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The emptiness of Antlia The secrets hidden within Bootes The familiarity of Carina The deadness of Delphinus The delusions caused by Eridanus The return and change in Fornax The agoraphobia of Grus And it was all too much in Horologium

“Can the rpg genre have horror games?” Looks at darkest dungeon. “I don’t know man you tell me”

Couldn’t agree more, Strange Journey’s atmosphere is so oppressive and cold compared to any other JRPG (and any other game in this series for that matter). The situation in the story is probably more dire than in any other SMT game because, unlike them, you aren’t playing in the aftermath of the end of the world. Playing an active role in trying to prevent global annihilation is thrilling and daunting. It’s such a fantastic game, thoroughly. I’d love to see whatever’s next for SMT make use of a similarly oppressive setting and story.

One thing SJ did so well was the sheer isolation. There are no towns; it’s only dungeon crawling. You are completely alone and no help is coming. And one thing I personally loved was, while it was heavily implied in the original, Redux confirmed that all the original endings were bad for humanity. Regardless of whatever you did, humans were f-ed. The only thing you did was make it happen faster or slower.

The Antartic setting at the very start is awesome, and the contrast when we get closer to the 1st boss is deservedly shocking.

I mean, in other SMT, it’s them going to our world. Not to mention the possibility of meeting other survivors made it feel a little at ease. There’s a familiarity that it was still your home despite the post apocalyptic situation In strange journey, we were both stuck AND had a mission to clear. We were easily disposable soldiers where the ones we tried to protect can take all the credits instead. Not to mention the environment is incredibly hostile because we are intruders in their eyes. All that added with the limited time we had before the end of the world, so we can’t even take a breather for too long. Man, I was honestly very impressed we were able to “kinda” keep our sanity nearing the end of the game.

The music in SMT Strange Journey attracts me as well as scares me. You do feel the sense of determination when listening to it but you also feel the level of danger and hopelessness when facing each battle. Quite different from the rock/cyberpunk aspects of SMT games

Going through Strange Journey Redux now, and I definitely feel this. The horror elements of it stand out so much. The creeping loneliness is amazing. Nicely said.

I love the haunting nature of this entry.

Strange Journey is my favorite SMT game. I love how they were able to add some sci-fi vibes to it. I wish SMT VI would go back to this atmosphere.

For whatever reason, the sector Carina theme has stuck in my head as one of the most uncomfortable and unsettling pieces of music ive ever heard in a video game. It almost makes me sick to my stomach when I go through that level

I always see the demons i recruited as my buddies in every megaten game i played (especially in the raidou duology), but not in this. In this game i only saw them as tools for survival

The feeling of danger, the sadness, the shame from watching the acts from other humans, the characters, the music, the fiends, all the elements are combine in a great way...... I love strange Journey. Great video.

I remember playing the NDS version back in 2012. The atmosphere of the game makes me feel uneasy, the background musics /soundtracks really helps to build that mysterious and life-threatening situation. It is really on a different level and nothing like Persona 4 or Desu 1-2. For personal rating on mainline SMT, i put Strange Journey over IV and even Nocturne because the settings of the story alone, like all of the cast in the game are adults and an experienced even expert on their field having that much trouble. The Journey in the Strange Journey realls is Strange.

I love Strange Journey. It's an amazing game, I suggest anyone who likes turned based rgs to play it.

This was my first SMT game, and I didn't think you could actually choose to be 'evil' or mean, thinking it would just force the protagonist to be nice anyway like a lot of JRPGs - so when I was in that castle area of the game and you could choose to save a character from being experimented on, I chose not to and was so shocked when they really weren't... Strange Journey is still my most favourite SMT, as I had never felt such horror before!

By far the most atmospheric smt game, I would love to see a new entry with a similar style

My favorite part of the game was definetly eridanus. Seems like a calm and peaceful place after going through what feels pandemonium, just to get hit in the face with an endless warp puzzle, ouroboros and a plot twist. The music is goddamn perfect too

I really love SJ to bits. I never really looked at it as a horror jprg but I can see it now.

The difficulty also comes from how SJ is an unofficial Etrian Odyssey. It is as unforgiving and as cold as the various biomes that are not afraid to chew you up. Except at least in EO you have emergency teleport items back to safety.

It's a bit of a cheat, but Live A Live does pretty well with the turn-based horror during the Distant Future story. You play a robot on a space ship where an alien beast has gotten onboard. The human crew is getting picked off one at a time, and you have to do everything possible to save the survivors, meanwhile the ship's computer has pulled a HAL-9000 on all of you. Furthermore, being caught by the alien is insta-death, and for the majority of the story it's the only thing you can face. What can be scarier in a turn-based game than going most of the story without getting a turn?

I feel like Strange Journey and the original Etrian Odyssey 1, another game by Atlus, both perfectly nail that feeling of being hopelessly lost in a dangerous labyrinth, where every step you take could potentially be the last one. The story of both games are some of the best as well: dark, mature themes, and while EO might not look as lore-focused as SJ, after you reach the second half of that game do you come to understand its true meaning and message. There is no happy ending to be had for your characters, when you find yourself staring down at the horrifying events and implications that occur in the fourth stratum of EO1 and beyond. Both games have a rather bleak theme regarding humanity, its errors and ultimately how it can destroy itself alongside everything else. But, in the distance, there's still a light-hope that at the very least we can still atone for what we've done. Gameplay-wise it does help that Strange Journey was built on Etrian Odyssey 1's engine, and some of its mechanics, like gathering materials from enemies or secret areas, have been carried over from EO. Though difficulty-wise EO is actually harder than Strange Journey, at least for me. Encounters in that game can be dangerous, especially given there are no save points in-between floors and healing spots are rare. Not to mention the infamous FOEs mini bosses present in most floors. It's all this that makes both Strange Journey and Etrian Odyssey 1 my favorite games of all time, and I continue to implore people to play them if they like dungeon crawlers, especially the original versions of both games over the 3DS re-releases.

What’s your favorite story from SMT?

Strange Journey has the best Chaos theme in the whole series. It just sounds so EVIL. I'll also never forget that feeling of unsettlement I got when Sector Bootes's theme kicked in. I don't even know what it is about it that creeps me out.

Strange journey is certainly unlike any other SMT game. Even with 4 being my personal favorite, SJ is unforgettable even just for its first few hours. In fact, I want to talk for a little bit just about the Antlia section alone. You spend the whole introduction of this game having it sold to you that this world is the real world in every possible way. The parallels are all there. Then you set out. The best of the best, being told time and time again you’re the best of the best, that there is no way you could fail. The final question of the demonica case study especially emphasizes this in a very dark way. The only option the game lets you pick is that there is no way this mission will fail… and at that moment, the dread sets in. Failure literally isn’t an option, demonstrated in an excellent show don’t tell method. And from there, it all comes tumbling down. In a matter of minutes, the investigation team goes from the best of the best, armed to the teeth with the best technology humankind can offer, to a fast dwindling crew, with limited resources, trying to fight otherworldly monsters with what equates to kids toys. The fact that you only see a handful of a few familiar faces in the crew on the Red Sprite helps to emphasize that feeling of being just a few people who are “strangers in this swarzwelt.” The added layer of your first encounter with any demon being marked as an “unknown” only furthering that sense of dread. Constantly stumbling on enemies that could kill you with their eyes closed, all while you desperately try to figure out how to survive an encounter with them when you don’t even know what they are. You’re scrounging for whatever scraps of useful materials you can find… and then you reach the first major boss, Morax. And your conversation with it is when it hits you… you might not know the demons, but the demons know you. And you have created the very means of your own destruction in their knowledge of human kind. It leaves you with a lasting sense of existential dread. You are alone. You are a stranger in this schwarzwelt. And it will both figuratively and literally eat you alive…

Anyone tryna tell me SMT isn't a horror game hasn't been chased around by Dante from the Devil May Cry series while his theme gets louder the closer he gets to you and shoots at you lol. It's the scariest moment specifically since you know your half demon and Dante is a demon hunter lol

I played a lot of RPG and JPRG games and I can say story wise I love Strange Journey. It is very dark and tense compared to other RPG. You're not the hero of destiny, nor have your friends to help along the way nor trying to stop the world from impending doom (well world is already dead in most SMT but not SJ). You're just a soldier sent to a suicide mision on an unknown territory were one step and you'll join the unlucky who didn't survive (and even so the ones who do survive might even get worse). The only thing that is protecting you is you, your fragile equipment that if one scratch happens you're good as gone and the demons you managed to take control of. Every demons sees you as either food, experiments or toys to play with for their own amusent while also judging humanity as a whole for their mistakes. Even if you were to managed to stopped it, it would physically and mentally scarred you for life with a lot of PTSD and the whole world will change as you don't even get the recognition for putting your life on the line while people on earth will never know that the inside of the Schwarwelt was literally hell and that's not counting what we also were capable to do in that realm.

Glad to see this game get much love, I thought i was the only one who found it better than the other entries and spin-offs. I can only hope they remaster it for PC and Consoles.

This game certainly made an impression on me. I could feel the game judging ME for wandering into the Lawful alignment with my choices before I understood what that really meant. By the time I did, it was too late: my soul had been measured and found wanting (unless I beat up goblins for 10 minutes)

I was still very inexperienced with SMT when I got Strange Journey. I had played little of Persona 3 and a great deal of 4 by the time I got Strange Journey as I was eager to play a mainline SMT game and I got the game day one. I remeber that night perfectly of when I put on my headphones and was litterally blow away by the normal battle theme of the game. I remember being so pulled into the story and the atmosphere of the game I couldn't put it down for months as I slowly worked my way through it. Easily made my top five games of all time and I got the remake as soon as I could and fell in love all over again. I would make a slight arguement against Nocturne and how it handled your friends with Isamu more or less wearing his contempt for you pretty quickly and generally becoming dismissive of you after his demon hodown and Chikai is just well too focused on gaining power to even remotely give a fuck about you so when it was time to put them down I honestly didn't feel much other than finally getting them out of my way because they became legit horrible people. With Jeminiz and Zelenin while not especially deep characters when it came down to take them out for the mission I still saw my allies that I had come to appreciate in the journey beinig twisted to shadows of their former selves. I legit did not want to fight either one of them, but I had to. I'm kind of meandering my way through SMT V right now and the atmosphere at least in comparison to Strange Journey is sorely lacking. Like I can tell what they were trying to go for and I really don't like comparing games to each other while I am playing them, but I can't shake how much Strange Journey did its world better. I'm not terribly far so SMT V still has plenty of time to warm up, but I'm not burning the midnight oil at both ends to find out what it has up its sleeve just yet.

Honestly it took a bit of adjusting to get used to the FPS dungeon crawling, I don’t really make it a secret that i am not a fan of the FPS dungeon crawling megaten games (the only exceptions being soul hackers and this game) but after getting used to it, this genuinely became one of my favourite jrpgs of all time, with the oppressive atmosphere, the tough as balls difficulty, and with the absolutely incredible music, strange journey still holds up so well and is absolutely one of the best jrpgs of all time and one of the best games ever made

never actually thought of it as a horror game but yeah, I always feel cornered when I'm playing that game

Probably my favorite setting and cast in all of SMT. This is the creepiest RPG I’ve ever played; it actually scared me a little

Hey, I really would love to see your video of exploring the full story of this game. It's so intriguing to hear you explain it, yet this video just left me with the feeling of wanting more. Pleaseee do a full analysis video, pleaseeeee

Intriguing... I've not played this but, in principle, I'd agree that of course, such games can be 'horror' and from what you describe, the story, setting/themes and atmosphere indeed sound horrific (In a good way). I note from the footage, this isn't purely a turn-based game? The 3D/first-person exploration sections would help to plant you 'In the moment'. Great video buddy. 👍😎

SMT series was always game with horror [light to medium at most] story though, even persona is a bit horror or dark sometimes. Not just this one. That's their selling point after all.

Outstanding video buddy 👏👌

Played and finished almost all the smt and persona games yet for me, SMT SJ is still my most favorite from them all, from the atmosphere and storytelling alone, it's already the best for me, and that damn battle theme "fear of god" is the most memorable for me to all the smt battle themes period.

Shoutout to the algorithm for making me discover this channel 🙏🏿 love your megaten videos 💯

I've been playing it for the past few days now and its been such an experience I wouldn't say its scary but its lonely and Ominous The plot story rooms with "No one's here" The Music and visuals bringing a almost Intense need to hide and watch the horror walk right past I'd say so far my favorites have been Mitra's castle and Carina I just think the ladder would have a more mysterious music to convey the feeling of being lost with the sheer size of the mall. P.s: the only character i care about is Demonee-ho, humanity can get consumed for all i care

First I wanna stress that anyone who says SMT isn’t a horror series? They are sadly mistaken. Definitely a horror series! I never had the opportunity to play Strange Journey as of yet but from your review and seeing others gameplay, I can definitely see that it is in fact a horror turnbased rpg. Cosmic Santa 🤣 Love it! Dude you are seriously helping me Find a new interest and love in a series! Thanks for sharing and influencing my want to check out more in the series!

SJ continues to be one of my all-time favourites in terms of story, and I've played a lot of entries in the overall SMT umbrella. The maturity of the story and setting is leagues beyond many others. I never got or played Redux; I got and beat the OG version at release (true neutral, baby!) and put close to 70 hrs in, so I dunno if I'd want to reply it lol.

What I like about strange journey is that at the end you so don’t feel powerful, your equipment is better sure but your still just a man and you have to beat impossible odds. mem aleph was an oppressive boss and when you beat her it feels earned in a way that other games can’t give you. Also the main character becoming smt doom guy at the end is cool

I’ve seen a mature games made for free on flash that are turn based RPGs and horror. Hell, I’ve see cute mascot platformers turn into horror games. Horror is a genre broad enough that it can fit any other genre in it. Except racing games. But I could be wrong there. Lol

The only thing that kinda took me out of Strange Journey was the esoteric naming system. Like, these are ostensibly military guys, right? If so, they would probably have given each area more down-to-earth and easy to remember names. Like, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc. I know, I know. Symbolism. But still.

It’s one of the finest examples of cosmic horror.

I couldn’t agree more. SJR was my first approach with a ‘mainline’ SMT and god I loved it!

Played through strange journey just recently and yeah, every step is dreadful and the music, the atmosphere, everything just feels uneasy. Though some EX missions (everything the dwarf has to offer in carina), teleport mazes and annoying pitfall traps takes away the feel of dread and replaces it with sheer annoyance

Really hope I can play this sometime in the future with how you've bult it up.

Great video! SJ is my favorite turn-based JRPG ever, amazing cosmic horror experience.

I do love what Redux does with its extra neutral ending. Not exactly destroying the Schwartzwelt, but just pushing its influence back for a time, leaving the protagonist as the sole protector of the Earth with the knowledge on how to deal with it.

The true horror starts when your team gets ass-whiped by a random encounter

I remember when I go to stage where Zelenin got kidnap, I feel kind of sick when try to imagine when happen to those guys who got kidnap

I remember playing strange journey after playing 1,2,3,4, and the devil survivor games, and just feeling this dread I didn't feel in the other games. And I loved it so much. It's an amazing game.

The game really feels like a journey…. A strange journey

Awesome video. This game plus, digital devil saga, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 1 & 2 are my favorites. I still play them.

I've only played part of this SMT game, they tend to be really long games and brutally difficult compared to most RPGs but I do remember a few times early on that due to the structure of the areas, it constantly locks you into an area where you have no idea how long it will take you to reach a safe zone since you can no longer retreat.... on top of this which was just the atmosphere, every story beat I came across was just a slap in the face for the main character with hope being whittled away, not strange for an SMT game but if that continues indefinitely then it is a little strange even for SMT.

Strange Journey was very easy for me due to how INVESTED I was in the unrelentingly bleak story. I sucked at Nocturne and I'm always surprised when I hear people say how ST is the hardest of the series.

Its my personal favorite in the smt franchise. Definitely because of the europian Zelenin gal, her final design is just really good lol and the atmosphere as you watch people die around you is really depressing at times.

Reading the comments im surprised no one recommended the manga of strange journey its pretty good and the artwork is amazing.

What’s more scary is the game over screen is about earth turning into a black hole

Strange journey is one of the few games ive played where i actually felt a sense.of unease and fear throughout. The bootes sector in particualar stuck out to me with the palace torture sequence where the demons casually described how they killed your crewmen as the game shows their still images which leaves a lot to the imagination, not to mention mastema's introduction- there's just that uncanny thing about his design which didnt really sit right with me.

Strange journey was my introduction into smt and turned based dungeon crawlers as a whole and I have to say I LOVED it the whole vibe kept me on edge even when I could end battles in 1 or 2 turns just because of the damn music it does such a good job at touching that part of your brain that says "DANGER WATCHOUT!" but manages to tone it down so you're at a mild unrest that said Bootes has amazing music

And i always thought i couldn't play horror games...

I finished this game recently. It was good! Great review!

Turn based horror done right 😁💖👍 Best description for SMT Strange Journey My turn based horror game choices are : Darkest Dungeon...the voice acting, the levels, the monsters....amd most importantly...the tension filled atmosphere. Wayne June has done a brilliant job with his menacing, yet commanding voice acting. (Darkest Dungeons 2 has been released today 😯 May wanna check it out) Mark Skelter Nightmares is a Dungeon crawler about being trapped in a sentient living flesh n blood prison...and you team up with altered Brothers Grimm characters like Snow White, Alice etc. (most boss battles called ' Nightmares' are like the wardens of each area and are like a creepy game of cat and mouse). Love some of the OSTs...sweeping, haunting and quite nice. That's another brilliant review of another grim, yet beautiful game - SMT Strange Journey. Love your videos, mate!😁💖 Wish you tons of happiness always.

I love the SMT series, played a lot but its amazing how SJ surprised me, its even better than I ever thought, I wish I had played SMT IV after this one, but still amazing knowing the possible terrifying result of the mission.

Exactly what I thought, this game really is an unique experience!

I've beaten both SMT Nocturne and SMTIV. I'm finishing up SMTV right now. Sounds like this should be my next SMT game.

I came to Strange Journey for its Etrian Odyssey-esque gameplay. I remained for literally everything else. As for the difficulty: once again, it comes from where Strange Journey finds its roots, Etrian Odyssey. These games are completely unforgiving.

Since 3ds eshop sale is going away I got all megaten games I missed out on. This one I never played but always heard good things.

[Reads title] Yeah, it certainly felt that way at times, even before there was a chance of a BODS FIGHT! XD

9:39 Damn, Yukiko really became badass for some reason

Every smt game has a sense of horror for me every time you get to a boss you normally are and should be soiling your pants in fear for what fresh hell awaits you the story builds this fear be it the Amala network in nocturne Tokyo more specifically the Asuka Kai lab from 4 the setting of this game the normal world with the demonic underworld that controls everything of the devil summoner series the junkyard eating itself alive in Digital devil saga and of course this game and the hopeless nature of weakness of this game

I'm thinking about getting this game on my 3DS (Strange Journey Redux) mostly because the gameplay heavily reminds me of the Etrian Odyssey games. Another franchise by Atlus that I so love. Hoping I can actually finish this game unlike other RPGS that I've picked up before.

When the journey Is truly STRANGE 😳

Strange journey doesn't even feel like your typical jrpg once you pass the first boss. As you've said, it's more of a horror and survival story about the future of mankind towards extinction against the unknown.

I can never not imagine a chorus of Jack Frosts singing the game's kick-ass soundtrack.

A couple other turn-based horror games are Koudelka and Shadow Hearts. I personally consider a few SMT games full on horror games. SMT 3 and 4 in particular. SMT V has some freaky story beats and a lot of creepy tracks, but has too many moments of levity for me to consider it a genuine horror experience.

its the only smt game where i truly didnt know which route to pick

I'd love to see this game being adapted to another media just so non-gamers could experience this masterpiece!

at first i didnt really like stange journey on nds. but after playing it on 3ds.it was so good, i cant stop. Wish they make this kind surreal horror adventure more

anyone who says SMT can't/couldn't be a horror game; there's literally demons that can change into humans; lure you into trap and eat you. SMT1 was such a game where your characters mom has that fate. the series has some really good "0 to 100" moments in games i never thought could be so good.

I at first found the battle music underwhelming but then I hit "Battle". The beginning makes you feel up against it like you could die at any minute.

But in SMT, the magical sky daddy is real. He just decided to let the world end.

Smt as a whole can be argued to be horror to some degree

One of the first survival horror was Sweet Home an RPG game. Survival horror is intrinsically given over to the RPG genre because one is role playing as a survivor against impossible oppressive odds and anticipating with fear the many consequences of failure/death not failure/death in of itself.

very good video, i love smt strange journey (redux)

i still haven't tried this one, but honestly is has been one of the game that i have always been waiting to play, the atmosphere of kinda space and snow really fits for a horror style and because of this i always blame myself to not start playing it (mostly because i always start a new game before even taking my DS and play Strange Journey)

I'm at it seems, the last strata, I think is called sector Eridanus. I stop there, because SMTV finally came out.

Best SMT game. Loved IV and Apocalypse, Raidou Kazunoha stories was alright. Devil Survivor 2, Soul Hackers & Persona series was great, especially P3Fes, but there is no game that can beat Strange Journey. DS version is TOP, but i personaly think 3DS version is way more flashed out. It's a perfect adventure 100%.

This SMT title very much deserves an anime.

This game and John Carpenter’s The Thing have the right idea. A cold oppressive wasteland is a great setting for a horror story.

Turn based genre with Horror games? **Sweet Home PTSD flashbacks**

yeah id be scared shit whenever i see matador hanging out at my mall

A bit of a tangent, but I think if nothing else the recent rise in popularity of games like Fear and Hunger has proven to a lot of people that you can absolutely have horror turn based games; which is good. I'm hoping that Strange Journey (and the other 3DS/DS SMT games) get the recent Atlus port treatment; to expose them to more people and be playable on modern systems.

yes this is true, and one of reasons why i loved it 👍

Title of main battle theme is "fear of god" that explains a lot

The demons are gangsta until the player appear with cheat code