Megami Tensei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Megami Tensei
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 Megami Tensei logo |
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| Genre(s) | Console role-playing game |
| Developer(s) | Atlus |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus |
| Official website | http://www.atlus.com |
Megami Tensei (女神転生 Goddess Metempsychosis), commonly abbreviated as MegaTen, is a Japanese console role-playing game metaseries which was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani (taking its name from the title of the first of those novels) and has gone to become one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country. The games are published by Atlus with the exception of the Famicom games, which were published by Namco.
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[edit] Common elements
The Megami Tensei series is unusual among Japanese console role-playing games because it generally eschews the genre's typical pseudo-Medieval settings and sword and sorcery trappings. MegaTen games typically take place in modern or near-future Japan and are centered around the occult, at times combined with cyberpunk elements.
The enemies they involve tend to be referred to as akuma (悪魔, "devil" or "demon") rather than the "monster" term used in many other RPGs. The player can recruit akuma to their side so that they become nakama (仲魔) – "friendly demon", a homophone for "comrade" (仲間). It is also possible to fuse multiple nakama to create another, more powerful nakama and, similarly, to upgrade weapons by fusing them with akuma.
The player is often asked to make moral or philosophical choices that affect the game's storyline and ending.
MegaTen games are heavy in mythological references; deities and creatures from Graeco-Roman, Norse, Celtic, Judeo-Christian, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu and Japanese mythologies are featured, to be battled or recruited by the player.
[edit] Meanings behind the title
Megami Tensei translates to "Reincarnation of the Goddess". The heroine of the first game was actually a reincarnation of the Shinto goddess Izanami. Despite their retaining of this part of title, this story feature does not occur in most of the other games, although there are always characters who could be considered to be said goddess. The first game, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, was based on the novel of the same name by Aya Nishitani.
Shin Megami Tensei (真・女神転生) translates to "True Reincarnation of the Goddess", the Shin in this case being a pun on the shin (新) meaning "new".
Majin Tensei (魔神転生), one of the numerous spin-offs, can be translated as "Reincarnation of the Demon God".
- * In the Megaten franchise, Majin / Demon God is usually a clan title used to categorize the chief deity from various pantheon like Vishnu, Horus, and Baal who are not demonic in nature. In Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne English version, 魔神 is translated simply Deity.
Kyūyaku Megami Tensei (旧約・女神転生), the title of the Super Famicom remake of the first two MegaTen games, translates to "Old Testament Reincarnation of the Goddess".
Megami Ibunroku (女神異聞録), the title for the original Persona and the upcoming Devil Survivor, translates to "Record of the Goddess' Strange Tales", denoting a side story or alternate universe.
Giten Megami Tensei (偽典・女神転生), commonly abbreviated as GigaTen, is a more SF-oriented installment for Japanese personal computers. The title translates to "Pseudepigrapha Reincarnation of the Goddess".
[edit] Games
[edit] List of games by release date
The date (month/day) is the release date of first version of the game. The console names after the first are the consoles the game is later ported to.
Console index: FC = Famicom, SFC = Super Famicom, PCE = PC Engine, MD = Mega Drive, GB = Game Boy, GBA = Game Boy Advance, GG = Game Gear, SS = Sega Saturn, PS = PlayStation, PS2 = PlayStation 2, PSP = PlayStation Portable, Wii = Wii, PS3 = PlayStation 3, Xbox = Xbox, VC = Virtual Console, PC98 = PC-9800 series, WIN = Microsoft Windows
1987
- 09/11 : Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (FC, MSX, Mobile phone)
1990
- 04/06 : Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II (FC, Mobile phone)
1992
- 10/30 : Shin Megami Tensei (SFC, PCE, MD, PS, GBA, VC)
- 12/23 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible (GB, GBC, GG)
1993
- 11/19 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II (GB, GBC)
1994
- 01/28 : Majin Tensei (SFC, Win2000)
- 03/18 : Shin Megami Tensei II (SFC, PS, GBA)
- 10/28 : Shin Megami Tensei if... (SFC, PS)
1995
- 02/19 : Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis (SFC)
- 03/04 : Last Bible III (SFC)
- 03/04 : Another Bible (GB)
- 03/24 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special (GG)
- 03/31 : Kyūyaku Megami Tensei (SFC)
- 12/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (SS, PSP)
1996
- 04/26 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Akuma Zensho (SS)
- 09/20 : Megami Ibunroku Persona (PS)
1997
- 04/04 : Giten Megami Tensei: Tōkyō Mokushiroku (PC98, Win 95/98)
- 10/30 : Ronde (SS)
- 11/13 : Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (SS, PS)
- 12/23 : Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Akuma Zensho Dai Ni Shū (SS, PS)
1999
- 06/24 : Persona 2: Tsumi (PS)
2000
- 06/29 : Persona 2: Batsu (PS)
- 11/17 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Black Book/Red Book (GB)
2001
- 07/27 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - White Book (GB)
- 07/27 : Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner (GB)
2002
- 03/28 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Black Book/Red Book (PS)
- 11/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Book of Light/Book of Dark (GBA)
- 12/05 : Shin Megami Tensei: NINE Standalone version (Xbox)
2003
- 02/20 : Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (PS2)
- 07/25 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Chidren Puzzle de Call! (GBA)
- 09/12 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Book of Fire/Book of Ice (GBA)
2004
- 01/29 : Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax (PS2)
- 05/26 : Shin Megami Tensei if...: Hazama Hen (Mobile phone)
- 07/15 : Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner (PS2)
- 08/26 : Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX (Mobile phone)
- 11/04 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Messiah Riser (GBA)
2005
- 01/27 : Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 (PS2)
2006
- 03/02 : Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidō tai Chōriki Heidan (PS2)
- 03/03 : Shin Megami Tensei Pinball: Judgment (Mobile phone)
- 06/01 : Persona 3: The Night Before (WIN)
- 07/13 : Persona 3 (PS2)
- 12/01 : Megami Ibunroku Persona: Ikū no Tō Hen (Mobile phone)
- 12/07 : Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner A's TEST Server (Mobile phone)
2007
- 03/30 : Megami Tensei: IMAGINE (WinXP)
- 04/19 : Persona 3 FES (PS2)
- 04/27 : Shin Megami Tensei: Tōkyō Requiem (Mobile phone)
- 04/27 : Megami Tensei QIX: Persona 3 (Mobile phone)
- 05/15 : Megami Tensei CHAINING SOUL: Persona 3 (Mobile phone)
- 05/28 : Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Colosseum 20XX (Mobile phone)
- 07/11 : Majin Tensei: blind thinker (Mobile phone)
- 08/30 : Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Intruder (Mobile phone)
- 09/10 : Megami Tensei Gaiden: Shin'yaku Last Bible (Mobile phone)
- 10/01 : Persona 2 Tsumi: Lost Memories (Mobile phone)
- 10/29 : Aegis: The First Mission (Mobile phone)
- 11/26 : Persona 3 em (Mobile phone)
2008
- 02/26 : Persona Ain Soph (WIN)
- 07/10 : Persona 4 (PS2)
- 10/23 : Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidō Tai Abaddon Ō (PS2)
- 10/23 : Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition (PS2)
2009
- 01/15 : Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (DS)
- 04/29 : Persona (PSP)
- 10/08 : Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
[edit] Spin-offs
Numerous sub-series in different genres have been created over the years. They are:
- Last Bible
- Majin Tensei
- Devil Summoner
- Persona
- Devil Children
- Digital Devil Saga
[edit] Western releases
The MegaTen series started in 1987 in Japan, but the games' prominent use of religious and occult symbols and themes (content that had long been taboo in the Western videogame industry) prevented them from crossing over to America and Europe until the mid 1990s. The following games have made it to America:
| Release date | Console | US title | Japanese title |
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| 1995 10/20 | VB | Jack Bros. | Jack Brothers no Meiro de hiihoo! (ジャック・ブラザースの迷路でヒーホー！) |
| 1996 | PS | Revelations: Persona | Megami Ibunroku Persona (女神異聞録ペルソナ) |
| 1999 | GBC | Revelations: The Demon Slayer | Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible (女神転生外伝 ラストバイブル) |
| 2000 12/22 | PS | Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Persona 2: Batsu (ペルソナ2 罰) |
| 2003 10/6 | GBA | DemiKids: Light Version | Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Book of Light (真・女神転生デビルチルドレン 光の書) |
| 2003 10/7 | GBA | DemiKids: Dark Version | Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Book of Dark (真・女神転生デビルチルドレン 闇の書) |
| 2004 10/12 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax (真・女神転生III-NOCTURNE マニアクス) |
| 2005 4/5 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga | Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner (デジタル・デビル・サーガ アバタール・チューナー) |
| 2005 10/11 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 | Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 (デジタル・デビル・サーガ アバタール・チューナー2) |
| 2006 10/10 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army |
Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidō tai Chouriki Heidan (デビルサマナー 葛葉ライドウ 対 超力兵団) |
| 2007 8/14 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: PERSONA 3 | Persona 3 (ペルソナ3) |
| 2008 4/22 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: PERSONA 3 FES | Persona 3 FES (ペルソナ3フェス) |
| 2008 12/9 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: PERSONA 4 | Persona 4 (ペルソナ4) |
| 2009 5/12 | PS2 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | Debiru Samanā Kuzunoha Raidō tai Abadon Ō (デビルサマナー 葛葉ライドウ 対 アバドン王) |
| 2009 6/23 | DS | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor | Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor (女神異聞録デビルサバイバー) |
| 2009 9/22 | PSP | Shin Megami Tensei: Persona | Persona |
[edit] Anime
There have been two OVAs and three animated television series based upon the Digital Devil Story novels and Megami Tensei software.
- Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (March 28, 1987)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Tōkyō Mokushiroku (April 21, 1995 and June 21, 1995)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devi Chil (October 7, 2000 to September 29, 2001)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Light & Dark (October 10, 2002 to September 27, 2003)
- Persona -trinity soul- (January 5, 2008 to June 28, 2008)
[edit] Other merchandise
Merchandise such as collectible figurines, manga, tabletop role-playing games and collectible card games based upon games in the series have also been released.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Atlus USA, Inc.
- Atlus Japan
- Megami Tensei Gashapon Collections
- Digital Devil Database General MegaTen site
- Hardcore Gaming 101's article on the series a very extensive analysis of most of the games in the series
- Megami Tensei Wikia
- Megaten Wiki
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