One of the fun parts about gaming is going back into its history and learning about the titles that have been made and the process that led to them. Not everything is as straightforward as you think, and even modern titles often have industry-defining stories about how they came to be. Today we’re discussing the history of a beloved RPG series in Shin Megami Tensei. You likely know the game franchise because they were the ones that eventually spun off to become the Persona line, and we all know how popular that series is now. But the franchise almost had a different origin story in its gaming life.
We say “gaming life” because the story was based on a set of novels made by Aya Nishitani called “Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei.” Didn’t know that, now did you? It was a set of three novels, and back in the earlier days of gaming, Nintendo was all for making video game adaptations of those novels. So they contacted Nishitani to see if they could make something work.
Over on Twitter, he revealed the story of what happened and what didn’t happen:
“He [director of Nintnedo] read my novel and said that it was interesting and that he would consider whether my company could adapt it into a game. I’ll see if my company can adapt it into a game,” he said, and took the manuscript with him. A week later, however, he called me and said he was sorry.
I think it could work, but there’s a strong opinion that a demon-summoning game couldn’t be released under the Nintendo brand. Why don’t you try something other one? He suggested another creation, but I refused.”
The “twist,” if you will, is one that many Nintendo fans are familiar with. Nintendo, for decades, was the ‘family friendly’ company, and while they did occasionally have titles with scary monsters in them, they were always the enemy. They were never something you summoned to help you out. There was a line that they didn’t cross for some time.
That “family-friendly” branding almost led to Super Smash Bros not being made because they didn’t feel their fanbase would want the beloved mascots to fight one another. They were wrong, again.
Thankfully, Shin Megami Tensei found life with Atlus, and the rest is history. Nintendo would eventually bring the games to their platforms, including having the fifth mainline game be exclusive to the Switch.
