After a short countdown, Atlus today announced Shin Megami Tensei IV: FINAL, a new game in the Shin Megami Tensei universe that is set in the same universe as the excellent Shin Megami Tensei IV, which released on the Nintendo 3DS back in 2013. Not a whole lot is known about the game, except for its general setting (it seems to be directly related to Shin Megami Tensei IV somehow, and it seems like its central theme is ‘Godslayer’), although we do know that we will learn more about the game next week.

Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL is the first game in the franchise to feature a direct connection to another game in the series since Shin Megami Tensei II, which was a direct sequel to the original Shin Megami Tensei. The name implies it is a direct sequel, though of course, nothing is stopping it from being a prequel or even an alternate universe take on the same narrative.

Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL will launch on the Nintendo 3DS exclusively, on February 10 2016 in Japan. A western release date has not yet been confirmed.

Atlus’ excellent Shin Megami Tensei IV, the fourth numbered entry in the long running JRPG franchise, has now sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide, the company announced today. The game, which launched exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 in Japan and North America, and in 2014 in Europe, is now the most successful mainline Shin Megami Tensei game ever, according to unofficial reports, far exceeding the performance of the PS2 exclusive Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

Of course, these numbers don’t account for the performance of the Persona games, which were, until recently, technically under the Shin Megami Tensei branding, at least in the west. Those games are all far more successful than the mainline games, so any claims of SMT4 being the most successful one yet does not consider those.

We at GamingBolt loved Shin Megami Tensei IV, and to this day, would easily recommend it as one of the best games to be had on the 3DS. Check out our full review for the game, and see for yourself.

Remember Shin Megami Tensei IV? It was a damn good game when it released exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS last year… if you lived in Japan or North America, that is. If you lived in PAL territories, the game didn’t release there then, and at this point, you’ve probably just lost any and all hope of ever actually getting the game.

Well, way past any reasonable time frame conceivable, the game is, against all odds, finally releasing in European territories this month- specifically on October 30. It will be available only digitally over the eShop for €19.99/£17.99, and across all European, Middle Eastern, African, and Oceanian territories. All of the game’s DLC will also be launching in the month following the game’s launch.

It’s a reasonable price, I guess, to make up for the delayed launch (remember, in the US, Shin Megami Tensei IV launched at $50 at launch), but still, it would have been so much better if Atlus had just released the game there on time. Most people have probably moved on by now.

Last year, Atlus released what is arguably one of the very best games in the 3DS’s extremely high quality library- Shin Megami Tensei IV. However, the game was only launched in North American territories, meaning its European release has been stuck in limbo ever since. Now, after more than a year since its initial North American release, Atlus finally announced that Shin Megami Tensei IV will be available in Europe, digitally.

To make it up to people for the extremely long wait that they had to endure, alongside the fact that the game will only be digital, they also announced a stunningly low price for the game- €19.99 / £17.99. This is particularly amazing, especially when you consider that when the game launched in North America last year, it was a premium priced title.

The game will also be launching with all DLC available right off the bat, except for the retailer specific pre-order bonus DLC in North America, so that’s more good news.

At GamingBolt, we loved Shin Megami Tensei IV, feeling it to be a fine showcase of the genre. We’ll keep you posted on more news to do with the game.

Even mechanically, my description above is just half the story told. Conception II decides to take its RPG fare and mix them up with dating sim elements. And while there might be some of you who are tempted to call out ‘Persona!’ at that, the truth of the matter is, it actually is fairly different than Persona with its social links is. Where in Persona, the ‘dating sim’ elements are tightly integrated into the overall story, and are actually paths to character development from a storytelling perspective, in Conception II, they seem to serve mostly as a gameplay mechanic to get down and dirty and create as many little superpowered kids as possible. In a sense, Persona justifies its usage of romance (and it never gets explicitly sexual) by backing it up substantively, both narratively and mechanically. That really isn’t a compliment I can give to Conception II, which many times feels like it was created by a horny, hormones ridden teenage Japanese male.

That feeling really is hard to get rid of as you play the game, and truthfully, it makes for a really immature experience that drags the game down. The game seems to rely on cheap thrills and shock values just because- there really is no substance that is backing up the very many liberties that it takes. Ultimately, playing the entire game becomes the equivalent of having to babysit a prepubescent boy just about to hit his teens who makes some not so subtle innuendos, all the while snickering to himself and asking you if you got it. Yes, we get it. It’s not like you were too subtle about it anyway.

"Admittedly, the dialog here is similarly juvenile and immature, laden with so much not so subtle content that you really don't want to play this game when you have company around, but here it's a little more forgivable, as simply in the context of young teenage romance, at least it makes some sense."

But okay, fine, let’s for a second look away from the trappings and try to assess the game for what it is, and how well it does what it tries to do. The conceit goes that you are a superpowered male going to a school with other students of similar power. You have to save the world, and the only way to do that is to get together with your classmates and create ‘stat children’ with them- superpowered kids who egt assigned to character classes right at birth.

To create children powerful enough to shoulder the burden of saving the world for you, you need to get to know your seven classmates. These elements are actually the most well done portion of the game- the game gets imaginative with the situations it depicts, and even though it is really hard for you to screw things up with anybody, even though it needs to be said that none of the specific character arcs that it follows is really interesting (and certainly not a single one of them is on the same level as even the worst Social Link in Persona 4).

Admittedly, the dialog here is similarly juvenile and immature, laden with so much not so subtle content that you really don’t want to play this game when you have company around, but here it’s a little more forgivable, as simply in the context of young teenage romance, at least it makes some sense.

"Battles themselves are turn based, with each group of three children functioning as one unit, and their moves determined by which children are in them. Battles themselves are standard turn based JRPG fare, and should be instantly familiar to anyone who especially plays Atlus's other stuff."

The result of all of this is the little children you make- these are the ones you take with you into battle. Up to nine children can be led into dungeons for battle, and the children all function in groups of three. As mentioned before, each child is assigned a class at birth, which determines what gear and abilities he or she has access to; each child also has an elemental ‘type’ which also plays a role in deciding what moves a child can learn.

Battles themselves are turn based, with each group of three children functioning as one unit, and their moves determined by which children are in them. Battles themselves are standard turn based JRPG fare, and should be instantly familiar to anyone who especially plays Atlus’s other stuff. Spike Chunsoft did however decide to tweak the traditional turn based formula a little, and the result is a battle system that feels like it has a lot of potential that needs to be fleshed out and realized further.

You see, thrown into the mix of stats and gear and weaknesses and resistances, and moves and party members, and attack order, is positioning. Each enemy can be attacked from one of four spots, and one of these is its weak point. Attacking its weak point has the same effect that it does in Persona or Shin Megami Tensei- it pushes the enemy down the list of the attack order, which can be extremely helpful in battle.

"All forms of art should ultimately be allowed to tell whatever story they want, on whatever subject they want- nothing should be taboo. But then, subject matter should always be handled appropriately, and inclusion of certain content should always have some innate justification."

The reason that this system needs work is because potentially, it could add a lot of depth to turn based gameplay- but as it stands now, it’s more a case of guesswork that is instantly validated by the game if you are attacking the right area with a big red arrow. Variable weak points that depended on which attack was being used, in conjunction with a consistent logic to what the weak points are, and some more thinking required on the player’s part, would make this a great battle system (and I can easily see it being adapted for something like Pokemon, for instance). As it stands right now, it basically boils down to random guesswork until you find the weak spot and attack it for massive damage.

This is ultimately the tragedy of the game- it is not substantive enough to justify its rather crude subject matter. All forms of art should ultimately be allowed to tell whatever story they want, on whatever subject they want- nothing should be taboo. But then, subject matter should always be handled appropriately, and inclusion of certain content should always have some innate justification.

So too it is with games- theoretically, a game should be able to incorporate whatever subjects and themes it wants into the story, so long as said themes are treated appropriately, and there is some point to their inclusion beyond just shock value. Conception II, unfortunately, fails on both these counts. It fails to be a good game. There are some genuinely great things here- the battle system has some nice ideas, but all of these need some work. In the end Conception II an average, mediocre one, and an unconformable experience.

This game was reviewed on PS Vita.

Interestingly, there will be some interesting additional content available for free. For example, three custom looks in the form of varying hairstyles will be made permanently available for those who want to customize their character’s appearance. There will also be some spiffy White Samurai Apparel offered for free in the first month of release, after which it will retail for $0.99. So grab it now while you can.

A map pack will also be available at launch for gaining more experience, as well as featuring a collectible demon, but this will retail for $1.99. Shin Megami Tensei IV’s European release date is still to be announced.

Nintendo is really pushing sales of both FIre Emblem: Awakening and the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei IV. Ahead of the latter game’s release, they’ve announced a new promotion under the Club Nintendo banner- buy both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV, and you get $30 in eShop credit that you can use either on your 3DS or your Wii U.

The best part is that both digital and retail copies of the games qualify, and if you already own Fire Emblem: Awakening, you still qualify, assuming you get Shin Megami Tensei IV as well. This should perhaps make the $50 premium price tag of Shin Megami Tensei IV easier to swallow for some people, who might not want to spend that much on a handheld game in spite of all the goodies being offered.

Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV are both excellent, incredible games. They are easily the best 3DS games this year, and are both Game of the Year contenders. Both are highly recommended for all.

SOURCE

The game was released in Japan on May 23rd 2013 and will be released in North America on July 16th 2013 for the Nintendo 3Ds.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Limited Edition

Development

On May 29th, 2012, Atlus first publicized Shin Megami Tensei IV in a Japanese gaming magazine. Naoto Hiraoka the Consumer software chief elaborated that that the game will take notes from previous titles and players will see an improved version of gameplay. The feeling of exploration is now more realistic as players are plugged into a world that is more desolate and extreme. Ishida also stated that the game would feature 400 demons that is the largest number compared to the whole series. The game is also a first in the series to feature voice acting.

Index Digital Media president and CEO Naoto Hiraoka stated in an interview that, “The return of the legendary Shin Megami Tensei series is one of the biggest milestones yet for Atlus and the 3DS. Since this is the first title from the original SMT series in a decade, we tapped the best developers from many of Atlus’ acclaimed projects including Nocturne, Strange Journey, Persona, and Soul Hackers to create a premium experience that lives up to our fans’ and our own expectations.” [reference]

Story

The protagonist Flynn (whose default name, can be changed) resides in East Mikado is a samurai. Another Samurai (known as the black samurai) is distributing books that turn people into demons the moment they read them. Flynn and his companions set out on a journey to hunt down the black samurai.

Gameplay

Shin Megami Tensei IV will have no direct connection to the previous titles. Shin Megami Tensei IV will take place in a new world, but will also feature the same demon fusion. The game will also have the Press Turn battle system, which gives the player a freedom of choice and gives them an additional turn every time the player targets an enemies weak points. The game would take over 50 hours to finish. The three Jack Brothers will make an appearance; in addition a new Jack Frost will be shown too. The game has the feature to switch character voices on and off. The game’s demon fusion and conversation system will reward the player with experience points.

Limited Edition

Atlus announced that a special Shin Megami Tensei IV would feature the anticipated sequel along with tons of goodies that come along the special edition case. Though these items will only be featured in the first printing. Players who are lucky enough to grab the limited edition will get a Prima Games Strategy & Design Book with walkthroughs, tips and tricks. The design sections will have full concept art and designs from character designer Masayuki Doi.

The Shin Megami Tensei Music Collection will also be present in the box; These tracks are included from the 20 year old history of the franchise. In addition there will also be a unique recording exclusive to the collection. This edition will come packaged in a slipcase package along with a color key art.

"If you are a series fan, you will find yourself right at home with this game, and will possibly find yourself never wanting to leave. "

Shin Megami Tensei IV, which is the first mainline installment in the series since Nocturne, which appeared two generations ago on the Playstation 2, will, at first glance, almost certainly not change that.

The story is as dense and heavy as always, the game remains unforgiving, even though it does make a fair few concessions to newcomers, and new mechanics are thrown at the player dime a dozen. However, as it turns out, it doesn’t need to change anything in the first place; a few tweaks, and all of a sudden, Shin Megami Tensei IV is the most accessible game in the franchise to newcomers, without compromising on its core design.

In spite of its accessibility, though, Shin Megami Tensei IV works because it unflinchingly puts its own design above and beyond anything else, and then hones said design to pitch perfection. While there are a couple of stumbles along the way, they never hinder the experience, and by the time all is said and done, you are left with a massively satisfying RPG which is so huge it will probably take several playthroughs just to fully appreciate what it has to offer.

If you are a series fan, you will find yourself right at home with this game, and will possibly find yourself never wanting to leave. If you are not a series fan, but end up playing this, you’ll find an incredible, hard as nails game with a novel approach to everything- exploration, combat, party members, and perhaps above all, storytelling.

For those who are unacquainted with the Shin Megami Tensei series, they take place in a modern setting (usually a post nuclear fallout Tokyo), and they involve demon summoning and recruiting, the occult, and choosing a side between good and bad in the great war that unfolds.

The games have made an art form out of telling that kind of a story over and over again, and seeing how the player gets to decide just where his or her story goes in any given playthrough, the games have a lot more story to tell than one playthrough can possibly tell.

"The story somehow manages to build an atmosphere of oppressiveness and bleakness, and it builds just enough intrigue and mystery to always keep you on the tenterhooks. Suffice it to say, the story in Shin Megami Tensei IV is probably the strongest part."

If that, however, is what you go expecting into Shin Megami Tensei IV, you might be in for a surprise, as this game instead starts in a kingdom called Mikado, vaguely reminiscent of feudal Japan. Of course, things are eventually turned on their head, and before long, we’re back in business, but the way we get there is unexpected, and what happens after that also unexpected in how it unfolds.

I’m generally going to avoid talking any more about the story- what I’ve said so far is just the basic premise of the series, but I don’t want to ruin any more of it for any newcomers, especially given just how incredible the story in Shin Megami Tensei IV really is.

It starts slow, sure, but in a few hours, you’re completely hooked, playing more to find out what comes next than anything else. The story somehow manages to build an atmosphere of oppressiveness and bleakness, and it builds just enough intrigue and mystery to always keep you on the tenterhooks. Suffice it to say, the story in Shin Megami Tensei IV is probably the strongest part.

I don’t say that definitively, because that would be doing such a disservice to everything else the game does well. Take, for example, the combat system. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne’s famed combat system returns in this game, with all of its nuances and intricacies. You fight demons, but the only way you can do that effectively is to, paradoxically enough, recruit them.

After you recruit them, they fight by your side in battles, like Pokemon. Each demon knows certain attacks, each attack has a different elemental type, and your opponents all have different elemental affinities and weaknesses. Demons grow after battles, learning new attacks, and eventually even transforming into bigger, better demons.

"For all that Shin Megami Tensei IV does well, though, there are certain things that it, sadly does not. Some of those might have been design choices, maybe the others were forced by budget constraints."

So far, it probably sounds a whole lot like Pokemon, and that is because Pokemon did, in fact, take a lot of leaves out of Shin Megami Tensei’s book. However, there are more intricacies- for example, there is demon fusion, where you fuse the demons you do have, and get a different, possibly better demon with more potential for growth and transformation.

This would be like breeding, except you lose the demons you had before in the process. There’s also the actual demon recruitment process, which involves you talking to demons, trying to negotiate with them and appease their demands, but doing so carefully.

Each demon has a different personality, and you need to answer accordingly. Sometimes, a demon that is about to be defeated will offer to join you himself. It’s another great system, with a whole lot of variables, and it sets the game apart from anything else in the genre.

Then there is the battle system itself, which awards you turns based on how many party members you have, in addition to how well (or not) you do in battles. So, for example, if you attack a demon with his elemental weakness, or if you land a critical, you get an extra turn to attack, before the enemy even gets a chance. Theoretically, if you are good enough, you can wrap up a battle before the enemy even gets to attack.

Conversely, if you attack an enemy with an elemental attack that they’re resistant to, or if you miss an attack, you lose a turn. You also lose a turn if your negotiation or parley with a demon goes badly; in addition, the enemy can also gain extra turns if they attack you with an elementally advantageous attack, or if they land a critical, and they can lose turns if they miss attacks, too.

It’s all complicated, but it’s incredibly intricate, and it happens so fast that all these systems become ingrained and second nature pretty soon. Your performance in battle is further determined by your stats (the growth of which you decide based on skill point distribution every time you gain a level), and your equipment.

That’s a whole lot of mechanics, but that isn’t even taking into consideration other stuff like relics, status conditions and ailments, pre-emptive attacks, apps, and more. Shin Megami Tensei IV’s gameplay is as bursting at the seams with content as its story, and it really is hard to do justice to the sheer extent of mechanics available to you, the player, without you ever having actually played the game.

For all that Shin Megami Tensei IV does well, though, there are certain things that it, sadly does not. Some of those might have been design choices, maybe the others were forced by budget constraints. Still others are just inexcusably bad.

Chief among these is the voice acting. The game comes fully voiced, but the voice acting itself is rather grating. It’s not horrible, not like, say, Soul Hackers (another Shin Megami Tensei game Atlus released on 3DS), but it gets annoying.

The worst part is, you can’t turn the volume down and play, because the music is actually very good. To be fair, the game lets you turn down voice acting from the main menu if you want to, but still, it’s a pity that they didn’t have better voice actors in a game that has such a great story to tell.

"Shin Megami Tensei IV is one of the greatest JRPGs to have been released in the last ten years, and far and away Atlus' best work since 2008's Persona 4. It is a beautiful game, a triumph of thorough game design and a staggering amount of content, and it just works. "

Then there are the battles, which, if you’ve been following the game at all, you’ve probably already seen a fair bit of furore over. The game proper is full 3D, and it features third person movement and interactions, and everything, but during combat, it switches to an old school first person style, with you facing some barely dynamic sprites in battles.

It does make sense that Atlus simply did not have the money to have polygonal 3D animations for all the hundreds of monsters in the game, but it does feel like a jarring transition between navigation and combat, and it feels like a regression after Nocturne.

However, both of these are problems that any discerning player should be able to look past really soon. Fans of the series will find themselves at home with what is possibly the best entry in the franchise so far, whereas newcomers will be able to join in on the fun too, because of an Easy mode, and some design changes that do away with archaic conventions that unnecessarily made the older games so difficult.

It is, as stated above, a hell of a game, an incredible title. Surely, the newfound focus on story and storyelling after the rather drab (in that regard) Nocturne will help them get acquainted with this new universe too.

Shin Megami Tensei IV is one of the greatest JRPGs to have been released in the last ten years, and far and away Atlus’ best work since 2008’s Persona 4. It is a beautiful game, a triumph of thorough game design and a staggering amount of content, and it just works. 

It works because it knows what it is. It works because it finds that magic mddlle ground between the niche and the mainstream. But more importantly, it just works. A masterpiece of design, and of staggering depth of content, Shin Megami Tensei IV is recommended to any 3DS player who has more than a passing interest in video games.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo 3DS.

First off is Shin Megami Tensei IV, the first official new entry to the main series in almost 10 years. The game has already seen some good success in Japan and will be launching in North America on July 16th with a release in Europe in the third quarter of 2013.

Then we have Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the follow-up in the RPG franchise starring the famous Mario Bros. This game is a little bit different, and involves some Inception-level tweaking to allow Luigi to help out Mario in various dream battles. It looks as cool as it sounds when we say that means lots of little Luigis running around, causing havoc. It releases on July 12th in Europe and August 11th in North America.

Next up is The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the so-called sequel to the classic Super NES title. Director Eiji Aonuma has already revealed that he’s trying some new things with this title. See if you can notice the same in the latest trailer. Other additions like the bow and megaton hammer reappear, along with the Dark World. Look out for the game to release later this year.

Yoshi’s New Island is the final 3DS title which received a new trailer. As part of the Yoshi’s Island franchise, which spun off from Super Mario World 2, Yoshi’s New Island will be handled by a relatively new developer in Arzest. Check out the first trailer for the game above.