Topic: Shin Megami Tensei, where to start?

I keep seeing people rave about these games but I have never tried them as I'm fussy when it comes to RPGs so with Shin Megami Tensei IV and Persona Q coming out in the UK soon I've figured I'll give one of them a try. Which one is an easier place to start with or is it worth tracking down an older title like Devil Summoner to try first?

Also what's the main differences between all the various titles?

The Shin Megami Tensei series of games is only a part of the whole Megami Tensei franchise, just FYI.

Where you start is pretty much your choice, the SMT games aren't directly connected, but still play in the same canon - somehow. Generally, you might be well-off starting with SMT4 (3DS), PERSONA 1(PSX/PSP), or Digital Devil Saga (PS2), in my opinion, simply because they have a whole lot to offer. Generally, you're not missing out on anything storywise, but the games speak strongly for themselves.

Shin Megami Tensei IV and Persona Q are so different they may as well be from different franchises.... Persona Q is an Etrian Oddissey game with characters from the Persona franchise, if you haven't played Persona 3 and 4 I would not play Q, so go for SMTV IV first if i you only have a 3DS, stories are separate for each game as in the Final Frantasy franchise so no need to have played previous ones.... if you have a PSP or Vita I will recommend going for Persona 3 Portable as your first game in the franchise

Yeah, there's a tonne of different things. Depends on what systems you have, I guess.

If you just have the 3DS, then pick up SMT IV. The main series SMT games are most classic dungeon crawlers with a very punishing but rewarding difficulty level. It's the first main series SMT game since Nocturne on the PS2.

Persona is a social RPG spin-off. It has elements of slice of life and dating sim. This is probably the most popular SMT series and Persona 4: The Golden for Vita is probably the most well-received SMT game ever. Persona Q is more of a dungeon crawler though. It's modeled on Etrian Odyssey, if you've played those. Like Hyrule Warriors is Dynasty Warriors with a Zelda skin, Persona Q is Etrian Odyssey with a Persona skin (specifically Persona 3 and 4, the most recent and by far most popular Persona games).

Devil Survivor was introduced last-gen and is a strategy RPG series. Devil Survivor: Overclocked is probably the best SRPG on the 3DS after Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Relatively new are also Persona 4 Arena and its sequel. 2D fighting games.

If you have a PS2 or PS3, you have access to a lot of SMT games. You got SMT 3: Nocturne, Persona 3 and 4, Devil Summoner 1 and 2 (action RPGs), and Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 (never played those, don't know what they're about).

All of them have common elements though. All revolve around summoning, contracting, or taking on the "persona" of demons. You can fuse them, find them in dungeons, etc. More or less, it's an adult version of Pokemon.

Cheers for all the repsonses, so Perona Q there's no point unless you've played the other Persona games but as I've only got a 3DS I probably wont be trying that, Devil Survivor Overclocked seems to be sold out everywhere with 2nd hand copies going for new retail prices so it looks like I will be picking up IV then.

I read something somewhere along the lines of "it's Pokemon with demons" which is what made me want to give it a try.

I played SMT IV with no prior series experience and didn't miss a beat. One of the best games on the 3DS.

If you have an iOS device, I recommend starting with the first. It's aged gracefully and the iOS version eases up on the admittedly high difficulty a bit, while also updating a few important features.

If you have a PS2, PS3 and/or PSP, the sky's the limit, but I think you should start with Persona 3, then maybe going on to Nocturne if you can.

If you just have a 3DS, I'd recommend tracking down SMT: Strange Journey. It'll prepare you for a lot of the elements you'd see in Soul Hackers and SMT4, but I found it to be not quite as unforgiving. Soul Hackers might feel a bit archaic in comparison, but if you remember it's just a port of a Sega Saturn/Playstation 1 game, it's a great game. SMT4 might be good to start with...on Easy. Normal will kick your butt if you aren't prepared. Heck, it kicked my butt and I played a bunch of SMT games before it...

Just don't start with Persona 1. Even the PSP version feels extremely rough around the edges. Persona 2 is better, but it still has gameplay issues that kinda hold it back. That was actually my first SMT game, though, and I'd say it has one of the better beginnings in the series. If you want to be immediately impressed with some wild story ideas, that might not be a bad one to start with.

I don't think Persona Q will be a great starting point, since it's an Etrian Odyssey game with a buttload of characters and references from games you've yet to play...

Shin Megami Tensei IV. Aside from a few particular boss fights, the game is pretty easy for a core SMT title. Although I should qualify this by saying that easy for SMT does not mean the game isn't ruthlessly difficult at times.

I started with Devil Survivor: Overclocked. The gameplay is a bit different than the core series, but I think it did a good job of preparing me for the more hardcore entries in the series like Nocturne.

Persona Q seems like an Etrian Odyssey game with a ton of Persona fanservice, so I'm not sure if that's the best place to start...

I was gonna say, if you want a less loaded game, definitely try Persona 3 and 4. I'd say start with 3 to knock it out of the park, since 4 has a radically different feel to it.

Played SMT 4 and i can say its a lot harder then I expected.. made it into the training area and died 3 times right at the beginning, lost 12 play coins in the process, I haven't played it since. I'm unfamiliar with Persona Q so i can't say anything about it.

Honestly that was my experience too...and I'm used to how hard these games are. I actually thought that the beginning at least was the hardest beginning in the series since the SFC version of the original SMT...

I started with SMT IV and I've got to the say it's a beautiful game. Probably best title on 3DS. Storyline, graphics, engagement, characters, fights... everything is simply fantastic, a strong 10/10 from me. I downloaded Devil Survivor: Overclocked and Soul Hackers after playing SMT IV and tried the first one, but as far as I am concerned it's far from SMT IV. Don't get me wrong, it's not bed, it's just a bit different. Will try Soul Hackers when I finally finish overclocked.

But by all means, not playing SMT IV should be a sin for any gamer, the game is so good I'd reccommend to start from this one; i don't know much about Persona games

The difficulty in SMT IV drops drastically once you reach Tokyo. The minotaur fight is, by far, the hardest part of the game.

A lot of people seem to have issues with Medusa, but I didn't think she was too hard.

"Pokemon, but with demons" is a tad bit deceptive. The main difference being, in Pokemon you spend the whole game making your Pokemon stronger. A Pokemon you found in the first areas of the game can be your most important Pokemon by the end.

In SMT, Demons are significantly more... disposable. For one they don't level (or if they do, they don't level at a rate fast enough to stay with the player or newly discovered demons). Typicly as the player gets stronger, you can take your old Demons and fuse them with other demons, to get better (or sometimes worse) demons.

As to my recommendation, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers and Shin Megami Tensei IV are very good representations of the SMT mainline. Soul Hackers is primarily a first person dungeon crawler with cyberpunk elements. Where as SMT IV is a 3rd person dungeon crawler with fantasy and apocalyptic elements. Both are great.

If you want to go back a generation, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for DS is also an option. Its a fantastic game in the first person dungeon crawler mold, with great atmosphere (think John Carpenter's The Thing)

Cheers for the help, I'm probably gonna end up getting Shin Megami Tensei IV when it comes out in the UK unless I see a cheap version of Devil Survivor Overclocked going before then.

All of the sub-series, spin offs etc with Megami Tensei makes me wonder if people go through this with the Mario & Pokemon games.

I dunno, SMT may be the most "spin-offy" series I know of. I'm a big fan of the series and even I don't even know what the heck half the games are.

All I know is that of all of them, Persona is probably the only spin-off that has really taken off on its own and has an entirely separate fanbase. Recent releases have even dropped the Shin Megami Tensei label and are simply titled "Persona." It's comparable to Mario and Donkey Kong. Started off as the same IP, but have since branched off and now have unique features and audiences.

If you like SMT IV, you'll probably like most of the spin-offs as well, but if you like SMT, you may not necessarily like Persona and vice versa.