Shin Megami Tensei (iOS) – now there’s a question you don’t get asked every day

The series that spawned fan favourite Persona sees one of its very earliest incarnations come to iOS, but have the years been kind?

It’s always interesting to imagine what would have happened to the video games industry if more Japanese role-players were released in the West back when they were originally created. It must seem bizarre to younger gamers to think that until Final Fantasy VII in 1997 none of the mainline series had ever been released in Europe. And not a single Dragon Quest was available on these shores until numbered VIII arrived in 2006. America was treated better in the ’80s and early ’90s but it still never got games as daring and provocative as Shin Megami Tensei.



Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call (aka Nocturne) was the first of the series to be released in Europe, in 2005. Although here America only fared slightly better, having received the first Persona game in 1996 but nothing else other than much more obscure spin-offs such as the Pokémon-esque DemiKids and The Demon Slayer. Lucifer’s Call was the third in the mainline series and this iOS release is the first time the original has ever officially been available in the West – and it’s not hard to see why.

The name isn’t a help admittedly, and since it translates to the phrase ‘True Goddess Reincarnation’ it’s not surprising that publisher Atlus has never found a way to easily market the game abroad. This isn’t the first entry in the series though, as that actually came several years earlier with Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and its sequel on the NES. The word ‘shin’ means ‘true’ but it’s also often used as a prefix in a similar manner to how we might use ‘all-new’ in English.


That’s quite the history lesson but it’s important to understand not just how old Shin Megam Tensei is but how many other games it went on to inspire. Originally released in 1992 on the SNES, this is a straight port of the original version. That means no change to the two-decade old graphics and the dubious decision to map the controls to a virtual joypad.

But despite doing nothing to help itself in appealing to non-fans the game is still a fascinating departure from the usual role-playing clichés. It’s not set in some Tolkien-esque fantasy world, but modern day Japan. Albeit one that is being invaded by supernatural creatures that the game refers to as demons, but which are not necessarily evil at all and are drawn from a wide variety of worldwide religions, cultures, and myths.

Indeed, one of the principle elements of the game is that your character has an app which allows them to communicate with and recruit demons to help them. In the context of the story so too does a Japanese general who attempts a coup d’état and draws America into the conflict.

The Japanese perspective on the story isn’t just evident in the politics but also the freeness with which it mixes Norse, Christian, and Eastern religious elements without any care as to whether it might offend – no doubt because nobody at the time imagined anyone outside of Japan ever playing it.

Shin Megami Tensei (iOS) – and this is just from the first few minutes

The problem is though that as unusual as these story elements are in general the set-up is pretty much the same as all Shin Megami Tensei games, which tend not to have any direct story links but instead reinterpret the same basic themes and plotlines. This older game is particularly blasé with its Christian iconography but it’s still essentially the same plot as a number of the subsequent sequels.



This creates a problem because the gameplay is also very similar, and yet naturally far less refined. Like many of the very earliest role-playing games Shin Megami Tensei uses a first person perspective, but where you move and navigate in 90 degree steps, like Dungeon Keeper. The game is filled with random battles and these are resolved via a fairly standard Dragon Quest style turn-based system.

Recruiting demons by talking to them, and learning the likes and dislikes of each type, does help distinguish the game from other franchises, as does combining demons to make new more powerful forms. But again it’s something that is common to almost all the other Megami Tensei games – including Persona.

All of which means there’s very little that is unique in Shin Megami Tensei and almost everything in it has been done better elsewhere. This is a similar problem to when the first two Persona games were re-released, and this does bear particular similarity to the first Persona – both mechanically and graphically. Although since the original Persona had none of the latter games’ social link elements it was missing those parts which have made the spin-off series so popular today.

Shin Megami Tensei fares a little better by seeming both more complete and enjoying a more unrestrained style of storytelling than would be possible today. That said, in terms of mechanics it’s still a very old school role-playing game with a sheer cliff face of a difficulty curve and random battles that are far too frequent and repetitive.


And yet in terms of plot, setting, and the more adventure-style exploration and puzzles it is a far more enjoyable game to play now than many other role-players of the same period. In fact it’s a bit dispiriting to realise how little other games have moved on since 1992 and how it’s only Persona, and not the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games, that have properly evolved in the intervening time.

Certainly Shin Megami Tensei IV on the 3DS has proven quite a letdown, and although its lack of a European release is disappointing so is the game itself. But we have great hopes for Persona 5, which is due out in Japan this year and in the West in 2015. And if it’s as good as fans are hoping it will be in large part due to the solid foundations laid down by its predecessors.

In Short: A fascinating look at the early days of one of the most consistently interesting Japanese role-playing franchises, although for many it will be just a little too old school.

Pros: Fascinatingly provocative story that uses religious elements in a way modern games would never dare. More puzzle and exploration elements than other contemporary role-players.

Cons: Old school difficulty and random battles wear down your interest . Simplistic graphics and fusion mechanics compared to newer sequels. Virtual joypad is awkward and distracting.

Score: 5/10

Formats: iOS

Price: £3.99*

Publisher: Atlus

Developer: Atlus

Release Date: 18th March 2014

Age Rating: 12+

Only till March 31, at which point the price will increase by an unspecified amount.


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