As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- The first crowning moment of the game: the entire world being annihilated before the main character can even do anything. How's that for a game intro?
- The Fiends' introductions, with their Badass Boast and unique mannerisms, and the fact that they are each a personification of death. Even more awesome if the player manages to beat them all.Matador: I swear, by my sword and capote, that I will once again prove victorious!
- Thor (yes, that Thor) knocking Isamu out in one strike and then sucking out his Magatsuhi.
- One more for Thor and the player: he's the third "judge" you have to defeat to leave the Mantra Court.
- Dante's jump from the Mantra Headquarters down to the main character is very interesting, considering that when you can later do the same, it leaves you with 1 HP. And in a nice case of Gameplay and Story Integration, if you recruit him and jump off, he doesn't lose any health.
- Speaking of Dante, how about his "Showtime" attack? It's very frustrating when he uses it in his boss fights, but damn, if it isn't stylish as all hell.
- His Badass Boast in his first fight is a good CMoA as well."I'll give you 10 minutes to decide...what would you rather end up in? A coffin or a dumpster?"
- When weak rich girl Chiaki fuses herself with Gozu-Tennoh, becoming a freakish version of her former self with a pulsating demonic arm. She then goes on to lead a massacre of the Manikins, who just happen to be the closest thing to ordinary humans in the game world. Watch it here
. - Another unseen CMoA for poor Chiaki: The reason she received a pulsing demonic arm from Gozu-Tennoh was because Sakahagi cut off her arm when she went after him. Put it this way: a lone teenage girl watched the world end, barely survived the Hell on Earth that followed, and in the ruins she came across a brutal Serial Killer who was known for killing his victims and wearing their skin. She lost an arm, but again, this typical high school girl survived, escaped, and made her way to the top of a tower still filled with ex-Mantra Army demons, soon after receiving the last power of the head demon in charge of the Mantra and taking command of the angelic host, including the Seraphs. And up until she fused with Gozu-Tennoh's remains, she was alone and human: no demon powers granted by Lucifer, no demon partners, unlike the ones you used to beat said serial killer and his Physical-reflecting elephant sidekick. At some point, the Action Survivor has to become a full-on Badass to keep surviving, and Chiaki did just that.
- Whenever Metatron uses Fire of Sinai. The Evil Laugh before it seals the deal.
- There is one rather morally ambiguous awesome moment: after killing Metatron (that is, the Voice of God) and descending to the lowest depths of the Labyrinth of Amala to meet the Old Man in the Wheelchair in person, he infuses you with more of his power, making you a full demon and powerful enough to aid him against God Himself. All very impressive, yes, but the real moment is shown when the player character is slowly descending into the depths of the lake. As the camera passes the Old Man - as millenia of planning, waiting, and tinkering finally come to fruition - ever so slightly...the Old Man smiles.
- Destroying Kagutsuchi and seeing him rage and curse, in either the Freedom or True Demon endings. In the first, despite the ferocious opposition he presents, you force your way past casting after casting of Vast Light and Infinite Light, and make him rebuild the world he destroyed, restoring your friends to sanity with no apparent memory of the Conception, and reviving a very grateful Yuko, who thanks you for rekindling her faith in Humanity. In the second, you blaze past the Labyrinth of Amala and reach the top of the tower... and make him commit the ultimate genocide by triggering a Class-Z Apocalypse How, destroying the entirety of the Multiverse. And then comes the True Final Boss...
- Heck, Kagutsuchi is one of the most awesome concepts for a Final Boss in franchise history, being a combination of the Sun, the Moon, and God/the Great Will. And on all but one route, you have to defeat it.
- It's repeatedly stated that only those with Reason get to recreate the new world, which Demi-Fiend lacks. And yet in Freedom ending the Demi-Fiend decides he's gonna wrangle the fucker for his old world (and his friends) back anyway, essentially creating his own Reason.
- The Demi-Fiend making a cameo appearance in Digital Devil Saga as one of the series' most dangerous Superbosses. He can easily defeat the player's party unless they are absolutely, fully, completely Crazy-Prepared...and that's without using his most powerful demons or attacks; one Gaea Rage will deal enough damage to kill any 999-HP party member at least five times over. When coupled with the use of Nocturne's standard battle theme and the fact that the protagonists of DDS are humans who transform into demons for combat, many players will realize what it's like to be yet another random enemy encounter for him.
- The Demi-Fiend returns in Shin Megami Tensei V and despite his opponent being a Nahobino, basically a full god, he can still easily kill even a fully prepared team. And the battle theme implies this is STILL on the level of a random battle to him.
- It's not elaborated how Hijiri managed to find out about the Conception and publish a full article that turned out to be completely right, especially without the Amala Network, but that counts as an Offscreen Moment of Awesome.
- When you're fighting the True Final Boss Lucifer, look at the Kagutsuchi phase. It reads "DEAD". Reflecting the fact that you killed what's basically the Vortex World's sun.
- Dante is coming back in the HD remaster, albeit as a DLC character.
- Getting all the Magatama. Sure, it's awesome enough getting the ones you can find in the main story, especially the ones held by Ose and the Moirae Sisters... and then you get to the Bandou Shrine, where you face off against the Four Heavenly Kings, one of which raring to go for Round 2, all of which can prove even harder than the Final Boss! And to top it all off, you get the blessing of the guardian of Tokyo himself, Taira no Masakado. As if that wasn't awesome enough, the nature of the Vortex World makes Tokyo THE WHOLE FREAKING UNIVERSE!
