Once again the world is in danger due to rampaging demons, this time in the South Pole. A giant, black void dubbed the "Schwarzwelt'" has appeared and ever since has only expanded. Machines are used to investigate, but send back abnormal images that look nothing like the icy tundra and instead of places in human society like a shopping mall. The United Nations have no choice but to send in an elite team of highly trained soldiers and scientists to investigate the enigmatic area, you are a member of this team.
So your strange journey begins, a journey that may decide the fate of the entire world.Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is a throw back to the first Shin Megami Tensei games, SMTI and SMTII, as it goes back to it's first-person, dungeon crawling roots. You'll have to journey through various areas to reach your journey's end, making your way through legions of demons as well as traps like any dungeon crawler. The story is as I previously explained, your a member of an elite force sent by the government to investigate this anomaly that suddenly appeared over the North Pole and continues to grow. Unlike most JRPGs, your character is an adult and so are all of your crew members, no children saving the world this time.
You could say the game of be a legend soccer hack takes influence from typical science fiction of our day like Star Trek. Unlike other SMT games, your abilities are more so influenced by science than the occult magic of previous games. Your player and the rest of the crew wear a special suit known as the Demonica, quite a stylish outfit if I do say so myself. This suit allows you to summon demons and survive in the various environments you'll be traveling in. The suit also has various Sub apps that have effects such as allowing you to fuse certain demons and increase/decrease enemy encounter rates.The gameplay is fairly simple when it comes to exploring, every area is a grid that utilizes the d-pad to move around. These dungeons have various traps, like all dungeons do, such as pit falls, hidden doors, and dark areas. The maps and battles are somewhat similar to Etrian Odyessy, but this game is easier and the area is mapped as you go.
Despite not being as easy as Etrian Odyessy, dungeons can still be a pain sometimes. The mazes you travel through may become very sadistic as well as annoying at times. At one point in the game you'll be moving through conveyor belts in a dark area which you may find very hard to find your way through. The dark areas are unmapped so you don't know where you'll go on the moving platforms, making it a twisted process of trial and error that may drive you insane. These dungeons also contain an important substance called "Forma". Forma will be need to be collected for various side missions and to forge new equipment. Finding the right Forma may be very difficult depending on what you are looking for, the ex-mission ones are almost always the most difficult. "Ex-Mission" is the title used for the optional quests in game, some may be easy but usually they will be pretty hard. Some like Thoth's riddles will require you to use your knowledge of the Schwarzwelt while others like looking for Odin's horse Sleipnir will be very misleading.
The worst thing about Forma is that unlike forging in most games it isn't optional. Items and equipment must be payed in macca as well as have the necessary Forma to be made, making Forma a must to attain. Finding specific Forma was one of the things I disliked most in the game and is often quite a chore.Battles in the game occur randomly, but you'll know when it's going to happen due to the bar on the top screen. The closer to red it becomes, the closer you are to a demonic encounter. Battles are fairly simple to understand, you choose to fight, retreat, or talk. Fight leads to a variety of actions such as using one of your gun's many abilities or summoning a demonic host. (or in the demon's case choosing from skills, demons do not have access to items and can't summon other demons) Battles are still punishing like usual do to OHKO attacks and the new "Bomb" status that could easily kill you. Like Persona 3 and just about every Shin Megami Tensei game, if the main character dies it's all over.
Just make sure you are prepared for battle and choose wisely what actions you should take when engaged in them.In this game your character can fall into three distinct alignments, law, neutral, or chaos. This is a very important factor later in the game, it determines which of the three endings you'll attain as well as what exclusive demons and equipment are available to you. It's also very important when negotiating, demons who have the same alignment as you will be more friendly to you and easier to bargain with. Regardless, negotiating can be difficult sometimes because you'll have to give demons specific responses that appeal to them enough so they allow you to bargain with them. Once you've gotten acquainted you ask them to become your demon and they'll request things like macca, some of your HP, or an item. Give them what they want and they'll usually join you, others will take it and run away. It's important to add to your army whenever you can because without updated demons enemies will cream you. In battle demons of the same alignment are suggested because of the ability they offer known as the Co-Op Attack.
The Co-Op Attack is like the All Out Attack in Persona 3, it activates by hitting the enemies weaknesses and dishes out massive damage from the party members of the same alignment. The enemies do not lose a turn and it only attacks one foe, but it's easier to perform and very useful.Other than negotiation there are two other ways to attain new demons, the most common way is through fusion. Fusion is of course the act of fusing together two or more demons to make a more powerful one. Fusion allows you to customize the skills of the new demon using skills from the original two as well as sources, (sources are the essence of demons that contain special skills, training a demon for a few levels will usually result in a source) making fusion very useful in creating powerful demons. The other way is using a passwords, which is new to the series. Every demon has a password that is used to access it's data.
These passwords are meant to be traded online so people can have access to demons that other players have worked to mold. Unlike other monster trading games though you keep your demon in the compendium (an encyclopedia of demons per say, using it allows you to summon them anytime for a fee) so you can share the demon and keep it as well. I'm not a graphics whore, but this game's graphics aren't that great. It's hard for me to give a good opinion on them to be honest seeing as my alignment towards them is neutral. The dungeons are designed by the same team who did those in Etrian Odyssey actually, they're all modeled in 3D. On the other hand the demons, people, and some various special areas use pre-rendered artwork instead. The artwork is pretty amazing too, most demons were given better artwork here than in any other game. One odd thing about the artwork is how demons and important characters are given full pieces of art while your crew members get these small pieces that look almost like cardboard cut-outs.
This doesn't take away from the game to much and you'll stop caring eventually, but it's definitely quite an oddity.The music in the game is a marvel indeed, it is some of the best you'll find on the DS without a doubt. The tracks use a variety of instruments and all of them fit the mood they were composed for very well. Even the basic battle theme "The Fear of God" is amazing, undoubtedly one of the most epic themes for a normal battle ever. Shoji Meguro has truly outdone himself here, the music to me may be one of the best parts of the game actually. The style isn't j-Pop, metal, or rap like in some previous games, it's something everyone can enjoy despite their musical preference or culture.Lastly is the Mature rating, yep that's right. It doesn't change the game's quality, but you have to admit that an M rated game on the DS is an odd phenomenon.
The game's general concept of using demons to fight for you is in itself something controversial to our lovely religious society. The game is quite anti-human, the majority of the demons you find will generally dislike humans and point out why they do. The demons are environmentalists, a lot of the reason why they hate you is because you've ruined the Earth with big cities, war, and pollution. Demons loved the old times, the natural ones, so you'll constantly be reminded on how demons hate humans, at times you'll even dislike what the human race has done. Then there is the nudity, like in mythology demons don't wear clothes all the time. Some like Angel may expose themselves while others like the infamous Mara will have a sexual concept in general. This game is one to keep away from the eyes of the innocent as well as religious extremist.In the end this is an excellent game for those who like challenging RPGs and a little exploration, but don't expect character and plot focus like Persona.
The game's main story is going to last you at least 70 hours and all the ex-missions will probably add even more to that. Don't even get me started on if you plan to get every demon, there are over 300 in the game! Trying to catch them all is going to take multiple playthroughs though, seeing as some like Mother Harlot and Satan are exclusive to certain endgame alignments. Going through annoying traps in dungeons and collecting Forma will aggravate some players, but it doesn't hinder your experience very much if you're determined to by pass them.Towards Xugo personally, I felt I had to review this game at some point seeing as it was given little exposure and I don't think you guys should miss out on it because it's a little niche. It has some flaws that will get your nerves sometimes, but in the end it's an amazing game that all RPG fans with a DS should play at some point.Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey gets a 9/10.
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