Our journey’s end awaits just beyond these grand doors. It’s time to end the Millennium Kingdom once and for all.
This must be YHVH’s throne.
At least we’re all in one piece. Ready, Nanashi?
Turn back, those who defy the will of God. You walk along the path to destruction.
Only eternal suffering lies ahead for you.
When has that stopped us before?
As we keep running upward, the ominous voice (which is certainly YHVH, as we’ve kinda killed everyone else who it might be) continues to attempt to warn us off.
You come here seduced by the words of a demon. I know all that’s befallen you thus far.
Go back now, and I shall show you mercy and forgive your trespasses.
Can’t go back now. We’re still heading forward.
You cannot possibly comprehend my nature. All things exist because I do. To destroy me would be to destroy your world.
You, who were once nothing more than dust. I offer you one final opportunity to turn back.
Nope.
YHVH’s form here is a direct 3D rendering of his appearance in Shin Megami Tensei II, and it’s pretty impressive. All aglow, way bigger than Nanashi, and generally a shiny golden god.
You probably know about YHVH. Be he referred to as Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai, The Lord of Hosts, or simply God…well, he’s kind of a big deal. The name YHVH/YHWH itself is also referred to as the Tetragrammaton, being the name of God made up of the Hebrew letters Yod, He, Vav/Waw, and He again. The chief god of the Hebrew kingdoms of Judah and Samaria, YHVH first evolved from elements of El and Baal Hadad, including having El’s wife Asherah as a consort goddess. From that polytheism eventually came henotheism, and from henotheism was born monotheism, leading to the three Abrahamic faiths and their interpretations of God we know today. Presumably you don’t need an introduction to those.
I am infinity. The Supreme Being. The embodiment of law and order.
You disturb my realm, trample my design?
We have ignored your design to follow the path we feel is right.
We fight to build a world where weak humans will not lose their way!
Suddenly, the background goes from pitch black to a glowing array of angry faces. Every speck of light upon the horizon, yet another lighthouse YHVH.
Mankind is weak. Without guidance, you would wander astray. You are not equipped to walk your own path.
That sounds like a challenge. And all our allies definitely take it that way, giving a little speech one by one.
Perhaps, but I do not walk alone. I believe in my bonds with people!
We believe in the power of the people!
I can’t do much alone. But with friends, I can do anything.
You’ll never move forward while you’re forced to walk someone else’s path. You have to carve out your own.
And together, people can motivate one another to push on. Humanity is with us now.
Because we’re weak, we try to be strong. If you’re stopping us from doing so, then I’ll deal with you.
We’re walking our own path, one we believe in. And not even you can stop us.
We each have different reasons that brought us here, but our intentions are one and the same.
I am the arbiter… God, I shall test whether you are worthy of your throne.
And then after a glowing light goes across the screen…
Walter! Jonathan!
Hoy, Flynn. It’s been a while since we fought together, especially looking as I once did.
Flynn. Allow me to lend you my strength as a fellow Samurai.
Isabeau, you better get over here, too.
Yes. It’s not quite the same without you.
Honestly… You three never change!
No, they aren’t. Shut up and get in the back of the line you little lima bean.
Does your sinful arrogance know no bounds that you would dare defy me, Satan?
Vey well. You shall no longer be under my protection. You will find no rest.
When I defeat you, I will replace all of humanity with more obedient servants.
Final Boss Battle!: YHVH 
You are immediately thrown into the battle, YHVH getting to move first. All of his animations are kind of amazing, though they’re technically mostly based on SMT II sprites. His first action is to double up on Luster Candy and then waste an action waiting to see what happens. Also, his boss theme is, appropriately, called “One Who Stands Against God”.
Your presence is felt everywhere in this world, this unchanging reality.
But you choose to exist outside this world, simply watching…
Why is that?
It is not as though I sat idly by. I suffered just the same as you.
I am always by your side. Your joy is my joy, your grief my grief.
The faithful walk together with me. That is the guidance I provide. That is the salvation I offer.
Would you cast aspersions on me, your Father? Label me guilty to claim your own innocence?
You use demons as a scapegoat for everyone’s suffering and then call whatever’s left hope.
You hide the truth and demand blind faith from people… That’s what you do.
Are you that jealous of humans? Or just afraid?
Yes. He feared humanity.
YHVH apparently has a fragile ego, because rebuking him causes the screen to crack briefly and all of his myriad heads to shudder.
I see – so this is humanity’s power of understanding.
By denying YHVH as the One True God, you dethrone him. You bring him to the same level as a demon.
It won’t be easy, but it’s the only shot we have at beating him.
I’ll lend you my power, kid. Let’s drag him from that throne.
Unsurprisingly, YHVH breaks the level cap. He also resists everything (though that doesn’t matter much to Mr. “I Pierce Everything” over here).
One of the gimmicks of the final showdown with YHVH is that you control two parties. You’ve got you and your demons, then the party of Flynn, Walter, Jonathan, and Isabeau. Of course, YHVH gets to act against both groups in between switching, so he’s not taking this double party bullshit lying down.
To impugn me is to impugn existence itself. You would be tying your own rope…
And yet, I still love and pity you, my ignorant children. Repent, and your sins shall be forgiven.
I offer my hand to any and all who believe in me. Have faith and you shall receive my blessing.
After those statements, he double-casts Debilitate on Flynn’s party and then wastes his third action again.
Each of Flynn’s party members has skills, because it would be a bit silly to fight with them if they didn’t. Flynn himself is kitted out with Antichthon, Energy Drain, Me Patra, Mediarahan, Samarecarm, and a unique skill called Godslayer’s Sword. Godslayer’s Sword is always considered to be strong against YHVH, guaranteeing a critical hit and free Press Turn with its use, and also breaks one of his resistances. If Flynn hits the same damage type twice, it’ll go from resistant to neutral to weak, giving you a knife to shove in.
As for the others, Isabeau has the skills she does as a partner, Jonathan uses Judgment Light, Riot Gun, Zandyne, Samarecarm, Concentrate, Dekaja, and Merkabah’s unique skill Chariot, and Walter has Agidyne, Berserker God, Myriad Arrows, Critical Eye, Debilitate, Dekaja, Magaon, and Lucifer’s unique skill Evil Gleam.
For his part, on top of the already shown Luster Candy and Debilitate, YHVH’s packing a bunch of unique skills. Divine Wave is straight up Berserker God with a different name, though, so not much to that. Especially when Mara and Shiva both drain Physical damage and can rob YHVH of his turn as a result (take a wild guess at what he did his very first time attacking).
After dealing 2,000 damage, you are told that things would be easier if you just dick-punched YHVH’s ego more. The first three partners we are given the option of using to tell him off are Asahi, Navarre, and Hallelujah. We’ll start with Asahi.
You judge people’s worth on how much they believe in you, obey you…
But is that all we are, to you? Are we really worthless if we don’t have value to you?
I mean, just because I’m weak and I have to rely on others doesn’t mean that I’m worthless.
My friends helped me realize that I alone decide the value of my life.
YHVH’s preachings of forgiveness are denied.
You may notice that after the denial, a few of YHVH’s faces are gone. This hasn’t done anything for now, but its time will come. This trippy screen is for another unique skill, by the by: Mouth of God, which is basically a coin toss Almighty skill that either does nothing or instakills.
YHVH also has skills that are equivalent to the Ma-dyne spells plus Pierce for the appropriate element. There’s Tornado of God for Force, Lightning of God for Electricity, Hailstorm of God for Ice, and Inferno of God for Fire. As you can see, he really gets into casting them too.
Speaking of tornados, though, YHVH unfortunately got himself Godslayer Sworded into being weak to Force, so the gang was able to tear into him and get him down to 6,000 HP, the next threshold for rebuking him. Might as well go right down the list and have Navarre go next.
That’s not love. It’s empty pity.
If you really loved them, you’d motivate them, give them a good swift kick in the rear.
Oh, Navarre… Completely missing the point.
YHVH’s preachings of benevolence are denied.
Right back into the fight after the second rebuking, YHVH starts pulling out more new skills. Divine Harmony straight-up wipes the slate clean: it’s Dekaja, Dekunda, target-all Magaon, and reversal of Doping all in one.
Holy Stigmata is a single-target attack that deals severe Physical damage and inflicts Brand. Oh boy, Brand. That particular ailment straightforwardly stops you from being able to heal whoever is inflicted with it; you can technically waste a Media type spell, but it just heals 1 HP and refuses to go any higher as long as the target is branded.
Brand appeared back in Shin Megami Tensei IV’s archangel battle DLC, where you could actually attain it from one of the archangels when you beat them and subsequently fused them. Here, however, it’s an enemy-exclusive ailment.
At 6,500 HP, it’s time for Hallelujah to take the roasting stand. I’m sure he can do better than Navarre.
If I see a kid crying, I help them.
But all you do is watch. There’s no reason to believe in you.
You demand so much without giving anything in return. How is that right?
YHVH’s preachings of fairness are denied.
After taking 11,000 or so HP of damage, YHVH chomps down and immediately drops your entire party to 1 HP.
Because I am always with you, I know what has led you to me.
Tempted by demons, stirred by your allies – it is only natural that you would inevitably come before me.
I offer you one last chance: sever ties and become my servant, or burn in the depths of Hell.
The choice is yours.
You can offer to join YHVH, but he’ll straight up kill you immediately for being an untrustworthy allegiance-shifter, so it’s not really a bad end so much as a “you fucked up”. So Nanashi’s having no part of that.
This is, as so many times before, an Assist Gauge increase.
Very well, my cursed child. Have your wish. My lightning shall send you screaming to Hell.
There you shall burn, awash in suffering, bound to your original sin for all eternity.
YHVH’s glare freezes you in place.
This is a combo of an unblockable Makajamaon and Debilitate. Unfortunate, but since we have a maxed Assist Gauge it means we have time to repair ourselves from this hazard.
At 13,000 HP down, it’s time for more rebuking courtesy of Nozomi, Gaston, or Toki. As you can see, I’m still just going down the list in order each time it pops up.
Your existence prevents the emergence of new gods. That means humanity can’t progress on their own accord.
With you around, reigning over our fate, we’re left with no means to find our own path.
YHVH’s preachings of freedom are denied.
By this point we’ve really pissed off YHVH, and he’s bringing out even more new skills. Miracle reduces a party’s HP to 1 during combat rather than as a cutscene.
Still, we can’t be stopped. Just gonna keep rebuking until he breaks, this second to last party member denial of his might coming at 17,000 or so HP of damage dealt.
I see now that you spin lies to fool the weak-minded into believing they’re your “chosen” people.
Elitism leads to decadence. Nothing good comes out of pitying each other.
Your very existence debases humanity! You’re the Unclean One!
YHVH’s preachings of purity are denied.
At 20,000 HP, YHVH’s looking a little roughed up, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he looks toward the ground (for what measure a featureless void can have a ground). Our sixth and final rebuke is now ready.
But your forgiveness is empty. The only thing it accomplishes is to hide your believers’ weaknesses.
I learned that one’s weakness should be changed, not hidden.
Whoever believes in your forgiveness only becomes weaker. Who’d want that?
Keep your compassion to yourself. Don’t toy with us humans.
YHVH’s preachings of compassion are denied.
As one of his last desperate moves, YHVH brings out Smile Charge, making a creepy smile when he casts it. You absolutely, positively want to use Magaon before he takes any further actions if you don’t want to get trashed.
And his very last ace in the hole is Authoritative Stance. In a bid to slow you down, this skill strips you of three of your four Press Turns for the next turn.
Unfortunately for him, we prevailed. At around 24,000 HP of damage smashed into his big ol’ face, YHVH begins freaking out.
And fading.
And totally doesn’t actually die, because did you really expect a JRPG boss to only have one phase? Through the cognitive quantum wizardry of Understanding/Observation, Nanashi and crew have literally demonized YHVH, transforming him into a corrupted monstrosity with the composite features of a man in pain, the head and wings of a stereotypical demon, the heads of a locust, bull, frog, snake, and goat, a scorpion tail, and a sort of weird tentacle-serpent lower body situation going on. Don’t ask me what exactly it all means, because I’m not sure. Some of those things could be tied to the ten plagues of the Exodus, but that still leaves the scorpion tail and weird lower body.
I asked only that you take the life I granted you and obediently follow my word.
The weight of your blasphemy is too great for death. Eternal suffering is the only suitable punishment.
As in his first phase, YHVH gets to go first, wasting a Press Turn being mad as hell.
Of course, he makes up for it immediately after. Demon YHVH loses Divine Wave, Miracle, Luster Candy and Debilitate, and Authoritative Stance, but gains some new skills to compensate. One is Infinite Power, which is a combination of Smile Charge and three Luster Candies at once. It also has an opposite in Unending Curse, which is three Debilitates at once. The game is at least kind enough to have him waste a Press Turn on Scorn again immediately after, giving you a chance to Magaon him before he plows your face into stardust.
Looking at him on our first turn, we can see that demon YHVH hasn’t gained any more levels. He has, however, reset all of his resistances and had alterations to his skill list.
While Divine Wave may be gone, YHVH has attained two new physical skills upon transformation. Crush deals severe Physical damage to a foe, so it’s nothing too fancy (though it hurts like hell).
Rampage, on the other hand, is something and a half. It dealssix to eight strikes of medium Physical damage to random foes, which hits hard given his +5 affinity to every damage type he wields.
If being attacked with Physical strikes doesn’t phase your party, there’s always Supernova here, which deals severe Almighty damage to all foes.
Planned Chaos is single-target and deals only medium Almighty damage, but it also has a chance of inflicting Bind, Charm, and/or Panic.
Finally, there’s Black Hole, which sucks up a huge chunk of your party’s MP.
At around 14,500 damage, demon YHVH interrupts the battle for the first time.
How will you repent for a sin this grave? Do you think yourself capable of carrying that cross?
Praise my name, before it is too late! Praise my glory!
He’s finally revealed his true nature…
Falling from grace… The same fate that befell the other gods has finally come to him.
I’m tired of your restrictions. Humans can become stronger if they aren’t held back by you.
Your words are empty and meaningless. I will show you the power of action!
It seem that miffed him off a bit. You know, just a tad.
At 30,000 or so HP of damage dealt, demon YHVH attempts once again to threaten the party into backing down.
Your so-called truth makes me nauseous.
Enough of this, kid. Put an end to him with your own two hands!
End this, so the fairies and humans can finally live in freedom!
This ought to prove child’s play, for you. Show him our power!
I shall cede the stage, just this once. Flaunt your magnificence, for the sake of the people.
You’ve gotta tie this one up. Do it for the people of Tokyo.
I believe in you… Don’t let me down!
Go, Nanashi!
How could mere humans surpass gods and destroy even me, your Creator?
No, this is not the end. You’ve only led yourself further astray.
Humans are weak. You cannot live without my law, my order. You need something to believe in.
But now, you’ve debased my truths, and so I shall slip from the minds of humans.
Humanity will inevitably lose its way and long for salvation. Then…you shall regret this decision…
And with that, YHVH explodes into a blinding white light. The battle is over. All that remains is to see our victory’s results and the journey’s end.
Welcome… What a pleasure to see you… Is that what you expect me to say?
I’ve been waiting for you.
Yeah, seems we’re just in time.
We owe you so much.
You, who rebel against the divine will, listen well.
Wait. They’re back, kid.
S-So, uh… H-hold out your hands.
We are, but…
Where are Walter and Jonathan?!
Nrgh…
Thank you.
The Axiom is the binding force of the universe…
That’s quite a responsibility.
You know what, I think we’re up to it.
My sincerest thanks to you. Dagda…
What do you hope to gain from this? What do you think lies down that path?
Hello there.
So, you were a pawn of the demons after all.
Damn you… How could you kill the new boss?
You are a vile imposter who threatens our training ground – this universe.
You’re just that demon’s pawn after all! You lied to us!
You think the Ashura-kai would let you get away with that?
In accordance with the Samurai code, we shall execute you for your crimes against this world!
Past here is a twist… Another Tokyo…
The fear of death changes its form many times!
You must be confident in your abilities to have made it this far.
You must want to fight me.
It seems our paths have crossed.
