[cj_iwakura]

Has Atlus JP done anything? I notice they've never really been the anniversary hype type of company, which is kind of respectable.

[DimmuBurgerKing]

Just started a game of Persona 3 FES last night myself! Wooooo, let's do this!

[Teknoman]

Heh, I thought the dungeons in Persona looked really interesting. Deva Yuga looks like Persepolis!

Maybe it was just the fact that you end up getting dropped straight down in that one dungeon then lol. The one with the girl and the mirror.

[Ponn01]

Perfect, I was already doing this for the last couple months. Trying to beat P3P on my Vita and playing both Devil Survivor Overclocked and DS 2 on my 3DS. i also just finished P4 Animation on Hulu Plus. I'm just hoping i'm not burnt out when P4 Golden comes out. Waiting on an Atlus sale to get P1 and P2 PSP on the PSN store.

[SMT]

This thread looks promising, Shin Megami Tensei Persona V is all but confirmed, should be a good update.

[randomkid]

Maybe it was just the fact that you end up getting dropped straight down in that one dungeon then lol. The one with the girl and the mirror.

Ah yeah, Karma Palace haha. I'll admit the dungeon walls are pretty drab there, but at least you get to listen to awesome early Meguro.

[Sklorenz]

Neat thread. Thanks for making it! I may end up playing SMT I & II myself in celebration, depending...

Depending on when atlus announces the port releases?! :O

:p

[KibblesBits]

Depending on when atlus announces the ports releases?! :O :p

Shhhhhhh!

[Aeana]

Oh, Atlus.

[Mr_Elysia]

Just started up Persona on PSP a few days back. It is my first foray into these games. I can't seem to make myself stop playing poker in the casino and doubling up on big-small. I try to tell me to stop once it hits over ten grand...I rarely listen unless the card is an eight. It has done me in more than once.

[cj_iwakura]

Oh, Atlus.

When I replayed that after playing SMT1 & 2, the connections blew my mind.

So many throwbacks.

Also, devil mode is the hardest hard mode ever.

[Narag]

Been working through Strange Journey and really enjoying myself. I'll probably give Persona 3 another try when I'm done. Hoping Soul Hackers remake gets localized as that looks delicious too.

[SatelliteOfLove]

I think I'll bust out the Grand Old PS2 and play me some DDS1&2. Been meaning to replay those for all the secrets (I used to do that religiously, but MMOs and life slowed this down to a crawl).

You shouldn't have to look up maps if you're actually approaching dungeons with the desire to fill the maps out completely to begin with. If you do that, then you should never need to look anything up. It's this mindset that also made me love Eridanus, instead of loathe it as so many others apparently do.

Bwahahaha!

Wait, there are people that don't try to uncover entire maps in games?..... But why? :(

I'd think they'd slip up in these, you sometimes need that shit that's hidden and the XP/macca/yen accrued doing it.

[charlequin]

I want a Junes shirt so fuckin' bad. Who do I need to kill to get one?

EDIT: SHIT! Ordering now.

[cj_iwakura]

I want a Junes shirt so fuckin' bad. NichM, who do I need to kill to get one?

It's on sale at the site he linked to.

I'm tempted.

[Aeana]

I really enjoyed mapping out that area. The teleports are fine if you intend to take all of them~

[Koroviev]

Welp, just stumbled upon my first "bad end" in Devil Survivor: Overclocked.

It was the result of the battle between the angels and the demons involving Honda. I decided to help the humans to escape, and as it turns out, that was a bad decision.

Oh well, at least I don't have to restart the game to pursue better ends.

[we.are.the.armada]

Great thread guys!

This series means a lot to me. After a long hiatus from playing video games, I got back into it through Persona 4. I played it straight through, only taking a few breaks. I was so worn out after completing it that I needed to detox. I immediately went out and bought Raidou 1&2 and Persona 3 FES. Then I got Nocturne and it's going on from there. I'm going backwards and I can't stop...

Ok anyway, I had started up another round of Persona 3 a while back, but put it down, and now this thread has reignited my desire to play through it. I won't post pics of my progress; however, I have some comments for the journey ahead:

• Every supporting structure that underpins the entirety of The Dark Hour is implausible and silly as hell.
  
• Doing quests for the lovely Elizabeth is fun. Elizabeth is endearing in an almost haunting type of way that has me thinking about her even when I'm not playing the game and her reactions to completion of a request are quite charming. I noticed that her run animation is faithfully represented in Persona 4 Arena!

Also, does anybody know if Catherine is taking place in the SMT universe? I don't have enough of a frame of context to know.

[Tguy]

I think I'd replay some SMT for the 25th year. I don't know which I'll play first, but Devil Summoner 2 will be my last. My favorite SMT game, even though it hasn't been that long since it came out, still would like to see if i still enjoy it as much as the first time through.

[cj_iwakura]

Great thread guys! This series means a lot to me. After a long hiatus from playing video games, I got back into it through Persona 4. I played it straight through, only taking a few breaks. I was so worn out after completing it that I needed to detox. I immediately went out and bought Raidou 1&2 and Persona 3 FES. Then I got Nocturne and it's going on from there. I'm going backwards and I can't stop... Ok anyway, I had started up another round of Persona 3 a while back, but put it down, and now this thread has reignited my desire to play through it. I won't post pics of my progress; however, I have some comments for the journey ahead: Every supporting structure that underpins the entirety of The Dark Hour is implausible and silly as hell. Doing quests for the lovely Elizabeth is fun. Elizabeth is endearing in an almost haunting type of way that has me thinking about her even when I'm not playing the game and her reactions to completion of a request are quite charming. I noticed that her run animation is faithfully represented in Persona 4 Arena! Also, does anybody know if Catherine is taking place in the SMT universe? I don't have enough of a frame of context to know.

No, just a couple of references.

Major spoilers:

There are demons involved in Catherine's true ending, as well as the backstory, namely Nergal and Astaroth.

[Khold]

My brother has Persona 4 but has never played it. I watched him played Persona 3, only exposure to the series so far.

Maybe I'll get him to post first play through reactions in here.

[HammerOfThor]

I've always wanted to play one of these games. Never have. What would you guys recommend for a first timer?

[charlequin]

It's on sale at the site he linked to.

Yeah, I opened the thread earlier and didn't refresh before posting like a doof.

I'm not sure I'll get to anything that I can document in this thread effectively any time soon, but at very least I'll be cracking open Devil Survivor 2 soon and I'll try to post about that in here.

(And EP later this year after Atlus USA announces it, hint hint.)

I really enjoyed mapping out that area. The teleports are fine if you intend to take all of them~

I agree, and I did indeed map out the whole place, although that does show the one big weakness of SJ's mapping system (no number indicators on things like teleporters, so you have to remember or use an external map.)

I'm pretty sure if my wife had actually tried to map out that whole dungeon she would still be mapping it now, lulz.

[Link1110]

My trip is coming up, and this inspired me to bring some Megaten with me. Probably devil children white and innocent sin psp. They're whoring the series a bit with all the remakes, but this one of very few series that they can whore all they want and I'll buy it all (tales, too.) I just found the original anime on VHS at book off the other day, perfect celebration.

I almost got through Demikids light, but it's not really holding my interest, the story isn't too interesting, the gameplay is decent, and the first Megaten I know that has inheriting spells though. Maybe I'll push through the last couple of dungeons. Seems early short. I'm about 8 hours in, and I checked a walk through, which says I don't have that much left. I know I should play dark, but my copy is stil sealed and I refuse to open it.

I also have messiah riser, but the battery is dead. Is it worth getting it changed?

And that 3rd mt1 screenshot in the op is from mt2.

[Koroviev]

I've always wanted to play one of these games. Never have. What would you guys recommend for a first timer?

Persona 3 FES is only $10 on PSN. The Devil Survivor series is great and retains some of the social aspects of the Persona series. Devil Survivor: Overclocked is now $30 at GS and on Amazon. Same with DS2, though it's an NDS game.

[HiddenWings]

I've never played any of these, but since I got Persona 3 Portable on sale some time ago, I might give it a shot. Don't expect the detail from the FF5 playthough; I know practically nothing about this series.

[cj_iwakura]

My trip is coming up, and this inspired me to bring some Megaten with me. Probably devil children white and innocent sin psp. They're whoring the series a bit with all the remakes, but this one of very few series that they can whore all they want and I'll buy it all (tales, too.) I almost got through Demikids light, but it's not really holding my interest, the story isn't too interesting, the gameplay is decent, and the first Megaten I know that has inheriting spells though. Maybe I'll push through the last couple of dungeons. I know I should play dark, but my copy is stil sealed and I refuse to open it. I also have messiah riser, but the battery is dead. Is it worth getting it changed?

I always wanted to play Messiah Riser. It looked great.

And not playing DemiKids Dark because Light is bad is like not playing Persona 2 or 3 because you didn't like 1.

[Link1110]

I always wanted to play Messiah Riser. It looked great. And not playing DemiKids Dark because Light is bad is like not playing Persona 2 or 3 because you didn't like 1.

Ahh, ok. Ill have to track down a copy. I refuse to open it as a collector :P

[we.are.the.armada]

I've always wanted to play one of these games. Never have. What would you guys recommend for a first timer?

Hmmm, depending on your tolerance for the type of combat in these games (maybe seeing a couple of videos what recommendations made by posters) I would go with Persona 4. In my opinion, it's very self-contained and doesn't require any knowledge of SMT to be completed or enjoyed. The translation and VO is very fun and it tends to be more character focused than most JRPGs.

If you are a hardcore badass, try out Nocturne. Again, I played this without knowing much at all about SMT and I didn't seem too lost here.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love this game - but avoid Persona 1 like the plague. Its story is a convoluted mess and the combat is tedious and boring. I played through this game before playing through P2:IS so that I could get background information. It was hell.

[Laughing Banana]

Are Persona fans still fighting amongst themselves due to the difference of the old school games and the new ones?

I vastly prefer the new ones although I too can appreciate the old school games with all their intricacies and such.

Oh, an no proper console SMT or Persona games is the biggest affront Atlus pull off this gen. I mean, I love almost all their games but sometimes I am just tired seeing all these remakes and re-releases and such. Such different circumstances back in the PS2 days...

[Aeana]

Are Persona fans still fighting amongst themselves due to the difference of the old school games and the new ones? I vastly prefer the new ones although I too can appreciate the old school games with all their intricacies and such. Oh, an no proper console SMT or Persona games is the biggest affront Atlus pull off this gen. I mean, I love almost all their games but sometimes I am just tired seeing all these remakes and re-releases and such. Such different circumstances back in the PS2 days...

There haven't even been that many. Honestly, this generation feels like the PSX generation in terms of releases. But better, because at least this generation, we got a fully-fledged core entry. I know a lot of people jumped on during the PS2 era, but this has happened before. Atlus just needs a home for new games.

[archnemesis]

I would like to replay Nocturne in first-person mode, but first I'm going to focus on the games I still haven't finished. I'm partway through Shin Megami Tensei, Strange Journey and Persona. Persona 2 and Devil Survivor 2 are both untouched. Maybe I'll have time for a few of them during the summer.

[Absoludacrous]

I'm actually in the middle of P3FES again, since when my BC-PS3 died it took my 80 hour save with it. Got the new slim with the PSN version that I've been going through, but now I can't play Nocturne and it makes me sad.

[encephalon]

I'm generally slightly bothered by the visual shortcuts taken with the series (the original Persona's dungeons are mind numbing), but demon creation has me coming back for more. Persona 2 IS is one of my favorite games ever made.

Hopefully we'll see a SMT game announced for one of the HD twins soon. I'd say Persona, but I find the music embarrassing. :(

[randomkid]

Honestly, this generation feels like the PSX generation in terms of releases. But better, because at least this generation, we got a fully-fledged core entry.

Wow, really? Strange Journey's my favorite DS RPG but you're saying that you feel this generation has been better so far than the PSX generation?

I don't really think SJ + the Devil Survivors and a fanservice fighting game are the equivalent of three full fledged Personas and two Devil Summoners (although apparently the first one kinda sucks?) and the five other curios that came out, even if I've only personally played the first two Personas.

Speaking of the PSX generation did you ever play Giten Megami Tensei on PC98? You are probably the only person on this board I can think of who would have played it haha.

[Aeana]

Wow, really? Strange Journey's my favorite DS RPG but you're saying that you feel this generation has been better so far than the PSX generation? I don't really think SJ + the Devil Survivors and a fanservice fighting game are the equivalent of three full fledged Personas and two Devil Summoners (although apparently the first one kinda sucks?) and the five other curios that came out, even if I've only personally played the first two Personas. Speaking of the PSX generation did you ever play Giten Megami Tensei on PC98? You are probably the only person on this board I can think of who would have played it haha.

They're about even. SJ counts for a lot in my eyes.

Giten Megami Tensei is one of the worst things to be attached to the franchise. There's really nothing good about it at all, and like most Japanese PC games of the time, they threw some sex stuff in there to try to sell it to the otaku. It's just stupid and embarrassing.

[Dark Schala]

I always wanted to play Messiah Riser. It looked great. And not playing DemiKids Dark because Light is bad is like not playing Persona 2 or 3 because you didn't like 1.

I think Messiah Riser is the one I still have, actually. Purple box? RTS? Something about a legendary Messiah sealing something with stones...

It's somewhere in a stack of games that I haven't looked at in a long time. I recall being a indifferent towards it since I wasn't finding myself attached to the RTS elements much, AI was, uh, interesting, monsters have a single attack (iirc), and the interface wasn't much to my liking at all.

I remember the backgrounds looking really really good. If that game was on a DS or something, with the interface all cleared up and being able to use the stylus for RTS stuff, it'd be really neat.

[randomkid]

They're about even. SJ counts for a lot in my eyes. Giten Megami Tensei is one of the worst things to be attached to the franchise. There's really nothing good about it at all, and like most Japanese PC games of the time, they threw some sex stuff in there to try to sell it to the otaku. It's just stupid and embarrassing.

Yikes, haha, had no idea. The youtube video I saw seemed fine.

Strange Journey is such an odd game for me cuz I really loved it and I know others loved it but I can't think of anyone who prefers it to SMT3 (or even SMT2). So it occupies this weird place in the franchise for me cuz it's measuring up to mainline games rather than spinoffs. I'm really glad it was made and I had so much fun with it, even if I don't think I'll ever replay it.

[Ultima_5]

Havne't played much of the series to be honest... I was considering playing persona 1-3 this summer (already played 4 and loved it) in anticipation for the vita release of 4 and the hopeful P5 announcement soon...

[Aeana]

Yikes, haha, had no idea. The youtube video I saw seemed fine. Strange Journey is such an odd game for me cuz I really loved it and I know others loved it but I can't think of anyone who prefers it to SMT3 (or even SMT2). So it occupies this weird place in the franchise for me cuz it's measuring up to mainline games rather than spinoffs. I'm really glad it was made and I had so much fun with it, even if I don't think I'll ever replay it.

SMT3 and SMT2 are the best the entire franchise has to offer, so I'm not sure how much of a crazy thing that really is.

[TurnipFritters]

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (September 11th, 1987) Released for: Famicom, Super Famicom (Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei) No English release available! Fan translation: http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=megaten1 (Famicom, Not finished) Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II (April 6th, 1990) Released for: Famicom, Super Famicom (Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei) No English release available!.

The Kyuuyaku screenshots are swapped. The outdoors map is from MT2 and the battle is from MT1.

I'm generally slightly bothered by the visual shortcuts taken with the series (the original Persona's dungeons are mind numbing), but demon creation has me coming back for more.(

I'm ok with some of the shortcuts they use (dynamic camera angles they used to hide the fact that demons don't have walking animations in Nocturne make battles run faster), but some are just awful (blacking out the screen to move NPCs in Persona 1 to try and hide the fact they don't have walking animations).

Giten Megami Tensei is one of the worst things to be attached to the franchise. There's really nothing good about it at all, and like most Japanese PC games of the time, they threw some sex stuff in there to try to sell it to the otaku. It's just stupid and embarrassing.

Don't forget the gore!

[randomkid]

SMT3 and SMT2 are the best the entire franchise has to offer, so I'm not sure how much of a crazy thing that really is.

True, true, I guess with all your Innocent Sin and Soul Hackers praise I was kinda surprised that SJ beat them both out for you.

Edit: Yeah Nich I'm with you on SJ's dungeon design for sure, that's obviously where the most care and attention went in the game. And that bestiary can't be beat haha, although I had minor issues with demon progression.

[NichM]

There's a lot that Strange Journey does well, but one thing in particular that stood out for me as contrasted with Persona 1 (since I worked on/played both of them back to back) is the dungeon design, in particular the way it meshes with the "app" system, the EX Missions, and the Forma Search in what is (IMO) an underappreciated bit of design.

Persona 1's dungeons aren't its strong suit. They're basically just spaces to fight monsters. In the whole game there's very, very little that requires you or even makes you want to look at the dungeon itself as opposed to the minimap view--a couple of wall switches you need to find in the Factory, some softball "puzzles" with floor lights in Deva Yuga, that's about it. I've played the game at least three times, across both the PSX release in '96 and the PSP game, and throughout all of those playthroughs I was focused on the small corner of the screen where the real information is.

Not only that, but the rewarding bits of Persona 1's dungeons are entirely segregated from the exploration part. All the NPCs and all the treasures in the game are found in the larger "rooms" where you switch to the isometric view with the whole party hanging out. This has the side effect of teaching you that when you see a dead end on the minimap, you already know that you don't need to go that way--there won't be anything there.

This is never ever ever a problem in Strange Journey. The dungeons are liberally sprinkled with enough NPC encounters, treasure chests, hidden doors, and Forma Search pings off the beaten path to make it worth exploring every nook and cranny of every Sector. Playing the game, I was surprised at how much obvious care went into making these dungeons spaces you would want to spend time in, rather than serve as obstacle courses between story point A and story point B.

Basically, while you can't beat Nocturne for atmosphere, especially not on the DS, I think Strange Journey might have mechanically the best dungeons in the series.

[TurnipFritters]

This is never ever ever a problem in Strange Journey. The dungeons are liberally sprinkled with enough NPC encounters, treasure chests, hidden doors, and Forma Search pings off the beaten path to make it worth exploring every nook and cranny of every Sector. Playing the game, I was surprised at how much obvious care went into making these dungeons spaces you would want to spend time in, rather than serve as obstacle courses between story point A and story point B. Basically, while you can't beat Nocturne for atmosphere, especially not on the DS, I think Strange Journey might have mechanically the best dungeons in the series.

I think one of the problems SJ faced was being released in a post-EO world. There were places, particularly those with teleporters, where I really, really wanted to have access to the notepad feature or be able to put down some kind of marker to know what the right direction was.

[encephalon]

The Kyuuyaku screenshots are swapped. The outdoors map is from MT2 and the battle is from MT1. I'm ok with some of the shortcuts they use (dynamic camera angles they used to hide the fact that demons don't have walking animations in Nocturne make battles run faster), but some are just awful (blacking out the screen to move NPCs in Persona 1 to try and hide the fact they don't have walking animations). Don't forget the gore!

The funny thing about Persona 1 is that they created enemy animations, but like I said, they also terribly bland first person dungeons with the same wall and floor tiles stretching on forever. Released the same year (I think), Devil Summoner on the Saturn had much more interesting dungeon design with definition and different textures, but no enemy animations. It's fairly obvious that they decided what they were and weren't going to spend their time on with these titles.

[Big Papa Husker]

I own all of them that were released in the US on PS1, PSP and PS2, but haven't play any. LOL! I was actually going to post yesterday afternoon asking which game I should start with.

[NichM]

I own all of them that were released in the US on PS1, PSP and PS2, but haven't play any. LOL! I was actually going to post yesterday afternoon asking which game I should start with.

Probably either Persona 3 or Raidou 1. They're very different games, but neither of them is that hard, and if you find yourself not getting into the vibe of one, there's a good chance the other will be more what you're looking for.

Crucially, either of them will ease you into the central demon/Persona-fusing mechanic of the series (as well as the emphasis on covering and exploiting elemental weaknesses) so you have a handle on it before playing Nocturne, which really should be your follow up to whichever of those you finish first.

[zkylon]

Nice, I just finished Persona 3 FES last week and loved it to death. I meant to play The Answer but I don't think the combat holds up alone so I've been reluctant to keep going. Any good LP's so I don't have to play 20 hours worth of randomized dungeons?

My plan is to also beat Persona 4 and Nocturne this year, which are the only other two SMT games I own, to clean up my remaining PS2 backlog (Shadow Hearts and Drakengard being the other non-SMT games I want to play) and finally move to other things.

[Gloam]

Great work on the OP Jucksalbe! This Making of... Feature is worth a look. It features a number of interviews about the series, including one with Yuji Horii who I think is talking about how cool the mazes are in SMT games. Check it!

The only SMT games I've played through are Persona 3 & 4, but I just (just) fired up Nocturne because of this thread. Not sure what to expect, though by all accounts it's pretty great. Anyway, will keep you guys abreast of my progress.

[GrandHarrier]

I'm a Persona / Devil Survivor fan myself. I own both Simmons and the Digital Devil Saga games, but they just don't click the same. I won't begrudge Nocturne fans, but I just find the world building in the newer games far superior.

It certainly helps that the characters are more likeable / iconic (to me)

That being said... any SMT is good. I just wish they'd take advantage of "next gen" and not focus on portable or rereleases so much.