Shin Megami Tensei: if...

Shin Megami Tensei: if... (真・女神転生if...; lit. True Goddess Reincarnation: if...) is a side story to the Shin Megami Tensei series for the Super Famicom, released only in Japan in 1994.

Release Dates

 * Japan: October 28, 1994 (Super Famicom)
 * Japan: December 26, 2002 (PlayStation)
 * Japan: December 26, 2002 (PlayStation "Special Pack")
 * Japan: March 14, 2006 (Windows PC)

Plot
A gaiden to Shin Megami Tensei where you play with a group of high school students taken to the netherworld. It seems to have been inspired by an old 1968 film If...,which is about hazing in a British public school that turns surreal by the end of the movie.

In Shin Megami Tensei: if... the story is about Hazama, a poor and abused boy who goes to Karukozaka High School. In order to get vengeance on his peers he performs a ceremony in the gym (most likely referencing the original Megami Tensei) that transports his high school into Makai, the netherworld, where he has somehow become powerful enough to become Majinnou (Demon Emperor). Back at the school, everyone freaks out and is scared except for a select few.

The player assumes the role a nameless male or female student, who armed themselves with defensive equipment and COMP. They will investigate the realms of Makai based on 5 of the 7 deadly sins, and finally face off against Hazama. In their quest, the player will be accompanied by fellow students and demons recruited through either negotiation or from the process of fusion, or Jakyou.

Characters

 * Tamaki Uchida/Nameless Male: The main character that you can name
 * Reiko: A blood relative to Hazama
 * Yumi: A classmate of the Main
 * Charlie: A student of the School once suspected of robbing
 * Hazama: A vengeful student who proclaims himself the new ruler of Makai.
 * Akira: Special secret character

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that the player can decide the gender and name of the protagonist, according to Persona, the main character is a girl named Tamaki Uchida.
 * It's evident that the Persona series is heavily based off of this game. The Snow Queen Quest in Megami Ibunroku Persona is structured very similarly to this game, and Charlie acts as a proto-Eikichi, while Hazama seems to be a proto-Jun from Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
 * The main characters of Shin Megami Tensei will show up as Majin (Fiend clan), and some can even become your Guardians.
 * Megidola and the -dyne level of magic first show up in this game.

Extra
The 50th Anniversary Pack (in celebration of the School in the game) was a deluxe edition of the game that included things like a pen and a school handbook.