Admission Criteria For the Megami Tensei Franchise

Megami Tensei

The Megami Tensei (女神転生) franchise covers all Megami Tensei games, be it Persona, DemiKids, Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner, etc. All Megami Tensei games share common themes, chief among them being interaction with demons through fighting, diplomacy, control, cooperation, or all four. "Megami Tensei" roughly translates to "Goddess Reincarnation."

Admission Criteria For the Megami Tensei Franchise

LeadNinja

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#1 Edited By LeadNinja

Or does it have to have Jack Frost in it?

So what exactly is it that makes a game a (Shin) Megami Tensei game? Does it just have to be a JRPG published by Atlus with demons to catch? Does it have to have a mature story? Are they all in the same universe? Or is every Atlus RPG automatically a Megami Tensei game?

14 years ago

WitchHunter_Z

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#2 Edited By WitchHunter_Z

I believe they all take place in the same universe, with each spinoff series [generally] being in different time periods.

14 years ago

Hailinel

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#3 Edited By Hailinel

@WitchHunter_Z said:

" I believe they all take place in the same universe, with each spinoff series [generally] being in different time periods. "

No, they don't. That would otherwise be an excessive number of apocalypses for one universe. ;)

To keep the explanation basic, the Megami Tensei franchise began with the game Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei, which received a sequel in Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei II, which were both games from the Famicom era. On the Super Famicom, a game called Shin Megami Tensei was released, followed by Shin Megami Tensei II and eventually a third game in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. So while the SMT games are their own series, they began as a thematic spin-off of the orginal Megami Tensei titles.

Some games are direct spin-offs of the Shin Megami Tensei games, such as Shin Megami Tensei: If..., which contains elements that are thematically similar to the Persona series, with its high school student protagonists and setting. However, the Persona games themselves are not "true" SMT games. They are not called "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona" in Japan, just "Persona." However, all of the games in the Persona series still contain thematic trademarks that have existed since the original Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei, and thus are considered part of the wider Megami Tensei franchise.

14 years ago

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