Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine



The year is 203X. Humanity as we know it has been destroyed. All you have to protect yourself, is your trusty microphone, a stack of candy, and a contract with a god of death and destruction. The odds are against you.

Shin Megami Tensei Imagine is the MMORPG adaptation of the increasingly popular Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Developed by CAVE (yes, that Cave), who bought the rights, rather than Atlus owners of the franchise as a whole. While originally exclusive to Japan, it was announced in 2008 that Aeria Games had licensed the game for an English release. The game officially entered open beta on December 30, 2008. The game is Free To Play, but uses the standard Asian cash shop model.

The game has several features that make it unique from other MMO's, including a rigid storyline, with well defined characters rather than several unrelated sidequests, a complex combat system that is frequently described as comparable to rock-paper-scissors with a healthy dose of Nintendo Hard, and the bizarre fact that the entire thing's happening in Tokyo.

In April 2012, Aeria, who ran the game's servers, handed control over to Atlus Online.

This game provides examples of:

 * After the End
 * Allegedly Free Game: You can survive for free, but success is, as always, at a premium.
 * Actually, the cash shop in IMAGINE isn't necessary for in-game success. Most items are convenience and the vast majority of players perform very well without touching Aeria Points.
 * As of 2011 & 2012, almost anyone over lvl 70 wears >90% AP gear, and most have one or more AP weapons. One can obtain most of this gear without paying actual AP, but only by buying from other players who buy AP items.
 * AKA 47: There are many weapons that are clearly real-life guns. For instance, the "Desert Rambus" looks suspiciously like a rather common (in media anyway) .50AE pistol.
 * Apocalypse How: The game is set after the first numbered SMT game, though it probably won't catch up to the second.
 * Artificial Human: The Innocent are artificial people made to make up for the population destroyed by the Great Destruction. It seems they end up almost all the menial jobs, leaving all the normal people to either be Demon Busters, Shopkeepers, or Guardsmen.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Congrats, you just made a character who can dodge, block, and counter at any moment. Good luck winning any battles with more than one enemy. Also your use in battle is very low, only being slightly better than "The Weight" because you have a small chance of dying. However, this is a good focus of non-combat characters, as it allows you to level by going into a party, but not a good focus for a fighter.
 * Become a Real Boy: Some of the Innocents have gained sapience and built their own community in the hollows of one of the destroyed communes. This has since become the Neutral factions' home base.
 * Character Alignment: The game has SMT's standard LAW/NEUTRAL/CHAOS alignments.
 * Cool Old Guy: Snakeman. Usually.
 * Creative Sterility: Innocents. They are incapable of using magic and making contracts with demons because of this.
 * Disk One Nuke: Having a character master counter/dodge/block, at least two usable skills of each, means you can solo any enemy, however that isn't the same for groups of enemies, as counter takes some time to prepare. Despite that, you can distract a boss, and possibly kill, at any level as long as they don't use any special statuses.
 * Everythings Better With Spinning: The Spin expertise. Exactly What It Says On the Tin.
 * Human Resources: Plasma, lovely floating spheres of light, which Demon Busters can "communicate" with to scavenge materials are made out of the souls of people who died in the apocalyptic flood.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Improbable armor is even more common. Wearing a full Kimono and a blade made of glass to fight Yamato-No-Orochi, is just one of the epic things you can get done in this game.
 * Law Enforcement Inc: The Demon Busters come off as this (with elements of Heroes R Us), considering how many of their missions involve providing services/protection/vengeance in exchange for goods or money.
 * Level Grinding: It takes more experience to get from Level 96 to Level 97 than it does to get from Level 1 to Level 96.
 * Or at least it used to be. The high popularity of sponsoring Gold Plate runs in Old Ichigaya Camp (to the point that a leeching player who contributes little or nothing besides paying to open the dungeon is one of the accepted and expected party roles), not to mention the ability to get millions of experience in mere minutes in Daisoujo parties, have made it possible to reach Level 90 in less than a week. Much to the chagrin of players who were around before these changes and sank massive amounts of time into getting the same levels.
 * Mega Neko: Cait Siths, especially the Rowdy Avatar versions.
 * Mons: One of the better MMO's that features this as a central concept. Probably due to it's roots.
 * Olympus Mons: Odin, Cerberus, Nyarlathotep, and Alice; to name a few.
 * No Ending: Ending? How about a middle? Unfortunately, the devs have yet to completely implement a plotline.
 * But they do have an end to the beginning plot, not much but it still some kind of end.
 * It's worth noting that the English-language version is way behind the Japanese version as far as content goes.
 * Nintendo Hard: However, unlike Atlus-Made games, there are a few instances of Fake Difficulty.
 * Order Versus Chaos: In-story, they're currently in a period of relative peace.
 * Peninsula of Power Leveling: Ichigaya Gold, New Moon and Egg Daisoujou runs, and Shiva/Vishnu runs.
 * Previous Player Character Cameo: Demi-Fiend will appear in the game as a event boss.
 * Repeatable Quest: There is a small variety of these, including quests you can only repeat if you pick up uncommon loot.
 * Sacrificial Lion: DB Kuroe.
 * Scavenger World
 * Shout Out: Most of the items are based on outfits of other SMT heroes, allowing for easy cosplay of them.
 * Your Drill Comp is the Drill Comp that will capture those who rule heaven (or hell).
 * However, the creator's passion can somehow be felt oozing out of the COMP
 * Stat Grinding: Has both this and the standard Character Level.
 * Useless Useful Spell: While generally averted due to this being SMT, it's played hilariously straight with the Traesto spell; every character has it to start with, and it is, as always, your "return to saved spot" spell. But it takes so long to cast that you could probably just walk and get where you're going faster. Traesto Stones, the spell in item form, are instant.
 * However, they've released equipment that makes the spell cast instantly. For those who have that equipment, or enhancers who can cast a 'null incantation' spell on themselves, the spell is very useful.
 * What Measure Is a Non Human: Heavily present in what storyline has been released.