|
Shin Megami Tensei if... is a Japanese role-playing game developed and published by Atlus in 1994 for the Super Famicom. It is a spin-off from the Shin Megami Tensei series, itself part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. The story follows a student of Karukozaka High School after their school is sucked into the realm of demons by a vengeful student's demon summoning spell going wrong.
Shin Megami Tensei If... was developed as a change from the previous Shin Megami Tensei titles, focusing on a small-scale environment and threat rather than a large-scale environment as in the previous titles. Upon release, If... received a positive reception from critics and fans, and inspired multiple tie-in print adaptations and a mobile prequel. Its well-received high school setting was the impetus for the creation of the spin-off Persona series.
Gameplay[]
Shin Megami Tensei If... is a role-playing video game in which players take the role of the protagonist (an unnamed boy or girl, who appears in later Megami Tensei titles as a girl named Tamaki Uchida). As the protagonist, the player explores both the demon-infested Karukozaka High School and five towers based on the Seven Deadly Sins. During the course of the game, using a wrist-mounted device called a COMP, the player fights demons through a turn-based battle system, using physical and magical attacks to deal damage, as well as healing party members and casting status buffs and ailments on enemies.
Demons can be talked with in battle and recruited if the right conversation is initiated. Once a part of the player's party, they will fight alongside them. In addition to standard demons, the player can ally with one human companion, with three being available on the first playthrough and a fourth unlocking during the second. When the player or their human partner dies in battle, they are granted a Guardian Spirit, who revives them at the last save point and teaches them new skills and alter the player's stats. The Guardian's specialties affect how stats are changed: a higher power ranking will raise the player's strength, but lower magic will decrease their Magic Point meter. The Guardian changes each time the player dies.
Plot[]
At Karukozaka High School, bullied and brilliant student Ideo Hazama attempts to summon a demon from the Expanse to exact revenge on his tormentors. The summoning goes wrong and the whole school is drawn into the Expanse, where Hazama declares himself the Demon Emperor. The protagonist is among those trapped in the school, along with fellow students Reiko Akanezawa, Yumi Shirakawa, Shinji "Charlie" Kuroi and Akira Miyamoto. Should the protagonist side with Yumi or Shinji, they navigate the demon-infested school and towers, finally confronting and killing Hazama. In Yumi's route, the school is restored as if nothing happened, while in Shinji's route the school and its students remain trapped in the Expanse. If the Protagonist allied with Reiko, they enter the Demon Emperor's mind after he is first defeated, and see Hazama's motivations for his actions. Reiko, Hazama's sister, calms him and stays with him in the Expanse while the protagonist is teleported back to the human world and the school is returned to normal. In another route unlocked on a second playthrough, the protagonist can ally with Akira, who seeks vengeance against the demons who sucked the school into the Expanse. Travelling to the Land of Nomos, Akira is killed and possessed by the demon Amon, who after defeating Hazama takes his place as the Demon God Emperor, sending the protagonist back to the human world alone.
External links[]
- Shin Megami Tensei if... at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Shin Megami Tensei if... at GameFAQs
| Shin Megami Tensei series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | Megami Tensei • Megami Tensei II • Kyūyaku Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei • II • if... • III • IV (Apocalyspe) • V |
| Strategy games | Majin Tensei • Majin Tensei II Devil Survivor (Overclocked) • Devil Survivor 2 (Record Breaker) |
| Last Bible series | Last Bible • Last Bible II • Last Bible III • Another Bible |
| Persona series | Persona 3 • Persona 4 (Arena Ultimax) • Persona Q • Persona 5 (Persona 5 Strikers) • Persona Q2 |
| Devil Children series | Black Book & Red Book • White Book • Book of Light & Book of Dark Book of Fire & Book of Ice • Puzzle de Call! • Messiah Riser |
| Other games | Jack Bros. • Strange Journey (Redux) • Soul Hackers • Tokyo Mirage Sessions#FE (Encore) • Catherine |
| Related | Atlus • Katsura Hashino • Kazuma Kaneko • Shoji Meguro • Kouji Okada • Shigenori Soejima • Monark |