Japanese role-playing game joins Download Festival

Nahobino, one of the characters in the new Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance game. Nahobino is a female character with cropped silver hair and yellow eyes. She wears an extravagant black, silver and purple patterned armour, including a facemask and coverings over her ears. She has a serious expression and holds her right arm across her body defensively. She's pictured outside in a dark environment with a room filled with glowing green smoke behind her. — Image caption,

Set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, players in Shin Megami Tensei battle demons in turn-based combat

By Andrew Rogers

BBC Newsbeat

This summer's Download Festival has added a new act to its line-up.

It's not another band though, but the Japanese role-playing video game Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance.

An "immersive experience" will let festival-goers play the game on-site in Leicestershire, battling demons in a post-apocalyptic world.

Download has called it a "first of its kind experience" and is the latest in a growing crossover between the worlds of music and gaming.

The festival, which will take place 14-16 June, is usually known for its line-up of rock and indie bands, with acts this year including Fall Out Boy, Queens of The Stone Age and Sum 41.

They'll be joined by the latest in the Shin Megami Tensei series, where players are being promised a way to play the game "like never before".

This title, which combines some previous Shin Megami Tensei 5 games with new features and a new story path, launches on the same day as the gates to the festival open.

Festival goers cheering in the crowd during day 2 of Download Festival 2019. A white man with a beard sits above the crowd on another spectator's shoulders, his hands stretched up making the sign of horns. The hand gesture, associated with rock music, is repeated by other members of the crowd. The audience is outside on a sunny day and in the background flags and food outlets can be seen. — Image caption,

Some fans say the game's soundtrack sounds like it could be right at home on one of Download's rock-focused stages

Set in an alternative apocalyptic version of Tokyo, players battle demons in turn-based over-the-top combat.

The original version of the game, made by Sonic the Hedgehog developers SEGA and ATLUS, received generally positive reviews, praising its combat and high difficulty.

While Download is promising a new kind of experience at the festival, it's far from the first time the worlds of gaming and music have come together.

Concerts where full orchestras play the soundtracks from games have become popular in the last decade.

Most recently, a performance of the music from multi-BAFTA award winning game Baldur's Gate 3 filled London's Royal Festival Hall.

Dan Lazarides, vice-president for marketing at SEGA West EMEA told BBC Newsbeat he thought the partnership would be a good way to get his game in front of new audiences who might not have considered playing it before.

"The Shin Megami Tensei series is well known for its amazing soundtracks, so what better place to be some of the first people to play the game than at this legendary rock festival."

Not everyone is convinced though.

Following Download's announcement on X, one user simply replied: "I think you're mistaken; this is a music festival."