[Bel Marduk]

Finished day one last night and in the process, completely drained my 3DS battle. I'm starting to wish I started on easy as I'm horrible at strategy games. A quick question for those in the know: It looks like the only character that earns experience is the one who lands the killing blow. Is my understanding correct? I was using the Yuzu and a demon as healers for my other two characters but she quickly fell four levels behind the rest of the party.

Yes. That character and their demons only.

[bender]

Yes. That character and their demons only.

Thank you. Not sure I appreciate that aspect but with some demon swapping I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

[Snapshot King]

Something I always wondered, how late in the game do the character specific routes appear? Because if it's late game, isn't playing through 90% of the same game just to get a different chunk at the end, kind of rote? Also, is the 8th day independent of what path you choose? I just don't wanna lock myself out, even though I only got to day 2.

[Pureauthor]

Something I always wondered, how late in the game do the character specific routes appear? Because if it's late game, isn't playing through 90% of the same game just to get a different chunk at the end, kind of rote? Also, is the 8th day independent of what path you choose? I just don't wanna lock myself out, even though I only got to day 2.

End of the 6th day, you choose your route.

3 of the 5 possible endings have an 8th Day.

[SolarKnight]

Yeah, end of 6th day, BUT, for every route except Yuzu's or at least some IIRC you also have to fulfill other conditions along the way there.

[Snapshot King]

End of the 6th day, you choose your route. 3 of the 5 possible endings have an 8th Day.

Yeah, end of 6th day, BUT, for every route except Yuzu's or at least some IIRC you also have to fulfill other conditions along the way there.

Ugh, this sounds arduous as hell. With my luck I'll end up getting a bad end after 60 hours and have to play the whole game over. Looking over the earlier posts I see a lot of mention about very limited NG+ too. Sigh.

[firehawk12]

I'm curious, for the master SMT players, how do you chart out fusion recipes so that you pass on the right resistances/drain? I'm almost ready to go old school pen and paper, because some of these things are hard to track.
(That said, someone on gamefaqs did great recipes for demons up to level 43, so that helped a lot).

[mjemirzian]

It's sad that the first thing most RPG players think of when they get stuck is 'time to grind!'. Thank god fighting games, RTS, FPS, etc. gamers aren't like this. Imagine if, when you got your ass beat in Street Fighter, the first thing you thought was "well I assume this game needs tons of grinding to level up my hadoken" instead of thinking that you've got to learn more of the games mechanics and improve your skills.

It is pretty much required to use a guide if you want to see all the ending routes, though, since there are dozens of choices that look random or innocuous that will close off a route for you.

I'm curious, for the master SMT players, how do you chart out fusion recipes so that you pass on the right resistances/drain? I'm almost ready to go old school pen and paper, because some of these things are hard to track. (That said, someone on gamefaqs did great recipes for demons up to level 43, so that helped a lot).

Active skills are pretty easy to move around since you can teach them occasionally in battle. Since you can't teach a demon passive skills in battle afaik, you have to find a demon that has the skill you want then fuse that skill until it's on the demon you want. It's kind of a stopgap to prevent you from making a party of everything-immune demons (except almighty).

[walking fiend]

OK, I wanted to buy this until I just heard the voice acting. Does it have Japanese dub too?

[vall03]

I'm curious, for the master SMT players, how do you chart out fusion recipes so that you pass on the right resistances/drain? I'm almost ready to go old school pen and paper, because some of these things are hard to track. (That said, someone on gamefaqs did great recipes for demons up to level 43, so that helped a lot).

sometimes mental charting, and sometimes pen & paper. Its kinda easy here though since afaik, out of all the SMT games, only Devil Survivor have a list of the recipes.

[Volcynika]

OK, I wanted to buy this until I just heard the voice acting. Does it have Japanese dub too?

No.

[walking fiend]

No.

I just don't get why they even bother with English dub; it is not a mainstream game and people usually LOVE J dub, so why just bother with shitty English dubs?

[Volcynika]

I just don't get why they even bother with English dub; it is not a mainstream game and people usually LOVE J dub, so why just bother with shitty English dubs?

Because the English dub isn't that bad. And they're trying to appeal to an English speaking audience. Funny thing there, huh?

(People that love JP dub are in the minority)

[mjemirzian]

Because the English dub isn't that bad. And they're trying to appeal to an English speaking audience. Funny thing there, huh? (People that love JP dub are in the minority)

Since this game is not out in Japan yet, technically the game is only voiced in English thus far.

[Volcynika]

Since this game is not out in Japan yet, technically the game is only voiced in English thus far.

Well of course. But I'm referring to why the North American release has an English dub. If you want the JP dub, import a JP 3DS and the 3DS version of it when the game comes out.

[notworksafe]

I just don't get why they even bother with English dub; it is not a mainstream game and people usually LOVE J dub, so why just bother with shitty English dubs?

Not myself or most other people who speak and understand English and not Japanese.

But of course this idiotic discussion must happen in every JPRG thread, so whatever.

[walking fiend]

if English dub was good, I would prefer it too, but usually its just bad; what I am saying, is that a good J dub (With english sub) is better than a piss poor English dub. And Overclocked English dub is bad, not as bad as Arc Rise Fantasia, but bad.

and how am I going to understand the game in Japanese text if I import it?

[Volcynika]

if English dub was good, I would prefer it too, but usually its just bad; what I am saying, is that a good J dub (With english sub) is better than a piss poor English dub. and how am I going to understand the game in Japanese text?

It's fine, and you can turn it off anyways, so you don't need to complain.

[notworksafe]

if English dub was good, I would prefer it too, but usually its just bad; what I am saying, is that a good J dub (With english sub) is better than a piss poor English dub. And Overclocked English dub is bad, not as bad as Arc Rise Fantasia, but bad. and how am I going to understand the game in Japanese text if I import it?

If Japanese only were better/preferred, then English dub wouldn't be in pretty much every Atlus, NISA, etc release.

Like I said, this argument comes up in almost every thread about games like these and it's always a minority who want a Japanese only game. It's almost always people who don't actually understand a majority of what would be said as well...which makes it even funnier to me.

[Dedication Through Light]

Not...that much grinding. You still need to grind a bit sometimes, but as always with SMT games, fusing good demons and good strategies (this is a SRPG so you need to figure out good ways with dealing with enemies by moving your party) are key. If you have no patience then don't bother since battles get harder from here on out. But giving up at the very beginning...?

If there was some way to recover the skill points during battle then I wouldnt have a problem. By the time I identified that the character was say, weak to Agi, I had already used it up on all of the other run of the mill enemies, plus the battle made another enemy just appear after so many turns.

[firehawk12]

sometimes mental charting, and sometimes pen & paper. Its kinda easy here though since afaik, out of all the SMT games, only Devil Survivor have a list of the recipes.

Is there a good list of recipes that show how to pass on resistances/drain to all the high level demons?

Active skills are pretty easy to move around since you can teach them occasionally in battle. Since you can't teach a demon passive skills in battle afaik, you have to find a demon that has the skill you want then fuse that skill until it's on the demon you want. It's kind of a stopgap to prevent you from making a party of everything-immune demons (except almighty).

At the very least you want to make sure your demons are not weak to anything. That's the pain in the ass part about all the SMT games that breaks my brain and why I wish there were more FAQs for this kind of stuff. It's fun to figure out with low level Personas, but when you are dealing with Elements, Mitamas, and 6+ demon recipes, it's kind of hard to plan out.

If Japanese only were better/preferred, then English dub wouldn't be in pretty much every Atlus, NISA, etc release. Like I said, this argument comes up in almost every thread about games like these and it's always a minority who want a Japanese only game. It's almost always people who don't actually understand a majority of what would be said as well...which makes it even funnier to me.

I think most people would prefer dual audio rather than be stuck with one or the other. NISA manages to license the Japanese audio for at least some of its games despite the supposed cost (you're telling me Rorona sold more than Catherine? I don't think so), so I can't see why Atlus USA can't either.

---

Also, I just read the list of Titles you can get. Even New Game+ isn't easy anymore. Why would they do this?

[Kazerei]

If there was some way to recover the skill points during battle then I wouldnt have a problem. By the time I identified that the character was say, weak to Agi, I had already used it up on all of the other run of the mill enemies, plus the battle made another enemy just appear after so many turns.

You can check the enemies' skills, strengths and weaknesses before dispatching into battle. You can also edit your team accordingly.

[Volcynika]

I think most people would prefer dual audio rather than be stuck with one or the other. NISA manages to license the Japanese audio for at least some of its games despite the supposed cost (you're telling me Rorona sold more than Catherine? I don't think so), so I can't see why Atlus USA can't either.

Different companies. Different issues. Easy enough to understand. Jumping into assumptions and arguing "Well if one company can do it, I don't see why another can't" is a pointless argument. Options are great, but if there isn't an opportunity, English all the way.

[GeekyDad]

The voice work kind of drives home how hokey some of the dialogue is. Regardless, though I only rented the game, having already played it on DS -- and I wish there was more happening on the top screen -- this game is still kind of a godsend for anyone who hasn't already played it and is suffering through the early life of the 3DS. Thank Jebus for Atlus.

[notworksafe]

I think most people would prefer dual audio rather than be stuck with one or the other. NISA manages to license the Japanese audio for at least some of its games despite the supposed cost (you're telling me Rorona sold more than Catherine? I don't think so), so I can't see why Atlus USA can't either.

The added cost isn't a supposition. The Japanese voice actors have to be paid again if their voices are used in a new release. Atlus chooses to just use English VA when selling in English speaking countries. It saves them money and makes almost no impact to myself and many others I know who buy their games. Don't see why they would bother spending money on VA that isn't understandable by the majority of the population in the region they are selling the game.

Also Catherine took place in America, so it having Japanese VA would be silly anyway.

[charlequin]

Also, I just read the list of Titles you can get. Even New Game+ isn't easy anymore. Why would they do this?

Yeah, I'll wait to see the reports, but on first glance that seems like a definite WTF. So much for the "just buy again, rush through Yuzu's route, and then do NG+ to see all the Day 8s" advice. :P

[firehawk12]

The added cost isn't a supposition. The Japanese voice actors have to be paid again if their voices are used in a new release. Atlus chooses to just use English VA when selling in English speaking countries. It saves them money and makes almost no impact to myself and many others I know who buy their games. Don't see why they would bother spending money on VA that isn't understandable by the majority of the population in the region they are selling the game. Also Catherine took place in America, so it having Japanese VA would be silly anyway.

Different companies. Different issues. Easy enough to understand. Jumping into assumptions and arguing "Well if one company can do it, I don't see why another can't" is a pointless argument. Options are great, but if there isn't an opportunity, English all the way.

My point is that, unless I'm wrong, NISA games generally sell much less than the Atlus games but they understand that fans of their games prefer to have options. At the very least, if a selling point of your game is that it has voice acting, spend the extra money to hire the some different/better actors instead of the same voice actors they keep getting. They don't need to pull a Bethesda and get Liam Neeson or whatever, but there's got to be a tier above the voice actors they typically use and big name actors. It doesn't help that I'm tired of hearing the same people in my games over and over again (and that Atsuro's VA is the only one that doesn't feel like he's phoning it in).

Yeah, I'll wait to see the reports, but on first glance that seems like a definite WTF. So much for the "just buy again, rush through Yuzu's route, and then do NG+ to see all the Day 8s" advice. :P

Yup, it looks like you have to finish the game probably two or three times legitimately to get a leg up.
I don't get why they would add easy mode "for people who want to experience the story" and then go ahead and do something like this - especially since NG+ games are limited to normal difficulty.

[Kazerei]

Yeah, I'll wait to see the reports, but on first glance that seems like a definite WTF. So much for the "just buy again, rush through Yuzu's route, and then do NG+ to see all the Day 8s" advice. :P

It's not so bad. You can get 270 P on the first playthrough of Yuzu's route + day 8, as long as you make the right dialogue/event choices. I only got 250 P 'cause I messed up though. But it was exactly enough to carry over 4 demons, carry over skills, carry over auction data, remove EXP limit and remove fusion level limit. So new game plus is still pretty easy.

[CornBurrito]

if English dub was good, I would prefer it too, but usually its just bad; what I am saying, is that a good J dub (With english sub) is better than a piss poor English dub. And Overclocked English dub is bad, not as bad as Arc Rise Fantasia, but bad. and how am I going to understand the game in Japanese text if I import it?

Except the dub isn't really anything I'd call bad.

By the way lines acted in Japanese may be awkward/poorly acted and you'd never know since you don't speak the language.

[notworksafe]

Except the dub isn't really anything I'd call bad. By the way lines acted in Japanese may be awkward/poorly acted and you'd never know since you don't speak the language.

WRONG. How can the Japanese be bad? Everything is so pure, the way it was meant to be.

KAWAII! =^^=

Seriously, though. I must be the only one to not mind these dubs much. They add to the campiness of an already campy game and genre.

[walking fiend]

Except the dub isn't really anything I'd call bad. By the way lines acted in Japanese may be awkward/poorly acted and you'd never know since you don't speak the language.

well, you definitely got a point, maybe because I don't get them, I prefer them cause I can't really tell if they are bad! But I dunno really, maybe I have just got used to them after years watching anime and playing everything I can in Japanese.

but on your point, actually, I played Dirge of Cerberus in Japanese for the first time, and I really liked it; next time I got the English version, and the now understandable story/dialogue/scrips were so horrible that I just couldn't play it more than an hour and never played it again.

why I am asking this, is that I already have the game on DS, and voice acting is one of the major features of Overclocked, so I expected it to be good.

[MidnightScott]

I know this has probably been answered already...

But do the graphics seem improved over the previous version, you know since we have the awesome 2D on the 3DS?

[Kazerei]

I know this has probably been answered already... But do the graphics seem improved over the previous version, you know since we have the awesome 2D on the 3DS?

Everything's been redrawn at a higher resolution, so it's not a dramatic difference, but it does look nicer. To me, the biggest graphical improvement is that the fonts are much smoother.

[Bel Marduk]

5000+ damage? I don't remember anyone being able to do that much in the original :x

[CornBurrito]

5000+ damage? I don't remember anyone being able to do that much in the original :x

New game+ mode.

When you have your demons in the 70s and the first enemies are at level 1.... yeah

Also what is this about NG+ mode no longer being easy? If that is truly the case I may not double dip. I don't want to go through hell just to redo every route and 8th day scenario.

[firehawk12]

New game+ mode. When you have your demons in the 70s and the first enemies are at level 1.... yeah Also what is this about NG+ mode no longer being easy? If that is truly the case I may not double dip. I don't want to go through hell just to redo every route and 8th day scenario.

You don't get all the things you automatically got in the original game. You need to earn them by completing specific tasks while finishing the game proper.

[sixclaws]

If anyone was waiting for a sale Amazon currently has a buy one get one half off sale on select 3DS games and Overclocked is included. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...d_i=B002I09286

[charlequin]

It's not so bad. You can get 270 P on the first playthrough of Yuzu's route + day 8, as long as you make the right dialogue/event choices. I only got 250 P 'cause I messed up though. But it was exactly enough to carry over 4 demons, carry over skills, carry over auction data, remove EXP limit and remove fusion level limit. So new game plus is still pretty easy.

Still not worth it when I've already been through the game normally once and replaying on the original version is so straightforward. That pretty much makes this a no-buy for me, I'm afraid.

[dr3upmushroom]

I'm not sure how many people who don't already have the game browse this thread, but if anyone does Amazon is having a Buy One Get One Half Off sale on 3DS games and this is one of the ones that qualifies.

Wish I would have known, I would have finally been able to get Pilotwings or Steel Diver at my arbitrary $20 price point.

[Urban Scholar]

On the 5th day right. It's still my favorite day to be active in

spoilers:

Seeing 2d sprite death on screen that wonderfully animated make a little giddy. Plus I just love the party's reaction to the death.

[mjemirzian]

I've written a review. Take a look here.

[epmode]

By the way lines acted in Japanese may be awkward/poorly acted and you'd never know since you don't speak the language.

Sometimes I'd rather have the dub that may be shitty (but I can't tell) than the one I KNOW is shitty. Shenmue 2 is a perfect example.

Other times, you really can hear the difference in quality, even without speaking the language. The Evangelion TV series is a good example of this.

When it comes to Overclocked, this is just academic since I haven't heard the dub yet. And Atlus' recent efforts have been pretty good so I doubt I'll mind.

[Urban Scholar]

I've written a review. Take a look here.

"In a sea of endless grinding" I like how you put that in there. Nice write up

[firehawk12]

Finished Amane's 8th day. Grinded probably way too much than was necessary, although that final boss was a bitch.

Funny enough, it took me that long to get a hang of the Mitama fusing system... that thing is so useful. It's too bad you don't get to keep your Macca bonus on the subsequent playthrough, because making 30k macca per battle was very, very helpful for fusing and not being at the whimsy of the auction house.

[Effect]

I have an issue with buying anymore DS up ports. Is this game solid and good enough that one should simply look pass it?

[firehawk12]

If you've never played the original, this is probably the better version to get. The graphics comparison is above, and at the very least it's made so that a first playthrough can be easier if you would want it to be.

[dr3upmushroom]

I'm looking forward to getting through a couple days over the long weekend, this game had a pretty unfortunate release being right before school started. I played today for the first time in awhile and beat Beldr. It was a really close fight, I guess the levels of the enemies were just higher than I was used to but the Cait Siths were surprisingly tough. When I killed Beldr my MC was my only character left alive, and I was pretty scared that I'd have to kill the demons that were re-summoned the turn before I won, which would have been impossible.

I'm hoping that there's more "story" battles in the upcoming days, I find myself doing free battles a lot not just to grind experience and Macca, but to get a break from the story scenes. The game has an awesome premise, but some of the characters I just don't give a shit about (the cosplay chick is getting really annoying, the power-hungry guy who summoned the god of the wind isn't interesting to me at all) and the ones I think are alright like Haru are still hampered by story threads that drag on for far too long.

Since a few people have mentioned it, I want to ask how much I'd regret it if I don't do Yuzu's path. I've said before that I'd really prefer to not go in with prior knowledge of what's going to happen, but it looks like taking Yuzu's route gets you bonuses that make subsequent runs quicker, and if taking her path is going to make it much easier to go back and check out the others, I'll just do that.

[Urban Scholar]

I'm looking forward to getting through a couple days over the long weekend, this game had a pretty unfortunate release being right before school started. I played today for the first time in awhile and beat Beldr. It was a really close fight, I guess the levels of the enemies were just higher than I was used to but the Cait Siths were surprisingly tough. When I killed Beldr my MC was my only character left alive, and I was pretty scared that I'd have to kill the demons that were re-summoned the turn before I won, which would have been impossible. I'm hoping that there's more "story" battles in the upcoming days, I find myself doing free battles a lot not just to grind experience and Macca, but to get a break from the story scenes. The game has an awesome premise, but some of the characters I just don't give a shit about (the cosplay chick is getting really annoying, the power-hungry guy who summoned the god of the wind isn't interesting to me at all) and the ones I think are alright like Haru are still hampered by story threads that drag on for far too long. Since a few people have mentioned it, I want to ask how much I'd regret it if I don't do Yuzu's path. I've said before that I'd really prefer to not go in with prior knowledge of what's going to happen, but it looks like taking Yuzu's route gets you bonuses that make subsequent runs quicker, and if taking her path is going to make it much easier to go back and check out the others, I'll just do that.

Just do what you like and do whatever on new game plus, there's no right or wrong path to follow its all up to you. In regards to the bolded you crazy, I love that guy.

[kiryogi]

Been having a blast with this. I got stonewalled in the original early on and just gave up. This time I'm actually grinding a bit more and I took revenge very swiftly on the culprit. Just cruisin' along now. Almost at the end of Day 3.

[Ken]

Everything's been redrawn at a higher resolution, so it's not a dramatic difference, but it does look nicer. To me, the biggest graphical improvement is that the fonts are much smoother. [IMG]http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/989/989411/e3-2009-shin-megami-tensei-devil-summoner-screens-20090602102732920_640w.jpg[MG] [IMG]http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/2995/image2011012716331.png[/G]

Wow, it looks a lot better to me. Might have to double dip on Overclocked.