I am, relatively speaking, a newcomer to the Megami Tensei world.  My first entry into the series was Persona 3, but since then I’ve tried to branch out into some of its other forms.  Most of these journeys have been fruitful; SMT: Devil Survivor was my pick for Best of the Year last year.  My most recent trip, however, did not end so well.

I picked up Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, a few months back, but didn’t get to crack into it right because (appropriately enough) I was busy trying to finish another playthrough of Devil Survivor.  When I wrapped that up (following my man Gin’s advice this time), I eagerly moved on to Strange Journey.

Now, I knew going into it that Strange Journey was going to be a different kind of SMT game, more in line with the older dungeon-crawl style games as opposed to the rather unique styles of Persona or Devil Survivor.  The different branches of the MegaTen world all have their own individual feel, but that’s part of what keeps the series so interesting to me.

The plot of Strange Journey begins thusly: A mysterious quantum disturbance has appeared in the Antarctic and has quickly blossomed into something akin to a black hole.  Based on its rate of growth, it stands poised to consume the entire world in short order.  Dubbed the Schwartzveldt (German for “Dark World”), the governments of the world unite to form an elite research team to figure out what the Schwartzveldt is, where it came from, and how to stop it.  As an American soldier, you tag along as part of the Strike Team – the soldiers ready to deal with any trouble that may arise inside this strange space.

Equipped with the latest in hover-research-tank technology, and with a resident AI brain on each ship, four teams set out to breach the Schwartzveldt to find out just what makes it tick.  As you might expect, things go wrong immediately. As soon as the fleet hits the edge of the Schwarzveldt, all hell breaks loose, and the ships are separated and heavily damaged.

Your ship, the Red Sprite, crashes down in a strange series of ice caves.  The crew, fortunately, is saved from this strange environment by their Demonica suits – advanced combat armor – which protect them, as well as serve as research tools.  While the crew struggles to get the ship back in working order, invisible intruders come aboard and begin wrecking havoc.  Fortunately, an unknown source sends your Demonica suits upgraded programs that allow you to see the intruders, and thus begins your battles with the demons.

The Schwarzveldt, it turns out, is choc full of demons.  Big ones, little ones, sexy ones, ugly ones; a demon for everyone.  Thanks to your mysterious benefactor, you can not only see the demons, but also talk to them.  By chatting with demons, the player can try to please them, and then enter negotiations for them to come and serve the player.  The negotiation process consists of the demon asking questions, and the player trying to guess what answer would be most satisfactory to them.  Fortunately, the player is not completely without guidance, as every demon has an alignment that can help inform what kind of person they would like to talk to: lawful, neutral, or chaotic.  The player also has an alignment, based on their actions, and some demons won’t even speak to the player if their alignment is out of sync.

Using the Red Sprite as a home base, the crew ventures out into the various zones of the Schwartzveldt, undertaking different missions handed down to them from the ship’s AI. Completing missions opens up new areas of exploration, and the cycle continues.

Overall, the gameplay of Strange Journey is familiar and easy to grasp.  The problem, in my eyes, is that this familiar gameplay is coupled with a potentially compelling story that ends up falling completely flat.

I gave Strange Journey eight or nine hours of my time and, during that period, it completely failed to grab me.  It’s not that the story itself was bad, it was that it just rang hollow.  The set up – exploring a mysterious black hole – is good, but once you are on the ground and interacting with the rest of the crew, every one of the supporting cast feels like a flat cardboard cutout.  More or less everyone around you gives the same “I’m scared but brave!” spiel.  The demons you speak to – an option ripe with interesting dialog – never quite develop into anything interesting. Jiminez, your team’s resident asshole, also comes off as nothing more than a caricature of someone you are supposed to dislike: his overall level of suckitude is never given any reason or motivation other than that he’s just a jerk. In comparison to Devil Survivor, which I felt was full of rich characters and was an incredibly dynamic story, Strange Journey fell short.  Again, I did not complete the game, so perhaps there is a great turn around at some point later, but I think eight or nine or hours is giving more than enough opportunity to dazzle me.

I really, really wanted to like Strange Journey – it’s full of elements I so often look for in RPGs – but the whole package just didn’t come together in a satisfying way. As I’ve said in the past, my gaming time is not as ample as it used to be, so waiting around for a game to burst into full bloom after ten or more hours is just not something I can really deal with.

Overall, if you’re looking for a pretty by-the-numbers, lethargic dungeon crawler, then SMT: Strange Journey might be something that would interest you.  If you are looking for something with a little more spark, something the compares (fairly or unfairly) with SMT: Devil Survivor, you will probably be disappointed.