Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner

Last updated

Shin Megami Tensei:
Devil Summoner
Devsum.jpg
Sega Saturn cover art
Developer(s) Atlus
Publisher(s) Atlus
Director(s)
Producer(s) Katsura Hashino (PSP)
Designer(s)
  • Katsura Hashino
  • Shogo Isogai
Artist(s) Kazuma Kaneko
Writer(s) Ryutaro Ito
Composer(s)
  • Toshiko Tasaki
  • Tsukasa Masuko
Series
Platform(s)
Release
  • Sega Saturn
  • Original
    • JP: December 25, 1995
  • Akuma Zensho
    • JP: April 26, 1996
  • PlayStation Portable
    • JP: December 20, 2005
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner [lower-alpha 1] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. Forming part of the Megami Tensei franchise, it is the first title in the Devil Summoner series. It was first released for the Sega Saturn in December 1995, and received a port to the PlayStation Portable in December 2005. Despite reports of it being planned for localization, neither version has been released outside Japan.

Contents

Set in the city of Hirasaki in modern-day Japan, the story follows a college student whose death at the hands of demons forces his soul into the body of Summoner Kyouji Kuzunoha. Now in Kuzunoha's body, the protagonist must investigate the appearance of demons in the town and the activities of Sid Davis, the Dark Summoner responsible for killing the protagonist and Kuzunoha. The gameplay carries over multiple classic elements from the Megami Tensei series, including first-person dungeon navigation, turn-based battles, and negotiation with demons to recruit them into the player's party.

Devil Summoner began development after the positive reception of Shin Megami Tensei If... . Designed from the outset as a spin-off from the main Megami Tensei series, it drew on elements of detective fiction. It was also the series' first appearance on fifth-generation home consoles. Regular Megami Tensei staff were involved with the project, including director Kouji Okada, writer Ryutaro Ito, and character designer Kazuma Kaneko. The music was composed by Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko. Upon its release in Japan, the original version garnered positive reviews from Japanese press and strong sales. It went on to spawn both a television series and multiple sequels.

Gameplay

A battle in Devil Summoner, featuring demons on the battle screen and the party displays. SMT Devil Summoner battle.jpg
A battle in Devil Summoner, featuring demons on the battle screen and the party displays.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner is a role-playing video game in which the player takes control of a silent protagonist that can be named and whose personality is determined by dialogue choices made in the game. [1] Navigation is split into two types: standard navigation through the game's three-dimensional (3D) dungeons in a first-person view, and navigation around the protagonist's home of Hirasaki City using a 3D overworld map. During dungeon navigation, the player's route is automatically mapped, and the map can be viewed in the menu screen. [1] [2] Non-playable characters (NPCs) are represented in first-person navigation with 2D sprites, and their speech is represented with head-and-shoulder portraits above dialogue boxes. Quests are available at a location called the House of Divination, which the player can choose to accept in exchange for rewards. Various stores are scattered throughout Hirasaki City for buying items, weapons and armor, and healing the player's party and reserves. A key currency in the game is Magnetite, which is used for summoning demons and as currency in some of the stores. [3]

Enemies are confronted on the overworld map and in dungeons through both random encounters and staged battles. Battles are governed by a turn-based system: the player's and enemy's parties each get a turn during which they can perform available actions. The player party is arranged in a three-by-two grid, with their positioning effecting how they can attack enemies: for instance, short-ranged attacks are made less effective if the selected party member is in the back row. The player has access to multiple commands in battle: "Sword", "Gun", "Magic" and "Extra". Items can also be used in battle, and the player can choose to escape from most encounters aside from key boss battles. An "Auto" option is also available, where the entire party is commanded using the game's artificial intelligence. At the end of each successful battle, experience points are distributed among party members depending on the strength of the enemy, and the protagonist is given Ability Points to assign to six different attributes which affect his performance in battle. [1] [2]

Key elements in the game are negotiation with and the fusion and creation of demons. Encountered in battle, demons can be talked with and negotiated into running from the battle, giving money or items, or joining the player's party. If the negotiation fails, the demon will attack. Once a demon is won over, they are given a loyalty meter which is influenced by the player's actions. If the demon is treated well and performs actions in battle it approves of, its loyalty will increase. If the opposite occurs, the demon will begin to disobey the protagonist, then leave. [1] [2] Demons can be fused together at a special location in the game called the Hotel Goumaden, where fusions are supervised by the NPC Dr. Victor. Demon fusion is governed by a comparability system, with more favorable fusions emerging from better demon compatibility. Demons can also be fused with weapons to grant stat boosts, and after a certain point in the game artificial demons called Zomas can be used and strengthened through repeated fusions. [1] [4]

Synopsis

Devil Summoner takes place in Hirasaki, a coastal Japanese city that has seen a recent rise in supernatural activity. The player character, an unnamed college student, is asked to accompany his girlfriend Kumiko Hatano to check out a book on the occult for her studies. Going to an amusement park to buy some concert tickets at Kumiko's request, the protagonist is attacked by demons and saved by Kyouji Kuzunoha, a Summoner belonging to an ancient clan dedicated to protecting Japan from supernatural threats. Shortly after leaving him, Kuzunoha dies under mysterious circumstances. Shortly after this, the protagonist is attacked by a Dark Summoner named Sid Davis. Killed by Davis, he is returned to the land of the living by Charon. Upon waking, the protagonist finds himself in the body of Kuzunoha, who was also killed by Davis. Now trapped in Kuzunoha's body, the protagonist is forced to work in his place to investigate the reasons behind Sid Davis' activities alongside Kuzunoha's partner Rei Reiho: he does this to both protect the city and return Kuzunoha and himself to their original bodies.

During his investigations, the protagonist and Rei learn of multiple demon-run criminal organizations causing chaos in Hirasaki including factions of the Yakuza, all of them connected to Davis. The protagonist's efforts against the demon threats are hindered by Hideo Momochi, who accuses the pair of being involved in the incidents until the police station is infested by demons and the police chief is revealed to be a demon in disguise. The protagonist also foils an attempt to Kumiko for unknown reasons. After taking down each of the five major demon factions, Davis reveals that the entire affair was orchestrated to break five seals holding prisoner the spirit of Inaruna: once a powerful regional priestess who was executed for resisting the forces of Emperor Jimmu with her magical powers during the unification of Japan, her spirit's hatred for her conquerors has grown beyond control and she will destroy the city if released. Kumiko, the reincarnation of Inaruna, is successfully abducted by Davis and used as a host for Inaruna's spirit. Although she is summoned, the protagonist and Rei rescue Kumiko and kill Davis. They then successfully defeat Inaruna. With the city returned to normal, the protagonist remains trapped in Kuzunoha's body, and can choose either to use his own name or adopt the Kuzunoha title.

Development

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner is the first entry in the Devil Summoner series, which forms part of the larger Megami Tensei series: as with other entries, its narrative takes the form of a modern-day detective story as opposed to the series' more prevalent post-apocalyptic settings. [5] The concept for Devil Summoner originated during the development of Shin Megami Tensei II and Shin Megami Tensei If... for the Super Famicom. During the development of II, series producer Kouji Okada considered creating a more imposing sequel, but instead created If... as a smaller-scale spin-off title. The positive reaction to If... gave Okada the freedom to realize long-held concepts for a "parallel world" as an extension of the original concept for If.... [6] Odaka was the game's director, while the script was written by regular Megami Tensei writer Ryutaro Ito. [7] [8] The story and atmosphere drew on themes from detective fiction, particularly the melancholic and hardboiled fiction of Raymond Chandler. [7] [9] One of Ito's favorite pieces of dialogue was the opening segment, where the protagonist is dragged about by Kumiko on her errands, during which the protagonist's personality is determined by the player. [10] The name of the game's setting, Hirasaki City, was constructed using kanji taken from the names of places in Kanagawa Prefecture. The city's name also served as a reference to Heijo City, a location in Patriotic Squadron Dai-Nippon . [8]

Devil Summoner was the first Megami Tensei title to be released on a 32-bit fifth-generation home video game console, and the first Megami Tensei game to feature 3D graphics. The latter presented a new challenge for the development team: while they found adjusting to the new specifications a challenge, they also greatly enjoyed working with the Sega Saturn, the which was unlike anything previously experienced by the team. Among the design staff were Katsura Hashino, who focused on combat, and Shogo Isogai, who focused on coordination between gameplay events. [9] [11] The demon conversation system was conceived by Okada based on experiences with the multiple accents encountered in the Kansai region of Japan. Using this as a base, he created the response system to give demon negotiation a more realistic feeling than previous Megami Tensei games. [7] It was also a means of equalizing the relationship between demons and the player party, which had previously been more akin to master and servant than equal partners. [9] The Zoma demons, which could be freely tailored into different demon types, was created while the team was balancing out the game's difficulty. [7] The gameplay difficulty, which by later standards would be considered quite high, was toned down from the difficulty of earlier Megami Tensei titles to appeal to a wider audience. This necessitated balancing a more forgiving difficulty with keeping traditional Megami Tensei gameplay elements. [11]

The character designs were created by Kazuma Kaneko. In keeping with the "MegaTen Detective" theme, Kaneko emulated the genre's hard-boiled elements in his character designs. [12] Kuzunoha's character design was inspired by the first animated version of Japanese character Lupin III, the main protagonists of Tantei Monogatari and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , and the titular character from The Adventures of Ford Fairlane . [12] Rei Reiho, who Kaneko later referred to as his favorite female character design, was created to be the main character's sidekick and consequently was portrayed as a strong character. Her appearance was influenced by Japanese model Kitaura Tomoe. [13] [14] Her choker necklace, which was hung with coins needed to cross the Sanzu River after death, was part of how Kaneko expressed the story's hard-boiled elements. [12] The character Sid Davis was created as Ito wanted a black character in the game: the star mark on his forehead represented a pentagram, which resulted in him getting the production nickname "shooting star". The name of true antagonist Inaruna was influenced by Sumerian mythology. She was originally going to be Princess Takiyasha, the legendary daughter of Taira no Masakado: while the explicit details were changed, Inaruna's character was still influenced by the tales surrounding Takiyasha. [7] Her reincarnation in the form of Kumiko was a conscious reference to the Megami Tensei series' titular concept of reincarnation. [8] Kumiko's early portrayal was far gentler than she was in the final game: given a high-class background, she would come across as a Yamato nadeshiko . [10] Supporting character Dr. Victor was based on the titular protagonist of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein . [15] Future character designer Shigenori Soejima worked on the game a sprite designer. Devil Summoner would be his very first work within the Megami Tensei franchise. [16]

The music was composed by Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko, with additional arrangements by Tasaki, Masuko, Taku Iwasaki, Hisaaki Takemori and Don McCow. In their commentary on the game's music, the two main composers noted that tracks such as "Conduct Record" and "Sid Davis" were composed quite quickly: the latter track was rewritten, but circumstances led to the original version being used in the final game. "Kuzunoha Detective Agency" was Tasaki's favorite composition. Several environmental tracks were themed after their respective locations. The theme for Dr. Victor's location, the Goumaden Hotel, made heavy use of the organ despite Toshiko's original decision against this. The theme for 3D dungeons was re-purposed during debugging into the "level up" theme. The normal battle theme was originally intended to be a sub-boss theme, while the first battle theme to be composed was the main boss theme. The boss battle theme used in the game is a toned-down version of Tsukasa's original version, which was too large for comfortable use within the game. The final boss theme was divided into two parts: in the first part, Tsukasa made the guitar solo "jerky", but brought it back to normal for the second half. The staff roll music was composed by Masuko with a strong guitar element. For some tracks, the team was restricted by the available disc space. [17]

Release

Devil Summoner was released by Atlus for the Sega Saturn on December 25, 1995. [18] A supplementary release containing bonus material such as the ability to view the game's demon collection, titled Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Akuma Zensho, was released on April 26, 1996. [19] In 2005, it was announced that a port to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) was in development as part of the Devil Summoner subseries' tenth anniversary celebrations. The port included a demon compendium, adjustable difficulty levels, a save-anywhere option, adjustable screen ratio, and additional bosses and interface alterations for user convenience. [20] [21] Hashino and Isogai returned to the project, this time taking up the respective roles of producer and director. [9] The port was decided upon when it was decided to begin development on the third Devil Summoner game so players who had missed the Saturn original could experience it again. An important element of the port was ensuring short loading times, an issue plaguing other PSP ports of the time. [22] The port was released in Japan on December 20, 2005. [23]

Localization efforts

In March 1996, it was reported that Devil Summoner was being localized for a North American release in June (per GameFan ) or July (per GamePro ) of that year. [24] [25] For unknown reasons, it remained exclusive to Japan. [5] [25] During the run-up towards its release, it was rumored that the PSP port would be picked for a western release in 2006. [26] Ultimately, the port was not localized. It was speculated that the reason for its continuing exclusivity was that Sony had blocked a localization attempt due to a lack of new content. [27] As part of staff interviews in 2006 relating to the third Devil Summoner game, Atlus confirmed that they had no plans to localize the title for the West, preferring to prioritize new entries in the franchise. It was also said that the "top-secret reasons" for this were unrelated to the game's content or censorship issues. [28] [29]

Reception

In its first week of release, the Sega Saturn version of Devil Summoner sold 264,822 copies. As of 2007, it sold 355,656, becoming the 14th best-selling game for the system in Japan. [33] In contrast, the PSP remake did not appear in the top 500 best-selling titles either for 2005 or 2006. [34] [35]

Famitsu gave the original version a positive review, with it scoring 35 out of 40 points: the four reviews gave it scores of 9, 9, 9 and 8 out of 10. [30] SoftBank Creative's magazine publication Sega Saturn Magazine gave it a score of 24/30 points, with the three reviewers giving it respective scores of 8, 9 and 7 out of 10. [32] In a feature on the game for GameFan , Casey Loe noted the game's "clean and crisp" 3D visuals, called the enemy design excellent, and thought the full-motion video sequences were the best to be found on the Saturn system. He ended by praising Atlus' plans for releasing a title so deep and mature for the Western market. [25] Fellow gaming magazine GamePro also liked the visuals, and called it "sure to be a hit" based on screenshots. [24] Another magazine, Game Players , wrote in a feature on upcoming role-playing game releases in North America that the premise and previewed gameplay showed it to be a promising title after its positive Japanese reception. [36] Kurt Kalata and Christopher J. Snelgrove, writing for gaming website Hardcore Gaming 101, called the game decent despite its slow pacing, an unpolished look, and some aggravating aspects to the demon loyalty system. [27] In a 2015 feature on recommended software produced for the Saturn, Dengeki Online highlighted Devil Summoner as one of the system's most notable games. The writer ranked it among the best early Megami Tensei titles despite its high difficulty. [37]

Famitsu's writers expressed disappointment over how the PSP version's graphics and screen size had not been changed in comparison to the Sega Saturn version, and of how few adjustments had been made. Despite this, the reviewers positively noted the easier gameplay experience and praised the battle system. [31] Kalata and Snelgrove appreciated the graphics used in the game's dungeons, which they found to be detailed and better-looking than ones in previous games in the series; they also appreciated the battle transitions. On the other hand, they found the graphics for the game's maps to be "not particularly impressive looking", and the graphics for the enemies to be lacking and "barely animated". [27]

Legacy

The commercial and critical success of Devil Summoner prompted the development of a second game in the subseries. Titled Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers , it was released for the Saturn in November 1997, and served as an indirect sequel. [5] [38] Two prequels for the PlayStation 2 were released, focusing on the adventures of Raidou Kuzunoha in 1930s Japan: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army and Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon . [5] [39] The third Devil Summoner was the first to be released outside Japan. [5]

A live-action TV series adaptation of the first game, titled Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, was produced and aired in Japan. Originally only scheduled for one thirteen-episode season in 1997, popular demand prompted the production of a second season, which broadcast in 1998. The first series follows the plot of Devil Summoner, while the second season follows an original story. For their VHS release, the subtitle Bright Demon Advent was added. [40] The series was reissued in Japan on DVD in 2005. [41] Two novels based on the series written by Ryo Suzukaze were published by the Aspect Books imprint of Media Works in 1996. [42] [43] The characters and artwork of Devil Summoner were used for the mobile pinball game Shin Megami Tensei Pinball: Judgement, released in Japan on October 5, 2006. [44] [45]

Notes

  1. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (真・女神転生 デビルサマナー, Shin Megami Tensei Debiru Samanā, lit. True Goddess Reincarnation: Devil Summoner)

Related Research Articles

Megami Tensei, marketed internationally as Shin Megami Tensei, is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed and published by Atlus, and currently owned by Atlus, the franchise consists of multiple subseries and covers multiple role-playing genres including tactical role-playing, action role-playing, and massively multiplayer online role-playing. The first two titles in the series were published by Namco, but have been almost always published by Atlus in Japan and North America since the release of Shin Megami Tensei. For Europe, Atlus publishes the games through third-party companies.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei</i> (video game) 1992 role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Super Famicom. Originally released in 1992 in Japan, it has been ported to multiple systems and eventually released in the West for iOS in 2014. It was released on the Virtual Console service in Japan on Wii in 2007 and on Wii U in 2013, as well as Nintendo Switch Online in 2020. It is the third game in the Megami Tensei series and the first in the central Shin Megami Tensei series. The gameplay uses first-person navigation of dungeons and turn-based battles against demons. The player can recruit demons as allies by talking to them rather than fighting them, and two to three demons can be fused to create new demons.

<i>Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei</i> 1987 action RPG and dungeon crawler

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei refers to two distinct role-playing video games based on a trilogy of science fantasy novels by Japanese author Aya Nishitani. One version was developed by Atlus and published by Namco in 1987 for the Famicom—Atlus would go on to create further games in the Megami Tensei franchise. A separate version for personal computers was developed and published by Telenet Japan with assistance from Atlus during the same year.

<i>Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II</i> 1990 role-playing game

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus and published by Namco for the Famicom. An enhanced Super Famicom port was developed by Opera House and released by Atlus in 1995. The second entry in the Megami Tensei series, the gameplay features the unnamed protagonist exploring a post-apocalyptic wasteland, battling and recruiting demons as they are pushed into taking part in a conflict between the demonic forces of Lucifer and the army of the One True God.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei II</i> 1994 role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei II is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. It was originally released for the Super Famicom in 1994 in Japan, and has since been ported to multiple platforms. It is the second game in the Shin Megami Tensei series, which is a subset of the larger Megami Tensei franchise.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne</i> 2003 video game

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. It was published by Atlus in Japan and North America, and by Ghostlight in Europe. It is the third numbered entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series in the Megami Tensei franchise. Multiple versions of the game have been published: the original version was published in Japan by Atlus in 2003, while a director's cut was released in 2004 in Japan. The director's cut was localized and released in North America in 2004 as Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and in PAL regions in 2005 as Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call. A high-definition remaster was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan in 2020, and was internationally released in 2021 on those consoles and Windows.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei If...</i> 1994 role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei If..., stylized as Shin Megami Tensei if…, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus in 1994 for the Super Famicom. It is a spin-off from the Shin Megami Tensei series, itself part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Since release, it has been ported to mobile devices, PlayStation and Microsoft Windows; it had also been re-released on the Virtual Console in Japan on Wii in 2011 and Wii U in 2013, as well as Nintendo Switch Online in 2021. The story follows a student of Karukozaka High School after their school is sucked into the realm of demons by a vengeful student's demon summoning spell going wrong.

<i>Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers</i> 1997 role-playing video game

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. The game is the second installment in the Devil Summoner series, itself a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Originally published by Atlus for the Sega Saturn, it was later ported to the PlayStation in 1999 and Nintendo 3DS in 2012.

<i>Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army</i> 2006 video game

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army is an action role-playing game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. The game is the third in the Devil Summoner series, which is a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. It was published by Atlus in Japan and North America in 2006, and in Europe the following year.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children</i> Video game series

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, also known as DemiKids, is a series of role-playing video games primarily developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus. It is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise, and began in 2000 with the Game Boy Color games Black Book and Red Book. Five more role-playing games and three games in other genres were released until 2004, followed by no new releases until the 2011 social game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children. In addition to the games, the series has been adapted into manga, anime, and a trading card game, and two soundtrack albums have been released by First Smile Entertainment.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine</i> 2007 online role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine, formerly known as Megami Tensei Online: Imagine, was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Windows. It is part of the Megami Tensei series, and was developed by CAVE and later on GungHo Online Entertainment under license from the series creator Atlus. Originally released in Japan in 2007, it was later released in North America in 2008, then in Europe in 2009. Imagine is set between Shin Megami Tensei and its sequel, in the aftermath of a war which devastated humanity and prompted the arrival of hostile demons split into two opposing factions: Law and Chaos. The player character, a Demon Buster, is tasked with interacting with and fighting the demons that infest post-apocalyptic Tokyo. The gameplay uses real-time combat in open environments similar to other MMORPGs, while carrying over the Megami Tensei series' recurring demon recruitment and fusion mechanics.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei: Nine</i> 2002 role-playing game

Shin Megami Tensei NINE is a 2002 role-playing video game developed by Atlus and NexTech, and published by Atlus for the Xbox. Forming part of the Megami Tensei series, Nine takes place in the period of time between Shin Megami Tensei and its sequel, with the survivors of Tokyo's destruction sheltering in underground bunkers. Taking on the role of a debugger, the player navigates the Idea Space virtual world set up by the survivors of Tokyo's destruction, which has come under attack by demonic beings called "noise". The gameplay has the player navigating a customized avatar in third-person through the virtual world of Tokyo, battling enemies using a real-time command-based battle system. Despite its title, it is the eighth game in the Megami Tensei series. The game's title instead refers to the number of possible moral alignments available to players.

<i>Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon</i> 2008 video game

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon is an action role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. The game is the fourth in the Devil Summoner series, which is a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise, and serves as the direct sequel to Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. It was released in Japan in October 2008, and in North America in May 2009.

<i>Devil Summoner</i> Video game series

Devil Summoner, initially marketed as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, is a video game franchise developed and primarily published by Atlus. Focused on a series of role-playing video games, Devil Summoner is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise. The first entry in the series, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, was released in 1995 for the Sega Saturn. The series has seen several more games since, with the most recent main entry being Soul Hackers 2 released in 2022.

Atlus West, formerly known as Atlus U.S.A., Inc., is the North American publishing branch of Japanese video game company Atlus, primarily known for localizing games for both them and other third-party developers. Its first original role-playing game was Revelations: Persona on the PlayStation, described by staff as an attempt to break into the Western role-playing game market and establish the company's Megami Tensei franchise through its Persona sub-series.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX</i> 2004 role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. It is part of their Megami Tensei series, and is a prequel to the 1994 game Shin Megami Tensei II, taking place decades earlier. It was released for Japanese feature phones starting on August 26, 2004, and was followed by the spin-off game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Colosseum 20XX in 2007.

<i>Shin Megami Tensei J</i> 2002 role-playing video game

Shin Megami Tensei J, also released as Shin Megami Tensei EZ, was a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. It is part of the Megami Tensei series, and was released for Japanese feature phones starting on April 1, 2002, through a monthly subscription.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 真・女神転生 デビルサマナー マニュアル[Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Manual] (in Japanese). Atlus. 1995.
  2. 1 2 3 ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー ::: - フィールド&バトル. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner PSP Website. Archived from the original on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  3. ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー ::: - イベント/施設. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner PSP Website. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  4. ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー ::: - 合体. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner PSP Website. Archived from the original on 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Lada, Jenny (13 November 2009). "Important Importables: Shin Megami Tensei". Technology Tell. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  6. Kurokawa, Fumio (2022-09-27). "メガテンの生みの親,岡田耕始氏が自身を捧げたRPGという祭(後編)アトラスの栄華と迷走,そして新たな挑戦 ビデオゲームの語り部たち:第32部". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 真・女神転生 デビルサマナー 公式ガイドブック・ファイナル (in Japanese). Aspect. February 1996. ISBN   4-8936-6472-7.
  8. 1 2 3 Shigihara, Moriyuki (2007-11-06). "CHAPTER.04 Ryutaro Ito". ゲーム職人 第1集 だから日本のゲームは面白い (in Japanese). Micro Magazine Inc. ISBN   978-4-8963-7267-0.
  9. 1 2 3 4 ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー プレイバック ::: - 前編. Atlus. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  10. 1 2 "Ryutaro Ito interview". 真・女神転生 年代記 (in Japanese). Honor. February 1996. ISBN   4-8771-9311-1.
  11. 1 2 ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー プレイバック ::: - 後編. Atlus. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-01-29. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  12. 1 2 3 "Kazuma Kaneko interview". 真・女神転生 年代記 (in Japanese). Honor. February 1996. ISBN   4-8771-9311-1.
  13. Kemps, Heidi (August 2008). "Game King: An Interview with Kazuma Kaneko". Otaku USA . Vol. 2, no. 1. Sovereign Media. pp. 120–123.
  14. Atlus (1995). 真・女神転生 Fan Club DDS-NET. Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). Vol. 11. Enterbrain.
  15. デビルサマナー 葛葉ライドウ対超力兵団 超公式ふぁんぶっく[Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army Official Fan Book]. Enterbrain. 2006-06-14. p. 13. ISBN   4-7577-2847-6.
  16. "Shigenori Soejima Interview". Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004-2010. Udon Entertainment. 2010-07-01. pp. 145–153. ISBN   978-1-9267-7832-7.
  17. Atlus. "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Sound File liner notes." (in Japanese) PolyGram. 1996-07-01 POCX-1023~4 Retrieved on 2016-04-10.
  18. [SS] 真・女神転生~デビルサマナー~. Atlus. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  19. [SS] 真・女神転生~デビルサマナー~悪魔全書. Atlus. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  20. ::: 真・女神転生デビルサマナー ::: 開発コラム. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner PSP Website. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  21. Winkler, Chris (2005-06-05). "New Devil Summoner PSP Details Announced". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  22. Payton, Ryan; Mielke, James (2005-09-12). "Devil Summoner: 1UP Interviews Kazuma Kaneko". 1UP.com . Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  23. [PSP] 真・女神転生 デビルサマナー. Atlus. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  24. 1 2 "Devil Summoner". GamePro . No. 92. IDG. May 1996. p. 92.
  25. 1 2 3 Loe, Casey (March 1996). "Exclusive: Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner". GameFan . Vol. 4, no. 3. Metropolis Media. p. 46. ISSN   1092-7212.
  26. Karlin, David (2005-10-05). "Devil Summoner PSP Changes". 1UP.com . Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  27. 1 2 3 Kalata, Kurt; Snelgrove, Christopher J. "Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner / Soul Hackers". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  28. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army Official Strategy Guide. DoubleJump Publishing. 2006-10-10. pp. 384–387. ISBN   978-0761554479.
  29. "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Interview". Digital Devil Database. 2006. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  30. 1 2 セガサターン - 真・女神転生デビルサマナー. Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese). No. 369. Enterbrain. 1995. p. 30. Score detail
  31. 1 2 プレイステーション・ポータブル - 真・女神転生 デビルサマナー. Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 889. Enterbrain. 2005-12-30.
  32. 1 2 Sega Saturn Soft Review - 真・女神転生デビルサマナー. Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 1. SoftBank Creative. 1996-01-26. p. 183.
  33. "Sega Saturn Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. Archived from the original on 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  34. 2005年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP500. Geimin.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  35. 2006年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP500(ファミ通版). Geimin.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  36. "Devil Summoner - Atlus for Saturn". Game Players . No. 64. April 1996. p. 48.
  37. セガサターン名作紹介。編集・ライターのおすすめソフトは!?【周年連載】. Dengeki Online. 2015-11-22. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  38. "Staff Interview". デビルサマナー ソウルハッカーズ 公式ガイドブック[Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Official Guide Book] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. January 1998. ISBN   4-8936-6937-0.
  39. "Atlus Products" (in Japanese). Atlus. Archived from the original on 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  40. 宇宙船 Year Book 1999[Uchūsen Year Book 1999] (in Japanese). Asahi Sonorama. 1999-05-01. p. 101. ASIN   B00J8NE588.
  41. 真・女神転生 デビルサマナー DVD-BOX. Atlus (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-02-18. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  42. 真・女神転生デビルサマナー : 封印されし魂 (in Japanese). アスキー. 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-22.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  43. 鎮魂の哀歌 : 真・女神転生デビルサマナー外伝 (in Japanese). アスキー. 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-22.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  44. BMF、悪魔合体や悪魔召喚を盛り込んだピンボールアプリEZweb「真・女神転生ピンボール JUDGMENT」. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2006-10-05. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  45. 真・女神転生ピンボール JUDGMENT. Atlus (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-01-09. Retrieved 2022-02-22.