* EnsembleDarkhorse: Raiho due to being SeriesMascot Jack Frost in a Raidou costume, still being funny and adorable all the while. He even got his own plushie.
* GeniusBonus: For non-Japanese players: Taisho 20, the year the game takes place in. If you know about Japan numbering years based on imperial reigns, it makes sense...except for the fact Taisho 20 never happened, as Emperor Taisho died in Taisho 15; in real life, the year would be Showa 6. This seemingly inexplicable bit of alternate history is one of the biggest hints that [[spoiler:despite his plan failing, the BigBad unknowingly succeeded in his goal of stopping the events of the classic ''Shin Megami Tensei'' duology from occurring in this timeline]].
* HilariousInHindsight: Raidou would not be the last time Atlus created a Megami Tensei hero that dresses in black, has a jazzy theme song, acts flashier than mainline SMT heroes, investigates strange occurrences, and has a talking cat sidekick. Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' would check all of those boxes. In fact, Joker would later go on to star in his own ActionRPG spinoff, ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', which ended up playing more akin to Raidou's games mixed with stealth, platforming and exploring parts of Japan to gain items and progress the story as opposed to a ''Dynasty Warriors'' clone with Persona 5 paint.
* MemeticBadass: Raidou himself is seen as this in the eyes of the fandom, especially due to taking a more active role in combat due to being in an action JRPG instead of turn-based, alongside facing off the [[HeroOfAnotherStory Demi-Fiend]] in his guest appearance on ''Nocturne''.
* MemeticMutation: Aspect Raidou, a stretched out image of him, used as an absurdist shitpost or reaction image.
* SpiritualLicensee: Before ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' were released, this game was probably the closest we'd get to having a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' ActionRPG available.
* ThatOneBoss: Mishaguji. He has an attack called Cursed Emmision, which consists of a ball that chases Raidou around and stuns him even if he blocks it, and an even worse one called Cursed Bolt, which can be blocked but easily reaches your demon instead and charms it (and it if it's a healing demon, it may fully heal Mishaguji). This is on top of a large HP pool and a regular attack that throws you to the other side of the room even when blocking.
** [[spoiler:Munakata/Sukuna-Hikona]]. He moves all around the screen and his regular attacks knock you off your feet (but are at least blockable). His corresponding ThatOneAttack consists of summoning two waves of Hirukos which paralyse whoever they catch, and he follows up with a very powerful beam which not only can easily kill you, but also seals your demon into its tube for the remainder of the battle, which can royally screw you over.
* {{Woolseyism}}: There's a drunken NPC in Ginza-Cho who, in the Japanese version, would quote various popular Japanese songs. This was changed in the US release, where he quotes popular US songs.