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Posted By Austin Yorski about 7 months, 1 week ago
New Shin Megami Tensei Demons are Badass,
My school is so old that I used an abacus.
The awesome people over at Siliconera have just posted 5 new MegaTen demon designs that Atlus will be debuting in Shin Megami Tensei IV. If you’re a fan of the RPG series, then you know that its demons are the original Pokemon, so it’s always a huge event when new designs are introduced or old ones are updated.
First up is Asmodeus. Originating in the apocryphal Book of Tobit, the character is probably better known as the demon of lust according to Peter Binsfeld’s hierarchy or the 32nd spirit of the The Lesser Key of Solomon. Asmodeus has had many designs, but hasn’t shown up in a mainline SMT game for years. His new design (below) is quite a bit redder than his original (above), and was crafted by Yasushi Nirasawa, creature designer on Kamen Rider Kabuto and Kamen Rider Den-O.
Left: Asmodeus. Right: Kouga Saburou.
Fellow Kamen Rider designer Tamotsu Shinohara also contributed to the demon roster with Kouga Saburou, “a legendary hero from the Suwa domain,” who has not been utilized within the franchise before. Similarly, Shinto god of agriculture Kuebiko is joining the fray for the first time, thanks to Persona 4: The Animation artist Kyouma Aki. Kuebiko is usually depicted as a scarecrow, but I have no problem with Aki’s depiction, which is awesome.
Kuebiko, Shinto god of agriculture.
Finally, we have two redesigns. On the left we have the archangel Raphael, also known as “Israfel” in Islam. Keita Amemiya is responsible for his new look, as well as character designs in Capcom’s Onimusha series. The angel’s traditional design has been a pretty standard purple humanoid since the original games, so I am highly in favor of this move. In fact, I’d like to see all of the archangels get radical reinventions.
The other revealed redesign is Omoikane, another kami of wisdom from Shintoism. The poor thing has always had the same humorous look, which you’ve probably seen in the recent Persona titles. His decidedly scroll-themed makeover is the work of Yoshihiro Nishimura, who directed Tokyo Gore Police.
Left: Raphael. Right: Omoikane
What do you think? I love all of these new looks, even if some of them strike me as more anime than classic Kazuma Kaneko illustrations. Many MegaTen demons are overdue for redesigns, so I’m looking forward to more reveals and additions to the sizable canon of creatures which can be fought, fused, and bargained with. You can read more of my theological blathering in my Top Ten Worst and Top Ten Best Megami Tensei demon/persona designs lists.
Shin Megami Tensei IV will arrive exclusively on 3DS sometime in 2013.
Source: Siliconera
I don’t really like the overdesigned look. Not that it’s bad-looking, just don’t like it very much
I think Kuebiko looked best of all the above pictures though, really like that design.
They look good but what I’m really interested in is an English release. I’m hoping we get Soul hackers to keep us busy while they work on this game.
These monster designs are cool but I don’t care because I might not be able to play this game. Because Atlus hates Europe.
I’m personally waiting to see if they change Metatron or not. Even if he does look somewhat human, that didn’t stop him from scaring the crap out of me when he showed up in Nocturne for the fight.
Agriculture is scary.
Wait a minute, does old-school Asmodeus have a dragon-cock sticking out?!
This is a game series that features a giant green penis/tentacle monster riding a chariot.
This should not surprise you.
It really shouldn’t. Yet it does.
Love Raphael and Okoikane’s redesigns; like others have said, angels are not supposed to be humans with wings,and Omoikanes always just looked stupid. As for Asmodeus and the other guy…Asmodeus looks like a generic devil depiction, while the other guy looks like a Power Ranger. Still, looking forward to some of the other redesigns!
Omoikane reminds me of Magic’s Kamigawa set.
Raphael, have to agree. These things aren’t supposed to be humans with wings. These are angels. Look them up in the Bible. They are messed up divine monsters. There’s a reason why they occasionally appear and the first sentence they say is ‘Do not fear’. The new look is good.
As for Kuebiko… this is our agriculture god! You want to mess with him? You want to mess with him? Didn’t think so, punk.
Asmodeus and Kouga are, sadly, less impressive. Asmodeus just looks like another generic Warhammer Chaos character and the only interesting thing about Kouga is that his arms are detached .
now all we need is a cannon that shoots out demons..
Hm, I don’t think I like the Asmodeus design. Seems… overdone is the best way I can think of to put it. And the big things coming out of his head (helmet?) just look goofy, and remind me of Seymoure Guado’s hair from FF10, which is never a good thing.
The others are fine though, and it is nice to see Omoikane redesigned from the silly brain look.
It’ll probably look less overwrought once they finalize the model and put it into 3D. I personally think it looks badass, but then I also possess the design sensibilities of a 12 year old boy.
Omoikane looks far more badass and less tentacle hentai…