Topic: Shin Megami Tensei IV

Um, because of FE X SMT?

probably as a way to promote the upcoming (though probably far off) SMT X Fire Emblem! =D

Yea, lol. I figured that after I posted that.

Ugh, Atlus is really pushing me. This game from the start wasn't on my radar whatsoever (never played a SMT game before). But now with the big preorder bundle, and the free $30 eShop throw-in (already own and have registered Awakening), resistance is getting very difficult. The thing is, I've discovered I'm just not all that good at RPGs of any type, though I guess the pack-in strategy guide would help.

@WingedFish Atlus is known for more hardcore rpgs. You might want to wait for the reviews to roll in before you jump on this. Other then Devil Survivor and Soul hackers this to will be my first SMT game in the main series!

However if you really liked Fire Emblem and did well in it I suggess you try to find a copy of Devil Survivor Overclocked! Its the same style of strat rpg and has some of the same elements as SMT since it is a spin off!

At the very least though if you don't like SMT IV you could probably get a good chunk of your money back if you sold your copy and still end up with the 30$ credit! I could even see some people go as far as just registering the game and never even play it and return it. GameStop gives you 7 days to do so.

One last thing. Did you play EO4 the demo? That's another really good place to start as well as it has the casual mode. If you like the demo of that then its really a good game. You don't need any prior experience in the series to start with that one!

Funny you say that, because I'm even considering just getting the preorder bundle, not doing anything to it (keep it mint), then selling it online later for a profit. Niche titles, especially limited edition ones with a lot of extras, tend to fetch a higher price after a while.

And should I not be able to sell it after a set amount of time, I'll just play it. Besides, I get free $30 credit no matter what.

Destructoid review... http://www.destructoid.com/review-shin-megami-tensei-iv-25771...

@MERG thanks for that link. Looks like I'm going to have a good time with this game. It gets all my attention starting next Wednesday. Yeah I won't be able to piclk it up till then!

so does this play like a JRPG, SRPG, or dungeon crawler? I've been trying to read up on this game (that $30 eShop credit is quite tempting), but no one seems to have come out and said anything for sure — the Destructoid review mentioned being able to freely explore areas, but i'd like corroboration before making the decision to put down my money on it. has anyone read anything that can flat-out confirm which type of RPG this falls into?

I pre-ordered off of Amazon so who knows when I"ll get it.

It's a mostly traditional turn-based dungeon-crawling RPG. The map navigation seems fairly open. You explore the various environments from a third-person perspective. Battles apparently aren't random, as you can attack enemies on the map to initiate combat (a bit like Persona 4, if you've ever played that). When in battle, the perspective switches to first-person viewpoint. The combat is based on the press-turn system from Nocturne, in which either you or your enemy can gain extra turns by hitting the opponent's elemental weakness. As such, it is much more important to strategize and create a party with select abilities than it is to grind and level up. Whether you like this or not is really dependent on what you're expecting from your RPGs. It almost completely avoids the mindless grinding of games like Final Fantasy, but it also means that every battle has to be approached cautiously and intelligently. If you just mindlessly launch yourself into even an ordinary dungeon battle, you're going to get smacked down. Hard.

The game doesn't follow a pre-set path, but allows you to make different choices along the way that will align you with a lawful, neutral, or chaotic path. There are multiple endings, and meaningful choices determine what happens later on in the game.

At least, this is what everything I have read about the game has led me to believe. I haven't actually played it yet, for obvious reasons.

I've read 3 reviews today for the fgirst time in a while, and all they've done is build up my already-enormous hype for this game. Tuesday can't come fast enough!

Honestly, I have never played this series. Is this a good place to start or do you have to be a fan of it to fully know everything?

No, this game you can understand without playing the others (from what atlus says). This or SMT 3 is a good place to start.

Thanks. That's all I needed to know.

What exactly does dungeon crawler means in this game, when someone says dungeon crawler I think of games where you go through endeless randomly generated environments fighting a la Diablo with very little in the way of story or interactions with other characters, that's not a type of game I enjoy, but I also hear this has a story and characters so not sure what the gameplay is like

Dungeon-Crawler in terms of JRPGs usually refers to Wizardry-style First Person games, where you go through strict dungeon floors, trying to survive powerful monsters and traps, and there may or may not be much of a story. This, however, is not really a Dungeon Crawler. There's an overworld, more story, more characters, and third-person movement, with on-screen enemies instead of random encounters.

Hmmm sounds interesting. Its been awhile since I played a good RPG. I have to ask but is this game a grind fest like other RPGs?

Grinding probably won't get you very far. The only way to adequately survive is to manipulate the press-turn system by intelligently evolving your team to deal with different challenges. All of the SMT games I've played thus far have been the complete opposite of the classic "grind fest" style RPG.

Great. As much as I like grinding I just dont have time for it nowadays. I have very limited game time so when I do get it I want to play the game and advance in story. Not kill the same thing over and over again.