Nab some fantastic RPGs before the 3DS eShop boards the doors

Nintendo eShop purchases for both the 3DS and Wii U are set to close up next spring. So today's Sega sale, which features some great 3DS games, is a good ti??me? to fill out your library.

Sega and Atlus games are on sale on the eShop, from now until April 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The Sega Spring Sale has plenty of good Switch deals, including a bunch of the Sega Ages releases and a 50% off deal on Persona 5 Strikers. Plus, the Valkyria Chronicles Remastered + Valkyria Chronicles 4 dual pack is only $28—a great deal? for tactical RPG fans.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C3VS4yg6LM

But let me turn your attention to somewhere further down the page: the Nintendo 3DS? part of the sale. Several excellent Atlus RPGs are on sale, and this will probably be one of the best shots at getting these games in your lib??rary for a good price before the 3DS eShop closes.

The Shin Megami Tensei series, including SMT IV and both Devil Survivor and its sequel are on sale for $8 a pop. Some Etrian Odyssey games and Persona Q are also on sale, for a similarly low price. Also, it wasn't listed on the sale page, but Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is also on sale for $10. (Thanks for the spot, Wario64.)

These are some stellar deals on some spectacular RPGs. The Devil Survivor series is a favorite of mine in particular, mixing Shin Megami Tensei ideas with tactics and social sims to make for a really fun, replayable duology. Plus, Etrian Odyssey and Radiant Historia are solid games worth grabbing.

I've alre??ady loaded up my cart with a bunch of games I'll want to maintain access to in the years ahead. If you're keen on keeping your Nintendo 3DS around for years, this is a good time to load up.

The post The Sega Spring eShop sale is live, so grab some good ?3DS deals while you can appeared first on Destructoid.

Pee-yew in the EU

Atlus has reported that the European release of Shin Megami Tensei IV has been delayed from September to October. John Hardin, Atlus USA's PR manager, revealed the news on Twitter. He stated that due to a few last-minute E??U specific issues, the game would have to be delayed.

Hardi?n has asked fans to bear with Atlus and that they are trying to get the game out in Europe as fast as they can. Please u??nderstand.

Shin Megami Tensei IV Delayed To Late October I?n Europe [Siliconera]

The post Shin Megami Tensei IV’s release delayed in Europe appeared first on Destructoid.

Q3!

I've got some good news for you, European JRPG fans. Shin Megami Tensei IV is finally coming your way. Atlus will publish it as a digital download?? on the eShop as an English-only release. The price is ?still being worked on, but we do know its release is targeted for Q3. 

You'll also have to wait on DLC availability details ??as well.

But g?ood news, righ??t? Finally! I'm so happy for you all. 

The post YES! Shin Megami Tensei IV is coming to Europe appeared first on Destructoid.

Prime Coat? HA!

Happy Shin Megami Tensei IV day! How ?are you all getting on so far? Not to brag (brag!) but ?I'm well into my second go around, working to get a different ending.

I hope you're loving it as much as I did. And if you're having a hard time with those early dungeons, our quick tips guide might help you.

While I have you, here's a quick early look at Shin Megami Tensei IV's retailer-exclusive ar??mor sets. Here, I use my own character to show off the armor sets from GameStop, EB Games, and Amazon. The Amazon one is called Prime Coat.? Get it?

We need a Destructoid one of these!

The post Look at me wearing Amazon a?rmo?r in Shin Megami Tensei IV appeared first on Destructoid.

Atlus' key franchise goes portable

It has been nine long years since we've enjoyed Atlus' role-playing masterwork, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Yep, it's been nine long years since we've seen a numbered title in Atlus' core franchise (though Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey was a really nice tie-over).??  That's a long time to wait for the follow-up to one of ?my favorite games of all time. 

Even so, fans were surprised to learn that the next numbered SMT game would be a portable title. The change from console to portable was certainly welcome, but even this portable game fan had some reservations. But now that I've reveled in Atlus' s?trange world once more I ?can tell you that all the dungeons, demons, and darkness you could ever want are here, fully intact.

Shin Megami Tensei IV (Nintendo 3DS)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: July 16, 2013
MSRP: $49.99

In the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, those that turn eighteen years of age have to go through a mandatory ritual at Mikado Castle to see if they're one of the chosen that are to become Samurai. Being chosen in this "Gauntlet Rite" can be seen?? as an honor, but it's also an obligation, as Samurai are tasked with defending the k??ingdom from unknown danger.

You play as one of the newest recruits to the Samurai, and alongside other recruits from both Mikado's upper and lower class (the Luxurors and Casualries, respectively) you finally learn what you're up against as a Samurai. As anyone that has played a Shin Megami Tensei game would guess, Samurais fight demons. 

But don't think you know everything about this game, Mr./Miss Shin Megami Tensei Fan. Atlus had a field day with Shin Megami Tensei IV's story and setting, and it feels like they went out of their way to bring us something completely new and unexpected this time around. Jumping in, you'll see that SMT IV is quite a bit different from the modern day, world's end setting of Nocturne. Despite its Japanese-sounding name and its Samurai, M?ikado seems like medieval Europe with its castles and cobblestone streets. And things seem pretty peaceful as they usually do in games that kick off in middle-age, fantasy-style countries.

But recruits privy to the secrets of the Samurai will find that all is not as it seems on the outside. Going up against demons that seem to come from below, Samurai fight as medeval knights would, with sword and shield. But they also rely on strange relics that look like future technology, though they have no understanding of how they work. Getting into what these relics do and where they came from would spoil some SMT IV's story, so we'll let you find o??ut yourself. But? I will say that the scope for this story is massive, going far beyond what you'd expect for a portable RPG. 

Shin Megami Tensei IV does look and feel a bit different at first, but it's still held up by the same tentpoles you'd expect as a series fan. As with its predecessor, you'll explore worlds in a third-person view and battle monsters in Atlus' twist on the turn-based battle system. They call this system of enemy weakness exploitation the "Press Turn" system, and while it's mostly the same as in other SMT games, it has a few upgrades in IV. The biggest change, called the Smirk system, will have both allies and enemies flas??hing a grin after landing an especially effective attack. With this grin, you or your enemies will be able to do even more damage in battle. The balance of the battle can turn on jus?t one of these Smirks. 

All of the expected SMT demon gameplay aspects are here, including?? demon battling, negotiation, fusing, and customizing. This demon collection/customization gameplay linchpin has been honed down over the years to the point where not many changes have been made to the system this time around. Aside from the addition of new demons (now over 400 to collect) and powers, only a few tweaks have been made to the demon system, with most of them relating to streamlining its processes. For example, in demon fusion, the top three best fusion results are suggested from your current demon inventory, taking the guesswork out. Otherwise, it's still the same engrossing make-your-own-party system that we've enjoyed in other franchise titles.

And while I wouldn't quite call difficulty one of Atlus' tentpoles for SMT, this game does provide a stiff challenge, and they make no apologies for it. Even in my first hours I found myself restarting from single attacks that wiped out my entire party. You won't be able to mindlessly romp through SMT IV's worlds as there's always an uphill climb as far as dificulty goes. Atlus does provide a reduced difficulty setting that is freely switchable at any point, but for the few hours I tried it out I learned that you can still die from single shots. While death comes easy, revival can too. Wheeling and dealing even takes place on the banks of the River Styx. You can pay up in Macca (the game's currency) to come back to life, or if you've been banking ??3DS Game Coins, those will also work. 

Speaking of the 3DS, I'm glad to say that Shin Megami Tensei IV does not suffer for being a portable title. In fact, it's a stunner at times, with near console quality visuals in cutscenes. There's a slick, futuristic theme that runs throughout the user interface, and that ties in with the game's menu systems in a neat way. The character art for dialogue and cutscenes is mostly static, but it's vivd and colorful, and Atlus worked in some neat storyboard effects to keep things exciting. Oh, and it's all fully voiced! Demon conversations play out similarly, with full busts of demons taking up the entire top screen, making negotiation feel like a one-on-one talk. Despite being dark in both theme and color, Shin Megami Tensei IV still manages to be bold and?? stylish. Atlus did not hold bac?k.

While I was initially disappointed to see that battles are first-person affairs where your party attacks mostly static sprites, the feel and presentation of the battles more than makes up for the tradeoff. While I would have preferred fully 3D, animated fights like those of Nocturne, this upgraded version of what we saw in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey works well with the dual screen setup of the 3DS, and they did manage to work in fully 3D backgrounds for battles,?? with some dynamic camera changes for battle? position. There are also flashy spell/attack animations and some minor enemy movement to keep things lively. Now that I've spent a fair bit of time enjoying them, I'd like to think the first-person battles were more of a design choice, and that it had less to do with hardware limitations.

If anything, the 3DS shows that it has plenty enough graphical muscle in SMT IV's world exploration segments. Gone are the boxy, flat, low resolution dungeons of Strange Journey, replaced by expansive and nicely detailed cityscapes. These areas are o??pen and freely explorable in a third-person view, just as you'd expect from a console JRPG. We're talking PS2-era 3D graphics here, complete with shadows and lighting effects. I don't think that Atlus was trying to squeeze a console game onto a portable, but they did manage to give players some console RPG conveniences and features. 

The presentation of SMT IV really benefits from the 3DS dual screens. With menus, stats, and maps on the bottom screen (all of which support both touch input and buttons), the top screen is free to d?isplay world exploration and battles without any kind of user interface overlay. This makes for a clean, distraction-free presentati?on.

There's a nifty technical tie-in that relates to the story (we won't spoil it) that plays on both the UI presentation as well as the use of the bottom touch screen. And it's all attractive and beautifully streamlined to boot.  All of Shin Megami Tensei IV looks great with the 3D slider turned on. 3D gives world exploratio??n dept?h, and it makes battles flashy and fun. This is one of the very few 3DS games I was happy to play in 3D. 

Shin Megami Tensei IV is also a treat for the ears, though those expecting Shoji Meguro's poppy vocal themes may be disappointed. Composer Ryota Kozuka steps up to bring some very dark and creepy themes to SMT IV. There are more than a few pieces that would have worked perfectly in a survi?val horror game, and they're a perfect fit for exploration in the darkest parts of the game's world. Not all of the battle themes managed to float my boat, and some of the middle ages-type tunes are a bit bland, but the mood and ambient music later in the game hit the mark exactly. And in true Atlus style, there are some really weird selections tha?t pop up during your exploration. They're so strange that I find myself looking forward to visting the locales that feature them.

Atlus is known for their strong characters, fantastic settings, and deep stories, and with SMT IV they do not disappoint. There's a varied cast of characters spread over two worlds (you'll see) to meet, judge, and then later change your mind about as the story strings you through several surprises, some tough choices, and some pretty big plot twists. Atlus brings loud, handsome, and eye-catching character designs in a big way, from the main cast to the new demons. Series fans will be thrilled to see a few references to past Shin Megami Tensei games thrown in. I won't ruin the surprises.

You'll start out fighting to hold back the demon invasion with your fellow Samurai recruits, Walter, Jonathan and Isabeau. But t?hings take a strange turn when you start to realize that there are deeper motives behind your superiors' mission assignments.  Again, we won't?? spoil all that this game has in ?store for you, but know that this is a full-on, deep, mature drama -- no kiddie stuff here. This game revels in its own darkness and that makes it delightful.

Between its mission-based structure and Burroughs, your sexy voiced computerized tour guide, you'll always know where you're going and what you're doing, though you're free to explore on your own, take side missions, or grind. Don't get discouraged by the early town navigation, which relies on menus. Trust me -- it really opens up in a big way. It would take about 35 to 40 hours to march through all that Atlus has laid out for the story, but with a world this interesting and bizarre, you'll get much more mileage out of SMT IV through exploring and experimenting.

Shin Megami Tensei IV feels much more open than any of their previous portable titles thanks to the fully 3D third-person exploration. Instead of dungeons, expect maps. You'll walk an overworld-style map to enter locations that you'll explore on foot, not unlike Nocturne. In both the overworld and in these areas you'll find that enemies are free-roaming, represe??nted as floating static blobs.

In most cases you'll be able to juke about to avoid encounters, though it's easier to do in the third-person view than it is in the overworld view. There are a few times where battles are forced on you, and in them you'll find the encounter rate to be fairly high. This is just one more aspect of the stiff difficulty that SMT IV puts forth. If you're a fellow glutton for punishme?nt you'll love these bits. If not, soldier on through, as they don't last for long.

Shin Megami Tensei IV may have been developed for two little screens, but it's a massive, uncompromising game that feels just as big as any console RPG release. It's as deep and gratifying as you'd expect from Atlus' original key franchise, and now it's fully portable (with a save anywhere function). In fact, the only real problem you're going to have with Shin Megami Tensei IV is keeping your 3DS battery charged up, because it's the best RPG?? for 3DS ??to date.

The post Review: Shin Megami Tensei IV appeared first on Destructoid.

DO YOU?

DO YOU WAN?T TO SEE SHI??N MEGAMI TENSEI IV UNBOXING VIDEO?

DO YOU?

ME NOT KNOW YOU WELL ENOUGH. GI?VE ME 1 [Life Stone].

AWOOOOOOOO!

NOT SATISFIED. GIVE ME 677 MACCA.

AWOOOOOOOO!

GIVE ME 1 [Medicine].

OK. I SHOW YOU VIDEO. WE CAN BE FRIENDS.

The post DO YOU WA??NT TO SEE SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI IV UNBOXING? appeared first on Destructoid.

Maps, Armor and Style

Shin Migami Tensei IV will have an assortment of downloadable content available at launch, Atlus has announced. In addition to retailer-specific pre-order bonus costumes, the publisher will be offering a variety of DLC to help series newcomers ease into the experi?ence.

The Platinum Surcoat facilitates the early going by granting players boosted stats. Similar to Dragon's Crown, it will be free for the first month before reverting back to $1. There's also a map pack designed to give new ?players a leg up by providing additional experience and an exclusive collectible demon f??or $2. Finally, a trio of alternate hairstyles will also be there for the taking free of charge. 

Alus has also announced plans to reveal more add-ons for the Nintendo 3DS exclusive role-playing ga?me closer to its July 16 release date.

The post Shin Megami Tensei IV equipped with day-one DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

Atlus RPG sells nearly 190K copies, moves over 80 percent shipment

Shin Megami Tensei IV had a strong opening week in Japan, topping the charts with nearly 190,000 copies so?ld. According to the analysts at Japanese sales tracking company Media Create, the Atlus role-playing game unloaded 80.14 percent of its shipment in that time.

For reference, Siliconera points out the last main title in the series, Shin Megami Tensei Nocture, shifted 185,000 units in its first week on the market. Th?e 2003 P??layStation 2 release moved 75.7 pecent of its initial shipment in that time.

真・女神転生IV」18万8000本，「仮面ライダー バトライド・ウォー」12万8000本など，新作多数の「ゲームソフト週間販売ランキング [4Gamer via Siliconera]

The post Shin Megami Tensei IV ??reigns supreme atop Japanese charts appeared first on Destructoid.

This game makes me grin

In a room full of peers I embarrassed myself. A few weeks back, I found myself in a meeting room along with folks that head up a lot of the other gaming websites and magazines in America. After a brief presentation, Atlus started to ask the group for a few volunteers to be the first to play Shin Megami Tensei IV. Before? their sentence finished I found my peers laughing at me. They were laughing at a grunt that came forth from my mouth, almost involuntarily. I found myself frantically waving my hands in the air, insisting to be among the firs??t to play.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about Shin Megami Tensei IV. 

Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus 
Release: Summer 2013

Why so excited? It's enough that the game is coming from my favorite company, and is also a key title in my favorite franchise. But Shin Megami Tensei IV is also the follow-up to one of my favorite games of all time, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. And?? it's portable. And it's funny. And it's lovely.

The duty of protecting the realm of Mikado isn't one you choose -- it chooses you. This duty falls on those chosen during a sacred ceremony. All that reach age eighteen must participate in this ceremony to determine whether they become Samurai or not. Being chosen to perform this duty sounds like it should be an honor, but at the point I jumped into SMT IV, it seemed that not all of the protagonist's friends were thrilled about it. Being one of the chosen involves slaying demons, but it?? seems that there are darker se??crets in store for new recruits. Beyond this, new samurai don't have a choice in the matter -- this will be their calling, like it or not.

My playthrough seemed to be from early in the game as it felt like the demo had me working through a training dungeon. The battle system's options were open to be fully explored, so I immediately jumped into demon negotiation, one of the franchise hallmarks. I liked that the presentation of demon negotiation has seen a bit of an upgrade. Demon faces now take up the entire top screen, making negotiation more of a face-to-face affair than before. Choices show up on the bottom screen, while conversation takes place in a word bubble on the top screen. From what I saw, demons in SMT IV ??have a lot to say, making negotiation ?even more enjoyable. Expect lots of gibberish and crazy talk.

It's not just demon negotiation that has seen a visual upgrade. Actually, everything in SMT IV looks fantastic, from the clean menu and command systems to the slick game world overlays that prompt the player for interactions. The overworld immediately impressed with its full 3D graphics, smooth framerate, great lighting, and sharp textures; SMT IV looks far better than Atlus' last 3DS title, Etrian Odyssey IV. Though the demo area was small, running through this train?ing dungeon felt less like moving through a series of corridors and more like my party and I were exploring the world. This is a world I'm more than ready to see more of. 

Oh, and it all looks great in 3D. Understand that I'm totally happy to never play another game in 3D on the 3DS -- the feature doesn't do much for me. But Atlus suggested that we try it out, and when I did I was pleasantly surprised. With 3D on, ??dungeons gain depth, and battle presentation is a bit more flashy. Your mileage may vary, but I'll be playing this game with 3D on.

Atlus makes full use of the two 3DS screens, spreading battles so that enemies and attacks are shown on the top screen, while menus and commands are placed on the bottom. Again, the presentation is sharp, with small but clear menus and commands listed. Four columns show your party's vital stats, while a horizontal bar below it shows available battle commands. Selection of any given command brings up a menu for further input -- for example, a list of availabl?e skills. Flashy animations for attacks are shown on the top screen. While enemies are limited when it comes to battle animation, the look has been upgraded quite a bit over past Atlus portable titles. Overall, the presentation is very modern and polished. 

The battle system itself hasn't changed as much, though. You'll still jump into turn-based battles where your party of up to four (you and three other demons) gets one attack each against encountered enemies. When roaming on the map, you'll be able to try to get a sword swing in on field enemies to get the jump on them in battle, just like you could in Persona 3 and Persona 4. And Atlus knows that RPG fans love? their Press-Turn system, so it is still in place, with little changes in its weakness-exploitation-to-gain-another-turn structure.  In fact, all of the battle options -- attacking, fleei?ng, and demon negotiation -- are just as you'd expect.

The grin (or smirk) system was my only real new battle experience in this demo. Exploiting an ene??????????????????????????my weakness a few times has you or your allies grinning, which gives you advantages in battle, like stronger attacks. Know that your enemies can also grin, letting them land critical hits on you. Atlus explained that the grinner is also less likely to suffer from critical damage. Even in what looked to be a training dungeon, it seemed that Atlus kept the difficulty level up -- it seemed like everyone was grinning at me! 

Another new system I experienced is called the Whisper System. From what I could tell it allows demons to pass along one of their skills to the?? protagonist. In toying around with some demons in a second demo from later in the game, I was able to pass on the Dis spell from a demon that I had been trying to level up. This is just another option for character customization.

The only other system change I encountered has no bearing on gameplay at all, but still looks to be pretty fun. Equipment changes are now reflected in the game's world. In the second demo I tried, I was able to dig into the available weapons and armor and dress the protagonist up to my liking. Of course, each piece of equipment has status perks and effects to go along with its visual effects, so your choices are going to nee?d to be more focused on stats than aesthetics. That said, it seems that there are multiple choices for many armor types. For example, I saw different color variants for the same piece of armor. I trust that Atlus had fun with this feature, and expect that we'll find some pretty weird stuff in the game to wear further in.

I got just a small taste of the story progression and battle system with my time. It was a pretty standard session for an Atlus RPG: a dungeon crawl, a slightly ramping difficulty as I progressed, and a fina?l boss battle with a demon that loves sexy talk. But this was enough to win me over. 

The gameplay is exactly as expected -- no real surprises. What did surprise me was how great the game looked; both the presentation and gameplay exceeded expectations. What did not surprise me was how much I liked the game -- it's exactly what I was hoping for in a follow-up to Nocturne.

Here's the deal: Shin Megami Tensei IV is sharp looking, deep, lengthy (over 40 hours), and fully portable. It appears to be a full-blown RPG, and not an abbreviated experience for portability's sake. It's got fantastic music, eye-catching artwork, and top-notch voice work to boot. That's all great. But most importantly, it's the direct continuation of the core Shin Megami series -- som??ething? fellow fans have been waiting for. 

Finally. It's almost here.  

The post Devilish delight: Shin Megami Tensei IV hands-on appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh yes.

We have a brand new trailer for Atlus' upcoming 3DS RPG Shin Megami Tensei IV. This one shows off a bit of gameplay and b??attling in an overview of the game, putting you into the shoes of a new samurai recruit. The information featured is likely nothing new for you, but you get to look at more of this pretty game, so no complaints.

And this is a very pretty game. Stay tuned as I'll have a preview of SMT IV for you early next week.

The post Brand n??ew Shin Megami Tensei IV trailer for you samurai appeared first on Destructoid.

I knew it

I had a feeling that we'd see some version of the Japanese promotional DLC costumes for Shin Megami Tensei 4 here in North America. Japan had several different retailer-themed downloadable costumes for t??he game's protagonist. Now, so do we, as GameS??top has just announced their outfit.

You've got to love the letters "GS" on its chest area. This orange/gold outfit is a pre-order bonus, only available to GameStop customers. I can imagine an Amazon and Best Buy co?stume, but I'm really secretly hoping for Walmart "How can I help you?" armor vests.

If you haven't heard yet, Shin Megami Tensei 4 is co??ming out this Jun?e in a fancy limited edition box.

The post You can wear? a GameStop costume in Shin Megami?? Tensei 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

Coming this Summer to 3DS

This is NOT AN APRIL FOOL'S DAY JOKE. Repeat: This is not an April Fool's Day Joke. If it was, faces would be bloodie??d.

Atlus has confirmed with us that the next game in the Shin Megami Tensei role-playing game series is finally coming our way this summer. 3DS game Shin Megami Tensei IV has been teasing us from afar with frequent Japan-specific news updates on the title, but now we finally get ours. Finally!

We get it all, including Str??eetPass functionality and voiced dialogue. The Press Turn system returns, as does demon collection. Speaking of, there are more than 400 demons to collect and fuse this time around.

Atlus says that they've used their best to create this game, pulling members from the Nocturne, Strange Journey, Soul Hackers, and Persona te??ams. In my book, these are the best games out there, so that's great news.

Atlus plans to release SMTIV as a premium title this summer. Expect more details soon. For now, check the newly launched official site.

The post YES! Shin Megami Tensei IV confir?med for North America appeared first on Destructoid.

Paging Mr. North! Paging Mr. North!

No, I am not Dale North. I just play him on TV.

Japan is four days away from the release of Shin Megami Tensei IV on 3DS, so Atlus rel????eased a new trailer to properly hype up the fans. This latest video expands on the world and combat -- it may be in Japanese, but I think you can catch the gist.

No US announcement yet, but Atlus has been doing a good job bringing all the MegaTen games to the West since Nocturne on PS2. This one ??will definitely make the jo?urney as well.

Shin Megami Tensei IV gets another long trailer [Japanator]

The post Fresh Shin Megami Tensei IV trailer to swoon over appeared first on Destructoid.

Gross! Hilarious!

First off, upcoming 3DS RPG Shin Megami Tensei IV will feature DLC costumes. That's...something to make your head spin alone. It gets worse (though it's not really that ba?d): Japan will see themed DLC costumes that match the colors/logos of certain retai??lers. What is happening to my nerdy world?!

These costumes (and what they stand for) are so silly that I can't hate too much. Japanese convenience store chain Lawson has their "Law" costume (shown above, left), with its blue, white??, and pink coloring matching the store's colors and uniforms. I could see the protagonist bagging up my snacks in that getup. 

The other costume, "Tau," matches the colors of media retailer Tsutaya. Famitsu says that if you purchase Shin Megami Tensei IV at either of these?? stores, you'll get a code to download one of these costumes.

If they make a McDonald's Japan one I'll sh*t.

The post Shin Megami Tensei IV gets retailer-themed DLC c??ostumes appeared first on Destructoid.

5+ minutes of gameplay video!

The storyboard-ish introduction for this new Shin Megami Tensei IV trailer didn't do much me, but the gamepl??ay shown in the latest Nintendo Direct Japan broadcast more than made up for that. 

Check out the way demons are summoned in the game footage. This game is looking so good! Overworld exploration for this upcoming 3DS RPG from Atlus takes place in third-person adventure view, which will be a nice break from the first-person?? battling. Speaking of, the battle system is shown in detail -- I love how everything is spread between the two screens, even demon discussion. You'll also see tons of new demons -- Iwata says 400 types will be featured in the game.

I can't wait. Let us know, Atlus.

Oh, and check out t?he Japanese box?? art in our gallery.

The post Shin Megami Tensei? IV battles and exploration?? shown appeared first on Destructoid.

*grins*

The Press Turn battle system of other Shin Megami Tensei games returns for upcoming 3DS title Shin Megami Tensei IV, but with it comes a fun new addition that can give you another advantage in battle. [grin]

Dengeki Online reports that t??hrowing a sly little grin in battle will up your defenses. Hitting an enemy with a weakness enough times can have you grinning, which temporar??ily buffers your weaknesses. They can also grin, so you'll have to keep your guard up. 

Among other updates, SMTIV will also feature difficulty selection, with the easier end opening thing??s up to RPG newbies. Denge?ki says that if you die a few times in the same place, the game will ask you if you'd like to lower the difficulty on next restart. I won't judge.

Finally, saving anywhere in the game is supported. Yes. All portable RPGs should have this ??feature.

Atlus USA, don't leave us hanging on the localization of this. Don't be a loser and wait until E3 t?o announce what we already know is coming. 

The post Shin Megami Tensei IV adds grinning to its ??battle system appeared first on Destructoid.

A tie-in?

If you've played Atlus' DS title Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't, just know that there is at least one tie between Strange Journey and upcoming 3DS RPG Shin Megami Tensei IV.

The latest Famitsu reveals some new details on SMT IV, including a bit on new character called the Black Samurai, a mysterious figure in a familiar outfit. Check out what this samurai is wearing in the above picture. It looks like Strange Journey's demon summoning/controlling Demonica suit, doesn't it? It?'s a perf??ect match!

Could this be a tie-in? Or maybe just a nod to Atlus fans. Still, very coo?l.

Siliconera says this Atsuko Tanaka, who was Ultimecia in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, voices this Black Samurai.

The post Strange: A Demonica suit in Shin M??egami Tensei IV? appeared first on Destructoid.

Yesterday, Jim gave you screencaps of the trailer for Shin Megami Tensei IV, but now we have the real thing. ??Have you seen it yet? It's...it's beautiful! It's everything I hoped it would be.

Of course, as is the case with all teasers these days, there's nothing in the way of gameplay, but there's plenty left to go on here beyond that. There's SMT II-looking characters, arm computers, castles, that apocalypse-type setting, and a f*ckton of crosswalks. Also, Japanator is guessing that we might have a female main ch??aracter.

The big takeaways are that it's a handheld title and it is coming in 2013. Not new information, but more exciting now that we've se?en something of it. 

Let's hope that we see more of this at Tokyo Game Show n??ext month. 

The post Leaked Shin Megami Tensei IV ??trailer gets me all hot appeared first on Destructoid.