Rising out of the darkness from a brutal attack on Second Home, you will find yourself propelled straight into a journey of intrigue and suspense. Fight your way through demon hoards with your Demon partner, all the while chasing down clues in a cinematic storyline featuring you as an integral part to the survival of a slowly dying human race.
Fight solo or alongside your clan on the side of chaos, law or the neutral mercenary bands with magic or weaponry. Customize your character’s appearance, combat style and strategic battle expertise from the beginning. Fuse your demons into new, stronger allies with unique skills, and modify your weapons and armor so that nothing will stop you when you choose to save the world, or destroy it…
Shin Megami Tensei is a first-person RPG, like many regular computer/video game RPGs such as the Wizardry series. The player navigates through dungeons with a party of up to six characters. The combat is turn-based in a representative field of vision that resembles Wizardry in that it is first-person.
The game features two types of characters: Humans and Demons. A key facet of gameplay involves collecting demons. The human Hero acquires these demons via negotiation, bribing and coercion during battle. Once acquired, they can be stored in the party's portable computer and summoned for a small amount of money to be used in battle, and a constant feed of Magnetite (a secondary currency in the game) to be maintained outside of combat. If a demon is defeated during a battle, they must be revived before they can be used again.
A notable aspect of the game is that the player can combine two or three demons and create a more powerful demon. This system is called "Akuma Gattai" which can be translated as "Demon Fusion". This system was passed on from the first game of the series, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and used in later installments.
Humans
Human characters can equip firearms with special ammo, melee weapons, and multiple pieces of armor from helmet to boots, although certain weapons can only be wielded by a character of a specific alignment. Humans are also the only ones capable of leveling up and having their Stats upgraded at the discretion of the player.Demons
There are a wide variety of demons from various mythologies in Shin Megami Tensei; each has its own unique statistics, and a skillset of up to three abilities or spells. These abilities are permanent (unlike the ability system in Shin Megami Tensei II or Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne) and cannot be changed. Also, each demon has unique resistances and weaknesses to certain attacks. As such, strategies revolve around having the right demon summoned for the right job, and keeping the ones too susceptible in the party's computer.Note that the term "Demon" (akuma) in the Megaten games is a catch-all term, similar to daemon; in contrast to the more conventional, malevolent demons, anything from a folktale creature (such as a Pixie) to an ideal Judeo-Christian Angel (such as Michael) is referred to as a demon. This is due to the idea that these mythical creatures will bring harm to human beings in one way or another, ranging from devouring by ghouls to punishment by the heavenly gods.
Alignments
The alignment of a demon is measured by two attributes:- Light - Neutral - Dark
- Law - Neutral - Chaos
Law
This alignment is associated with God, order and peace. In the game it is represented by the Messian religion, and the colours blue and white. The Law alignment promotes order and safety, but taken to an extreme it leads to dictatorship and elitism. The main goal of the Law factions in the game is to establish the Thousand Year Kingdom, a paradise on Earth ruled over by God. The truth is that only a select few who are judged worthy would be allowed to live in the Thousand Year Kingdom, while everyone else would be killed. Those who do live in the Thousand Year Kingdom would be subject to its strict, absolute laws.Chaos
The alignment is associated with Lucifer, freedom and war. In the game it is represented by the Gaian religion, and the colours red and black. This alignment promotes freedom of choice, thought and action above all else in stark contrast to the controlling nature of the Law alignment. However, this freedom can lead to a vast amount of suffering and anarchy, leading the world into a primal state of unsuppressed vice and survival of the fittest. The main goal of the Chaos factions is to crush the Messian forces opposing them and attain complete and total power over Tokyo.Neutral
Also known as "Balance", this alignment accepts the need for laws to govern the world but not at the cost of personal freedom. It rejects the concept of relying on Lawful or Chaotic powers to focus instead on personal empowerment, respect for the rights of others, and the inherent strength of Mankind. Although the most idealistic alignment, it is also the hardest alignment to attain because of its isolationist nature and requires the person to make enemies of both the Law and Chaos factions, destroying everything to gain everything.Human characters also possess alignments. There are certain items that can only be equipped to a character of the correct alignment, and the Messian (Law) or Gaia (Chaos) churches will charge more money if the Hero is of an opposing alignment. Demons will also refuse to join the Hero if his alignment directly opposes theirs.
The alignment of the Hero is determined by a number of factors. Summoning demons will alter the Hero's alignment slightly towards the alignment of the demon summoned. Most importantly, the Hero will be given tasks by both the Law and Chaos factions in the game. Completing one of these tasks will heavily alter the Hero's alignment in favour of the respective faction, while completing both will keep him on the Neutral alignment. The alignment of the Hero directly affects the ending of the game.
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