Allows you to dodge instant death spells and critical hits while you spam your own instant death spells. Also improves demon negotiation chances i believe. Spamming hama and mudo allowed for easy battles against normal enemies and on boss battles, it allows me to play the ultimate support unit while my demons do the fighting especially with Anchiloran
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Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Review Thread
- Thread starter Sterok
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Allows you to dodge instant death spells and critical hits while you spam your own instant death spells. Also improves demon negotiation chances i believe. Spamming hama and mudo allowed for easy battles against normal enemies and on boss battles, it allows me to play the ultimate support unit while my demons do the fighting especially with Anchiloran
SaintGalgo
Member
The Dark Souls 2 of Persona
I'm sorry
NeonZ
Member
It's rebalanced, fixing some of the common complaints from fans of the series, but it's the same in general lines.
Smirk's bonuses have been downgraded; Str isn't underpowered compared to the other damage stats anymore; there's a reason to stick demons with appropriate skills; the non-demon party members also have more abilities and you can choose the one you take to battle rather than it being random.
clay_ghost
Member
Too many JRPG, will finish DQ 7 and CS2 before I buy this game like next year =D
cj_iwakura
Member
Tokyo's Bad Day is Too Sweet, heh
Team
Magic stand up!
Mine was just giving them away.
Team
OP
Mine was just giving them away.
Is that from the localized game? LMAO
I hope they patch it or something otherwise that's gonna be one tough decision.
oh shit
this reminds me, more multiple endings. anything to watch out for achieving the best ending AKA avoiding the endings that leaves me playing only part of the actual game like IV's alignment paths?
FireBeaver
Banned
If I've never played SMT IV, can I still play this game?
Mediking
Member
Of course... but a quick glance at SMTIV gameplay will be a good indicator if you would even like SMTIV: A.
cj_iwakura
Member
Inadvisable. Direct sequel.
This isn't how it was in the review copy I was sent.
The only thing I noticed like that in the entire game was a random NPC that you need to go out of your way to talk to who had Japanese text for his generic name.
as far as i know strength boosts physical skills while dex boosts gun skills in apocalypse, so your build depends on whether you wanna punch dudes or shoot dudes
FireBeaver
Banned
Eh, alright. SMT IV doesn't seem too pricy anyway so I might as well play it before jumping into Apocalypse. Thanks.
Hm, guess I'll be focusing on Dex with a little bit of Agi and Str now and then. Or should I drop Str for Luck, maybe?
My DemiFiend was a physical juggernaut and my Flynn was a magical god, so obviously the next logical step is to make Nanashi the greatest cowboy that Tokyo ever had. I just hope the game doesn't screw me over too badly in the skills department.
That review was...weird.
It's really not, more of a "what if"-esque midquel that takes the story in a completely different direction. Either way, you can skip the original since pretty much all you need to know is explained in the first hour or so. It's like playing Danganronpa 2: You'll definitely get more out of the experience if you play the original, but it's not required in order to understand the story or appreciate its themes, the characters that appear in it, etc.
Also: Getting the neutral path in Shin Megami Tensei IV is an incredible pain without a guide, which a lot of people seem to have forgotten.
It's really not, more of a "what if"-esque midquel that takes the story in a completely different direction. Either way, you can skip the original since pretty much all you need to know is explained in the first hour or so. It's like playing Danganronpa 2: You'll definitely get more out of the experience if you play the original, but it's not required in order to understand the story or appreciate its themes, the characters that appear in it, etc.
Also: Getting the neutral path in Shin Megami Tensei IV is an incredible pain without a guide, which a lot of people seem to have forgotten.
There's technically two "good" endings this time around, both of which are, so far as I can surmise, decided by a very obvious chose in the penultimate dungeon and not through IV's convoluted machinations. The other endings are the Law & Chaos endings which cut out a significant amount of content, so they're best avoided unless you want to beat each path once.
The game takes an alternate timeline to IV, with the event that separates the two timelines being Nanashi forming a contract with Dagda, and Apocalypse's story taking a completely different direction than any of IV's paths ever did.
I think Apocalypse is supposed to be a direct sequel, not a "what if" scenario. It doesn't directly follow any of SMT IV's endings, but Apocalypse is meant to be the actual tale that follows SMT IV.
SoulUnison
Banned
I always tell myself I'll try a different build/playstyle, but I still end up with the best magic of every element and steamroll through.
Yes, and what I'm saying is that I'm pretty sure the developers have stated that this is a direct sequel to SMT IV in the proper sense. The fact that this game's opening is an "alternate" take doesn't mean it's not a direct sequel. It just means that the endings of the previous game were the "alternate" ones in terms of the duology.
cj_iwakura
Member
So yeah, to get full enjoyment, play the original. Hence, inadvisable.
I'm sure A fills in the gist, but you won't get the full backstory of Mikado, Aquila, Tokyo, the Ashura-kai, Lucifer, etc.Amala Universe. All paths + Apocalypse should canon. (As SMTIV already shows when you visit Infernal/Blasted Tokyo)
Sure, that's true. There's actually one thing I think they retconned in the SMT IV to SMT IV: A transition before the Neutral path diverges. Not really a spoiler, but just in case.
Danu was supposed to continue her duties as Black Maria when she entrusted Nozomi as the fairy queen, but she's back in Apocalypse like that part didn't happen.
Movalpolos
Banned
This game and Destiny will consume me for the next couple months. 2016 has been very good to me. Too good even.
Lunarwhale
Member
Gonna add on to this that there's only one "real" path - it's pretty clear what the intended ending is.
To toss in an opinion, with a couple exceptions, I thought the anime direction wasn't too bad. I usually roll my eyes at those types of POWER OF FRIENDSHIP things, but I thought it fit in well to the theme of unity that SMT4's neutral ending was setting up. Some of the scenes with Toki and Asahi made me cringe a bit, though.
Almost done with the game, actually have really enjoyed the story. It's nothing life changing, but it's a lot of fun. Very nicely paced, got its share of exciting parts, though the segment I'm at right now is comparatively a bit dull. Hoping it's just because I'm between high points in the story.
I haven't encountered any, but there are a few parts I haven't fully explored yet.
Took me 50 hours to beat the game only sticking to Conflict, w/ a STR/AGI build and what seems to be the game's "true ending."
I only found one in my playthrough and that was at the very end of the game. I wasn't able to go through it because I needed
to max out my magic stat. Or at least I think that's the case since 200 wasn't enough.
bronk
Banned
Cool thank you.
mullet2000
Member
Is a Dex build as viable/good as Str and Mag? I went strength in SMTIV but was thinking of focusing on my gun and Dex skills in Apocalypse.
Is it viable to shoot demons in the face and become SMT's own Rambo? Of course it is.
Join the revolution, brother.
I don't know either but I'm going in regardless, there's always the demons to pick up the slack if the protagonist isn't delivering.
With all those special guns and bullets that I never touched because my DEX was crap and gun skills that are equivalents to strength skills, it'd have to be as viable as a STR build. Might be more versatile, too, because different bullets cover different elements, while STR mainly has standard physical and you're kinda screwed if the enemy is resistant to that. I had to focus way more on my team composition this time around compared to in SMT IV where I didn't care because Flynn was just casting Sea of Chaos over and over again on everyone.
MAG will always rule over both, though, by covering more elements, very high damage and being able to almighty anything.
That's true until we get pierce and start critting the very own ground we walk on. Then ain't nothing these puny mages can do to compare to our might!
cj_iwakura
Member
Tonight.
Shadow Broker
Banned
Cannot wait for the game, and the OT
So there will be a OT? Why isn't it up yet? I thought OT's could go up 24 hours prior to release.
cj_iwakura
Member
Because it's being worked on.
SpaceBridge
Member
Uhm why is this game $64.99 in Canada? That's almost the price of a PS4 game. Christ, Atlus has me by the balls. 😕
Spiral Insanity
Banned
Cannot wait for the game, and the OT
Hey! Sexy dances are derogatory and wildly offensive!
It'll be up in a little less than 16 hours from now. Eshop updates a few minutes after noon Eastern.
Shadow Broker
Banned
Nintendo has yet to do a midnight release on anything not published by them.
Shadow Broker
Banned
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