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Today, we recognize Atlus for the Persona, Etrian Odyssey, and Trauma Center franchises, as well as for the years it spent publishing interesting RPGs from smaller Japanese developers that otherwise might never have made it to North America. That history is worthwhile. It also means that when players who grew up loving Social Links and fun school field trips in their JRPGs dig into the publisher\u2019s backlog looking for more of the same, they\u2019ll find a darker side they might not have expected.<\/p>\n
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Back in 2006, Atlus localized Persona 3<\/em> in North America as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3<\/em>, explicitly linking the spinoff to its established dungeon-crawler series that had been popular in Japan since the first NES installment in 1987. Atlus had first introduced the SMT franchise to the overseas market a couple years earlier, with Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne<\/em> in 2004. The game offered dark, foreboding, and unapologetically difficult gameplay to satisfy JRPG diehards. But after Atlus achieved breakout success with its third Persona installment, that looked like it might spell the end for the more difficult Shin Megami Tensei series. Then, one dark 3DS JRPG proved Atlus could still be hardcore, even in a world where Persona 3<\/em> thrived.<\/p>\n Released on May 23, 2013, in Japan and brought west two months later, Shin Megami Tensei 4<\/em> was the follow-up fans had been craving for the better part of a decade. Instead of visits to hot springs and the beach, players navigated the hellscape that once had been Tokyo. They roamed foreboding corridors populated by demons out for blood, recruiting some of them while facing the possible extinction of humanity itself.<\/p>\n As later proved by 2021\u2019s Shin Megami Tensei 5<\/em>, Atlus has managed to keep both the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises going strong. But Shin Megami Tensei 4<\/em> launched when that future was in doubt, and it did so on the last piece of hardware you might expect: the Nintendo 3DS. The game was dark and brutal, just like Nocturne<\/em>. It launched with a CD full of eerie musical selections, as well as a 176-page \u201cStrategy & Design Book\u201d produced with strategy publisher Prima Games.<\/p>\n Like previous installments in the series, Shin Megami Tensei 4<\/em> features the Press Turn battle system. Combat is turn-based, but simply mashing buttons and spamming your most powerful spells and attacks won\u2019t work. The setup forces players to familiarize themselves with an expanded elemental system. By attacking with the correct elements, they can gain additional turns in each round of combat. Conversely, using the wrong abilities have the opposite effect, doing minimal damage and leaving you vulnerable. Regular mobs rarely pose a significant threat, even if a person makes a few mistakes, but going into a boss battle unprepared is a sure way to feel pain.<\/p>\n Battles begin when the player runs into enemies on the map, which feels only nominally different from true random encounters in classic JRPGs. Many of the environments are dark and confined. There\u2019s little hope of avoiding combat once an adversary is alerted. But even when mobs are easily avoided, some grinding is necessary. Players will want to gain levels and improve their stats, for one thing. For another, the demons players battle are recruitable, a series convention that predates Pok\u00e9mon. Domesticated demons can then be fused to unlock powerful new allies, which is surprisingly compelling and might easily occupy motivated players for dozens of hours.<\/p>\n Shin Megami Tensei 4<\/em> features a rich, imaginative story, with fascinating lore involving a powerful dome covering Tokyo. As usual, the protagonist\u2019s behavior along the way is dictated by the player. Choices they make determine whether the main character, Flynn, turns out to be the world\u2019s savior or one of its greatest threats, in league with dark angels who seek to destroy the city. Multiple endings give players reason to play through the lengthy campaign more than once. Atlus eventually released a follow-up, 2016\u2019s Shin Megami 4: Apocalypse<\/em>, which explores different events within the same overall world.<\/p>\n A weekly cheat sheet to what you\u2019ll eventually love to play. No buying, no \t\t\tSign up freeGet Polygon\u2019s Wishlister newsletter<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tcommitment \u2014 just saving for later.<\/p>\n
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