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I just went through and re-listened to the entire OST for SMT4 and hot damn, it's even better than I remembered. If we can get that massive variety of banging battle themes, eerie creepy tracks, cyberpunk goodness, etc., again for this game I will be very happy
Babe, it's time for you to be another target for the demon showcase.
Tsuchigumo: yes honey
It seems to be the freezing death animation specifically. They love to shatter Tsuchigumo
The only game in over 20months that makes me regret selling my Switch.
must resist buying another one just to play this game.
must resist buying another one just to play this game.
I suggest trying either SMT Nocturne or SMT 4 to get a better idea of the series. Personally, I would recommend SMT 4 over Nocturne because it has more Qol additions that make it easier to get into and it doesn't have random encounters. SMT 4 will give you a better idea of what SMT V will be like imo.
Although that's if you have a 3DS for SMT 4.
Nocturne is really good, and with the remaster the most accesible. It's 18 years old but still the best in the series.
Succubus: Bufula +4 (16 MP)/Spirit Drain (5 MP)/Masukunda +1 (25 MP)
Tomorrow's Garuda; it's 霊鳥/Reichou/Avian/the 'light' bird race. Gurr's usually a Raptor/the 'dark' bird race/Kyouchou/凶鳥.
Tomorrow's Garuda; it's 霊鳥/Reichou/Avian/the 'light' bird race. Gurr's usually a Raptor/the 'dark' bird race/Kyouchou/凶鳥.
i vividly remember seeing it on the eshop for $19.99 at some point and i said i would buy it but never got around to doing it. i'm most likely gonna play through it. do they have easter eggs for older games?
good to know, thank you! i'll try it out
Imagine being the MC, a high schooler randomly thrown in the dangerous world of Da'at - out of nowhere your hawt Prime Minister in a power ranger costume is offering his hand to save you.
Accepting it you both fused to transform into a magical blue bishie!
Now this can be interpreted as a saucy fanfic or a political scandal
Accepting it you both fused to transform into a magical blue bishie!
Now this can be interpreted as a saucy fanfic or a political scandal
Yea you can find it at a good price on Eshop. As for the game, there are easter eggs here and there, but you still don't need to play the games in order.
Anyone else getting both the N/A and Jpn collectors? I don't usually splurge like this but SMT makes me go crazy.
If you get another turn with a crit isn't that a lil game breaky
You could do that in SMTIV/Apoc as well and it was super busted there because crits gave you Smirk status.
I imagine the idea here is that it's weak and high cost, so its main utility will be netting Press Turns.
That's awesome. I hope someone will translate them, it's always interesting to read designer comments.
I will never get used to Spandex-Thor, to be honest.
If RNG is out for you like in Nocturne it won't matter, your next demon just misses it's attack and you're back to like you never would've had the crit! :D
If RNG is out for you like in Nocturne it won't matter, your next demon just misses it's attack and you're back to like you never would've had the crit! :D
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I think there's a pretty strong bias in favor of designs for which they already have 3D models. Unlike with Garuda, however, I don't have a strong preference among existing Thor designs, so sticking with Nocturne Thor is fine with me.
Out of curiousity I google translated the Amanozako comments and there are definitely some interesting things in there:
Genma Amanozako
The devil we are introducing this time is "Amanozako". In this series, the devil introduced first is actually the devil designed last in this work. Amanozako is a goddess who is said to have been born from the fierceness that Susanoo exhaled. She is said to be the ancestor of tengu and amanojaku, but the anecdotes around here are poorly biased, and she is also said to be the goddess of creation created during the Edo period.
The Amanozako of this work was designed in a range that can be associated with folklore to some extent, but with the game-like desire to be a memorable devil like the pixie that you meet in the early stages of Maju, it looks like a Japanese pixie. I summarized it in.
As for the design, small feathers and high clogs-style footwear associated with the tengu, ancient Japanese-style costumes and colored costumes associated with the goddess, and those elements were born from the god Susanoo. I adopted the motif of "made by Susanoo = android" as an essence. (Actually, it has a slightly deeper meaning, but it's still a secret at this point.) The expression of the hair as a helmet instead of hair is a part of playing with the design.
In the early designs, the skin was orange and the face wasn't so cute in order to give it a tengu feel and an amanojaku feel. However, in order to create a gap with the devilish personality, I reminded myself that cuteness is better, and I have a history of calming down to my current face and skin color (I think it was a success as a result). Sometimes it's a rough movement, and the lines are also subtle, making it a very impressive devil. I hope you can feel her loveliness through the game break.
Masayuki Doi
Genma Amanozako
The devil we are introducing this time is "Amanozako". In this series, the devil introduced first is actually the devil designed last in this work. Amanozako is a goddess who is said to have been born from the fierceness that Susanoo exhaled. She is said to be the ancestor of tengu and amanojaku, but the anecdotes around here are poorly biased, and she is also said to be the goddess of creation created during the Edo period.
The Amanozako of this work was designed in a range that can be associated with folklore to some extent, but with the game-like desire to be a memorable devil like the pixie that you meet in the early stages of Maju, it looks like a Japanese pixie. I summarized it in.
As for the design, small feathers and high clogs-style footwear associated with the tengu, ancient Japanese-style costumes and colored costumes associated with the goddess, and those elements were born from the god Susanoo. I adopted the motif of "made by Susanoo = android" as an essence. (Actually, it has a slightly deeper meaning, but it's still a secret at this point.) The expression of the hair as a helmet instead of hair is a part of playing with the design.
In the early designs, the skin was orange and the face wasn't so cute in order to give it a tengu feel and an amanojaku feel. However, in order to create a gap with the devilish personality, I reminded myself that cuteness is better, and I have a history of calming down to my current face and skin color (I think it was a success as a result). Sometimes it's a rough movement, and the lines are also subtle, making it a very impressive devil. I hope you can feel her loveliness through the game break.
Masayuki Doi
Amanozako's design notes actually mention how her being an ancestor to the Tengu and Amanojaku is questionable. I thought that could be a good excuse for the young looking design, but wasn't sure if they'd even mention it after some of the design decisions back in Apocalypse and SJ Redux. She was designed with the idea of having a presence as a memorable early game demon like pixie from Nocturne, basically a "Japanese pixie".
Overall, the idea seem to be her being represented as an artificial being created by Susano, although they're apparently keeping part of her concept a secret for now, probably story spoilers. Her initial design had an orange skin and an ugly face, but they changed it to the current cute one to create a contrast between her appearance and Amanojaku-like character.
I think people exaggerate how much better the concepts end up being. There are a few cases where I agree(mostly Innana and Dagda), but I think all of Doi's designs for SMT V have been excellent.
A better translation courtesty of Persona Central of Doi's Notes on Amanozako: https://personacentral.com/smtv-daily-demon-40/
Genma Amanozako
The demon I would like to introduce this time is Amanozako.
The first demon I'm going to introduce in this series is actually the last demon to be designed for this game.
Amanozako is a goddess who is said to have been spit out by Susano-o. She is also said to be the ancestor of Tengu and Amanojaku, but that anecdote is not very reliable, and she is said to be the goddess of creation, created in the Edo period.
This game's Amanozako was designed in a way that it could be associated with the lore, to a certain extent, but I also wanted to make it a demon that would be as memorable as the pixie that you meet in the beginning of the game in SMT III: Nocturne.
As for the design, I used small feathers and high geta-like footwear reminiscent of the Tengu, ancient Japanese patterns and colors reminiscent of the goddess, and an android motif, in the sense that she's "man-made" as she was born from the male god Susano-o. (Actually, there is a deeper meaning, but it is still a secret for now.) Her hair is not actually hair, but a helmet formed as such, which is part of the design I played around with.
In the initial design, her skin was orange and her face wasn't that cute in order to make it look more like a Tengu or an evil demon. However, I decided that it would be better to make her cute in order to match her innocent personality, so I settled on her current face and skin tone. (I believe it was a success.)
It's a very impressive demon that changes from one scene to the next; cute, but with some wild movements at times, and distinctive dialogue. I hope you'll be able to feel it through the game.
Masayuki Doi
I think the main thing of interest is the android motifs, it seems like they are going with a newborn artificial demon angle for Amanozako, and I think that artificial or man-made demons will be relevant to the story as a whole.
As an edit it seems like the innocent personality is mistranslated and it should be However, I thought it would be better to make her cute in order to create a gap between her character and her evil nature, so I settled on her current face and skin tone. (In the end, I think it was a success.) Multiple other translations outside of the personacentral one translate it this way so I think its correct
Genma Amanozako
The demon I would like to introduce this time is Amanozako.
The first demon I'm going to introduce in this series is actually the last demon to be designed for this game.
Amanozako is a goddess who is said to have been spit out by Susano-o. She is also said to be the ancestor of Tengu and Amanojaku, but that anecdote is not very reliable, and she is said to be the goddess of creation, created in the Edo period.
This game's Amanozako was designed in a way that it could be associated with the lore, to a certain extent, but I also wanted to make it a demon that would be as memorable as the pixie that you meet in the beginning of the game in SMT III: Nocturne.
As for the design, I used small feathers and high geta-like footwear reminiscent of the Tengu, ancient Japanese patterns and colors reminiscent of the goddess, and an android motif, in the sense that she's "man-made" as she was born from the male god Susano-o. (Actually, there is a deeper meaning, but it is still a secret for now.) Her hair is not actually hair, but a helmet formed as such, which is part of the design I played around with.
In the initial design, her skin was orange and her face wasn't that cute in order to make it look more like a Tengu or an evil demon. However, I decided that it would be better to make her cute in order to match her innocent personality, so I settled on her current face and skin tone. (I believe it was a success.)
It's a very impressive demon that changes from one scene to the next; cute, but with some wild movements at times, and distinctive dialogue. I hope you'll be able to feel it through the game.
Masayuki Doi
I think the main thing of interest is the android motifs, it seems like they are going with a newborn artificial demon angle for Amanozako, and I think that artificial or man-made demons will be relevant to the story as a whole.
As an edit it seems like the innocent personality is mistranslated and it should be However, I thought it would be better to make her cute in order to create a gap between her character and her evil nature, so I settled on her current face and skin tone. (In the end, I think it was a success.) Multiple other translations outside of the personacentral one translate it this way so I think its correct
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Great stuff, thanks for sharing. Totally agree with this point too. The fact that we see that kind of weird shrine/laboratory with the green liquid pool and Aogami emerging from it and looking like the PMs twin I think is going to be really important.
Hmm idk, I felt the routes overall sucked in SMT4 compared to others, especially 3. Maybe try Strange Journey. I believe its so bad (the routes in 4) that its memed.
I honestly always thought the OG SJ endings were the worst, prior to the new ones in SJR. For example, SJ Law is turning everyone into a mindless god praiser and erasing free will, whereas in SMT IV Law even though you nuke Tokyo everyone in Mikado gets to live in peace with free will intact( though obviously monitored by angels)
Hard disagree, the original SJ had some of the worst endings in the series and the Redux ones made the choice actually difficult and addressed some hypocrisies of the original game's ideologies. Like Jimenez confronting that his World of Strength ideology is totally opposite how he treated Bugaboo who was a weak demon that would have died without intervention. Plus the new Law and Chaos endings are way more interesting than a variation of the same sorts of endings they normally do. I see people hating on the SJR endings all the time and I don't really get it. I agree the Alex stuff is a bit contrived and they could have reached those endings in a better way, but the endings themselves are fantastic imo.
Yeah that's the point.
It's a tragic character arc where he becomes a monster with the best of intentions. The same thing happens to Zelenin.
The new endings are exactly the same as the old ones but worded in a way to be more cathartic and heroic.
They're bad.
They're not just the same thing worded differently. There are distinct differences to make them more appealing and that would make someone who is not insane consider choosing them, though I do agree they are not as tragic as the OG SJ endings, its not like the tragedy or the irony of the endings is ever a huge deal or even commented upon in SJ. I get why someone would prefer the old endings, but I don't think the new ones are bad at all.
The problem with SMT4's routes aren't the endings, but the lead up to them. Once you get into a route, you basically get no story events related to your enemies anymore. Law route has the npcs in the underground lairs talking about an even bigger demon invasion and how it's just a matter of time until they fall, and maybe even Mikado, but nothing about that is really acknowledged in the main story scenes. You just walk over defeat some demons that are just waiting for you seemingly without doing anything and then kill the final boss. It doesn't show how the final boss appeared or allows that character to do anything, which makes the confrontation with them all fairly underwhelming.
Neutral route is obviously the longest and most elaborate, but once you're actually done with the preparations that come before the final battle with all the side-quests, then the two final battles still end up the same as before. They're just there waiting for the player with no real build up.
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You don't need to explicitly say something is tragic in order for it to be tragic. Also SMT endings (aside from neutral) are tragic by default.
It's a story about permanent, extreme solutions to a problem and now those solutions aren't extreme anymore, and the tragedy is commented upon by, like, the fact that your friend you've sided with has become a horrible demon and that you've betrayed humanity out of a belief that they'll never change and you need to warp them into something to your liking (which you still do in Redux but now it's presented as heroic).
I guess but I just feel like the SMT endings for Law and Chaos are always the same two extremes and it never really makes for a particularly interesting choice, the new endings still keep the general idea of Chaos and Law but make them more appealing to the point where you might actually choose one of them while still maintaining the core tenets of the ideology.
Like for new Law Zelenin just removes the will to fight from people rather than removing all free will and making them god worshiping robots. Its still lawful and intrusive and matches with Law ideology, but its not as extreme. Same with new chaos allowing for the freedom for people to do whatever it is they please whether through force or otherwise, but also not normal Chaos which is basically always a genocide ending for all humans, since no humans can survive in a world of strength with demons.
I get that the tragedy of the situation is lost and I do think that is a shame specifically for SJ, but I think that the endings are way more engaging than the old ones and a game written from the ground up to have endings similar to these, rather than sticking them onto the end of Strange Journey would be way better for something like SMT V than recycling the same old law and chaos endings. Thats just my thoughts on it.
Like for new Law Zelenin just removes the will to fight from people rather than removing all free will and making them god worshiping robots. Its still lawful and intrusive and matches with Law ideology, but its not as extreme. Same with new chaos allowing for the freedom for people to do whatever it is they please whether through force or otherwise, but also not normal Chaos which is basically always a genocide ending for all humans, since no humans can survive in a world of strength with demons.
I get that the tragedy of the situation is lost and I do think that is a shame specifically for SJ, but I think that the endings are way more engaging than the old ones and a game written from the ground up to have endings similar to these, rather than sticking them onto the end of Strange Journey would be way better for something like SMT V than recycling the same old law and chaos endings. Thats just my thoughts on it.
The only bad endings are the ones where you don't kill all your friends.
The Law/Chaos dichotomy is a sham, anyway, since they all boil down to a "ruling class" dominating the less fortunate.
The Law/Chaos dichotomy is a sham, anyway, since they all boil down to a "ruling class" dominating the less fortunate.
Shin Megami Tensei has very rarely ever been balanced with the Alignment system, I just wonder why that's a bad thing.
If a choice is there, does it deserve to be taken? What makes a choice worth taking if not the surrounding context of the story?
I've seen dudes go "gotta go Chaos bro" and then get mad that the Chaos ending of any particular SMT game isn't cathartic enough. Does it have to be? When starting a Shin Megami Tenesi game should you already know what alignment you'll follow? Should all these choices be equally as rewarding to take, even if they conflict with your own morals?
In relating this to Strange Journey the question is more binary. You can save the Earth knowing that the Schwarzwelt will come again and it's up to you and your squad to show the world the error of their ways. Alternatively, through two choices, you can throw your hands into the air, decide that humanity can never change, that the Schwarzwelt will inevitably return, and radically alter the minds of the entire human race for all eternity to turn the planet into a theme park of your own indulgence.
I subverted the will of every single person on Earth because I could. A choice like that shouldn't make me feel like a hero.
Archangel: Heatwave +1 (13 MP)/Hama +3 (12 MP)/Agilao +1 (18 MP)/Wind Breath (25 MP)/Charge (10 MP)/Tarunda (8 MP)/'critical sword' +1 (9 MP)
Huh, I'm a bit surprised that 'critical sword'/kaishin ken is apparently new to the series, given the existence of 'critical wave'/kaishin ha.
Looks like the first instance of a Breath skill at 0 affinity.
Thor's probably the first official confirmation of Kishin in this game? Not that we didn't expect Kishin to be around, of course.
...and the wiki actually also lists Koumokuten. Ok, I do remember that Koumokuten was used as one of the 'guess that demon from the silhouette!' questions from the Japanese livestream, but I didn't think of that being confirmation being in this game specifically.
Huh, I'm a bit surprised that 'critical sword'/kaishin ken is apparently new to the series, given the existence of 'critical wave'/kaishin ha.
Looks like the first instance of a Breath skill at 0 affinity.
Thor's probably the first official confirmation of Kishin in this game? Not that we didn't expect Kishin to be around, of course.
...and the wiki actually also lists Koumokuten. Ok, I do remember that Koumokuten was used as one of the 'guess that demon from the silhouette!' questions from the Japanese livestream, but I didn't think of that being confirmation being in this game specifically.
There is no way the heavenly kings aren't in this game. The more prolific and iconic demons will be in the game for sure.
On that note, I'm curious to see who doesn't make the cut.