History VideoGame / ShinMegamiTenseiIVFinal

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smt_iv_f.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:This epic is not sweet.]]

->''"Imagine there's no heaven''
->''It's easy if you try''
->''No hell below us''
->''Above us only sky''
->''Imagine all the people''
->''Living for today"''
-->-- '''Lyrics to [[Music/JohnLennon Imagine]]'''

'''''Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final''''' is a [[AfterTheEnd Post-Apocalyptic]] UrbanFantasy RPG in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, developed by Creator/{{Atlus}} for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS.

The year is [[YearX 203X]], 25 years after a war between gods and men left the world in ruins. In the last days of the war, the city of [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo, Japan]] was covered by a massive stone barrier, becoming a sunless shadow land where people kill each other for what little remains, and angels and demons rule over the surviving humans as apex predators.

You play as the 15 year-old "[[TheHunter Hunter]]" named Nanashi in Tokyo, who soon after the game starts is killed by a demon. Lost in the abyss between this world and the next, he is approached by the demon "Dagda", who offers to return him to the land of the living. In return, he becomes Dagda's "[[KillTheGod God Killer]]", a {{living weapon}} with the ability to summon and control other demons. Nanashi must now destroy the forces of [[NobleDemon Lucifer]], [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill Merkabah]], and the newly arrived cabal of OldGods led by [[GodInHumanForm Krishna]], before their three-way war decimates what remains of mankind.

Multiple mechanics from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' have been updated based on player feedback. Support partners can now be selected by the player, level up like demons, and have unique specialties like recovery, attack, and support. Demons now have skill/magic specialties as well: using a skill they specialize in gives bonuses like increased damage or lower MP cost. Multiple skills now have additional affects when used during Smirk status. For example, Light and Dark skills now inflict damage and can be used against bosses, but their instant death effect only activates during Smirk. Further, demon negotiations have been completely revamped, and the Moon Phase System from previous ''SMT'' games returns.

Lead programmer of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Satoshi Oyama, serves as director, with Masayuki Doi again working as the character designer. The game was released in Japan on February 10, 2016, and has been confirmed for a Summer 2016 release date in the U.S. under the name ''Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse''.

Previews: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39SuZbvv9vY Trailer 1]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3EFjFJgX3g Tokyo collapse animation]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Yx3X_0t7Y Trailer 2]]
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* AfterTheEnd: The story begins again in Tokyo years after the majority of the world was burned in nuclear fire.
* AlternateTimeline: Rather than taking place after one of the endings of ''SMT IV'', ''Final'' takes place in a new alternate scenario set around the time of the original game's Neutral Route endgame. According to the free DLC that goes into bits about the backstory, Nanashi choosing the contract with Dagda is what branches it off from IV's Neutral route.
* ArcWords: "Deicide", or the act of killing a god, has been described as the keyword of ''Final'''s story by the creators.
* ArtShift: Many ''SMT IV'' monster designs that were created by guest artists have been completely redrawn by Masayuki Doi in his own style, similar to what he did for the cover art of the original ''SMT IV''.
* AscendedExtra:
** Nozomi, a hunter who had a minor SideQuest line in ''SMT IV'', takes a role as the representative of "Peace" in ''Final''.
** Navarre, an AdvertisedExtra, actually gets major character status this time around.
** Odin was a minor part of a Side Quest in ''IV''. Here, he's one of Krishna's two partners.
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Should Nanashi get the Peace route, then Johnathan and Walter return as themselves for the endgame.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: Krishna, Miroku, and Odin on one side and Merkabah and Lucifer on the other. [[spoiler:Merkabah and Lucifer are actually Satan, and the villain of the final arc is YHVH]].
* BonusBoss:
** The Fiends, specifically David, Matador, and the ''Revelation'' Fiends, are found in a BonusDungeon in the Bay Area. Unlike in the previous game they're fixed encounters, but each one must be beaten in at most ten turns or else Nanashi will be immediately ejected from the dungeon. It's not possible to escape from the {{Mooks}} in the dungeon. Beating the En No Ozuno DLC has them all continue to return [[CameBackStrong stronger than before]].
** DLC features Mephisto, Cleopatra, a demonic Hope, Hugo, and Mikado citizens, and finally all of the numbered series protagonists teaming up to fight Stephen.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Just like in ''IV'' there is several DLC that allows for LevelGrinding and MoneyGrinding.
** The first released DLC concerns EXP and collecting Grimoire's to level up Nanashi, his demons, and partners in [[PalmtreePanic Tir Na Nog the Land of Youth]] in Celtic myth.
* BrutalBonusLevel: On War difficulty and higher, Nanashi can enter a Domain based on Tokyo set up by the Fiends. There's no fleeing, enemies are brutal, and the Fiends all have a turn limit that can result in ejection from the dungeon. DLC allows the expansion of this dungeon and a fight against [[spoiler:En no Ozuno]] at the end.
* TheBusCameBack:
** Lucifer, Merkabah, Medusa, Navarre and several other characters from ''SMT IV'' are back, despite being sidelined or killed in the previous game. Justified in the case of Lucifer and Merkabah, since the events of ''Final'' take place during the endgame portion of ''SMT IV''. The announcement stream revealed that the polytheistic gods revived Medusa and brought her into their ranks.
** [[spoiler:YHVH, after only being seen in avatar form after ''Majin Tensei II'', finally returns as the Final Boss of Anarchy/Peace Routes]].
** [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI The Hero]], [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII Aleph]], and [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne the Demi-fiend]] return in the final DLC fighting against Stephen]].
** [[spoiler:En no Ozuno, a minor ally in the SNES games, returns as a DLC boss]].
** The National Defense Divinity Tenkai is resurrected in Midtown, as a Buddhist monk he's the only one capable of teaching the protagonists how to stop Miroku's mandalas.
* CameBackStrong: The Protagonist is killed at the beginning of the game, but makes a contract in the underworld with Dagda.
* ColorMotif: Just as the previous game, the protagonists are all associated with a particular color. It's more obvious this time because the characters wear their colors on all their clothes instead of just their scarfs.
** The Protagonist, [[ButtMonkey Navarre]], and Lucifer's forces are associated with Green.
** Asahi, Flynn, and the Polytheistic Alliance are associated with Blue.
** Nozomi and Merkabah are associated with Red.
** Gaston is associated with white.
** Hallelujah and his demon partner Chironup are associated with yellow. Lucifer's force are also represented by yellow to a lesser extent.
** Toki is associated with Purple.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: There are three bosses who break the initial level cap: FinalBoss [[spoiler:YHVH]] at 100, BonusBoss [[spoiler:En no Ozuno]] also at 100, and the apparent Ultimate Boss [[spoiler:Stephen]] at 128. [[spoiler:Satan]], while Level 99 when fought, is Level 120 in your party, inverting the trope.
* ContinuityNod:
** After becoming a "God Killer", the main character gains markings on his body similar to the Demi-Fiend, who was himself empowered by a demon to kill a god in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''.
** The protagonist wears a green jumpsuit, just like the Neutral Hero of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.
** [[spoiler:Like in ''II'', YHVH breaks the level cap, but at a more reasonable 100 rather than 108]].
** Odin first meets Nanashi and Asahi as his old human man appearance from the quest in ''IV''.
** The Fiends, after losing their unique moves in ''Strange Journey'' and ''IV'', regain one each in this game, with David also getting his own. With the obvious exception of David, each is from ''Nocturne''. In addition, Soul Drain, exclusive to the Fiends, works like Daisoujou's Meditation. Furthermore, [[spoiler:Satan's unique move, Megiddo Arc, is a reference to the Law faction's ultimate weapon in ''II'']].
** This is actually the second time [[spoiler:En no Ozuno appears as the highest leveled Fiend]]. The first was the original version of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf''.
** When rematching the Fiends, they can drop unique equipment. David and Matador keep their drops from ''I'' and ''II'', respectively. Furthermore, the Angel Trumpet, dropped by Pale Rider in ''I'', is dropped by Trumpeter in this game.
** [[spoiler:Much like his infamous Bonus Boss battle in the second ''Digital Devil Saga'' game, Satan is a Barrier Change Boss who also has the ability to fully heal, except he's much tamer and only uses the full heal at a certain point in the fight rather than saving it for if he's brought down to low enough health. He also happens to be a fusion of two characters, one of whom is the Law representative - in this case, Merkabah and Lucifer rather than Zayin and Seth from ''Shin Megami Tensei II'']].
** In ''Strange Journey'', [[spoiler:the Cosmic Eggs were the items needed after alignment lock. The name is used again here for a similar, yet even more important entity]].
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Flynn was a Samurai with a HimeCut from Mikado, while this game's protagonist is a Tokyoite hunter with DelinquentHair.
* CrossOver: A collab event in the game VideoGame/BraveFrontier will happen near the end of Febuary. [[PlayingWithFire Dagda]], [[MakingASplash Asahi]], and [[BlowYouAway Nozomi]] were revealed in Januaries livestream.
* DeathIsCheap:
** Played Straight with [[spoiler:Nanashi and Flynn every time they "die", Asahi in the peace route, and Nanashi's chosen companion in the Anarchy route.]]
** Subverted with [[spoiler:The gods powered by ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, and everybody killed(and not revived) on the Anarchy route.]]
* {{Deconstruction}}: So you want to kill something that's powered by ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve? The only way to ensure that its DeaderThanDead and prevent it to come BackFromTheDead is pretty simple: [[spoiler:you have to kill everyone that believes in it. In essence, the Anarchy route deconstructs the typical SMT neutral ending by showing that neutral is capable of the exact same extremism as Law and Chaos.]]
* DemonSlaying: Again a major focus of the game, with the new cast hailing from the Tokyo branches of demon hunting mercenaries.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The Peace Ending. Oh so very satisfying after everything Nanashi has to go through.]]
* EnemyMine: The forces of Law and Chaos have made a temporary truce in order to fight against the polytheistic gods.
* EveryoneLives: [[spoiler:Well, not everyone, but the Peace Route has far and away the highest survival to death ratio in the main series, with all of Nanashi's friends surviving.]]
* FaceFramedInShadow: Two of Krishna's allies are hidden behind him in the first preview. They are, respectively, Miroku (Maitreya) and Odin.
* FinalBoss: Merkabah and Lucifer reprise their roles as this on Chaos and Law, respectively. The new endings, however, [[spoiler:put YHVH in this role again]].
* FirstEpisodeResurrection: The game starts with the protagonist getting killed and making a contract with a demon to return to the land of the living.
* FromBadToWorse: The war between Law and Chaos at the showdown of ''IV'' is interrupted by the arrival of Krishna and the old gods, sending the war into a three way battle.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Until the final arc, [[spoiler:YHVH takes this role. Nanashi is later guided to him, where everyone still alive teams up to defeat him]].
* GodIsEvil: Played with. [[spoiler:After 22 years YHVH is back and is just as antagonistic as ever, but it is also revealed that He is not the ''true'' Supreme Being, the Great Will of the Universe, [[GodIsGood which is benevolent]] and created Nanashi and Flynn to be saviors for humanity and demons by ending YHVH's reign so that the people can have true freedom.]].
* GrayAndGreyMorality: As per the course. However, now the Neutral route, which is typically seen as the closest thing to a good ending, is gray as well, as the closest representative, Krishna, is OmnicidalNeutral and wants to use the souls of humans as ammunition against the other factions.
* HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe: In the animated trailer a woman becomes bisected by a pair of Oni's.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Merkabah and Lucifer, by way of their merged form Satan]].
* HopelessBossFight: The first time Nanashi fights Adramelech as well as the first battle against Aniel.
* TheHunter: The game focuses on the Tokyo based branch of "Hunters", mercenaries who hunt the monsters who have infested Tokyo.
* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Alongside the additional DLC difficulties they are called, from easiest to hardest, [[EasierThanEasy Paradise]], Conflict, War, Great War, and [[HarderThanHard Apocalypse]].
* JerkassGods: The Polytheistic Alliance eventually prove themselves to be little better than Law or Chaos. [[spoiler:Then there's YHVH, who happens to be even worse and even more despised than he was in ''II'']].
* KillEmAll:
** [[spoiler:What the Anarchy Route entails. Indeed, it requires Nanashi to personally kill pretty much every ally character in the game besides Asahi.]]
** [[spoiler: The Mikado DLC ends with Nanashi single-handedly killing every demonized human in Mikado. It's implied to be part of the Anarchy route.]]
* KillTheGod: The main theme of the game, with Nanashi making a deal with a demon to be a "God Killer" at the start of the game. [[spoiler:Much like ''II'', this ends with Satan teaming up with the protagonists to fight YHVH]].
* KnightTemplar [[spoiler:On the Anarchy route Nanashi kills all his former friends and everybody in the old universe to create a better one free of YHVH's tyranny for good. The only people he has remaining by his side are a BrainwashedAndCrazy Flynn, the fellow KnightTemplar Dagda, the Neutral observing Stephen, and the chosen partner.]]
* LandOfFaerie: The Fairy Forest and Tir Na Nog.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: A few, but the most notable is the existence of Merkabah and Lucifer, as well as Jonathan and Walter's status as part of them, respectively. The two characters were {{Walking Spoiler}}s in the original, but here, they're two of the main antagonists throughout most of the game alongside Krishna.
* LivingWeapon: Nanashi, the "God Killer", is a dead human brought back to life to serve as a living weapon for the demon Dagda.
* MagmaMan: Magma dragon in this case. Ananta, known by his name ''Shesha'', is now a snake monster made of lava that has taken over the Metropolitan Government Office.
* MeaningfulName: The game is called ''SMT IV: Final'' because it's the '''final''' story set in the ''SMT IV'' universes.
* MesACrowd: The third-to-last boss ([[spoiler:a Horde of Metatrons]]) and the first part of the FinalBoss ([[spoiler:an army of YHVH heads]]).
* MultipleEndings: A staple of the main series. In a contrast, however, the major endings to ''FINAL'' are the Neutral Anarchy and Peace, with different ending variations based on how Nanashi gets along with his partners. The two early endings are Law and Chaos.
** Anarchy: [[spoiler:Nanashi joins Dagda in his goal of creating a new universe free of the sins and baggage of the old one, being chosen as the new Creator by Dagda. He has to kill his partners, but one of them is revived as his True Goddess to serve as his eternal companion. Flynn dies in the final battle with the Polytheistic Alliance and is revived as the God Killer of Nanashi. YHVH is killed with the aid of Satan, ensuring he will never return to infest the new universe. Dagda witnesses the beginning of the new beautiful universe alongside the new Creator Nanashi, saying farewell to him before disappearing with the old universe. Nanashi opens his eyes to reveal his complete transformation into the new Creator.]]
** Peace: [[spoiler:Nanashi sides with Danu against Dagda's plan for Anarchy. The group defeats Dagda and makes him relent on his goals before returning to Nanashi's side. Asahi is revived in the Cosmic Egg and the Polytheistic Alliance is beaten with Flynn coming out unscathed. Together the group witnesses the reincarnation of the Goddess of Tokyo before Stephen asks them to defeat the true enemy YHVH for true freedom. In the final battle the group is joined by Satan through the briefly restored Walter and Jonathan against YHVH and slay Him, ensuring a long era of peace while no one sits upon the Creators Throne. The people of Tokyo and Mikado work together in harmony with the fairies to make both nations wonderful.]]
** Law: [[spoiler:An early bad ending. Nanashi sides with Merkabah leaving his partners shocked and depressed with no will to fight. Flynn leaves out of disgust as Nanashi slays Lucifer. The Yamato Perpetual Reactor is activated, cleansing Tokyo of the unworthy through a Black Hole. Nanashi, Merkabah as Jonathan, and other Tokyo citizens and Samurai considered worthy survive, leaving the now desolate Tokyo for Mikado.]]
** Chaos: [[spoiler:An early bad ending. Nanashi sides with Lucifer after Merkabah's defeat. This leaves his partners shocked and depressed with no will to fight. Flynn leaves out of disgust as Nanashi and Lucifer head for the surface with an army of demons to raze Mikado to the ground in order to make a new kingdom from the ashes. Lucifer as Walter declares Nanashi to be worthy of being the new king, but warns that the false messiah [[AndTheAdventureContinues Flynn must be dealt with before he can rule]].]]
* OrderVersusChaos: Downplayed. Both the heroes and the Polytheistic Alliance are various shades of Neutral, more interested in a balanced world that benefits them than a world of complete order or chaos. Indeed like the White ending in ''IV'', the Law and Chaos endings for FINAL end the game early. The true conflict is instead between the more neutral alignments of Peace and Anarchy. This is also reflected in the game's logo, where the "A" in "Final" is a combination of the peace and anarchy symbols.
* PathOfMostResistance: The Anarchy route. It starts with a massive [[DifficultySpike spike in difficulty]] on top of potentially losing all your items which ends up making the route on of the hardest to complete.
* PowerNullifier: Miroku activates his mandalas, removing the ability to summon demons in Tokyo or revive Nanashi until all five are sealed. Nanashi is an exception concerning summoning demons due to his God Killer powers.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Flynn / the player character from the original ''SMT IV'' returns as an {{NPC}}, and is even featured prominently on ''Final'''s boxart. [[spoiler:The Hero, Aleph, and the Demi-fiend from the first three games show up in the Diamond Realm DLC in the fight against Stephen]].
* ShoutOut: The protagonist has the lyrics to the Music/JohnLennon song ''Imagine'' written on his jumpsuit.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: One of the games central conflicts is between the idealistic views of Danu and the cynical views of Dagda.
* SpinOff: ''Final'' shifts focus to characters from a relatively minor group from ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'', the Tokyo Hunters, rather than Flynn and the other Eastern Kingdom of Mikado Samurai who served as the major players of that game.
* SuperDeformed: Navarre's ghost / spirit has a pint-sized, cartoonish appearance that's been likened to a cross between Casper and Slimer.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The scar/mark on the God Killer's cheek and his distinctive "horned" eyebrows are identical to the scar and eyebrows Akira has in every AlternateTimeline Flynn visited in the original ''SMT IV''.
* TakeAThirdOption: The "Polytheistic Alliance", a cabal of the polytheistic gods of old led by Krishna, who demand that mankind relinquish their souls to re-empower the old gods and give them the edge in the now three-way war for the fate of mankind.
* TheReveal: The game reveals a number of shocking truths about the original ''IV'' that change the way the player looks at them. [[spoiler:This includes Akira/Aquila being a Messiah like Flynn, Lucifer and Merkabah both serving God and actually being halves of Satan, and Odin betraying Flynn [[UngratefulBastard after Flynn restored the god's memories]] in ''IV''.]]
* TopGod: God is this as usual as the Universe Creator. [[spoiler:This is actually a part of the EvilPlan of the Polytheistic Alliance, as the Gods at the center of the Cosmic Egg when it creates a new universe become the Creators of that universe. Subverted in YHVH's case as well, as not only does the Great Will of the Universe have the means to interfere through humanity and wreck his plans, but that a Creator can be replaced.]]
* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: A lunar eclipse known as the Misoka Moon [[spoiler:which will enable the creation of a new world.]]
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The first stream spoiled the fact that [[spoiler:YHVH would be back in full force in the game]].
* UrbanFantasy: The story follows an apprentice [[DemonSlaying Demon Hunter]] in the post-apocalyptic metropolis of Tokyo.
* WakeUpCallBoss: King Frost. He is the first real boss a player faces in the game and will butcher the unprepared. Aside from his high HP and powerful ice spells (including +4 Ice affinity), he also posses a move that give's him a guarantied smirk that, needless to say, causes him to hit even harder as well as nullifying his weakness to fire while it is in effect.
* WasOnceAMan: The dlc involving Mikado has the entire kingdom turn into demons. [[spoiler:In a twist it's revealed that them and their ancestors from the Cocoons were part of the angels experiments, revealing that the reason they turn into demons in the previous game is that they all have the demonic gene.]]
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: On Apocalypse difficulty, it's an instant game over if Nanashi is killed. There is also DLC that unlocks an App that gives you the effect without changing difficulty. It's one of the few Apps that can be turned off.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Dagda intends to end the ForeverWar by [[spoiler:rendering ''all'' gods DeaderThanDead and creating a new universe free of YHVH's influence. Unfortunately, this will also kill all humans who believe in them.]].
* WholePlotReference: [[spoiler:The Peace Route is closely modeled on ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', complete with Nanashi fighting YHVH and Satan making a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* WombLevel: [[spoiler:The Cosmic Egg.]]
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Lead programmer of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Satoshi Oyama, serves as director, with Masayuki Doi again working as the character designer. The game was released in Japan on February 10, 2016.

* AscendedExtra: Nozomi, a hunter who had a minor SideQuest line in ''SMT IV'', takes a role as the representative of "Peace" in ''Final''.