Game Info: Shin Megami Tensei IV

Developed by: Atlus

Published by: Atlus

Release date: July, 16 2013

Available on: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: RPG

Number of players: Single-player

ESRB Rating: Mature for Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence

Price: $25.98

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Thank you Maccus for sending us this game to review!

Having played and reviewed a few Shin Megami Tensei games, I’ve come to enjoy and see why these games have such a following. The story changes with each one so you can start with any one of them. In Shin Megami Tensei IV, you play as a young man whose default name is Flynn. To keep consistent with my other playthroughs I renamed him to Ben Dover. Classes play a big role and your character is a casualary, or commoner. The upper class, luxurors, look down upon the casualaries. In your hometown of Eastern Mikado, there is a Gauntlet Rite that all are welcome to participate in and those who are chosen get to be trained as Samurai. As fate would have it, your character is chosen.

There are quite a few chosen Samurai and some of them will treat you poorly due to your class, but there are a few whom you will bond and become close with. Along with being chosen, your character has visions of waking up in a desolated version of Earth. What has happened? How can it be prevented? Which friend should you become an ally with to save the planet? Each friend has a different alignment/personality type. Walter is a fellow casualary easy to get along with, but can be driven by his emotions and reckless. Jonathan is a luxuror who treats you and everyone with respect and kindness. He is a rule-follower and tries to do the right thing. Isabeau, another luxuror, is pretty easy going and tries to remain neutral and fair. Though I sometimes agreed with some of Walter’s opinions I wound up going the law route and going with Jonathan in the end.

As a samurai, you’re tasked with exploring ruins and bringing back relics to the monks. At first, the missions seem to be noble but later on an ulterior motive becomes obvious and sheds a negative light on the pious characters in this title. In order to survive in the ruins, and the other civilization beyond them, you’ll need to partner with demons to have them join your party and fight their own kind. Some may ask to join your party in exchange for letting them live, though most of them will want some items or your health/mana to sweeten the deal.