“I don't know where you heard about that, but if you want to leave here with your dignity and both your hands intact I suggest you turn around and go home.”
Shin Megami Tensei: NINE is the fourth installment in the Shin Megami Tensei series. The main protagonist is Kei Azuma and the antagonist is the Creator of all Things. The villainous faction is The Noise.
The game is an interquel set in the same world as SMT I and II, the last to do so, in a virtual world created by Messians who thought they could do a better job than God. While it generally aligns with the first Shin Megami Tensei game, there are some details that imply this may actually be an alternate timeline without the protagonist or Cathedral.
It was originally released on the Xbox in 2002 exclusively in Japan. The game never saw an international release.
It is preceded by Shin Megami Tensei: If... and followed by Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.
Synopsis[]
The game begins in 202X, after Ambassador Thorman had launched the nukes in 199X. Since then, the remainder of humanity lives in underground bunkers, occasionally passing the time with a virtual world known as Idea Space meant to replicate Tokyo before the war. While hair and clothing can be changed in Idea Space, changing one's name or face is illegal. Each person in Idea Space has a "Navi" that uses Magnetite to wander around with and explore areas for them as well as help navigate. However, bugs known as "Noise" begin to show up and attack people. Someone attacked in Idea Space is at risk of becoming a "doll" To combat the Noise, the Central Administration that runs Idea Space dispatches "Debuggers" who use multiple Navi in order to destroy or capture the Noise.
Plot Summary[]
The game begins in 202X, after Thor|Ambassador Thorman had launched the nukes in 199X. Since then, the remainder of humanity lives in underground bunkers, occasionally passing the time with a virtual world known as Idea Space meant to replicate Tokyo before the war. While hair and clothing can be changed in Idea Space, changing one's name or face is illegal. Each person in Idea Space has a "Navi" that uses Magnetite to wander around with and explore areas for them as well as help navigate. However, bugs known as "Noise" begin to show up and attack people. Someone attacked in Idea Space is at risk of becoming a "doll" To combat the Noise, the Central Administration that runs Idea Space dispatches "Debuggers" who use multiple Navi in order to destroy or capture the Noise.
Kei Azuma and Sumire go to a concert for the idol Urahime in Idea Space, but while there are attacked by Noise. They are suddenly thrust into the role of Debuggers once the Debugger Seri is injured in the battle. Kei and Sumire are then pressured into joining the Central Administration as Debuggers, initially being given simple jobs like patrol. During these standard missions Kei also meets a young Baraki, who is friends with Kei's younger sister Emi. At home, Kei's mother questions if she should be working as a Debugger, worrying that she'll end up lost like their dad, but ultimately doesn't stop her.
In this organization, the protagonist meets Tsuzumi, the director for the Central Administration, Mubiora, who is Seri's partner, and Miranda. Mubiora gets assigned with Kei while waiting for Seri to recover, however this does not take long, making Mubiora seem a bit sad to no longer be Kei's partner. While continuing to work as Debuggers, the missions turn towards trying to learn more information about the Ring of Gaea, said to be kidnapping children. During the process of this investigation, Mubiora is kidnapped. To try to infiltrate the cult, Sumire, Kei and Seri bring a young Baraki under the guise of offering him as a sacrifice.
In the Ring of Gaea Headquarters, a separate underground area, Seri reveals that she had tricked them and was the one to kidnap Mubiora, already getting ready to send him to the Expanse as a sacrifice. He also reveals the truth that the Navis and Noise are both demons, with the Ring of Gaea intentionally sending uncontrolled demons into Idea Space to try to overwhelm the Central Administration. Miranda breaks in, having trailed them, and after defeating Seri, Kei and Miranda attempt to save Mubiora, and end up falling into the Expanse, which they mistakenly believe is a virtual world created by the Ring of Gaea. There they confront Moloch, to who the children had been sacrificed and Mubiora was about the be sacrificed. After getting through the expanse they come across a giant wall of ice. There, a man calling himself Sariel|Shiki claims to be an angel that had helped seal Lucifer behind the wall of ice. He then leads the group to a portal to lead them back to Idea Space.
Upon returning to Idea Space they find that they cannot return to the real world through the terminal. While walking Kei is also approached by Sophia (demon)|a girl from the flower shop, handing her the Seed of Sophia, saying it will help her one day. Going to the Central Administration building they see the president of the Central Administration, Ferris, carrying out the crucifixion of Sumire for bringing chaos to Idea Space. The group moves in to rescue her, Ferris having them be attacked by the "replacement for the debuggers" known as Idea Angel|Idea Angels. They fight them off and rescue Sumire, who mentions that she hasn't seen them in 10 years, and they can't leave because their bodies are currently in cold storage. She releases them from cold storage and explains that during their time in the Expanse there was a flood that killed a significant portion of the population, though they were protected in the Ring of Gaea headquarters. Also surviving in there are a now adult Baraki, a man named Naitou, and Stephen who appeared through the terminal after the flood.
Baraki wants to go into Idea Space as he had seen his parents go into a strange club. There are also numerous rumors of "Life Ghosts" in Idea Space as they explore, supposedly the data of people who were in Idea Space but are now dead in the real world, meaning they have no real life counterparts. Entering the club, Baraki finds his parents engaging in various kinds of hedonism. Baraki tries to get them to recognize him, but they claim their child died years ago, believing him to perhaps be a life ghost. They then try to make moves on Baraki and Kei who break away and run into the demon Incubus, talking about how Idea Space is filled with lustful desires.
After returning, Sumire invites Kei to discuss with Naitou and try to convince him to join the Ring of Gaea, explaining they found a land called "True Tokyo" on the surface, but are worried that the Administration is hiding something. Regardless of the choice to help or not, Baraki questions if the Ring of Gaea is truly behind the outbreak of Noise. He then confirms with Stephen that the demons are actually attracted to human desires within Idea Space. This makes Mubiora want to investigate further, going into Idea Space to question people but immediately the people they talk to are suspicious of them, believing them to be from the Central Administration. After dealing with them, Shiki appears, giving Mubiora a disc that had been exchanged between Gaians.
Hacking the disc, they learn about an "Information Store" in Roppongi. After an expedition to the Akiba Arena which causes Susano-o to appear from the accumulation of desires for fighting, Mubiora explains that the Life Ghosts are to play a role in diverting human greed to avoid any issues in the real world. Then on the news they learn about the Order of Messiah|Messian day of worship where the goddess Maria will become reality. Visiting the Cathedral, a hologram of Maria appears. Sudddenly she begins crying a dark liquid and people begin to disappear. In "True Tokyo" people fall over, suddenly dying and decaying into skeletons before disappearing. Tsuzumi appears, declaring that Kei's group are the only remaining humans in the world, and their deaths will bring about the Millennium Kingdom|thousand year kingdom.
Naitou appears to help, but after defeating Tsuzumi, it's revealed Tsuzumi himself is an android, so they take the head back to their base to hack into. After hacking, they find some Hebrew letters that were also in the Cathedral where Maria appeared. Mubiora explains that the Hebrew letters spell Miryam, the Hebrew version for the name Maria. But before they can do anything, Ferris finds the base, launching missiles at the underground base and destroying it, with the group only surviving thanks to a makeshift shelter made by Stephen. Stephen then shows them True Tokyo, suddenly populated by people again.
Going to the Cathedral to investigate, they find a Ring of Gaea member attacking a Messian bishop. The group questions how they can be alive, having seen them die, but the two don't know what they're talking about. They also find Emi, still as a young child and not grown like Baraki. Another Tsuzumi android appears to attack, but Mubiora helps them escape through a hidden passage in the Cathedral, promising to come back for Emi. Meanwhile Sumire broadcasts a rogue signal to Idea Space, showing the Android Tsuzumi trying to get the people of Idea Space to question the Administration, but the broadcast is soon cut off.
From here Kei has the choice to follow Sumire to discuss with Naitou more, or investigate with Mubiora. No matter the choice, one of the desire discs is destroyed, making Abaddon appear. Miranda then invites Kei to a facility where they see several humans in pods with black liquid being extracted from them. Then, in a room full of monitors Emi is with Ferris and Miranda, who explain what is going on. The flood 10 years ago had killed all humanity except the few in the Ring of Gaea's base when it happened, meaning that Mubiora, Miranda, Baraki, Sumire, Kei and Stephen are the only humans left (It is implied that Ferris herself is also an android). And everything happening now was devised by a radical sect of the Messians known as the NeoMessians.
The NeoMessians had managed to predict the coming flood, and having felt abandoned by YHVH and no longer willing to wait for the messiah, they decide to set a different plan in motion. They create Idea Space and set the androids and Maria in charge. After the flood, the Life Ghosts are used to extract Idea Energy. This energy is then used along with genomes taken from the people of Tokyo to clone new members to fill True Tokyo. These people and Idea Ghosts are then reset every year on the day of Worship in order to maintain peace where people are not alive long enough to create strife and humanity will functionally live forever. This is their Millenium Kingdom, and the death of the remaining humans outside their system is needed to complete it.
Emi is distraught upon learning what she is. Kei can choose to either end her suffering by killing her, or refuse to do so. Regardless she will disintegrate as she is reset. Miranda then attacks in order to end the protagonist's life to bring about this kingdom, resulting in her death. From here on, alignment effects the choices the protagonist is given, but the following base events will happen no matter what.
The second desire disc is destroyed, Naitou claiming that destroying all the desire discs will free them from the Administration. However, Shiki appears to dispute this. It is revealed that Shiki is actually the fallen angel Sariel, who wants to use the last Desire Disc to free Lucifer from the wall of ice. Naitou meanwhile was the archangel Raguel, sent in order to destroy all the desire discs and as a result finish off the surviving human race and True Tokyo, as the artificial resurrection of humanity is seen as a grave sin. Baraki and Sumire want to free Lucifer and destroy Maria, but Mubiora wants peace at any cost, even if it means this artificial Millenium Kingdom. Baraki and Mubiora will also confess love to Kei. No matter the route both Miranda and Sumire will be killed either by the protagonist or an opposing faction.
In the Chaos ending, Maria is destroyed. The final Desire Disc is used to free Lucifer, who sends Kei and Baraki to fight Demiurge|Yaldabaoth, the form of YHVH having deteriorated and lost power as humanity stops believing in him. After defeating him, Lucifer declares that humanity can now take its steps in a free world not controlled by the Administration. Baraki states that Kei and him are no longer bound by anyone, free to do what they want, then asking where Kei would like to go. The fate of the rest of humanity is not stated.
In the Law ending a demonic Sumire is fought as she attempts to stop the protagonist. Maria is then the one to send Kei and Mubiora to defeat Yaldabaoth and separate humanity from him. Kei and Mubiora then voluntarily enter the artificial Millenium Kingdom under Maria, living there forever being reset.
In the neutral ending, if the protagonist initially chose to follow Sumire and free Lucifer, but then refuses their help, Lucifer and Sumire will be fought. In every neutral route, Maria is also fought and destroyed. In the Dark and Light Neutral routes, the flower shop girl from earlier helps as a human. In the Neutral Neutral route she then reveals herself to be the goddess Sophia, having been cursed to reincarnate as a human for the sin of birthing Yaldabaoth. With Kei being the only true human left, Sophia sends her to destroy Yaldabaoth. After, Sophia tells Kei to spread the knowledge of the Gnostic Savior, as once all of the humans are dead, the universe will cease to exist and humanity will have escaped the material world to rejoin the Pleroma.
Characters[]
Main[]
Supporting[]
Bosses[]
| Image | Enemy | Description | Dungeon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legion | ||||
| Preta | ||||
| Nue | ||||
| Typhon | ||||
| Samejima & Turdak | ||||
| Tarrasque | ||||
| Miura | ||||
| Seri | ||||
| Hayashi | ||||
| Moloch | ||||
| Rakshasa | ||||
| Morrigan | ||||
| Ideal Angels | ||||
| Succubus | ||||
| Incubus | ||||
| Azumi | ||||
| Garm | ||||
| Alice | ||||
| Jinn | ||||
| Ifrit | ||||
| Lilim | ||||
| Raja Naga | ||||
| Jatayu | ||||
| Titan | ||||
| Susano-o | ||||
| Tsuzumi | ||||
| Baraki | ||||
| Sumire | ||||
| Abaddon | ||||
| Mubiora | ||||
| Lucifuge | ||||
| Devil Baraki | ||||
| Devil Sumire | ||||
| Raguel | ||||
| Miranda | ||||
| Lucifer | ||||
| Yaldabaoth | ||||
Title Screen[]
| Shin Megami Tensei: NINE |
|---|
  |
Original Soundtrack[]
Media[]
XboxLogos[]
| Shin Megami Tensei NINE logos | |
|---|---|
 Shin Megami Tensei NINE logo |
Spin-Offs[]
| Shin Megami Tensei NINE Hinotama Game Comic Anthology | |
|---|---|
| Shin Megami Tensei NINE Hinotama Game Comic Anthology is a comic anthology based the game Shin Megami Tensei NINE. The comic anthology was published on March 1, 2003 by Kobunsha as part of their Hinotama Game Comic Series. It was pubblished by Kobunsha lebeled as Hinotama Game Comic Series. It has 180 pages. |  |
Trivia[]
- Shin Megami Tensei NINE has had an English script produced by Alexander Hollins and edited by ggnosis on 31st October, 2018.
- This game was originally going to be titled Shin Megami Tensei ONLINE, as an attempt to be an MMO, but this was scrapped until a few years later when Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE released.
- Shin Megami Tensei NINE is known for blending traditional turn-based role-playing game (RPG) elements with a unique urban setting and a modern-day Tokyo backdrop. This departure from the typical fantasy settings of many RPGs added a distinct flavor to the game.
- The game is exclusive to the Xbox platform, marking a departure from the series' usual presence on PlayStation consoles. Despite being part of the popular Shin Megami Tensei franchise, its exclusivity limited its reach compared to other titles in the series.
- Shin Megami Tensei NINE was the first mainline entry in the series to utilize 3D graphics. This marked a significant visual upgrade from its predecessors and added a new dimension to the demon-filled world of Shin Megami Tensei.
- Shin Megami Tensei NINE incorporated online multiplayer features, allowing players to engage in cooperative gameplay. This was a notable addition at the time and emphasized the social aspect of gaming.
- Despite its innovative features and the popularity of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, the game received mixed reviews. Some praised its unique setting and challenging gameplay, while others criticized its graphics and certain design choices.
- Shin Megami Tensei NINE had a limited release outside of Japan, and its localization was incomplete, leaving certain parts of the game untranslated. This further contributed to its niche status among RPG enthusiasts.
Continuity[]
- This game is set during and after the events of Shin Megami Tensei I. It is presented as the backstory in Shin Megami Tensei II.
- The game starts during the time period of SMT I, while the protagonists are in the diamond realm, close to the time they get back. Since tokyo has been destroyed, people created a virtual world called the Idea Space to recreate it so that they can experience what life was like before the disaster. The Idea Space is designed to look like modern Tokyo. For a lot of people this world is seen as better than the real one, so they spend a ton of time there.
- The virtual world however has viruses in it that are known as Noise. These can hurt people, and the main character gets hired to help debug the system. They work on this, and various plot elements unfold, but later-game as they do this, the events of late-game SMT I take place. Tokyo gets flooded, which kills a lot of the people who are out in the real world. However, it doesn't kill everyone attached to the system, because a lot of their bodies are kept in cold storage that is powered independently and keeps working even while submerged.
- While people are fighting in the Cathedral over the surface world, the virtual world gets cut off from it, since now basically everyone left alive in it, as well as its servers are underwater. The Cathedral events resolve in a neutral way, but the virtual world's events are happening in parallel to this.
- It's revealed that the virtual world was created by a breakaway group of Messians who declared themself Neo Messians. The Neo Messians discovered that YHVH was a huge asshole and that they shouldn't count on him for the sake of the world of law. They were taking things into their own hands to create their own messiah, Maria, which is a virtual god that exists in the system, hoping to empower it, and eventually incarnate back into the physical world to help transform it.
- After the events of the game and the final boss, the virtual world shuts down and you go back to the real one, which is now already in the process of rebuilding since the Cathedral events are log since over. The alignment differences for the different endings are only slight, possibly so as to make it look like II could stem from any ending.
- The Neo Messian doctrine of the world of law needing to be separate from YHVH exists to explain the development of the Center in SMT II. In the visionary items for SMT I you see the angels thinking over whether they should go against YHVH to create their own messiah, and ultimately deciding they need to. Notably, in II both the Center and the true law ending are presented as stemming from this trend. The original II makes it unclear whether the angels were self-aware about going against YHVH or not, but the visionary items depict them as knowing it.
- It also gives a backstory for the virtual world seen in II. Since the Neo Messians were already toying with the use of a virtual world to help design a perfect society, the one you see in II exists with the bugs that allowed demons in worked out. and shows them once again using that technology to test out these ideas.
Continuity Errors[]
- There are a few discrepancies in terms of SMT I. If Yaldabaoth is seen as an avatar or incarnation of YHVH, then that implies that either he never was working for the world of law in SMT I, or after it failed he decided humanity was beyond saving. To make consistent with II, that either means that saving some people on the ark wasn't his goal, or they convinced him to allow it or something. Those details aren't clear as they tend not to be when someone who has a fast and loose interpretation of canon is making a prequel.
Gallery[]
