If they had to pick a Persona A-lister, I would have liked to see Liam O'Brian do Eikichi.
...and Troy Baker should have been Spooky, now that I think of it.
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- Thread starter HylianSeven
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If they had to pick a Persona A-lister, I would have liked to see Liam O'Brian do Eikichi.
...and Troy Baker should have been Spooky, now that I think of it.
Some small pickups from Akiba today. Still need to find a reasonably priced SMT II for GBA.
Yeah O'Brien is legit. He could do a voice similar to his Grimoire Weiss and add a bit more sass to it and it would work. Eikichi is still my favourite Persona character.
I kinda liked O'Brien's confident take on Spooky though, sort of fit the character portraits. Personally, I think Soul Hackers has my favourite VA in the MegaTen umbrella games so far, fits the 90s design really well. They even got the shop owners VA just right with that game.
Oh, I agree. The demons are phenomenal too. Just wasn't expecting Liam as Spooky.
I feel like we shared the same music lol. I agree on Soul Hackers, terrific soundtrack.
SMT1 random battle insanity only really gets me whenever I am backtracking lol and I am just like BRO LEMME THRU!! Also the final dungeon and the diamond realm dungeon are particularly painful when it comes to random battles. But for most of the game as long as you have a solid setup being able to auto battle your way through the endless horde just keeps your wallet and mag full :P
SMT1 was my first SMT and I don't even know how I managed to get so far when I played it like a Final Fantasy without buffs, without the Zionga trick and even without mapper. The encounter rate drove me to the wall but the game was charming enough to go through
I still haven't played SMT1. Worth playing through the SNES fan translated games? I was so pumped to see it getting localised for mobile, then so disappointed when it didn't come to Android (and apparently even if I got an Apple device now it's no longer supported? Yikes).
Also, I know it would feel dated and would probably have very limited appeal, but the mention of Soul Hackers reminds me how much I'd love more '90s throwback cyberpunk SMT, especially with some QoL updates and cleaner visuals.
Also, I know it would feel dated and would probably have very limited appeal, but the mention of Soul Hackers reminds me how much I'd love more '90s throwback cyberpunk SMT, especially with some QoL updates and cleaner visuals.
It's still my favorite game of all time, it's aged much better than you'd think to be honest. If you can I would suggest emulating the iOS version, I'm only suggesting this because unless you have access to a pre iOS 11 device there is no other way to experience just how good this port is.
Really the only stuff that feels very "old" is the insane encounter rate but that's par for the course for most SMT games lol. There are some weird points in the game where you have to do something overly specific or to talk to some random NPC to make the game progress, but I'd say that's limited to about 2 or 3 points, usually SMT1 is rather straight forward in that most of the game progression is about just going where the guys tell you to go and if you dont know where to go just go to a place that you haven't been to yet.
Thanks, guys!
I have a backlog to get through but I will add either the SNES version or 'figuring out how to emulate iOS' to said backlog. I've always been really into the cover art.
I have a backlog to get through but I will add either the SNES version or 'figuring out how to emulate iOS' to said backlog. I've always been really into the cover art.
So, currently at the first major alignment split in SMT IV. I'm having fun with the game, but damn, getting the neutral route is chore. According to the Cynical Man at the bars I'm currently neutral, but I figured I'd better do some challenge quests that influence alignment and check back with Cynical Man to see where I end up. Hopefully that will help me pinpoint my current score.
I've already picked all the options and quests I need to do to get back at the exact same score I'm currently at after making the final choice, but better be safe than sorry.
Speaking of challenge quests: does anyone know what the last point to do challenge quest is before the alignment lock occurs?
I've already picked all the options and quests I need to do to get back at the exact same score I'm currently at after making the final choice, but better be safe than sorry.
Speaking of challenge quests: does anyone know what the last point to do challenge quest is before the alignment lock occurs?
At a certain point you'll go to the Tokyo reactor. When you finish that dungeon you'll be locked from the previous challenge quests. There are still alignment relevant choices and quests afterwards, but less of them and you can't go back to the old ones.
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I was thinking about why MegaTen has so many demons that are references to TV shows or movies, then I realized it actually makes perfect sense in connection with the lore of SMT. Demons excist because people think them up or believed in them. Therefore all the movies and TV shows referenced are by extension, the modem day equivalent of mythology of an ancient culture. It's kind of a neat thing to think about. It explains why we see references to Friday the 13th, The Shining, Christine, Little Shop of Horrors, Beetlejuice, and many more.
Honestly going forward I hope Atlus revisits this idea in future demon designs and references things like Saw, Slender (as dumb as it is, it's a pop culture thing), It, Babadook, and many more. There is a ton of untapped potential there, and they took steps in the right direction with demons like Chemtrail. With Trump being president, and the rise of conspiracy theories bring more and more believed, they could easily use a lot of those. Maybe make a tinfoil hatted conspiracy theorist a demon.
Honestly going forward I hope Atlus revisits this idea in future demon designs and references things like Saw, Slender (as dumb as it is, it's a pop culture thing), It, Babadook, and many more. There is a ton of untapped potential there, and they took steps in the right direction with demons like Chemtrail. With Trump being president, and the rise of conspiracy theories bring more and more believed, they could easily use a lot of those. Maybe make a tinfoil hatted conspiracy theorist a demon.
Just make sure to get all that shit done before you go to Camp Ichihaya. There's hours of gameplay after Ichigaya, but you won't be able to do Challenge Quests.
OK, so that's actually pretty soon? My currenty location in the story:
The angels just took over Mikado.
I was going to go with Walter and according to the FAQs that will lead me directly to Ichigaya. So I will need to do those challenge quests now? (I need a few to get back at my current alignment score later, I don't care about the rest.)
Yeah I'm finding it a breeze for the most part. Was just getting a bit crazy when I'd literally walk every two steps and get like three waves of enemies constantly. Ah well, at least levelling up is piss easy in this game.
Yeah that must have been nuts. I was wandering around the first time I played SMT 1 and constantly got lost. Took me months to complete the game, got locked into Chaos route first time through. This was a good 9 or 10 years ago now though, so I barely remember the game now aside from the odd plot point. Game's even more bleak than I remember it being. Game doesn't hold back on showing/telling the shitty things humans do to each other).
SMT 1 and SMT2 are considered classics in Japan. And for good reason. There's also the SNES remakes of both Megami Tensei 1 and 2 which also got fan translations which are supposed to be really good as well. SMT1 doesn't really feel that old to me playing it, I find it just as accessible as any other SNES era RPG but instead it's in first person unlike a lot of other SNES era Japanese RPGs. The game is pretty easy to cheese once you have access to Nerve/Charm bullets, Zionga/Maha-Zio spells and Bufu spells ((all of which stunlock all enemies, even bosses). I find raising the Speed stat very helpful since it means I can get me characters spamming those attacks to stop enemies even making their first move.
It's pretty easy to get a SNES emulator on most devices nowadays, if you have a PC or Mac or an older console like Wii/PSP/DS and hack them to play these games. Well worth it.
The dog is amazing in this game.
And makes the first section of the game a breeze
Yeah absolutely, I remember playing this in high school and one thing that surprised me is that it just says some very important thing with a single, dry sentence.
X is dead, Y is sacrificing themselves and it hits you like a truck.
In any other game I'd say this is some bull, but in this game, it was like getting engrossed in a novel and then the line just hits you and time stops around you, you know ? It was concise, either it happened or it didn't, and this was very revelatory for me in the way a story can be communicated in games. I wasn't even upset, I genuinely felt that I reached a new stage in the story in a meaningful way.
So I figured I'd best make a chart of all the alignment choices I made so far in SMTIV and which one I'll need to make to get the neutral route. Here's how it looks:
The red striped cells are challenge quest that yield alignment points, but which I don't need to do to get the neutral ending.
Now I just hope I didn't miss anything.
The red striped cells are challenge quest that yield alignment points, but which I don't need to do to get the neutral ending.
Now I just hope I didn't miss anything.
So I figured I'd best make a chart of all the alignment choices I made so far in SMTIV and which one I'll need to make to get the neutral route. Here's how it looks:
The red striped cells are challenge quest that yield alignment points, but which I don't need to do to get the neutral ending.
Now I just hope I didn't miss anything.
I will need this for the future. First I got chaos ending on purpose, with NG+ law ending on purpose, and the third time I tried neutral but got chaos again.
As long as you get the chaos or neutral ending, that's fine. Law ending sucks.
Great to know you are enjoying it. It's my favorite SMT game.
I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. It's not even that old of a game, but it feels very old-school in some regards. In a good way, though.
Here's the spreadsheet I copied it from, btw:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qHDEy7wLyoYtmJ-6wyymUPbKLjn-Np1l4rXf0-WDw2s/edit#gid=0
Could help if you want to make other choices. The scores are calculated automatically, so that's a plus.
So 2 weeks later and I've put about 16 hours into SMT4. I have to say, I'm pretty infatuated. Going into this, I knew it would be similar to P5 which I had played for 50 hours or so, and was looking for a pokemon-like experience and as someone who loves data, this is hitting the right notes for me. If 'spreadsheet game' was a label, I would apply it to SMT4. The depth to the press turn system that compounds with the time spent designing and crafting your team to cover as many different scenarios as possible.. I ramble but it's because I'm having such a fun time.
I think I'll push through until credits and then look at some of the other SMT titles. There is a pull to go hard on the compendium collecting and spend time fusing even more powerful demons but there are other games to play and I'd honestly prefer to throw 100+ hours getting into NG+ etc on SMT5 due to Switch form factor (I loathe the dinky little 3DS screen and controls). Plus I imagine SMT5 would come with more of the QoL features that Persona 5 seems to have around menus and world exploration.
The good:
Demon art design is pretty great. The combat system is a lot of fun particularly when you get into a rhythm with a certain team, and generally speaking I don't mind the need to try battles again if a boss wipes my team because it usually means I'm planning out demon combos to abuse enemy attacks/weaknesses/press turn system. I have experienced press turn system in P5 but my experience with that game was 80% life/dating sim, 20% fighting so the primary focus on fighting in SMT4 suits my sensibilities.
The moment after making my way into the depths, fighting demons to come up against the Medusa who wiped my team a couple of times, and finally overcoming her to descend further into... Tokyo. It was a great reveal which I knew was coming at some point due to the visions at the beginning of the game. But still, that idea of this tower above Tokyo that acts as a conduit to the tunnels beneath a medieval castle was a good story hook. Walking through Tokyo in knightly armour fighting demons whilst shooting them with a handgun - great times.
The bad:
I feel the difficulty is a bit all over the place in the first 14 hours up until fighting the Medusa and getting to Tokyo where the experience started to flow much faster. There would be full sections where I was having no issue and then go through a door and get ambushed from a demon off-camera which would KO 3 of my guys in the opening attack. It wasn't frustrating but those moments felt incongruous with the general difficulty. Since I'm 16 hours in, I'm curious to see how balance plays out but feeling pretty optimistic about the game and overall mechanics
The controls are a little clunky where some things can be done with circle pad whilst others require the d-pad. Menu navigation isn't elegant as well (I noticed this coming from P5 where I felt the menu was easy to navigate through with good shortcut buttons).
I have a question about experience and macca and the DLC that you can get to speed up those processes. Is the DLC useful if I just want to reach credits with this game? If I was looking at filling out my compendium and creating some nasty combos then I would pick them up as I imagine they'd save enough time to make it worth it, but for just finishing the main story I'm not sure.
I think I'll push through until credits and then look at some of the other SMT titles. There is a pull to go hard on the compendium collecting and spend time fusing even more powerful demons but there are other games to play and I'd honestly prefer to throw 100+ hours getting into NG+ etc on SMT5 due to Switch form factor (I loathe the dinky little 3DS screen and controls). Plus I imagine SMT5 would come with more of the QoL features that Persona 5 seems to have around menus and world exploration.
The good:
Demon art design is pretty great. The combat system is a lot of fun particularly when you get into a rhythm with a certain team, and generally speaking I don't mind the need to try battles again if a boss wipes my team because it usually means I'm planning out demon combos to abuse enemy attacks/weaknesses/press turn system. I have experienced press turn system in P5 but my experience with that game was 80% life/dating sim, 20% fighting so the primary focus on fighting in SMT4 suits my sensibilities.
The moment after making my way into the depths, fighting demons to come up against the Medusa who wiped my team a couple of times, and finally overcoming her to descend further into... Tokyo. It was a great reveal which I knew was coming at some point due to the visions at the beginning of the game. But still, that idea of this tower above Tokyo that acts as a conduit to the tunnels beneath a medieval castle was a good story hook. Walking through Tokyo in knightly armour fighting demons whilst shooting them with a handgun - great times.
The bad:
I feel the difficulty is a bit all over the place in the first 14 hours up until fighting the Medusa and getting to Tokyo where the experience started to flow much faster. There would be full sections where I was having no issue and then go through a door and get ambushed from a demon off-camera which would KO 3 of my guys in the opening attack. It wasn't frustrating but those moments felt incongruous with the general difficulty. Since I'm 16 hours in, I'm curious to see how balance plays out but feeling pretty optimistic about the game and overall mechanics
The controls are a little clunky where some things can be done with circle pad whilst others require the d-pad. Menu navigation isn't elegant as well (I noticed this coming from P5 where I felt the menu was easy to navigate through with good shortcut buttons).
I have a question about experience and macca and the DLC that you can get to speed up those processes. Is the DLC useful if I just want to reach credits with this game? If I was looking at filling out my compendium and creating some nasty combos then I would pick them up as I imagine they'd save enough time to make it worth it, but for just finishing the main story I'm not sure.
Ironically, I think SMT (PS1) is more accessible than Devil Summoner so far.
ohyescoolgreat The DLCs do speed things up A LOT, they'd help you progress faster for sure, but I'm not sure it's worth it. SMT4 is easy enough that you'll never need to grind, and the only things that'd require obscene amounts of money are the equipment in the premium shop, I guess.
Cooling see yall playing SMTIV. Pretty sure it was my GOTY when it came out. I went for a #TeamLuck build and people were calling me crazy back at the old forum lol. I found an old pic i took of my MC's stats + skills.
Really really really fun build lol
EDIT : I forgot to mention that I actually recorded myself beating the 7 optional fiends and uploaded it on youtube. You can actually hear me go "YESSSS!" after finally beating
after about 20 tries lol.
Really really really fun build lol
EDIT : I forgot to mention that I actually recorded myself beating the 7 optional fiends and uploaded it on youtube. You can actually hear me go "YESSSS!" after finally beating
Red Rider
I'm using a physical build. Currently level 48:
End build will probably be a mix of physical skills, charge, party-wide healing and the best buffs/debuffs (Luster Candy and the like).
I'm very glad I picked up the MP recovery apps ASAP. My MP is full all the time now and even the party-wide recovery app works decently fast.
End build will probably be a mix of physical skills, charge, party-wide healing and the best buffs/debuffs (Luster Candy and the like).
I'm very glad I picked up the MP recovery apps ASAP. My MP is full all the time now and even the party-wide recovery app works decently fast.
Yep. Probably because an old SNES game is easier than an old PS1 game.
Nope, only Soul Hackers. There was a later PSP port, though.
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So in Persona 3... Sleeping Motherfucking Table... Jesus Christ.
I googled "persona 3 sl" and it auto completed to "persona 3 sleeping table". Turns out this boss has a reputation, and I think this is one of the few times in a MegaTen I have actually had to grind to get past something. I can't survive a Megidola, which no amount of resistances will fix. I was something like level 37 on my first try and got my shit wrecked, but I am 40 now and people are saying to should get around 45 and Mediarama to actually have a chance. Jesus Christ this is like Matador but actually just a difficulty wall. Unless there is some other solution.
I googled "persona 3 sl" and it auto completed to "persona 3 sleeping table". Turns out this boss has a reputation, and I think this is one of the few times in a MegaTen I have actually had to grind to get past something. I can't survive a Megidola, which no amount of resistances will fix. I was something like level 37 on my first try and got my shit wrecked, but I am 40 now and people are saying to should get around 45 and Mediarama to actually have a chance. Jesus Christ this is like Matador but actually just a difficulty wall. Unless there is some other solution.
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Normal. I did Rakukaja, but I can't get it on everyone fast enough as he one-shots most everyone else. The Protagonist can survive a turn, but then if he uses Megidola again he's done (I got Incubus which nulls fire and his Maragidyne). It's damn near impossible to survive with buffs/debuffs even. I can't get them to my entire party fast enough where I'm just sitting there playing defense and not actually doing any damage.
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Like I said, I have a Persona that nulls fire.
That doesn't take care of Megidola though, which is impossible to null. Megidola is the main issue here. I just need Yukari or someone to have Mediarama and I should be fine.
Also it has no weakness (no surprise there).
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It does it first turn sometimes, so idk.
My first attempt the Persona I was using didn't null fire, so it still used Megidola then.
Edit: Actually, thinking about it you're probably right and I'll have to try that tomorrow. I remembered my first try, i had Koromaru, and he nulls fire, while the Protagonist's Persona did not null fire. I'll have to give that a try and run with Yukari, Aigis, and Junpei. Although it's still going to be hard af without Mediarama.
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I still think SMT4 is one of the most important JRPG if its generation if only for the 8-hours foreplay just to introduce Tokyo. It felt great, the shift in tone, the change from classic JRPG music to more electronic sounds. It was worth it and more.
Most JRPGs what you do in the first hour is mostly the same as the rest of the game. Not this one.
I personally found a lot of the new demon designs in SMTIV pretty bad for the most part. I was already disappointed that Kaneko was done with the series but some of the redesigns and new demons were really clashing against one another. The art direction there was all over the place. I would have preferred if they went with just one new artist instead of several, each of whom are talented artists in their own right but put together with their own styles and with their weird redesigns for the likes of Lilith, Lucifer etc led me to not like the game as much as I would have liked to. Environment art design was very good as usual for the series but the demon art was so much of a mish mash it brought the game down for me when compared to previous (and later) entries in the series. The game is incredibly good for a handheld RPG though.
Really glad they just got Doi to do the demon art with Apocalypse and the series now going forward since his style for the demon designs is far closer to Kaneko's style than any of the other artists at Atlus or those guest artists they brought in for SMTIV.
Regarding the difficulty, it's plain sailings from there and gets a fair bit easier aside from the odd moment or two in the game, it honestly becomes a breeze since you'll soon be able to get demons with better abilities. And to be honest after seeing P5's menu design, all of Atlus other games wouldn't look great in comparison, to be honest. Some of the DLC quests are end game stuff or post end game, so I'd be careful which ones you buy. IIRC there is a couple that are basically level up DLCs but like I say the game becomes much easier in a bit anyway so they may be pointless.
I'm considering giving Devil Summoner another try, but it's such a frustrating game. Unlike Soul Hackers, you can't tell if a demon joins you until you check your menu, since they never approach you after a success. Also, Shiki Ouji was beating my tail repeatedly.
And that is a very large map to have to backtrack through again.
And that is a very large map to have to backtrack through again.
Speaking of designs, I don't mind the not unified art style ? I never thought of demons as a unified art style in any SMT, they blend so much things together. I haven't played Apocalypse yet but comparing SMT4 Medusa to Doi Medusa that I saw earlier. I'd take SMT4 any day of the week. She looked fearsome, made my skin crawl.
When I was typing my comment on liking the designs, the Medusa was at the forefront of my mind. I can see the argument against the designs but since they're not 3d models, I almost see them like Pokémon cards: lots of different artists with their own styles. If they were 3d models I think it would be a bit more jarring for me.
If they had been 3d models the different art styles would have been less distracting, since the conversion into 3d would add a layer of unification to everything. One of the issues with a demon like Medusa in IV is that her face was clearly drawn in a completely different art style from everyone else's (thick black lines), while that wouldn't be an issue with a 3d model.
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I found Medusa's design ugly as fuck, to be honest. Doi's Lucifer was better then that...thing in IV with the weird arm thing going on. Doi fixed it the best he could in Apocalypse. Kaneko's interpretations of Lucifer are still the best though. I liked Doi's designs for
in Apocalypse.
YHVH and Dagda
If they ever release a remasterization of SMT IV, I hope they replace many of the weird demon designs the game had with the original ones designed by Kaneko.
Lilith's old design should be back:
And get avoid of this thing whatever is supposed to be:
At least they used the original Lilith in Persona 5
Lilith's old design should be back:
And get avoid of this thing whatever is supposed to be:
At least they used the original Lilith in Persona 5
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the five characters below the logo mean?
It's 悪魔召喚師 (akuma shoukanshi), literally demon summoner.
Literally "devil summoner"Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the five characters below the logo mean?
edit: beaten