Atlus is really sending Strange Journey Redux out to die, huh? I mean, no English voice acting or any bonuses/goodies, which both Etrian Odyssey 5 and Radiant Historia had.
Shame.
Shame.
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Shin Megami Tensei |OT| Choose a new Reason
- Thread starter HylianSeven
- Start date
- OT
Elaborate. The game being sent out to die is no value lost or being released without English VA?
The former. The latter was just the nail in the rusty coffin.
So I guess the remake hasn't been fondly received then? Well I've never played it so I'm looking forward to it.
The new scenario is beyond stupid, and the difficulty nerf. Mostly the art.
I strongly dislike first person dungeon crawlers so the difficulty nerf is a boon to me... Sorry, blasphemous, I know.
You will hate SJ. It has some of the hardest dungeons ever made.
Took the final boss down tonight, and yeah, at 85 it was quite manageable really. I imagine it'd be quite doable around 80 or so with smart demon fusion but you'd have to rely on luck a bit more since a bad roll on a multi-hit attack would spell the end for you pretty easily. It didn't end up being much of a problem for me at that point though especially since I still had a ton of great hp and mp healing items I had been hoarding the whole game to toss out. Crappy phone screens of my endgame party
So that's one more SMT game off the list. Overall I really enjoyed the game, the dungeons were extremely well designed, the only point I got a bit frustrated was the warp maze in sector E. That wouldn't have been an issue really if the game had some built-in map tools like Etrian Odyssey, I ended up drawing up my own map to keep track of it. Other than that I felt like they did a great job of putting in plenty of secrets and I always felt like I was making reasonable progress. The game had a good level curve too besides the final boss, there was only one other point in the game I ever felt the need to grind so long as I did a decent job of exploring zones, fusing demons and doing a good amount of the sidequests. There were still a lot of them I left unfinished and probably plenty I never even found either. I also would have enjoyed some more boss encounters since they were the most strategically interesting part of the game, after a certain point resource management and normal battles while dungeon exploring stopped being much of a factor. The sci-fi atmosphere was much appreciated too as well as the dialogue and visual design which was quite distinct from what'd been in other games in the series.
Now to figure out what game to go for next. Leaning toward Soul Hackers as SJ has left me in the mood for more first-person dungeon crawling, and SH interests me a lot since it's probably the SMT game I know the least about.
I definitely recommend Soul Hackers, it might not be as tight as SJ but the atmosphere and music is top notch, and its story is strong enough for a SMT game.
Cheers man! SJ is quite the beast of a game, reading that reminded me of how accomplished I felt after finishing it. It's one of my favorites ever and just seeing people talk about it makes me want to start it again, haha.
And I agree, I too enjoyed every dungeon to the fullest except Eridanus, which was a mixed bag for the reasons you described.
As for SH... I have mixed feelings on it so I'll leave other users advice you instead :p
So now it's COMPLETELY a breeze? Yeesh. I'm really good now.
I am rather curious for details regarding what happens in the new scenario. Is it more IV:A than SJ?
Way more.
In case you want to know who SJ Waifu-chan is:
She's Lucifer's daughter.
If that's all it is, I think you're overreacting to SJR. Mind you, I think the original throws out most of its potential by the final act, so I'm not exactly SJ's biggest fan.
For me, I don't see it as a deal-breaker, but I do admit that I wasn't particularly enthused about much of anything concerning the original SJ beyond the premise, and have yet to decide if I'll buy it this time (especially after I liked everything about Soul Hackers except playing it thanks to just not caring for first-person dungeon crawling through mazes or non-Press Turn/1-More turn-based Atlus combat).
I'm alive!
On a whim, I tried MHW. Didn't expect to take to it so much because people always talk about the multiplayer and I am not much into online multiplayer and don't have PS + to boot. But I did take to it a lot (playing single player) so I haven't played SMTII for a couple of days :P. (3 I think?)
I should be back at it soon. Maybe tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I've just got a couple dungeons left (I'm on the last area before Kether in the Abyss, going by the road map the bar-goers give you).
But yes, it is really good, imo. You should play it :).
Etrian Odyssey combat is damn fine.
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But piggy-backing off this:
Going into SMT1 and 2 I was not expecting to enjoy the dungeon crawling and combat as much as I have. I've generally found my expectations given word of mouth have been surpassed. IDK. I get most of the complaints and share some of them but...I enjoy the games as dungeon crawlers at the end of the day.
They don't only have really cool vision that they see through and situate within amazing atmosphere, imo, they're also solid RPGs.
I was really expecting something more like my experience with Persona 2-2 where I enjoyed the characters and stuff but didn't really like the battles or the dungeons.
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I kinda see where you're coming from. I didn't like the idea of 1st person dungeon crawlers at all before SJ, but liked it so much that it pushed me to play SMT1 and 2 (which are great but not as fun as SJ). I also find Soul Hackers painfully boring to play and yet SJ is my favorite.
The thing about SJ is that it's more an "expedition based" dungeon crawler like Etrian Odyssey rather than just a JRPG that happens to be in first person and have maze-like dungeons. It uses stuff like resource management, unidentifiable enemies** and huge maps to encourage you to take on each dungeon step by step rather than try to beat them in one go. The combat is relatively with more layers of depth than pre-Nocturne games too, as there's weaknesses and a co-op system that isn't quite press turn but has similarities, it's fun and keeps the fights less one sided.
I know fans usually make it sound overly punishing and tedious, but it's super engaging and fun.
*Enemies appear as weird mosaics the first few times you encounter them and only reveal their identity once you've seen them a specific number of times.
My only issue with the SJ is that I know I'm not going to stand the repetitive soundtrack over 60 hours. I feel this is not the kind of music that you put for a RPG that is so long because it gets tired very quick but that's just for me.
I'm glad you liked them. I loved SMT1, am really excited to get into 2 soon. In fact, I've been a little bit stuck deciding between playing 2 or Kyuuyaku
I'm glad you liked them. I loved SMT1, am really excited to get into 2 soon. In fact, I've been a little bit stuck deciding between playing 2 or Kyuuyaku
Soul Hackers demon negotiation feels a bit more frustrating than usual to me. The game tells you early on to give demons 10x their level in mag or 100x in yen. I sometimes give twice that much and they still call me cheap. Though there are plenty of times when they just join me for no reason as well. Really liking the game aside that, lovely artstyle and the conversations themselves are some of the better ones. Seems like the Western release is lacking some polish though I've noticed a lot of text appearing outside text boxes as well as straight-up untranslated Japanese text at times.
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I will still pick up SJR, but it definitely is disappointing how the handled that game, both the artwork by the dev team and the lack of English VA from the localisation side.
Are we placing bets on when V comes out?
I'm calling Japan in March 2019, June 2019 in the west.
Are we placing bets on when V comes out?
I'm calling Japan in March 2019, June 2019 in the west.
I say Q4 2019 Japan and somewhere around April 2020 for the west.
I tried the demo for Etrian Odyssey IV some years ago, which was okay. That said, I still picture not liking SJ much.
Having been aware of how large the dungeons are is part of why I suspect that it would test my patience, especially since it also uses random encounters (large dungeons and designated save points are one thing, combining them with random encounters and SMT combat is another). I already knew about being unable to tell what demons you're fighting initially as well, which I also don't picture wanting to be bothered with for combat that already factors in trial and error. As unfair as it is, in addition to referring to a spin-off rather than mainline SMT, Persona 5's approach to handling massive dungeons with save points at a leisurely pace by combining it with visible enemies on the field (who can also reliably be taken by surprise), as well as being able to see the enemies' true forms and recognize them by sight in spite of not initially starting with their true names before fusing or recruiting them (even with not all strengths and weaknesses lining up with SMT games), made such things far less of a chore than they could've been. I also don't like the idea of demon alignments predetermining what the most effective parties for me to use would be as the case is with SJ's co-op system, which is also why I left alignment limitations disabled in SH. And since it was brought up in another post before mine, I really don't like the soundtrack for SJ either (more power to Meguro for continuing to experiment with different sounds, but it's easily my least favorite of his works).
Still not ruling out getting SJR, but between the lack of a dub for the one SMT where English would've made the most sense, as well as a lack of the usual bonuses that Atlus offer with their games, I won't be in any rush.
So here's a new article about SMT V in Famitsu: https://www.famitsu.com/news/201802/23152349.html
I cannot speak Japanese. Does anybody know what is it about?
I cannot speak Japanese. Does anybody know what is it about?
At a glance, seems like it's just an interview about their influences and working on Unreal engine.
Well made my first delve into Kether. Ended up fighting Beelzebub. I think I need to drop from the right place on the 6th (?) floor to get to climb that central (as of yet, for me) empty square. That's my current theory on what I'm trying to figure out but I toraported back to Chokmah after Beelzebub as I had to do something else. So on another delve then!
In general, I feel that Abyss location with the SMT1 related content and the certain character content was the best part of it so far. Tiphareth also stands out as a cool town. Edit: and
. I don't know how that one slipped my mind :(. It was amazing. (and long anticipated)
On another note--completely irrelevant in my latest play session--lately I haven't been getting gems from mystic chests despite opening them at full moon. Guessing they need another moon phase? I've tried a couple but mostly given up because I don't intend to really use them anyway.
In general, I feel that Abyss location with the SMT1 related content and the certain character content was the best part of it so far. Tiphareth also stands out as a cool town. Edit: and
Abbadon
On another note--completely irrelevant in my latest play session--lately I haven't been getting gems from mystic chests despite opening them at full moon. Guessing they need another moon phase? I've tried a couple but mostly given up because I don't intend to really use them anyway.
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Okay, got through Kether and now onto the chaos side endgame bosses.
I thought it was interesting the parallelism present between the madame and the master of Kether and through that parallelism the further parallelism between the abyss and Valhalla.
But yeah, I could see how chaos ending is more satisfying than law given how things are shaking out on both ends in neutral.
It does make me curious about the Japanese deities that showed up in the middle of the game, wrt where they are in all of this conflict.
(And yes this whole situation is reminiscent of IVA.)
I thought it was interesting the parallelism present between the madame and the master of Kether and through that parallelism the further parallelism between the abyss and Valhalla.
But yeah, I could see how chaos ending is more satisfying than law given how things are shaking out on both ends in neutral.
It does make me curious about the Japanese deities that showed up in the middle of the game, wrt where they are in all of this conflict.
(And yes this whole situation is reminiscent of IVA.)
And just finished it!
The credits leave me a bit confused tbh:
In any case, Tarukaja was a god send for the last bosses there, as my humans were the only ones straightforwardly useful in the final fights there.
I'm a bit confused about Tarukaja though. On the third or fourth application, my hero starts doing absurdly low damage so I've learned to just stick to two applications. The other thing is the boss casting Rikaja on itself cause me to have to reapply Tarukaja, as if Tarukaja were Rakunda instead. Furthermore Dekaja seems to have no effect on my Tarukaja levels, which reinforces this appearance.
In any case, the setting and the narrative surrounding Tokyo Millennium is top notch, imo. I love it that you both see the city as a temple knight and then as a revolutionary. I love the story of the failing struggle to create the Thousand Year Kingdom and the ugly form that will has taken on in both its incredible strength and in its ultimate futility combined. I love how this is used to subvert the chosen hero narrative while also giving you this creepy experience as the Messiah of Tokyo Millenium and all the baggage that comes with that such as:
I think the underworld is good opposition to this setting up the world buried by Tokyo Millennium (literally and metaphorically), i.e. the world of demons and the "impure," while also functioning as a throwback to SMT 1 and another Tokyo post-apocalypse scenario. The demon villages are a nice touch.
Moreover, when the conflict expands its scope it ties itself back into this narrative, benefiting Chaos and Neutral, imo:
I do think the "second" Law is a disappointment coming from the first law, though. I don't have my finger on the pulse of what exactly was in conflict between them and the transformation of Zain is a somewhat strange ending to his revolutionary saga:
...
I prefer the tight, directed pacing of the game through to the aftermath of second coliseum bout. I chronicled my struggles in the aftermath and how I came to terms with a) the upsurge in difficulty and b) the change from external exploration to internal exploration (one of those costs magnetite :P) above. I think ultimately, they fit with the crisis situation you find yourself in, with the world you had and were becoming accustomed to destroyed and your quest taking you to a very different, hostile world. Coming to master the game at this point was a rewarding experience and after that the game was very much in my hands (reminds me of, say, the early post-nuke game in SMT1). I do, however, think that there is something of a lack of focus in the nested collection quests that structure this part of the game. I'd have ideas about why I was doing things and they'd just sort of remain unfulfilled (for a time, happily :)) and you'd just sort of move between helping Zain and just sort of exploring and collecting items. I wish it'd have been better tied together and there'd been more of an idea of what was going on at the center before the climax of this arc.
The thing is, the climax of the arc is awesome. As is seeing Tokyo Millennium from another side and seeing the Underworld so a lot of the particular content is quite good. I just miss the strength of the thread tying it all together that the game had up to that point. As chronicled above there were multiple times I was wrong about which of the sets of things I was collecting first and what I was trying to achieve ultimately in places.
Similarly, I like the Abyss. I like going to the Abyss. I loved certain experiences in the Abyss (mentioned just above), but I do think the Abyss went on a bit long.
...
I really love the upgrade to towns in this game over SMT1. I love the QoL changes to bars, discos, maps, and shops. I love the greater focus on the towns. It really helps build the setting up.
(Still curious about that Shady Man in the bars :P).
I also like the skill changes (giving you control and the HP cost). Magic felt neutered in the beginning particularly, with even Dia feeling pretty weak. Partly, I think this was a good thing: the heroine was so OP in SMT1 with the reliability of shock-locking and magic having some sort movement priority. On the other hand, I was very glad when healing did become potent and the endgame state where Tarukaja plus physical is such a dominant strategy is just further entrenched by attack spells being weaker.
Overall, though, just as with SMT 1, I had a good time with the dungeon crawling.
...
It is a great game. Again, blown away by its sense of self and its ability to explore its vision. Very much its own thing and very strong atmosphere.
The credits leave me a bit confused tbh:
It seemed to be Hiroko flying around as a goddess and then having a statue built of her? Not sure what that was about entirely. Maybe she got deified for the efforts in rebuilding after this cataclysm? It does go with the Megami Tensei title as I understand it.
In any case, Tarukaja was a god send for the last bosses there, as my humans were the only ones straightforwardly useful in the final fights there.
I'm a bit confused about Tarukaja though. On the third or fourth application, my hero starts doing absurdly low damage so I've learned to just stick to two applications. The other thing is the boss casting Rikaja on itself cause me to have to reapply Tarukaja, as if Tarukaja were Rakunda instead. Furthermore Dekaja seems to have no effect on my Tarukaja levels, which reinforces this appearance.
In any case, the setting and the narrative surrounding Tokyo Millennium is top notch, imo. I love it that you both see the city as a temple knight and then as a revolutionary. I love the story of the failing struggle to create the Thousand Year Kingdom and the ugly form that will has taken on in both its incredible strength and in its ultimate futility combined. I love how this is used to subvert the chosen hero narrative while also giving you this creepy experience as the Messiah of Tokyo Millenium and all the baggage that comes with that such as:
Beth's devotion and ultimately her life, Daleth's jealousy, Hiroko being your surrogate mother and your girlfriend?!
I think the underworld is good opposition to this setting up the world buried by Tokyo Millennium (literally and metaphorically), i.e. the world of demons and the "impure," while also functioning as a throwback to SMT 1 and another Tokyo post-apocalypse scenario. The demon villages are a nice touch.
Moreover, when the conflict expands its scope it ties itself back into this narrative, benefiting Chaos and Neutral, imo:
with Lucifer being a second Madam/the Abyss a second Valhalla
I do think the "second" Law is a disappointment coming from the first law, though. I don't have my finger on the pulse of what exactly was in conflict between them and the transformation of Zain is a somewhat strange ending to his revolutionary saga:
Zain basically goes about doing exactly what caused him to rebel in the first place even before his coming into his true being. I wish that had felt more natural. As is he just sort of immediately goes off with Gabriel, hangs out with the few elect, and plans to destroy the rest of humanity when his whole thing was that the Center was abandoning the many of Tokyo Millennium for the chosen few. I don't think he has a situation like the SMT Law hero where the story of Aoba (what I named her) and his death gets the foot in the door on the transformation. Zain just kind of changes.
...
I prefer the tight, directed pacing of the game through to the aftermath of second coliseum bout. I chronicled my struggles in the aftermath and how I came to terms with a) the upsurge in difficulty and b) the change from external exploration to internal exploration (one of those costs magnetite :P) above. I think ultimately, they fit with the crisis situation you find yourself in, with the world you had and were becoming accustomed to destroyed and your quest taking you to a very different, hostile world. Coming to master the game at this point was a rewarding experience and after that the game was very much in my hands (reminds me of, say, the early post-nuke game in SMT1). I do, however, think that there is something of a lack of focus in the nested collection quests that structure this part of the game. I'd have ideas about why I was doing things and they'd just sort of remain unfulfilled (for a time, happily :)) and you'd just sort of move between helping Zain and just sort of exploring and collecting items. I wish it'd have been better tied together and there'd been more of an idea of what was going on at the center before the climax of this arc.
The thing is, the climax of the arc is awesome. As is seeing Tokyo Millennium from another side and seeing the Underworld so a lot of the particular content is quite good. I just miss the strength of the thread tying it all together that the game had up to that point. As chronicled above there were multiple times I was wrong about which of the sets of things I was collecting first and what I was trying to achieve ultimately in places.
Similarly, I like the Abyss. I like going to the Abyss. I loved certain experiences in the Abyss (mentioned just above), but I do think the Abyss went on a bit long.
...
I really love the upgrade to towns in this game over SMT1. I love the QoL changes to bars, discos, maps, and shops. I love the greater focus on the towns. It really helps build the setting up.
(Still curious about that Shady Man in the bars :P).
I also like the skill changes (giving you control and the HP cost). Magic felt neutered in the beginning particularly, with even Dia feeling pretty weak. Partly, I think this was a good thing: the heroine was so OP in SMT1 with the reliability of shock-locking and magic having some sort movement priority. On the other hand, I was very glad when healing did become potent and the endgame state where Tarukaja plus physical is such a dominant strategy is just further entrenched by attack spells being weaker.
Overall, though, just as with SMT 1, I had a good time with the dungeon crawling.
...
It is a great game. Again, blown away by its sense of self and its ability to explore its vision. Very much its own thing and very strong atmosphere.
Regarding Zayin
The game has the implication that YHVH's real chosen ones are actually fair, unlike the Center's, it's his genocidal plan that's wrong.
In the law ending
After firing the Megiddo Arc, Satan joins Aleph when he goes to meet YHVH, but then reveals that there's one more impure one to be eliminated - he claims that YHVH needs to be punished for the sin of genocide. After YHVH is killed then he disappears too, due to being part of YHVH, but claims that Aleph is the true savior.
Yeah the first spoiler is where the difficulty lies. The second spoiler doesn't really clean it up so much as make it clear Zain is self-aware.
I've got a save file before the choice of final path so maybe I'll go into the alternate endings at some point. Though I might just want to play the game again if I choose to do that at some point too.
Glad I'm skipping it like I did with the Radiant Historia remake.
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I would guess they are surely on separate carts. If they did combine them though, I would wonder if they would make changes to IV like updating the combat system to be like Apocalypse.
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Some of these are pretty clever. I'm slighlty disappointed they didn't change Mitsuru's hair for Nemissa.
Akihiko as the Devil Summoner protagonist is great. Who was Ann supposed to be? I can't put my finger on who she's supposed to be, and can't tell what game it says it's from.
Fuuka as Asahi just makes too much sense. I like that they actually gave Hijiri a nod. He was kind of an important character, but still often not mentioned in the grand scheme of things.
Edit: Figured it out, Ann is the Heroine from SMT2. I had never played SMT2 and didn't even know what the heroine looked like. Ann actually fits it pretty well, but did they really need to keep the pigtails? If her hair was down she would match extremely well.