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Shin Megami Tensei: New Reincarnation of the Thread (Actually Featuring Dante From The Devil May Cry Series)
- Thread starter Zef
- Start date
Finally playing Persona 5 Royal after all these years. I kinda wanted to play Persona Q2 after playing Persona 3 Portable over the past week since apparently FeMC is in it, but having never touched 5 I didn't want to be lost or spoiled, so I guess I'm playing this now. It sure has an interesting style so far, that's for sure. The MC sure got railroaded though, it seems. At least the first impression is that he's not a jerk, which is nice.
Fyonn
did their best!
So Shin Megami Tensei has been a parade of disappointments for me in recent years. Do people have thoughts on SMT5 and Soul Hackers 2? How do these games hold up in terms of tone?
For what I'm looking for out of SMT5: SMT4 had a bit too much Persona in its character writing for me. Persona does not equal bad, but it's not the punk, metal, or tranquil emptiness I come to SMT for. It also seemed to have difficulty spikes designed to push you towards the easy EXP / money DLCs, which uh, is a shitty and unforced fundamental design failure. I didn't even look at SMT4A. Out of SMT5, I'd want something closer to SMT1-3 than SMT4, though the extreme combat lethality of SMT4 was not a problem, assuming the road still goes both ways.
For Soul Hackers: I know getting a proper follow-up to Soul Hackers' energy is basically 100% off the table, and what I should instead expect is Persona With Adults. Off-brand Eidolon Playtest, if you will. Persona 5 had pretty excellent writing, if you take the larger themes and Hashino's homophobia, heavy reliance on the threat of sexual violence, and leering impulses out of the equation. I wouldn't be opposed to revisiting it now that I reached a point where I can appreciate what it does well divorced from, well, Hashino's bullshit. For Soul Hackers 2, my *ideal* tone would be Persona 2, but something more like a Less Gross Persona 5 or, maybe more aptly, a higher-stakes, more down-to-Earth Tokyo Mirage Sessions would work for me too.
For what I'm looking for out of SMT5: SMT4 had a bit too much Persona in its character writing for me. Persona does not equal bad, but it's not the punk, metal, or tranquil emptiness I come to SMT for. It also seemed to have difficulty spikes designed to push you towards the easy EXP / money DLCs, which uh, is a shitty and unforced fundamental design failure. I didn't even look at SMT4A. Out of SMT5, I'd want something closer to SMT1-3 than SMT4, though the extreme combat lethality of SMT4 was not a problem, assuming the road still goes both ways.
For Soul Hackers: I know getting a proper follow-up to Soul Hackers' energy is basically 100% off the table, and what I should instead expect is Persona With Adults. Off-brand Eidolon Playtest, if you will. Persona 5 had pretty excellent writing, if you take the larger themes and Hashino's homophobia, heavy reliance on the threat of sexual violence, and leering impulses out of the equation. I wouldn't be opposed to revisiting it now that I reached a point where I can appreciate what it does well divorced from, well, Hashino's bullshit. For Soul Hackers 2, my *ideal* tone would be Persona 2, but something more like a Less Gross Persona 5 or, maybe more aptly, a higher-stakes, more down-to-Earth Tokyo Mirage Sessions would work for me too.
I've shared my thoughts on both before: SMTV here and Soul Hackers 2 here. The short of it is that I would expect more people to like the former, but I particularly don't, while Soul Hackers 2 is one of my favourite RPGs of the last few years, particularly when it comes to aesthetics, atmosphere, writing, voice acting performances and combat mechanics.
It's a game that had a monumentally difficult task in carving out a niche for itself from almost any conceivable angle. Some obstacles in its way, from the start: it is not Soul Hackers the first, so people attached to the expressions of a game commenting on the contemporary culture, fashion and speculative futurism of 1997 often did not want the respective treatment in the context of a game from 2022--just a return to those circa 1997 specifics, from creators that no longer even work in the industry. It's a Megami Tensei game that is not Persona, so the comparisons will be made and it will be found wanting, mostly in the perceived spaces of pedigree and "budget." People were largely more interested in scrutinizing its price point and DLC structure on release than anything else the game otherwise was. It starred a female protagonist (like had ostensibly been desired and asked for from Atlus, for years) but Ringo was largely dismissed as any kind of entity that mattered, because her game wasn't sufficiently good or something about her visual design irked people. It has an excellent soundtrack and battle system, but because it's not Meguro or Kozuka and because it's not Press Turn, neither of these qualities rate as interesting enough on their own merits and are not "SMT enough." On and on, there are enough reasons to dismiss and question the legitimacy of the game to death if one chooses to, and there's certainly no obligation to like it, but the narrative around it has been exceptionally venomous on the part of those who didn't care for it, and silent for those that did--for reasons that seem nonexistent, because its existence is fundamentally marginal and it threatens no one and nobody, not even the memory of the series it's part of which people used to like. The qualities that I found exceptional, odd and mediocre about it are in that post up above, so consult that for a largely positive outlook if one is desired.
At least in my part of the world, the Steam sale is still up for a few hours yet, in which the game is greatly discounted; I do not think it did financially well so it will probably go on deep sales regularly from here on out even if you miss this window.
It's a game that had a monumentally difficult task in carving out a niche for itself from almost any conceivable angle. Some obstacles in its way, from the start: it is not Soul Hackers the first, so people attached to the expressions of a game commenting on the contemporary culture, fashion and speculative futurism of 1997 often did not want the respective treatment in the context of a game from 2022--just a return to those circa 1997 specifics, from creators that no longer even work in the industry. It's a Megami Tensei game that is not Persona, so the comparisons will be made and it will be found wanting, mostly in the perceived spaces of pedigree and "budget." People were largely more interested in scrutinizing its price point and DLC structure on release than anything else the game otherwise was. It starred a female protagonist (like had ostensibly been desired and asked for from Atlus, for years) but Ringo was largely dismissed as any kind of entity that mattered, because her game wasn't sufficiently good or something about her visual design irked people. It has an excellent soundtrack and battle system, but because it's not Meguro or Kozuka and because it's not Press Turn, neither of these qualities rate as interesting enough on their own merits and are not "SMT enough." On and on, there are enough reasons to dismiss and question the legitimacy of the game to death if one chooses to, and there's certainly no obligation to like it, but the narrative around it has been exceptionally venomous on the part of those who didn't care for it, and silent for those that did--for reasons that seem nonexistent, because its existence is fundamentally marginal and it threatens no one and nobody, not even the memory of the series it's part of which people used to like. The qualities that I found exceptional, odd and mediocre about it are in that post up above, so consult that for a largely positive outlook if one is desired.
At least in my part of the world, the Steam sale is still up for a few hours yet, in which the game is greatly discounted; I do not think it did financially well so it will probably go on deep sales regularly from here on out even if you miss this window.
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Fyonn
did their best!
This is a sell on Soul Hackers 2 for me. I really liked Soul Hackers 1 as the most approachable of the pre-Press Turn SMT games, but elements of its plot and design do not hold up. I'm really surprised to find out that Soul Hackers 2 has been ill-received, if prior Atlus output hadn't made me default to being wary of their future output, Soul Hackers 2 would have been a day one purchase for me.
Fyonn
did their best!
I swerved and started playing Shin Megami Tensei 2 instead, though Soul Hackers 2 is up next unless my current fascination demands I check out Shin Megami Tensei if... first.
In my ongoing exploration of SMT2, I have long passed from frustration to fascination. It feels like a game built solely out of friction points. I'm level 32 and, thanks to using Grid Cartographer to map the game, I can tell you I have explored an equal number of locations. Because of the choice to make the save points in the first act of the game all church infrastructure, I have encountered six save points. Total. Two of them I no longer have access to, and you can't save on the overworld maps. This has meant things like five or six unbroken hours of gameplay without an opportunity to save, which is an unreasonable ask for a Super Famicom game.
The save point issue has also complicated other friction points, which are common. Most recently, I rescued the game's dedicated spell caster and assigned girlfriend, Hiroko. From there, the next significant plot point involves her being removed from the party again. The end result is that I got her back at level 18 with about 80 max HP. At that point, the protagonist, who I have rebelliously named Lily, was level 28 with 320 HP. By now, Hiroko is catching up to Lily in both level and Stamina (which is the base stat for HP and defense), but not HP. Just a couple levels and points of Stamina behind, and Hiroko has nearly 160 less max HP. Which means there must be a difference between how the game calculates HP for the assumed-male protagonist and Hiroko.
Keeping Hiroko alive has proven to be a serious struggle, and at times I have questioned whether it's worth it. It wasn't until level 28 that Hiroko learned Diarama, which heals about 100 HP for 8MP. Dia and Media heal about 10 HP for 2 or 6MP respectively, which is so insignificant that it wouldn't be useful in literally the very first fight of the game. Combine that with the astronomically high revival costs and the weakening of Bufu / Zio skills since SMT1, and you end up with a game where magic, or at the very least Hiroko's magic, is vastly less useful than it is in Shin Megami Tensei 1 or Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei. I haven't played if..., but this might mean that SMT2's magic is the worst of any Super Famicom MegaTen game. Luckily for Hiroko's sake, she can hold a fully-automatic gun loaded with Nerve Bullets, which are just as effective as ever.
Most recently, I've entered the realm of the Dwarves. In the previous section, the Fey segment, I was really struggling to keep enough Magnetite income to sustain even one demon with a healing spell, attack, or just stack of HP powerful enough to make a difference in combat. You wanna know a Fun Fact about Dwarf-race demons in Shin Megami Tensei 2? They don't drop Magnetite. At all. So anything powerful enough to be worth using would rapidly drain me of all my resources. Combined with how long it takes before you can get demons that are viable to use in combat at all, I would say I've had demons in my active party for maybe... 15-18% of the game.
And these aren't complaints, necessarily. It has been fun for me to push through and solve the problems that SMT2 is presenting me with. It does mean that Shin Megami Tensei 2 definitely feels like there's an aspect of For Super Players to it, however. Like, if you're playing SMT2, they expect you to have mastered SMT. Luckily, there's not a lot to pre-Press Turn mainline MegaTen, so that's not exactly hard, but it does require weathering some surprisingly strange storms.
In my ongoing exploration of SMT2, I have long passed from frustration to fascination. It feels like a game built solely out of friction points. I'm level 32 and, thanks to using Grid Cartographer to map the game, I can tell you I have explored an equal number of locations. Because of the choice to make the save points in the first act of the game all church infrastructure, I have encountered six save points. Total. Two of them I no longer have access to, and you can't save on the overworld maps. This has meant things like five or six unbroken hours of gameplay without an opportunity to save, which is an unreasonable ask for a Super Famicom game.
The save point issue has also complicated other friction points, which are common. Most recently, I rescued the game's dedicated spell caster and assigned girlfriend, Hiroko. From there, the next significant plot point involves her being removed from the party again. The end result is that I got her back at level 18 with about 80 max HP. At that point, the protagonist, who I have rebelliously named Lily, was level 28 with 320 HP. By now, Hiroko is catching up to Lily in both level and Stamina (which is the base stat for HP and defense), but not HP. Just a couple levels and points of Stamina behind, and Hiroko has nearly 160 less max HP. Which means there must be a difference between how the game calculates HP for the assumed-male protagonist and Hiroko.
Keeping Hiroko alive has proven to be a serious struggle, and at times I have questioned whether it's worth it. It wasn't until level 28 that Hiroko learned Diarama, which heals about 100 HP for 8MP. Dia and Media heal about 10 HP for 2 or 6MP respectively, which is so insignificant that it wouldn't be useful in literally the very first fight of the game. Combine that with the astronomically high revival costs and the weakening of Bufu / Zio skills since SMT1, and you end up with a game where magic, or at the very least Hiroko's magic, is vastly less useful than it is in Shin Megami Tensei 1 or Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei. I haven't played if..., but this might mean that SMT2's magic is the worst of any Super Famicom MegaTen game. Luckily for Hiroko's sake, she can hold a fully-automatic gun loaded with Nerve Bullets, which are just as effective as ever.
Most recently, I've entered the realm of the Dwarves. In the previous section, the Fey segment, I was really struggling to keep enough Magnetite income to sustain even one demon with a healing spell, attack, or just stack of HP powerful enough to make a difference in combat. You wanna know a Fun Fact about Dwarf-race demons in Shin Megami Tensei 2? They don't drop Magnetite. At all. So anything powerful enough to be worth using would rapidly drain me of all my resources. Combined with how long it takes before you can get demons that are viable to use in combat at all, I would say I've had demons in my active party for maybe... 15-18% of the game.
And these aren't complaints, necessarily. It has been fun for me to push through and solve the problems that SMT2 is presenting me with. It does mean that Shin Megami Tensei 2 definitely feels like there's an aspect of For Super Players to it, however. Like, if you're playing SMT2, they expect you to have mastered SMT. Luckily, there's not a lot to pre-Press Turn mainline MegaTen, so that's not exactly hard, but it does require weathering some surprisingly strange storms.
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Fyonn
did their best!
I finished Shin Megami Tensei II!
So... I can now firmly say that despite it being the game that first captured my imagination in regards to the franchise in terms of style and tone... It's probably my least favorite SMT game in the style. This is, admittedly, kind of unfair! Because the way I played Megami Tensei 1 & 2 was via Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei, which are literal remakes of MT1&2 that came out after SMT2, while SMT2 feels extremely like Atlus Doing Their Homework in creating a version of Megami Tensei 2 that they wholly own. But given Shin Megami Tensei still has Megami Tensei in it... I wonder what the licensing situation is there.
SMT2 has a ton of early friction, a dire lack of save points, and is less exploitable than SMT1, which ends up making it less fun. Fixing most of the exploits of MT1, MT2, and SMT1 leaves you with a game that is... Well, I spent at least 80% of SMT2 selecting the Autobattle option, even in boss fights, very, very few of which forced me to intervene even to heal. The core combat is really weak because of the needs of the system allowing you to fight up to eight demons at once. None of those demons or spells can be that powerful because you might be fighting eight of them. And that means that humans have to be significantly capable, which mostly manifests in tons of completely free lockdown options in the form of multi-hit melee weapons and guns. People following my real-time ramblings elsewhere will already be aware that I used demons for maybe 10 hours of what I'd estimate to be a 50-60 hour run. As much as I struggled with the early game, once I had a couple multi-hit guns and Nerve Bullets, Lily and Assigned Girl Slot were effectively unstoppable. And both of those things were directly caused by how weak demons are.
I think I'd much sooner revisit Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei than SMT2, but the game still has charm, in no small part thanks to how *decadent* the enemy sprites and unique backgrounds can be. There's also a neat touch where overworld battle maps are dynamically changed based on what types of obstacles are nearest to you. Much to its credit, SMT2 has a pretty wide spread of dungeons. Including overworlds, my Grid Cartographer file for the game has nearly 50 locations. Discounting how the lack of save points makes travel a pain, constantly going into new locations instead of the eighth floor of the fourth out of six total dungeons does make the game very playable. It's in this weird middle phase where they're no longer on their bullshit about huge labyrinths but they haven't yet cracked into gimmick dungeon hell that later games in the style can be.
I can't properly assess SMT2's story because I already knew all of it by osmosis, and the beats are so broadly similar to MT2, so most of the shock and revelations I'm sure this game would have delivered in its day were met by me going "oh yeah, this bit." That said, there was one twist that hit me like a brick wall. Content warning for incest. SMT2 follows the longstanding MegaTen tradition of assigning the protagonist a female partner character that can use magic. In the MegaTen franchise's first four games, there is exceptionally little character writing, but almost every plot beat that involves one of the Assigned Girls points towards a vague romantic connection or desire. SMT2's Hiroko is no exception in how they treat the seemingly obligatory plot beats involving her, from the plot beat where a demon sacrifices itself to heal Hiroko because of the protagonist's obvious affection, to the "oh no yourproperty partner is in vague sexual peril!" plot beat.
So imagine my surprise when the game lets me know that Hiroko is the hero's surrogate mother. And that's the last time anyone ever acknowledges her as more than a gameplay function. And like. I don't what to say about that. It never comes up again. It's not really important beyond fulfilling the immaculate conception chunk of the plot. It answers a question no one was asking. And it can't use it as leverage to develop the characters further because SMT2 is not a game where characters talk to each other. For all I know the last thing Hiroko ever says in her entire life is asking for answers she'll never, ever get. To be honest, I know how my brain works. I may have had very similar complaints about MT1, MT2, and SMT1's mechanics. I'm not gonna remember anything about why SMT2's combat isn't great. SMT2 will forever live in my brain as the surrogate mother incest game.
So... I can now firmly say that despite it being the game that first captured my imagination in regards to the franchise in terms of style and tone... It's probably my least favorite SMT game in the style. This is, admittedly, kind of unfair! Because the way I played Megami Tensei 1 & 2 was via Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei, which are literal remakes of MT1&2 that came out after SMT2, while SMT2 feels extremely like Atlus Doing Their Homework in creating a version of Megami Tensei 2 that they wholly own. But given Shin Megami Tensei still has Megami Tensei in it... I wonder what the licensing situation is there.
SMT2 has a ton of early friction, a dire lack of save points, and is less exploitable than SMT1, which ends up making it less fun. Fixing most of the exploits of MT1, MT2, and SMT1 leaves you with a game that is... Well, I spent at least 80% of SMT2 selecting the Autobattle option, even in boss fights, very, very few of which forced me to intervene even to heal. The core combat is really weak because of the needs of the system allowing you to fight up to eight demons at once. None of those demons or spells can be that powerful because you might be fighting eight of them. And that means that humans have to be significantly capable, which mostly manifests in tons of completely free lockdown options in the form of multi-hit melee weapons and guns. People following my real-time ramblings elsewhere will already be aware that I used demons for maybe 10 hours of what I'd estimate to be a 50-60 hour run. As much as I struggled with the early game, once I had a couple multi-hit guns and Nerve Bullets, Lily and Assigned Girl Slot were effectively unstoppable. And both of those things were directly caused by how weak demons are.
I think I'd much sooner revisit Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei than SMT2, but the game still has charm, in no small part thanks to how *decadent* the enemy sprites and unique backgrounds can be. There's also a neat touch where overworld battle maps are dynamically changed based on what types of obstacles are nearest to you. Much to its credit, SMT2 has a pretty wide spread of dungeons. Including overworlds, my Grid Cartographer file for the game has nearly 50 locations. Discounting how the lack of save points makes travel a pain, constantly going into new locations instead of the eighth floor of the fourth out of six total dungeons does make the game very playable. It's in this weird middle phase where they're no longer on their bullshit about huge labyrinths but they haven't yet cracked into gimmick dungeon hell that later games in the style can be.
I can't properly assess SMT2's story because I already knew all of it by osmosis, and the beats are so broadly similar to MT2, so most of the shock and revelations I'm sure this game would have delivered in its day were met by me going "oh yeah, this bit." That said, there was one twist that hit me like a brick wall. Content warning for incest. SMT2 follows the longstanding MegaTen tradition of assigning the protagonist a female partner character that can use magic. In the MegaTen franchise's first four games, there is exceptionally little character writing, but almost every plot beat that involves one of the Assigned Girls points towards a vague romantic connection or desire. SMT2's Hiroko is no exception in how they treat the seemingly obligatory plot beats involving her, from the plot beat where a demon sacrifices itself to heal Hiroko because of the protagonist's obvious affection, to the "oh no your
So imagine my surprise when the game lets me know that Hiroko is the hero's surrogate mother. And that's the last time anyone ever acknowledges her as more than a gameplay function. And like. I don't what to say about that. It never comes up again. It's not really important beyond fulfilling the immaculate conception chunk of the plot. It answers a question no one was asking. And it can't use it as leverage to develop the characters further because SMT2 is not a game where characters talk to each other. For all I know the last thing Hiroko ever says in her entire life is asking for answers she'll never, ever get. To be honest, I know how my brain works. I may have had very similar complaints about MT1, MT2, and SMT1's mechanics. I'm not gonna remember anything about why SMT2's combat isn't great. SMT2 will forever live in my brain as the surrogate mother incest game.
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I guess here is where I will post about my adventures with Persona 3 on the Switch.
I played P3 Fes in the before times, in the long long ago. Everything about it just kind of worked for me at the time. The difficulty, the aesthetics, just everything. I haven't touched it since. I've played a lot of other SMT games in the meantime. Also, I'm not 22 anymore. I never touched the PSP version. I kind of wanted to try a FeMC run, but I didn't have a PSP for a long time and barely played the one I did have.
I like having the option of a female player character. I think nearly every other change is for the worse. Making the whole thing essentially menu based just puts the player at a remove that makes it more difficult for me to engage with. I never liked the P3 cast near as much as P4's, but I am really not connecting with them this time. I'm at the start of August right now. I thought it was just a slow start, but I'm 20 hours in now, and I don't think this experience is going to rise above 'pleasant.'
I played P3 Fes in the before times, in the long long ago. Everything about it just kind of worked for me at the time. The difficulty, the aesthetics, just everything. I haven't touched it since. I've played a lot of other SMT games in the meantime. Also, I'm not 22 anymore. I never touched the PSP version. I kind of wanted to try a FeMC run, but I didn't have a PSP for a long time and barely played the one I did have.
I like having the option of a female player character. I think nearly every other change is for the worse. Making the whole thing essentially menu based just puts the player at a remove that makes it more difficult for me to engage with. I never liked the P3 cast near as much as P4's, but I am really not connecting with them this time. I'm at the start of August right now. I thought it was just a slow start, but I'm 20 hours in now, and I don't think this experience is going to rise above 'pleasant.'
Fyonn
did their best!
It got an immediate purchase the second I saw it. Absolutely gorgeous game, but haven't been in the mood for that genre at the moment. It certainly looks the part of SNES SMT, and frankly the mini-map version of the HUD alone already makes it the best game in the first-person SMT style not on the DS/3DS.
What I've seen of the writing seems pretty charming, too. Like the bit where a character flippantly decides that since all the Sleepers act just like the original characters, the fact that Sumireiko gets attacked by them all the time must mean none of the originals like her.
What I've seen of the writing seems pretty charming, too. Like the bit where a character flippantly decides that since all the Sleepers act just like the original characters, the fact that Sumireiko gets attacked by them all the time must mean none of the originals like her.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
I'm replaying the first Devil Survivor. I think it was my first SMT, way back in 2010, where I was really confused about how all these subseries fit together. Played through it, fell in love, but never replayed it. I tried a few times, but always fell off. Mainly because, at some point, SRPGs started to stress me out, and the thought of failing a mission, and replaying 20 minutes feels bad.
Anyway, I'm at the day where Beldr will appear. I think it will be the next mission. It's fun. Not that hard, though, which surprised me. Partly, that's because I know my SMT by now, but also, I'm doing free battles, to crack skills. I guess that has a bit to do with the lower difficulty. I'm not complaining.
I'm actually glad, because if every mission was really hard, I would be paralyzed by all these decisions. There are so many little things you can adjust, and I really have to stop thinking about it too deeply, or I would not get anything done.
I just got King Frost, the first demon with Tyranny, and who is resistant against nearly everything (except fire, which I solved by letting him inherit resist fire. I also got Pendragon, who is basically a truck. Also, that wird pig-faced demon with a crown and this long body, who can attack from three fields away, and also hits pretty hard. I will have trouble letting them go.
The mood is pretty great, with how grim it is. I didn't mind Yuzu, more than ten years ago, and I still don't mind her desperately wanting to get out. I don't even mind the complaining too much, I feel her. The situation is horrible. What I'm annoyed by is, when people use kinda long words, and she is all "don't get it, stop", without even trying to get it.
Anyway, great game, really enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to finally experience the 8th day. It's Overclocked I'm playing.
Anyway, I'm at the day where Beldr will appear. I think it will be the next mission. It's fun. Not that hard, though, which surprised me. Partly, that's because I know my SMT by now, but also, I'm doing free battles, to crack skills. I guess that has a bit to do with the lower difficulty. I'm not complaining.
I'm actually glad, because if every mission was really hard, I would be paralyzed by all these decisions. There are so many little things you can adjust, and I really have to stop thinking about it too deeply, or I would not get anything done.
I just got King Frost, the first demon with Tyranny, and who is resistant against nearly everything (except fire, which I solved by letting him inherit resist fire. I also got Pendragon, who is basically a truck. Also, that wird pig-faced demon with a crown and this long body, who can attack from three fields away, and also hits pretty hard. I will have trouble letting them go.
The mood is pretty great, with how grim it is. I didn't mind Yuzu, more than ten years ago, and I still don't mind her desperately wanting to get out. I don't even mind the complaining too much, I feel her. The situation is horrible. What I'm annoyed by is, when people use kinda long words, and she is all "don't get it, stop", without even trying to get it.
Anyway, great game, really enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to finally experience the 8th day. It's Overclocked I'm playing.
Nice! Overclocked is the version to play, it's been better balanced, especially on the 7th day when in the original DS version, grinding up levels for the final boss was pretty much not possible. And I don't mind Yuzu at all, either, other than her visual design. She reads as an actual teenager, which is nice. I'd be pretty freaked out, too, by that situation.
Consider, if you're not sick of it by then, replaying on New Game + as well, to get the different endings - the different 8th days in particular are really interesting, imo. Overclocked was an early favorite of mine on 3DS, and still is probably top five on that system for me. Love it so, so much. Either way, enjoy!
Consider, if you're not sick of it by then, replaying on New Game + as well, to get the different endings - the different 8th days in particular are really interesting, imo. Overclocked was an early favorite of mine on 3DS, and still is probably top five on that system for me. Love it so, so much. Either way, enjoy!
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Yeah, replaying these games was always the problem. I tried back in the day, and got bored. Except for Persona 3 and 4, where I did a regular playthrough, and then one where I did all the social links, with a guide. No, it wasn't awful, I enjoyed it.
But yeah, I would love to do all the ending. We'll see.
Regarding Yuzus visual design - at least she doesn't have the horrible balloon breasts of the characters in the sequel. These designs aren't that absurdly aggressively sexualized (doesn't mean it's good, but it's easier for me to ignore.
But yeah, I would love to do all the ending. We'll see.
Regarding Yuzus visual design - at least she doesn't have the horrible balloon breasts of the characters in the sequel. These designs aren't that absurdly aggressively sexualized (doesn't mean it's good, but it's easier for me to ignore.
An English translation of the very first game based on the original Megami Tensei books, created by Telenet Japan and not Atlus, was recently released. It was released a few months before the more famous Famicom dungeon crawler, and is apparently some kind of overhead action game, maybe similar to Gauntlet? I haven't played it, but I'm happy that it's now available to play in English (though the translation is for the MSX version, which is supposedly somewhat inferior to the PC88 version).
FelixSH
(He/Him)
And he died. The regular demons were surprisingly strong, I hadn't had so many of my characters die as here. Well, the humans didn't, but normally, my demons don't die either.
Beldr was the easy part. Had that elephant kishin, who lets me attack twice, and with every hit being a crit, and getting two turns, I hit him four times. His attacks weren't that strong, actually.
King Frost made sure that Beldr simply didn't get a turn. Not one. It was awesome. King Frost is great.
Beldr was the easy part. Had that elephant kishin, who lets me attack twice, and with every hit being a crit, and getting two turns, I hit him four times. His attacks weren't that strong, actually.
King Frost made sure that Beldr simply didn't get a turn. Not one. It was awesome. King Frost is great.
Fyonn
did their best!
Cross-posting from the game's dedicated thread to boost awareness of the game. Touhou Artificial Dream In Arcadia might not literally be a Shin Megami Tensei game, however it is now my favorite Shin Megami Tensei game. If you like the mechanics of Atlus's first-person dungeon crawlers on any level, you have to play this game, even if you know nothing about Touhou. If you're the type for whom Strange Journey felt like an oasis in a desert, one last send off to a dead era, this game was made for you specifically.
(Sorry about the screenshot size inconsistency; I played on my Steam Deck, so these screenshots were taken at different resolutions depending on what I had the Steam Deck connected to. Also that 588 Attack is due to Sumireko having the weapon you get from beating the post-game superboss equipped; it has 500 attack on it's own, and no other melee weapon in the game even hits triple digits.)
There's more in that thread, mostly pertaining to Touhou lore and my strategy for the game's killer post-game superboss. Also, if the bullet hell Hijacking mechanics don't appeal, one of the game's Grimoires is Grimoire: Negotiation, which replaces the bullet hell mini-game with an INT & LUK-based dice roll. There's also a early-mid game upgrade for your phone that gives you Fast Hijack, which costs more SP, but instantly hijacks any Sleeper lower than your current level.
(Sorry about the screenshot size inconsistency; I played on my Steam Deck, so these screenshots were taken at different resolutions depending on what I had the Steam Deck connected to. Also that 588 Attack is due to Sumireko having the weapon you get from beating the post-game superboss equipped; it has 500 attack on it's own, and no other melee weapon in the game even hits triple digits.)
There's more in that thread, mostly pertaining to Touhou lore and my strategy for the game's killer post-game superboss. Also, if the bullet hell Hijacking mechanics don't appeal, one of the game's Grimoires is Grimoire: Negotiation, which replaces the bullet hell mini-game with an INT & LUK-based dice roll. There's also a early-mid game upgrade for your phone that gives you Fast Hijack, which costs more SP, but instantly hijacks any Sleeper lower than your current level.
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NG+ is pretty well done in Overclocked, you earn points for the various things you did in your playthrough and can use these to buy elements for your next run - as soon as you can carry over some of your old demons, or break the exp reduction, or that kind of thing, the subsequent playthroughs just zoom by.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
My problem was more, that it felt like contextless grinding, when I tried to play NG+ of Devil Survivor and Strange Journey. I know the story, or most of it, so that is not interesting, and there is neither really battling nor fusing. It always feels so uninteresting, that I get bored.
I hope it will work better, this time. Gives me more time to watch something.
I hope it will work better, this time. Gives me more time to watch something.
I think at least for me I wasn't fully maxed out on the Compendium or levels by the end of my first run so the next run or two were about that - blasting past the early game stuff to make new choices and then in mid- and late-game reaching the end of the Compendium and getting the final demons to max level.
I didn't end up doing every single ending for the same reason though, there were no longer any challenging battles or any fusing to do, but you still did have to wade through those fights to see each story path.
I didn't end up doing every single ending for the same reason though, there were no longer any challenging battles or any fusing to do, but you still did have to wade through those fights to see each story path.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Kaido, you dumbass.
Yesterday, I did the mission where you finally kill Kudlak. You know, that vampire who is hunted by the demon(?) that Ms. Mari lets use her body. Everything went well. Protag knows Holy Dance and Drain, and with two Tyrants (King Frost and Lucifuge), Kudlak basically got no chance to move on his own. Despite him hitting hard, two times and with healing, it wasn't too much of a problem to get him down, so that Mari could deal the finishing blow.
Except that then, you have to defeat the rest of the demons. Not much of a problem for me, but Kaido the idiot decided that, despite both his demons being defeated, he had to keep fighting. Which perfectly fits with his personality, but come on, dude. I even made a savestate (Overclocked lets you do one in a battle), I was unable to save him. He fights a demon, kills it, and then is killed by a fresh swarm of Babd Cathas. Too far away for me, to get inbetween, and my only demon with Recarm was dead. I had to redo the whole mission, just because of this idiot. God, I was so pissed. While it wasn't that hard, it was still one of the harder missions, which can go bad pretty easily.
Also, as much as I love King Frost, he starts to get a bit weak. Lucifuge could take Kudlaks hits pretty well. King Frost just got completely destroyed. There is definitely something going on, even aside from the stats. Had also just fused my Pendragon, who I had way too long. He was just such a truck, one-shotting everything. Until now, despite his high attack, enemies start to survive (maybe partly because Resist Physical starts to show up) - but I guess they just finally catch up. And he never was good at taking damage, now he just dissolves, if anything looks at him funny. Somewhat similar with Orcus, who was helpful with attacking from three spaces afar. Still, needed to get rid of them.
But that I could use King Frost for so long - Tyrants are the best race, and it's not even close. Every race has nice traits, but Tyranny is so, so good. An attacked enemy gets pushed far down the line of who moves next. And after every battle, you get MP back. With the Protag now having Drain, that's not that much of an issue anymore, but still. And both King Frost as Lucifuge have so many resistances. Just one weakness, which is easily covered.
But I think I saved everyone. Well, the battle with Keisuke is still ahead, and I don't remember if Kaido, now that he helped Mari, will interfere here. I hope not. That battle stuck in my mind over all those years, because it felt exhausting.
Yesterday, I did the mission where you finally kill Kudlak. You know, that vampire who is hunted by the demon(?) that Ms. Mari lets use her body. Everything went well. Protag knows Holy Dance and Drain, and with two Tyrants (King Frost and Lucifuge), Kudlak basically got no chance to move on his own. Despite him hitting hard, two times and with healing, it wasn't too much of a problem to get him down, so that Mari could deal the finishing blow.
Except that then, you have to defeat the rest of the demons. Not much of a problem for me, but Kaido the idiot decided that, despite both his demons being defeated, he had to keep fighting. Which perfectly fits with his personality, but come on, dude. I even made a savestate (Overclocked lets you do one in a battle), I was unable to save him. He fights a demon, kills it, and then is killed by a fresh swarm of Babd Cathas. Too far away for me, to get inbetween, and my only demon with Recarm was dead. I had to redo the whole mission, just because of this idiot. God, I was so pissed. While it wasn't that hard, it was still one of the harder missions, which can go bad pretty easily.
Also, as much as I love King Frost, he starts to get a bit weak. Lucifuge could take Kudlaks hits pretty well. King Frost just got completely destroyed. There is definitely something going on, even aside from the stats. Had also just fused my Pendragon, who I had way too long. He was just such a truck, one-shotting everything. Until now, despite his high attack, enemies start to survive (maybe partly because Resist Physical starts to show up) - but I guess they just finally catch up. And he never was good at taking damage, now he just dissolves, if anything looks at him funny. Somewhat similar with Orcus, who was helpful with attacking from three spaces afar. Still, needed to get rid of them.
But that I could use King Frost for so long - Tyrants are the best race, and it's not even close. Every race has nice traits, but Tyranny is so, so good. An attacked enemy gets pushed far down the line of who moves next. And after every battle, you get MP back. With the Protag now having Drain, that's not that much of an issue anymore, but still. And both King Frost as Lucifuge have so many resistances. Just one weakness, which is easily covered.
But I think I saved everyone. Well, the battle with Keisuke is still ahead, and I don't remember if Kaido, now that he helped Mari, will interfere here. I hope not. That battle stuck in my mind over all those years, because it felt exhausting.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
I'm at the beginning of Day 7, on Gins route. I wanted a route without an 8th day, for my first go. Had the choice between Juzu, Amane, Gin and Atsuro. So with the constraint, it was Gin or Atsuro, and I was always curious about the former.
I know that I have to beat Babel without demons, but my MC has nearly maxed out magic and Holy Dance, so it should work out.
I know that I have to beat Babel without demons, but my MC has nearly maxed out magic and Holy Dance, so it should work out.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Oh, yes, of course. It tends to do over 400 damage, it's amazing. Not as powerful as Holy Dance, especially if there is only one target. It hurt Belial more than Bufudyne. These two spells are just completely insane.
And I guess, with all demons gone, I wont have to do the refight against all Bels at once, which means it's not this ressource intense slog. I remember having an angel with me, and after leaving the immobile Jezebel alive, replenishing everyones MP with him.
But first Jezebel, Belzaboul, Belberith, and I guess Loki and Kain. It's interesting to me, how the last day is essentially a boss rush.
And I guess, with all demons gone, I wont have to do the refight against all Bels at once, which means it's not this ressource intense slog. I remember having an angel with me, and after leaving the immobile Jezebel alive, replenishing everyones MP with him.
But first Jezebel, Belzaboul, Belberith, and I guess Loki and Kain. It's interesting to me, how the last day is essentially a boss rush.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
I just assumed that the last part, where you have to defeat four of the Bels in one go, isn't there, because at the end, you and Babel should be alone, as the demons should all be gone. We'll see. I did make a separate save, in case this route is too hard, but I assume I'll be fine.
Also, Jezebel is no more. And the battle was exactly like it was the first time, a decade ago. I only let the MC attack, going into the lava, while unable to get out again. His turns got pushed back due to getting attacked by Jezebel. So I let him die, and then revived him and his demons, plus healed, through other people. Repeat four times. I had completely forgotten about the Amane clones, but they were also irrelevant.
But damn, Jezebel was brutal. My demons simply couldn't keep up, if he had a good day, Enma might survive. Three hits is pretty intense. And even the MC couldn't take much from her. Part of the problem is, that I pumped so much into magic, that he couldn't equip anything better than Resist Fire.
Onto the Devas. I assume they will be a good bit weaker then Jezebel and Belial, being strong, but regular, demons. They feel a bit out of place here, with all these boss battles. I guess the Devas are bosses too, but at first glance, not the same way as the Bels.
I hope Belzaboul and Belberith don't attack three times, every time the get to act.
Also, thanks for responding, Pombar. It's nice, not to just speak into the void.
Also, Jezebel is no more. And the battle was exactly like it was the first time, a decade ago. I only let the MC attack, going into the lava, while unable to get out again. His turns got pushed back due to getting attacked by Jezebel. So I let him die, and then revived him and his demons, plus healed, through other people. Repeat four times. I had completely forgotten about the Amane clones, but they were also irrelevant.
But damn, Jezebel was brutal. My demons simply couldn't keep up, if he had a good day, Enma might survive. Three hits is pretty intense. And even the MC couldn't take much from her. Part of the problem is, that I pumped so much into magic, that he couldn't equip anything better than Resist Fire.
Onto the Devas. I assume they will be a good bit weaker then Jezebel and Belial, being strong, but regular, demons. They feel a bit out of place here, with all these boss battles. I guess the Devas are bosses too, but at first glance, not the same way as the Bels.
I hope Belzaboul and Belberith don't attack three times, every time the get to act.
Also, thanks for responding, Pombar. It's nice, not to just speak into the void.