Topic: The Megami Tensei Thread

What’s everyone’s expectation for the tone of SMTV? Will they keep the lighter elements of Apocalypse or go back to a darker feel? Even more story scenes seems likely, either way.

@Krull To be honest Apocalypse was a pretty big disappointment for me. It was a fun game to play but the narrative really wore on me as it went on. That's not to say that it didn't have its highlights and that everything it did was bad — Dagda was a nice foil to the protagonist, but I am hoping V has more of a classic feel to it or is more in line with what has come before.

It's hard to know on what to expect from what little we've seen, but certainly the setting appears to be drawing directly from 3. No matter how it turns out I'll give it a go, go in blind and see what I make of it for myself, at this stage I am too invested in SMT to do anything else.

I expect V to be a bit lighter like Apocalypse but with tighter writing and callbacks to Nocturne in tone.

So a bit of both. Hopefully anyway, so it is true to its roots but can extend its reach.

@Krull Footage thus far seems to be hinting at a spiritual successor to Nocturne. So I'd expect the same creepy, ethereal tone of Nocturne. And, like Nocturne, I'm sure there'll be a little bit of humor in some of the conversations and character interactions.

But Apocalypse's initial marketing didn't hint at the game's ultimately lighter tone either, so... shrug

I'll like it either way if it maintains the balance and mechanical excellence of Apocalypse.

@JoeDiddley The anime adaptation of Danganronpa isn't very good, just as a warning.

Since it's taking place seemingly in the midst of an apocalypse I expect it to at least be part of the main timeline established by SMT1-3 considering IV differentiated itself with the medieval setting of Mikado as opposed to contemporary Japan as we're seeing with V

There's been some theories going around that the mystery man grabbing onto the protagonist's hand is an adult Demi-fiend which I think isn't the case since already his face just looks too different, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was connected to Nocturne at least thematically in some way

I also expect it to be way darker than IV Apocalypse. I think Atlus might've taken to heart the people that voiced their complaints about the sort of anime stereotypical characterization of the characters in Apocalypse, though I think Navarre benefitted from it a lot. The rose petals thing seems to be extremely prevalent in the aesthetics of the game so I do wonder if there's something plot related going on with them since they've been seen in every trailer since the teaser from the Switch presentation

im not expecting much story wise considering smt4a was the latest installment which was.. something to say the least. but there will be without a doubt in my mind an incredible soundtrack

@boop23 SMT soundtracks literally never disappoint. The game is probably going to be at the very least, good because Kazuyuki Yamai is working on it and SMT IV is legit probably the best JRPG on the 3DS period

I can't recall the last Atlus game I played that didn't have an incredible OST.

SMT and Persona games have all had pretty fantastic soundtracks since their respective third entries (and while it's stylistically very different, I'm also partial to the soundtrack in the original PS1 version of Persona, before they ruined it in the PSP remake).

Literally every Etrian Odyssey game has awesome music.

I guess Radiant Historia's music was kind of forgettable, but otherwise, Atlus' name is synonymous with good video game music for me.

@Ralizah I like the PSP soundtrack in isolation. They're not bad songs but they also don't fit Persona 1's general tone or atmosphere whatsoever.

They also wholly butchered the Kama Palace track

I really didn’t like Navarre much in Apocalypse. Are you telling me he’s more annoying in IV?

Also, why is SMIV never on sale on the eShop? According to PSPrices, it hasn’t had a price drop in four or more years. Don’t see it ever happening now, either. Not that the digital version is prohibitively expensive.

Anyway, I’m pretty confident SMTV will be fine, in terms of story, music and systems. Been a long time since Atlus really dropped the ball there. I’m sure it’ll have a few technical hitches, though.

@Krull Way more annoying in IV but he's also in a considerably reduced role compared to Apocalypse

SMT IV goes on sale a few times but mostly when they discount the Atlus 3DS titles it's usually Strange Journey Redux, the Devil Survivor games and the Persona Q games that are prioritized which kind of sucks

@Ralizah noted. Off topic but is the Danganronpa 3 anime worth it? Full disclosure I would probably watch highlights of Ultra Despair Girls rather than play it in preparation if I did try it. Would it be better to watch before playing V3?

@JoeDiddley I haven't watched it myself but I heard it was ok. Not amazing or stellar or anything but not bad either

@JoeDiddley Yeah, Danganronpa 3 is worth watching. It's the canon ending to the Hope's Peak arc, and it also expands massively on what happened leading up to The Tragedy. It's actually two separate anime series that aired together, and they're meant to be watched in tandem, as plot elements from each will crop up in the other, there's foreshadowing in one show of what'll happen in a different one, etc. So, you'd start with episode one of the Future Arc, then watch episode one of the Despair Arc, then episode two of Future, then episode two of Despair, and so on, like that, until the two series end and you watch the final episode that ties the two storylines together and resolves everything.

Opinions on the quality of the show vary, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. The prequel series, in particular, is a lot of fun, even if some fans get a little sour about how extreme and violent everything gets once Junko shows up.

And yeah, definitely acquaint yourself with Ultra Despair Girls, because major characters from that game also show up in Danganronpa 3.

And I do think it's worth watching DR3 before playing V3... partially because V3 is VERY thematically climactic and is meant to be the end of the Danganronpa experience, and partially because characters from Danganronpa 3 show up in V3's extensive post-game content.

@Ralizah great, in 2021 I’ll watch 3 then play V3. I always avoid it is I see discussions on the series so I don’t get spoiled. So it needs to happen.

Just preordered Persona 5 Strikers on PC.

Went for the Digital Deluxe Edition since Fanatical discounted it significantly to the point where it's cheaper than getting the standard edition from Steam directly, so the P1 battle music stays on all day everyday.

February 19th can't come soon enough

Shin Megami IV any good? How different is it from the Persona 1 to Persona 3 games?

Does Shin Megami IV have like a month schedule year time limit like what went on in Persona 3 and Persona 4? Just wondering

@urrutiap Nope. No calendar system at all. Also no social sim stuff. It's a pure JRPG.

SMT IV is my personal favorite mainline entry. It's definitely the most approachable to newbies and has insane production value for a 3DS title

Smirking is also like my favorite addition to the SMT battle system ever so yeah

Also no, no social sim elements whatsoever. Social sim stuff and romancing partners and doing your homework by day and fighting shadows by night is Persona's thing and Persona's thing only. SMT games are purely driven by narrative and concise dungeon design