Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine

Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine is a nice MMORPG I into after having finished Persona 4. Admittedly, the fact that "SMT" was in the title immediately caught my attention. I've recently downloaded the game and I've been drawn into its world ever since.

Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine is set in an apocalyptic future, very much like some of the games in the mainstream SMT console games. It also seems to retain the dark feel of the its console brethren. In fact, the very first NPC that you meet dies in the first few minutes of the game.

It was a treat to meet various familiar faces in Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine. Atlus' mascot, Jack Frost, is definitely in there, as are various personas from Atlus' SMT lineup. What was even better was the fact you could talk to them and even recruit them as allies. Talk about nostalgia!

As a major fan of the Persona 4 fusion process, I was delighted to discover that Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine also features this option. While fusion only reaches the triad level, it still retains the experimental fun that I had come to love in the Persona series of games.

The game is divided into a series of acts. These acts serve as quests for Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine and help move the story forward as well. Aeria Games has woven tutorials on game mechanics into these acts, so newbies like myself will be learning and having fun along the way.

As cool as the game may sound, it isn't without flaw. The conversations with the demons in Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine have been dumbed down -- talk with other players if you want any serious intellectual discussions.

Besides that, the ever-present MMORPG grind is still there. I've gotten tired of grinding in recent times, so much so that I prefer chatting with fellow players and messing around with the demon fusion process instead.

Overall, I'd say that the game is at least worth a try. Besides being free, the game is currently in its open beta phase, so it's very likely that new stuff will find its way into the game sometime in the vague future. Who knows, I may even end up enlisting your help with triangle fusion in Shin Megami Tensei Online: Imagine?