Why Is Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Set In Antarctica?

Good question. Many Shin Megami Tensei games, even spin-offs like Persona, are set in Japan. Core series titles Shin Megami Tensei I-III take place in Tokyo because players living there will be familiar with the area and feel connected to the story.

But, someone playing the game in London or New York, Kazuma Kaneko the game’s Producer / Creative Designer explains, won’t feel the same way. To better appeal to an international audience, Kaneko picked Antarctica as the game’s geographic location.

That’s right, Atlus is thinking about overseas (read: outside of Japan) gamers while designing Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. In fact, the location change is one of the reasons why Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey was not titled Shin Megami Tensei IV.

Really interesting to see Atlus attempting to appeal to an international market with a Shin Megami Tensei game. A few years ago the series was unknown outside of Japan. Now it’s a major JRPG franchise and Atlus is trying to broaden its fanbase further with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

The game is set to come out in Japan on October 8. Atlus USA has not announced plans for Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey at this time.