[07/3/2005] Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call

[Agozer]

Title: Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call (True Goddess Metempsychosis/Reincarnation)

J/US title: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Ghostlight/Ubisoft

System: Playstation 2 (PAL)

Release date: July 1st, 2005

60Hz option: Yes

Additional stuff: Manual

Homepage: http://www.atlus.com/smt/main.html (US)

 

 

Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei RPG series goes way back to 1987 on the Famicom. There are a total of 14 SMT games, appearing on the NES, SNES, Saturn, Gameboy Advance, PSOne and Playstation 2. Even with such a vast number of platforms, only 4 or 5 have seen an english release (with both Persona games included). The SMT games have always dealt with demons, destruction and reincarnation (like the translated title points out). Thanks to Aeon Genesis, I became a fan of the first and second games on the SNES. When I accidentally bumped into this title at the store, I just had to get it, seeing as Atlus have never released any of their RPGs here. PAL gamers can now rejoice as Ghostlight Ltd. (a subsidiary of Midas Interactive) finally gives Europe Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call.

 

Story

Most console RPGs end with the protagonist saving the world from certain destruction. Atlus decided to give the finger to the conventional RPG storytelling and approached the subject matter from a different angle. To put it bluntly, the world is destroyed before the actual story has barely had it's kickstart.

 

The protagonist is an average highschool student in modern-day Tokyo, on his way to meet his friends and his sick teacher at the Shinjuku Medical Center. There has also been a riot at the nearby park. Upon arriving to the hospital, he finds it completely deserted. So like any good highschool students, he and his friends start looking for their lost teacher.

 

Our tight-lipped protagonist meets a sinister man, Hikawa, who is the leader of a cult that is working towards The Conception, the ending of the world in preparation of it's rebirth. The teacher suddenly appears and saves the protagonist from certain death after Hikawa summons a demon to kill him. the protagonist is then asked to come and see the end of the word. And so, the world is destroyed before his eyes, and he gets destroyed as well... But he gets reincarnated as a demon to the new world that rose from the ashes.

 

 

Characters

The protagonist: The only name he has throughout the entire game is the name that the player gives him. Reincarnated as a demon when a mysterious girl gave him a 'Matagama', a parasite that grants it's host demonic powers. Wakes up in the "new" Shinjuku Medical Center after the old world got destroyed.

 

Yuko Takao: The protagonist's teacher. Is called the Maiden that needs to carry the burden of a destroyed and incarnated world. Worked with Hikawa for unknown reasons.

 

Isamu Nitta: A classmate. After the Conception, is nowhere to be found.

 

Chiaki hayasaka: Another classmate that was also drawn into the Conception.

 

Jyoji Hijiri: A writer for an occult magazine and is collecting data for an article about the riot at Yoyogi Park. Survived the Conception by being inside the hospital at the time of destruction.

 

Graphics

Cell-shaded graphics aren't everyone's cup of tea, but boy do they really work well in this game. Even more so when taking into account who's has been in charge of the art directing and characters: Kazuma Kaneko. This man is a genius when it comes to art and style in the SMT games. The cell-shading only adds 'that something' to the overall look of the game. I like it. Slight motion blur is also used to create atmosphere.

 

If I were to search faults in the visual presentation, the locations (even though I've only played this game for a little while), while looking excellent ovarall, they look a static at times and maybe would have needed a bit more decorations and better textures. Anyway, it's a minor gripe that doesn't really bother so much.

 

The overworld map has stayed the same from past SMT games. It's very simplistic. You control a tiny blue symbol that represents your character. Green symbols are NPCs that usually give a little background info or just talk your ears off. At certain spots, you can examine things. Red areas are places you can go to.

 

The best part however, are the monster designs. You won't be seeing killer plants and the like. There are demons made of paper, demons that are a mix between a dog and a chinese dragon etc. Each have their distinct look and personality, above all else.

 

Great visuals.

 

 

Gameplay

SMT uses a turned-based system like most console RPGs, but that's where the similarities end, apart from your characters having HP/MP gauges. Character turns are resembled by blue symbols. Once the symbols run out, the enemies have their turn and use up their red symbols. Rinse, lather, repeat. No wait, there's more. Depending on your actions and the outcome of actions, you may either consume one symbol, half a symbol or two symbols. All this with one action. A single action costs one symbol. If you land a critical hit or exploit an enemy's weakness you'll only use 1/2 symbol. If the enemy absorbs or dodges your attack, you'll use up 2 symbols. The system works both ways and it's ultimately about increasing the number of attacks, not about dealing large amounts of damage.

 

As you level up, you can choose which stat to better. There are no equipment in this game per se, only the Matagama parasites which you can ingest to gain access to both elemental strengths (and weaknesses) and stat boosts.

 

 

Gameplay - Negotiating with demons and managing them.

The key element in the gameplay. In the new world, most enemies you encounter are demons, spirits and the like. The only way to get more characters in your party is to negotiate with demons and get them to join you. This system has been in all the past SMT games, as well as in the Persona games, so people familiar with those feel right at home.

 

By choosing the Talk command, the character starts to chit-chat with the demon. If there are other demons present, they may halt the negotiations to protect their friends, thus attacking you. Usually a demon ask you a question and depending on your answer, may ask you to do various things (like giving items, money or serving as target practice etc.). If the deomn likes you, it'll join your ranks and leave the battle.

 

Some demons that you already have may have negotiating skills, thus helping you to get the point across. Sometimes the demons beg for you to save their lives by offering money and items or comment something if you already have a demon with the same race with you. Like I said before, all the demons have their own personality and it does bring it's own flavor into the battle and to the game itself.

 

Acquired demons level up and sometimes go through a transformation, changing into a more powerful form for good. At level up, they sometimes ask you if they can change one of their existing spells into something else. This is kind of a trial and error thing, since you don't know what spell gets modified if you say yes. While most of the time a spell gets upgraded, it can also change to a different spell, sometimes changing to a completely useless or less useful form. There is no Undo option. You really don't want one of your demons changing the only healing spell to a "sacrifice self and damage everyone, including friends" type of spell. :/

 

Later on, you can even fuse demons together, creating even more powerful forms. Again, it's a trial and error thing.

 

Music and sound effects + voice acting (or the lack of it)

I really have no gripes about the soundtrack. While the old Tokyo is is quite upbeat and light-hearted in terms of music, the dungeons in the post-apocalyptic world are eerie. The music works well in any given situation and it has jazz, guitar riffs and quite a bit of everyting.

 

The sound effects are also top-notch. I don't think I have to elaborate that any further.

 

Now then, about the voice acting... There isn't any. Not a single line. SMT really forces the player to read the lines which I think is good, since this game could have been botched by subpar english voice-overs. Emphasis on 'could have'.

 

Actually, I lied. There is voice acting (sort of), in the form of demon voices. This is the first game I've played that has a huge spectrum of demon personalities. Every demon makes different sounds when they are happy, furious, scared... you can almost hear some of the demons say the name of the spell they are casting for example. Sure, it's not real voice acting, but sort of pseudo-voice acting. Regardless, it fits like a glove.

 

Difficulty

Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call is a difficult game no doubt. Much of the difficulty stems from the battle system; while not very intricate, the attack outcome can break or make your game in a matter of turns. You really don't want to go into a boss battle only to find out that you and your party members are exceptionally weak against a certain element, meaning that the boss will get lots of turns because it constantly deals critical hits with elemental weaknesses. While you can change your elemental strenghts/weaknesses by ingesting certain Matagama, you also need to make sure that you have the right demons in your party.

 

The dungeons themselves are quite long and have an above average encounter rate, although a small compass at the bottom of the screen turns more red as the chance of an encounter gets higher. There is no way to avoid encounters, even if you go through a door. It just gives you a heads up.

 

Then the final important tidbit that makes this game harder than other RPGs: If the protagonist is killed, it's Game Over. No questions asked. No matter if all of your other party members would still be alive. SMT also sports two difficulty levels, Normal and Hard.

 

 

Final thoughts

Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call is excellent. If you want to play a console RPG that really does things differently than all the others, play this. For PAL gamers, this is the first SMT game for us, but expect Digital Devil Saga to hit the shores pretty soon. The PAL version is based on the "Nocturne Maniax" Director's Cut version of the game. Keeping that in mind, you'll get to see non other than Dante from Devil May Cry (as Capcom and Atlus made a deal when kazuma Kaneko designed the Devil Triggers in DMC3), and he's a playable character no less, sporting familiar moves. This version has optional dungeons, cutscenes and more stuff overall.

 

The difficulty can be a turnoff for some, but that's still not reason enough to not try it out. Rent it at least, if such an option is available to you (Finland doesn't), but SMT fans need to look no further for their next fix.

 

As to why they renamed the PAL release to Lucifer's Call instead of keeping the original title baffles me.

 

 

Trailer and gameplay videos

 

Pros:

 

+ Tells a story differently

+ Art directing + graphics

+ A battle system with a twist

+ Negotiating with demons

+ Feels like Shin Megami Tensei, like it should

 

Cons:

 

- Some dungeons look a bit bland

- Difficulty (I honestly can't decide, although I like games with a challenge)

- Some areas you can go to, but you get a "There's no-one here" text, and then leave.

 

Story: 9

Graphics: 9

Gameplay: 9

Music/sound effects: 8.5

Difficulty: 8

Feel: 9

 

Total: 8.8

 

 

EDIT: Fixed grammar and text formatting.

[OverlordMondo]

I fully support the purchase of this game. I should have reviewed it myself, long ago, but I was lazy. Maybe I'll throw up a Digital Devil Saga review to make up for it.

[Agozer]

You should, since it's finally getting the PAL treatment soon, and I want some opinions about it beforehand.

[Skythe]

It's an Atlus game. Everyone should at least own one Atlus game.

[Wizard]

It's an Atlus game. Everyone should at least own one Atlus game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It must be a law. Of the universe. No. The existenece.

[Skythe]

It must be a law. Of the universe. No. The existenece.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

It should of been the 11th commandment.