Shin Megami Tensei, designed by Atlus & Cave and being published for Europe and North America by Aeria Games, is one of several high-fantasy influenced MMORPG titles with a distinct far East Asian theme being currently being developed. The latter title, however, has recently entered the closed beta stage of testing and I was among those lucky enough to gain entrance. So, let’s take a look, shall we?

One of the first things I noticed in regards to this game is that unlike other high-fantasy based MMORPG where players are seen running across vast open-fields, and expansive waste-lands, such as those present in the popular Guild Wars and World of Warcraft games, SMT, sees a variety of settings from the typical settings of the former, too ruined cities, thriving utopias and some settings which must be seen to understand as few words can do them justice.

SMT follows the story of a ruined city and its destruction through demonic invasion and thus sees you, as the player, taking on the role of a demon buster. Essentially, the primary story elements revolve around the demons and how they came to conquer the realms of mortal kind. However, through this, we also come to learn that not all demons are the same and that some can be tamed, if not completely controlled by human masters. Of course, such things must always come at a price. What the toll upon the human soul might be, only time will tell. But, for now, you will need all the help you can get, both human and demonic, if you should hope to save that which remains of your world and save those you love.

Character creation in the game is simple, yet allows players to customize their avatar as seen fit. Further options also become available as you move through the game. Not only does this include character appearance, but also weapons, armour, mounts and of course, clothing.

Game play is relatively simple in terms of basic movement which is conducted via the mouse which is also used for engaging NPCs, targeting enemies, initiating an attack and picking up items. The mouse, being the most used object in the game, is also used to go through dialogue, game menus, options and the crafting system. However, I should also note that you can use WASD keyboard controls to move your character around, if you like.

Combat in the game is pretty much like other MMORPGs in the genre. Once engaged in battle, you can either pick one of your skills from the on-screen menu, or if you have allocated it to a hot-key, then it is simply a matter of hitting the key when that skill is desired. As you progress through the game, you will gain new skills which are thus equipped to your action bar. I found that many of the skills in the game are actually required and due to the strengths and weaknesses of the enemies found throughout the game, it is difficult to get a foothold on some of the tougher bad guys without chaining together your skills and attacks. Once your enemy is dead and they have hit the dirt, if a gold symbol appears next to the corpse, they have loot to gather. If not, better luck next time.

Character stats in the game are very basic and easy to understand. The essentials are strength, magic, vitality, knowledge, luck and speed. Each of these will affect a certain facet of your character’s overall design such as their overall HP, ability to do damage with melee weapons or magic and the amount of magical power they have at their disposal. One thing a little different about this game is that skills are not directly related to the level of your character. Instead of receiving so many points to spend each time you level, each skill gains its own experience depending on how much that specific skill is utilized. Of course, however, before you can start training any of your skills, they must first be enabled. Experience gained by skills is tallied in points and each time you gain 100 points, you level of that skill will increase. However, you can gain a total of 10,000 points total, spent across each of your desired skills. This means that it is impossible for you to completely max out every skill.

Whilst this might seem like a limitation to many players, it does stop others gaining un-fair advantages over newer players.

One of the major draw-cards of this game is the chance to find, hunt, capture and tame demons found throughout the game. Once in your possession, demons act as companions to assist you in battle or in a variety of other ways such as stat buffs, healing, or ranged support. These demons are controlled and in a menu “partner commands.” This partner system is rather fun to play around with and it is said that there are over 200 demons that you can find and capture throughout the game, thus making it a rather large feature. The system is simple, in some regards and complex in others and it goes beyond the scope of this review for me to delve too deeply into the nitty-gritty of this system. So, for now, let me just say, it’s fun. Think Pokemon… with Satan thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah, if you find some really cool demons, you can actually fuse them together, which I thought was rather nifty and yielded some interesting, if not disturbing, results.

This game was a lot of fun for me and even though it is not the type of game I play often, I will more than likely go back to it a few times. Game play is rewarding and the demon system and fusing give it an interesting twist which most titles in the genre often neglect or leave out all together. The missing class system took some getting use to, but other than that, so long as you don’t mind the graphics, this is a fairly solid MMORPG, perhaps even, one of the most original I’ve seen all year. 8 out of 10.