Written by Taoan, 2021 Cohort
We had a topic about urban legends in our speaking boot camp last week, and it reminded me of a game that was released recently, but has a long history series, it is called Shin Megami Tensei ( SMT).
A possible X – statement for SMT? I would probably say: Pokemon meets worldwide Mythos and urban legends in a JRPG. The protagonist becomes a god, a demon or creates a world with neither gods nor demons. If you are a JRPG player, I am sure you know another title, called Persona, which is the cousin of SMT (They are both made by the same game studio – Altus). It combines mythos with Jungian psychology, where the player will play as a student, will build relationships with his friends and allies, use their Persona (demon born from their subconscious) fight with the Shadow (demon born from humanity’s subconscious desires).
The common gameplay for the series is turn-based RPG, you can fight (when you hit enemies, you can get an extra turn), or negotiate with demon/ shadow ( ask them to become your allies, or avoid a fight, ask for money/items) in battle. Besides, they share the same system where you can fuse two or three different demons together to create a more powerful demon. Both of them have multiple endings. As for the difference, Persona has a unique system called “Social Links”, it is like a relationship simulation inside an RPG, player should build their social network with other people to enhance themselves, they have less freedom when they live their day-to-day life. On the other hand, SMT is more like a traditional RPG where the protagonist takes his adventure free in an apocalyptic world.
As for the graphic part, they share most of the demons. the art style of SMT is more sci-fi, apocalyptic and dramatic. On the other hand, Persona has a modern world background, so the art style is delightful and fancy, like a complex of different kinds of Popular Culture, such as punk and Pop Art.
Those two titles share the same basic design but present differently. Persona is much more popular than SMT so far, I think the reason is that it caters to new generations, and the story is close to reality. But it does not mean that SMT needs to make the same change. I think it has a unique aesthetic, and like ageing wine, you can taste the history of the JRPG games, and how it has changed in time.