History YMMV / ShinMegamiTenseiI

* CompleteMonster: (Including the events of [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH YHVH]] is a self-centered and totalitarian dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfLaw the demons associated with Law]], YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to eliminate all unworthy life as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* GoddamnBats: Not even InherentlyFunnyWords can alleviate the horror after one round too many of, "Bucca-Boo used Maha-Bufu!"

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The game was truly revolutionary in its treatment of the post-apocalypse, demons, morality and the like... and ''everybody'' in Japan proceeded to rip them right the hell off, from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' to ''Manga/SoulEater'' (the latter being a kind of LighterAndSofter DeconstructiveParody, that's how far we've come). Seeing what made the original game so unique can be somewhat harder in this day and age. The gameplay also suffers from this in a huge way - in 1992 the first-person dungeon crawling was relatively unique in execution. For anyone used to post-VideoGame/{{Quake}} 3D navigation or [=PS2=]-era and beyond user interfaces, though, the game will want to make you tear your eyes out in frustration over how clunky it is. The mapping feature itself requires you to open two menus alone. The Playstation version lessens the gameplay element of this a little, with interface improvements and graphical upgrades. The years have not been very kind to the game as well; when ''Nocturne'' started revamping gameplay and other innovations were implemented later, this game does not hold up well.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Due to the Law Hero not showing any real signs of zealotry until after he comes BackFromTheDead, it's easy to read him as some flavor of CameBackWrong and/or BrainwashedAndCrazy.

* MagnificentBastard: Lucifer, King of the Abyss, under the alias of [[LouisCypher Louis Cyphre]], calls himself a part of YHVH that was discarded. He was behind Lilith's actions throughout the game in an attempt to convince the reincarnation of Adam to follow the violent Darwinist path of Chaos, helping and congratulating him if he does and trying to trick him to his death if he doesn't, completely avoiding direct confrontation in all the routes. [[Videogame/ShinMegamiTenseiII Several years later]], while watching Aleph in his disguise, Lucifer prepares for the rebirth of his hated enemy Satan in an attempt to save his realm from its annihilation at the orders of YHVH. Failing to prevent Satan's rebirth, Lucifer intends to use the dragon Kuzuryu, given to him by YHVH Himself, to destroy the highly populated city Tokyo Millenium and its new Eden. He partially does so in the Chaos route before fighting against Satan and YHVH Himself, freeing humanity and demonhood from His rule after destroying the biggest human population centers of the post-apocalyptic world. More affable than in the past, Lucifer seeks to protect his people as its affable king while still carrying out his ideology of freedom over all.

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH YHVH]] is a self-centered and totalitarian dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfLaw the demons associated with Law]], YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to eliminate all unworthy life as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* HilariousInHindsight: This game is infamous for having RandomEncounters everywhere, notably even inside a lively shopping center. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', released 17 years later, features ''a shopping mall dungeon.''

--> '''Law Hero:''' Hero... I don't think there's anything I could say that would bring much comfort, but... [[NeverLiveItDown try not to feel too bad...]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The game was truly revolutionary in its treatment of the post-apocalypse, demons, morality and the like... and ''everybody'' in Japan proceeded to rip them right the hell off, from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' to ''Manga/SoulEater'' (the latter being a kind of LighterAndSofter DeconstructiveParody, that's how far we've come). Seeing what made the original game so unique can be somewhat harder in this day and age. The gameplay also suffers from this in a huge way - in 1992 the first-person dungeon crawling was relatively unique in execution. For anyone used to post-VideoGame/{{Quake}} 3D navigation or [=PS2=]-era and beyond user interfaces, though, the game will want to make you tear your eyes out in frustration over how clunky it is. The mapping feature itself requires you to open two menus alone.
** The Playstation version lessens the gameplay element of this a little, with interface improvements and graphical upgrades.
** The years have not been very kind to the game as well; when ''Nocturne'' started revamping gameplay and other innovations were implemented later, this game does not hold up well.

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH YHVH]] is a self-centered and fascist dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfLaw the demons associated with Law]], YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to eliminate all unworthy life as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: When the world slowly grows more and more crapsack and the canon route involves ''murdering nearly everyone'' do you honestly think ''any'' of the characters deserve to win? Then again it could be FridgeBrilliance to show that even the Neutral path can be just as bad as Law and Chaos.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: When the world slowly grows more and more crapsack and the canon route involves ''murdering nearly everyone'' do you honestly think ''any'' of the characters deserve to win? Then again it could be FridgeBrilliance to show that even the Neutral path can be just as bad as Law and Chaos.

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH YHVH]] is a self-centered and fascist dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of the demons associated with Law, YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to [[OmnicidalManiac eliminate all unworthy life]] as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[GodIsEvil YHVH]] is a self-centered and fascist dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of the demons associated with Law, YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to [[OmnicidalManiac eliminate all unworthy life]] as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* ThatOneSidequest: Want to get those {{Game Break|er}}ing weapons from the Fiends? Good luck finding them, as they appear in certain areas with 1[=/=]256 chance of them appearing, with the weapons appearing with a equal ''1[=/=]256'' chance.

** The extreme encounter rate. This is a game where you can get into fights with demons inside a bustling ''shopping center''. The iOS version tones the encounter rate down, making it you don't get into fights every three steps, at least until you hit the End of the World, in which the encounter rate skyrockets back to the originals infuriating degree,

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[GodIsEvil YHVH]] is a self-centered and fascist dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of the demons associated with Law, YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Tokyo Millennium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating a KillSat within the city to [[OmnicidalManiac eliminate all unworthy life]] as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

* CompleteMonster (includes [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the sequel]]): The original incarnation of [[GodIsEvil YHVH]] is a self-centered and fascist dictator with a [[ItsAllAboutMe malignant need for attention]]. As the supreme leader of the demons associated with Law, YHVH's ultimate goal is to create his own totalitarian definition of the Thousand Year Kingdom on Earth, an ultra-collectivist society ruled by him where freedom of thought is a crime and only those who are willingly obedient to him shall thrive. In the first game, YHVH [[NukeEm spearheads a global nuclear holocaust]] to pave the way for his kingdom to become a reality, allowing the militant Messian gangs to roam the streets in the post-apocalypse, and years later, YHVH summons a massive flood to destroy the suburbs around Tokyo. With the Messians gaining political support in the sequel and rising in power to become the dominant faction, YVHV succeeds in creating his kingdom, Tokyo Millenium, but ultimately abandons its people and decides to build an Ark for a select few that were chosen by him before activating KillSat within the city to [[OmnicidalManiac eliminate all unworthy life]] as his form of divine judgement to rule over a "new world filled with my thralls".

** Marin Karin and attacks with similar effects are even worse. Most enemies, including bosses, are capable of being enthralled, and will then for the next few turns keep hitting themselves (compared to the one-round stun of Zio, that's quite the upgrade).