Topic: Do I need to play any previous game before shin megami tensei IV?

Well, the title says it all- does shin megami tensei IV have any previous games in the series I need to play in order to understand the story? thanks =]

No... The story can be appreciated by itself, although it does reference past SMT games in small ways.

@JBDD Great, thanks! I really want to try that one and I was a bit afraid I have to play other games to really understand it. guess ill try it soon =]

Cool I know I really enjoyed it

It was my first SMT and I enjoyed it without any knowledge of previous games.

@VoltageX Assuming you haven't already got it, be aware that SMTIV is regularly discounted on the eshop.

@gcunit Oh, ok. ill be aware of that =] thanks

and thanks everybody, cant wait to try this ones out! Im just a bit worried it will be tough- how hard is the game in your opinion? I have some experience with difficult RPGs, but from what I heard the SMT games can be brutal. what do you think?

@Ichi In that case I believe ill manage =] ill just have to learn the mechanics and get into the game in my own pace. maybe ill choose the easy mode for my first file and go up the difficulty level every time I go thourgh the game again. that way I can get enough experience before even thinking about trying the harder modes =]

What I've found from playing a couple of Atlus games is that there comes a point where everything just clicks

I got this game about a month ago, and I'd say this is the best one to start with, especially since they actually tell you what the spell names are and don't make you confused that media is a healing spell