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Shin Megami Tensei Community Thread: Be Your True Demon

cj_iwakura

Member
Jenga said:
AWWW SHIIIIIITTTT MUTHAFUCKA DUS DAT MEAN DEM PER SOHN AH MUTHAFUCKAZ CANT GO ALL WOOP WOOP IN DA SHIT

Swag.

tumblr_lrq2dktetR1qkdl7uo1_250.gif
 

cj_iwakura

Member
http://shinmegamitensei.tumblr.com

Suffer as I have suffered.



tumblr_lpyf4yUEzP1qzgh25o1_500.jpg



I know this is blasphemy in these parts, but that image summarizes why I love Persona 3 more than 4. It's got a style that kicked down the doors of Persona 1&2, and went into something wildly different. It can't be faulted for innovation.
 
SMT collection isn't exceedingly vast, but it's well-played and well-tended. Nocturne, DDS 1&2, Persona 3&4, Revelations: Persona, Devil Survior, and Strange Journey. I plan on rounding out my collection eventually, once my backlog shrinks a little. Can't wait for Survior 2 - so glad it's not a 3DS thing.

Subscribing to this thread. Item of discussion: What's the most difficult SMT game of the PS2 era? Keep it going!
 

LProtag

Member
Started Digital Devil Saga a week or so ago, have to get back into the swing of it and make a big push to finish it all. Was loving it, just needed a little break.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Deified Data said:
SMT collection isn't exceedingly vast, but it's well-played and well-tended. Nocturne, DDS 1&2, Persona 3&4, Revelations: Persona, Devil Survior, and Strange Journey. I plan on rounding out my collection eventually, once my backlog shrinks a little. Can't wait for Survior 2 - so glad it's not a 3DS thing.

Subscribing to this thread. Item of discussion: What's the most difficult SMT game of the PS2 era? Keep it going!

Raidou 1 on Devil Mode. Holy crap.


Without all that, I'd say Nocturne. Hardest to break, most rewarding when you do.
 

MechaX

Member
Deified Data said:
Subscribing to this thread. Item of discussion: What's the most difficult SMT game of the PS2 era? Keep it going!

I would say that it is probably Nocturne, both before having knowledge of how Press Turns and Buffs operate and after having that knowledge. Sure, all the SMT PS2 titles are pretty simple when knowing how important buffing truly is, but I still feel that Nocturne still pushes the challenge envelope with some key bosses (
fucking Mot and his Beast Eye/Dragon Eye spamming
).

On the games' highest difficulties, I think Raidou 1 takes the title by a long shot.
 

vocab

Member
tetrisgrammaton said:
I'm pretty mixed on SMT.

I don't particularly like any of the Persona's. But Nocturne is one of my all-timers, and Devil Summoner 2 is close.

As for the other side projects that I've played, I'm fairly indifferent to them; and I'm not that obsessed to go back and play the ones on Famicom and Super Famicom.


Don't worry. I think Persona 3 is pretty bad. 20 hours in, and nothing happened.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
vocab said:
Don't worry. I think Persona 3 is pretty bad. 20 hours in, and nothing happened.

Wow, you'd hate Persona 4. Persona 3 cuts right to the chase. I can see why someone would dislike P3 after playing P4 though. Personally, I like having to cope with the party AI and working around it.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Jenga said:
persona games = neutrality losers

smt games = chaos bros

i mean you guys don't even get a choice!

Except that P2:IS/EP is probably the two best SMT games in a good mile.

No fusions outside of spells.
No social links.
Third Person Dungeon Crawling.
Contacts.

FINAL DESTINATION.
 
cj_iwakura said:
Raidou 1 on Devil Mode. Holy crap.


Without all that, I'd say Nocturne. Hardest to break, most rewarding when you do.
Wish I played it so I could compare.

Gonna go all out and say Persona 3, before it's bosses were "tweaked" for balance. Persona 3's systems were far easier to master than Nocturne's, but certain bosses in the game had immense balancing issues. Add to that the pervasive annoyance of not being able to control your party.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
TheSeks said:
Except that P2:IS/EP is probably the two best SMT games in a good mile.

No fusions outside of spells.
No social links.
Third Person Dungeon Crawling.
Contacts.

FINAL DESTINATION.

Even though Atlus has done a good job of quality control since Cozy Okada left, I think a certain something left the SMT games when he did. Kaneko's great on visuals, but Okada seemed to love the modern/cyberpunk motif.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HDjf1qL54

Okada's last project with Atlus was Digital Devil Saga, I think. But I believe him and Kaneko had Raidou in mind for a while; check the interview.
("I'm very interested in doing a title that's set in the past.")

(Fun fact: the Demon Artist in P2 is modeled after Kaz; except Kaz has a better wardrobe.)
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Deified Data said:
Wish I played it so I could compare.

Enemies do triple normal damage. Raidou inflicts half.
Shop costs are tripled. Compendium cost is through the roof.

It's insane. (Don't ask me how many times I died clearing it.)
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
cj_iwakura said:
I know this is blasphemy in these parts, but that image summarizes why I love Persona 3 more than 4. It's got a style that kicked down the doors of Persona 1&2, and went into something wildly different. It can't be faulted for innovation.

Huh? All it did was make it kinda Emo "Moe"-blob anime after the late 90's anime of P1/2.

Though I'm one of the rare few that actually prefers P3 over P4 because shooting yourself in the head and having a giant penis monster come out > LETS LIVE EVERYDAY OF OUR LIVES AT JUNES~ Scooby-Doo Mystery.

That's not to say I didn't mind P4. Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie can be my wingmen, anytime.

But yeah, I prefer P3's bleak-suicide-sacrifice story to P4's overly happy style.

(Fun fact: the Demon Artist in P2 is modeled after Kaz; except Kaz has a better wardrobe.)

How about I slap your shit? Demon Artist > Cozy's wardrobe. Then again I like the Demon Artists punk/urban outfit.

I kinda wish he was P2's Igor instead of Igor himself, but alas. :(
 

Jenga

Banned
so when is smt gonna move into college shit

tired of being some lame ass teenager hanging out with other lame ass teenagers
 
Jenga said:
so when is smt gonna move into college shit

tired of being some lame ass teenager hanging out with other lame ass teenagers
Teenagers have broad appeal, I guess. And more free time. Hard to go on crazy adventures when you're holding down a job/studying full-time. Unless you're a loser like Vincent Brooks, or something.
 
Jenga said:
so when is smt gonna move into college shit

tired of being some lame ass teenager hanging out with other lame ass teenagers

When are we gonna get a new console SMT game. Its been years. Once Atlus had the assets and tech in place, they were able to put more content on the PS2 than even SE did. I wonder now if we'll even see a console SMT/Persona game before this gen runs out.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
TheSeks said:
Huh? All it did was make it kinda Emo "Moe"-blob anime after the late 90's anime of P1/2.

I love P1 & P2, but P3's style was really something else when I first saw it. I never thought I'd be okay without Kaneko doing art design until I saw that Soejima work. They definitely gave the series a wild new direction, for better or worse. Arguably worse considering that social links = $$$$, but hey, we got Elizabeth out of the deal; I ain't even mad.


How about I slap your shit? Demon Artist > Cozy's wardrobe. Then again I like the Demon Artists punk/urban outfit.

Nah, they're both swag. :p I really like the Demon Artist, I wish he was in 3 & 4.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Jenga said:
so when is smt gonna move into college shit

tired of being some lame ass teenager hanging out with other lame ass teenagers

Social Links turn into Sexual Links. MMMMMMMMMM...

And for once, my homeboy Mara would be the STAR of the series. ;) ;)
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Also count me in for the P5 College movement. I don't think anyone's touched that territory yet, but it could also focus on adults again. I'd be fine with either.
 

Ricker

Member
I think the only 2 games I have ever finished from this series are the first 2 Persona`s...the others got too hard or I stopped because I was lost in a labyrinth and the countless random battles,while figuring out what to do got the best of me(Nocturne and Digital Saga)...Summoner(on the 3DS) is just too hard,not saying I won`t finish it but for now I`m doing free battles to beat one of the early Bosses...Strange Journey I think I stopped just like the EO games because they are too hard and grindy as well...

I do enjoy the series and the Universe though and will keep buying and trying to finish them.(halfway through both P3 and 4 )
 
cj_iwakura said:
Even though Atlus has done a good job of quality control since Cozy Okada left, I think a certain something left the SMT games when he did. Kaneko's great on visuals, but Okada seemed to love the modern/cyberpunk motif.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HDjf1qL54

Okada's last project with Atlus was Digital Devil Saga, I think. But I believe him and Kaneko had Raidou in mind for a while; check the interview.
("I'm very interested in doing a title that's set in the past.")

(Fun fact: the Demon Artist in P2 is modeled after Kaz; except Kaz has a better wardrobe.)

They always dress like made men. How awesome? So awesome.

persona games = neutrality losers

smt games = chaos bros

i mean you guys don't even get a choice!

Does this make Devil Summoner or DDS Law?

so when is smt gonna move into college shit

tired of being some lame ass teenager hanging out with other lame ass teenagers

Persona 2.
 
SpaceBridge said:
What's in you SMT collection?
I also discovered the series quite late with Nocturne and since then I've been picking up most new releases and some of the older ones when I can find them for a good deal.

Game Boy Color
  • Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible
  • Revelations: The Demon Slayer
  • Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Black Book
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - White Book

Game Boy Advance
  • Shin Megami Tensei: DemiKids - Dark Version
  • Shin Megami Tensei: DemiKids - Light Version

Virtual Boy
  • Jack Bros. no Meiro de Hīhō!

DS
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Super Famicom
  • Shin Megami Tensei
  • Shin Megami Tensei II

Playstation
  • Shin Megami Tensei
  • Shin Megami Tensei: if...
  • Revelations: Persona
  • Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Playstation 2
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: FES
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
  • Maken Shao: Demon Sword (close enough with it being developed by Atlus, featuring Kaneko art, and having an occult theme)

Playstation Portable
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable

Saturn
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Akuma Zensho

PC
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine

Books
  • Three volumes with illustrations by Kaneko Kazuma
  • One volume with art by Shigenori Soejima
  • Self-printed fan translation of the first two Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani
 
archnemesis said:
I also discovered the series quite late with Nocturne and since then I've been picking up most new releases and some of the older ones when I can find them for a good deal.

Game Boy Color
  • Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible
  • Revelations: The Demon Slayer
  • Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Black Book
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - White Book

Game Boy Advance
  • Shin Megami Tensei: DemiKids - Dark Version
  • Shin Megami Tensei: DemiKids - Light Version

Virtual Boy
  • Jack Bros. no Meiro de Hīhō!

DS
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Super Famicom
  • Shin Megami Tensei
  • Shin Megami Tensei II

Playstation
  • Shin Megami Tensei
  • Shin Megami Tensei: if...
  • Revelations: Persona
  • Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Playstation 2
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: FES
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
  • Maken Shao: Demon Sword (close enough with it being developed by Atlus, featuring Kaneko art, and having an occult theme)

Playstation Portable
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable

Saturn
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Akuma Zensho

PC
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine

Books
  • Three volumes with illustrations by Kaneko Kazuma
  • One volume with art by Shigenori Soejima
  • Self-printed fan translation of the first two Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani
...and the winning collection is...
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Oh yeah, uber bosses. Atlus LOVE them some uber bosses.

In order from ridiculous to a cake walk:
(Spoilers for everything, partially based on experience and partially based on what I've heard.

Demi-Fiend** (DDS) > Elizabeth (P3) > Satan* (DDS2) > Lucifer (Devil Survivor) > Demiurge (Strange Journey) > Lucifer (Raidou 2) > Snow Queen (P1)** > Philemon (Persona 2: Eternal Punishment) > Margaret (P4)** > Beezlebub (Raidou 1) > etc. (I think Soul Hackers and SMT2 have a Beelzebub optional boss fight too.)

** - killed, * - fought.

I really need to finish EP's optional dungeon, but it scares me.
 
Deified Data said:
...and the winning collection is...
Not even close. There is (or maybe used to be) a Japanese GAFer who owned all releases, including the music.
TheSeks said:
Except he doesn't have the X-box 180 SMT. >_>
I want it, but it's hard to find around here. It is supposed to be similar to Imagine.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
TheSeks said:
Except he doesn't have the X-box 180 SMT. >_>

The only person I know crazy enough to have played that is Kurt at HG101, who wrote the piece on it.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten4.htm

And holy crap does it look awful.

smt9-8.jpg




And if we're counting collectibles, I own a Lucifer figurine, the Digital Devil Apocalypse artbook(kind of a collection of SMT1/2/If, Maken X, Devil Summoner/Soul Hackers, and Persona 1 & 2 art), and the Persona 2 EP OST(so good). Imagine's a downloadable, so I don't think it counts. :p

Also, I love Maken X, Dreamcast version here. Interestingly enough, I think Sega localized it, not Atlus.


I really want to get one of the Kazuma Works books, but maybe Udon'll localize it like they're doing the Soejima one?
 

Aeana

Member
archnemesis said:
Not even close. There is (or maybe used to be) a Japanese GAFer who owned all releases, including the music.
I'm not sure if you are thinking of me or not, but that fits my collection. I've got pretty much everything Megaten-related in terms of games and music, plus a ton of other miscellaneous stuff like plushes and strategy guides.
 
Nope, I was thinking of a lurker. He's a cool guy, but he doesn't post very often. How would you rank the Majin Tensei games among the rest Aeana?
 

Vally

Member
I have a serious backlog of Megaten games, the only ones I've finished are P3 and P4... have played DDS, Raidou 2 and Strange Journey too, wish I had more time so I could finish them. Right now I'm playing P2 Innocent Sin and I love it.

And I agree with the people who praise the style of the older games; as much as I love P3/P4, games like P2 or Soul Hackers have such a unique atmosphere (will definitely play Soul Hackers when the fan translation is out)

cj_iwakura said:
I know this is blasphemy in these parts, but that image summarizes why I love Persona 3 more than 4. It's got a style that kicked down the doors of Persona 1&2, and went into something wildly different. It can't be faulted for innovation.

Yeah, it's impressive how different P3 is from P2. I'm glad they're trying to do the same for P5, or so they said in a recent interview. The less it looks like P4 the better.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Vally said:
I have a serious backlog of Megaten games, the only ones I've finished are P3 and P4... have played DDS, Raidou 2 and Strange Journey too, wish I had more time so I could finish them. Right now I'm playing P2 Innocent Sin and I love it.

And I agree with the people who praise the style of the older games; as much as I love P3/P4, games like P2 or Soul Hackers have such a unique atmosphere (will definitely play Soul Hackers when the fan translation is out)



Yeah, it's impressive how different P3 is from P2. I'm glad they're trying to do the same for P5, or so they said in a recent interview. The less it looks like P4 the better.

I agree, they can only improve on P3's formula so much. They need to innovate again. Personally I'd be fine if they ditched Social Links and went back to negotiations, but I don't see that happening. SLinks could still be further improved on, so that'd work too.
(Make relationships count for one; don't just have the characters act like nothing ever happens afterward.)
 
cj_iwakura said:
I know this is blasphemy in these parts, but that image summarizes why I love Persona 3 more than 4. It's got a style that kicked down the doors of Persona 1&2, and went into something wildly different. It can't be faulted for innovation.
n84199_respek-knuckles.gif
 

suzu

Member
Sooo... what is everybody's favorite demon(s)? Based on looks, usefulness, or whatever criteria.

I like Jack Frost, Cu Chulainn, and Parvati. I always try to keep them in my party for as long as I can. :p Actually, I like most of the Hindu goddesses. They look so pretty haha.
 
suzu said:
Sooo... what is everybody's favorite demon(s)? Based on looks, usefulness, or whatever criteria.

I like Jack Frost, Cu Chulainn, and Parvati. I always try to keep them in my party for as long as I can. :p Actually, I like most of the Hindu goddesses. They look so pretty haha.

1482777-wukong.jpg


Wu FUCKING Kong. The first "ringer" demon I made in the series. I was very proud of the guy, not only as a turn burner, but damage output and Bright Might as well.
 

kai3345

Banned
suzu said:
Sooo... what is everybody's favorite demon(s)? Based on looks, usefulness, or whatever criteria.

I like Jack Frost, Cu Chulainn, and Parvati. I always try to keep them in my party for as long as I can. :p Actually, I like most of the Hindu goddesses. They look so pretty haha.
I like Matador just because of his design
300px-KazumaKaneko-Matador.jpg
 

Vamphuntr

Member
suzu said:
Sooo... what is everybody's favorite demon(s)? Based on looks, usefulness, or whatever criteria.

I like Jack Frost, Cu Chulainn, and Parvati. I always try to keep them in my party for as long as I can. :p Actually, I like most of the Hindu goddesses. They look so pretty haha.

The only answer for me :)

vZCiz.jpg
 

MechaX

Member
Favorite demon?

Without a doubt, it's a tie between these two:

1181281-titania1_large.jpg

400px-Cerberus.jpg


I swear, every game I can obtain them, I always try to power them up to keep them until the end game.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
cj_iwakura said:
The only person I know crazy enough to have played that is Kurt at HG101, who wrote the piece on it.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten4.htm

And holy crap does it look awful.

HG101 said:
Shin Megami Tensei NINE, one of the few Japan exclusive games for the original Xbox, is a bit of an outlier amongst the series. The NINE is not to denote that this is the ninth Megaten game (it isn't), but instead it refers the number of alignments in the original series of game (Law, Neutral, Chaos, and Good, Neutral, and Evil.) Like Megami Tensei II, you play as a human living in an underground base after a nuclear disaster. You spend most of your time in the "Idea Space", a Snow Crash-ish virtual world modeled after 1990s Tokyo.

What are you talking about? That sounds like Phantom Dust on X-box 180 which was awesome!
 
suzu said:
Sooo... what is everybody's favorite demon(s)? Based on looks, usefulness, or whatever criteria.

I like Jack Frost, Cu Chulainn, and Parvati. I always try to keep them in my party for as long as I can. :p Actually, I like most of the Hindu goddesses. They look so pretty haha.



I always thought Trumpeter looked awesome:
Wc9YD.jpg
 
I got into the series with Nocturne. I knew almost nothing about the game, other than it was apparently a cult hit, and it was a turn based rpg. So I pre-ordered it, and have probably spent over 200 hours playing and replaying it. And SMT Nocturne is still my favorite game today.
 
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