Shin Megami Tensei IV Starter Guide: Demon Transformation

After quite a long wait from the previous main entry of the series, Shin Megami Tensei IV is finally available on Nintendo 3DS. It’s the first time a main entry of the series gets released on a portable console but that doesn’t mean that the game has been toned down and been made any easier: there’s just enough contents to keep you occupied for a long time.

Shin Megami Tensei IV comes with all the features that players have come to expect from the series and even more: the menu system has been tweaked, exploration and battle improved with new gameplay options and some extras have been included, which use the unique 3DS capabilities.

The Karma system from previous entries of the series also came back: depending on your alignment, Neutral, Chaos, Law, you’ll slightly change the story of the game.

Demon recruiting and fusing is also available once again: while demon recruiting has been in the series pretty much since the beginning, demon fusion is a more recent gameplay feature that has now become a staple of the series. Through demon fusion you’ll be able to acquire new demons that cannot be obtained in any other way. During the fusion process you’ll also be able to make the new demon inherit some of the skills of the demons used in the fusion: not only you’ll get a new demon, but you’ll get a better demon that the ones that can be recruited on the field, which come with their basic skillsets.

Feeling confused yet? This is just the beginning: Shin Megami Tensei IV has so many different gameplay mechanics that a newcomer to the series, hungry for some new role playing but unaware of the dangers of the world of the series, might feel lost and frustrated: the difficulty level certainly doesn’t help at all in ease the players in its many mechanics.

This is why we are here: we will be helping you go through the game by explaining all the basics of the game as well as some of the most advanced systems found in Shin Megami Tensei IV.

• Demon Transformation

Demon Transformation is a unique feature found in Shin Megami Tensei IV: some demons can transform into different ones without going through the demon fusion process. There’s no special requirement to do so: simply level the demon past a certain level and the transformation will happen automatically: you’ll know when a demon is about to transform since it’ll let you know after a level up. Once a demon gets transformed it’ll jump to the base level of its new form.

Here are all the possible transformations

Heqet 11 Dzelarhons
Gremlin 14 Raiju
Poltergeist 17 Quicksilver
Jack Frost 20 Wendigo
Koppa Tengu 22 Karasu Tengu
Ubu 26 Tsuchigumo
Shikome 31 Yomotsu Ikusa
Incubus 37 Succubus
Corpse 39 Nebiros
Kelpie 42 Valkyrie
Kaiwan 44 Decarabia
Kuebiko 49 Ukano Mitama
Airavata 53 Girimehkala
Wild Hunt 58 Abaddon
Tao Tie 62 Taown
Dakini 69 Kali

Divine Line

Angel 12 Archangel
Archangel 22 Principality
Principality 30 Power
Power 37 Virtue
Virtue 46 Dominion
Dominion 56 Throne
Throne 66 Cherub

Drake Line

Mushussu 51 Tiamat
Tiamat 62 Ym

Beast-Nymph Line

Kabuso 23 Senri
Senri 32 Nekomata

Haunt-Wilder Line

Mou-Ryo 28 Inferno
Inferno 39 Porewit

Avatar-Beast Line

Chimera 52 Orthus
Orthus 66 Cerberus