Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Difference between revisions

* [[Affably Evil]]: Mitra and {{spoiler|Captain Jack}}.

* [[America Saves the Day]]: Subverted. Red Sprite and the other ships do have members from the USA, including the main character (who is Japanese in the Japanese version), but many other crew members come from other parts of the world.

* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: Transmissions from unmanned drones sent into the Schwarzwelt. And the reports found in the Demonicas of the slain crew members.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: The vampire Kudlak and his hunter, Kresnik, who [[Mythology Gag|first showed up in]] ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]: Devil Summoner'', [[The Cameo|return again]] in this game. They're still pretty much at a stalemate.

{{quote| "The demon suddenly attacked!"}}

* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: Should you choose to do nothing and show mercy during The Holy Dragonslayer EX Mission then {{spoiler|Mother Harlot will have her Dragon devour her so that she will no longer be a tool for the Angels to use}}.

* [[Big Eater]]: Horkos, ''daaaamn''. He points out humanity isn't very much different from him, and that they consume and eat endlessly in their world of luxuries.

* [[Big Labyrinthine Building]] / [[Greed]]: Sector Carina is a huge shopping mall with escalators and sliding doors, and rows and rows of bizzare products, and it also serves as a meat packing plant, as conveyor lines carry endless sides of meat to unseen kitchens where they are prepared for [[Villainous Glutton|Horkos]]. It's also one of the more memorable areas of the game, as many characters are simply astonished by the appearance of a shopping mall in a different dimension, but apparently it's not so foreign, as Chen remarks that the sector is simply a copy of a real mall on Earth. In the game's story, riots and lootings are trailing though South America due to shortages, likely stemming from the severe economic imbalance of the game's [[Crapsack World]].

* [[Bonus Boss]]: On the second playthrough, you get to punch out {{spoiler|the Gnostic Demiurge, a level 99 kick in the nuts}}.

** Also, EX Missions given to you by demons or crewmen can lead to these.

* [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]: Most demons that require the use of the Enemy Scan can qualify, as they're usually much stronger than other enemies in the area. As an added bonus, some of these demons can turn out to be Fiends such as ''Matador'' ([[That One Boss|remember him]] [[Nightmare Fuel|from Nocturne?]]), and Fiends are almost bosses in their own right.

** To clarify, most of the fiends are generally hidden in areas where the enemies are notably lower in level. The first fiend that you will ever fight is David and he is both the first and the weakest that you fight. While he is not as much of a challenge as the other fiends, he is justified because you can CHOOSE when to fight him and he certainly is not scary when you bring the team that you used to beat Horkos. What becomes scarier is that once that happens you unlock the rest of them and they do not warn you on when they will appear.

** *ping* "Warning: Powerful demon detected..."

* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: Well, your gun's magic costs you MP, but otherwise it's got infinite ammo; for its default attack, it requires 0 MP, so you effectively do have an unlimited amount of regular bullets.

** The last question you must answer when you first get the Demonica is: "You have been sent to the Schwarzwelt, where conditions are expected to be harsh. Yet you have advanced equipment, a strong ship, the latest tech, and dependable comrades. Will the Schwarzwelt investigation mission succeed?". The only valid answer is "Yes".

** Played straight at the end of the Neutral path: {{spoiler|"Transfer your power to Arthur?"}} The game doesn't even ''give'' you a "No" option.

* [[Evil Makeover]]: Arguable on the "evil" part, but par for the course amongst Shin Megami Tensei games.

* [[Evil Twin]]: Dopplegangers, true to their name, are nothing more than [[Slasher Smile|grinning]] shadows of the protagonist.

** While it's in the same game as what it's an Expy to, Demonee-ho is a joke on the main character. [[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Sort of]] [[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon|like Raiho]].

* [[Extreme Omnivore]]: Horkos, rather befitting the fact that Sector Carina manifests as an outsize shopping mall. There are numerous conveyor belts ferrying a constant stream of sides of meat to unseen kitchens, which [[Villainous Glutton|are never enough to slake Horkos's hunger.]] And the first time you see him, {{spoiler|he's ''busily eating the Elve''.}} In battle, he may take a grisly bite out of you to restore his health (Taking a Bite), or he'll use [[Flunky Boss|Grocery Run]] to call up one of his minions, so he can eat them. And his minions are demon pigs, too. ''[[Berserk Button|Do not obstruct his meals if you know what's good for you.]]''

** [[The Smart Guy]]: Arthur

** [[The Chick]]: Zelenin

* [[For Science!]]: Once they've gotten over their reservations and initial fear, [[Gadgeteer Genius|Irving and Chen]] are positively ''thrilled'' at devising new and exciting equipment with the Forma (Schwarzwelt-borne materials) you scavenge for them.

** On a less pleasant note, {{spoiler|Jack's Squad}}.

** {{spoiler|Jimenez does one with Bugaboo to save its life.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Future Badass]]}}: {{spoiler|''The Protagonist''}} in the conclusion of the {{spoiler|Madness of Yggdrasil}} EX Mission.

* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: {{spoiler|Averted in one instance with Jimenez and Bugaboo. After defeating Horkos, you search the remains of the Elve for parts. Jimenez manages to recover Bugaboo's forma/D Source, and uses it with the data registered in his Compendium to resurrect Bugaboo offscreen. He even mentions that because he's using the Compendium data, he has to teach Bugaboo English again.}}

** Played straight when {{spoiler|you fight Jack's Squad members}}. The game treats {{spoiler|Soldiers}} as separate demons for combat purposes, meaning that you can still talk to their demons. All of the demons {{spoiler|Jack's Squad}} uses are Dark, so you can't negotiate with them, but "friendly demon" reactions still occur...

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: As a callback to the early Super Famicom games, many demon sprites have these, usually flashing red and black or red and white.

* [[God Is Evil]]: {{spoiler|YHVH Himself doesn't put in an appearance, but the Three Wise Men are presumably acting on His orders, and they aren't any nicer than he is in earlier instalments. There are hints they're actually acting on their own initiative, but, aside from [[Shin Megami Tensei II|SMT2]], [[Lawful Stupid|angels]] don't ''usually'' have a history of that in SMT.}}

* [[Gratuitous German]]: The Schwarz (black) welt (world).

** One demon conversation has the demon translate it as its probable intended meaning, "Black Horizon," which the Schwartzwelt certainly is; a zone of blackness enveloping the Earth.

** And then there's the outright hypersexuals among them. Incubus also embodies this physically (q.v. his stinger and brow).

** Lampshaded by the game itself as {{spoiler|each and every time the crew member reveals a new crush, even the music stops to show the Protagonist's mute horror}}. [[It Got Worse|It gets worse]] for the crewmate when he tries to invoke tropes such as [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] and [[Defrosting Ice Queen]], much to his intended's disgust.

* [[Humans Are Bastards]]: Many demons will be quick to point this out, and the Schwartzwelt itself is essentially a hell on earth, with half of it being a mockery of modern human society and the other half being a tribute to the power of the demons. The more wild/bloodthirsty demons clearly state how awed they are by the bloodshed and destruction humans produce with a grudging respect/obvious distaste, though of course, demons are just as big as hypocrites as humans are. It's still possible to convince some demons that mankind isn't so bad, though. {{spoiler|Jack's Squad plays this trope straight; Negotiation with them in battle will only earn you insults, even though you're a human just like them, and they experiment on demons for profit and personal gain, not to mention how they kidnap and successfully fuse Jimenez with Bugaboo.}}

* [[Humans Through Alien Eyes|Humans Through Demon Eyes]]: And like the above, this is particularly evident in the Negotiation sequences.

* [[Mysterious Antarctica]]: The Schwarzwelt is here. [[Word of God]] says that Antarctica was chosen for international appeal (contrasting the standard [[Tokyo Is the Center of The Universe]]) because of the series' growing western fanbase.

** [[Word of God]] also says John Carpenter's ''[[The Thing (Film)|The Thing]]'' was of no small influence, [http://www.nintendopower.com/images/NP251_SMT.jpg too]...

** You also get some neat Sub Apps on an NG+: Red Carpet ([[Encounter Repellant|removes]] [[Random Encounters]] COMPLETELY), 7-Card Hand (lets you wield any 6 other Sub Apps regardless of their sizes), and New MegaTen (okay [[Joke Item|not]] [[Cosmetic Award|really]], it just [[A Winner Is You|congratulates you for buying the game]] or crashes without doing anything). You'll also be able to pick up some sweet accesories, such as a ring that repels physical and gun attacks, and a ring that repels ''all four standard magic attack elements.''

* [[No Export for You]]: Another Megami Tensei game, with PAL release date. At least being on DS, means no region locking so you can import it, easily enough.

** Also {{spoiler|Captain Jack and his men, who are so blatant about it that they actually make the ''demons'' look like nice people.}}

*** A note on the demons though, not all of them are complete monsters. Most of the guys you can recruit are just there and while you have the genuinely disgusting folks like Basilisk and Seth who would love nothing else than to tear you apart, you also have folks like Heimdall who is good, just not on your team.

* [[Organ Drops]]: Quite a vast variety of Forma obtained ([[Randomly Drops|randomly]]) from demons consists of body parts, from the mundane ("Oh, a feather!") to the [[Squick|squicky]] ("Is that an angel's ''heart''?") When found in the field, on the other hand, most of the illustrations of Forma appear to be crystals, which possibly lessens the squick factor.

* [[Our Demons Are Different]]: In this franchise, "Demon" is actually a catch-all term for any supernatural being ranging from goblins and fairies to gods; even angels are technically one specific type of demon (though they'd probably be very angry at you if you called them that). Demons in general are still very bad news for unwary humans, despite not all being horned monstrosities straight out of a Doom game.

** Well, that's what the word "demon" (or, if you want to be picky, "daemon") originally meant: "spiritual being". The negative connotations were mostly Constantine-onwards Christianity apologists trying to explain away outside religions.

* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: One hapless teammate named Norris gets turned into a shambling corpse in Bootes. He's "just" a demon-corrupted human who fights like an animal. A much more different zombie is {{spoiler|the Ubergestalt, who's situationally benevolent and not rotten.}}

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: An early demon you'll likely encounter in the first dungeon will tell you, "Why are you trying to talk to me? Everyone knows you can't talk to Dark demons!"

* [[Path of Most Resistance]]: Story-wise, the Neutral route, where both Heaven and Hell are out for your blood, as per SMT tradition. ''[[Gameplay and Story Segregation|Gameplay]]''-wise, however, it's actually ''Law'', as it requires you to fight ''both'' of the [[That One Boss|absolutely brutal]] path-specific bosses. While you don't have to deal with {{spoiler|Zelenin}} like in the other two routes, the Neutral {{spoiler|Commander Gore}} (who has [[Marathon Boss|absurdly high HP]] and spams devastating physical attacks) and the Chaotic {{spoiler|Mem Aleph}} (hello, [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|100% accurate instant kill]]!) make that rather cold comfort.

* [[Playing With Syringes]]: In an exceptionally creepy part of the early game, you can find reports on demon experiments done to your crewmates. All of them died [[Squick|quite terribly,]] but the demons don't mind. They're just [[Stepford Smiler|happy to have removed humans of their ability to suffer.]] Then, when you confront Mitra, you find out why Fomorian was so gleeful about his experiments. {{spoiler|As far as Mitra and his goons are concerned, everything they were removing--blood, organic thought (q.v. brain), air, sane diet, protection from the Schwarzwelt--was pointless. Were they trying to strip humans down to their "proper" essence? One wonders if the demons have ''any'' respect for physical matter...}}

** This gets turned around later when you find out what {{spoiler|Captain Jack and his men}} are ''really'' doing in the Schwarzwelt. {{spoiler|Let's just say that the demons are actually portrayed in a sympathetic light for once even as they [[Humans Are Bastards|curse humans]] for being mutilated, torn apart, and put back together. It actually tugs at your heart when you turn off the cultivation tank they're in and put them out of their misery.}}

* [[Power Limiter]] / [[Power Nullifier]]: {{spoiler|Alilat.}}

* [[Powered Armor]]: The Demonica Suit.

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: Invoked by minor character Anthony to cover his attraction to a Moh Shuvuu, a [[Lolicon|"young-looking" female demon]]. Unfortunately, she seems to have the mindset of a child when you speak to her.

* [[Recurring Boss]]: In an interesting variation to the trope, {{spoiler|later in the game you fight "upgraded" versions of previous bosses, who look very different but still have the same elemental weaknesses}}.

* [[Redshirt Army]]: Most of the crews of the four ships wind up dying horribly really quickly, though this peters out as time goes on; the toughest (or luckiest) survive until the end in a grim but rapid example of natural selection. The game is also very vague on exactly how much crew complement you have at any given time, but it's likely that each ship was actually overstaffed with redundant crew just to be safe.

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: {{spoiler|''Ma''ia Ouroboros, Tia''ma''t, and ''Ma''ya all share the letters MA, which is an Indo-European root for mother. Mem Aleph refers to the two Phoenician letters that would eventually become MA.}}

* [[Serial Romeo]]: Anthony.

* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]: It's not immediately obvious or pointed out, but the different areas of the Schwarzwelt follow this theme (it should click by the time you get the demonic shopping mall, though).

** Crewmen Blair and Norris are references to ''[[The Thing (Film)|The Thing]]'', as is one of the EX Missions where you have to weed out which of the fellow crewmen are "normal". Dent possibly refers to [[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy|the other Arthur]].

** Among the guns available to you is the [[Persona 3|Reaper Colt]].

** Also, the Moon [[In Universe Game Clock|changes phases pretty darn fast]] while you're in the Schwarzwelt.

* [[We Need a Distraction]]: {{spoiler|When the Protagonist needs to infiltrate Mitra's Palace to rescue Zelenin, the rest of the Strike Force mount a frontal assault to distract Mitra's forces}}. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for them, they're stranded with damaged Demonicas and [[Sidequest|need to be rescued]] before the demons can get to them}}.

* [[The Wild Hunt]]: It's a demon of the Night race here.

* [[World Wrecking Wave]]: The result of the Schwarzwelt swelling up unchecked, as the wall of plasma races across the surface of the world, annihilating everything and everyone on it.

[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey]]

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