Name Your Celebrity Philosopher Crush
Should the strong rule the weak? Should every human be viewed as equal regardless of obvious inequalities? Should tradition be enforced to preserve antiquated ideals? What is freedom of will? When is an uprising justified? Is true neutrality ever a viable option?
Aside from possibly seeing the above questions on a philosophy exam, the average person does not ponder their answers on a daily basis – I know I certainly do not.
Enter Shin Megami Tensei 4, the latest in the long-running franchise of Japanese role-playing games published by Atlus. Aside from sharing common elements such as demons, mythologies, and branching storylines, each game’s plot is wholly independent of the others, and so, despite the SMT moniker, the fourth instalment is a fine beginning point to jump into for a baseline “Megaten” newbie like myself (I have enjoyed the spin-off series of Persona before this).
Shin Megami Tensei 4 boasts my favorite plot of the year thus far. The game opens with a dream sequence showing the player two of the many possible outcomes of the world – a destroyed city showcasing chaos’ reign, and a wasteland depicting the supremacy of order. The main character then awakens and is introduced to the game’s version of reality.
SMT4 takes place in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, where the divide between the poor (the Casualry) and the rich (the Luxorors) is enormous. The player travels to this European-styled castle city to perform the Gauntlet Rite, wherein a person dons a cybernetic gauntlet and is deemed to be worthy or not by the gods. If the initiate passes the test, he or she becomes a Samurai, one tasked with defending Mikado against demons from the underworld.
Upon passing the Gauntlet Rite, the player meets the AI present in his gauntlet, Burroughs, as well as the other apprentice Samurai – Walter, Jonathan, Isabeau, and Navarre. The group is almost immediately requested to enter Naraku, a sacred place beneath Mikado that is home to mythological beasts, and face their first tests – defeating and then capturing demons. The game takes this opportunity to teach the player about its mechanics through Burroughs, and then starts the story proper.
At first, I found the characters bland and uninteresting, but thanks to the intriguing world, I pushed forward and am glad I did. Consistent plot twists that at once answered my questions about the story and created new ones began at roughly the eight-hour mark and continued to astound me through to the end of my forty-two hour first playthrough.
SMT4 utilizes the “press-turn” system for its “first-person dungeon-crawler” battles, which was familiar to me due to my recent playthrough of Persona 4 Golden, but is easy enough to understand for beginners. Upon entering battle, the player is given a number of turns equal to the number of characters in his party (a maximum of four). If the player strikes the elemental weakness of an opposing demon or lands a critical attack, an extra turn is granted. If a swing or spell misses, turns are taken away. By targeting demon weak points the party can easily take on a full opposing group, though it is important to remember the player can be dominated in the same way.
Battles are tough, and I found myself saving nearly every ten minutes (you can save anywhere) to prevent a full wipe from sending me to Charon, the ferryman of the dead. Upon death, the player can pay Charon in Macca (the game’s currency) or Play Coins accumulated on the 3DS to revive to where he or she died. With Macca being an important resource for both summoning and negotiating with demons, I often took the Game Over screen and reloaded from my last save.
One of the defining characteristics of any SMT title is the robust demon roster. Monsters and angels from many mythologies are present, and are available for hire or fusion. Hiring demons is akin to catching Pokemon, though instead of a Pokeball, the player must use multiple-choice dialogue options and gifts to convince them to join.
At first I found the negotiation mechanic unwieldy, as the demons respond somewhat randomly to different answers, and will occasionally ask for gifts only to run from battle afterwards. Thankfully, as the player progresses, new “Apps” (Boosts and abilities through the Gauntlet) become available in Burroughs’ program and the gift-giving process becomes much easier. Based solely on the fiction, it does make sense that a demon might steal your goods, but later on it poses less of a problem.
One of the more addicting features of the game is demon fusion. By utilizing another AI inside the Gauntlet, players can meld their captured enemies into other, more powerful demons. A compendium lists the player’s inventory of fusions and captures, and is easily used to summon them back into the party. Throughout the game, special demons become available to be fused, often using three or four at a time. A great filtering system is present as well to help the player see exactly what mixes are possible. My total time spent fusing totalled in at over eight hours in my first playthrough.
Shin Megami Tensei 4 has a strongly anime-influenced visual style that any JRPG fan will instantly fall in love with. Though the cutscenes are not fully animated, the art is still beautiful. The nature of the game’s dungeon crawling does pose some issues, as the demons are not fully animated even in-game, and the battles have a very retro-RPG feel, reminiscent of something like Earthbound. It seemed to me that some enemies had more work put into them than others and some didn’t match the visual style of the rest of the game at all. While a minor complaint, it was still jarring compared to the fully-modelled summons of a game like Persona 4.
It is rare for me to play a gaming handheld while at home, but I could not put my 3DS down for the duration of my first playthrough (much to everyone’s frustration). An incredible library of demons, a fascinating story with multiple endings, philisophical questions to be thought about, and slick use of the 3D all combined to immerse me into the world of Shin Megami Tensei 4. Even with great titles like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us having been released, I have not been so determined to drive forward in a game like this in some time.
The Shin Megami Tensei brand has officially entered my radar as a franchise to look forward to. I was very impressed with the Persona games I have played but not nearly as invested as I was in SMT4. It had been nine years since the last main title in the franchise was released, and after this, I don’t think I can wait another nine. I need it now, Atlus!
