/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Book of Light/Book of Dark (GBA)
- 12/05 : Shin Megami Tensei: NINE Standalone version (Xbox)
2003
- 02/20 : Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (PS2)
- 07/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Puzzle de Call! (GBA)
- 09/12 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Fire Book/Ice Book (GBA)
2004
- 01/29 : Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax (PS2)
- 05/26 : Shin Megami Tensei if...: Hazama chapter (Mobile phone)
- 07/15 : Digital Devil Saga: Avater Tuner (PS2)
- 08/26 : Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX (Mobile phone)
- 11/04 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Messiah Riser (GBA)
2005
- 01/27 : Digital Devil Saga: Avater Tuner 2 (PS2)
2006
- 03/02 : Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Chouriki Heidan (PS2)
- 03/03 : Shin Megami Tensei Pinball: Judgement (Mobile phone)
- 06/01 : Persona 3: The Night Before (WIN)
- 07/13 : Persona 3 (PS2)
- 12/01 : Megami Ibunroku Persona: Ikuu no Tou Hen (Mobile phone)
- 12/07 : Digital Devil Saga: Avater Tuner A's TEST Server (Mobile phone)
2007
- 03/30 : Megami Tensei IMAGINE (WinXP)
- 04/19 : Persona 3 FES (PS2)
- 04/27 : Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Requiem (Mobile phone)
- 04/27 : Megami Tensei QIX: Persona 3 (Mobile phone)
- 05/15 : Megami Tensei CHANGING SOUL: Persona 3 (Mobile phone)
- 05/28 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Colosseum 20XX (Mobile phone)
- 07/11 : Majin Tensei blind thinker (Mobile phone)
- 08/30 : Devil Summoner Soul Hackers Intruder (Mobile phone)
2008
- 07/10 : Persona 4 (PS2)
Upcoming
- Shin Megami Tensei DS (working title) (DS)
- Persona (working title) (PSP)
- Shin Megami Tensei series (PS3)
[edit] Spin-offs
Numerous sub-series in different genres have been created over the years. They are:
- Devil Summoner
- Persona
- Megami Tensei Gaiden
- Majin Tensei
- Giten Megami Tensei Mokushiroku
- Devil Children
- Digital Devil Saga
- Jack Bros.
[edit] Stateside releases
The Megaten series started in 1987 in Japan, but the games' prominent use of religious and occult symbols and themes (content that had long been taboo in the Western videogame industry) prevented them from crossing over to America and Europe until the mid 1990s. Persona 2: Innocent Sin was not brought to the West due to its references to Hitler and the Nazis, even though its sister game, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, was translated and released.
| Release date | Console | US title | Japanese title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 10/20 | VB | Jack Bros. | Jack Brothers no Meiro de hiihoo! (ジャック・ブラザースの迷路でヒーホー！) |
| 1996 | PS | Revelations: Persona | Megami Ibunroku Persona (女神異聞録ペルソナ) |
| 1999 | GBC | Revelations: The Demon Slayer | Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible (女神転生外伝 ラストバイブル) |
| 2000 12/22 | PS | Persona2: Eternal Punishment | Persona 2: Batsu (ペルソナ2 罰) |
| 2003 10/6 | GBA | DemiKids: Light Version | Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Book of Light (真・女神転生デビルチルドレン 光の書) |
| 2003 10/7 | GBA | DemiKids: Dark Version | Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Book of Dark (真・女神転生デビルチルドレン 闇の書) |
| 2004 10/12 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax (真・女神転生III-NOCTURNE マニアクス) |
| 2005 4/5 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga | Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner (デジタル・デビル・サーガ アバタール・チューナー) |
| 2005 10/11 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 | Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 (デジタル・デビル・サーガ アバタール・チューナー2) |
| 2006 10/10 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army |
Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Chouriki Heidan (デビルサマナー 葛葉ライドウ 対 超力兵団) |
| 2007 8/14 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: PERSONA 3 | Persona 3 (ペルソナ3) |
| 2008 4/22 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: PERSONA 3 FES | Persona 3 FES (ペルソナ3 FES) |
[edit] Anime
There have been two anime OVAs and two anime series released based upon Megami Tensei.
- Digital Devil Saga: Megami Tensei
- Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku / Tokyo Revelation
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children
- PERSONA -trinity soul-
[edit] Other Merchandise
Merchandise such as collectible figurines, manga, tabletop RPG and trading card games based upon the games in the series have also been released.
[edit] External links
- Atlus USA, Inc.
- Atlus Japan
- Megaten Wiki
- Megami Tensei Gashapon Collections
- Digital Devil Database General Megaten Site
- Hardcore Gaming 101's article on the series a very extensive analysis of most of the games in the series
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