The Shin Megami Everything Thread

[M.Knight]

cj_iwakura : Most if not all bosses are very difficult are will require some preperation, but I don't think the dungeons themselves are that relentless. Whenever you discover a new one, it is a bit tricky to survive indeed. However, you quickly gain a few levels and can survive the enemy encounters without too much trouble. Besides, the Demon Co-Op system can't be used against you, unlike Press Turn or Smirk.
Though it's also possible that I explored a bit more than what was required to progress in the main story by doing sidequests and collecting stuff, thus putting me out of the intended difficulty curve.

Blinge : Haven't played EO so I can't really compare; however, keep in mind that SJ autocompletes the map for you whenever you walk on a new tile instead of forcing you to draw it yourself. That aspect is why I am not interested in EO games but if it is a major draw for you, SJ may be a let down in that regard.

Squire : I wouldn't listen to the soundtrack on its own as I am not too fond of orchestral music, but it really works wonders in-game!
Meguro is indeed very proficient.

[Blinge]

Blinge : Haven't played EO so I can't really compare; however, keep in mind that SJ autocompletes the map for you whenever you walk on a new tile instead of forcing you to draw it yourself. That aspect is why I am not interested in EO games but if it is a major draw for you, SJ may be a let down in that regard.

Well, EO fills out the floor tiles for you at least.. So you still have the basic outline of the map/where you've been.
It isn't a draw for me at all anymore after playing EO1.

[BryanM]

however, keep in mind that SJ autocompletes the map for you whenever you walk on a new tile instead of forcing you to draw it yourself. That aspect is why I am not interested in EO games

heh, they're literally the same engine

It's ok if you don't like fighting giant cartoon cosmic space monsters while metal Sega Genesis music plays

[soprano1]

It's ok if you don't like fighting giant cartoon cosmic space monsters while metal Sega Genesis music plays

Well, it's modified PC-88 music, but whatever, it's still great.
I'm excited for the remake of SJ, but what's with headphones girl? Also, let this song play like the original:
https://soundcloud.com/nemos5/shin-mega ... le-1-theme

[Squire Grooktook]

however, keep in mind that SJ autocompletes the map for you whenever you walk on a new tile instead of forcing you to draw it yourself. That aspect is why I am not interested in EO games

heh, they're literally the same engine

It's ok if you don't like fighting giant cartoon cosmic space monsters while metal Sega Genesis music plays

>Be a cute monk girl
>Literally punch cthulhu to death

EO3 is indeed the best game in the genre.

[qmish]

Original Strange Journey was actually a Kazuma Kaneko child, regarding everything. After commercial failure, Atlus never gave any big projects to him anymore; and he said that "he opens road to younger developers".

While Masayuki Doi doing well (his skills improved from SMT4 to SMT4A pretty much), there is still many things that only Kaneko can do, and do better... So, afaik, Deep Strange Journey not using Kaneko at all. Which is questionable; as, it's not only about monster designs, but overall stuff including thematics and plot.

[Squire Grooktook]

Doi's artwork is solid, but indeed there's no replacing Kaneko. I don't think the series will feel quite the same without him, and I really hope (perhaps naively) that he'll take the reigns for the switch project.

[soprano1]

That's sad...

[Blinge]

EO3 is indeed the best game in the genre.

Yup better than Trash in the Sky

[Squire Grooktook]

Wrong sub-genre!

[Blinge]

The art of baiting knows no genre

actually, what would you call this sub-genre?

[Immryr]

First person dungeon crawler?

[Blinge]

Does it need a word to denote lack of action/realtime tho

[Durandal]

Move the degenerated Wizardry clones over, the true incline that has been in the making for over 20 years will grace the human species THIS year:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =893772412

[MX7]

The difficulty is gonna be nerfed to hell. Bar none, SJ is the hardest SMT game ever made.

Is SJ that hard? I found every mainline megaten much MUCH harder except IV and maybe Kyuakuyu (haven't played If...). My girlfriend hadn't even heard of a dungeon crawler before playing it and she finished it in less than a fortnight.

[ZellSF]

Atlus is going all Nintendo on streamers:
http://atlus.com/note-persona-5-streaming/

[BryanM]

A yootoober I watch occasionally, because she translates obscure games that'll never get localized here, already got slammed once by this one.

It's... aggravating. Had nothing but goodwill for Atlus prior to today.

What's so shocking beyond 7/7 that I'm not allowed to hear about, Atttttlus? Does the game suddenly undergo a genre shift, like into a farming dating sim ala Harvest Moon? I'm doubting it.

Call me crazy, but I think they're gonna lose more sales from Playstation 3 emulation than Sally Weaboostein advertising for them for free. Sigh. Business majors.

[MX7]

Keep reading on Twitter about how abominable p5's English translation is. Feel really bad for the people who've waited years for this

[ZellSF]

A yootoober I watch occasionally, because she translates obscure games that'll never get localized here, already got slammed once by this one.

It's... aggravating. Had nothing but goodwill for Atlus prior to today.

I lost my goodwill for Atlus when they were the first (and only) company to release a region locked PS3 game.

Though I don't particularly base my buying decisions on goodwill, so I'm still going to buy Persona 5, I'm just waiting for the standard edition in Europe. I don't want the limited steelbook launch edition. I think someone is misunderstanding what a limited edition is when you can't even find the regular edition.

[Cata]

Keep reading on Twitter about how abominable p5's English translation is. Feel really bad for the people who've waited years for this

I'm only about 4 hours or so in and for the most part the translation is alright. There are definitely some sentences that feel very stilted but Id say I have a bigger problem with the memeifying they have done with some of the main characters dialogue options. I cringe almost every time I see a "You jelly?" or "Because reasons" option show up

[iconoclast]

Finished Persona 5 earlier (132 hours on Hard difficulty). Probably the best RPG I've ever played. Maybe the best game this gen, too (it's either this or Bayonetta 2).

All of my complaints are pretty minor:
- I like the structure of the game, but sometimes it starts to drag. There are periods where you shouldn't do anything but advance the story, complete social links, and improve your stats for like 6-10 hours. Sometimes I just want to fight some enemies, but it's better to wait for the right opportunity to enter a dungeon. I think the only way they could fix this is if they forced you to go into a dungeon several times before you could complete it, but that would probably draw even more complaints. I just accept this as an inherent flaw with the system. It can't be helped.
- Baton Pass is a great mechanic. New party members not having it by default is bad and dumb.
- Being able to buy an accessory that has Invigorate 3 kinda breaks the balance. I didn't really care about any of the accessories I got afterward since none of them were going to be better than getting 7 SP back every turn.
- Guns feel underdeveloped. Not being able to refill your ammo was a bad move imo. That made me never want to use them unless a demon was weak to it. In fact, I never even bought a new gun from the shop because I used them so rarely. (Persona gun skills + passives are godlike tho. Game-breaking levels of OP.)
- I wish there were more BGM options for Mementos. Maybe the DLC helps.

I guess that's about it. Awesome game.

[BryanM]

Oi, what was always overpowered as hell were those accessories in 3 and 4 that increase your maximum HP by 30%. The entire battle system revolves around "don't die in 1 hit", and if you don't die in one hit, just cast a healing spell and everything's fine.

I have a bigger problem with the memeifying they have done with some of the main characters dialogue options. I cringe almost every time I see a "You jelly?" or "Because reasons" option show up

Those Dr. Scholl's ads are over 12 years old now. People don't even watch TV anymore!

Remember the REALULTIMATEPOWER references in Final Fantasy 4 on the GBA? That'll definitely be timeless and classy forever.

[cj iwakura]

Original Strange Journey was actually a Kazuma Kaneko child, regarding everything. After commercial failure, Atlus never gave any big projects to him anymore; and he said that "he opens road to younger developers".

SJ wasn't a failure... it sold through almost all its first shipment. It just was understocked, so they couldn't meet demand, and then people lost interest.

The difficulty is gonna be nerfed to hell. Bar none, SJ is the hardest SMT game ever made.

Is SJ that hard? I found every mainline megaten much MUCH harder except IV and maybe Kyuakuyu (haven't played If...). My girlfriend hadn't even heard of a dungeon crawler before playing it and she finished it in less than a fortnight.

I thought so. SJ was much tougher than Nocturne for me. Nocturne is broken city by endgame. SJ never loses its fangs.

[soprano1]

I'm playing Apocalypse, can't stop fusing demons. Mido's robotic voice is both haunting and fun to hear. I didn't like the character art from IV, but the design seems better here (MC looks a bit durr though). Music does it's job, but it just doesn't have the atmosphere that SJ has.

[qmish]

Tastes differ...
Though i'd say vanilla smt4 has better music than Apocalypse.

[cj iwakura]

Tastes differ...
Though i'd say vanilla smt4 has better music than Apocalypse.

Well yeah, Apocalypse is mostly music from IV.

The few new tracks are amazing though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBEBjsfhJjI

That's been my ringtone since beating it, and that Polytheistic Alliance battle...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5XZzTq_gzI

[BulletMagnet]

Odd question for anyone who'll take it: I'm currently playing Persona 5, and mostly enjoying myself. The reason I bring it up is that I also have 3 and 4 laying around, but was never able to persuade myself to get very far in them, mainly because the whole "limited time" setup tends to stick in my craw; I always felt like if I wasn't using a guide (which I strongly prefer to avoid when gaming) to know precisely what was coming in advance I was more than likely somehow screwing myself out of doing the right things to progress, and would eventually paint myself into an unfixable corner and have to restart.

For whatever it's worth, while 5 obviously hasn't gotten rid of every such element that annoys me ("hey-o, sudden one-time dialogue option you can only utilize if you happen to have built up a certain social stat enough!"), but at least when it comes to basic dungeon progression the "fixed" layouts at least give you a general idea of "if you can get to the end and can deal with the critters along the way you're in decent shape and can take some time to focus on other things" to go on, which goes a long way towards letting me just sit back and relax without worrying too much about not being able to read the designers' minds.

So, now the actual question, for anyone who knows the series better than me: being the type of person/player/mental patient described above, do I really have any incentive to go back and play P3/4 at some point, or will their vagueness/impenetrability make it more worth hoping the series continues to go in 5's direction for future entries?

[BryanM]

So, now the actual question, for anyone who knows the series better than me: being the type of person/player/mental patient described above, do I really have any incentive to go back and play P3/4 at some point, or will their vagueness/impenetrability make it more worth hoping the series continues to go in 5's direction for future entries?

It's impossible to get stuck in either game, to the point of having an invalid save file. The story bosses in 3 are exponentially weaker than their counterparts in the tower. And you have infinite time to grind EXP on your hero the night before those fights. If you derp the entire month away in 4 and let your friends get murdered, it sends you back in time a week so you can be less derpy.

The hardest part of these later games in the series, is overcoming your OCD instinct to maximize all social links. You'll be absolutely miserable if you do this, if you're a normal human. Only bother with NPCs you like - once you're done with the game and move on, your life won't be any different if you don't have some super rare, hard to get Pokemon on your save file.

[iconoclast]

The time limit is really not an issue. You can finish every dungeon in Persona 3 and 4 in 1 day (take 2 if you're not confident), then you have the rest of the month to advance your social links or do whatever.

If you have any interest in Persona 3, I'd recommend playing it before 4 or 5. It's hard to go back to once you get used to the newer games because they made so many improvements to every game mechanic. Especially since you can't even control your party members in 3 (you can in P3 Portable, but FES is still way better).

[BulletMagnet]

Thanks for the insight; not sure if/when I'll have the inclination to go back, but it's nice to know that getting irreparably stuck isn't a huge concern.

The hardest part of these later games in the series, is overcoming your OCD instinct to maximize all social links. You'll be absolutely miserable if you do this, if you're a normal human.

Playing without a guide I'm already resigned to missing some stuff, so as long as I feel like I haven't been prevented from seeing a good-sized overall chunk of what the game has to offer while playing "blind" I'll be satisfied. As it happens, just before starting P5 I finished Yakuza 0 with 80-something percent completion, which was fine, because I'll be darned if I sit around playing a dozen different gambling minigames over and over to push it any higher...then again, back in the day I ground the heck out of Nocturne and got the bestiary up to 97% or something, so I guess I'm not completely immune, heh.

If you have any interest in Persona 3, I'd recommend playing it before 4 or 5. It's hard to go back to once you get used to the newer games because they made so many improvements to every game mechanic.

I guess that's my main remaining concern at this point, especially since I tend to value nuts-and-bolts mechanics over story even in my RPGs, but if I ever get the hankering to go for the older titles (heck, I never finished the PS1 titles either) I'll figure out how much I can take one way or the other.