Your demons and their specs can also be accessed through the menu. This is where
SMT: Strange Journey really shines in its gameplay. Although you’ll have your gang of demons, you can also choose to fuse them to discover new ones. The menu shows what combination will result in what demon. Items can be thrown into the fusion to sometimes attain rare demons, as well.
Registering these fused demons through the Demon Compendium allows you to share your demons with friends. After generating a password, your friends can input the code into their game to extract the very same demon. Atlus is also putting out a few secret passwords for demons that cannot otherwise be acquired. Within registration, you’ll have three slots for input. You will need in-game currency to summon the demons, however, while keeping in mind the restriction that the demon cannot be a higher level than your character.
We haven’t even gotten to the good stuff, though. Menu and party configuration are important, but it gets to be all about the nitty gritty. I don’t know about you, but I’m fiending for some fighting.
The combat gameplay shouldn’t be too far from what you’re probably familiar with in terms of turn-based RPGs. Minus the basics, Atlus has a specific battle format in line for
SMT: Strange Journey. There is one human character in your party, you, along with three demons that you can summon at will. All names are highlighted in a particular color indicating your alignment within the game.
Playing through the game you will accumulate certain actions that will label your alignment as neutral, chaotic, or lawful. These indications will be fundamental to combat, as it plays into one of the major features of the game known as demon co-op. It will also affect your negotiation skills when attempting to reason out of a fight.
In our first fight, Aram attempts to negotiate with the demon known as Angel, but fails due to alignment disparity. Next course of action is to rely on the analysis bar that has now replaced the map formerly on the lower screen. This bar will reveal information that you know about demons you have encountered along your strange journey. Crucial information here is the weakness that pertains to each enemy, in the form elemental attacks.
This is where demon co-op comes into play. If you manage to successfully exploit an enemy’s weakness, you will get an extra turn (in a sense). If you are familiar with the press/turn system in the
Persona series, you will already be somewhat acquainted with demon co-op. Exploiting the enemy’s weakness in
Strange Journey will gain you bonus melee attacks from all party members with the same alignment of the character who won the exploit.
The battle plays out fairly quickly after Aram chooses his course of action – selecting one of the demons to exploit a weakness and having the other two (of the same alignment) hit with their melee attacks – so if you aren’t a fan of the sometimes grueling battles involved in RPGs, this should be enticing news.
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