Topic: The Megami Tensei Thread

Every time I see the title Persona 5 Strikers, I picture it as a soccer sim.

I could get on board with that! SMT meets Inazuma Eleven. Might even prefer that to a musou game, TBH.

@Ralizah Yeah I also remember Daemon X Machina just getting buried in the midst of all the hype for Link's Awakening and DQXI S as well. They definitely need to space things out considering while Nocturne is one of the best known SMT entries by far, it still didn't cultivate nearly as much of an audience as say, the PlayStation 2 Persona entries either

@Krull It would go hand in hand with Persona 5 Racing

I beat Persona 2 Innocent Sin on holiday - the bad weather helped.

It was interesting playing it after Soul Hackers as I hadn’t played any of the less modern games before those. Although the story and characters were miles better in Persona 2 I did much prefer the gameplay (battles and dungeons) in Soul Hackers.

I actually need a little break from turn based RPGs after playing it so I’m onto Catherine Fully Body (and Ys VIII) next for a change in pace.

@JoeDiddley Full Body is a pretty good palette cleanser for RPG fatigue in my experience

It still has a bit of that MegaTen design mentality in its gameplay with the alignment system and even some light social sim gameplay at the Stray Sheep Bar, but the gameplay gets super tense and Rin's route in the story gets weird as hell as you progress

@JoeDiddley What system will you be playing Ys VIII on?

@TheFrenchiestFry I’m just playing the first hour and so far it really is a good palette cleanser as you say. I’m planning to do my first playthrough blind so it probably won’t end up on the Rin route but you never know. I haven’t played a puzzle game in years so it’s a great change of pace.

@Ralizah I’ve picked up Ys VIII on Switch. I don’t have a PS4 but I hear it’s better than the original Vita version. I played a couple of hours last night and once I was off the boat and could start adventuring I could tell it was going to be fun. I played Trails Of Cold Steel a couple of months back and I admired rather than loved it. It was a very slow burn but this seems much more fast paced and also my first action jrpg experience.

Ys VIII on Switch has all the PS4 added content, that wasn't in Vita original, @JoeDiddley .... Let me know how you get on with it, anyway!

@JoeDiddley Honestly I lowkey forgot Ys VIII launched on Vita first. It's a pretty solid action RPG all things considered but the story did drag a little bit around the 30 hour mark

Actually funilly enough Full Body also had a Vita release but it was Japan exclusive and sold about as well as you'd expect, which is probably why the Switch version is a thing in the first place as the West's handheld version

@BruceCM Ah yes the forth installment of "putting Persona 5 content on Switch without putting Persona 5"

Just picked up IV for the 3DS, it's my first time trying this series out. Loving what I've played so far, I think the Press Turn system is one of the best turn based battle systems ever made.

How does IV stack up compared to the rest of the series? When I get around to beating it, I'll probably want to try another game or two before we get V next year.

@SwitchVogel IV is easily in my top 10. Not only is it one of the more accessible and beginner friendly MT games that isn't a Persona title, but it does a really good job of teaching the basics to new players to the point where they will feel a lot more comfortable jumping into the more difficult titles in the series later

My one qualm with it is that after Tokyo the game becomes a bit too easy and that the consumption of Turns during battles can be a bit too generous, to the point where I found myself scoring a lot more criticals than I expected and the game practically breaks in two once you recruit or fuse a demon that has a skill like Psycho Rage or Beast Eye like Samael

@SwitchVogel The Press Turn combat system is easily one of the best combat systems in the genre, and is perfectly integrated into the suite of gameplay systems that make SMT so compelling. Arguably THE best, although I also really liked the brave and default system from Bravely Default.

As to where it stacks in the MegaTen franchise? I really liked it. There are some QoL deficiencies and unbalanced aspects (particularly the newly introduced smirk system) that bring it down a bit, and the difficulty curve isn't great (games are supposed to get more challenging as they go on, not start out challenging and then ease off over the course of the adventure), and the alignment system is a bit fiddly and annoying if you want to go for the neutral ending, but I really loved the atmosphere of it, the music, and the way the game opens up after Naraku.

I think Nocturne is still better in terms of atmosphere and dungeon design, though, and IV: Apocalypse has the best gameplay in the series in addition to the new characters being more developed and likable. It's still flat out better as an experience than any of the Persona games and Digital Devil Saga 1, though (and probably DDS2, which I'm currently playing). Can't speak to Strange Journey, unfortunately, as I never played it.

@JoeDiddley Yeah, I played Trails in the Sky FC on my Vita, and it felt like 50 hours where almost nothing of consequence happened. Ys VIII is awesome, though, and the addictive mix of systems as you build up your island dwelling made it something I pumped long hours into. It's a game where almost everything feels rewarding. Probably a top five JRPG for me this gen. I think Falcom hit it out of the park with that game.

Silly french fries boy, there's no Beast Eye in SMT IV. xD But Shadow Masakado is the Mot of this game. The true boss, behind a paywall. Greedy, greedy Atlus.

@Alex90 It's Atlus lol what wouldn't compel them to lock him behind a paywall

Wasn't Demi Fiend a DLC ally for SMT IV Apocalypse lol

Demi Fiend was the stronger ally in raw damage on Messiahs in the Diamond Realm DLC. But FEAR the man in a wheelchair! The story definitely is not that great, but the DLC (with the five messiahs and exploring the Diamond Realm from SMT 1) redeem SMT IV: Apocalypse for me. The problem was locking farming Twisted Tokyo behind a DLC. I know people got 'Rage' status ailment so hard from that decision.

The next PV trailer for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD REMASTER will premiere in 3 hours. Assuming they go the route of Persona 5 Scramble's marketing, all of the footage will presumably be from the PS4 version instead of Switch. Nevertheless, it will give a better idea of how extensive it is as a remaster compared to the original game.

@Slowdive It's so weird hearing Demi-fiend of all people speak in full sentences

He always struck me as the quiet and reserved type

@Slowdive I assume the English-language track is the reason for the staggered release in the West from Japan. As for its quality, I don’t feel like Atlus has ever done a bad job with English VAs. I would feel pretty confident about it.

I’m a few hours in to Catherine Full Body and I’m really impressed by it.

I knew it would be shorter but I’m apparently half way to the cathedral already (finished 4th stage). I don’t know of course if that is the end of the game. But I found it funny as if it was a Persona game I’d still be on the tutorial now.

@Krull Yeah Atlus basically never disappoints on the whole package in terms of English VA. I'd personally say their weakest English voice-dub would be Persona on PSP because all the characters kind of sound really off at points and not giving the inflections I expected, but games like Persona 3-5, the Arena games, the Q games and Catherine were pretty much perfect dubs imo. Everyone sounded exactly how I would imagine based on their designs.