Shin Megami Tensei
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Title:
- Shin Megami Tensei
Systems & Dates:
- Super Famicom - 1992.10.30
- NEC PC-Engine Super CD-ROM - 1993.12.25
- Sega Mega-CD - 1994.02.25
The sequel to the Famicom game Megami Tensei, and is also known as Digital Devil Story.
Shin Megami Tensei is an RPG by Atlus that was released on many platforms. It was originally released on the Super FamiCom and was later released on the Sega CD. The game was later re-released on the PlayStation and was later re-released on the GameBoy Advance to build hype for the game Shin Megami Tensei III. Shin Megami Tensei is a Megaten game.
Spin offs include the Persona, Devil Summoner and Digital Devil Saga series.
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Gameplay
The Gameplay basically revolves around acquiring demons via negotiation, bribing and coercion. Once yours, they can be stored in your portable computer and be summoned for a small portion of Magnetite (a secondary currency in the game) to be used in combat.
Shin Megami Tensei is played in a first-person view, like many old RPGs are such as Aspic and The Black Onyx. The player moves around dungeons with a party of six characters.
The game features two types of characters: Humans and Demons.
Humans
There are four human characters in Shin Megami Tensei. They are the Hero, the Law Hero, the Chaos Hero and the Heroine (all named by the player). The Hero has the ability to converse with, recruit, extort and summon demons. The Hero has no magic, the ability to summon demons is enough. The Law Hero has healing magic, Zan (psychic wave) and other various spells. The Chaos Hero has Agi (Fire) spells along with various status-ailment spells and some status removers. The Heroine has healing, Zio (electricity), status removers and status ailments.
All the human characters can equip Guns, Bullets, Swords and different armor types. they are also the only ones capable of levelling up and have their Stats upgraded.
This, some might say, makes human characters considerably stronger than the majority of demons, especially since the Guns' power and number of attacks per turn, in conjuntion with ailments provided by the Bullets, could decimate enemy demons.
Shin megami tensei III, however, does away with equipment, and instead has the protagonist equipping, or rather, INGESTING symbiotic lifeforms known as Magatamas. These allow the Hero to change his Strengths and Weaknesses ( a VERY important aspect in SMT3) and bestow special skills and spells every 1 or 2 experience level-ups.
Demons
There are a wide variety of demons from various mythologies in Shin Megami Tensei. Note that the term demon is a catch-all term and that anything from a Pixie to an Angel to an Incubus are considered demons. Each Demon has up to three abilities. These abilities are set in stone (unlike the ability system in SMTII or SMTIII) and cannot be changed. They also each have unique resistances and weaknesses to certain attacks.
Story
The setting: Tokyo, 199x. Demons from the netherealms have found their way back into earth in Japan through computers, and as such have upset the balance of power. A charismatic human japanese leader attempts a coup-d'etat using these demons as a potent military force, forcing America to intervene with its military.
Shin Megami Tensei begins with the player dreaming. In his dream, he encounters a stone slab that asks his name, a boy on a crucifix and another boy being tormented by a demon. After this, he wakes up and receives an e-mail informing him that demons wander the earth once again. To allow him combat to the demons, a Devil Summoning Program is attached to the e-mail.
After these odd events, the Hero's mother tells him about a murder that occurred last night. He receives his allowance and hangs out at the mall. At the mall, he is attacked by a demon, after it eats a crazy man with a knife. After this, he goes home and goes back to sleep again.
Then, he has another dream. This time, a girl is being sacrificed to summon a great demon. The Hero invokes her name, and she is set free from the summoners' control. Template:Cvg-stub