Devil Children Black Book & Red Book are the first two games in the Devil Children series. Black Book and Red Book were released for the Game Boy Color on November 17, 2000. The games were developed alongside the Shin Megami Tensei: DeviChil anime, though they were released around a month after the airing of the first episode. Two years later, a remake for the PlayStation platform was released.
Plot[]
The story takes place in July of the year 2000. A mysterious black substance whose components cannot be examined has appeared out of nowhere and covered the skies all over the world, blocking the sunlight and making temperatures plummet. This, combined with multiple natural disasters and an influenza pandemic has led to many riots from recently-formed doomsday cults and leaves the world's governments at the risk of a new world war.
The game starts at the Harajuku district of Tokyo, which is currently experiencing snow in the middle of summer thanks to a temperature of -4°C (24,8°F). The main characters of the game are Setsuna Kai and Mirai Kaname, both orphans. Setsuna lives in an apartment with his younger brother Nagahisa Kai and Mirai is their next-door neighbor. For some time prior to the beginning of the game, both Setsuna and Mirai have been having dreams of a mysterious man telling them to gather keys and meet him at the depths of the Dark Palace.
One the morning of July 9th, a mysterious parcel was delivered to Setsuna's house. Shortly afterwards, a group of Petit Frosts shows up, trying to take the parcel and also kidnap Nagahisa. As Nagahisa is taken away by the demons, Setsuna opens the parcel and finds a gun-shaped object and a horn-shaped object inside. Setsuna uses the magical gun known as a Devil Riser and summons Cool, a Cerberus, who pledges loyalty to Setsuna. After defeating the demons, Setsuna runs outside looking for Nagahisa, running into Mirai on the way. She asks what's wrong, but Cool convinced him not to say what happened and she just says he's looking for Nagahisa. After talking to many different people, Setsuna meets a young boy named Zett Takajō. Zett tells Setsuna that Nagahisa was taken to the Expanse and reveals that the horn-shaped object that was inside the parcel is called a Messiah Horn, which allows people to travel to the Expanse. With Zett's help, Setsuna decides to head to the Expanse and look for Nagahisa.
One day later, Mirai runs into a boy named Yūki in the school corridor. Yūki appears to recognize Mirai and leaves a small box with her before running away. A boy named Souta appears looking for Yūki and tries to take the box away from Mirai after he saw she had it. During their struggle, Souta recognizes Mirai's pendant she's wearing as as a "Messiah Eye" and steals it. Mirai runs after Souta since the jewel was a memento from her mother and finds Yūki on the rooftop. Souta appears and reveals himself as a Ratatoskr before trying to attack Mirai with magic, though Yūki jumps in the way and seemingly dies. In order to protect herself, Mirai uses the Devil Riser inside the bag to summon Veil, a Gryphon. After defeating Souta, Mirai runs into Zett, who tells her that her father is somewhere in the Expanse. Mirai decides to head there and look for her father.
Almost immediately upon arriving, Setsuna is captured by guards of Central Land and brought before the Demon King. The King is immediately distrustful of Setsuna and sentences him to prison in Ice Land. While he's being transported, Mirai shows up in Central Land and sees Zett again and tells her to head to the palace to ask about her father. On the way she again meets Yūki who explains that he actually was already a ghost, and was merely sent to deliver the package to her. Meeting the Demon King he again seems distrustful at first, but tells Mirai about her lineage as a devil child, but says he doesn't know where her father is. But he says he will help her out and allow her to travel around the Expanse as long as she agrees to chase after another devil child that is seeking to destroy the world. Mirai decides to accept and heads to Ice Land.
In Ice Land's prison, Setsuna meets a young frost named Diana that helps him escape through a secret passage. She takes him to a hideout guarded by a yeti named Dust to rest. But while there, Diana catches word of a devil child chasing after Setsuna and decides to go try to get the Messiah Horn to help him escape. But after she doesn't come back, Setsuna goes to investigate and runs back into Zett, who mentions that Nagahisa is being escorted by angels somewhere. Hurrying to move on, Setsuna finds out Diana was captured by Hel, and confronts her for both the horn and to save Diana. Hel reveals to Setsuna that he's a devil child before being defeated. and Setsuna heads back to the hideout with Diana.
Mirai arrives in Ice Land and runs into Zett again. She gets angry, asking why he didn't tell her she was a devil child, and that she never would've agreed to come if she knew her dad was a demon. But Zett assures her that there are good and bad demons, and her father is powerful, but kind. She goes on to meet Hel and learns that the devil child she's after escaped from her prison. She learns where he went and heads to the hideout. Setsuna goes on ahead while Dust and Diana try to stop Mirai. As he leaves, Mirai defeats Dust and Diana and continues on after.
Both devil children arrive in Marble Land but do not yet meet, heading in different directions as they meet a cruel girl named Elegy and the leaders of 3 local tribes who are in a struggle for power. To solve this there is a tournament that includes a prize of a Messiah Horn (in Black)/Eye (in Red). Both Mirai and Setsuna enter the tournament, defeating the tribe leaders and finally facing off in the final round. They are both confused as to what's going on and agree to talk after the battle. They realize that the devil children they were both told about were each other, and wonder why the Demon King would pin them against each other. While talking they also realize they both have the same dream where a mysterious man tells them to collect the Horns and Eyes. After appointing a new leader of Marble Land they venture next to Sand Land.
Mirai runs into two graves on the way and at one of them the spirit of a woman appears to her. Mirai recognizes the woman but can't tell how, and after only a brief talk the woman tells her to head to meet Isis. Mirai suddenly feels like crying after seeing the woman, implied by Black Book to be her mother. Shortly after, Setsuna stops by the second grave and has a similar discussion with the spirit of the woman from that grave. On the way to Isis Mirai runs into Ratatoskr again as well as Hresvelgr who are after her at the behest of the demon king. Setsuna comes in to help during his search for Nagahisa, but after not finding him he leaves to look elsewhere. Mirai heads to Isis but upon getting there overhears the end of a discussion between Isis and Nagahisa. Nagahisa walks away dejected after finding out his brother is a devil child. Isis explains that there is a prophecy of two devil children near the end of the world that will gather the Messiah Horns and Eyes, combining them into the Norn Keys and going to the Oracle chamber to decide the fate of the world. However, she doesn't know where her father is, and so she leaves to the next land. On the way out she sees Setsuna and tells him that Nagahisa already left. Setsuna then heads to Isis next, and she explains to him that the woman at the grave was his mother. and explains the same information she gave to Mirai. However, she also mentions that she believes Nagahisa may have another father and in fact be an angel child.
Mirai moves on to Forest Land, but Setsuna runs into Zett, delivering a message that Nagahisa wants to meet him back in Harajuku. Meeting at the park shrine, Nagahisa shows disdain for Setsuna being a devil child, and discusses that a war of light vs dark has begun. And the war is over the Oracle room, where there are two programs, Armageddon and Ragnarok. The angels plan on taking control of this system and Nagahisa has decided to go along with the plan. Setsuna doesn't trust this and heads back into the Expanse to collect the remaining Messiah Horns.
In Forest Land Mirai meets Belial but is interrupted by Elegy. She complains about her father, who turns out to the be current demon king, and then asks Belial about a golden apple pie he was supposed to make. He panics and enlists Mirai to go out and get the golden apples. She ventures through the forest and brings them back, helping to make the pie, but ultimately has to take the Messiah Eye by force. On her way to the portal she sees Elegy again, this time with the angel Raphael. Mirai is confused but Elegy explains her dad is actually Azazel and not the actual demon king, and he just wants to destroy the humans, but she thinks that's ridiculous and joins the angels instead. She then tells Mirai she should probably go back to earth as demons are invading.
After she leaves, Setsuna now arrives in Forest Land. He runs into Belial whose golden apple pie was now stolen. So Setsuna agrees to go out and find the thief and brings the apple pie back. But like before, he refuses to give up the Messiah Horn, and so Setsuna takes it by force. Back on earth Mirai fights off the invading demons and also runs into Nagahisa at the shrine, this time with Elegy. They explain they plan on using Armageddon to wipe out the expanse and, after a fight, tells Mirai to go to Fire Land to learn just out corrupt the expanse is.
Setsuna and Mirai both meet Mammon, a family friend that knew them when they were babies, in Fire Land. He reminisces but insists that they pay 100,000 macca each for the Messiah Horn and Eye. Begrudgingly paying, they head back towards the gate to find the nearby casino town completely destroyed by the angels, and see Nagahisa and Elegy (Red only) but after the battle are rescued by Uriel (Black)/Raphael(Red). But as he leaves Nagahisa reveals that his real father is the archangel Michael. With all of the Horns and Eyes in hand, the devil children head back to Central land to confront the fake demon king Azazel.
He explains that he kidnapped Nagahisa when he invaded earth in order to determine if he was a threat, but he was later taken by the angels. A fight with Azazel takes place but partway through he suddenly questions why he attacked earth in the first place. But ultimately he concludes it must have been because of fate, and steels his resolve before succumbing to the battle. Mirai and Setsuna combine the Horns and Eyes into the Norn Keys, and head into the palace to find Lucifer. They free him and he welcomes his children. He explains that everything, including them coming here, was indeed a part of fate all leading to this. The Oracle Room originally only had Armageddon as an option, but he installed Ragnarok as a way to move the world past fate, and thus open up a future of possibilities.
They all head to the Light Palace to the Oracle room and once again see Nagahisa with Michael (Black)/Elegy (Red) and explain the oracle room. When the world was created by Hoshigami she went into a deep slumber, leaving the prophecy all leading to this moment, and whoever enters the Oracle room has three options (Each of which is an ending.) If they activate Armageddon, the world will be destroyed and start again. If Ragnarok is activated, Hoshigami will awake and the world will enter a new era unbound by prophecy. But if they choose neither, then Hoshigami will awaken, and if they defeat her, they will take her place as a deity.
If they choose to activate Armageddon the world is destroyed, and whoever activated it wonders if they made the right choice, with the other assuring them that it was their choice to make. The world then begins to reform and New Game Plus begins.
If they refuse to activate it then a final fight with Nagahisa begins. And after, Nagahisa passes on his angel powers to one of the devil children, as the power of devil, angel, and human is needed to open the door to the Oracle Room. Hoshigami awakens and ask what their wish is. In order to replace her, there will be a final boss fight against her. If Setsuna chooses to replace Hoshigami, then the world returns to normal without him, but only Mirai remembers him, Nagahisa stating that he is an only child. If Mirai chooses to replace her then Setsuna will be the only one to remember her, Nagahisa stating the apartment next door has always been empty.
If they choose to activate Ragnarok, the world returns to normal and moves forward with infinite possibilities. The postgame then begins and Hoshigami opens the gate to the Abyss for you. At the bottom is a final challenge against Zebul who will reveal that he was Zett, though Zett was only a projection he made from within the abyss, having been banished their by the angels. He was the previous demon king before Lucifer, and also wanted to start Ragnarok. He implies that he is the one that sent the risers, and that ultimately activating Ragnarok was his decision.
Characters[]
- Setsuna Kai: The protagonist of the Black Book
- Cool: A Cerberus who serves as Setsuna's demon companion
- Mirai Kaname: The protagonist of the Red Book
- Veil: A Griffon who serves as Mirai's demon companion
- Nagahisa Kai: Setsuna's younger brother who is kidnapped by Petit Frosts
Version Differences[]
In both versions, the player can ride their demon companion. While riding, the player is granted faster movement and access to various version-specific traversal abilities, with a slight increase in the encounter rate as a trade-off. The traversal abilities (only available while mounted) are as such: In Black Book, the protagonist (on his Cerberus companion) can jump ledges, walk on lava, and cross certain obstacles by digging tunnels underground. In Red Book, the protagonist is capable of utilizing flight (atop her Griffon companion) to cross cliffs and water, as well as ignore special terrain, i.e. slippery ice - Notably, she is unable to fly over obstacles meant to be cleared in Black Book; lava, holes in the ground, etc. Because of these differences, the difficulty of certain sections may vary depending on the version. Furthermore, certain treasure chests, and even a few areas in particular are version specific. In some locations, there are blue and pink doors nearby; these can only be opened in Black Book and Red Book, respectively.
Some demons can only be found in one version but can still be acquired in the other one via trading. Also, while Mute-race demons can only be created through Fusion accidents in Black Book, they appear as normal enemies in Red Book. In regards to demon fusion, Black Book uses a system similar to other games in the Megami Tensei franchise while Red Book's focuses on strengthening demons by using other demons in a way similar to Element and Mitama fusion.
PlayStation version[]
The PlayStation remake features the following:
- The two games are present in the same disc, with the player choosing between Black Book or Red Book before moving to the title screen.
- It's possible to connect two save files in the same PlayStation in order to perform battles, fusions, or trading demons. Those features are equivalent to connecting two Game Boy Colors via link cable in the original.
- Three different save slots, while the original only had one.
- Updated graphics and sprites faithful to the Game Boy Color version.
- In the Game Boy Color version, the protagonist would always walk slowly. In order to move faster, they could run in regular areas and ride their demon partners in areas with random encounters. In the PlayStation remake the protagonist will always walk at running speed in areas without enemies and the slower speed from the original is only seen in places where it's possible to encounter wild demons.
- Voice acting for some scenes with the same voice actors from the DeviChil anime.
- There is, however, no option to adjust the volume of the background music and the voiced lines separately, meaning that the voice acting may be hard to hear sometimes.
- A new opening cutscene, based on the anime.
- The game's script, which was formerly composed entirely of hiragana and katakana, has now kanji characters.
- Despite that, kanji is still not available when naming the protagonist.
- The Petit Frosts sent to kidnap Nagahisa were changed into Jack Frosts.
- Twenty new demons were added:
| Black/Red Book | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakemogura | Kami wo Kure | A Bao A Qu | Nautilus |
| Bunbuku Chagama | Moai | Keukegen | Rokurokubi |
| Kiyohime | Jersey Devil | Cyborg Deka | Zenki Goki |
| Abe no Seimei | Paramecium King | Excalibur | Taikoubou |
| Black Book only | Red Book only | ||
| Kaguya Hime | Zeus | Brownie | Amaterasu |
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Official Japanese site for Black Book and Red Book (Internet Archive)
- Official Japanese site for Black Book and Red Book PlayStation version (Internet Archive)
- Black Book Japanese Virtual Console
- Red Book Japanese Virtual Console
- Black Book & Red Book Japanese PSOne Classic
References[]