The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
Post Reply
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

I think, tonally, the problem with the two SMT IV:A endings is
Spoiler
it's either full anime POWER OF FRIENDSHIP or straight up pitch-black "kill everyone and make your waifu your brainwashed slave".
Calling it jarring is a bit of an understatement, especially since either way,
Spoiler
you either brainwash Dagda, or one of your friends.
Which is sad, because IV:A was great until that point, and they especially dropped the ball on the Divine Powers having an interesting throughline.
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

Yep, you either get
Spoiler
The Persona Ending™ or the Edgelord 13-Year-Old's Chuunibyou DeviantArt Fanfiction Ending™.
I see what they were going for, but it's just... not good at all either way lol
Spoiler
I don't remember exactly, but does Steven condemn your actions during the one time he shows up in Massacre after you murder everyone? I know he shows up and acts totally different from how he normally does, but I don't remember if he's like "FUCK YEAH GENOCIDE~" or "why the fuck did you murder everyone?". I somehow get the feeling that he was going along with it because it was too late even though he thought it was wrong or something like that, but I forgot.
A lot of people were probably very rightfully concerned for SMT V after this. I certainly was, but it turned out that V barely has a story and characters at all, although I'm still uncertain about whether or not that's an improvement.
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

Yeah, for all of IV's flaws, and they are many, it's Shakespeare compared to V.

Vengeance didn't help much either, it just added MORE problems.

I think Apocalypse could have been fixed if there was a more nuanced third ending where you
Spoiler
don't brainwash anyone
, without going to either extreme.
Spoiler
Dagda gets to be himself, you don't murder everyone, but the ending is a bit messier as a result. That's the kind of thing I'd do in an Apocalypse V-2, given the chance.
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

cj iwakura wrote: Sat Jul 26, 2025 3:38 am
Spoiler
Dagda gets to be himself, you don't murder everyone, but the ending is a bit messier as a result. That's the kind of thing I'd do in an Apocalypse V-2, given the chance.
Spoiler
This could probably work as a Krishna route type of thing if they really wanted to make it, although I don't think a Krishna route would really fit into the existing game too well without feeling forced, so they'd have to rewrite a decent chunk of the game to make it work, most likely. You'd also probably still end up fighting Dagda like immediately upon siding with Krishna, too. The problem is that I don't really see a reason for Danu to not make a new, non-crazy Dagda after that just like Bonds, though. There also isn't really any reason to kill Danu just to prevent her from making a new non-crazy Dagda since she's otherwise just kind of there, so yeah, it would be a mess.
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

I deeeed it! finally hahah
jesus F christ

used Shiva, Samael, Demiurge.

samael doping then asahi picking up the heals for me. she lasted the whole fight.
Honestly this last attempt now i was so beefed up, and holding more great chakras.. went pretty smoothly.

The hardest part was managing the death of Flynn et al. like.. you can't just make them disappear instantly, i was hoping they'd die on a turn where the boss didn't smirk and buff himself but he bloody did.
He then wiped out most of my party's health, killed Samael but i managed to get him back in the game in short order,
the rest was history.

At one point my lvl 76 anubis had to come out because he was the only one with Mudo skills :lol:
Flynn didn't get me good openings. The boss was never weak to phys or gun. just light dark fire and force. Nanashi and 2 others had force tho, shiva just deckd him lol.
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

Feels good to finish that last boss, doesn't it? Sometimes it's just going to be easier/harder than other times because weaknesses are random and there is literally nothing you can do about it but get lucky or use something that has Pierce. It would be a lot easier if every demon could do every element like before, but now that MP costs are very high and having a negative affinity for an element makes MP costs even worse, it's not worth wasting skill slots on stuff that demons are terrible at and will only be able to use once or twice before they run out of MP.

So now you get to do it again for the other ending, I guess. Warning if you decide to do Phys/Gun: this game doesn't work the same way that IV does regarding these elements. STR and DEX are now separated and STR only affects Phys skills + your normal attack and DEX only affects your Gun skills + shoot command, so it is probably better to do either Phys or Gun and not both. Not sure if this is better or worse than IV having DEX work for both of them and STR being basically useless. I think your equipped weapons affect Phys and Gun skill damage now too, unlike IV, where they only affected the damage of your attack and shoot commands and not skills, which was really a strange decision. I think Gun build is better than Phys build for Nanashi because of elemental ammo, which Phys doesn't have an equivalent to, and of course the stat split means you can't really do both at the same time very well. Then again maybe I'm forgetting something and DEX Nanashi is actually terrible and STR is the way to go.
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

oh hell naw i'm done with the game.
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

Awful experience, isn't it? I might suffer through it again once I am done with my current playthrough of IV, which I resumed yesterday after having had way more than enough of V. I never got one of the bad endings. I forgot which one, but it has two bad endings. I guess Massacre is bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Bonds is also bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Damn, this game has nothing but bad endings.
User avatar
Sima Tuna
Posts: 2365
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Sima Tuna »

I will never play Apocalypse again.

Next time I get the urge to SMT, I will play Nocturne, DDS, Strange Journey, SMT2, Persona 1, SMT 4 original... Anything but not 4A.

I don't remember if I said SMT V was worse than 4A back when I first played it, but I doubt it is. It can't be. 4A tried to fix the broken gameplay from SMTIV but somehow failed and made it even worse.
Spoiler
The main broken aspect of gameplay is the fuckstupid bullshit known as Smirk, plus the lack of a defense stat in SMT IV. In 4A, they somewhat fixed the defense stat lack (you don't take a billion damage from everything all the time) but they BUFFED smirks...
User avatar
BryanM
Posts: 6474
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:46 am

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by BryanM »

Sima Tuna wrote: Tue Jul 29, 2025 3:31 amAnything but not 4A.

How about some Majin Tensei? It'd be neat to have someone to talk to about this thing.

"The art's really cool but what's with the rest of this shit?"

Wyvern Knights will always be overpowered, they just can't help themselves. Everyone knows rocks beat the shit out of everything else, what's some paper gonna do to a rock?
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

How about Ronde? There's always Ronde!
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

Steven wrote: Tue Jul 29, 2025 12:52 am Awful experience, isn't it? I might suffer through it again once I am done with my current playthrough of IV, which I resumed yesterday after having had way more than enough of V. I never got one of the bad endings. I forgot which one, but it has two bad endings. I guess Massacre is bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Bonds is also bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Damn, this game has nothing but bad endings.
Spoiler
Eh? everyone went about their happy little lives and were smiling at the end.
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

Blinge wrote: Tue Jul 29, 2025 2:39 pm
Steven wrote: Tue Jul 29, 2025 12:52 am Awful experience, isn't it? I might suffer through it again once I am done with my current playthrough of IV, which I resumed yesterday after having had way more than enough of V. I never got one of the bad endings. I forgot which one, but it has two bad endings. I guess Massacre is bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Bonds is also bad enough to probably be a bad ending. Damn, this game has nothing but bad endings.
Spoiler
Eh? everyone went about their happy little lives and were smiling at the end.
Spoiler
I know that there are absolutely crazy anti-Persona SMT people that hate this ending because it's "The Persona Ending" or something like that, which is also why they hate all of Nanashi's friends, who they claim don't belong in SMT at all and only deserve to be in Persona. It's kind of super dumb because while this game's original characters that were not in SMT IV largely do admittedly suck aside from Dagda, it was a good idea because this series as a collective whole could honestly use better writing for its characters. See: SMT V.

In-game, isn't YHVH still going to return eventually, therefore meaning that this ending is only a temporary solution and the problem still remains? It's been too long, but I think it was something like that.
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

Honestly i don't know but it seemed pretty... Final.
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
User avatar
ryu
Posts: 2286
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 6:43 pm
Contact:

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by ryu »

For what it's worth, the annual Atlus survey is up:

https://p-ch.jp/enquete2025_en/ (english)
https://p-ch.jp/enquete2025_jp/ (japanese)

Atlthough this one seems a lot less direct than the last I answered (which asked if users were interested in remakes).
blog - scores - collection
Don't worry about it. You can travel from the Milky Way to Andromeda and back 1500 times before the sun explodes.
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

Stopped by Book Off yesterday to buy Tales of Hearts R, but I found something interesting: the PSP version of Persona 2 Batsu.

It was 9000 yen.

That's a lot of cash for a used Japanese PSP game. Lots of (most?) PSP games are in the 2000 yen range and below, so it's very interesting to see a rare and expensive game like this. I don't even want to know how much the English versions of the PSP Persona games cost now. Those UMDs are quite fragile, too, so there's no way I'd pay that much for a used 20-year old UMD.
User avatar
Mortificator
Posts: 2895
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:13 am
Location: A star occupied by the Bydo Empire

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Mortificator »

Started SMT4. Was pleasantly surprised when Flynn went down and the battle still continued. Still got wiped four times by randos in the first dungeon.

Doing a web search to see if I suck now, I see a lot of people saying the game has a rough start. Which would be fine, except I also see people saying it has an inverted difficulty curve, and I'm not feeling excited about going through a lengthy RPG where the most challenging gameplay was in the first hour. Any thoughts from our experienced summoners?
RegalSin wrote:You can't even drive across the country Naked anymore
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

I have about 8 or 9 playthroughs done and about 500 to 600 hours played. It's really good on the highest difficulty. You have to beat the game to unlock that, so I imagine most people haven't bothered to play it. I don't remember how it is on the default difficulty. It's been too long. I don't remember it being super easy like people make it out to be, though.

You've probably already noticed, but make sure to play with the highest quality headphones you have and/or that you can obtain because holy shit that soundtrack. Don't skip the glorious title screen music just because it's title screen music! It's one of the best tracks in the game!

I wrote a small thing of general advice that isn't really related to anything. Obviously don't read it if you want to figure it out for yourself.
Spoiler
There are three types of demons: balanced, HP type, and MP type. It's probably not worth bothering with HP type in most cases because their MP is too small for them to be anything but an extra press turn.

People will criticize the game for not having a defense stat, and it doesn't, but equipment, especially pants, gives you HP boosts, so that's your defense stat equivalent. I've done default equipment-only playthroughs just fine on the highest difficulty setting, so you can work with whatever if you know what you're doing. You probably can't afford new equipment at the beginning anyway.

Don't bother with buying weapons. They only make your Attack and Shoot commands (yeah, the ones you almost never use) stronger, not skills. If you have a phys/gun build, buying bazookas + appropriate elemental ammo can help with bosses.

Don't bother with the STR stat. DEX does everything that STR does but better. Only exception is that there is a certain door with the most powerful... something that I forgot... in the game that you can only open if you have at least 100 STR. I think that's only on one specific route, though, so if you aren't on that route, or of you're magic instead of phys/gun, don't worry about it. Phys/gun build is super fun BTW, definitely try it at some point.

Get Healing Knowhow. It's way better than using Recarm, Samarecarm, Posumudi, Amrita, etc. because it's all of those in one skill slot, provided you have items.
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

Steven wrote: Thu Oct 16, 2025 11:53 am Stopped by Book Off yesterday to buy Tales of Hearts R, but I found something interesting: the PSP version of Persona 2 Batsu.

It was 9000 yen.

That's a lot of cash for a used Japanese PSP game. Lots of (most?) PSP games are in the 2000 yen range and below, so it's very interesting to see a rare and expensive game like this. I don't even want to know how much the English versions of the PSP Persona games cost now. Those UMDs are quite fragile, too, so there's no way I'd pay that much for a used 20-year old UMD.
They're easily in the hundreds. The PS1 versions even moreso. Revelations is probably the most expensive Persona game I own by a mile.


I was at Tokyo for Comiket and actually found a couple SMT doujin artists. Got two really cool demon artbooks for like $4, good to see there's some traditional fans out there, even in a place as dense with stuff as Comiket.
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

I'm chuckling at my last few comments about SMT IV:A because i dont' remember what i was talking about or any of it. :lol:

I guess that's what it's like when gaming mostly on commuter trains and brain overloaded with shit going on otherwise.

anywho - I'm in the second 'dungeon' of HELL WORLD in Kyuyaku Megami Tensei II, because i hate myself. So far it's been.. erm. fun? but jesus fucking christ the encounter rate.

Also I've had moments of real roadblock, like the arena. minor gameplay spoilers:

There's an arena where you can send a demon in and then watch them slug it out without being able to command them. They don't even use skills, just attack. Well ignored this as I usually do ignore sideshows like that. It turns out it's mandatory, you need the prize from winning 5 arena fights to continue the game. The arena also scales with your main character . So when i moved forward with the game and cleared other dungeons, i was fucking myself.
The guides all say " use Cerberus he clears the arena easy."
Well not for me, Cerberus couldn't make it through one round for me, as the arena had scaled way higher.
I was at a loss for what to do, went back to the last dungeon i was in trying to recruit demons which is a bloody nightmare in MT2 - half the demons are always unrecruitable it seems. couple that with how often recruitment doesn't work. Running around not taking fights because i didn't want to level my Main guy anymore (fear of teh arena scaling) meant my MAG of 9000 depleted to 2000.

All of this proved moot, i couldn't fuse anything better with the new recruits. The answer was to fuse my two heaviest hitters as they were, Cerberus and some other tank.. Fortunately this gave me an Ifrit that was fast enough to hit Arena opponents 5 times for every 1. Used him to clear 3 of the fights, and managed to scrape through the other two.
it came down to last hit on the last fight...

From here I was able to progress but always at the risk of losing my ability to hold demons in stock because of my painfully low MAGicite
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
User avatar
Mortificator
Posts: 2895
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:13 am
Location: A star occupied by the Bydo Empire

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Mortificator »

Steven wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 8:20 am I have about 8 or 9 playthroughs done and about 500 to 600 hours played.
Well that's a strong endorsement if I ever heard one! I'll give it a real shake.

Only tangentially related, but I read through this thread again and... did anyone notice every post cfx has ever made in sixteen years on the forum has been replaced with a single dot???
RegalSin wrote:You can't even drive across the country Naked anymore
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

cj iwakura wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 1:40 pm
Steven wrote: Thu Oct 16, 2025 11:53 am Stopped by Book Off yesterday to buy Tales of Hearts R, but I found something interesting: the PSP version of Persona 2 Batsu.

It was 9000 yen.

That's a lot of cash for a used Japanese PSP game. Lots of (most?) PSP games are in the 2000 yen range and below, so it's very interesting to see a rare and expensive game like this. I don't even want to know how much the English versions of the PSP Persona games cost now. Those UMDs are quite fragile, too, so there's no way I'd pay that much for a used 20-year old UMD.
They're easily in the hundreds. The PS1 versions even moreso. Revelations is probably the most expensive Persona game I own by a mile.
Yeah English PS1 Persona 1 is probably super expensive. In addition to the infamous Mark danced crazy, I wonder about the quality of the rest of the translation on that version. I know some stuff got changed or removed, but I don't remember the specifics.
Blinge wrote: Sat Feb 28, 2026 9:35 am I'm chuckling at my last few comments about SMT IV:A because i dont' remember what i was talking about or any of it. :lol:

I guess that's what it's like when gaming mostly on commuter trains and brain overloaded with shit going on otherwise.
I don't remember much of it either aside from the awesome music (still listen to the OST on occasion. Large Map is great) and the last few boss fights being very difficult, especially the final boss. That final boss is just crazy.
Mortificator wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:33 am
Steven wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 8:20 am I have about 8 or 9 playthroughs done and about 500 to 600 hours played.
Well that's a strong endorsement if I ever heard one! I'll give it a real shake.
It's one of my favourite games ever somehow. Weird when you consider that I mostly despise turn-based RPGs, but there it is. It's got severe balance problems, but so does literally every main SMT game ever made except possibly Strange Journey, and IV stands at the top of the series in terms of presentation, 世界観 (I've talked about this before, but there is no true English equivalent for how this word is applied to video games; SMT IV overflows with it and is one of my default examples of games that have it; Battle Garegga is another, as are most games made by Innocent Grey), and especially music, so I'm not going to hit IV for its balance problems too much.

It has a lot of oddities and design decisions that are weird or annoying, but I think most of them don't make the game worse. Most of them. There are some that do. STR stat is completely worthless unless you are on a very specific route and want to get a single piece of equipment, and Fiends have a 0.390625% chance of spawning, which is just stupid and definitely makes the game worse. No, that is not a mistake, they do indeed have a less than one percent chance of spawning, and yes, I have defeated all of them on the highest difficulty, and yes, they are fun as hell, with Red Rider in particular being the most difficult non-DLC thing in the game. Holy shit that dude is mean. Great fight, though. Took like a week to kill that bastard after I found him.

Game's absolutely hilarious at times, too. One of my favourite ones is when you try to recruit a demon and you get this:

Demon: YOU TAKE CHANCE! YOU DIG HERE! HURRY!

>Dig
>Dig
>Dig

*chooses Dig*

Flynn dug up the ground in front of him...

Demon: YOU DID GOOD! THAT YOUR GRAVE!

*you lose all of your press turns*

ENEMY TURN

*Flynn gets critical hit one-shotted by demon, demon smirks, proceeds to annihilate party with smirk-powered critical hit Hades Blast*

Good stuff!
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

Steven wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2026 5:31 am
cj iwakura wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 1:40 pm
Steven wrote: Thu Oct 16, 2025 11:53 am Stopped by Book Off yesterday to buy Tales of Hearts R, but I found something interesting: the PSP version of Persona 2 Batsu.

It was 9000 yen.

That's a lot of cash for a used Japanese PSP game. Lots of (most?) PSP games are in the 2000 yen range and below, so it's very interesting to see a rare and expensive game like this. I don't even want to know how much the English versions of the PSP Persona games cost now. Those UMDs are quite fragile, too, so there's no way I'd pay that much for a used 20-year old UMD.
They're easily in the hundreds. The PS1 versions even moreso. Revelations is probably the most expensive Persona game I own by a mile.
Yeah English PS1 Persona 1 is probably super expensive. In addition to the infamous Mark danced crazy, I wonder about the quality of the rest of the translation on that version. I know some stuff got changed or removed, but I don't remember the specifics.
It's pretty rough, putting it lightly. You get the cliff notes of the story through a very 90s localized lens, for better or for (mostly) worse, not to mention the changed art. That said, it's still the toughest version of P1(not counting PSP's SQQ), and definitely has the best music.


Also, I never fought the Fiends in IV+. I assume they stay on the map once you encounter them?
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

cj iwakura wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2026 12:44 am
Steven wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2026 5:31 am
cj iwakura wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 1:40 pm
They're easily in the hundreds. The PS1 versions even moreso. Revelations is probably the most expensive Persona game I own by a mile.
Yeah English PS1 Persona 1 is probably super expensive. In addition to the infamous Mark danced crazy, I wonder about the quality of the rest of the translation on that version. I know some stuff got changed or removed, but I don't remember the specifics.
That said, it's still the toughest version of P1(not counting PSP's SQQ)
Wait what they made the game harder just for the English version? Huh. That's... not unprecedented, considering what damage Wrecking Designs did to the games they ruined, but I think relatively unusual for Atlus.
cj iwakura wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2026 12:44 amAlso, I never fought the Fiends in IV+. I assume they stay on the map once you encounter them?
Ehhhhhhhhh kind of. If you fight them and die and get revived, they'll still be there, but if you leave their area, they go away again. Also pretty sure that if you find one, save and close the game without fighting, and then start the game again, the Fiend will be gone. What I don't remember is if there is some way to save the game, fully power off, and still not have to search all over again. I have a vague memory of intentional game over -> save game being okay, but I wouldn't risk it, especially with how poor my memory is.

Don't ask how I can play a game for 600 hours and still forget important stuff like this. I wish I knew how I am capable of it myself because then maybe I'd be able to prevent it.

For IV Final they are in the optional dungeon thing as fixed, unmissable encounters. For some stupid reason they have a turn limit of 10 turns now. If you can't kill them in time, the fight ends. I don't think you game over from this, but it's annoying and stupid as hell, just like most of the rest of the game.
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

Well, not so much that it was made harder. More that the PS1 version has no QOL features at all, like explaining the formations or spell effects, so you have to trial and error everything.

The PSP version spells all that out, and makes the game a cakewalk... aside from, again, the SQQ, which I savescummed the hell out of, because f instakill floors with no saves.


I made it a point of hunkering down and finishing the PS1 version, and apart from the amazing music and vibes, all it really included was C- tier localization-infused misery. It's an extremely tedious and frustrating game, and the dungeons are AGONY. I can't even fathom what playing SQQ on PS1 was like.
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
User avatar
Sima Tuna
Posts: 2365
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Sima Tuna »

I like SMT IV. For me, it was the last SMT that really felt SMT. It has some major flaws (in my opinion) with how useless most of the stats are (no defense stat that is worth a damn means everything dies instantly, including you) but the weirdness from classic SMT games is mostly intact.

I assume we're talking about vanilla SMTIV and not Apocalypse. Apocalypse was dogshit.

My list of favorite SMT games would probably go:

Strange Journey (vanilla, not Redux)
Soul Hackers
Nocturne or SMT IV

And then right after that, Digital Devil Saga. I love Soul Hackers. I feel like the combat of Soul Hackers might be some of the best in the series. 6 character slots, balanced by a cost-per-turn system to summoning demons. You get 3 "free" slots. Your main character, who is severely limited compared to a demon. Nemissa, who is a bit overpowered/probably your workhorse. And the weirdo pet demon thing that is going to suck complete ass for 90% of the game unless you have meta knowledge. That leaves you three slots to summon demons, four if you don't have or don't want to use the demon pet guy. The cost to summon four demons is most likely prohibitive in casual play. Especially if all four are strong. So you spend a lot of the game running around with an incomplete party, by design. Each party member has to fulfill a certain role, and it's game over if the main character dies. You have to figure out your formations and supporting characters, so that the main character can be useful in combat without immediately dying to focus fire. It's super interesting!

As for Strange Journey, and why Vanilla instead of Redux... Redux dramatically buffs the main character of SJ. SJ Vanilla has more of a Soul Hackers-like balance, where the human characters are relatively weak. Redux gives you a ton of buffs that change how the game plays and remove a lot of the survival horror feel in gameplay. Redux still has great atmosphere but the postgame/sidegame dungeons don't add anything and most of the new demons/designs are from mothafuckin' Doi. :x MEDIOCRE!
Steven
Posts: 4610
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 5:24 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Steven »

cj iwakura wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2026 3:15 amIt's an extremely tedious and frustrating game, and the dungeons are AGONY. I can't even fathom what playing SQQ on PS1 was like.
Yeah, that is exactly why I dropped the PSP version after not very long. It was a bad first experience with Atlus games. I have no idea why I bothered to try another Atlus game after that, but I'm glad I did.
Sima Tuna wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2026 6:55 am I like SMT IV. For me, it was the last SMT that really felt SMT.
While IV was indeed the last one that in its entirety felt like SMT, I think at least some of the new stuff in Vengeance genuinely feels like SMT. A lot of it is still either straight copy/paste from V or SMT V Arrange Mode, but it has moments when there are signs of life in it. It's still not great as a whole, but perhaps it's the beginning of a correction. I do think Vengeance was held back by being built on regular V instead of being an entirely new game, but it shows some promise for the future. Not a lot, but some. I guess we'll see in probably at least 10 years because that's how long it takes for them to make SMT games.

I still want SMT VI to be a 100% first person dungeon RPG with 6 party slots, press turn, and the aesthetics and music style of SMT I/II/IV + some post-apocalyptic Soul Hackers 1. It won't happen, but it would be really awesome. Also ABSOLUTELY DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP KOZUKA. I am 100% completely convinced he is the best composer to ever work at Atlus and almost guaranteed to be a top 5 composer in the entire history of video games. All you have to do to prove it is listen to the soundtracks for SMT IV and V.
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1863
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by cj iwakura »

It's entirely possible that V might be my least favorite in the series. The combat and presentation is stellar, but the plot and characters are absolute garbage from top to bottom. Vengeance just makes it even worse.


As for Soul Hackers, that's the complete opposite for me. It pretty much perfects the classic formula with fantastic presentation, great characters, and amazing music. It's the pinnacle of classic SMT, at least apart from SJ tightening up the gameplay. The story isn't anywhere near as good as SH's, but I still enjoyed it. (Never played Redux, never will.)

Also, P1 isn't a totally waste. When you look at it as a prototype for what would come later, it's an interesting experience, and still has some great music with a solid story.
Image
jehu wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:13 pmTakes a man of a certain class, taste and distinction to appreciate the deep-fried jpegs of trees and street-lamps.
User avatar
Mortificator
Posts: 2895
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:13 am
Location: A star occupied by the Bydo Empire

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Mortificator »

Sima Tuna wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2026 6:55 am My list of favorite SMT games would probably go:

Strange Journey (vanilla, not Redux)
Soul Hackers
Nocturne or SMT IV

And then right after that, Digital Devil Saga. I love Soul Hackers. I feel like the combat of Soul Hackers might be some of the best in the series. 6 character slots, balanced by a cost-per-turn system to summoning demons. You get 3 "free" slots. Your main character, who is severely limited compared to a demon. Nemissa, who is a bit overpowered/probably your workhorse. And the weirdo pet demon thing that is going to suck complete ass for 90% of the game unless you have meta knowledge. That leaves you three slots to summon demons, four if you don't have or don't want to use the demon pet guy. The cost to summon four demons is most likely prohibitive in casual play. Especially if all four are strong. So you spend a lot of the game running around with an incomplete party, by design. Each party member has to fulfill a certain role, and it's game over if the main character dies. You have to figure out your formations and supporting characters, so that the main character can be useful in combat without immediately dying to focus fire. It's super interesting!

As for Strange Journey, and why Vanilla instead of Redux... Redux dramatically buffs the main character of SJ. SJ Vanilla has more of a Soul Hackers-like balance, where the human characters are relatively weak. Redux gives you a ton of buffs that change how the game plays and remove a lot of the survival horror feel in gameplay. Redux still has great atmosphere but the postgame/sidegame dungeons don't add anything and most of the new demons/designs are from mothafuckin' Doi. :x MEDIOCRE!
We have the same top games! My ranking of all the non-Persona non-SRPG MegaTen RPGs would go...
Soul Hackers > Nocturne > Strange Journey > DDS1 > DDS2 > SMT1 > MT2 > SMT2 > if > MT1 > DeviChil Red/Black > Last Bible Special > DemiKids Light/Dark > Last Bible III > Last Bible II > Last Bible I

...though unlike my usual rankings, some of these games I've only TRIED and not BEAT. So there is the remote possibility that LB3 pulls out all the stops 20 hours in that would catapult it to the top. And of course I'm only now getting into ones newer than vanilla Strange Journey.
RegalSin wrote:You can't even drive across the country Naked anymore
User avatar
Blinge
Posts: 5542
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 4:05 pm
Location: Villa Straylight

Re: The Shin Megami Everything Thread

Post by Blinge »

Finished Kyuyaku MT2
..Thank god for that. whew.
Image
1cc List - Youtube - You emptylock my heart
Post Reply