The Shin Megami Everything Thread

[drunkninja24]

Haha yeah, I just recently got to the Medusa fight as well, and the art style just looked...odd to me.

The other things you mentioned haven't really bothered me at all though.

[Ganelon]

Some of the higher res art has looked a bit weird (I'll third Medusa looking like fanart) but the smaller spritework and backgrounds are a lot closer to the classic pre-SMTIII style than other games. I'm a big fan of that but I suppose the folks weened on 3D stuff probably find them unappealing. SMTIV is excellent, and the sprites are part of the reason why. I wonder if the same folks bashing SMTIV didn't like Strange Journey either (where some of the sprites come from). On the other hand, I have renewed interest in Megaten after these new games that capture SMT's roots instead of following the psychadelic atmosphere that SMTIII brought out.

I do agree with you that the post-battle delay is a bit annoying, as is the transporter room delay. I haven't had any problems with enemies popping up behind me though. I like how the game is allowing folks to play however they want. Die twice and then low the difficulty at any time without any side effects. Buy the DLC and choose your power level. I have plenty of the game left to go but it's been a long time since I've really wanted to find out what happens next in an RPG.

[CMoon]

Some of the higher res art has looked a bit weird (I'll third Medusa looking like fanart) but the smaller spritework and backgrounds are a lot closer to the classic pre-SMTIII style than other games.

yeah, I've had no problem with that. Sometimes less is more. Seriously, everything art wise has been fine until I got to medusa.

I have plenty of the game left to go but it's been a long time since I've really wanted to find out what happens next in an RPG.

Seriously, all the talk about a bad story and I can't believe how much I've been sucked into this story line. I think it goes back to works like Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama. The same people who are saying SMT4's story bad would probably call Rama a bad story too, but both are stories of discovery. It is critical to discover what is going on in this world. Maybe it will fall apart later, but right now it is VERY compelling. I wonder if these same people would say that Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness is a bad story without enough character development. Seriously, it is people like this that force me to pick the chaos route.

[MX7]

I quite like the wildly differing art styles. SMT series has always been somewhat 'eclectic' stylistically. But Kaneko's designs still far overshadow the new designs. I was trying to pinpoint what it was that so appeals to me about the art style of these games, and I think mainly it's the costumes. It's like some high end fashion show catwalk. I need to track down some of the art books.

Now the game has opened up a bit (trying to avoid spoilers), pretty much everything has improved. The music is now pretty incredible, and I'm frequently getting hopelessly lost in endless dungeons. I'm doing quests not for the reward but because I actually want to go back and revisit old areas. I still think III and Strange Journey are slightly better at the moment, but I think it's probably better than I and II (I've never played If...). There's still that nag of some truly shocking voice acting though

How's everyone distributing stats? I've been chucking them any old place, but now I'm at level 27, I feel I should be thinking more carefully... Or is it like Strange Journey in that it doesn't really matter at all?

[CMoon]

How's everyone distributing stats? I've been chucking them any old place, but now I'm at level 27, I feel I should be thinking more carefully... Or is it like Strange Journey in that it doesn't really matter at all?

I started with the +3 mag, +1 agi, +1 luck, but once agi and luck hit 25, I just started tossing it into mag. At level 14 and seeing base elemental spells (Agi, Bufu, etc.) doing 150-250 damage. I know there's a lot of viability in a dex build as well, but right now my MC can seriously toss out damage.

[Ganelon]

Megaten games almost never favor even stat distribution so I looked up the stats topic on GameFAQs to avoid getting into a complete hole later on. I'm going for a physical build so I decided for +1 STR, +2 DEX, +1 AGI, +1 LUK distribution per level up. The STR is mostly for a later weapon I read requires 100 STR, AGI is necessary to avoid missing (annoyingly important in this turn press system), and LUK is necessary for frequent critical attacks (which again matters a lot in press turns). So far, the high damage/high critical/low accuracy skill hit pretty consistently and do good damage.

[BulletMagnet]

All the people writing about shallow characters are missing something--most rpgs that have good character development do so with angsty teen characters that I for one can't stand. Honestly I've always enjoyed the silent MC, and I love how SMT characters are really not characters but representatives of alignment choices.

Funnily enough, the likes of Game Informer actually got this.

[dcharlieJP]

when i switched over to the US version i went for a heavy LCK build and - so far - the game has been MASSIVELY easier (though i guess i know what the trend is going to be in terms of boss weaknesses)

I'd usually NEVER think about LCK at all - but yeah - this is surprisingly much better.

Medusa

yeah- my reaction to her was WTF is this!? It looked really odd after all the previous art - especially the Minotaur which looked absolutely brilliant. Quite a jarring change.

[CMoon]

when i switched over to the US version i went for a heavy LCK build and - so far - the game has been MASSIVELY easier (though i guess i know what the trend is going to be in terms of boss weaknesses)

I'd usually NEVER think about LCK at all - but yeah - this is surprisingly much better.

Medusa

yeah- my reaction to her was WTF is this!? It looked really odd after all the previous art - especially the Minotaur which looked absolutely brilliant. Quite a jarring change.

What skills are working well with your LCK build? Hama/Mudo? Afflictions?

http://erikku.github.io/smt4tool/

I wanted to post this incredibly useful database (if I hadn't already) because it has allowed me to figure out what skills demons will get. I know, potentially cheating, but some demons are taking a long time to level, and it is hardly worth it if there's no special skills you want to inherit (or give to other demons.) In short, I think I wasn't fusing soon enough, and now I'm fusing some of these demons earlier. I think the biggest challenge right now is getting enough app points. I would like to beef up the 'scout' app at some point, but I gotta add more skill slots to my MC, the demons, and get MP recovery 2. That's all gonna take a while.

[dcharlie]

What skills are working well with your LCK build? Hama/Mudo? Afflictions?

Mainly the crits - mine hit more and the one hit kill/heavy damage hits don't seem to land as often.

It's perhaps undercutting the game - i'm not feeling as stretched as I did with the Japanese version though that may well be to do with knowing what is coming next

[cj iwakura]

I really dig

Spoiler

's redesign. The demon you run into at the Gaian Temple. Very fitting and creepy.

[cj iwakura]

And now I see the Seraphim.

Come on, now, WTF? Even the Gaian leader's design was acceptable, these four are just WEIRD.
(I doubt this is a spoiler, Seraphim are always in SMT.)

[RNGmaster]

And now I see the Seraphim.

Come on, now, WTF? Even the Gaian leader's design was acceptable, these four are just WEIRD.
(I doubt this is a spoiler, Seraphim are always in SMT.)

Nice, you're at the same point as I am. I dunno, I liked the motif of white faces a lot more than the generic winged humanoids with goofy skin colors of previous games. Abrahamic angels as described in the Bible are pretty weird-looking, and as well as fitting with that precedent I think these designs make the angels seem more cold and inhuman, in keeping with their plans for the world.

[cj iwakura]

And now I see the Seraphim.

Come on, now, WTF? Even the Gaian leader's design was acceptable, these four are just WEIRD.
(I doubt this is a spoiler, Seraphim are always in SMT.)

Nice, you're at the same point as I am. I dunno, I liked the motif of white faces a lot more than the generic winged humanoids with goofy skin colors of previous games. Abrahamic angels as described in the Bible are pretty weird-looking, and as well as fitting with that precedent I think these designs make the angels seem more cold and inhuman, in keeping with their plans for the world.

I guess, but they had pretty iconic looks.

They certainly look demonic now, that's for sure.

I really dig how they redid the Gaian leader She looks vicious.


In the 'other' Tokyo now.

Wow.

[drunkninja24]

My main pitfall so far in this game is that I seem to be holding on to my demons for too long.

I need to do fusions more often.

[CMoon]

I'll admit I'm struggling with the Tokyo map. Just realized I could rotate it, but not sure that helps. Really wish when you discovered places the stayed labeled. Definitely a bit of a maze.

I'm behind all you guys at level 26 and 20 some hours in. I agree that the game seems to want you to switch out demons fast. I wonder if there are actually too many demons.

[ryu]

you guys are a bunch of marketers, you know that?



anyways, is there something i should be aware of to have a good shot at getting the neutral ending? i read something about a bunch of fetchquests and i'm afraid these might be easily missable.

[cj iwakura]

The quests are very easy to GET, it's doing them that's the trick.


And I got locked into Law it looks like. Oh well.

[cj iwakura]

Beat SMTIV. Maybe one day they'll make an SMT game with an ending longer than two minutes, but I doubt it.


The experience was the best one yet. Wide variety of locations and NPCs, great plot and characters, fusion and combat at its pinnacle.


Law route sucked. Final boss was pitiful.

I expected better from Lucy.

[RNGmaster]

you guys are a bunch of marketers, you know that?



anyways, is there something i should be aware of to have a good shot at getting the neutral ending? i read something about a bunch of fetchquests and i'm afraid these might be easily missable.

-There's two photography quests which you don't get at taverns. One in Tokyo Station, one in Shinjuku near the underground.
-After you get locked Neutral (meet Stephen in the monochrome forest) go to the tunnel to Tennozu and talk to demons until you pick up the Resurrection of the Kousoushin quest.
-Try to go slightly law over the course of the game, then go chaos at the first "big decision", then law at the alignment lock.
-Check your alignment by talking to the "cynical man" in the bar at Ginza. "polite" = law, "hard to read" = neutral, "hot-blooded" = chaos
-Doors that look like elevator doors are Terminals. Ignore the demon warning and go in there.
-Save all the time.

[ryu]

^that's some helpful stuff, thanks!

i did some additional investigating though, and it looks to me like the quests you supposedly have to do are only related to the possibilities of affecting the alignment meter in a certain way. am i guessing correctly that ultimately it only counts to have a neutral aligment at a certain point of the game?

[RNGmaster]

^that's some helpful stuff, thanks!

i did some additional investigating though, and it looks to me like the quests you supposedly have to do are only related to the possibilities of affecting the alignment meter in a certain way. am i guessing correctly that ultimately it only counts to have a neutral aligment at a certain point of the game?

yeah but there are some mandatory alignment choices where you have to go law or chaos. so before the "big decisions" (they're pretty obvious) stay neutral. even if you're not, almost all the decisions up till ginza have like zero weight, you'd have to try really hard to go law or chaos by that point

[ryu]

^that's some helpful stuff, thanks!

i did some additional investigating though, and it looks to me like the quests you supposedly have to do are only related to the possibilities of affecting the alignment meter in a certain way. am i guessing correctly that ultimately it only counts to have a neutral aligment at a certain point of the game?

yeah but there are some mandatory alignment choices where you have to go law or chaos. so before the "big decisions" (they're pretty obvious) stay neutral. even if you're not, almost all the decisions up till ginza have like zero weight, you'd have to try really hard to go law or chaos by that point

got it. thanks!

i just bought nocturne as well since it was up for cheap in my locale. can't wait to dig into that one once i've finished smt iv

[CMoon]

i just bought nocturne as well since it was up for cheap in my locale. can't wait to dig into that one once i've finished smt iv

Absolutely fantastic game, and if you love it consider picking up Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 (same game engine, but no demon fusion or recruiting.)

Only concern about playing this right after IV is that IV makes so many things--especially demon fusion and skill inheritance--way easier. A few things might really feel like a pain (and at other times downright cryptic) compared to IV. Nonetheless they are great games. I still can't hold IV over Nocturne...not yet anyway.

[cj iwakura]

I'm on the fence about that. SMTIV has so much more world building and character development, and VARIETY, but Nocturne's universe is so amazingly original. It's a real tough call.

Nocturne may narrowly win, if only because IV is so dang easy after the first few bosses.

[sjewkestheloon]

On Day 7 of SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked, and I have chose to go the Gin route. Hope I don't regret that decision if the game throws a beastly boss at me that requires 20 hours of grinding. I had planned on going the Yuzu route as it is apparently the 'easiest' route, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it for plot reasons. Planning on getting this finished up over the next few weeks so that I am free to play Etrian Odyssey 4 when it comes out on the 30th.

[sjewkestheloon]

Well so much for Overclocked lasting me until EO4... Finished it in one sitting, and hadn't realised that Gin's route had no day 8 content.

Superb game by the way, but after a quick try I have no interest in doing an immediate second run. The story is far too fresh in my mind for that.

[Obiwanshinobi]

SMTIV has so much more world building and character development, and VARIETY, but Nocturne's universe is so amazingly original.

Never thought about it as universe. Someplace between the universe that is no more and the one that is about to come true.
EVERYBODY should watch the 96th Gintama episode (If You're A Man, Don't Give Up). If this link is not kosher, I don't mind mods editing it away, but watch it by any means.

[ryu]

so i just beat smt iv. i enjoyed it and think it's a pretty good game, but also can't overlook that is does have a fair share of flaws. these are mostly plot related, but i'm also somewhat devided on the gameplay. it's cool that you can play the game any way you want thanks to the great flexibility you have with fusions and skill inheritance, but that also makes the game really easy. i completely wrecked (well, more like crippled) most bosses with sukukaja and debilitate.
those issues aside, the tokyo theme went really stale over time - especially since the game keeps making you backtrack (which causes completely different pacing issues when fighting weak enemies). the neutral route was the worst offender in that regard with those side quests it forces on the player.
also, isabeau must be the flattest and most boring character ever written.

[drunkninja24]

Just curious....has there been any word at all of an official OST release for SMT4 anytime soon?