Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call Review

That's part of the reason why, although it was deeply flawed in some other respects, we liked Shadow Hearts Covenant so much; the early 20th century setting was simply a refreshing break from what we're used to seeing in our RPGs. It's also unquestionably the main hook of Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call, the European name for Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne and the first of the much-vaunted and expansive SMT (or "MegaTen") series ever to arrive on these shores.

SMT (can we call you SMT? I think we can, since we can't be bothered setting up a Word macro for your lengthy and almost entirely nonsensical untranslated Japanese name - no offense) eschews all sign of medieval settings, beaches or indeed spiky-hairedness in favour of being set in present day Tokyo, complete with many of the districts, buildings and landmarks that will be familiar to anyone who's ever visited the eastern capital. It's populated - for the most part - with a cast of resolutely 21st century people, who dress in fashions you wouldn't be surprised to see in Tokyo's more upmarket districts, and it follows a plotline that wouldn't be out of place in a horror novel or particularly dark graphic novel or manga.

I predict a riot

What would your mum say if she saw those tattoos, young man? I suppose you'll be getting your ears pierced next. Honestly!

Admittedly, your stay in Tokyo as we know it is limited. The fairly lengthy introduction to the game sees your character, a nameless teen, travelling across town to meet some schoolfriends and visit his hospitalised teacher. On the way, you'll learn of a riot (apparently between two opposed cult factions) and meet a well-dressed man who works for an occult magazine and is investigating.

You find the hospital deserted, and explore it with your two friends - only to be caught up in the apocalyptic Conception, an event which is surrounded in occult blabber about the rebirth of the world but ultimately means that everyone in Tokyo dies (although many of them hang around as souls you can converse with later) and the city is twisted into a kind of globe shape, with a strange moon called Kagatsuchi in the middle and vast expanses of black desert sand or jagged-edged abysses between the familiar city districts. It's all a bit of a mess, although if last week is anything to go by, if it happened in London we'd probably all just shake our ghostly heads in annoyance and complain about how badly the Conception has messed up the tube services. While drinking tea.

The other side-effect of the Conception is that the city is now teeming with demons, which is a bit of a problem - although arguably less so since you're now also a demon, thanks to the intervention of a spooky small child and his elderly carer, who admonishes you not to disappoint the young master by doing something daft like dying. Freshly endowed with demonic power - and a very fetching set of glowing body-spanning tattoos to prove it - you set off into Tokyo to get to the bottom of the Conception and, it gradually emerges, to fulfil some kind of destiny which awaits you as the world is reborn. Sounds hokey, but actually, it's all pretty interesting - and is bolstered by a strong cast of characters that you'll run into over the course of the game.

Demonic Pokemos

Yes, that's who you think it is. No, he doesn't want to be friends. You're a demon. He's a demon hunter. Do the maths.

Of course, you're going to be battling a lot of demons along the way, not least because the game features that bugbear of all RPG fans, random battles. Fighting is accomplished by means of a fairly standard turn-based battle system which is heavily biased towards getting the elements of your attacks - and defence - correct, as characters and monsters in the game will often be able to deflect or even absorb some types of damage.

As you gradually find more "elements", called Magatama, your central character can swap them at will and change his elemental resistance and other stats, but other characters don't get that advantage so choosing your party for a specific area or battle becomes very important. This can be somewhat unforgiving, although in fairness the trial and error approach to strategy is more likely to see you getting a few beatings and bruises rather than the dreaded Game Over screen. However, it does introduce a nice element of strategy to the game and keeps you on your toes throughout, and despite the presence of a button to play out battles automatically, by simply using the same attacks over and over you'll rarely win battles in that manner after the first few hours of the game, as you'll need to pay attention to what's going on at all times.

The really interesting aspect comes in terms of how you build your party, though. You don't just battle demons - you can also talk to them, either in the field or in battles themselves. This is an essential part of the game, since you don't have any human companions in battle (as such...) - you rely entirely on recruiting demons to your side, either by bribery, cajoling or threatening them through a negotiation system that forms an interesting new addition to the traditional RPG battle system. This may sound a bit annoying, but actually it works very well, and the game successfully avoids being a demonic gotta catch 'em all by putting a tight limit on how many demons you can have in your party. You can, however, fuse two demons into one more powerful one at special temples dotted around Tokyo. This is a nice addition to the game; not least since it shows you the result of each fusion before you attempt it, so it isn't frustrating trial and error. Better still, it lets you turn low-powered demons into much more powerful ones without having to go through an annoying XP grind with them.