A fresh sci-fi twist on the critically acclaimed Shin Megami Tensei series! A startlingly original entry in the award-winning Shin Megami Tensei universe, Strange Journey takes the heralded RPG franchise to exciting new sci-fi frontiers while bringing to mind the all-time classic Nocturne. With over 300 demons to bribe, coerce, and negotiate with to gain assistance in battle, Strange Journey is every bit the deep, rewarding RPG experience fans have come to expect from the SMT franchise. Shin Megami Tensei goes beyond! SMT: SJ’s game mechanics represent a return to the proud tradition of the all-time dungeon-crawling classic SMT: Nocturne while its story takes players into the near future on a mission to save Earth and to understand humanity's position within the larger universe. A dark turn into science fiction! Who or what is causing the black hole that is engulfing the Earth? A mission to investigate the cause uncovers a whole world of demons that humans knew nothing about. Do they seek your destruction or will you seek theirs? Team up with demons! Demons may be friends or foes depending on your ability to negotiate, bribe, and coerce them to join you. With more than 300 types of demons, you'll have a huge variety of battlefield encounters and an equally large base of options on which to build your party.

User Reviews about Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

This is another great Shin Megami Tensai game for the DS. If you bought and enjoyed the previous one, Devil Survivor, have no fear, for Strange Journey is up to par. It is different, though. In a good way.

The game is HARDCORE. I mean it. If you rush in to boss battles without a plan or go too deep into a dungeon before you should, prepare to learn the hard way not to do that again. And again. And again. The plot motivates you to go on, however. It's actually very fun to follow and you feel genuine concern for the people around you. It takes place in modern day, and don't worry if you've never played another Shin Megami Tensai game, by the way: this is a standalone gig in terms of plot.

This is a tough game with some mature themes in it (although I'm not sure about an M rating...), but the series has once again impressed me and I can easily recommend Shin Megami Tensai: Strange Journey to anyone who feels up to the challenge. -- A great game, but not for everyone

A nice, high quality RPG with many unique elements that you don't see in most games today. The M rating does make sense, but it isn't on the level of Grand Theft Auto or anything like that.

The storyline is solid. Without ruining anything, a strange black void has appeared in Antarctica and is slowly growing to engulf the entire planet. You are a soldier on one of four ships sent in to investigate, but you immediately lose contact with the other three upon entering. Worse yet, the void is filled with demons. Lots of them.

The only way to get very far is to enlist the aid of your enemy. Most of the demons are willing to talk with you before fighting, and it can be a blast to learn how best to talk to each kind of demon. If they like you enough, you can barter with them for money, items, or even get them to join you. Be willing to haggle though; they won't come for free.

The other two systems worth mentioning are the demon co-op and demon fusion features. As the game progresses, your dialogue selections change your alignment. Demons have alignments too, and you work better if your entire team is of the same alignment. When one party member strikes the enemy's weakness, each teammate of the same alignment attacks immediately, allowing you to easily double or triple the strength of an already powerful attack.

Finally, the demon fusion program allows you to combine two demons you already have into a brand new one. Doing it is the best way to learn, but it essentially allows you to get demons that are far more powerful than the ones out in the field.

A word to the wise: This game is hard. It does a good job of giving you a smooth learning curve, but the strategy can become deceptively complex. Don't give up on it if it starts to frustrate you, simply get some more allies and perhaps fuse them. You rarely need to grind for experience because you can always recruit stronger demons instead of training the ones you have. This is both quicker and easier, so don't be afraid to experiment. -- A good game

I've played most (if not all) of the US released SMT games. Strange journey happens to be a lot of fun and for some reason I can't quite put my finger on... it has kept my attention longer than the others and has remained fun. The series can sometimes drag at points. The story in Strange Journey isn't extraordinary by any means and it could hardly be considered extremely well polished but it is serviceable. Overall I'd highly recommend SMT: Strange Journey for fans of the SMT series and dungeon crawler aficionados. -- One of the more enjoyable SMT games

Firstly I have to share that I was playing this game when all of the sudden the ground was shaking and rolling -- I seriously thought "Wow Atlus is really good..who knew they put motion stuff in the DSi! Wait a minute -- the DSi doesn't have motion sensing..that's an earthquake!" Lo and behold I was so into this game that it took me a few seconds to realize it was a real earthquake and not the game rolling and shaking! Kids and I did the proper earthquake drill and everyone is fine...and I didn't realize until after that I had my DSi XL the whole time in my hand with Strange Journey on!

So as a gamer mom in my 40's I initially ignored this title (although I've liked others in the SMT series) because of the wacky oddball cover art. It looked like some sort of weird mech thing and was not appealing at all. I even ignored the Atlus Faithful emails I kept getting after I found out this is first person since that usually makes me nauseous. Well then my vacation happened and I was needing a great game to get me through. This was sort of the last one on the used shelves thing -- but I knew it could go back if I didn't like it to that other game store so I thought I'd give it a try. I barely came up for air and to order the pizza for the kids dinner so they wouldn't starve! Whoa. This game is addictive!

Compared to its sister title this is much more of a dungeon crawler as others have pointed out. The maps remind me of Etrian Odyssey (another Atlus title) but on this one the game maps for you -- you don't have to do it yourself. The music and ambiance of the game is much more adult than most other things I've played on the DS -- although so far it seems like the thematics are why this was rated an M. The language isn't that bad and way less than what I hear every day when I go to pick up my teenager from school.

The game is hard. HARD. However it is rewarding and the fact that it requires much thought keeps it from getting too boring (although it can get repetitive at times). The menu system is excellent. The characters are pretty interesting and, as with all SMT games, there is a lot of dialogue. I happen to like that because I actually find the story intriguing. I'm not usually much for space or end of the world type storylines (although I do like dystopian genre's in books) but this one just gets your interest up and moving and keeps pushing you through the various dungeon's.

I love the demon fusing although, like a few others, I preferred buying the demons outright like in the Devil Survivor game rather than negotiating which is random. Still when one agrees it gives you a nice sense of satisfaction. About the only thing I don't like in this is that the maps are tedious to get around using the control pad. Could just be me but it can get annonying in navigating because of the way you move.

Overall this is a very interesting game for the DSi and I gotta say it looks gorgeous on the DSi XL screens! If you like dungeon crawlers and RPG's I think you will enjoy this game. Patience is important though -- and dedication. It is a superb value for your gaming dollars. Enjoy!


-- Ignore the strange box art -- this game rocks!