Shin Megami Tensei IV Starter Guide: Exploration

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.

• Exploration

Exploration is quite easy in the game’s dungeon: make sure you keep on checking your surroundings by rotating the camera. Movement is all done by using the circle pad: however there will be times when you’ll have to use the directional up and down inputs. When an exclamation point appears on the field, it means that you can interact with a specific object. Make sure you explore everything there’s to explore in a dungeon: you’ll need everything you can find.