History VideoGame / ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse

* CharacterShilling: The game ''really'' wants to hammer in the point that everyone sees Flynn as a super awesome messiah that will be the savior of Tokyo with almost all of the [=NPCs=] bringing it up, especially in the early-game, as he is the incarnation of hope itself. Justified as at that point in the original game, where ''Apocalypse'' begins, he has filled the Chalice with the hopes of the people of Tokyo to aid in Masakado's resurrection. [[spoiler:{{Deconstructed}} - this is exactly why the Divine Powers chose him to be [[DarkMessiah Kalki]], and later replace him with Shesha to manipulate the Hunters into destroying the Monotheist factions.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Nanashi being revived by Dagda and becoming his Godslayer sets into motion the chain of events that split the plot of ''Apocalypse'' away from the Neutral ending of ''IV''.

** With the concept of skills that gain additional effects while Smirking, several formerly powerful skills have been depowered to a shadow of their former glory. For example, Salvation only removes ailments if used while Smirking (functioning like a more expensive Mediarahan under normal circumstances) and Antichthon only decreases stats if used while Smirking. Given Antichthon's absurd MP cost of 110 that can only be discounted to a max of 88 via affinities, it has degraded into AwesomeButImpractical. In Salvation's case, it might even turn into a Catch-22, since you can't use its ailment healing property unless you're smirking... and having any negative status effect doesn't allow you to Smirk at all.

** [[spoiler:While both are stated to be reincarnations of humans from the past, there's some nice contrast between them. Flynn's past life saved Tokyo by creating the Firmament, but Flynn was reincarnated into Miakdo. Nanashi's past life, meanwhile, founded Mikado, but his current life began in Tokyo.]]

** Hugo appears in a scene before the Azrael fight, and Hope can be seen with some Samurai at certain points before introducing himself to you properly. [[spoiler:The ''Explosive Epidemic in Mikado'' DLC makes Hope a miniboss and Hugo a full fledged Bonus Boss who has become one with YHVH's Universe]].

* MesACrowd: The third-to-last boss ([[spoiler:a Horde of Metatrons]]) and the first part of the FinalBoss ([[spoiler:an army of YHVH heads]]). This also happens with one of the {{Bonus Boss}}es ([[spoiler:a Horde of Trumpeters]]).

** [[spoiler:Much like his infamous Bonus Boss battle in the second ''Digital Devil Saga'' game, Satan is a Barrier Change Boss who also has the ability to fully heal, except he's much tamer and only uses the full heal at a certain point in the fight rather than saving it for if he's brought down to low enough health. He also happens to be a fusion of two characters, one of whom is the Law representative - in this case, Merkabah and Lucifer rather than Zayin and Seth from ''Shin Megami Tensei II'']].

** There are three bosses who break the initial level cap: FinalBoss [[spoiler:YHVH]] at 100, BonusBoss [[spoiler:En no Ozuno]] also at 100, and the apparent Ultimate Boss [[spoiler:Stephen]] at 128. [[spoiler:Satan]], while Level 99 when fought, is Level 120 in your party, inverting the trope.

** Several pieces of powerful equipment only drop from the [[BonusBoss Fiends]] if you have the "Depths of Twisted Tokyo" DLC. And they aren't even guaranteed drops.

** While he's usually a BonusBoss or FinalBoss, in this game Metatron can be fought as a random encounter, [[MesACrowd sometimes even in a horde]]. This may be another reference to ''II'', in which most random encounters are fought as groups of the same demon, and he also was a random encounter.

* TimeLimitBoss: The battles against [[BonusBoss the Fiends]] of Twisted Tokyo must be done in ten turns before the battle is interrupted and the player is ejected to the entrance of the dungeon. However, their HP does not restore on subsequent visits. Considering how long some floors may get, it would still be more efficient to try and beat each Fiend in one trip.

** The "A Godslayer Needs..." series of DLC quests transport the player to [[PalmtreePanic Tir Na Nog, the Land of Youth,]] of Celtic myth, where the enemies can drop special items that either grant the party large amounts of experience, sell for large amounts of Macca, give free stat points or app points.
** The exception to the above pattern, "A Godslayer Needs Demons", instead allows the player to purchase specialized demons that come pre-fused with great skills, even certain Famed, Undead, or Zealot demons.[[note]]Most demons of these races can only be fused through fusion accidents.[[/note]] These demons also come with passives not available until the lategame or until certain DLC episodes were released, allowing player such to pass around some of the best passive skills incredibly early.
* BrickJoke: With Krishna going on about his salvation, it's only appropriate that [[spoiler:one of the skills he learns in his fusable form ''is'' Salvation]]. [[spoiler:This also applies to his form that appears in the Demon Market of "A Godslayer Needs Demons", as Salvation is one of his skills]].

* InterfaceSpoiler: It's possible to surmise the fact that [[spoiler: you're not done with the Divine Powers after Tsukiji Honganji if you notice [[DefeatMeansFriendship you haven't unlocked them for fusion yet]]. After all, why would you be able to fuse a boss demon if they're still running around and causing trouble? And of course, there's the fact Krishna simply vanished when defeated instead of cracking and shattering as bosses usually do.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The scar/mark on the Godslayer's cheek and his distinctive "horned" eyebrows are identical to the scar and eyebrows Akira has in every AlternateTimeline Flynn visited in the original ''SMT IV''. [[spoiler:There's a reason for this.]]

** Played with regarding Light and Dark spells. They now do normal damage, making them worth using on enemies that are immune to instant death. The tradeoff is that the instant kill effect now only activates on a Smirk, and bosses still have [[ContractualBossImmunity instant death immunity]], but at least these spells are worth trying on bosses now.

* BonusBoss:
** Once again, a couple of Challenge Quest bosses are more notable and powerful than the others. This time, it's the last bosses of the two main sidequest chains: [[spoiler:Mara]] for Maruo's chain and [[spoiler:Izanami]] for Hiroshi's.
** The Fiends, specifically David, Matador, and the ''Revelation'' Fiends, are found in a BonusDungeon in the Bay Area. Unlike in the previous game they're fixed encounters, but each one must be beaten in at most ten turns or else Nanashi will be immediately ejected from the dungeon. It's not possible to escape from the {{Mooks}} in the dungeon, and their immunities and attack data is hidden (even if you have the exact same demon in your active party), forcing you to rely on memory. Beating the En No Ozuno DLC has them all continue to return [[CameBackStrong stronger than before]].
** The DLC features Mephisto, Cleopatra, a demonic Hope, Hugo, and Mikado citizens, and finally all of the numbered series protagonists teaming up to fight [[spoiler:Stephen]].

* OmnicidalNeutral: The Divine Powers really, really hate both sides of the Law/Chaos conflict and want them ''gone.'' One of their most potent advantages against Merkabah and Lucifer is that [[BigBadDuumvirate they actually get along pretty well]]. Dagda is even more extreme; he wants to kill ''every'' god, because he's come to view the very concept of divinity as corrupt. [[spoiler: By joining him in the [[KillEmAll Massacre]] route, you become one as well]].

* KillEmAll:
** The goal of the Divine Powers involves killing everyone so their souls can be transferred to a new world.
** The Massacre route requires Nanashi to [[spoiler:personally kill pretty much every ally character in the game besides Asahi as part of stealing the Cosmic Egg from the Divine Powers]].
** The "Explosive Epidemic in Mikado" DLC ends with Nanashi [[spoiler:single-handedly killing every demonized human in Mikado. It's implied to be part of the Massacre route.]]

* PathOfMostResistance: The Massacre route. It starts with a massive [[DifficultySpike spike in difficulty]] on top of potentially losing all your items as well as [[spoiler:losing up to five of your party members]], which all end up making the route the hardest to complete. Additionally [[spoiler:in the fight against Satan and Vishnu-Flynn, the effects resulting from their dialogue options always end up detrimental to the player one way or the other as opposed to the Bonds route where they will be constantly buffed or healed instead]].

* CrossOver: There was a collaboration event in the game ''VideoGame/BraveFrontier'' to coincide with the ''Apocalypse's'' release. [[CastingAShadow Dagda]], [[MakingASplash Asahi]], [[BlowYouAway Nozomi]], and [[LightEmUp Krishna]] were among the characters that can be obtained in the game.

* VillainRevealsTheSecret: During the party's first confrontation with the Divine Powers in Tsukiji Konganji, [[spoiler:Krishna reveals to the party that Nanashi is both undead and a servant of Dagda,]] spreading confusion and uncertainty among the team.

** [[PlayerCharacter Nanashi]] is technically [[TheUndead undead]] after Dadga brings you back. Despite no major ill effects, you're basically a magically animated corpse, and [[FridgeBrilliance your Godslayer status can't even fool a simple thermometer about your lack of body heat]] before you [[VendorTrash sell it out to a nearby shop]].