 | Introduction Shin Megami Tensei IV (2013) is a Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Atlus Co., Ltd. It is the 4th mainline installment of the Shin Megami Tensei series (SMT), in which you, the protagonist (named Flynn by default) apply to become a samurai for the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, a kingdom in a medieval fantasy setting. |
After becoming a samurai, you and your comrades start going through a dungeon fighting various “demons” based on different religions and mythologies. Eventually after reaching the bottom of the dungeon in a twist, it is revealed that that the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado is located over a dystopian version of Tokyo. Throughout the game you will encounter various characters from the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, as well as Tokyo, alongside a variety of demons and angels from various religions, who all try to influence you to their cause. As you continue to play through the game more and more questions regarding religion, social standing, and rights will arise, and as your comrades diverge from each other and pick opposing paths, you as the player are left to wander who to side with, or if to pick a different path from them all together. The moral ambiguity in the design of Shin Megami Tensei IV’s characters, divinities, and the in-game world not only create an interesting story, but also encourages the player to question conventional morality, and decide what they truly value most, thereby allowing for the game to become a platform for meaningful ethical reflection.
Depiction of Religion
Unlike traditional depiction of religion (especially prominent monotheistic religions) god is not portrayed as entirely good or the devil as completely evil. Rather god and various angels represent the forces of Law striving for order, and Lucifer and the various demons from a variety of mythologies represent the forces of Chaos striving for freedom.
This is represented in the structure and hierarchy of both sides. For example, for the forces of Law, god is always at the top, below him are the archangels, and below them are various other angels, and it would be considered blasphemous for anyone to even consider going for a higher position in this hierarchy. On the other hand, the structure of the forces of chaos lead by the Demon Lord Lucifer is more similar to a meritocracy taken to an extreme, where the strong will take all that they desire by force, and the weak have to obey those stronger than them. This divide does not end at the supernatural. For example, the kingdom of Mikado follows the caste system which is similar to the hierarchy of the forces Law, with the secular nobles at the top and the commoners at the bottom. Meanwhile the dystopian depiction of Tokyo is more similar to the anarchy represented by the forces of Chaos, where the strong and affluent take what they want by force, and the weak regardless of status or background have to struggle to survive. Even the visual design of the supernatural figures differs from tradition. For example, the 4 archangels look robotic, with unsettling anthropomorphic symbolism (Marcato & Schniz, 2023).
Unlike traditional depiction of religion (especially prominent monotheistic religions) god is not portrayed as entirely good or the devil as completely evil. Rather god and various angels represent the forces of Law striving for order, and Lucifer and the various demons from a variety of mythologies represent the forces of Chaos striving for freedom.
This is represented in the structure and hierarchy of both sides. For example, for the forces of Law, god is always at the top, below him are the archangels, and below them are various other angels, and it would be considered blasphemous for anyone to even consider going for a higher position in this hierarchy. On the other hand, the structure of the forces of chaos lead by the Demon Lord Lucifer is more similar to a meritocracy taken to an extreme, where the strong will take all that they desire by force, and the weak have to obey those stronger than them. This divide does not end at the supernatural. For example, the kingdom of Mikado follows the caste system which is similar to the hierarchy of the forces Law, with the secular nobles at the top and the commoners at the bottom. Meanwhile the dystopian depiction of Tokyo is more similar to the anarchy represented by the forces of Chaos, where the strong and affluent take what they want by force, and the weak regardless of status or background have to struggle to survive. Even the visual design of the supernatural figures differs from tradition. For example, the 4 archangels look robotic, with unsettling anthropomorphic symbolism (Marcato & Schniz, 2023).
These visual contrasts bolster the notion to the player that neither side should be trusted by default, helping to reduce any potential bias the player may have had, and therefore allowing for meaningful introspection.
However, this type of depiction of religion may also comes with it’s own problems and controversies. This game includes mythological figures from a variety of sources including Abrahamic mythologies, Chinese Mythologies, Greco-Roman mythologies as well as many more. It also draws from historical figures, and modern fiction, and it also contains some originally designed demons. It could be argued that showing actively worshipped divinities from ‘world religions’(Hinduism, Christianity, Islam) alongside historical and folkloric deities (Greek, Egyptian, Mayan), as well as originally created demons may seem unsettling, disrespectful, and inconsiderate by some people. The same could be said regarding the art-style of each individual deity as well, since this game often takes some liberties in their art design. Although most aspects of each artwork are based on the actual mythology, the actual depiction of the deities may still come across as disrespectful to some worshippers of that religion (de Wildt & Aupers, 2020). I would argue that the design and variety of these supernatural beings helps to create a more interesting and varied gameplay, and they assist in creating a deeper and more complex narrative for this game.
Morally Ambiguous Choices and Dilemmas
Within Shin Megami Tensei IV you as the protagonist start as a commoner (referred to as “casualry” in game) who goes to the capital to apply to become a Samurai. You end up being one of the five people being accepted as a Samurai. Along side you there is Jonathan, a gentle noble (referred to as “Luxurors” in game) who seeks to unite all in service of Mikado regardless of caste; Walter, a brash commoner who becomes a Samurai in order to escape the life of a fisherman; Isabeau, a strong-willed noble, who lacks in conviction; and Navarre, an elitist noble who looks down on the commoners. As you go through the game there are many morally ambiguous dilemmas that you and your companions will have to deal with. There are too many for this paper too go in depth with them, but I will cover an example that seemed very interesting. In one example, you try to place yourself in the place of the king of a country who has invited people from all across the country to attend in a competition. However, one individual attending is much taller than the rest. You are then asked if you would exclude this individual from competing for the sake of fairness. Walter claims that the person’s height is out of his control and should not be excluded for it. However, Jonathan claims that it would be unfair for everyone else attending for there to be such a big height difference.
However, this type of depiction of religion may also comes with it’s own problems and controversies. This game includes mythological figures from a variety of sources including Abrahamic mythologies, Chinese Mythologies, Greco-Roman mythologies as well as many more. It also draws from historical figures, and modern fiction, and it also contains some originally designed demons. It could be argued that showing actively worshipped divinities from ‘world religions’(Hinduism, Christianity, Islam) alongside historical and folkloric deities (Greek, Egyptian, Mayan), as well as originally created demons may seem unsettling, disrespectful, and inconsiderate by some people. The same could be said regarding the art-style of each individual deity as well, since this game often takes some liberties in their art design. Although most aspects of each artwork are based on the actual mythology, the actual depiction of the deities may still come across as disrespectful to some worshippers of that religion (de Wildt & Aupers, 2020). I would argue that the design and variety of these supernatural beings helps to create a more interesting and varied gameplay, and they assist in creating a deeper and more complex narrative for this game.
Morally Ambiguous Choices and Dilemmas
Within Shin Megami Tensei IV you as the protagonist start as a commoner (referred to as “casualry” in game) who goes to the capital to apply to become a Samurai. You end up being one of the five people being accepted as a Samurai. Along side you there is Jonathan, a gentle noble (referred to as “Luxurors” in game) who seeks to unite all in service of Mikado regardless of caste; Walter, a brash commoner who becomes a Samurai in order to escape the life of a fisherman; Isabeau, a strong-willed noble, who lacks in conviction; and Navarre, an elitist noble who looks down on the commoners. As you go through the game there are many morally ambiguous dilemmas that you and your companions will have to deal with. There are too many for this paper too go in depth with them, but I will cover an example that seemed very interesting. In one example, you try to place yourself in the place of the king of a country who has invited people from all across the country to attend in a competition. However, one individual attending is much taller than the rest. You are then asked if you would exclude this individual from competing for the sake of fairness. Walter claims that the person’s height is out of his control and should not be excluded for it. However, Jonathan claims that it would be unfair for everyone else attending for there to be such a big height difference.
This alongside many other difficult ethical choices contribute to this game’s strong narrative. This game also makes use of a morality meter to help in deciding the ending that you will get. Morality meters are mechanics often used in games that are attempting to incorporate ethics into their gameplay. However, this mechanic has also been criticized for reducing morality to a binary of good and evil with no room for complexity. I would argue that the way Shin Megami Tensei IV implements this mechanic works around the criticism and helps to better immerse the player in the experience of the game. For example, as mentioned earlier, characters and deities are not represented as good vs evil, but rather as Law vs Chaos. The same applies for the decisions that you as the player make. Selecting choices that relate to order will push your morality meter towards the side of Law, and selecting choices that relate to freedom will push your morality meter towards the side of Chaos. It is also important to note that the morality meter in this game is not directly visible by the player, and therefore it cannot influence their choices (Formosa et al., 2021). The endings of the game themselves result in you as the protagonist siding with the forces of Law or Chaos. However, if the player manages to keep their morality meter in a very small threshold in the middle, they will unlock the neutral ending where you fight off both forces of Law and Chaos, but it is implied that era of neutrality will not last long and forces of Law and Chaos will descent upon humanity once again, Perhaps signifying that as long as humanity exist questions and debates regarding morality and ethics will continue to rise (Marcato & Schniz, 2023).
 | A Videogame as a Platform for Ethics This section focuses on and questions whether a videogame is an appropriate platform for ethics. First thing to consider when looking at this topic is the effect of moral intuitions on moral decisions within the game. According to the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME) “ exposure to media featuring content that exemplifies the upholding or violating of moral principles will increase the accessibility of related moral instincts (termed as moral intuitions) through both short-term and long-term processes” (Tamborini et al., 2016, p.566). Within the context of a videogame these moral intuitions may influence the players decision. For example, if the scenario involves the act of cheating, the fairness intuition in players may make them reluctant to commit the act even if it is strategically beneficial to do so. It is also shown in the research that strength of these intuition will vary within each person. |
Meaning that while one player will avoid cheating at all costs, another player may be willing to occasionally cheat. “The MIME conceives moral intuitions as a dynamic construct, one which both constantly influences reactions to media and in turn is influenced by content” (Tamborini et al., 2016,p.568). This is something that is important for videogames more than any other media, since a videogames content is something you both observe and directly affect at the same time. The MIME also suggests that the intuitions are divided into two dimensions of accessibility, those being chronic and temporary. The chronic accessibility being the stable baseline level of accessibility that results from one’s culture and background. On the other hand for the temporary accessibility “the MIME reasons that even brief exposure to a fleeting exemplar highlighting a moral principle can temporarily increase the accessibility of a related intuition and in turn influence subsequent reactions to other exemplars highlighting the moral principles related to the same intuition”(Tamborini et al., 2016,p.568). This study proved that when playing a videogame the players are not completely detached from their moral intuitions, and they may make choices based on their chronic intuitions or their temporary intuitions, which are likely contextualized by in-game factors (Tamborini et al., 2016). Despite all this enacting ethics within a game is still considered to be difficult. Within many games the concept of the “magic circle” has been used to disassociate in-game actions from morality. However, it is important to remember that videogames can give players direct control over moral actions and choices, whereas in other media the audience can only view and judge actions that they have no control of. This means that videogames may be a very effective way to approach ethical topics. However, this makes it even more important to approach moral themes in videogames with sophistication rather than separating choices as “good” vs “evil” (Ryan et al., 2017). This alongside the MIME studies show that videogames can be one of the best medias for exploring moral themes, if the game is created with care and consideration. That helps to show the care that Shin Megami Tensei IV was designed with, that allows for it’s dilemmas to cause much ethical introspection in many players.
Conclusion
Shin Megami Tensei IV is an extraordinary videogame that goes beyond the boundaries of entertainment. It’s depiction of religion helps to remove any of the player’s pre-existing bias as they tackle ethical questions in the game. Those questions themselves influence much of the narrative, with the supporting character clashing their beliefs and ideologies with each other, the player will be left to consider who to support and who to oppose. Even the world of the game itself shows the contrast in morality, like order in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado being represented through the caste system, and the freedom in Tokyo being represented with anarchy. This all brings us to the question of whether a videogame is truly an appropriate platform for moral themes. Throughout various research including that of MIME it is shown that not only can videogames be an appropriate platform for ethics, but they can also be one of the best medias for exploring morality, as long as they are created with sophistication. Shin Megami Tensei IV shows that it does have that level of sophistication, and stands as an exemplar, demonstrating that video games have the power not only to entertain but also to stimulate ethical contemplation. Therefore, it can be said without a doubt that Shin Megami Tensei IV can be considered as a platform for meaningful ethical reflection.
References
Formosa, P., Ryan, M., Howarth, S., Messer, J., & McEwan, M. (2021). Morality meters and their impacts on moral choices in videogames: A qualitative study. Games and Culture, 17(1), 89–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017040
Tamborini, R., Bowman, N. D., Prabhu, S., Hahn, L., Klebig, B., Grall, C., & Novotny, E. (2016). The effect of moral intuitions on decisions in video game play: The impact of chronic and temporary Intuition Accessibility. New Media & Society, 20(2), 564–580. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816664356
Ryan, M., Formosa, P., & Tulloch, R. (2017). Playing around with morality: Introducing the special issue on “Morality play.” Games and Culture, 14(4), 299–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017738862
Marcato, L., & Schniz, F. (2023). At the Same Time … Both Truth and Fiction. In Fictional practices of spirituality I interactive media (pp. 356–362). essay, transcript Verlag.
de Wildt, L., & Aupers, S. D. (2020). Eclectic religion: The flattening of religious cultural heritage in Videogames. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27(3), 312–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1746920
Ishida, E. (n.d.). 4 archangels of Shin Megami Tensei IV. Archangels. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.spriters-resource.com/3ds/shinmegamitenseiiv/sheet/74389/.
Ishida, E. (2020). Shin Megami Tensei IV Key Art. Shin Megami Tensei IV Key Art (AI Enhanced). Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.deviantart.com/marblegallery7/art/Shin-Megami-Tensei-IV-Key-Art-AI-Enhanced-826111254.
Ishida, E. (2013). Shin Megami Tensei IV cover. Shin Megami Tensei IV Guide. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.ign.com/wikis/shin-megami-tensei-iv/Endings.
Conclusion
Shin Megami Tensei IV is an extraordinary videogame that goes beyond the boundaries of entertainment. It’s depiction of religion helps to remove any of the player’s pre-existing bias as they tackle ethical questions in the game. Those questions themselves influence much of the narrative, with the supporting character clashing their beliefs and ideologies with each other, the player will be left to consider who to support and who to oppose. Even the world of the game itself shows the contrast in morality, like order in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado being represented through the caste system, and the freedom in Tokyo being represented with anarchy. This all brings us to the question of whether a videogame is truly an appropriate platform for moral themes. Throughout various research including that of MIME it is shown that not only can videogames be an appropriate platform for ethics, but they can also be one of the best medias for exploring morality, as long as they are created with sophistication. Shin Megami Tensei IV shows that it does have that level of sophistication, and stands as an exemplar, demonstrating that video games have the power not only to entertain but also to stimulate ethical contemplation. Therefore, it can be said without a doubt that Shin Megami Tensei IV can be considered as a platform for meaningful ethical reflection.
References
Formosa, P., Ryan, M., Howarth, S., Messer, J., & McEwan, M. (2021). Morality meters and their impacts on moral choices in videogames: A qualitative study. Games and Culture, 17(1), 89–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017040
Tamborini, R., Bowman, N. D., Prabhu, S., Hahn, L., Klebig, B., Grall, C., & Novotny, E. (2016). The effect of moral intuitions on decisions in video game play: The impact of chronic and temporary Intuition Accessibility. New Media & Society, 20(2), 564–580. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816664356
Ryan, M., Formosa, P., & Tulloch, R. (2017). Playing around with morality: Introducing the special issue on “Morality play.” Games and Culture, 14(4), 299–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017738862
Marcato, L., & Schniz, F. (2023). At the Same Time … Both Truth and Fiction. In Fictional practices of spirituality I interactive media (pp. 356–362). essay, transcript Verlag.
de Wildt, L., & Aupers, S. D. (2020). Eclectic religion: The flattening of religious cultural heritage in Videogames. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27(3), 312–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1746920
Ishida, E. (n.d.). 4 archangels of Shin Megami Tensei IV. Archangels. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.spriters-resource.com/3ds/shinmegamitenseiiv/sheet/74389/.
Ishida, E. (2020). Shin Megami Tensei IV Key Art. Shin Megami Tensei IV Key Art (AI Enhanced). Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.deviantart.com/marblegallery7/art/Shin-Megami-Tensei-IV-Key-Art-AI-Enhanced-826111254.
Ishida, E. (2013). Shin Megami Tensei IV cover. Shin Megami Tensei IV Guide. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.ign.com/wikis/shin-megami-tensei-iv/Endings.
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