Shin Megami Tensei IV

Shin Megami Tensei IV is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS. It is part of the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series of the Megami Tensei franchise, though no direct story connection exists to previous entries. It was released in May and July 2013 for Japan and North America respectively. It was released digitally in PAL territories (via Sega Europe) on October 2014. The gameplay is reminiscent of previous Shin Megami Tensei games, carrying over the turn-based Press Turn battle system, where players and enemies fight and exploit weaknesses, allowing either side to gain additional turns or lose them.

Shin Megami Tensei IV puts the player in control of the samurai Flynn. Navigation takes place both in the third-person perspective with 3D-rendered environments and a 2D overhead overworld map. On the overworld map, icons represent the player party and enemy demons. Battles take place from a first-person perspective, with the enemy visible on the upper screen and party status and commands on the lower screen.

As with other role-playing video games, the character grows stronger and advances by completing quests; they also earn macca, an in-game currency to buy items and equipment. Some quests relate to the main story and are mandatory, while other quests are optional. Should the player be defeated, they can return to the game by spending macca (the in-game currency). Nintendo 3DS Play Coins can be used in place of macca.

Repeatedly dying unlocks an easy mode: in this mode, the player can flee from battle if they choose. Shin Megami Tensei IV takes place in a world separate from the rest of the Shin Megami Tensei games, even though recurring demons and abilities are present. The two main locations are the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, a feudal society inspired by Medieval Europe which is secretly controlled by angels; and Tokyo, a modern-era city enclosed in a rock dome and overrun by demons. 

Prior to the game’s events, when Tokyo became a demon stronghold and was threatened with destruction by angels, a member of Tokyo’s Counter-Demon Force tamed the God Masakado (マサカド), fusing with him to create the protective dome over Tokyo. Mikado is built on the dome’s surface. After the dome is created, only twenty years pass in Tokyo while over a thousand years pass in the Kingdom of Mikado. Remnants of Tokyo’s technology, studied by the Mikado church as “mystic relics”, remain scattered throughout the land.