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Shin Megami Tensei IV
Atlus, 2013 (3DS)


Multiple endings in games aren’t really so uncommon these days. And to be honest, I’ve never been much of a completionist when it comes to my games. And I’ve definitely never cared for the notion of a so-called “good ending.” In my mind whatever ending you get by playing the game the way that you play it - making the decisions that you want to make, and acting or reacting as you see fit - is your ending. Thus, the most fitting ending for you. I’ve never understood the concept of checking a walkthrough to make sure you do things in a certain order, or say the proper thing to the proper NPC to secure a specific ending. To me, that takes a lot of the interactivity out of the game. Why not just watch a movie or read a book instead?

I tell you this because so much of Shin Megami Tensei IV’s story will be based on your actions. Not only will you be presented with important, story-defining decisions, but you will also have to at times side with your companions. And speaking of your companions, you will spend much of the game traversing with Jonathan (good cop), Walter (bad cop) and Isabeau. And now might be good time to remind you that if you continue reading further you should be well-warned that spoilers are going to start flying soon. Whereas Jonathan and Walter pretty clearly stand as the little Angel and Devil on your shoulders, Isabeau is a little more complex. And more often than not, she was the one who I identified most closely with. I suppose she’d be the neutral character, but it seemed more uncertainty than apathy in most cases.




But y’know what? Before I get too deep into the story, let me at least tell you a bit about the game itself. Shin Megami Tensei IV is (kind of) the fourth entry in the long-running and crazily branched-out MegaTen series of games. Although not gaining much notoriety in the States until the surprise cult-success of the Persona series (another MT spin-off), these games all share a similar thread. Perhaps a basic way to describe them would be really dark versions of Pokemon games (though MT came first). Instead of “pocket monsters,” the MetaTen games strongly feature demons. Demons need to be recruited into your party, which can be both a fun and annoying prospect. Trying to convince a demon to join you can often be a head-game that results in loss of items, loss of stats, loss of other demons and ultimately the demon will refuse to join you. Sometimes the demon will refuse to join you and then attempt to kill you as well.

But like the rest of the games in the series, Shin Megami IV is not meant to be any sort of cakewalk. In fact, the game is so brutal at points (hello, Medusa) that not only is an Easy Mode available to you - it’s in fact part of the story. This is definitely the sort of dungeon-crawler with its roots in a RPG-landscape of yesteryear. One that features a soul-crushing difficulty (even at times if you opt for the previously mentioned Easy Mode). But it’s also got an amazingly well refined and, dare I say it? - FUN battle system.




Battling demons in Shin Megami Tensei IV is all about taking advantage of weaknesses. By knowing what attacks can be exploited against an enemy, suddenly you control the board and you’ll watch your enemy stand there in a daze. It’s really quite rewarding - especially after you’ve spent hours being brutalized by the likes of the Minotaur or Medusa.

The demons look awesome by the way. Indeed SMT IV follows a long tradition of wonderfully detailed (and slightly NSFW) artwork. And although the 3D effect in the game was often used quite well, I can’t say that I kept it on much longer than a few moments - just long enough to conclude “oh this looks cool,” and then turning it back off. The music is dark, dissonant and moody as hell. I’m certainly glad that I bothered to grab the LE box for the included soundtrack when I had the chance. (The other inclusion being a partial strategy guide, which is really quite useful so I’d suggest seeking out this edition while you still can).




Getting back a bit to the story (and again, the spoilers) I mentioned earlier, I have to confess that I spent 35 hours on SMT IV and that resulted in the so-called “bad ending.” An ending where the somewhat confusing story comes to a very abrupt end. Where instead of leaning towards good or evil and getting one of those clear-cut endings, I simply decided to end the world. You might argue that such an ending is anticlimactic. That it almost defeats the purpose of having these alignments. Yet in the days after playing I continued to think about the game, about all the fun I had. It haunted me. And then I realized that in a sense my ending fit my playthrough so perfectly. Where I had spent so much time identifying with Isabeau’s character. I was never quite neutral. I was always more apathetic. It’s as if the entire playthrough was guided by a hopelessness. And so the world had to end.

I just hope that doesn’t mean that Shin Megami Tensei V is out of the question.

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