<s>
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
,	O
formerly	O
known	O
as	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
Online	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
,	O
was	O
a	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
role-playing	I-Protocol
game	I-Protocol
(	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
)	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
series	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
CAVE	O
and	O
later	O
on	O
GungHo	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
under	O
license	O
from	O
the	O
series	O
creator	O
Atlus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Imagine	O
is	O
set	O
between	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
and	O
its	B-Application
sequel	I-Application
,	O
in	O
the	O
aftermath	O
of	O
a	O
war	O
which	O
devastated	O
humanity	O
and	O
prompted	O
the	O
arrival	O
of	O
hostile	O
demons	O
split	O
into	O
two	O
opposing	O
factions	O
:	O
Law	O
and	O
Chaos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
gameplay	O
uses	O
real-time	O
combat	O
in	O
open	O
environments	O
similar	O
to	O
other	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
,	O
while	O
carrying	O
over	O
the	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
series	O
 '	O
recurring	O
demon	O
recruitment	O
and	O
fusion	O
mechanics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Imagine	O
originated	O
as	O
an	O
attempt	O
at	O
developing	O
an	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Nine	I-Application
for	O
PC	O
after	O
Nine'''s	O
online	O
version	O
was	O
cancelled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
was	O
then	O
transferred	O
to	O
CAVE	O
and	O
continued	O
for	O
a	O
further	O
twenty	O
months	O
:	O
during	O
this	O
period	O
,	O
it	O
became	O
and	O
was	O
marketed	O
as	O
an	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
left|thumb|Combat	O
in	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
,	O
showing	O
the	O
player	O
character	O
,	O
interface	O
,	O
and	O
assigned	O
demon.Shin	O
Megami	O
Tensei	O
:	O
Imagine	O
is	O
a	O
free-to-play	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
role-playing	I-Protocol
game	I-Protocol
(	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
)	O
set	O
in	O
post-apocalyptic	O
Tokyo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
other	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
such	O
as	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
,	O
various	O
abilities	O
are	O
mapped	O
to	O
face	O
buttons	O
and	O
each	O
ability	O
has	O
a	O
cooldown	O
timer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
previous	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
games	O
,	O
demons	O
are	O
central	O
to	O
combat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
events	O
leading	O
up	O
to	O
Imagine	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
depicted	O
in	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
events	O
of	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
,	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
young	O
people	O
defied	O
both	O
God	O
and	O
Lucifer	O
in	O
creating	O
a	O
world	O
where	O
humans	O
could	O
flourish	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Taking	O
place	O
in	O
a	O
time	O
period	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
202X	O
"	O
,	O
Imagine	O
takes	O
place	O
in	O
the	O
gap	O
between	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
and	O
its	O
direct	B-Application
sequel	I-Application
,	O
following	O
on	O
from	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
's	O
neutral	O
ending	O
:	O
despite	O
these	O
connections	O
,	O
Imagine	O
is	O
a	O
self-contained	O
narrative	O
with	O
its	O
own	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DevelopmentShin	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	O
Imagine	O
originated	O
in	O
2003	O
as	O
a	O
port	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
(	O
PC	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Nine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nine	O
was	O
initially	O
planned	O
as	O
an	O
online	O
multiplayer	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
Xbox	B-Application
,	O
but	O
during	O
its	O
development	O
the	O
online	O
elements	O
were	O
removed	O
due	O
to	O
rising	O
costs	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
offline	O
single-player	O
version	O
released	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
development	O
problems	O
and	O
the	O
profitability	O
of	O
online	O
games	O
,	O
the	O
online	O
Xbox	B-Application
version	O
was	O
cancelled	O
in	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
its	O
early	O
development	O
,	O
the	O
PC	O
version	O
of	O
Nine	O
was	O
renamed	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
,	O
continuing	O
development	O
as	O
a	O
different	O
entity	O
for	O
approximately	O
three	O
and	O
a	O
half	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
classified	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
online	O
role-playing	O
game	O
"	O
which	O
got	O
round	O
the	O
server-based	O
problems	O
of	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
by	O
using	O
a	O
single	O
server	O
for	O
all	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tanigawa	O
joined	O
when	O
the	O
title	O
shifted	O
to	O
being	O
an	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
he	O
estimated	O
development	O
time	O
in	O
this	O
form	O
at	O
ten	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
managed	O
by	O
narrowing	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
spent	O
on	O
the	O
early	O
concept	O
work	O
,	O
instead	O
taking	O
inspiration	O
directly	O
from	O
other	O
titles	O
,	O
including	O
titles	O
within	O
the	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
series	O
:	O
Tanigawa	O
said	O
that	O
without	O
this	O
,	O
development	O
might	O
have	O
lasted	O
up	O
to	O
three	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ReleaseImagine	O
was	O
first	O
announced	O
in	O
July	O
2004	O
under	O
the	O
title	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
Online	O
:	O
Imagine	O
,	O
with	O
its	O
first	O
public	O
appearance	O
coming	O
at	O
the	O
2003	O
Tokyo	O
Character	O
Show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
limited	O
beta	O
test	O
at	O
a	O
commercial	O
event	O
,	O
news	O
on	O
the	O
game	O
ended	O
until	O
July	O
2005	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
re-revealed	O
as	O
an	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
at	O
that	O
year	O
's	O
Tokyo	O
Game	O
Show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
another	O
prolonged	O
silence	O
,	O
a	O
closed	O
beta	O
test	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
June	O
2006	O
for	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
rebranding	O
as	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
Online	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
remained	O
under	O
the	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
Online	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
title	O
until	O
its	O
first	O
anniversary	O
:	O
the	O
game	O
underwent	O
a	O
revision	O
,	O
changing	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
and	O
giving	O
it	O
a	O
new	O
logo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
a	O
partnership	O
with	O
CodeWeavers	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
made	O
compatible	O
for	O
then-current	O
Macintosh	B-Device
systems	O
in	O
March	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Masashi	O
Ōji	O
,	O
writing	O
for	O
4Gamer.net	O
after	O
the	O
official	O
release	O
of	O
Imagine	O
,	O
praised	O
multiple	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
including	O
its	O
story	O
,	O
combat	O
,	O
demon	O
mechanics	O
,	O
flexible	O
character	O
growth	O
system	O
and	O
general	O
sense	O
of	O
belonging	O
within	O
the	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
news	O
article	O
concerning	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
Earnest	O
Cavalli	O
of	O
Wired	O
commented	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
boasted	O
interesting	O
content	O
despite	O
his	O
experiences	O
being	O
from	O
the	O
closed	O
beta	O
version	O
:	O
his	O
opinion	O
was	O
that	O
Megami	B-Application
Tensei	I-Application
fans	O
would	O
enjoy	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
while	O
those	O
more	O
used	O
to	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
might	O
see	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
hyper-Japanese	O
Phantasy	B-Application
Star	I-Application
Online	I-Application
clone	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GamesRadar	O
's	O
Tyler	O
Nagata	O
listed	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
among	O
the	O
free	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
for	O
PC	O
that	O
were	O
graphically	O
superior	O
to	O
the	O
subscription-based	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nagata	O
also	O
recommended	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
its	O
friendly	O
community	O
when	O
compared	O
to	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
:	O
he	O
said	O
that	O
"	O
the	O
usual	O
MMO	O
elitism	O
amongst	O
players	O
does	O
n’t	O
seem	O
as	O
common	O
in	O
MegaTen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atlus	O
alleges	O
that	O
their	O
copyright	O
was	O
infringed	O
,	O
as	O
Rekuiemu	O
Games	O
hosted	O
a	O
website	O
that	O
was	O
a	O
near	O
exact	O
copy	O
of	O
Atlus	O
 '	O
website	O
and	O
COMP_Hack	O
distributed	O
a	O
functional	O
server	O
emulator	O
for	O
Shin	B-Application
Megami	I-Application
Tensei	I-Application
:	I-Application
Imagine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
