Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Genre: JRPG, Horror
Format: SNES (Reviewed), Gameboy Advance, Playstation, IOS
Released: October 30th 1992
Fan Translation: Aeon Genesis
Shin Megami Tensei starts off strong with a dream sequence with you introducing yourself to a floating head on a wall. Not only that but you also find that you aren’t alone in this state. The are 2 others who seem to have been captured in this realm as well. 1 who is tied to law and order, the other chaos and competition. Not only that but there is another who seems clued into who you are and this realm stating they are your eternal partner (if only it was that easy to find someone am I right?). Once you wake up your Mum is telling you to get out of bed but why do that when you can just jump straight onto the computer and download a Demon Summoning Program. As you journey out your Mum gives 10 grand as your monthly pocket money. Did I say she was a beautiful person?
Outside, you realise that there has been a grissly murder in the local park. Here’s hoping this doesn’t come back to bite me. Other than this everywhere seems to be locked including the hospital which seems peculiar. What else should we do then hit the cafe and get ourselves a drink and hopefully some information. Once you have done what you need for the day you head back to bed and find yourself in the dream world once again. Will you ever meet the people you save in the dream world? Absolutely but I won’t be telling you how and when.
So enough about the story, let’s get into the nitty gritty. The combat is your standard turn based system Choose your move and attack who you want with it. However the biggest selling point is the talk system before you fight. Almost every demon you come across (easy) you can add to your party by striking up a conversation with them. Sounds simple but it is very difficult to find the right balance in how to approach this, so get ready to be munched on a lot before they join you. Once you do get the chance you then have to give them offerings before they join you, everyone loves a gift after all. As you’d expect when a demon joins you they can fight with you as well. One thing to note is you can have a team of 6 people and demons which is pretty massive compared to most other RPGs.
Not only do the demons fight with you but the can also be fused together to make other more powerful demons as well. Some of which can only be found using this method. Not going to lie this is a really cool feature however there is a big asterisk with it. Demons do not level up with you. So if you have a favourite in 5 or at most 10 levels time they are going to get one hit almost every time, which sucks massively. It’s good that you can add a variety of demons but not so much when you have to get rid of the ones you like.
Another thing that is hugely anger inducing is the encounter rate. On the world map it’s quite high however when you go inside buildings it’s almost sadistically high. So many times in different buildings I take 2 steps and have a fight, win that take another step and it’s fight time again. Not sure what they were thinking but I had to stop playing multiple times because it was so tedious. This is a huge turn off to a great game as it’s honestly one of the highest encounter rates I have seen before. There aren’t many other flaws that stick out as much as this.
Another annoying issue is that all characters are fully customisable however the main character can never learn magic spells, so if you wanted to be the best mage in the east you have buy a bunch of Molotov cocktails instead. The map system is a bit of a nightmare as well. To have a minimap you must use a spell to have it in the bottom right of your screen instead of switching it on and off. Not game breaking just annoying. Another big problem is the lack of save points. Once you go to new areas it can be hours before you find another save point, normally I don’t mind this but coupled with the massive encounter rate it gets old fast.
Now it’s rating time and it pains me to say I would give SMT a 7/10. The SMT and Persona series are my favourite franchises but I have to be honest here. There is so much potential but most of it is covered in flaws. Give me a lower encounter rate, the ability for demons to level up and the main character having learnable magic spells and this would have scored much higher.
I wish I could run into a new reincarnation of a goddess - Mamushi
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