#shaytan

Ghidorah makes a new....friend?

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Iblis, maybe. Allah, never.

The SMT Iblis starter pack would definitely include the reappearance of this guy:

Agreed on Lucifer, et al., being stale. However, even Iblis would just be a new wrapper on the same monotheistic antagonist junk food we always get (going by how Atlus perceives alignments!).

Even a Zoroastrian-themed game where the two poles are Ahura Mazda and Ahriman would just be identical to the Law/Chaos dichotomy, so it would need the emergence of Zurvan (as a Neutral antagonist or something) to shake up the plot.

That's really the problem with SMT's alignments, mythologies usually have the [benevolent/supreme god vs. the opposing force] that are just too easily tacked on to Law and Chaos, so there's little room for variety, if played straight. The attempts to shake things up have not had quite the same impact as Law/Chaos:

Nocturne's Reasons: Philosophies that are on the more atypical/abstract side but still boil down to Law (roughly Shijima), Neutral (roughly Musubi) and Chaos (roughly Yosuga) and we're ignoring TDE, of course. I qualify them all with "roughly" because of the inversion of the typical demon supporters of these respective Reasons: Shijima by the Fallen demons (and Ahriman, who would normally be a Chaotic Tyrant), Musubi by Foul spirits like Specter (Noah is Vile, so Law), and Yosuga by Divine angels (repped by Deity Baal Avatar, Neutral). So everything is topsy-turvy, which is the point of the Vortex World in the first place.

4A's Monotheism vs. Polytheism conflict. Not technically Law v. Chaos, but, in practice, it still kinda was. However, I think the Divine Powers as an antagonistic force was a decent idea that the game didn't use to its full advantage (by not letting you side with them!). A cross-pantheon, even cross-alignment set of goodies or baddies should probably be attempted again--just with better execution.

SMT5's shit. On paper, it really isn't that bad. Obviously a Nocturne-inspired scenario. God is dead, only Lucifer took his place. But my goodness what a boring mess to witness play out. I dunno, I don't feel like typing much more at the moment. It's vanilla SMT5, the anti-hype SMT experience. 🤷

So the verdict is that with most of Atlus's post-SMT2 conflicts/alignment scenarios is that they're trying to come up with novel ideas! But it's hard and Lucifer is iconic or something. Anyway, they should just reboot NINE.

Shayṭān does not always call people to evil openly he beautifies sins, delays repentance, and makes disobedience seem harmless until hearts become distant.

Allah warned us:

“Indeed, Shayṭān is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy.”

Every time we choose desires over obedience, we must ask ourselves:

Am I following guidance… or following whispers?

This dunya is temporary, but every choice leaves a mark on the soul.