History VideoGame / ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The main character is the leader of the Strike Team, and the one who does most (if not all) of the fighting in the mission.

* BittersweetEnding: In the Neutral Ending, the Schwarzwelt has been destroyed and all Demons on earth have been wiped out along with it, but because TheWorldIsNotReady for such reality-warping knowledge, the team has to leave behind all their data and forma, along with Arthur who has to ensure the Schwarzwelt's destruction. There is also the possibility of the return of the Schwarzwelt if humanity doesn't improve.
** [[spoiler:The New Neutral Ending of ''Redux'' is also this. Although the threat of the Schwarzwelt is being continuously eliminated by the protagonist for all eternity, he has to become immortal in the process, beginning to live on the moon along with Arthur and undergoing an implied [[LossofIdentity loss]] of his own humanity.]]
** The [[spoiler: The New Chaos and Law Endings in ''Redux'']] are actually far more sweet than bitter for once. [[spoiler: New Law has Zelenin eliminate human propesities for violence instead of fully controlling them, with humanity thus progressing through cooperation and peaceful methods]] though it's implied this might backfire if [[spoiler: another threat arises. New Chaos meanwhile has Jiminez using the Cosmic Fruit to ensure that all humans and demons are free to choose their paths on equal grounds]] though there's no telling how long it will be [[spoiler: if or when a human or demon believes their best choices will come at the expense of others.]]

* CopyProtection: Almost to ''Videogame/EarthBound'' levels. Playing this game on emulator or a flash cart results in no random encounters, which makes proceeding through the game difficult. Even if you managed to get past that, [[MagnificentBastard the game performs a different save routine resulting in corrupt save data, which is then deleted upon attempting to load it!]] Get past ''that'', and the game begrudgingly lets you play, but still crashes at random every so often.

* GaidenGame: One of two direct spinoffs to the mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, the other being ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf''. ''If'' however is revealed to be set in the same timeline as ''Devil Summoner'' and ''Persona'', where the events of the first ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' never happened and the Earth was spared an apocalypse. ''Strange Journey'' meanwhile is a MilitaryScienceFiction set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in its own contained universe, without much connection to other games.

* SoLastSeason: Just as you've installed new and exciting Main App upgrades to discover hidden doors, open locked portals, or visualize dark zones, you'll run into doors and zones that make them obsolete and require ''additional'' upgrades. Sometimes within minutes.

* SocialDarwinist: Asura's ideal world is one of constant conflict where only the strong can survive.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''[[VideoGame/SoulHackers Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers]]'' where the "apps" system comes from. Not to mention that many of the game's sprites for the demons come from the Devil Summoner games.

* DarkIsEvil[=/=]LightIsGood: Technically, Light and Dark aren't even fighting in this game; a "Light" demon is one that can't be encountered or obtained except through Fusion, and a "Dark" demon can be encountered and fought but can't be negotiated with (so to get them, you also need to create them via Fusion). Light and Dark demons can be either Chaos or Law-based, too. That said, most of the Light demons tend to be based off of more benevolent deities and mythological critters, and Dark demons and humans mostly share a mutual hatred, which is why they refuse to talk to you in most instances.

* LineInTheSand: The PointOfNoReturn between the various MultipleEndings. At a certain point, a character forces the Protagonist to decide which faction he will support --earning enmities and alliances depending on his choices.
** A lesser version occurs earlier, when [[spoiler:the half-demon Jimenez and the angelic Zelenin state their ultimate positions before leaving the ''Red Sprite'' for good, convincing several crewmen to follow them along their respective paths]].

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say in whether to accept or reject Arthur's analyses (to be fair, it's not like other options that aren't "give up" exist when you're in the middle of an NegativeSpaceWedgie that humans know nothing about) and there's no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game, so in terms of gameplay you're AuthorityInNameOnly. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

** At higher levels, your dump stat becomes Agility for a number of reasons. Since your character's damage output is limited by his inability to use magic or skills, it is often the demons that will be pulling the weight of the party around, meaning that his primary use becomes the item caddy (where every item has a maximum stock of 99). Since items have turn priority, it doesn't matter how slow he is, he will still go first. Since a missed attack carries no extra penalties in this game, the main character has no reason to invest in accuracy unless he really wants to be an active participant for damage. The last and probably the most important reason is that with the way armor works, it is entirely possible to have your character take next to no damage from attacks simply by stacking magic and vitality. By the end of the game, the only stats that really matter to you is Magic (magic defense), vitality (physical defense and HP) and Luck (survival).

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say in whether to accept or reject Arthur's analyses (to be fair, it's not like other options that aren't "give up" exist when you're in the middle of an EldritchLocation that humans know nothing about) and there's no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game, so in terms of gameplay you're AuthorityInNameOnly. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say in whether to accept or reject Arthur's analyses and whether to go along with his suggestions (to be fair, it's not like many other options that aren't "give up" exist) and there's no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game, so in terms of gameplay you're AuthorityInNameOnly. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say and there's no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game, so in terms of gameplay you're AuthorityInNameOnly. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say and there's no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game, so the Commander title feels pretty nominal. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

** Officially, the protagonist is in command of the Strike Team after Gore's death; while Arthur does serve as mission analyst and advisor, the protagonist has to be the one to decide whether to accept Arthur's advice and to carry out the orders. However, you, the player, don't really have much say and there's virtually no squad mechanic for your fellow human soldiers in this game. The closest you get to that role is locking the game into one of the AlignmentBasedEndings, which will determine what happens to the ''Red Sprite'' and its crew.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: While otherwise averted with the [[spoiler:Jack's Squad members]], the game treats them as separate from their demons for combat purposes, meaning that you can still talk to their demons. All of the demons they use are Dark, so you can't negotiate with them, but "friendly demon" reactions still occur...

** The Schwarz (black) welt (world).
*** One demon conversation has the demon translate it as its probable intended meaning, "Black Horizon," which the Schwartzwelt certainly is; a zone of blackness enveloping the Earth.

** Occasionally at the beginning of an encounter, one of the enemy demons will offer to join you free of charge. Most of the time, it's legit, but sometimes its actually this, and they'll actually [[WhatAnIdiot call you out]] for falling for it.

With no other option, the United Nations assembles four elite teams comprised of the most talented soldiers and scientists from around the world. Armed with the most advanced technology available, including the [[FunWithAcronyms DEMONICA]] PowerArmor and four massive exploration vehicles, their mission is to physically enter and explore the interior of the Schwarzwelt, and find a way to stop it before the entire world is consumed.

You take the role of a decorated soldier on-board the Red Sprite, one of the four exploration vehicles sent into the Schwarzwelt. After a crash landing into the Schwarzwelt, the Red Sprite is separated from the other vehicles, and you soon discover that the interior of the Schwarzwelt is crawling with invisible demons eager to tear you and your comrades to pieces. Fortunately, with the help of a mysterious software program downloaded into your PowerArmor, you can perceive, converse with and recruit these demons to your side.

* Mastema and Louisa/Lucifer imply [[spoiler: there are actually [[ThereIsAnother two distinct]] incarnations of God, one which was worshipped by humans and ruled the Earth before being taken apart by the Mother Goddesses, while another is the one whom Mastema seeks blessings from and Lucifer defied, who predates humanity]]. Schwarzwelt Reminiscence artbook has the game developers explain [[spoiler: the God which works through the Three Wise Men are born from the will of the Earth just like Mem Aleph, while Mastema and angels around him are visitors, alien to this world; meaning both Lucifer and the other God are as well. Whether or not this one is evil or not is unclear; Lucifer claims the madness of this God was what created humanity]]. The UpdatedReRelease muddles things further [[spoiler: by having the Three Wise Men reform into Shekinah (a feminine expression of YHVH), who claims to exterminate humans and protect Earth on behalf of God/Great Will; but the Metatron/Demiurge fusion also becomes far more reasonable and even join you in defeating Shekinah]]. All in all, this trope is ultimately zigzagged.

** [[spoiler:YHVH Himself doesn't put in an appearance, but the Three Wise Men are presumably acting on His orders, and they aren't any nicer than he is in earlier installments. There are hints they're actually acting on their own initiative as YHVH has been broken into pieces and the only one remaining is too weak to do anything, but, aside from [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII SMT2]], [[LawfulStupid angels]] don't ''usually'' have a history of that in SMT.]]
** Two NewGamePlus quests more than imply that [[spoiler: Metatron and Demiurge are PiecesOfGod who lost to the Mothers before the story began. The Piece that takes Metatron's form even says that God forgot his love for humans and humans stopped believing him in return. Even after fusing with the Demiurge piece he implies that he hasn't changed at all. Luckily you have a chance to [[SealedEvilInACan seal him away for good]] thanks to a mysterious female entity who is not aligned with Law or Chaos.]] This leads to the question of [[spoiler: whether the Angels are actually acting on their own agenda or were following the Piece that took Metatron's form.]]

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: In this franchise, "Demon" is actually a catch-all term for any supernatural being ranging from goblins and fairies to gods; even angels are technically one specific type of demon (though they'd probably be very angry at you if you called them that). Demons in general are still very bad news for unwary humans, despite not all being horned monstrosities straight out of a Doom game. Well, that's what the word "demon" (or, if you want to be picky, "daemon") originally meant: "spiritual being". The negative connotations were mostly Constantine-onwards Christianity apologists trying to explain away outside religions.
** They also appear to be forms of data or thought. As blue squares are the form invisible demons [[spoiler: and the demons in Grus after being affected by Zenelin's song]] take.

* TakeAThirdOption: This is essentially the point of the new endings in ''Redux'', as you are given the opportunity to convince [[spoiler:Zelenin and Jimenez]] that they don't ''have'' to blindly follow their gods and forsake humanity in service of their goals. This results in new [[spoiler:Law and Chaos]] endings where [[spoiler:humanity isn't explicitly screwed over in the creation of the new worlds]].

** Mastema's pleasure that Zelenin can say "shibboleth" properly is a reference to events mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Judges]] where the fleeing Ephraimites pretending to be from another group were forced to say the word. If they couldn't they were killed.

* BreakingOldTrends: ''Redux'''s new endings are tonally the opposite of the original endings, and ending tones in general in Shin Megami Tensei. Generally, in Strange Journey in particular, the Law and Chaos endings tend to be rather cynical depictions of their alignments, with Neutral serving as the GoldenEnding for humanity. ''Redux'''s Law and Chaos endings are the happiest Law and Chaos endings the series has ever had, with Humanity thriving within the context of the respective alignment, but it's new Neutral ending is one of the most cynical, with the hero choosing to remain on the moon, knowing that the Schwarzwelt will inevitably return again and again until one day humanity learns to change its nature, with no real indication that will ever happen.

** Three of the four ultimate {{Bonus Boss}}es of ''Redux'' have a weakness. However, at the end of the turn where that weakness is exploited, they change it to a random affinity, on top of re-obscuring their affinities with question marks, making it a crapshoot in trying to chain Co-Op attacks.

** The final floor of the BonusDungeon in ''Redux'' consists of a straight corridor leading up to the TrueFinalBoss. The trope gets subverted when you trigger the sidequest that leads you to the new ultimate {{Bonus Boss}}es, leading you to explore the floor in its entirety.

** The Manshonyaga is greatly overpowered, mostly due to its insanely accurate Stone Bullet skill -- and very, very few enemies (most of them bosses or Fiends) are immune to Petrification. While the Jackal Gun offers additional gun skills and better base power, it also demands the player hunt the rare [[BonusBoss White Rider]].

** The ultimate BonusBoss [[spoiler:Demiurge reflects everything but expel and curse, which he's immune to. However, if you challenge him on a New or Full Moon, he's weak to one damaging element, which he shuffles around every two turns. Most players don't catch on to this quirk, or read about it but forget about the Moon phase bit, and simply bypass the gimmick by spamming Almighty attacks.]]

* InfinityPlusOneSword: Some of the game's strongest weaponry can only be obtained through EX missions. There's one ultimate melee weapon exclusive to each alignment, and one ultimate gun exclusive to Law and Chaos. ''Redux'' adds new equipment tied to its ultimate {{Bonus Boss}}es that outclass the alignment's ultimate equipment.

* SideQuest: The EX Missions. They make up a lot of the game's content, and some are necessary to make certain demons-even certain ''types'' of demons-available for fusion. [[spoiler: The toughest BonusBoss is also confronted in one of these.]]

* TimeLimitBoss: Take too long to defeat the new ultimate {{Bonus Boss}}es in ''Redux'', and they start spamming an incredibly strong Almighty attack.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:As is tradition for SMT, the Neutral ending has only you, Arthur and a vague number of crew members survive, and even then, Arthur's personality ends up almost completely wiped.]]
** [[spoiler: The Chaos ending ends with the Schwarzwelt consuming all of the Earth; potentially killing everyone. And that's not including Zelenin, Gore (both killed by you) and Arthur.]]

* HotScientist: Zelenin is the team brain and is considered extremely attractive, and in fact it's implied she worries her male colleagues see her as ''just'' "the eye candy."

* DifficultySpike: Just about every new level ramps it up from the previous one by a huge margin, but once you enter Sector Eridanus, the gloves officially come off. For starters, Eridanus's individual floor maps are ''immense'', easily being at least twice as large as every sector that came before it, while having a large variety of map hazards to frustrate the player at every turn.

* HornyDevils:

** Some demons have an ability called [[Music/{{Queen}} "Bites the Dust"]] that has a chance of giving the bomb status to any party member, [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable which will K-O them if hit again by a physical attack.]]