The Shin Megami Tensei series has always been a staple among video game series, often described as an edgy version of Pokemon. from Nocturne to Persona, there hasn´t been any system that hasn´t been ported to, it was only a matter of time before someone made a mobile game based of it.

This has already out for a while now, for what? two years. But I only just now got a decent phone to play it, so I´m here to give my thoughts in it?

So, is it a decent entry on a famous series? Or just another terrible cashgrab, let´s see.

1.Main Plot

You´re just some regular dude in Tokyo (or girl depending which gender you choose) wishing for a life of excitement. One day you come across an demon summoner app on your phone. Suddenly you´re pulled into the trust into a war between a group called the Liberators (which you join) and the Acolytes who pretty much spreading chaos involving demons.

You befriend your first demon, a Pixie, and set out on the adventure of your life and meet a bunch of friends along the way.

The story also has dialogue choices that will be used to determine your protagonist´s personality, as well as their alignment (law, neutral chaos) but it´s more aesthetic, it doesn´t impact the plot gameplay in anyway, what a bummer.

I mean in the original games being of a certain alignment would affect not only the games ending but what demons you could recruit making it an unique experience for each player, so that´s on aspect that got removed.

However, in Chapter 6 you can choose between an Normal or Alternate route for Chapter 7 which is related to another gameplay scenario that I shall explain later.

2.Gameplay

So, while this game plays somewhat similar to some of other mobile RPGS there is no shortage of gameplay scenarios like:

Main Story

This is where you play through the main plot and your main way of leveling up. Each level is divided into chapters, you geta small cutscene then move right onto the action. Once you finish each chapter you are free to repeat it as many times as you want.

Not only that you can put it on autoquest mode, since you are gonna have to grind a lot. So, just leave your phone while it´s active and do something else. You also have Hard and Hell mode where you can repeat the same quests but at a higher difficulty.

I recommend making this into your high priority as completing chapters will unlock certain gameplay mechanics. Not to mention you get access to new Demon Busters characters.

Demon Busters

This one offers you a bunch of quests that will give out items that you´ll need to equip your demons with or evolve into becoming more powerful, from brands to spirit fragments...

Sometimes you can get a wanted scroll. These scrolls give you access to a mission where you fight a boss and get summoning shards that help you adquire new demons.

And last but not least there is the Eclipse Quest, in here you can use demons of a specific race, so be sure to train a variety of demons, the race requirements also change once of month giving you plenty of time to get the ones you need.

DX2 Duel

The PVP portion of the game, you fight the Defense Party of other players to rise up the ranks. You gain prizes depending on your rank, and it´s a weekly event.

Aura Gate

This one is the more interesting parts of the game, as it resembles the typical dungeons we all know and love in the Megami Tensei series. Navigation is done through a 3-D dungeon grid, and all combat is random(except for boss fights). However your movement is limited by Aura points and is only open for 55 minutes making a timed event.

This is the best way to acquire currency and Magnetite (used in fusions), and you can also fight raid bosses, and should you succeed in completing all the floors, you can get an exclusive Demon Buster character.

Alter-World

It´s more or less a continuation of the alternate route in Chapter 7. Now this is a juicy one, because it involves fighting in a post-apocalyptic world, this series´s bread and butter. It introduces a new type of gameplay where your main character can participate in battles alongside demons.

You can also turn demons into weapons and shields for you to wield, and a battle tower where you can register your party and battle alternate versions of yourself.

Combat is a lot harder compared to regular quests, for one you must protect your own character at all costs! If they die, the battle ends. Enemies are also much harder to damage due to a special shield that is protecting them. Fortunately, there is a mechanic called Overbreak that increase over time, and if you use elemental weakness attacks it will fill up much faster.

Recruiting and Powering Demons

Ah yes, the gameplay that this series is know best for. Acquiring a bunch of demons for your part and completing the Demon Compendium.

The first main way of getting them is by talking during combat, then you have to choose the right dialogue and then you will have to give them something, like gems or the HP of one of your party demons... And even then sometimes they will still refuse to join you!

Not surprising, the original games has that aspect too, even if it´s a frustrating one, since you are wasting resources and putting your party at risk. But you can always lie to them, if you don´t wanna risk it. And if you get tired of picking the wrong choices you can do auto talk.

Another way of demon recruitment is through summoning. But I gotta warn you guys, this is where the gacha aspect of the game comes in. I know plenty of gamers who would want nothing to do with this, so I´m giving this a heads up.

Now technically speaking while micro-transactions are a thing, you can actually play the game without them. Most of the resources I got for summoning came from quests and events. And one point I was allowed to summon for free once per day in a timed even, which filled up my inventory pretty quickly.

But it´s not necessarily the ideal way to get party members, most of them are more likely to end up a canon folder for demon fusions and increasing the stats of your favorites. And while it has some rare and hard to get demons, some of them are unfusable. If you really wanna get a decent demon the best way to do it is....

Through demon fusion, if you want a specific demon you want and not depend on luck this is it. You can do normal fusion (two demons) or multi-fusion. Choose specific demons to fuse, or to make it easier, select the demon you want to create and you´ll be given a list of available ones to fuse.

But all fusion requires Magnetite, an hard to acquire resource, which as I pointed you can get them through quests or the Aura Gate.

Once you got your ideal party now it´s time for some improvements by checking out Pandemonium. You can equip them with brands (demonic equivalent of weapons and armour) which improve basic stats and update the brand´s level.

You can also level up without having to go though quests, awaken them (which gives them more abilities and an increase in stats), and evolve them to extend their level cap. You can also transfer skills from other demons making them highly customizable.

So, if you have a demon with a cool appearance (like a skull biker) but the stats aren´t that great? No worries, there is a way around that. However, be prepared to sacrifice certain demons for these upgrades, not a problem if you have extra copies of the same demon.

However, if you have unwanted demons and upgrading isn´t enough for you, you can always sell them which gives you Macca and even Karma that can be used to summon the demon you really want.

Demon Buster Recruitment

Aside from demons you can get ask other people to join you. Now demon busters are basically can be the leader with their own party. During battle you can choose between switching between your protagonist´s or another buster´s party. They can assist you in battle and boost certain skills, status or overall making recruitment or gaining levels faster.

They can only be unlocked through completing an entire story arc as I previously mentioned. Not only that, they even have quests specific to that character where you get to explore a bit of their backstory and break certain leveling limits

They´re a fun bunch with their own unique personalities, and I do love the character designs, my favorite is Megakin with his cool googles, he is also the Video Streamer of the Group. Also a lot of them seems involved in the entertainment industry for some reason?

You got a "Youtuber", a cosplayer and novelist, a Horror Movie buff, an idol and a Fanboy. And the other half are basically fighters, there´s the boxing champ, a fung shui master, a gun wielding amateur detective, heck even the Fanboy in question had a background in Military training.

You can also befriend other players, this allows you to use their support demon, giving an extra party member to battle with. You can also choose your own support demon for other players. Sometimes you might a get a request for aid, this will give you fame should you do.

Sometimes in the map you will see other players, if you click on them you can praise them (receiving fame) and recruit them. Fame can then be used to upgrade your rank or exchange them for items.

At some point you will be given the option to join a faction or create your own, and you can join an even called demonapocalypse with your faction members. I have yet to play that part, so I can´t really tell how well it fares.

Other Stuff

Now that we´re done with that there is the other more basic stuff. You got special events, a premium shop where you can buy enhancements with real money or gems adquired in the game.

The Liberator HQ and Hideout is where you can check complete mission to claim rewards, increase your player rank, adquire Macca and Magnetite over time, send your demons into missions which helps them level up. So, you can still advance in your game even when you´re not logged in. You can also upgrade areas like the Church etc...

The is also the black market is, where you can buy items with Macca at a discount, beats having to use demon busters quests to get more brands.

But last but not least, there´s an AR mode, well the only thing it does it allows for your demon to appear in the "real world" and you can take some cool or funny photos, but it doesn´t really matter gameplay wise.

Conclusion

All in all it is a solid mobile experience, all my favorite demons are here, it does a good job of translating the typical rpg gameplay from the original series into a mobile version without sacrificing what made this series so unique in the first place.

I love the fact your party can be customizable and there is no right way to play the game, you are free to come up with your strategy and has it´s own solid and original storyline

Also, the premium elements aren´t very intrusive, which I´m suprised since a lot of games tend to slow you down or limit certain things to force you to churn actual money. The amount of events are fun too, can you believe at one event you could even recruit Gus from Berzerk and Bayonetta? Shame I missed that.

There are a couple of things that I gotta complain though, for one you need a internet connection, even for single player mode, I mean what´s the point of a game being mobile if can´t play it anywhere without the internet?

Not to mention that the gameplay can be a bit confused at times for beginners, it´s kinda hard to figure out which demon to pick. Because it´s not just thing the species but you also have archetypes. Like I feel like I need a whole guide just to come up with a decent strategy. And between the upgrades it can hard to figure out which demons are worth of investing.

You could read the ingame players reviews for demons, but most are more interested in writing memes than talk about how well it fares in battle, they´re fun to read don´t get me wrong, but it´s pretty much useless.

One last note, hmmm I wouldn´t really recommend this for little kids... you know, if you don´t believe me just google up Mara or Tiamat from Shin Megami Tensei, and you´ll se what I mean. This ain´t a family friendly game is what I´m saying.

So, that´s my thoughts about this game. Should you download it, my user ID is FDA8VAJN, and you can use my cool support demon.

Game Link: Apple/GooglePlay

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