Anytime you hear a MMORPG is free to play, you are almost guaranteed for it to be from average to utter crap. However I must say Aeria Games has made a pretty decent game here. For one I've yet to play a MMORPG with combat this active and just plain old fun. With it behaving more like an action game then a RPG, you constantly have to pay attention to what enemy your facing and what attacks you've been using. If the enemy is about to rush you, instead of hoping your 20% dodge kicks in you can activate a defensive mode. This lets you block the attack and then counter if your quick enough. This is me preparing the counter in the Virtual Training Room. The pink tells me it's working!



I guess pictures of me fighting a strange turkey with an onion on its head is a good point to actually talk about Shin Megami Tensei, or MegaTen for short. The MegaTen series is about what happened when some goofy scientists started playing with teleportation. As any game fan knows this is a TERRIBLE idea! Surprisingly, demons suddenly turned up. Of course there is a number of people that can fight the demons, they’re called Demon Busters. What would have been an epic struggle between demons and humans goes to the sidelines as nuclear war breaks out. Most of the planet is eradicated with the few human survivors fighting against themselves AND the demons.

All is not lost however. A huge flood comes to kill the majority of the demons in Tokyo. Humanity finally decides to stop fighting each other and band together. Things are looking hopeful. Then that’s when the plot line of this game occurs. Yes, a plot line. Be shocked and stunned.

Help also comes along in the ability to make contracts with demons. You make a contract with a demon and they help you. Think Warlock pets from World of Warcraft except you can pick almost any demon you come across, as long as you’re at a high enough level. Once you find the perfect demon for you, all you do is start up a conversation with them. Some respond well to simple greetings others to threats or taunts. The whole concept to me is very entertaining. Here is a picture of someone I came across with an “Angel” demon..



While the graphics are actually pretty decent, music exactly what you expect from a JRPG, not all is perfect in this little world just riddled with demon goodness. For one your character moves ungodly slow. With each area being pretty large it takes quite a while to get to places. If there is some type of movement increase later in the game that would just be swell. Also if your playing full screen and you alt+tab out expect the game to crash on you when you attempt to get back to playing.

The UI itself is cluttered, even though the tutorial explains where everything is at I wish there was faster access without having to make new key binds. I would love to see a better mini-map system as well. The current one is just an empty radar with a few dots on it. While it's functional I just would like a more detailed one like the one World of Warcraft uses.

So far Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine is looking to be solid MMO. As a fan of the series this game spawns from I'm pleased as a fan of both the story and the game play. I can only hope it escapes from the drudgery that most MMORPGs serve as you progress through the game. I'll keep you posted. I'll also give you toast...buttery...delicious...toast...

This is an article I wrote up for the all powerful http://www.negativegamer.com and brought over here. I'll be posting the majority of my SMT:I updates there....HA!