Shin Megami Tensei IV

Post-apocalyptic Tokyo, demons lurking around every corner, and moral choices that will haunt you long after you turn off the console. Shin Megami Tensei IV is a dark, uncompromising JRPG that never stops testing your endurance or your conscience.

The game mechanics rest on the famous Press Turn system, where hitting an enemy's weakness rewards the player with extra turns, while a mistaken attack is harshly punished. Just as crucial is negotiating with demons: instead of merely defeating your opponents, you can persuade them to join your team and then fuse them into stronger beings. The battles are demanding and require preparation, planning, and humility.

The Shin Megami Tensei series is developed by the Japanese studio Atlus, and the fourth main installment came out in 2013. The game is famous for its mature, often unsettling atmosphere, which isn't afraid of themes of faith, order, and chaos. The player passes through a crossroads of the Law and Chaos ideologies, and their decisions shape which of the branching endings they'll see.

Culturally, SMT IV cemented Atlus's reputation as a creator of hardcore RPGs for demanding audiences and served as a darker counterpart to the lighter spin-off series Persona. For many Western players it was one of the first opportunities to fully taste the series' main line.

The game received a follow-up title, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, which offered a new story perspective in the same world and fine-tuned a number of the game systems.

Why play it: If you're looking for a tough, intellectually demanding JRPG with a bleak atmosphere and a deep demon system, SMT IV is an essential experience.