The releases of Shin Megami Tensei IV and SMTIV: Apocalypse are easily two of my favorite 3DS games. So the news of another SMT game releasing on the 3DS instantly got my attention. May not be an entire new game, but it still became something I looked forward to. That being Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, a remake of Strange Journey that released on the Nintendo DS back in 2009. Receiving updates like improved graphics and additional story content that includes a new character and new endings. I actually did play the original DS release of Strange Journey, but was never able to get around to completing it. So I was looking forward to this remake as a second chance to check the game out.

While I never got too deep into the original Strange Journey to really have a solid memory of it, I do know that the game was an old-school style of SMT, where players navigated through the game in a first-person perspective and did battles in the traditional turn-based way with demons in your party. This is very much a game in the Shin Megami Tensei series. So if you’re coming into this thinking you’ll be experiencing something along the lines of Persona, you won’t exactly get that. I always viewed the mainline SMT series as a more darker side of things story wise and also more traditional RPG than what you would see in the Persona line of games.

THE GOOD: So the original Strange Journey for DS was pretty traditional overall. For Strange Journey Redux, not much is too different with the gameplay, but many updates and additions were made. The easiest to point out is that the game is better looking that the original, and that characters have voices to go along with their dialogue. There are also additions to the story with a new character being written in, along with new endings and scenarios to accompany that new character. So fans of the original Strange Journey have a good amount of motivation to check out the game again.

Along with a new look and story additions, there are also some updates to help make the gaming experience better and smoother. Like easier difficulty settings to help newcomers get into the game and simpler stuff like being able to choose the skills of your demons when fusing. With SMTIV and even the later Persona games, there were definitely improvements made to the demon management stuff and those types of things can be seen with this update of Strange Journey. Maintaining that feel of the original, but making sure to modernize many of the game mechanics, which is just another reason to experience the game again, or for the first time.

After finally getting back into Strange Journey thanks to this remake, I was able to gain newfound appreciation for this title. With it’s story especially. While you are faced with the usual Law, Chaos, and Neutral stuff that are always present in SMT games, Strange Journey at least changed up a lot of the traditional tropes that SMT games had. One of those being that you’re not a high-school teenager who’s trying to save the world in an apocalytpic Japan. World is still in a bad state in Strange Journey, but you assume the role of an adult, along with other adults who are tackling some serious conflicts and trying to survive a bad situation. This also takes place in Antartica. So things like that helped make the story feel more real, instead of tacking on a random teenager who is suddenly the savior of the world. Not to say that having a teenager is bad or anything. Personally for myself, as someone who is much older now, it is just very welcoming to play a character closer to my age in a JRPG.

THE BAD: Many good additions were made to bring new life to Strange Journey. One of those is the addition of voices for characters. Unfortunately, English speakers won’t feel the real benefit of that upgrade. In an odd move, Strange Journey Redux only features Japanese audio for voices. The reason this is odd is because all of Atlus’ recent 3DS releases that had voices in them, featured an English dub. Games like Etrian Odyssey V and the Radiant Historia remake. So I was very surprised and disappointed when I found out that Strange Journey Redux had no English audio. A fact that is made even more weirder because the main character in this game is American, and the group you’re with is an international one. So speaking English is actually not completely far off from what they would actually speak! It may not be a huge deal breaker for most, but I feel like in order to really see the benefit of that particular addition, it had to be in English. Having voices is neat, but having it in a language that I don’t understand is almost the same as it not being there at all. Japanese dub is completely fine though, and you do get some added feeling with the emotions in the dialogue. It’s just very unfortunate that this particular game was the outcast.

Another odd thing is that the physical release of the game has no special launch edition. If you look at the recent 3DS releases of Atlus: Etrian Odyssey V, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, and Alliance Alive. They all had limited launch editions of the game that featured some neat stuff like an art book and soundtrack. For SMT: Strange Journey Redux, you just get the game and it’s a full priced game at that. Not every Atlus release needs a special launch edition, but I find it really weird that an SMT game was the odd one out. Especially when Strange Journey Redux was made in order to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Perhaps there are good reasons as to why things became like this, we may never know. I just know that I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Shin Megami Tensei: Redux is a great game and I’m happy to have had the chance to finally experience it in full. The new updates and additions are plenty and I feel they are easily worth the revisit for returning players. This remake also gives a chance for new fans to experience an older release, while not having the experience feel too dated. While I do have some issues with the physical release decisions and the lack of an English audio track, they hardly take anything away from the overall game experience. I’m also hoping that with this remake, it encourages Atlus to consider remaking their other SMT titles, which I would be very excited about. For now though, I highly recommend checking out SMT: Strange Journey Redux if you’re still on the lookout for great games on the 3DS.

*A digital copy of the game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.