Atlus Japan always churns out the most innovative games out there. With their well-established Megami Tensei series (which later became Shin Megami Tensei), the company has gained a cult following among RPG fans in Japan, and overseas to a lesser extent. July 2006 gave Atlus mainstream exposure through Persona 3, which introduced fans to a concept that was unheard of prior: the melding of RPG and galge. It has since gone through a sequel and 2 revisions. They also introduced a female character in the PSP version to gain appeal with otome game fans as well.
Tokyo Mono Hara Shi: Karasunomori Gakuen Kitan is Atlus' recent RPG release that borrows a handful of elements from Megami Tensei, Devil Summoner and the Persona series while establishing it's own identity, making it unique but a bit inaccessible at first glance.
Chiaki Zero: His real name is Rei, and has become the latest statistic among ignorant dweebs who call themselves "Zero" just to sound cool.
A weird librarian in your school beckons to you to answer a survey. It looks normal enough, but an extra question that asks if you believe in the supernatural suddenly appears at the back... next thing you know, you and two of your classmates are led by your homeroom teacher to a cave in the forest at the outskirts of Tokyo to investigate paranormal phenomena. The Hermit's Staff you discover within grants the three of you the power to wield the Kamifuda, but the expedition takes a turn for the worse when one of your classmates decide to stay behind to help the two of you escape from the collapsing cavern after beating the guardian snake. Though still reeling from the tragedy, you are asked to transfer to Karasunomori Academy to efficiently cover a chain reaction of several incidents around the Shinjuku area where wayward spirits are killing other high school students. Your other surviving classmate will stay behind to keep your old school's area in check.
Fists are better than swords. Believe it!
Though classified as an RPG, TMH has a few quirky features that depart a bit from the stereotype and might cause a bit of confusion for gamers expecting the usual cliches: For one, the sequences are episodic, and run pretty much like a cross-breed of an anime and a galge: The beginning of every chapter features an animated opening theme song cutscene, an eyecatch appears midway (no commercials, though), and after defeating the boss of the week, an ending theme plays complete with credits. Luckily, the opening and ending movies can be skipped with no consequence, but the only time you can actually move beyond the story sequences and dialogue is during lunch hour or after school, where you can freely explore the campus and town proper to talk to NPCs and scavenge the area for food, medicine and sellable junk.
In the prologue dungeon, you can only jump towards other level ledges, but later on you can be a dumbass and throw yourself (and your party members) off the cliff. Don't expect respect from them if you intentionally do the latter.
Exploration is done in first-person, reminiscent of the classic Megami Tensei style dungeon view. In TMH though, you can also jump across pitfalls, examine objects and use your special powers to reveal hidden doors. Battles are conducted in the same perspective and done in semi-real time. Your movements (attacking, using items/Kamifuda spells, turning and walking) are limited by your AP (action points). When your AP falls below usable levels, you have no choice but to forfeit your turn and have the enemy act next. Your party members never actively participate in combat, except when you ask them to use their special skills to help you in case you don't have enough AP to move or get afflicted with a debilitating status ailment. The times they can assist you are usually not enough to get you through several enemy encounters unless there's a recovery point nearby; so for the most part, you have to act on your own.
Karasunomori Academy's furnace is rumored to have killed a handful of students recently. What would a sensible person do? Stay away from it... but as you can very well see, many students in Japan are anything BUT sensible.
In keeping with the youthful atmosphere of the game, TMH gives you a very functional cellphone. It's not only used to keep tabs on your friends, you can also create (and later edit) your profile, review quests, access the OXAS Official Site (a mobile web page dedicated to cults, exploration and paranormal phenomena) and adjust game settings. During dungeon expeditions, you may also find data cards that allow you to use music from some prior Atlus games to serve as your ringtone. In the parameter front, every level up gives you two sets of bonus points to distribute: one is for your overall status, and the other is for your proficiency in academic subjects, which also affect certain functional parts of the game.
Save points come in the form of mirrors, which are said to contain the spirits of the gods... hey, don't you people sleep on me, I'm doing an explanation of symbolism here!!! Stupid good-for-nothing party members... *grumble*
Taking a page from Persona 3's Commu system, your relationship with the people in your community affects your powers. Answers in many dialogue choices are never shown, because it's not the answer that matters, but the way you deliver it. Characters react differently depending on the kind of emotion you display when talking to them: Some appreciate a friendly answer, while others prefer one brimming with determination or anger.
Even if they're not able to help much in combat, the members of your current exploration party can give certain benefits (and sometimes penalties) to your base status and subjects. For example, Minori Hasaka gives you a boost in Spiritual Power and helps in your Foreign Language and Health subjects, but takes away from your Vitality and Strength stats and dumbs you down a bit in your P.E. subject. Of course, since you take two people in an expedition, you have to make adjustments depending on who you're stuck with. In latter episodes, you can actually choose the members of your team, so the stress will be off by then and you can be accompanied by whoever suits your style of play.
Um, Minori-chan? The flirting and offbeat theories are nice and all, but keep your guard up... I may need you for healing later.
Though the anime-style flow, lack of full voice-overs and less-than-functional party members may seem like a bit of a turn-off for some, it actually adds a bit of challenge and spice to TMH, making it look less like a generic title for it's genre. It'll take a bit of getting used to for the average gamer, but hardcore Megaten fans will definitely get a kick out of this game. I know I did.
In your opinion, do you think this game might see a release stateside? I can understand Japanese, but my kanji is rather limited. Thus an English release would really help me out. Thx!
ReplyDeleteIf Atlus USA starts getting their collective heads out of their asses, then it might not be far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not crossing my fingers. They might not take a risk with it since it's way too Japanese for them (no room for their funky insert naming and dumbed-down translations) and none of the familiar Megaten demons ever appear.