Summer of Sequels 2 Entry #27
Apocalypse was my first ever foray in MegaTen as a whole, and that was getting close to 7 years ago now. Back then, this game changed my entire worldview on what an RPG could be, as I still had a relatively limited library of games back then. However, it’s been long since 2017, I’ve played countless games since then, and I’ve gotten a stronger taste of what MegaTen, especially Shin Megami Tensei, can be. And while I still have a lot of nostalgia for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, it’s far from the game I experienced in my childhood, and that’s okay.
Now for the sake of general brevity, I want to acknowledge somethings relatively obvious. If you want to see my thoughts and opinions on the general gameplay of Apocalypse, simply refer to my review of the original SMTIV ( https://www.backloggd.com/u/Giantsazando/review/1384124/ ). I’d practically be repeating myself word for word here, because the gameplay and general combat mechanics are about the exact same. The gameplay of Apocalypse is just far more polished, which is great, but not too surprising. The boss fights especially are really fun, though also I think that’s due to how some of the major bosses are presented, sometimes using 3D models instead of 2D Sprites.
The aspect of Apocalypse that’s definitely the most contentious is the story, and now I can understand why. Back then, I remember liking the story because I had never played another MegaTen before, so I had nothing to compare it to. It is so tonally different compared to other MegaTens and even a different tone, it still has major story flaws that keep it from being as strong as it could be.
I really like the concept of Apocalypse. Creating an alternate timeline that branches off of SMTIV’s Neutral Route, with new characters and an alternate storyline is really interesting. It makes the world of the game lean more towards neutral by default, since most worlds in MegaTen feel like they lean one way or the other. And while the game has multiple endings, it feels like it tries to drive you into a single, good ending. While it does have other endings, 2 of them are early bad endings, and the other ending is… comedically evil. Which I find odd, as it, alongside the ending that the game pushes you towards, are branches of “neutral”.
And that goes into another aspect of Apocalypse that I wish was improved upon, that being the villains. Now, Merkebah and Lucifer return as villains from SMTIV, and they have more impact on me now than they did back then. The only reason that is is because I’ve actually played SMTIV, and I grew and got attached to those characters. On the other hand, the game introduces new villains in Dagda and The Divine Powers, and they’re aspects I’m particularly mixed upon. The Divine Powers whenever they’re around are really interesting, and they had so much potential. However they had such little screentime which is unfortunate because, if they were the main villains, we could’ve had such a unique story here. Dagda is also an odd villain, as his motivation and entire character is just cartoonish nihilism. He’s such a one-note character, and it ultimately makes him blander than he could’ve been.
I also think that same criticism could be said to the main travelling party in Apocalypse. From what I’ve seen at least, Apocalypse has the largest travelling party in a MegaTen. And I think while it could’ve worked for Apocalypse, especially since it tries to be a neutral-leaning story, it didn’t reach the full potential. I think that’s primarily because some characters get sidelined so quickly, and even if they have character arcs, those are rushed in the later half of the game. I would say of the 7 partners in the game, only 4 of them have a noticeable presence, and even then some of their arcs are rushed rather quickly in Chapter 6. I’d argue that Gaston is probably the character with the best character arc, as it flows naturally from when you first meet him, to his moments of growth in chapters 6 and 7. When it came to how long the game’s story is, it doesn’t have enough time to fit in all 7 of the major characters. For example, Nozomi is one of my favorite characters but once Chapter 1 ends, she gets sidelined hard.
I still can’t entirely hate Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse though. Since it was able to build upon the gameplay of SMTIV and further polish it, it has one of the best battle systems in all of MegaTen. Though that being said, I can’t really ignore the faults of the game’s story. I think it just needed more time for each character to be in the spotlight, or even just having less characters might solve the problem too. As well, I think the villains just didn’t have as much time as they really should have, which is rather unfortunate. That being said, I find Apocalypse really interesting, as a more lighthearted romp through an SMT setting, one where “the power of friendship” is actually a thing, as funny as that sounds. I’m unsure how likely I would be to replay Apocalypse again though, now that I’ve experienced other games in the series.
