#smt1 spoilers

[rustyvanburace]

While I do like SMT1′s Heroine / Yuka well enough, as a neutral rep, I do honestly think she is the weakest in the series. At least in post-apocalypse Tokyo.

Prior to that, she is the leader of a resistance movement opposing both Gotou’s and Thorman’s power grabs. She is adamant that their causes will only bring Tokyo destruction and that these men cannot be reasoned with. Her allies hold a lot of respect for her. She does have a strong connection to the Hero, but she doesn’t shirk her core beliefs either. She firmly knows and asserts where she stands and that is great.

But come post-apocalypse Tokyo, Yuka completely devotes her entire being to the Hero after being rescued and, most egregiously, even changes her alignment to mirror his own. And aside from the tiny bit of dialogue in the game credits, there is no more dialogue from her after her rescue. She essentially ceases being her own character and becomes a magically-inclined mirror of the protagonist.

And while yes SMT1 is an early JRPG and its writing is simple, plus her explanation that she forgot everything else from her past life in 199X, it is still quite disappointing how Yuka goes from being a staunch rebel with her own values into a silent mirror. I would even argue that Yuka may not even be the game’s true neutral rep, but rather that honor goes to the Old Man / Taishang Laojun.

(SMT4 spoilers) I occasionally see people say that Isabeau from SMTIV is the weakest neutral rep, mainly because she initially lacks conviction. But I have to disagree with this assessment as, while yes she starts off that way, she does still come to form her own values and doesn’t let her fellow samurai sway her in that process. Isabeau declines to join Flynn when he accompanies either Jonathan or Walter, preferring to seek answers elsewhere on her own terms. And when she finally does form her own conviction, she sticks to it and refuses to level herself with Flynn if he ultimately did sided with law or chaos. In spite of the anguish it causes her having to fight him. Unlike Yuka, Isabeau stays true to herself no matter the route the player takes.

This is, of course, not to say that I dislike Yuka. I do think she had a lot of room for potential and I’m left wanting so much more out of her. She started off on a very high note and then just completely fell flat.

[danifart]

um.

[chai-en-kaadhale]

thinking about how persona 5 royal lowkey had a similar structure to a traditional smt game (kinda fitting since you were overturning a whole "world")

maruki going "if you go by my ending, you will get a perfect life but you will lose all agency" was pretty law route of him, and akechi and sumire's rejection of that was pretty chaos route of them

also the whole "eden" theme marukis castle had going on

in the end, its up to the messiah- joker in maruki's world to choose a path forward

except theres no real neutral route (a kid ik said that arguably the ending after maxxing out akechis social link where he walks by your train could be the neutral route but thats a hard maybe for me.)

you could also argue for the phantom theives winning being the neutral route and there being no chaos ending but eh

[vixy-exists]

So I finally made a continuation of one of my previous posts. So take Yuka in Seraph's clothes this time! (+an Ardha cosplay I guess)

I'm also gonna include this as well hehe

[kidcapes]

Shin Megami Tensei's Canon Ending

Happy 31st birthday to Shin Megami Tensei (10/30)!

To celebrate, I made a video called "Shin Megami Tensei's Canon Ending" investigating the events between SMT1 and 2 and discussing the evidence for the popular fan-theory that the Neutral route is the canon ending to the original Shin Megami Tensei.

For the video, I had a short Q&A interview with ATLUS contractor  Nobuyuki Shioda, who's worked on several MegaTen books since 1992 to see his opinion on the topic. If you're interested, I'll be posting that discussion below.

I'd recommend watching the video before coming to any conclusion based on the following information. The interview was premised around me just going over all of the evidence that points to Neutral being the canon route before asking his opinion on the topic, so there's no mention of any counter-evidence in this discussion. This will also feature minor spoilers for SMT1, 2, and Raidou 1. ——————————————————————————————————

Context

I’m not familiar with the Japanese fanbase, but the Western fanbase generally considers the Neutral route to be the only SMT1 ending that could lead directly to SMT2. 

This idea is largely based on story events introduced by SMT2. Its manual talks about how between the events of SMT1 and before the Messians gained power, Tokyo was a free society where both Messians and Gaeans were welcome. 

In SMT2 Game Boy Advance's Visionary Items, the character Madam's butler talks about having a master who was opposed to the Center and helped build Valhalla. This is assumed to be referring to the Hero, SMT1’s protagonist. In the original game, he has a statue dedicated to him in the Valhalla Colosseum and Madam is shown to work with Cerberus, the Hero's pet demon. 

Later, in "Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army" in the Akarana Corridor, there is a spirit in the year 203X who says, “Thank goodness for the unification. My wife was a Messiah [Messian], y’know. We owe a lot to that schoolboy with the gadget on his arm, who defeated all the gods and demons.” This mention of God and the devil may be referring to Law and Chaos. 

Finally, there is an English guide for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne titled “Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - Official Strategy Guide” that contains a detailed history of the series which says: “It [SMT2] presumes a world where the original game’s protagonist took a Neutral alignment and founded a utopian society whose citizens were free to follow whatever beliefs they chose.” However, when I went to check the Japanese version of this guide, this entire section of the book was missing.

This is all of the evidence I can think of that points towards a possible “true” Neutral ending for SMT1 into SMT2.

Questions

——What’s your initial opinion of the idea that Neutral has to be the route that the SMT1 Hero chose which led to SMT2?

“Since Neutral is presented in a way that can be easily perceived as a so-called ‘true ending,’ it is probably only ‘theoretically possible’ that the sequel is an extension of it.”

——Do you think this evidence points towards the Neutral route making the most sense?

“As mentioned above, it is likely that regardless of whether or not the story of SMT1 ends 'in the extreme', it would have stabilized in a way that would lead to SMT2, even if the outcome appeared to be different at the end of SMT1. Likely, whether or not it ‘makes sense’ is a low priority.”

——If you agree with the previous question, why do you personally think the staff would've chosen this?

“I believe that each staff member has different views. However, I suppose they might consider it ‘undesirable’ to announce it in an official statement.”

——In MegaTen Maniacs, what did the writer mean by “royal road” [王道] in this passage: 

“If the existence that created the world is lost, the survival of that world would undoubtedly be called into question, but it can be said that daring to do so and opening up the future with one's own hands is the “royal road” to take in the story. However, the route structure of ‘MegaTen,’ which branches off into ‘Law,’ ‘Neutral,’ and ‘Chaos,’ is a severe constraint that prevents the story from being summed up in terms of the “royal road” alone. For example, although the ideal model of the Neutral route may end up on the “royal road,” an ending that is biased toward Law or Chaos would be unacceptable from the player's perspective unless a ‘different ideal’ can be presented.”  

How is Neutral similar to this “royal road”?

“The term ‘royal road’ is used as a general pattern of storytelling in ‘other (non-MegaTen)’ RPGs. I think that the form of story that the creators wanted to write is close to ‘royal road’ as the ‘ideal model’ of what should be presented.”

——If Neutral can be viewed as the ideal route, can we assume that the SMT1 Hero chose it?

“Although it is an imaginative story, and not everyone will agree with it, being unbiased is a kind of virtue, and even Buddhism respects it by calling it the ‘Middle Way,’* which I understand is appropriate for a protagonist.”

——In MegaTen Maniacs, you mentioned that you could not comment on what ending the Hero chose in SMT1. Did you have a specific reason for saying this?

“‘MegaTen Maniacs’ is an official book, but it can be said that in Japan it is difficult to appreciate this kind of content in a text. This is especially true for such a young culture as video games. I also think that ATLUS did not have enough time to examine this writing (mainly due to the lateness of my manuscript), given the limited time available for publication. In that sense, these texts are my texts that I wrote. They may be officially approved considerations, but they are not identical to what the production staff had in mind.

To answer your question, I could say that 'it was better without it,' but since the book was a publication of material that allows players to understand that such points were considered in the production process, I believe they would have deeper gaming experience if they were to play the game again with that understanding.”

——In Ayakashi Monthly Special Final Issue, a comment on the Nocturne draft mentions that SMT2 is a parallel world to SMT1. It is sometimes said that if... or Devil Summoner and Persona are parallel worlds to SMT1. Is this a similar scenario to those games? 

However, I can also see this statement metaphorically referencing ATLUS staff explaining about how SMT2's setting was purposefully meant to be vaguely set after SMT1. 

What is your opinion on the idea that SMT2 is in a parallel world of SMT1?

“This one had a generous editing period, and Atlus also took the time to check the text on top of the content checks by ‘Famitsu,’ which was also editing the book.

From the viewpoint of game development, describing it as 'parallel' means that it can be influenced by the actions of the player. This is what the use of 'parallel' means in this text, and is separate from a parallel in the narrative itself. The expression 'SMT2 is a parallel world to SMT1' has been used in promotional materials since the release of SMT2 on the SNES, and I also use it in my articles, but I think it means that SMT2 can accommodate any state of personal swing** [or outcome chosen] by a SMT1 player.”

——If we assume that it's specifically the Neutral ending of SMT1 that actually led to SMT2 based on the previous statements, do you think that this retroactively makes Neutral the "true" ending for SMT1?

“Close to it, I would say. Not completely, perhaps. I think it is something that has never existed in the history of Japanese game software.”

——What opinion concerning SMT1's "true" ending do you see the most among the Japanese fanbase?

“I think the majority of Japanese players see a 'True End' as a 'longer (in a sense) and more compelling ('favorable') ending' than the other endings. In that sense, I think SMT1's Neutral route meets the criteria. It is also, even if not consciously, the 'Middle Way'. I think that many players who enjoy MegatTen like to think about the significance of such works, but I don't think that there are many who exchange and examine their opinions (each Megaten fan may have their own unique interpretation).”

——Just to clarify, do you have any opinion on how a canon route for SMT1 may relate to those specific quotes from SMT2 or Raidou 1?

“Raidou 1 is cleverly made, but I don't think it's anything more than one part of the multiverse, as it was retroactively added to the initial conception of the narrative framework. 

SMT2 is also a story that was considered from the beginning to some extent, but changes occurred during its production, so fundamentally, there is no perfect continuity. 

It can be said that there is no such thing.”

* The Middle Way is a Buddhist concept that preaches moderation in everything as the key to enlightenment. This is referenced in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse by Stephen. **  The word used here is 振れ幅, which means imprecision or variance, so when he says “personal variables” he’s essentially referring to someone's headcanon or fan-theory.

Original Text

——What’s your initial opinion of the idea that Neutral has to be the route that the SMT1 Hero chose which led to SMT2?

「 Neutralはいわゆる「真のエンディング」と捉えやすい形で提示されているため、続編がその延長線上にあるというのは、「理論的に可能」ということに過ぎないのではないでしょうか。」

——Do you think this evidence points towards the Neutral route making the most sense?

「 前述したように、SMT1の物語は「極論すれば」どう終わったとしても、SMT1の終わりの時点では異なるエンディングに見えても、SMT2に繋がる形に落ち着いていた、とも考えられます。恐らく、「理にかなっている」かどうかは価値観の順列としては低いのではないのでしょうか。」

——If you agree with the previous question, why do you personally think the staff would've chosen this?

「スタッフは人それぞれで異なる見解を持っていると思います。ただし、公式なステートメントではそれを発表することは「望ましくない」」と考えているかもしれませんね。」

——In MegaTen Maniacs, what did the writer mean by “royal road” [王道] in this passage: 

“If the existence that created the world is lost, the survival of that world would undoubtedly be called into question, but it can be said that daring to do so and opening up the future with one's own hands is the “royal road” to take in the story. However, the route structure of ‘MegaTen,’ which branches off into ‘Law,’ ‘Neutral,’ and ‘Chaos,’ is a severe constraint that prevents the story from being summed up in terms of the “royal road” alone. For example, although the ideal model of the Neutral route may end up on the “royal road,” an ending that is biased toward Law or Chaos would be unacceptable from the player's perspective unless a ‘different ideal’ can be presented.”  

How is Neutral similar to this “royal road”?

「王道という言葉は、一般的な「他の（メガテン以外の）」RPGにおける物語のパターンという意味で使っています。制作者たちの書きたかった物語の形が、提示すべき「理想形」として「王道」に近いのだと思っています。 」

——If Neutral can be viewed as the ideal route, can we assume that the SMT1 Hero chose it?

「 イメージ的な話で誰にでもそれが好ましいというわけではあせんが、偏りがないことは一種の美徳ではあり、仏教でも中道と呼んで尊重するところがあり、主人公としてふさわしいと理解できます。」

——In MegaTen Maniacs, you mentioned that you could not comment on what ending the Hero chose in SMT1. Did you have a specific reason for saying this?

「公式の書籍である『メガテンマニアクス』ですが、日本ではこうした内容の文章を評価することが難しいと言うことができます。特にゲームという年若い文化では余計にそうだと思います。また発行まで時間のない中ではアトラスさんには、この文章を吟味する時間が足りなかったと思います（主に、私の原稿が遅かったことに原因があります）。そういう意味では、こうしたテキストは書いた私の文章だと思います。公式に認められた考察ではあるかもしれませんが、制作スタッフの考えていたことと同一ではありません。

質問の回答としては、「それはなくても良かった」、とも言えますが、制作していく上でそういった点も考えられているということが理解できる資料を公開した書籍ですから、理解してまた遊んでいただけるなら、より深いゲーム体験になるのではないかと思います。」

——In Ayakashi Monthly Special Final Issue, a comment on the Nocturne draft mentions that SMT2 is a parallel world to SMT1. It is sometimes said that if... or Devil Summoner and Persona are parallel worlds to SMT1. Is this a similar scenario to those games? 

However, I can also see this statement metaphorically referencing ATLUS staff explaining about how SMT2's setting was purposefully meant to be vaguely set after SMT1. 

What is your opinion on the idea that SMT2 is in a parallel world of SMT1?

「 こちらの方が編集期間には余裕があって、テキストについても編集をしている「ファミ通」の内容チェックの上で、アトラスさんも時間をかけてチェックをされています。

ゲームを制作する上では、「パラレル」と表現することは、プレイヤーの行動によって左右されることも含みます。物語じょうにあるパラレルとは別のものといえます。このテキストでのパラレルという表現は、そうした意図で書いています。「『真II』が『真I』のパラレルワールドであると」いう言葉はSFCの真IIの発売当時からプロモーションの中でも表現としてあったもので、私も記事中で使っていますが、真Iのプレイヤーによるパーソナルな振れ幅のどの状態にも真IIは対応している、ということだと考えています。」

——If we assume that it's specifically the Neutral ending of SMT1 that actually led to SMT2 based on the previous statements, do you think that this retroactively makes Neutral the "true" ending for SMT1?

「 それに近い、とは言えるでしょう。完全に、ではないかもしれません。たぶん、日本のゲームソフトの歴史の上にはなかったものだと思います。」

——What opinion concerning SMT1's "true" ending do you see the most among the Japanese fanbase?

「日本人のプレイヤーの大半は、『トゥルーエンド』は他のエンドよりも「（ある意味）長く、説得力のある（好ましい）エンディング」といった考え方と理解していると思います。そういう意味で真IのNEUTRALは条件に合致していると思います。意識してはいなかったとしても、「中道」であることもです。メガテンを好むフレイヤ―はそういった作品の意味性について考えることが好きな方も多いと思いますが、意見を交換したり考察したりする人は少ないと思います（メガテンのファンは、それぞれ独自の解釈をしているかもしれませんね）。 」

——Just to clarify, do you have any opinion on how a canon route for SMT1 may relate to those specific quotes from SMT2 or Raidou 1?

「超力兵団は非常に巧く作っていますが、当初から考えられていた物語構造に後付けで作っていることでマルチバースのひとつ以上にはなり得ないとは思います。

真IIもある程度当初から考えられてきた物語ですが、制作している間に変化は生じていますから、基本的には完全な連続性

はないと言えます。」

[raidante]

Hey just stumbled on your blog and I LOVE YOUR OC DESIGNS and would love to know the lore to them are

THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!! LIKE SERIOUSLY!! THIS SHIT MAKES ME WANNA CRY!! Thank you so fucking much.

Well it's pretty transparent that they are all SMT based OCs, the scenario they're from is essentially my fan SMT game scenario because I just... really want a really good true to form SMT game that leans into stuff that made the series unique... as well as I love imagining the idea of what if this game came out in like, the early 2000's like Nocturne did for funsies with limited hardware pushed to it's fullest extent.

Each character of course has their own individual backstory and eventual motivations for their alignments and relationship with the world + the protagonist, but some of it I am sortttt of wanting to keep hush hush cuz it's like...spoilers! But at the same time, there is no way this will ever actually become a game cuz I know next to nothing on how to develop games :( But idk how else to translate the way I want to tell the story without it being one you know? I think the most transparent I am in terms of lore and story is protag cuz he's the one who's most fleshed out + the one you experience everything through so obviously everything about him is pretty transparent to the Player from the get-go.

The story involves themes of identity, ego, and birth. Heavy on the birth and rebirth aspect, physically and spiritually. Our relationship with ourselves and what it means to be born into a new person as we progress through our lives, being shaped by our experiences and understandings. Even when we think we truly know ourselves, there will always be aspects of ourselves that go through reactions and changes in response to things. Overall, I think SMT is about change and how people react and reflect to that change. Each character goes through their own interpretations of what they want the world to change into, and to achieve it by their own actions... be the change you want to see in the world and all that.

Its a reason why I want the protag to be someone who was very average and just one of the many many youths living in Tokyo when the bombs dropped. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was one of the first victims of it. I don't want it to be explicitly the same bombs from SMT1--you know, the ones that were dropped on Tokyo to fight the demons, but it's pretty much implied. Those who didn't die to the intial hit probably died to the after effects of the radiation, or became pickings for demons. It doesn't really matter how he died, just that he did, and it's the last thing he remembers before waking up as we know him now.

Don't know why the visual image of fetuses and birth intrigues me so... but it does. Like, as a narrative, because there's something powerful and beautiful yet absolutely terrifying about it. And it can sort of encompass every aspect of our lives, too... it also can mark the beginning of something new. That's what it's like for this Protag...he knows who he is but at the same time he doesn't understand it all together. He had accepted his death and now he was here, alive, again, made into something new from the recycled old parts of him. almost like a second chance, but who really believes in that kind'a stuff?

One thing I really wanted to make sure was to translate the fact that my protagonist is Human. Human physically, Human down to his core. He might not be the traditional sense of a human, but he is made of the same parts as humans are, with the same functioning organs, and the same level of understanding. He is human, just like... a human made in the true image of Man, because his body was fastened together by tools created by Man. Like how God made man with tools created by God?? Imagine that but Man creating his own, like a real true son of mankind...

Maybe it's evolution's way of adapting to the new world? Co-existing with the state of a post war, post society earth.

[neomedievalist]

I posted 14,050 times in 2022

That's 2,320 more posts than 2021!

1,587 posts created (11%)

12,463 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@smt1

@transvamp

@p2ep

@headworld

@mansematu

I tagged 4,867 of my posts in 2022

#data - 1,021 posts

#img - 149 posts

#smtiv - 110 posts

#fav - 90 posts

#text - 38 posts

#prev - 37 posts

#audio - 33 posts

#sleepycore - 23 posts

#smt - 22 posts

#aitsf spoilers - 20 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#obviously it’s good to be careful about these things but did you read where in the article low income people are disproportionately affected

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i hope every prof who says ‘no late penalty no extensions if its not in on the due date you get a 0′ gets actually killed and eaten by demons

1,854 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

#4

GET FUCKING ARJUNA’D IDIOT

See the full post

1,948 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

#3

ok i made the . splatoon cookies from that post *WARNING. THIS SHIT TAKES SO FUCKING LONG. GOOD LORD.* PUTTING THEM in the oven now pleas e pray for me that they look good after they’re baked

7,549 notes - Posted August 18, 2022

#2

See the full post

13,093 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

119,682 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[thebladeblaster]

More messiah adventures

Flynn is a Disney princess pass it on.

Outtake

Naobi: (godly voice) Never ask me that question again.

*The Hero having absolutely no idea how he’s doing that, but is still freaked out.*

[jieanette]

Also have these screenshots

I have a horrible sense of humour but I love it

[tinsil]

so your mom died, the state collapsed, the world as you know it ended in a nuclear blast and now demons freely walk the earth. at least you still have us!!

[rustyvanburace]

It’s May 23rd in JST now and Shin Megami Tensei IV celebrates its 10th year anniversary...

I bought this game during the Atlus 3DS mega sale last year, initially having doubts as there were some things about IV I was hesitant on. I had only just played SMT Nocturne and V at the time, being a series greenhorn then, who of course couldn’t say no those unbeatable sales. I don’t think I would have even bought IV if it weren’t for the huge discount. I asked my Twitter followers whether my next game should be this or Strange Journey Redux.

I’m so thankful now that they picked IV for me. (Spoilers below)

Almost immediately upon playing IV, I was absorbed by its mysterious narrative and surprising use of setting. Compared to Nocturne and V, which both relied heavily on atmospheric story-telling and intentional vagueness in their cast (which I can also appreciate), I had practically fallen in love overnight with IV’s intricate world-building and its down-to-earth cast. Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau were more than just vehicles used to propel an alignment, but they were first and foremost people with their own lives, dreams, interests, strengths, and comedic setbacks. Even the most minor of characters had so much to say. And then, as I already really enjoyed the Press Turn System, having it still in IV and tying it all together with the Smirk mechanic made it all the more fun and satisfying for me. Very early on I was challenged by the game’s merciless difficulty that kept me fully engaged. I felt so triumphant when I finally did topple the Minotaur and Medusa.

Surprisingly IV’s story was something that had long eluded me and felt so at-a-distance. I already knew a couple (spoilery) things about other SMT games I hadn’t played yet, but somehow IV kept itself hidden. I of course knew that Tokyo would be coming and I already had a lot of preconceptions and expectations as I played. But despite those, IV still surprised me and seized my being into becoming a participant and witness. I still felt the weight of rediscovering Tokyo. I expected Issachar to become a jealous rival and I mourned his death all the same. I was shaken by the immediate parallels I saw that was happening in real-life (like the book bans). I was confronted by weighted choices that actually made me stop to confront my own beliefs, far more than Nocturne and V ever did, and then left me to deal with the consequences of those choices. When Walter finally turned on Jonathan at the meeting with Lilith, thereby severing their friendships for their own beliefs, I was literally shaking with trembling hands holding my 3DS. I already knew of Blasted and Internal Tokyos way ahead cause of a guide I was using, but never actually expected them to be alternate worlds or to be confronted by phantoms coaxing me to bring about a nihilistic end.

My gut wrenched in mourning when I heard Issachar’s true voice spoken through The White. And again when, having taken the chaos route, heard Jonathan’s dying breath after slaying Merkabah. I was heartbroken too that my actions and decisions lead to Walter’s and Isabeau’s own deaths too.

After initially doubting this game and having convinced myself that Nocturne would probably be the only SMT game I really like, my doubts and expectations were thoroughly dashed at very turn. IV had hit every nail on the head in a RPG I had, at the time, been struggling to find in a lot of other RPGs.

I love SMT IV. I plainly do. Its heavy weight and darkness, but also glimmer of hope that shines in-between, has been a source of both engrossment and comfort. Now having played every mainline game, I can partly understand why a lot of people were/are very hard on IV because of how much it harkens back to SMT1 and 2. But having played those myself now, those experiences only makes me appreciate IV that much more as what I see as a celebration of SMT’s long history and the beauty of its story-telling. And I think that to just dismiss IV as a mere copy of previous games is showing disrepect toward how much loving care and attention to detail was invested into the directing, writing, and overall development of this game. As well as how it creatively re-imagines and ties 1 and 2′s narratives together. IV has even got guest illustrators who contributed art pieces and new demon designs. SMT IV is not a lazy rehash by any means, but a celebration of what came before and what could come next.

My first passing encounter with IV, actually, was many years ago. Long before I even got into SMT. It was with the release of IV Apocalypse in 2016. It had very briefly caught my attention then and I think I had considered trying it. In the end I didn’t but I sometimes wonder to myself what if I had. Would it have led to me becoming curious in the prequel and discovering IV a lot sooner? Would I have become this enamoured with IV as I am today? Or would I have just lost interest while playing IV Apocalypse, not finding it as satisfying or having difficulty following it, and thereby never give IV a chance? I actually do love IV Apocalypse, but a lot of that hinges on IV itself. Though I often wish to myself I had discovered IV a long time ago, I also think now it is good and even better that I discovered it during this tumultuous point in present time and personal life. So much of my love for IV is tied to bringing me much needed comfort, introducing me to friends who I now love, and even just hitting every head in a RPG I’ve been looking for.

So I think then that, yes, it was good actually that IV eluded me for this long until that Atlus 3DS sale happened. And I am immensely grateful for that as, again, I don’t think I would’ve given IV a chance if not for that. All else I can say is, thank you again Atlus and all those who contributed, for bringing this game to light.

[garmmy]

garm‘s video game wrap-up 2020

i’ve previously posted these on twitter but i realised i haven’t posted them here; anyway, i’ve completed a number of games this year, and they’re all SO GOOD i have so much trouble choosing faves!

plus i felt a little bad not being able to fanart for all these games i loved, so this is just a short post with little doodles and (spoiler-free!) thoughts on the games i’ve played this year, copied from the earlier twitter thread.

- ys ix: ys ix is SO GOOD, you'd think the city seems a bit drab at first but it's actually so fun to explore (i rarely 100% games but i had to get 100% exploration). i really love the monstrum and also the designs and their stories are 😭👌 

- pokemon shield: i had lots of fun with it!! (haven't bought the dlc though..) i appreciate that this was the most invested i've been in filling the pokedex since gen 5. still not the biggest fan of the pokemon design style this gen, but i've definitely warmed up to it a bit :> 

- atelier iris: the music is sooo good and the party characters were a tight bunch too! i'm so glad for lita;; though i only really understood how the shop upgrading thing worked later in the game so i probably missed out a good chunk of events T_T 

- atelier iris 2: MY PERSONAL GOTY, it isn't anything super epic but the characters, story, graphics, music are just so charming;; it's like reading a kid/young teen fantasy novel but in game form! it's overall such a well-rounded, sweet package imo and i love it for what it is!! 

- virtue's last reward: this was probably the most i used my brain for this year LOL, and i remember panicking thinking i somehow didn't have the last password!! (i had written it on another paper i threw somewhere.) and what can i say, i love the siggy/phido duo;; 

- ghost trick: this was long overdue and i see why everyone says PLAY IT!! sadly as a game it's quite short, but it was a perfect length for its story and it's just so..creative? brilliant? i'd love more games like this, for now i'll just echo everyone and say play ghost trick. 

- zero time dilemma: i am way biased towards D-team 😂 animation was fairly rough and there's a particular part i hated watching over again, but other than those it was still a fun ride and these puzzle rooms! always make me nostalgic for flash point-and-click games, i love them. 

- digital devil saga/dds2: the setting is just INSANE there's nothing quite like it, and the avatar designs are just AMAZING. i personally wish it was..slightly less dungeon and more story/characters, but it's actually a really nice balance between smt and persona as-is, imo. 

- tokyo xanadu ex+: music-wise this is my 2nd fave this year behind atelier iris 2, the music is just INSANELY good and makes running through dungeons 100x more fun. the XRC is also precious;; and i love the side-story format for showing character events. 

- strange journey redux: AMAZING atmosphere as is typical in smt;; also smt1 was the first smt game i completed and devil summoner is among my faves, so the whole 1st-person dungeon crawling, stupid dark rooms/pitfalls/teleport traps make me go 'yea this sure is an smt game'. 😂 

- trails of cold steel iv: there is just sooo much content, and it is honestly such a joy to see EVERYONE IS HERE. i just love new class vii so much;; if anything, trails games are such a treasure trove of character dialogue and always leave me wanting more.. 

- hajimari no kiseki: not finished yet, but this will probably be my last for the year. i personally LOVE the garden/episode setup in sky 3rd, so i'm really glad to see it again in this game. the cross-story mechanic is fun too, and there's just so much to do!!

[eirikrjs]

(1/2) Hello! Long-time Wizardy player and short-time SMT player here. I'm not overtly familiar with mythology, especially concerning settings or locales so I turn to you for this-- While stomping through the halls of the Schwarzwelt, I had a thought about the actual designs and layouts of the dungeons itself.. I mention Wizardry earlier, because in IV (spoilers here for the uninitiated!) the final, secret floor below the very first floor you start at is a rough map of the Kabbalah/Tree of Life..

(2/2) ..when looked at on a grid. The actual floor itself dispenses riddles related to the Sephirah, and you get to ascend and become an enlightened master of arcane arts or whatever you would like to call it. Typical Wizardry tomfoolery. My question comes here, does SMT have any such particular specific theming in any of their dungeons? Areas expressly shaped after symbolic elements in mythology, perhaps even riddles related to/based around them? Also, thanks for running this blog, it's great stuff!

Hi! Thanks for reading!

There are two examples in SMT that immediately come to mind. First is the Diamond Realm in SMT1. I’ll use a map drawn by my old pal Touya (one of the few easily found):

It’s from this post here: http://jurakubookstore.blogspot.com/2015/05/megaten-and-shugendo-lets-play-shin.html

You can find out more there but the gist is that the map’s layout with its most important characters in the center (G = Goki, E = En no Ozuno, Z = Zenki) resembles a mandala, though it’s a bit too abstract to resemble the actual Diamond Realm mandalas. If anything it’s closer to the Tibetan version but so would any grid with a central point of interest.

Second is Digital Devil Saga 2 and this map:

This hexagram has so many implications like the hexagram logo the series used to use, the Seal of Solomon that the logo is based on and uses as a symbol for demon summoning, or, given the Indian religious themes in DDS, some usage of the hexagram from Indian culture. Something like the Shatkona makes more sense to me, interlocking triangles that represent the union of male and female. Plus this floor is a teleporter maze, so the whole embodies the very best of SMT!

[smtlaw]

I was wondering what do you guys think is [record scratch]'s origin?

Spoiler for SMT1, SJ and Devil survivor Ahead

I was wondering what most fans think is the past of one of the most popular Megaten characters, at first its easy to assume he is basically the creator but there is speculation and some implications in game about othewise

Personally i think in order to talk about his past, you also have to talk about the past of most Megaten settings and the origin of the 3 major alignments in the games, so i think it went down like this:

Chaos does seems to be older than Law, which probably means most Chaos gods are older then [record scratch]

You get mentions of how life was when Chaos gods were still in control in SMT 1 : Echidna : in the past the god of law banished many gods, including myself to the expanse, an age where gods and human prospered side by side ended So there is some impliaction that [record scratch] and the lawful gods are treated more as usurpers

Asura mentions how the rise of order was the thing that ruined their ideal world in SJ : Asura before his boss fight : the human spirit was once beatiful, the strong ruled the people, while the people respected the strong, cursing their own weakness but the foolish notion of "order" has caused the human spirit to whiter and decay"

And finally you get mentions of how [record scratch] took control over reality in Devil survivor : Gigolo : Bel was a powerful being that once ruled the world, around 600 B.C another powerful being named [record scratch] came around, taking dominance, thats the being currently worshipped as "God" who is said to be the world maker, anyway bel lost the battle against this powerful being and was robbed of his powers

So from all of this i think the past in most SMT games where [record scratch] is the creator god is sort of like this:

The great will creates the SMT multiverse > humans were either created as an offshot of demons by Mem Aleph or were the first life created by the great will, who with the power of observation created Mem aleph and the demons who think they existed first> Humans used to be Chaos aligned in the old world > Humans started to get tired of the chaos world and started to imagine Law gods(like Vishnu, Athena and Ganesha) > Law gods were still not strong enough to change the paradigm of the world until...... > humans imagine [record scratch] who slowly starts to take power > [record scratch] and the lawful gods overthrow Bel and Mem aleph > [record scratch] destroy the old universe and recreates in a lawful paradigm, in order to create a world of everlating peace and equality for humans > lawful gods create the garden of eden and Adam and Eve in order to live and restart the human race > Lucifer betrays Law and makes Adam and Eve eats the fruit of knowledge, which changes their nature and makes them incapable to make the society Law was trying to make > Lucifer joins Chaos and becomes its leader > the war between Law and Chaos rages on, each side trying to convice humanity to create their ideal world > somewhere along the lines Humans turn Neutral

Do keep in mind that other than the Garden of Eden, everything in the bible is left ambiguous whatever it happened or not

Knowing all of this, you get the idea that Chaos is the alignment of the gods of old, trying to bring their world back because they believe this was the ideal way of life

And Law is the alignment of the gods of new, trying to create a world that never existed(a true utopia) because they were born of the human desire for said utopia

While Neutral is the alignment of the present, who believe the world as it is right now is the best version of it

But i was wondering what do you guys think the past of the megaten games was like?

[neokad]

Shin Megami Tensei (SNES) review - the best and worst game I've ever played

I have finished my first Shin Megami Tensei game - the original! As you can tell from the post's title, it is... well... It's both the best, and worst game I have ever played!

Okay okay all jokes aside, I have a few issues with the game - and not *just* because it's old - but overall I still enjoyed my experience!

...which is good, because said enemies are REALLY tough! Now, that is somewhat expected from a JRPG from the very early 90s, but I honestly think SMT1 does it better than a few games of its era! Why? Well, while the encouter rate is very high, you always have a chance at talking demons into leaving you alone, on top of escaping! Plus, what I ended up loving about the SMT formula is how... useful buffs and debuffs can be! (with one caviat, more on that later) Basically, any buffs your human party members or demons can use are very cheap, you usually have lots of MP to use them and they finally tend to be very useful anyway! Enemies are generally much more threatening than in your average JRPG, so putting 5 or 6 of them to sleep all at once is VITAL if you want to survive! All of these factors combined make SMT a very tense and exhilarating experience, and I loved it! Although... a side effect of this is that backtracking tends to suuuuuuck (I never got the chance to get a Estoma spell ;-;) Sadly, I can NOT say the same for most of the bosses. On one hand, the game's lack of checkpoints makes me glad they aren't a nightmare, but... to put it simply, every boss in the game is weak to stunning, which means that if you use a human's Thunder spell on a boss at every turn, you can literally stun them for the ENTIRE BATTLE. And even if this cheese did not exist, they tend to not have enough HP to be much of a threat anyway!

And unfortunately, this is not the only gameplay issue I have with SMT1. First off, the game is not always obvious about where you need to go next - which to be fair, was a common thing at the time - but I still ended up needing to pull a guide a few times due to how unintuitive progression could feel ><

And... to put it shortly, the dungeon design is not very good. At first, it's not so bad, with a few small floors to deal with at a time... but eventually you'll have to bother with MASSIVE labyrinths, that are sometimes filled with traps, one way doors, pitfalls, warp tiles... yuck, it's so annoying! I'm at least grateful the game was smart enough to include a map feature ^^' The dungeons also tend to look a lot like each other - not to the point of Phantasy Star of course, but there is a loooot of palette swaps going on with the various places you explore, and it kinda blows ;-;

Also, the Cathedral sucks. Period. It looks cool, but it sucks. Moving on...

I'd say that besides those quirks, the game actually looks pretty okay! Definitely a little washed out a simple, but the demon's sprites can be absolutely killer to look at! As far as the music goes, well... I'm actually really mixed about it? The thing that annoys me the most about SMT1's soundtrack - besides how the songs always reset whenever you enter a battle - is that... well, a good chunk of the songs loop after only a few seconds! But on the flip side, they're like, the best 10 or 20 second loops you'll ever hear in your life? I'm really confused >< Needless to say, my favourite track in the game in Ginza - because it's a banger that actually lasts a minute before looping!

Finally, I do not like to talk about the story in those kinda reviews for spoiler reasons, but I'll keep it short: for 1992, this is actually really nice! I very much enjoyed how unsettling and dark a good chunk of it felt, how chaotic things could turn, and.. honestly, the game had a lot of really impactful moments and events - despite how SMT1 doesn't have much dialogue for the most part. It's kinda like Phantasy Star II really! But not as impactful I guess

But, here's an important deal about said story: the neat thing that SMT does narrative-wise is alignment! Basically, depending on your choices during the game, your alignment can tip between Law, Neutral, and Chaos. And although the general adventure will mostly stay the same, changing your alignment will have an impact on which demons you can recruit, which bosses you'll fight - and even how you'll progress in the final dungeon! I personally wish they had just a liiiiiittle more impact on the narrative, but it's still a very neat way to encourage replayability, I think! (For those curious, I decided to go Law, and was kinda disappointed by the ending not gonna lie...)

So... yes. Shin Megami Tensei is a game with a LOT of really cool elements and powerful strengths, but it's also bogged down by a LOT of annoyances that really made me not like the game as much as I should have ;-; But I can totally see why people like this series from the tense, unique twist on classic JRPG gameplay alone!

Though it is simultaneously the best and worst game I've ever played, I will definitely play more of the series in the future!

Rating: 7/10

[landoftheway]

Shin Megami Tensei: A Defense of Law

This has been a subject on my mind a fair amount lately, what with Deep Strange Journey out in Japan and SMTV on the horizon, so I wanted to give my two cents on it. Note that I’m in no way the biggest fan of Law endings in SMT games; I tend to go Neutral with a heavy lean towards Chaos, so I’m a bit biased in that regard, but I wanted to make what I think is a case for how Law has been kind of getting shafted by a lot of SMT fans. Oh, and spoilers for all the mainline SMT games out so far (SMT1, 2, 3, SJ (not Redux), 4, and Apocalypse).

TL;DR: Law’s not necessarily that bad, actually think it over a bit before you rule it out, and while you’re at it think over all the alignments if you care about that stuff cause they’re all pretty interesting.

One of the things that always strikes me about SMT fans is just how many tend to really hate Law. On one hand, I sympathize cause there’s never been a lot of appeal for me there. But on the other hand, for a while now I’ve been thinking that a lot of the reasons people give for not liking Law tend to either misrepresent it a bit or else just overly-downplay its positive aspects, which I do think are worth noting. So I’m gonna go over a few of the points people tend to criticize Law about and give my thoughts on them:

Lack of Freedom. This is probably the biggest criticism of Law out there, and not without reason; the games make it pretty clear that the critical aspect of Law is preventing certain behavior. The thing is, what people often leave out is that the behavior frequently being prevented is fundamentally destructive in nature: competitiveness, egotism, ambition pretty much all lead to conflict between people, and thus suffering. And while people often think that individuality gets lumped in there as well, that’s only ever really been true for Strange Journey and Hikawa’s ending in SMT3 (the former more or less turning people into automatons, and the latter fusing everyone into a single consciousness a la Instrumentality). Basically every other Law ending makes it relatively clear that the remaining humans do retain individual identities and the capabilities to experience life similarly to before, just without certain characteristics integral to humans as they exist now. But I do think it’s worth questioning whether or not those parts of humanity are worth keeping when they bring so much suffering (I personally do prefer those parts sticking around, but I wouldn’t presume my personal preferences to be automatically true for everyone, particularly when those preferences might just be due to me being naturally biased to support humans like myself), particularly when their absence would very evidently improve people’s freedom to pursue their desires and happiness now that no one’s desires would conflict with one another’s.

Murdering Humanity. Another big criticism tends to be that quite a number of Law paths involve killing a whole lot of people outright and also altering the remaining people in such a way that it’s arguable as to whether they could still be considered “human” in a psychological sense, potentially leaving no “original” humans alive. This isn’t something that I think can be glossed over, but I do think it ultimately comes down to a question of whether the ends can justify the means. If one were to assume that the world of Law is good and worth striving for, would it be worth killing someone over? If so, how many people? If those people would be inherently antithetical to such a world and would only lead to its downfall (and thus bring further suffering where there would be none), would it be okay to kill all of them as a necessary evil? I think these are interesting questions that are a big part of what makes the SMT games so interesting, and I don’t think there’s only one way to answer any of them. Another way of framing these questions is through an old picture from the 10 Year Anniversary book that details the spectrum of Law vs Chaos and Light vs Dark. Related to the former is this translation: “In other words, order and disorder. Those whose personalities align with law stick confidently with their beliefs, and try to make everything conform to them. On the other hand, those who align with chaos prefer the disorder that arises from the intermingling of all beliefs. To put it simply, law is stubborn in their principles and resistant to change, and chaos is flexible. Of course, neither are inherently good or evil.” I like this way of looking at it because I think it really shows how there can be very different approaches to these sorts of questions (which I guess show’s how I personally tend more towards Chaos) without those approaches necessarily being wrong. Holding strongly to your convictions and doing what has to be done for the greater good is understandable if nothing else, so I think that a Lawful approach to these things isn’t as inherently reprehensible as people make it out to be.

Serving YHVH. This criticism doesn’t come up quite as often, but I do think it’s worth looking at. It’s pretty much inarguable that YHVH is a massive selfish asshole in basically every game he’s appeared in, so taking a side that would appear to help him seems doesn’t really seem like a good thing to do. That said, what I think is important to emphasize is that Law doesn’t necessarily indicate an adherence to YHVH as much as it does the ideals that he’s supposed to represent, and which he routinely fails to do. That’s why the only two times he’s personally appeared he’s been opposed even by Law proponents (Zayin/Satan in SMT2, and several debatable characters in Apocalypse): the point is that Law is what’s supposed to be followed, not YHVH. That YHVH fails to meet those standards is a personal failing on his part and is supposed to show that those ideals are bigger than just a figurehead like him, and that following them isn’t as simple as just listening to the orders of someone with power. I’d say there’s arguably a bit more of a case with this criticsm in regards to the games where YHVH doesn’t personally appear, since in those ones humanity tends to more or less go along with what he wants, but that still doesn’t mean that he has become above approach with the exception of Strange Journey (where humanity is more or less brainwashed into serving him unconditionally).

Oppressing Demons. This is the last notable criticism I’ve seen, albeit much less than the other three above. This issue really comes down to how one views demons in the SMT games, which unfortunately isn’t helped by the games being kind of ambiguous as to just what they’re like on a psychological level. Their personalities tend to differentiate as much as humans do, but their ability to exist in any kind of peaceful state has always been debatable, and Apocalypse would seem to suggest that as manifestations of human thoughts they’re incapable of true personal growth and change in the same way humans are (although it’s not really gone into very much even in that game). But there’s still the question of just how true that lack of potential for change and inclination towards conflict is, particularly when considering the “demonization” apparently done to many deities by YHVH as well as how true any of that is for Lawful beings like angels (who are still technically demons by the SMT definition of the word), on top of the question of whether demons can therefore be considered sentient, sapient beings in the same way humans are. So as far as this criticism goes, I think things are just too ambiguous for now to argue one way or another with absolute certainty. As a result, I think a Lawful approach of keeping demons separate from humans and stuck in their world is understandable as a means of ensuring peace for humans, even if it’s not the approach I would take.

With all of this said, I don’t want this to come across like a criticism of Neutral/Chaos and their supporters, or necessarily as a sales pitch for Law. I’ve just been a bit bugged lately when I see people dismissing Law out-of-hand when actually considering the merits and demerits of each alignment is such a big part of what makes the SMT series so interesting. Even for someone like me who pretty much never goes Law, I really do think it’s worth thinking about if you wanna get the most out of these games’ narratives. If nothing else, I hope all of this can get any SMT fans interested to think a bit more about this sort of stuff and hopefully come to appreciate the depth in the games a bit more.