Shin Megami Tensei Spin-Offs: Where to Start?

One of the challenges of dealing with such a long, ongoing franchise is the many entries and subseries to cover. In previous “Where to Start” features, we’ve separately covered both the mainline Shin Megami Tensei titles and the Persona series. However, there is still one more category of the series we haven’t covered: its plethora of other spin-offs. From detective devil summoners, to cyberpunk soul hacking, to devouring humankind for survival, these spin-off titles play with a multitude of genres and themes. These spin-offs were also Atlus’ way of experimenting with not only storytelling, but also offering unique gameplay for each title. With the imminent remaster of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army releasing in June, we felt it was time to take a look back at these remarkable and even questionable spin-off titles in this long-running franchise.

Part of why the Shin Megami Tensei series continues to thrive is because there is always a new way to hook players or a willingness to experiment. Even if some of these titles didn’t fully hit the mark, there is always something remarkable in them. A number of these titles have been released in English, some subseries have had only one or two entries localised, and others have remained strictly for Japanese consumption only, including a whole host of mobile titles. Given the inaccessibility and obscurity of these games, we’re limiting ourselves here to those titles that have appeared in English, with one notable exception. For example, the only game ever localized in English from the Devil Children spin-off series was during the height of the Pokémon craze, with DemiKids: Light & Dark version. Just know that even with our trio of Where to Start guides, there are still more titles out there for the truly hardcore to look into.

By Sam Wachter, Jervon Perkins, Matt Masem, Ryan Costa, and Cassandra Ramos

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner

Japan-only: Sega Saturn & PlayStation Portable

The Devil Summoner spin-off series was relatively unknown before 2006, mainly because everything before this date had been Japan-only. Releasing on the Sega Saturn in 1995, the original Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner is the first story in this series, focusing on a college student who is murdered by a demon, with his soul placed into the body of Summoner Kyouji Kuzunoha. The protagonist must now investigate his own murder, in a new body, and begins to focus on why demons are now roaming around Tokyo. Worse off, a Dark Summoner named Sid Davis (yes, this is his name), has been causing a lot of shenanigans involving said demons, and even the local yakuza, to summon the spirit of Inaruna. 

The original Devil Summoner began the trend of this particular spin-off series, opting for a detective narrative over a post-apocalyptic one, borrowing influences from popular hard-boiled writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. This was the Shin Megami Tensei series’ first game in full 3D, offering dungeons from a first-person perspective and a lot of the gameplay staples, such as turn-based combat, demon negotiation, and demon fusion. The game was re-released on PSP in 2005, and neither version has been localized, making it a difficult starting place unless one is fluent in Japanese. That being said, if you have any inkling of wanting to try this game and don’t mind the potential language barrier, second-hand copies are reasonably priced, meaning one doesn’t have to break the bank to check out the beginning of this iconic spin-off series.

 

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Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army

Available on: PlayStation 2
(Coming soon to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch)

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army is a notable Shin Megami Tensei title, as it was one of the first to move away from post-apocalyptic narratives and focus more on telling a detective story. It also has the first, if clunky, real-time combat system for the series. While the game was ambitious, there was a lot to be desired. Moving around in battle is difficult, and only being able to have one demon on scene for assistance shows the limitations of the hardware at the time. The game also introduces catching demons à la Pokémon, an idea that was scrapped in the sequel. While not everything gameplay-wise worked well, it’s hard to deny the amount of interesting gameplay ideas, story beats, and experimentation present in Soulless Army.

RPGamers will have the chance to become acquainted with Raidou Kuzunoha XIV and Gouto soon enough, as Atlus is gracing us with a remaster of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. However, while this is exciting news and the release is coming very soon, it is definitely with the hope that Atlus will have revamped the game and made combat and demon catching more exciting. Since this is the first of Raidou’s games, it makes for a great starting point for anyone curious about his adventures, though it’ll be worth waiting for the remaster, as PlayStation 2 copies start at around $200 on the secondhand market.

 

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Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

Available on: PlayStation 2

With the success of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, it was bound to happen that we’d see Raidou again in another story. Once again, Raidou and his mentor Gouto are summoned by the Yatagarasu to protect the Capital of Japan during the Taisho Era. This time, the mystery begins with a young woman asking Raidou and his companions to look for an individual named Dahn. With a similar premise to Soulless Army coming before it, King Abaddon feels like retreading similar ground in terms of story and gameplay. Given this is a detective story, Raidou investigates different areas to find clues and recruits demon companions to assist him in combat. While the changes are minimal in terms of combat, more demons can appear on the screen, Raidou’s movement speed is greatly increased, and character and demon growth are much more streamlined.

While the first Raidou game is receiving the remastered treatment, there’s been no word at this time as to whether its sequel will also be re-released. While Devil Summoner 2 made some modest improvements to streamline elements of its gameplay, the clunky real-time action remains, and while it’s serviceable, it could also use an overhaul should it be remastered. Those curious about Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon will have to shell out over $150+ to obtain a copy of this title, as it’s only available on PlayStation 2 at this point, but perhaps that might change.

 

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Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Available on: Sega Saturn (Japan-only), PlayStation (Japan-only), Nintendo 3DS

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers was released in 1997 and, in some ways, was ahead of its time. It’s a story of cyber rebellion in a small town that gets overtaken by corporate overlords, Algon Soft. Algon Soft allows visitors to enter virtual worlds, showing the Japanese government what a virtual world could potentially look like. Players take on the role of a nameless protagonist who is part of a hacker group known as the Spookies, who hold a grudge against Algon Soft. Additionally, there is the shady group known as the Phantom Society, which is stealing people’s souls through the virtual world of Paradigm X. The player character is given the unique ability to enter the souls of the recently deceased, which adds another layer of mystery to the narrative.

The game features first-person dungeon crawling, and being the second title in the Devil Summoner series, offers players the ability to negotiate with demons and fuse them. It’s a very traditional combat system, wherein players can hold up to four demons at a time, and there are some puzzles to be solved while working through the dungeons. Soul Hackers has interesting world-building, focusing on themes of corruption and giving power back to the powerless. While Western gamers never had the chance to try this game on Saturn or PlayStation, it was the Nintendo 3DS version that was eventually localized, though with the eShop now closed, this title goes for a pretty penny on the secondhand market. If you’re someone who loves the first-person dungeon-crawling Shin Megami Tensei titles, there’s much to love here, but as a starting point for newcomers, this one is a tough sell based on availability alone.

 

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Soul Hackers 2

Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

Soul Hackers 2 is one of those games that gets a bad rap for being a very streamlined experience. While the combat is fast and flashy, the demon negotiation process is simpler. Some of the negative reactions came from this game having the Soul Hackers moniker attached, with its link to the original game turning out to be quite insignificant. Soul Hackers 2 focuses on Ringo and Figue, AI agents of Aion, and they are tasked with recruiting Devil Summoners who may be the key to stopping an impending apocalypse orchestrated by “The Great One.” With two distinguished factions, the Yatagarasu and the Phantom Society, pushing their ideologies and starting turf wars, it’s up to Ringo and her companions to solve the mysteries behind these two organizations and stop an impending calamity.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a story that this series has done to death. While the game has great characters, it suffers from being a bit too routine. A lot of the dungeon designs are bland, and there isn’t a lot of depth in any of the game’s major systems, such as the character bonding events. The combat is fast and flashy, with some substance, but again feels like something we’ve encountered before. While the game has great music and voice acting, it’s not enough to catapult the game into being memorable.

Is Soul Hackers 2 a direct sequel to the original Soul Hackers? The connections are fairly distant, and if one is going into this game with the expectation that this will be more of the same, it’s easy to feel fairly disappointed. It’s not that Soul Hackers 2 is a bad game — far from it — but the issues lie in what was expected from it being a sequel, and what we were given fell short of expectations. For all of its faults, Soul Hackers 2‘s reputation isn’t as bad as many claim it to be, but it suffers from its simplicity. Anyone curious about this title will be happy to know that it’s fairly accessible and often goes on sale.

 

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Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga / Digital Devil Saga 2

Available on: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 (PSN)

Digital Devil Saga and its direct sequel are must-plays for fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series, but they’re not ideal starting points for newcomers. While the duology shares the franchise’s signature themes: moral ambiguity, transformation, and apocalyptic stakes, it lacks the modern accessibility and quality-of-life features in more recent entries like Shin Megami Tensei V or Persona 5. The games aren’t available on current-gen platforms, only being released on PlayStation 2 and through a later digital PSN release for PlayStation 3, which makes access difficult for most players today. That scarcity alone makes them more suitable for dedicated fans than first-timers.

Digital Devil Saga follows Serph and the Embryon, a tribe of warriors in a ruined world called the Junkyard, where survival hinges on consuming enemies to gain power. After a mysterious light grants them the ability to transform into demons, they’re thrust into a brutal cycle of violence to ascend to Nirvana. The sequel shifts the setting to a dystopian city ruled by karma and hierarchy, where the surviving characters confront the consequences of their past and the origins of their transformations.

 

 

Combat in Digital Devil Saga uses a variation of the Press Turn system, rewarding smart targeting and elemental exploitation. However, instead of collecting demons, characters transform into demonic forms and gain skills by devouring enemies and mastering Mantra grids, offering a structured progression system closer to Final Fantasy X’s Sphere Grid than traditional demon fusion. The battles are intense and often punishing. Paired with its cinematic presentation and linear structure, Digital Devil Saga trades open-ended exploration and social systems for tightly paced storytelling and tactical depth. Should Atlus (hopefully) bring these titles to modern platforms, they’ll be well worth the wait; they’re just not the easiest entry point right now.

 

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor / Devil Survivor Overclocked

Available on: Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS (Overclocked)

Devil Survivor has most of the hallmarks of the Megami Tensei metaseries, while also having a fantastic story, well-developed characters, and many quality-of-life features. One day in Tokyo, demons start appearing, and the Japanese government locks down the Yamanote circle, trapping everyone inside. Three teenagers are given devices called COMPs that allow them to summon demons to fight for them, so they may be able to lift the lockdown or escape before impending doom occurs. Like many Megami Tensei games before it, Devil Survivor‘s story has different paths that focus on the forces of law and chaos and multiple neutral endings that aren’t too difficult to obtain. Demon Fusion is perhaps the most versatile it has ever been, as it’s relatively easy to get specific skills onto demons and to be able to know and look up resultant fusions. Battles are a combination of strategy RPG and Megami Tensei‘s turn-based Press Turn system. Devil Survivor notably lacks demon negotiations, but the Devil Auction is a fun, frantic way to obtain demons. 

While the original DS game is great, Devil Survivor Overclocked for the 3DS is the definitive version. There is not only a large amount of fantastic voice acting that gives the already strong characters even more personality, but the game also adds an extra chapter to three routes. There are additional demons, skills, an easy mode, more save slots, and the Demon Compendium, which makes it easier to re-summon demons. As the 3DS eShop is no longer up, the only way to obtain this game is through physical carts, which have become pricier in recent years. For those willing to seek out the game, it is not only an excellent standalone game but an excellent potential place to start with the Megami Tensei franchise.

 

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 / Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker

Available on: Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS (Record Breaker)

Despite its title, Devil Survivor 2 is narratively completely unconnected to the previous entry. As such, despite the plot being somewhat atypical for a Megami Tensei game, it can still serve as a good entry point to the metaseries as a whole. In the story of Devil Survivor 2, Japan is devastated by earthquakes, and demons start appearing. Worse still, strange giant aliens called the Septenrions attack. It’s up to a group of young people who have been given a demon summoning app on their phones to fight back against these beings. Unlike the first Devil Survivor, which features a classic struggle between the forces of Law and Chaos, this game turns these alignments on their heads. There are recruitable demons that can be fused to get stronger, unique creatures, and fusion is as intuitive as ever. The battle system is a fun and engaging hybrid of strategy RPG and MegaTen‘s turn-based Press Turn system. Again, demon negotiations are absent, with demons being bought on the Devil Auction instead.

Like its predecessor, an enhanced port on the 3DS, Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker, is superior to the original DS game. Record Breaker adds voice acting, which makes a world of difference for the characters. The characters are not as complex as in the first Devil Survivor, but the voice acting helps make them more realized. The characters are further fleshed out in the new Triangulum Story arc added to Record Breaker, which is over half as long as the base game and can be accessed anytime. Along with an easy mode, Record Breaker has most of the defining traits of the Megami Tensei franchise while being beginner-friendly, and can serve as an excellent game to start with. With the 3DS eShop gone, though, those wanting to play the game will have to rely on the secondhand market.

 

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DemiKids: Light Version and Dark Version

Available on: Game Boy Advance

They say imitation is a form of flattery. There are also some situations where imitation is a form of laziness. With the success of Pokémon’s debut in 1996, many companies decided to hop on the bandwagon to make their own Pokémon clones, including Atlus in the form of DemiKids: Light and Dark Versions. Given that Shin Megami Tensei already had its form of demon collection, this was an attempt at a much more child-friendly title, and the results were lackluster.

DemiKids‘s plot is straightforward: four school children by the names of Akira, Amy, Jin, and Lena discover the “Akuma Compendium” in their school library. Amy, an otherworldly figure, explains to Akira and friends that they are the chosen “DemiKids,” who possess the abilities of darkness and light to save their world and restore the balance of light and dark in the demon world known as Valhalla. This could have been an okay premise if it weren’t so generic and blandly localized. It also doesn’t help that the game has no identity, struggling with whether it wants to have a mature story in the vein of Shin Megami Tensei or be lighter for a younger audience. Unlike most Shin Megami Tensei games, demon recruitment also has a low chance of success in this game, which seems idiotic given that this is a game made for children. Even the turn-based combat offers nothing of interest, and while the art direction is cute, there isn’t a lot of demon variety either.

Honestly, there isn’t a reason to recommend exploring DemiKids. The game lacks its own identity, fails to be interesting, and overall, Pokémon is just a better creature catcher. Given the game’s limited print run in English, it will set back those who are curious quite a hefty penny, with most copies selling for $150 or more, and honestly, it isn’t worth the price.

 

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Revelations: Demon Slayer (Last Bible)

Available on: Game Boy (Japan-only), Game Gear (Japan-only), Game Boy Color

Revelations: The Demon Slayer is one of the oddest entries in the Megami Tensei metaseries, at least as far as officially localized games go. Its original Japanese title is Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible, which curiously references the Famicom origins of the franchise and is the start of the Last Bible subseries. Unlike most games in the franchise, Demon Slayer has a fantasy setting instead of a temporary, futuristic, or post-apocalyptic one. The game is considerably simpler and easier than other Megami Tensei games, likely because it was first developed for the original Game Boy. 

Demon Slayer would be a poor choice for anyone wanting to get started on the Megami Tensei series. The story is somehow both simplistic and confusing, especially with its abrupt ending. There are recruitable demons/monsters that the player has to negotiate with to convince them to join the party. Negotiations are not very fun, though. The same four or five dull conversations are repeated ad nauseam, and players have to guess (or look up a guide) to determine what the correct responses are to recruit monsters successfully. Although fusion can unlock a monster early, there are no means to customize a monster’s skills. Even the turn-based combat is dull. There is no exploitation of weaknesses, and most spells are so weak that it’s better just to use physical attacks. Revelations: The Demon Slayer is more of a historical curiosity than anything. It would likely be too simple to be of interest to a newcomer, and a more nuanced MegaTen game would be more engaging. While Demon Slayer appear on the 3DS Virtual Console and Game Gear Mini, they were Japan-only, so a Game Boy Color cart on the secondhand market would be the only official way to play this game in English. 

 

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Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE

Available on: Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch

On the surface, one would never think that this game would be a good place to begin your Shin Megami Tensei journey. It’s a marriage of a bright modern-day Japan with Shin Megami Tensei gameplay elements and a healthy dose of Fire Emblem thrown in. However, this game was a highlight of many people’s 2020 gaming. For those who had barely played Shin Megami Tensei/Persona or Fire Emblem, it teaches a lot about both franchises, and even though it’s heavy on certain nostalgic callbacks and cameos, those with just a passing curiosity about either can easily find it acts as the gateway towards them.

One of the most engaging aspects of Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE is its incredibly stylish and energetic presentation. While the story’s focus on teens and young adults navigating the Japanese idol industry may not be a draw for some players, the combat system, vibrant colors, and the catchy J-Pop-driven soundtrack are amazing. The combat system cleverly blends the strategic depth of Fire Emblem‘s weapon triangle with the elemental weaknesses and Press Turn-like mechanics from Shin Megami Tensei. Landing a weakness and triggering a devastating “Session Attack,” where your entire party piles on the damage in a flashy sequence, feels incredibly satisfying. The quirky side quests and the lighthearted moments interspersed with the more serious plot points provide a good balance and keep the overall tone enjoyable without getting too stagnant. Even the dungeon designs, themed around aspects of the entertainment world, offer creative and visually interesting, even if occasionally frustrating, challenges. In addition, being on Nintendo Switch, the game is currently readily accessible.

 

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Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2

Available on: Android, iOS

There are two schools of thought about this free-to-play mobile gacha game. The first is that it does a decent job of introducing the monsters, abilities, and variety that the franchise is known for. The second is that the game has become more predatory since its launch, due to sliding heavily towards being pay-to-win. The necessity of paying for the best monsters and abilities to equip makes things a hard recommendation, especially as a place to start. However, if one has patience in experiencing some things over and over while trying to keep pace with the difficulty expected from purchased creatures, there’s still some value here.

The game’s value comes in the form of being able to check out the nuance between party building, character design, and ability variety that comes from building a team in these games. The interplay with debuffs and buffing here is still, the story is basic, but it fits within a Shin Megmai Tensei title. If only it were as friendly to those who want to stay free-to-play, this would be a wholehearted recommendation to check out. As it stands, there’s not much harm in checking it out briefly as a way to realize how much the focus on the bottom line can impact an otherwise good experience before moving on to something else.

 

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We hope you enjoyed the third part of our deep dive into this long-running franchise. Would you recommend a specific starting point? Join the conversation by dropping a comment below!