In my head, the Shin Megami Tensei franchise is that franchise that doesn’t hold back in it’s complexity, being one of the toughest JRPG series out there. I didn’t even really know about it until I found out the Persona series is a spin off from the SMT series. Even the recent Tokyo Mirage Sessions borrows the combat system from Shin Megami Tensei. After playing through Tokyo Mirage Sessions, I decided to give Shin Megami Tensei IV a proper go, finding that the game is much larger and deeper than anything I had expected, after playing Persona and TMS. So I was pretty keen to try out the sequel, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse.
Apocalypse is definitely one of those sequels that expects you to have played the previous instalment right off the bat. There’s a little bit of exposition at the start, but it’s really told in the context of reminding you what happened, rather than filling you in if you missed out.
A brief recap of the gameplay for those who aren’t familiar: the combat system is turn based, and focuses on magic and physical attacks. If you’ve played Tokyo Mirage or Persona, the elements of Ice, Fire, Lightning and the rest are of course here. The unique part of the combat, however, is playing to the enemies weaknesses. If the enemy is weak to ice, and you use an ice move, you’ll get an extra move on your turn.
On top of all of this, you have demons. Literally have them- you can collect demons, in what I can only describe as Yo-kai for adults. You talk to them in weird and sometimes tedious conversations, to try and befriend them and get them to join your party. Once you have a few and get to a certain point in the game, you can even merge them together to make different and stronger demons.
Progression in the game, however, is tied to these demons. Once a demon levels up and learns all their skills/attacks, they can pass as many of them down to you, by your choice. Basically, by doing the research and putting in the effort, you can make your character learn whatever attacks you want, and even double up on attacks to make them stronger, or cost less to cast. It’s an interesting way to build a party and character up, as long as you have a clear idea of what you want.
Story-wise, Apocalypse is hard to sum up, and at times, a little hard to take seriously. If you’ve played SMT IV, you’ll know there was a 3-way fork in the story, with Law, Chaos and Neutrality being the theme of the each. Apocalypse picks up just after and during the neutral version, with Flynn [the protagonist of IV] preparing for the ending of his storyline.
However, the storytelling is a different… story. The start of the game rapidly flicks between light hearted to heavy, making it hard to really get a bead on who and what to get attached to, or even pay attention to. It does sort of mellow out soon enough, though, but the tone wasn’t really established well in the first few missions in the game. It’s a minor issue, however.
One thing I’m of two minds about is the art direction. It makes total sense, with the setting being a beat-up Tokyo under a gigantic dome… but it’s still rather bland overall. Maybe I’m just not a huge fan of the post-apocalyptic visual style anymore, but there simply isn’t much colour going on in the city, at least. It’s worth mentioning, though, that the boss battles have backdrops that remind me heavily of Earthbound.
Character design is pretty interesting, at least. While the player and non-player characters are standard, with their hairstyles usually being the point of interest, the demons are where Atlus’s off-kilter designs are shown off. A lot of the demon designs from IV are back, but there’s still a ton of new ones that are exciting to see show up. It’s really hard not to call these games Pokemon/Yo-kai for adults, with how cool some of these demons look.
Apocalypse is very much a more-of-the-same sort of sequel, but when the first instalment was already pretty solid, all you can really do is a few touch ups and a new story. Definitely check it out if you played and enjoyed Shin Megami Tensei IV- I’d have a hard time recommending it to anybody else without the context provided by the first game. Having said that, if you haven’t played the first one, go do that! It’s usually cheap on the eShop, and you already know there’s a fairly expansive universe around just the SMT IV story now.
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Ah, yes, the spin-off game.
Most of the time, offshoot titles of main series games end up like diet soda. They just don’t have the same kick or substance of the original, resulting in a taste that falls flat. Once in a while, however, that rare spinoff game comes along that does justice to the main game that it’s based on.
“Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse” is one of those games.
To be honest, I had low expectations at first. As someone who has played my fair share of spin-off titles that underwhelmed, it’s a conditioned response akin to Pavlov’s dog. For a while, it appeared as if those fears were justified as I was introduced to an initial set of characters that felt like they were ripped off from Anime Tropes 101. Consider it the downside of reading a ton of manga and watching a boatload of anime for decades. I’ve pretty much seen it all.
As I continued to soldier through the game, however, something happened. The game slowly but surely started to grab my interest. Soon enough, a smirk started to form on my face, pun so totally intended, as I found myself more invested in what was happening. A big part of it involves the game's premise. Set in the same world as its predecessor, Apocalypse lets you experience the events shortly before the end of “Shin Megami Tensei” through the eyes of a different cast of characters. This includes the unlikely pairing of protagonist Nanashi and the demon Dagda, which is one of the more compelling aspects of the game’s story.
A member of the Hunter’s Association, Nanashi is a fledgling apprentice who spends his days scrounging up a tough living with the rest of humanity in Tokyo. For humans caught in the violent struggle between angels and demons, it’s a rough existence that involves salvaging old technology and food sources [you probably wouldn’t want to know what meat they eat sometimes] while trying to avoid death. The dark, gritty setting of post-Apocalyptic Tokyo is definitely a sharp contrast from the medieval kingdom of Mikado at the beginning of SMTIV.
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An encounter with the demon Adramelech ultimately causes Nanashi to enter a pact with Dagda, which comes at a price. Don’t all pacts with a demon, do? It’s this relationship between Nanashi and Dagda, combined with the mystery behind Dagda’s background and goals, that anchors the plot of Apocalypse and makes it a fascinating romp. I actually found myself hooked into the story a lot faster than I was with its predecessor, which was a great game in its own right.
Of course, combat is a big part of any Shin Megami Tensei game and Apocalypse does a good job in building on SMTIV’s system while also fine-tuning it at the same time. This includes the return of the Press Turn System, which is one acronym short of PTSD, but provides some pretty fun battles due to the ability to stack your attacks by acting multiple times in one turn.
You’ll start out with an extra attack here and there but can ultimately string up to eight actions consecutively once you get the hang of it. Also making a return is one of the best named moves ever, “Smirk.” By learning about enemy weaknesses and exploiting them, you can land a critical attack that can put you in Smirk status. In addition to your character literally smirking, the status also makes all your attacks critical while temporarily nullifying your weaknesses. Both press turn and smirk are awesome features, until you realize that enemies can do them to you, too. Given how tough enemies can be in this game, you’ll definitely want to be on your toes so you don’t find yourself frequently getting pressed, smirked and eating pavement. This means taking advantage of the assist gauge to launch Assist Attacks that deal a blow to enemies while also cancelling their actions.
Another key part of any Megaten game is the ability to negotiate with and recruit demons, which is present in Apocalypse as well. Depending on the demon’s personality, you’ll want to cajole, intimidate or bribe it in order to successfully get them on your side. This is one of the funnier parts of the game at times as I feel like a schizophrenic character who’s aggressive one minute then totally submissive a couple minutes later when I’m trying to recruit these different monsters. Just keep in mind that monsters will not join you if they outlevel you but they will send a replacement to join you instead. Later on, you can fuse demons as well to create more powerful allies. Demons you recruit also can be surprisingly chatty and will talk to you occasionally, which you’ll want to pay attention to as they can request upgrades or give you stuff.
In addition to fleshing out your team and fighting for you, demons can also teach you their moves via Whisper Events that can be triggered when they level up. This means you can customize your protagonist any number of ways, depending on your fighting style and combat preferences. Further rounding out Nanashi’s build is the ability to purchase apps that provide perks that range from the ability to receive items from monsters to boosting the experience you get. Challenge quests, meanwhile, give you more things to do on top of the main quest line. Add multiple endings and the game provides hours upon hours of gaming.
As much as I enjoyed Apocalypse, however, it also has a few issues. Mapping, for example, is improved but it’s still a bit of a pain to use. The game also reuses several assets from SMTIV, which makes sense on one hand but also removes some of the new car shine from Apocalypse. Flynn’s insertion at certain points in the game also takes the focus away from Nanashi a bit, though I thought it was nice to cross paths with characters from the previous game. Apocalypse has some dialogue issues, too, though they’re pretty minor in my book, and the lack of a Japanese audio option might disappoint some fans. Lastly, the game can be unforgivingly difficult even when played at the normal level, which should suit its more hardcore fanbase just fine but might overwhelm newcomers or less seasoned JRPG players. Then again, you can always lower it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t think of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse as just some throwaway cash-in title. This spin-off game builds on the solid foundation of its predecessor and even outshines it in some aspects. Admittedly, it reuses several assets from the previous game and mapping, while improved, could still be better. A likable cast of characters combined with an intriguing story and compelling combat, however, makes Apocalypse a worthy addition to anyone’s JRPG collection.
Is SMT IV Apocalypse any good?
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse offers a rich experience: a complex story, engaging characters and a deep gameplay system. It improves several things seen in Shin Megami Tensei IV while keeping the core gameplay that made its predecessor one the great RPGs for the 3DS.
What is the difference between Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Shin Megami Tensei 4 Apocalypse?
Shin Megami Tensei IV follows the story of a group of samurai tasked with hunting down and eliminating rogue demons, while Apocalypse focuses on a different set of characters in a post-apocalyptic world where powerful gods and demons are vying for control.
Is Shin Megami Tensei 4 any good?
Story is there, art is there, gameplay is there, and oh my god the soundtrack is definitely there. This game is incredibly technically impressive too; I could not believe that I was left to roam large patches of Tokyo by foot, fully in 3d, on a 3ds; and the speed of battles, and UI navigation is just wonderful.
How long to beat Shin Megami Tensei 4 apocalypse?
When focusing on the main objectives, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is about 44 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 80 Hours to obtain 100% completion.