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Boasting the series tried and true formula of demon hunting and an engaging combat system, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is an excellent dungeon-crawling RPG that successfully builds an oppressive, pessimistic atmosphere while telling a story about humanity’s suicidal greed.
The story is set at the end of the 21st century. Humanity amounts to 7 billion souls and social conflict has been escalating while the planet suffers. There’s war in Eastern Europe, an economic crisis in South America (rampant inflation has led people to raid malls), and the most powerful nations just stand by, accumulating wealth. To make matters worse, a space anomaly appears suddenly at the [...]
Shin Megami Tensei IV is an RPG with great narrative ambitions, trying to discuss relevant themes – such as the purpose of religions and the problems surrounding the forms society is usually structured and organized – while presenting a complex – albeit very unbalanced – battle system. Its narrative, however, is very erratic – there is a good chunk of time when nothing relevant happens – and sometimes it also falters by putting its focus on its least interesting elements.
The game’s protagonist, initially called Flynn, works as an avatar for the player, who can change his name. Flynn is a commoner that lives in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, a medieval society based on a rigid [...]