 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
- Nintendo DS
- Price: $34.99
- Genre: Role Playing
Common Sense Media says
M-rated DS game that's definitely not for kids - sci-fi RPG.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is one of the rare Mature-rated games for the Nintendo DS. This is a dark role-playing game filled with gloom and depression that pervades the Earth, and it's hard not to be affected by that. The game has sex and violence, but it is tempered by the lower-technology of the DS. You don't see animated blood and guts when people die. Instead, you see a frame or two of the character bending over and falling. Then, there's a pool of blood, again, not animated. You'll see characters that look like human sexual organs and there are sexual themes, especially when you read about some of the proclivities of the demons.
What's it about?
In SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: STRANGE JOURNEY, you enter a dark futuristic world that's one hundred years in the future. It's a world full of complex issues that are sometimes often depressing, chaotic, violent and sexual. Within 10 minutes, you find that there's something very wrong at the South Pole, something mysterious and evil called a Schwarzwelt. You and a crew are asked to travel to the frozen tundra and enter this the ever-expanding hole. It's a new dimenson where you deal with as many as 300 demons of varying creepiness. If you do things right, you just might save the world. If you don't, you'll die.
Is it any good?
Here's a game that will probably provide you with 100 hours of gameplay. It can be annoyingly slow-moving as you press the 'A' button through thousands of lines of science fiction-based dialog. Yes, there is violence with pools of blood. And yes, some of the demons resemble sexual organs. And, yes, you eventually enter the gates of hell. But much of this is presented in still frames and in text, not with animation and audio. Somehow, that lessens the severity of the mature themes.
As you kill demons and level up, your and your Demonica space suit grow stronger. What's really cool here is that you can communicate with the demons and try to convince them to help you out in your journey. If a demon agrees to your request, you then have all the powers of the demon to help you through the strange world. Also included in the package is a bonus CD with the game's orchestral soundtrack. Despite the slow-moving story, if you stick with Strange Journey, you'll be rewarded with some very innovative gameplay in a science fiction offering that's well worth the price of admission.
What families can talk about
Families should only talk about this game when the over-17 members of the clan are around. Are any of the demons scary or are they just cool to look at?
Do you think there is too much blood when characters die or is it tastefully done?
Do you think the hole in the South Pole is a veiled reference to global warming?
Do you think the game spends too much time or not enough time on tutorials?
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AGE
Like other MegaTen games, more mature in theme than in content. Excellent, excellent dungeon-crawler.
Yes, this is an M-rated game, but, as with other entries in the Shin Megami Tensei series (look at Persona 3 and 4, as well as Nocturne), the Mature rating is undeserving. The M rating is there simply because some demons are partially nude (and it's not even detailed nudity) or look phallic, and the profiles of demons sometimes include sexual references, but this is nothing a teen couldn't handle. However, the themes in Strange Journey (such as global warming, death in battle, "red light" districts, and so on) are pretty touchy subjects. I wouldn't say "No Kids", though. Anyways, enough about the rating. The story seems pretty basic at first: 100 years in the future, there's a hole in the South Pole called the Schwarzwelt, and your job is to explore it. You soon learn that there are close to 300 types of demon that you must fight. Needless to say, this is an excellent game. Atlus really knows how to make insanely hard (but fun) dungeon crawlers, and Strange Journey really makes up for the short length of Devil Survivor with a (supposed) 100-hour length. I also really like the demon summoning system in this MegaTen much more than the others. Once again, the content is much more on the Teen side than Mature. Violence is simple turn-based RPG combat; not too bad. Blood is shown sometimes, but in sprite form. The strongest word used is "sh*t"; other milder words, such as "godd*mn", "a**hole" and such are used. And, as I said before, the sexual themes, while nothing to worry about, are the reason this game's rated Mature (besides the overall maturity required to appreciate this game). Overall, if you like MegaTen games or dungeon crawlers, this is a Strange Journey you ought to take. And it isn't as bad as other M-rated fare.
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AGE
Great sci-fi RPG with mature themes. Lots of blood.
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AGE
Great game for sci-fi lovers.
As I love sci fi games and mature rated games,I knew this was a awesome buy and so I got it from GameStop for my DS.It was also a good idea,since there are very few M rated DS games and I was running out of games to play. There is lots of weird,science fiction type bizarre violence and tons of blood.All I can say is,this is sure one f*cked up Shin Megami game.
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| Platforms: | Nintendo DS |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Role Playing |
| Developer: | Atlus |
| Release date: | March 23, 2010 |
| Price: | $34.99 |
| ESRB rating: | M for Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes |
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