Demon negotiation has been a staple of Shin Megami Tensei since the very beginning and is an essential component of the franchise’s gameplay loop. By negotiating, players can recruit demons into their party – turning otherwise random enemies into valuable allies with their own unique skills, stats, and strengths.
Arguably the hardest game in the series, Shin Megami Tensei III makes demon negotiation more important than ever. Shin Megami Tensei III is set in an incredibly hostile world where virtually everything and everyone is out to eat the player alive. Shin Megami Tensei’s negotiation system gives players a distinct advantage, but charming the pants off a demon is easier said than done.
10 Negotiation Rewards
There are multiple benefits to negotiating in Shin Megami Tensei III, the biggest of which being demon recruitment. Adding a new demon into your party is always useful, but keep in mind that this isn’t always a guarantee. Players can say everything right in a conversation and a demon still might decline to join the party. While demon recruitment is the main goal behind negotiating, expect to get a bunch of curative items instead.
9 Single Out Demons
Negotiating will get players nowhere while they’re fighting multiple enemies at once. If you try to negotiate with a demon who still has a party, their allies will interrupt the conversation and you’ll lose that turn. Demons need to be singled out before negotiations can begin, so make sure to kill everyone you don’t want to recruit or talk to before beginning the process.
8 Demi-Fiend Needs To Be Higher Level To Recruit Demons
While Shin Megami Tensei prioritizes strategic gameplay over pure power leveling, there is an element of level grinding at play during a basic playthrough of SMT III. You won’t actually be able to recruit any demons if they’re a higher level than you.
Unable to recognize your strength, they’ll simply leave the battle. Consistently recruiting demons throughout the game will require a fair bit of leveling. You’ll never need to stop and outright grind, but recruiting the absolute strongest demons means putting aside time to level up if you don’t feel like backtracking later.
7 Initiating Negotiations
After killing every enemy demon on the field except for one, negotiations can actually begin. To initiate a negotiation, players need to select the Talk option with Demi-Fiend. Talk isn’t listed with the rest of your attacks, but in a separate menu to the right of the main battle menu. Even though other demons can learn negotiation techniques, familiarize yourself with Demi-Fiend’s Talk ability ASAP.
6 Switch Up Those Answers
Once negotiations start, demons will start asking Demi-Fiend several questions. More often than not, demons will ask for Macca, healing items (usually rare ones like Beads if you have them), and HP or SP. In the event that a demon engages in actual conversation, it’s important to pick your answers carefully. Answering too consistently can put a demon off or wreck the flow of conversation. Don’t be afraid to take conversational risks and take the time to learn how different demons respond to different answers.
5 Don’t Always Give In
Even more important than changing up your answers during a negotiation is making sure you aren’t a total pushover. Giving a demon what they want makes sense, but this can result in several negotiations where you unload your wallet only for the demon to run away without being recruited.
Denying a demon’s request also has the opportunity of changing what they want, potentially making them ask a question instead of just draining valuable resources. Treat the mechanic like a real negotiation: you have something demons want, don’t just give in.
4 Pay Attention To Kagutsuchi Phases
The phases of the moon actually play a vital role in Shin Megami Tensei, influencing demon behavior on a Full Moon. Since Shin Megami Tensei III doesn’t have a moon, the game uses the Kagutsuchi Phases (which essentially functions as the Moon Phases).
Not only does a Full Kagutsuchi unlock Sacrificial Fusion in the Cathedral of Shadows, it makes demons act drunk – lowering their inhibitions and making negotiation a much easier process overall. That said, recruitment on a Full Kagutsuchi is a gamble.
3 Different Negotiation Techniques
Even though most negotiations will be done through Demi-Fiend’s Talk skill, other demons have their own negotiation techniques that they can use for recruitment – like Kidnap, Scout, and Seduce. Not just that, certain abilities make negotiating even easier. Loan lets you frisk demons for their Macca, Kinspeak makes it easy for demons of the same race to recruit an ally, and Wine Party smooths over negotiations gone wrong.
2 Some Demons Can’t Be Negotiated With Naturally
Not every demon can be negotiated with, unfortunately. Certain races won’t want to negotiate naturally and players will need to meet certain criteria to get a conversation going (whether that be having the right skill or negotiating on a full Kagustuchi). Don’t be surprised if a demon rejects negotiating or simply can’t understand what you’re saying. Take the loss and move on.
1 Unique Demon Dialogue
Shin Megami Tensei III features something very few games in the franchise bother with: unique demon conversations. Since demons in SMT III can have their own negotiation skills, they can engage with other demons on the field. Most demons who have a mythological connection tend to have unique dialogue that’ll play out during negotiations. Odin and Thor can speak to Loki, Shiva can speak with Naga, and all four Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel) can converse with different angels. It’s important to keep in mind that these conversations can only play out once per playthrough, though.