Shin Megami Tensei (Game)

	This Shin Megami Tensei series video game page is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it.
	Reason: Synopsis, Gameplay, and Version Differences sections need filling.

Shin Megami Tensei
Developer(s)	Atlus SIMSMCDMega-CD I.T.L.GBAGame Boy AdvanceCo-developer with Atlus
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Genre	RPG
Platform(s)	Super Famicom Super CD-ROM² Mega-CD PlayStation Wii Game Boy Advance Wii U iOS Nintendo Switch
Release	Super Famicom Japan October 30, 1992 Super CD-ROM² Japan December 25, 1993 Mega-CD Japan February 25, 1994 PlayStation Japan May 21, 2001 Wii Japan February 13, 2007 Game Boy Advance Japan May 28, 2003 PlayStation Network Japan July 14, 2010 Wii U Japan July 3, 2013 iOS Japan February 24, 2012 United States of America March 18, 2014 Europe March 18, 2014 Android Japan November 1, 2012 Nintendo Switch Japan July 15, 2020

Shin Megami Tensei is a 1992 role-playing game for the Super Famicom, and the first entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It was developed and published by Atlus and released on October 30, 1992 in Japan. A port for the Super CD-ROM² was released on December 25 of the following year. A remaster of the game featuring new content was released for the Mega-CD on February 25, 1994, while a separate remaster for the PlayStation was released on May 21, 2001. An expanded version of the PlayStation remaster was released for the Game Boy Advance on May 28, 2003. This version was later ported to iOS on February 24, 2012, featuring the higher quality music from the PlayStation version of the game.

The iOS version received an international release on May 17, 2014, being the only occasion where Shin Megami Tensei was officially localized and released outside of Japan. This version has since been delisted from the App Store and is no longer available; however, on February 28th, 2021, gymzatan released a script to extract the iOS localization and patch it into the Game Boy Advance version.

The Super Famicom version of Shin Megami Tensei received a fan translation by Aeon Genesis and released on June 30, 2002. A separate fan translation for the PlayStation version was released on August 10, 2022.

Blurb

Japanese

199X年8月東京・吉祥寺 主人公の少年は母親と2人暮らしのティーンエイジャー。ある夜、少年は奇妙な夢を見た…。 異次元世界の迷宮、喋る扉、 十字架に架けられた少年、 そして悪魔に虐げられた少年⸺ 不思議な夢から目を覚ますと、井の頭公園で殺人事件が起こり街が騒然としていた。と同時にパソコン通信により不可解なメッセージが送られていた。それは悪魔を自分の「仲魔」として、いつでも召喚することができる「悪魔召喚プログラム」であった…。

Sen-kyūhyaku-kyūjū-ekkusu-nen Hachigatsu Tōkyō Kichijōji Shujinkō no shōnen wa hahaoya to futari kurashi no tīn'eijā. Aru yoru, shōnen wa kimyō na yume o mita... Ijigen sekai no meikyū, shaberu tobira, jūjika ni kakerareta shōnen, soshite akuma ni shītagerareta shōnen⸺ Fushigi na yume kara me o samasu to, Inogashira Kōen de satsujin jiken ga okori machi ga sōzen to shite ita. To dōji ni pasokon tsūshin ni yori fukakai na messēji ga okurarete ita. Sore wa akuma o jibun no "nakama" to shite, itsu demo shōkan suru koto ga dekiru "Akuma Shōkan Puroguramu" de atta.

Kichijōji, Tokyo, August 199X The Protagonist, a young man who lives with his mother, begins to have strange dreams... An otherworldly labyrinth, a talking door, a crucified man, and a man tormented by demons. When he awakens from his dream, he finds the neighborhood in a frenzy over a murder in Inogashira Park. He then receives a mysterious message via computer: a "Demon Summoning Program" that allows the user to ally with demons and summon them at will...

異次元世界の迷宮、 喋る扉、 十字架に掛けられた少年、悪魔に虐げられた少年、 謎の女、 そして怪しい儀式⸺ パソコン通信により、不可解なメッセージが送られて来た。そしてプログラムをダウンロードすると、それは悪魔を自分の「仲魔」として、いつでも召喚することができる「悪魔召喚プログラム」であった……。

Ijigen sekai no meikyū, shaberu tobira, jūjika ni kakerareta shōnen, akuma ni shītagerareta shōnen, nazo no onna, soshite ayashii gishiki── Pasokon tsūshin ni yori, fukakai na messēji ga okurarete kita. Soshite puroguramu o daunrōdo suru to, sore wa akuma o jibun no "nakama" to shite, itsu demo shōkan suru koto ga dekiru "Akuma Shōkan Puroguramu" de atta.......

An otherworldly labyrinth, a talking door, a crucified man, a man tormented by demons, a mysterious woman, and a strange ritual. A mysterious message is sent via computer. Attached is a program that, when downloaded, turns out to be a "Demon Summoning Program" that allows the user to ally with demons and summon them at will...

悪魔を召喚して自由にコントロールできる「悪魔召喚プログラム」。魔界と化した東京を舞台に、少年たちの奇妙な旅が始まる。 世紀末。 日本の首都、東京。 母親と二人暮らしの少年は ある夜、奇妙な夢を見る。異次元世界の迷宮、喋る扉、 十字架に掛けられた少年、 悪魔に虐げられた少年、 謎の女、そして怪しい儀式 1人の少年に、悪魔は舞い降りた── 不思議な夢から目を覚ますと、公園で殺人事件が起こったらしく、 街は騒然としているようだった。 パソコン通信により、不可解なメッセージが送られて来た。 そしてプログラムをダウンロードすると、それは悪魔を自分の「仲魔」としていつでも召喚することができる「悪魔召喚プログラム」であった……。

Akuma o shōkan shite jiyū ni kontorōru dekiru "Akuma Shōkan Puroguramu". Makai to kashita Tōkyō o butai ni, shōnen-tachi no kimyō na tabi ga hajimaru. Seikimatsu. Nippon no shuto, Tōkyō. Hahaoya to futarigurashi no shōnen wa aru yoru, kimyō na yume o miru. Ijigen sekai no meikyū, shaberu tobira, jūjika ni kakerareta shōnen, akuma ni shītagerareta shōnen, nazo no onna, soshite ayashii gishiki hitori no shōnen ni, akuma wa maiorita── Fushigi na yume kara me o samasu to, kōen de satsujin jiken ga okottarashiku, machi wa sōzen to shite iru yō datta. Pasokon tsūshin ni yori, fukakai na messēji ga okurarete kita. Soshite puroguramu o daunrōdo suru to, sore wa akuma o jibun no "nakama" to shite itsu demo shōkan suru koto ga dekiru "Akuma Shōkan Puroguramu" de atta……

The "Demon Summoning Program", which allows you to summon and control demons at will, becomes the catalyst for the strange journey of three young men living in Tokyo, which has been turned into a demon world. At the end of the century, in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. One night, a young man living with his mother has a mysterious dream. An otherworldly labyrinth, a talking door, a crucified man, a man tormented by demons, a mysterious woman, and a strange ritual. When he awakens from his dream, he finds the neighborhood in a frenzy over a murder in the park. He then receives a mysterious message via computer: a "Demon Summoning Program" that allows the user to ally with demons and summon them at will...

「悪魔召還プログラム」 すべてはそこから始まった──。 世界 世紀末、「東京」を舞台に、人類、悪魔すべての存在を巻き込んだ戦いが始まる。 合体 邪教の館で悪魔を合体させ、より強大な能力を秘めた悪魔を生み出せ。 仲魔 交渉次第では悪魔が仲魔に。 召還した仲魔は戦闘時の頼もしい味方となる。

"Akuma Shōkan Puroguramu" subete wa soko kara hajimatta──. Sekai Seikimatsu, "Tōkyō" o butai ni, jinrui, akuma subete no sonzai o makikonda tatakai ga hajimaru. Gattai Jakyō no Yakata de akuma o gattai sase, yori kyōdai na nōryoku o himeta akuma o umidase. Nakama Kōshō shidai de wa akuma ga nakama ni. Shōkan shita nakama wa sentōji no tanomoshii mikata to naru.

It all starts with the "Demon Summoning Program"... World At the end of the century, a battle encompassing all beings, human and demon, begins in Tokyo. Fusion Combine demons in the Mansion of Heresy to create a stronger demon with more powerful abilities. Demon Allies Depending on negotiations, demons can become your allies. The summoned ally becomes a reliable comrade in battle.

真・女神転生シリーズの第1弾。秩序か混沌か……仲魔と共に戦い、自分の選択した結末を見届ける。 このタイトルは、1992年に発売されたスーパーファミコン用のロールプレイングゲームです。悪魔と交渉して仲魔(仲間の悪魔)を増やし、悪魔合体システムでより強い仲魔を作り、強敵が潜むダンジョンに挑みます。秩序を重んじる｢LAW(ロウ)｣、混沌を重んじる｢CHAOS(カオス)｣、どちらにも属さない｢NEUTRAL(ニュートラル)｣という3つの属性があり、主人公の行動や選択によって、どの属性に振り分けられるかが決まります。主人公の属性が変化すれば、物語の結末も大きく変化します。

Shin Megami Tensei shirīzu no daiichidan. Chitsujo ka konton ka…… Nakama to tomo ni tatakai, jibun no sentaku shita ketsumatsu o mitodokeru. Kono taitoru wa, sen-kyūhyaku-kyūjū-ni-nen ni hatsubai sareta Sūpāfamikon-yō no rōrupureingugēmu desu. Akuma to kōshō shite nakama (nakama no akuma) o fuyashi, akuma gattai shisutemu de yori tsuyoi nakama o tsukuri, kyōteki ga hisomu danjon ni idomimasu. Chitsujo o omonjiru "rō", konton o omonjiru "kaosu" dochira ni mo zokusanai "nyūtoraru" to iu mittsu no zokusei ga ari, shujinkō no kōdō ya sentaku ni yotte, dono zokusei ni furiwakerareru ka ga kimarimasu. Shujinkō no zokusei ga henka sureba, monogatari no ketsumatsu mo ōkiku henka shimasu.

The first installment of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Order or chaos…? Make the choice and fight alongside your demons to see the outcome. This title is a role-playing game released for the Super Famicom in 1992. Negotiate with demons to increase your allies, create stronger demons through the Demon Fusion system, and challenge dungeons where powerful enemies lurk. Depending on the choices of the protagonist, there are three alignments in which he can fall. "LAW" (which follows order), "CHAOS" (which follows disorder), and "NEUTRAL" (which follows neither). The protagonist's alignment will significantly influence the outcome of the story.

Synopsis

Shin Megami Tensei follows the journey of a young man at the end of the 20th century who obtains the ability to negotiate with and summon demons as allies. Along with his companions he met in a dream at the beginning of the game: Law Hero, Chaos Hero, and the Heroine, he faces off against Gods and Demons alike as they try to survive through an apocalypse while being coerced to take a side in a never-ending war between angels and demons.

See full plot...

Gameplay

Shin Megami Tensei expands on the gameplay of Megami Tensei II and features many of its fundamentals. It is a turn-based JRPG with first-person dungeon crawling and top-down overworld navigation. Battles occur in first-person, where the protagonist is presented with a multitude of options: FIGHT, ESCAPE, TALK, AUTO.

Selecting FIGHT opens a sub-menu where a given character can either attack with a physical attack, use a magic spell, consume an item, or guard to reduce damage. The protagonist does not have access to magic and can instead re-arrange the party formation by selecting COMP. Demons cannot use items but may have access to a special skill unique to them. The fight ends when either all opponents or the protagonist run out of HP. If the protagonist dies, even if the rest of the party is alive, the game will end. HP can be replenished through consumable items or healing spells. Magic spells require MP, which can also be refilled with items. Certain offensive spells can induce status ailments or target multiple opponents, while support spells can buff the party or debuff the enemies. Buffs stack up to 8 times and debuffs stack up to 4 times. Demons and party members can learn up to 8 different spells.

At the start of the game, the player must assign 18 points to the protagonist's different stats: Strength (St), Intelligence (In), Magic (Ma), Vitality (Vi), Agility (Ag) and Luck (Lu). Strength primarily increases physical damage and to a lesser extent accuracy and HP ; for demons it improves defense. Intelligence increases Evasion and Magic Effect (improves the chance to inflict status ailments), and for the protagonist it gives more dialogue choices during negotiation. Magic primarily increases Magic Attack and Magic Effect, slightly increases MP and boosts Defense against magic. Vitality increases Physical Defense and HP ; for demons it improves Attack. Agility primarily increases Evasion and Accuracy, slightly increases Physical Defense, and can make a character act first. Luck affects miscellaneous variables, such as increasing chances of Surprise Attacks in the party's benefit, increases the chance of receiving items after battle, and makes running away from battle easier.

Human party members gain EXP after defeating enemies, which allows them to level up. Leveling up boosts a human companion's stats and unlocks more powerful spells. The player must distribute 1 point to each character's stats every time they level up.

The protagonist is able to talk and negotiate with demons in order to try to get them to join his party, give him money, magnetite, an item, or simply to go away without a fight. Demons can be fused together at the Cathedral of Shadows in order to make stronger demons. Each demon has a specific alignment, either Law, Neutral or Chaos, and using them will veer the protagonist slightly towards that alignment. Certain demons will refuse to join the party if the protagonist has the wrong alignment.

The protagonist can stock up multiple demons and summon 3 at once to be in the party, alongside up to 2 human companions, for a maximum of 6 party members on the battlefield. Summoning demons requires money, and keeping them in the party requires magnetite. The protagonist also chooses the party formation, which is organized in a numbered line from 1 to 6, with the first member at the front and the sixth at the back. Damage is reduced the further away a party member is from the front.

Version Differences

Super CD-ROM²

The Super CD-ROM² version is largely similar to the Super Famicom release, but adds several new features such as a reworked soundtrack, animated cutscenes, and additional demons. Because of being an early disc based game it has very long load times.

There is a bug present in this release that prevents the player from defeating an end-game boss, but can be bypassed if the player exits and re-enters the overworld from a different area.

Mega-CD

The Mega-CD version, developed by SIMS, includes many changes over previous releases. The graphics and soundtrack have been reworked, with a new additional track for the Cathedral of Shadows being included. All regular item boxes have been removed, leaving only the special chests that contain gemstones in the game.

There are some changes made to the overworld and dungeons such as new underpasses in the overworld and the Basilica having its layout completely redesigned.

Similarly to the Super CD-ROM² release, the Mega-CD version also includes cutscenes, but now featuring voice acting.

New demons have also been added to this version.

A bug causes bosses' normal attacks to only hit once, despite them still being defined to hit multiple times in the game data.

PlayStation

The PlayStation version is based off of the Super Famicom release and includes new features and quality-of-life improvements such as a new interface based on Shin Megami Tensei II, Quick Saves, two difficulty settings (Normal and Expert), smoother navigation controls, upgraded graphics and 3D environments, and an upgraded soundtrack featuring a new track for the Fiend battles. The row system was also overhauled, with the party now being organized in two rows of three people instead of being organized in a line from 1 to 6 like in the Super Famicom version. This change was first introduced in Shin Megami Tensei II for the Super Famicom, and was carried over to the PlayStation version of Shin Megami Tensei.

The Expert difficulty setting retains the original difficulty of the Super Famicom release while the Normal difficulty setting provides an easier experience, with a lowered encounter rate and the player's party receiving less damage in battle.

Wii

The Wii version is a direct port of the Super Famicom release and was part of the Virtual Console line of downloadable games. The game is identical to the original release, due to it being an emulation. The title screen of the game version is used as the icon on the Wii home menu.

Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance version is largely based off of the PlayStation release, aesthetically and gameplay-wise, though the 3D environments have been changed to 2D and the game has a reworked overworld map. The soundtrack has also been reworked due to the Game Boy Advance using a weaker soundchip. The graphics have updated with higher contrast in order to accommodate for the Game Boy Advance's lack of backlight in its original models.

The difficulty is now that of the Normal difficulty setting from the PlayStation release, with no option to change it. The updated row system from the PlayStation version is kept.

There are slight gameplay changes from the PlayStation release. For example, Trafuri now sends the player back one tile, as though they had escaped a battle normally, and certain events now cause Estoma to wear off when it previously did not.

A feature unique to the Game Boy Advance (and iOS) release is the inclusion of A-Mode DDS. This includes a dictionary for analysed demons, Visionary Items, which provide behind-the-scene perspectives into characters, and the Demon Bank, which allows the player to store demons to allow for more space in their current stock.

Wii U

The Wii U version is a direct port of the Super Famicom release and was part of the Virtual Console line of downloadable games. The game is identical to the original release, due to it being an emulation. The title screen of the game version is used as the icon on the Wii U home menu. While the Wii and Wii U versions can both be purchased and played on the Wii U, they are two separate versions and some features are only present in the Wii U's Virtual Console, like being able to play with the GamePad and as such Off-TV Play, one save state, and Miiverse integration.

iOS

The iOS version is a port of the Game Boy Advance release, though the game now uses touchscreen controls. The soundtrack has been replaced with that of the PlayStation release, with remixes of some tracks from the PlayStation release of Shin Megami Tensei if... replacing those of the original. This is the only official version of the game to be released in English.

Android

The Android version is identical to the iOS version. However, the Android version was never released in English.

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch version is a direct port of the Super Famicom release of the game and comes as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service. The game is identical to the original release due to it being an emulation. However, the NSO application itself allows players to make up to four save states and rewind gameplay. The Super Famicom version's box art is used in the NSO app's game selection screen.

Development

Shin Megami Tensei originally began development as "Megami Tensei III" and was initially intended to be a follow-up to the Megami Tensei games published by Namco for the Famicom. During development, Kouji Okada and the president of Atlus, Naoya Harano, directly went to Namco's chairman Masaya Nakamura to ask permission to publish the game on their own. Nakamura readily agreed, presumably due to the friendship he shared with Harano and Atlus owning the trademark to Megami Tensei prior to working with Namco. After this, the game's development changed direction and all story connections to the previous two Megami Tensei games were dropped.

With the game being developed on the Super Famicom, Atlus were able to pursue new ideas not originally possible on the Famicom while also incorporating the strongest points from the previous two Megami Tensei games. In light of this, the title was subsequently given the prefix 真 Shin, a Japanese word meaning "true" to symbolize the series's rebirth and in aligning with the staff's true vision for the game. The game's writer, Ryuutaro Itou, described Shin Megami Tensei's development as essentially being a remake of Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II, with the staff all having the implicit understanding there would be a Law Hero, a Chaos Hero, and a protagonist starting from a neutral standpoint whose subsequent actions would determine the game's ending.

Localization

	This page is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it.
	No reason provided.

In 1992, due to its highly controversial subjects, Nintendo categorically refused to localize Shin Megami Tensei overseas as it did not meet their content policy, mainly because of the game's very explicit religious imagery. Later, in 2001, the PlayStation version also failed to receive a localization since it didn't meet Sony's content policy at the time.

By the time the Megami Tensei franchise took off in the west, the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions were too old to be considered for a localization, and thus they would remain untranslated. The opportunity presented itself when the game was ported to iOs, especially since Atlus West had a passing interest in localizing other Megami Tensei mobile games.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	真・女神転生 Shin Megami Tensei	True Goddess Reincarnation

Gallery

See Gallery