Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux
A Journey That Begins Where Everything Ends
Ever since the release of the third mainline Shin Megami Tensei game on the PlayStation 2, subtitled Nocturne, the series would develop a following outside its native Japan, with most games in the long-running franchise afterward seeing English versions. It would be many years before the release of the next mainline game, Atlus content to put out spinoffs such as the Digital Devil Saga duology and additional installments of the Persona subseries, until they released what they considered the next “official” entry, subtitled Strange Journey, for the Nintendo DS. The following generation, the game would see an updated rerelease for the 3DS entitled Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, with several tweaks that make it the definitive version.
Redux opens with an expeditionary team investigating a phenomenon known as the Schwarzwelt appearing over the continent of Antarctica, the player controlling an American member of the group tasked with terminating the abnormality, before which he must navigate many bizarre labyrinths and gets the ability to summon monsters to help him fight. The story is generally well-told, with a great deal of originality and decisions throughout the game dictating what ending the player receives, an extra dungeon known as the Womb of Grief adding more narrative. There are some superficial similarities to the plots of prior Megami Tensei games, but the plot definitely helps far more than hurts.
The translation, fortunately, helps matters, with well-localized dialogue that’s largely free of spelling and grammatical errors, not to mention occasional oddities inherent in text localized from Japanese, although as Redux released towards the end of the 3DS’s lifecycle, the new voice acting remains in Japanese, but there are no other major issues aside from that.
Solid gameplay also backs the experience, with the original version of Strange Journey having in some respects returned the franchise to its roots, given the first-person dungeon exploration, with a Metroidvania-style formula of several enhancements assisting the protagonist’s exploration of each labyrinth, with occasional encouragement to explore prior dungeons after each upgrade to the player’s Main App. These include things such as unlocking hidden doors, changing the layout of certain areas of labyrinths through special tiles, detecting hidden enemies, making visible the walls, floors, and ceilings of “dark” areas, and the like.
As the protagonist explores labyrinths, an indicator gradually shifts from blue to red to indicate how close he is to encountering enemies, as always alleviating the tension associated with random encounters, certain Sub Apps able to increase or decrease their rate of occurrence. When the player does encounter an enemy party, they can either negotiate with them to get them to join the playable party, which typically requires items such as Life Stones and Shin Megami Tensei’s macca currency mostly gained from victory against antagonists. The player can also negotiate for other things such as items and money, though I didn’t find myself ever doing this.
Strange Journey Redux for the most part features a traditional turn-based system where the player inputs commands for their party of the protagonist and up to three demons and lets them and the enemy fight in a round. The typical trope of unpredictable turn order comes into play, although the player can acquire a Commander Skill, active or passive, that guarantees their party’s characters will all go before the enemy. Battles end when the player escapes or all characters/enemies are dead, the latter instance naturally resulting in a Game Over, although luckily, the rerelease’s liberalized save system somewhat cuts wasted playtime.
Whereas Nocturne featured the strategy of the player’s characters and the enemies able to obtain advantages by exploiting one another’s weaknesses (luckily visible any time in battle if the player has attempted a skill of a certain element), Redux sports its own twist, where if the protagonist or one of his demons exploits a monster’s weak point, all other characters of the same alignment (Law, Neutral, or Chaos) will unleash an additional attack, with a Sub App able to allow exploiters of weakness to transcend orientation. One major plus is that this system doesn’t work in the enemy’s favor at all.
The protagonist can equip different types of firearms to shoot regular rounds or elemental bullets at foes, ensuring he has some part to play in combat. Players won’t want to attach themselves to a particular party, and to keep up with more powerful enemies throughout the game, they can fuse demons, two at a time, to create empowered ones, the player able to register specific versions of monsters in the Demon Compendium for future resummoning at the cost of some macca. Fusion ultimately became my main method of acquiring new demons, and I very rarely had to negotiate with enemies, with some DLC allowing for faster leveling and money gain if desired.
The game mechanics work very well, with some elements to consider such as only the protagonist being able to use consumable items, which, while stackable, have limits to the amount the player can have in their inventory at any time. Players will also want to have demons in their convoy to summon in case any in their active party dies, the hero also only able to change demons. While the death of a demon removes it from the frontline party, a spell and item allow for simultaneous resurrection and resummoning of deceased demons. The different difficulty settings and mentioned DLC also make the rerelease accessible to most gaming audiences, and in the end, I found the gameplay more than joyful.
Exploring the first-person labyrinths can be fun too, upgrades to the Main App enhancing exploration akin to a Metroidvania, but one might find it easy to get lost at a few points, and there are things to consider such as the need to face respective walls to uncover hidden doors, leading to meticulous exploration without the aid of maps online. Despite this, there are plenty pluses to control such as the easy menus and liberalized save system, with two kinds of saves: field saves, which the player can make any time during exploration, and standard saves players make aboard the Red Sprite or at terminals. All in all, interaction is one of the game’s weak points, but the other aspects compensate for its flaws.
A nice soundtrack with an emphasis on orchestral instrumentation and ominous chanting accompanies the experience, with pretty much every track being solid, and there being different boss battle themes depending upon the kind of bosses. Redux adds Japanese voice acting, which remains in its mother tongue due to the remaster’s rerelease towards the end of the Nintendo 3DS’s lifecycle, although most voices fit their respective characters, with the demons participating in battle on either side having voices or aural effects of their own, enhancing the experience. There are some silent portions, but otherwise, the game is more than easy on the ears.
It’s easy on the eyes as well, even if there isn’t a whole lot of graphical improvement from the original, with a strict first-person perspective during cutscenes, exploration, and combat, but the player’s demons have good animations, and there are nice ability effects in battle. The lack of 3-D is disappointing, BUT while it like control is one of the game’s weak points, it has its strong suits.
Finally, a straightforward playthrough can take as little as sixty hours, although there is plenty side content and lasting appeal in the form of different plot branches, achievement medals, and a New Game+, but the occasional annoying dungeons may deter some players from going through again.
Overall, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux is a worthwhile remaster and one of many great swan songs for the Nintendo 3DS, given its solid strategic gameplay and exploration, enjoyable narrative with multiple plot branches and a polished localization, an excellent soundtrack, and nice stylistic visuals. There are a few issues to consider such as the occasional annoying dungeon (although Main App upgrades somewhat rectify that particular issue), the lack of English voicework, and the strict first-person disposition of the graphics, although the rerelease definitely does the dungeon crawl far better than the Persona Q games, and is one of the high points of the Megami Tensei franchise.
This review is based on an single playthrough of a copy digitally downloaded to the reviewer’s Nintendo 3DS, with DLC purchased and used.
The Good:
+Great gameplay accommodating to different player skills.
+Tight control and exploration.
+Enjoyable narrative with multiple plot branches and polished translation.
+Excellent soundtrack.
+Nice visuals.
The Bad:
-Some annoying dungeons.
-Voicework left in Japanese.
-Visuals strictly first-person and without 3-D capability.
The Bottom Line:
An excellent monster-capturing dungeon-crawl.
Score Breakdown:
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Game Mechanics: 9.5/10
Controls: 9.0/10
Story: 9.5/10
Localization: 9.5/10
Music/Sound: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9.0/10
Lasting Appeal: 9.5/10
Difficulty: Adjustable
Playing Time: 30-60+ Hours
Overall: 9.5/10