Support NeoGAF

[Sophia]

I'm okay with the removal of the moon phase system. It's always been nonsensical and they've always had to justify it (Nocturne, Strange Journey) or outright ignore it's wackiness (most of the SMT games) so...

Good to see the difficulty and length parts. As long as it doesn't overstay its welcome, I love me a long RPG. My expectations and hopes are higher than ever.

Perhaps someone should have asked about the possibility of Persona 3DS at the Q&A for SMT4. At least then we would have had something to talk about in this thread.

It's really getting irritating to see Persona brought up in SMT threads. I mean "I liked Persona 4 will I like this?" questions are one thing, but the constant "PERSONA 5 ON 3DS!" when the game hasn't even been announced is just.... ugh.

 

[buddha0991]

To be fair, I only brought up Persona 4 as a means to demonstrate how I felt about the evolution of the fusion mechanic

 

[Glass Rebel]

Perhaps someone should have asked about the possibility of Persona 3DS at the Q&A for SMT4. At least then we would have had something to talk about in this thread.

but I was trying to move the discussion away from persona

 

[Sophia]

To be fair, I only brought up Persona 4 as a means to demonstrate how I felt about the evolution of the fusion mechanic

That's completely different from what I'm talking about. Turnip should have read the context of his quotes a bit better.

Also, I just realized; We've seen Nocturne's Fiend remixed in the trailer, and the soundtrack has at least one (Battle theme) SMT 1 remix..... and it's over 100 tracks.... I'm expecting some awesome remixes

 

[TurnipFritters]

Really? Hmm.

Well, by the time someone can actually make that skill set you listed there'll probably be high-end demons that can have 6-8 skills.

It's really hard to say what'll determine available skill slots. Here, Apsaras seems to have all eight slots available to her, while Azazel only has four, despite (I assume) Apsaras being a far lower level demon:

 

[charlequin]

Perhaps someone should have asked about the possibility of Persona 3DS at the Q&A for SMT4.

yes, always better to use a Q&A to ask off-topic questions that 100% will not be answered instead of on-topic questions that might lead to interesting information

 

[Sophia]

Rather interesting what abilities Apsaras has too. Usually it just gets Dia/Media, but that one has Diarama like that of Soul Hackers.

The medium physical attack Poison Claw also implies it's gonna be a fairly high (20ish) level too.

 

[TurnipFritters]

yes, always better to use a Q&A to ask off-topic questions that 100% will not be answered instead of on-topic questions that might lead to interesting information

You excluded a vital sentence from that quote.

Rather interesting what abilities Apsaras has too. Usually it just gets Dia/Mida, but that one has Diarama like that of Soul Hackers.

That's actually Dormina and Posumudi, it's just hard to read because I think the video loaded in 240.

 

[Sophia]

That's actually Dormina and Posumudi, it's just hard to read because I think the video loaded in 240.

D'oh. Damnit Atlus. Apsaras FOREVER WEAK.

 

[Femmeworth]

The other two major monster raising games still active, Pokémon and DQM, both do this far better though Pokémon still has a slight layer of variance when it comes to certain things though there are now methods to further control even those and more are added each generation.

Wait, how does Pokemon do fusion better?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

The boss is only a couple of minutes away from the save terminal, so yeah, it's not really a big deal.

I meant the game as a whole tension-wise.

 

[Soulhouf]

It's really hard to say what'll determine available skill slots. Here, Apsaras seems to have all eight slots available to her, while Azazel only has four, despite (I assume) Apsaras being a far lower level demon:
http://i.imgur.com/TG00asR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/eZw6KQM.png

Azazel seems to have a few skill selection whereas Aspersas has many more.
Perhaps it's directly linked to the fusion origin. For example if it's a 3 or more demon fusion or the source demons have already their slots filled with skills, that will generate more skills to inherit and thus more slots.

 

[jj984jj]

It's really getting irritating to see Persona brought up in SMT threads. I mean "I liked Persona 4 will I like this?" questions are one thing, but the constant "PERSONA 5 ON 3DS!" when the game hasn't even been announced is just.... ugh.

I'd just ignore it, those people have no clue who Katsura Hashino is or they'd wouldn't be talking about his next game being on 3DS.

 

[Tomat]

Both. Problem solved

Eventually, you're absolutely right! I've got an Amazon gift card but it's only enough to order one or the other for now.

It's really getting irritating to see Persona brought up in SMT threads. I mean "I liked Persona 4 will I like this?" questions are one thing, but the constant "PERSONA 5 ON 3DS!" when the game hasn't even been announced is just.... ugh.

You shouldn't be surprised though. The Persona series is its own thing now, and it is far more popular than SMT.

 

[semiconscious]

Agree with everything said here. Except for the bit about Strange Journey. I'm no SMT expert by any means, but I didn't think SJ was difficult at all. You might lose a boss fight or two, but you can always try again, no big deal.

again: there's challenging (which allows you to observe, learn, & strategize), & there's cheap (random, unblockable one-shot death). you got lucky after a couple or 3 tries, good on ya. i didn't. &, after several more tries, i just didn't give a fuck ...

of the dozen+ megaten games i've played, strange journey was the only one that turned the final boss fight into a pure, randomized crap shoot, & was the only one i didn't finish. knowing each turn in a boss fight may be being your last i can handle. but knowing that, if the boss randomly lands this one particular attack, it's game over no matter how well i've prepared myself for everything else he/she can throw at me, that, imo, is just cheap shit...

if a particular attack can't somehow be dealt with (either countered, minimized, or healed), it just plain don't belong in a final boss battle. period...

 

[Sleepy]

Reading the first few pages of the thread: The random battle screen is static like the EO series, right? Are the portraits as high quality?

 

[TurnipFritters]

again: there's challenging (which allows you to observe, learn, & strategize), & there's cheap (random, unblockable one-shot death). you got lucky after a couple or 3 tries, good on ya. i didn't. &, after several more tries, i just didn't give a fuck ...

of the dozen+ megaten games i've played, strange journey was the only one that turned the final boss fight into a pure, randomized crap shoot, & was the only one i didn't finish. knowing each turn in a boss fight may be being your last i can handle. but knowing that, if the boss randomly lands this one particular attack, it's game over no matter how well i've prepared myself for everything else he/she can throw at me, that, imo, is just cheap shit...

if a particular attack can't somehow be dealt with (either countered, minimized, or healed), it just plain don't belong in a final boss battle. period...

Strange Journey is the only SMT where I felt the last boss is just plain unfair. I ended up just cheesing my way through it thanks to a friend of mine because there was basically no way I'd be able to keep my party in working shape and deal enough damage to beat her.

Reading the first few pages of the thread: The random battle screen is static like the EO series, right? Are the portraits as high quality?

It varies because they're using drawings from the past twenty years. Some are nice looking, some look godawful.

 

[Korigama]

Well, I don't think anyone can deny it being better as a game.

There's more challenge with the puzzles, but I didn't find them more fun (certainly not anything I would recommend someone to consider their main incentive for trying the game). The Chromatic Doors theme of the game was nowhere near as interesting as the Digital Root and hexadecimal angles, either.

Being able to jump between points in the story (and skip over puzzles already done) instead of having to wade through everything every time was a welcome addition, though, so that was something about it that was better.

 

[Man God]

Wait, how does Pokemon do fusion better?

It's fusion (and DQMs for that matter) is via breeding in which a guaranteed set of skills is passed everytime if you follow the rules.

We've also had a method to guarantee nature from Emerald on, a method to guarantee which individual value was passed on from Heart Gold on and now we have a way to guarantee ability 80% of the time in Black 2.

 

[fates]

A bit disappointed by the removal of the moon phases (just wonder why they decided to do it...), but the game is looking really awesome so I can deal.

 

[Thoraxes]

Eventually, you're absolutely right! I've got an Amazon gift card but it's only enough to order one or the other for now.

You shouldn't be surprised though. The Persona series is its own thing now, and it is far more popular than SMT.

It would be nice if we could have at least one SMT thread without Persona garbaging it up for once.

It happens so much that i'm hoping the SMTIV |OT| has a big disclaimer on it to not bring that shit into the thread.

 

[Sleepy]

It varies because they're using drawings from the past twenty years. Some are nice looking, some look godawful.

Interesting. The static ones in EO IV were gorgeous.


And sorry for shitting up the thread--definitely not my intention.

 

[TurnipFritters]

You really don't need to apologize.

 

[Tomat]

It would be nice if we could have at least one SMT thread without Persona garbaging it up for once.

It happens so much that i'm hoping the SMTIV |OT| has a big disclaimer on it to not bring that shit into the thread.

There should be a section explaining the difference between SMT and Persona, and a FAQ section that answers "If I liked Persona 3/4, will I like this?"

 

[jello44]

Strange Journey is the only SMT where I felt the last boss is just plain unfair. I ended up just cheesing my way through it thanks to a friend of mine because there was basically no way I'd be able to keep my party in working shape and deal enough damage to beat her.


.

I had to do the same thing. I had gotten through the entire game without any issues (Eridanus aside). But that boss... mannnnnnnn, pain in the ass.

 

[Sinople]

Pretty sure that's false. The boss just has an unblockable instant death in her repertoire. A demon with Invitation (IIRC) is a must for the fight because she will use the move on your demons (if you're lucky) and there's an endurance ring heavily recommended to the MC that will let him survive it once.

Bosses punishing you for reflecting attacks is not something new to the series, but this wasn't that. Just random unblockable insta-death hatred.

I've just checked a Japanese wiki, here's what it's saying about "MA", the instant death unblockable I was talking about:

なお、反射系アイテムやスキルを使うと「ＭＡ」で即死させられるので使わないようにしよう。
ただし「ＭＡ」は魔人には効果がない。

"Do not use items or skills that reflect attacks or you'll get instantly killed by MA. However, MA has no effect against the Majin race" (or whatever name it has in English).

I think you're referring to Kisu Ma (sp?), but this one is not an instant death skill, it's just a strong multiple-hit attack that targets randomly. I don't remember it being that deadly as long as you have a full party to spread the damage (and I had a Magic build without much vitality).

 

[Jenga]

Plot wise I'm pretty excited. Possible prequel to SMT 1? Demonica Strange Journey cameo? come all over me atlus

 

[vall03]

I really dont understand the hate for Strange Journey. It wast even a particularly difficult game too. I also had no troubles with Eridanus. And what the hell are people talking about that the final boss is cheap? I dont remember it being any particularly difficult at all. If theres anything dangerous about it, it was a skill that will return demons of a particular alignment back to your demonica. I dont know but I just basically spammed Freischutz and almost all my demons had the same moveset using Jihad, Luster Candy and Salvation with the exception of Demoneeho.

 

[semiconscious]

I really dont understand the hate for Strange Journey. It wast even a particularly difficult game too. I also had no troubles with Eridanus. And what the hell are people talking about that the final boss is cheap? I dont remember it being any particularly difficult at all. If theres anything dangerous about it, it was a skill that will return demons of a particular alignment back to your demonica. I dont know but I just basically spammed Freischutz and almost all my demons had the same moveset using Jihad, Luster Candy and Salvation with the exception of Demoneeho.

post from http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/961651-shin-megami-tensei-strange-journey/54394184:

I lost against Mem Aleph 3 times solely because of that move (and many more times due to other stuff). When I first won, she had never used the move. So just pray.

so, yeah - if you're lucky (which you were), no 'ma', no problem ...

 

[Sinople]

post from http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/961651-shin-megami-tensei-strange-journey/54394184:



so, yeah - if you're lucky (which you were), no 'ma', no problem ...

Read my post

Edit: My bad. After more research, it seems she uses it one time without condition when her HP are low.

 

[-Horizon-]

I'm liking what I'm hearing and wow at the possible 50-100 hours, I need to finish my other games before I get this.

 

[7Th]

So, are Demon Sources coming back?

 

[semiconscious]

Read my post

i read it. & it doesn't say she won't use it even if you don't use items or skills that reflect attacks...

edit to your edit: & there you go . & that still doesn't say that she'll never use it without condition before that one time..

 

[Sinople]

i read it. & it doesn't say she won't use it even if you don't use items or skills that reflect attacks...

Yeah, I edited, she actually use it once (and only once) when her HP are low. I agree that's cheap.

 

[Soulhouf]

I really dont understand the hate for Strange Journey. It wast even a particularly difficult game too. I also had no troubles with Eridanus. And what the hell are people talking about that the final boss is cheap? I dont remember it being any particularly difficult at all. If theres anything dangerous about it, it was a skill that will return demons of a particular alignment back to your demonica. I dont know but I just basically spammed Freischutz and almost all my demons had the same moveset using Jihad, Luster Candy and Salvation with the exception of Demoneeho.

That's as OP as you can get. No wonder you dispatched the boss quickly before even she can use her nasty attack.

BTW Demiurge is much more dangerous in that respect.

 

[semiconscious]

Yeah, I edited, she actually use it once (and only once) when her HP are low. I agree that's cheap.

&, again: it's an element that no other final boss fight in any of the megaten games i've played before or since has ever contained. & i'd really like to think smt4 won't, either...

 

[Soulhouf]

&, again: it's an element that no other final boss fight in any of the megaten games i've played before or since has ever contained. & i'd really like to think smt4 won't, either...

The final boss in the true ending in SMT if... has a similar attack. But like MA it's possible to survive with a specific equipment you only get from the casino. Yeah...

 

[TurnipFritters]

So, are Demon Sources coming back?

Doesn't look like it. Instead you get to manual select what is inherited during fusion, and the player gets to pick a skill to learn off a demon's list when the demon levels up. (And maybe these skills can be leveled up? There are these tiny green numbers over the player's skill icons and we don't yet know what purpose they serve).

 

[flatearthpandas]

I've just checked a Japanese wiki, here's what it's saying about "MA", the instant death unblockable I was talking about:



"Do not use items or skills that reflect attacks or you'll get instantly killed by MA. However, MA has no effect against the Majin race" (or whatever name it has in English).

I think you're referring to Kisu Ma (sp?), but this one is not an instant death skill, it's just a strong multiple-hit attack that targets randomly. I don't remember it being that deadly as long as you have a full party to spread the damage (and I had a Magic build without much vitality).

Maybe putting up makarakarn/tetrakarn is a way to guarantee the skill gets cast (as a few SMT bosses do have mechanics where they punish these skills or demons that reflect all of their attacks) but I'm pretty sure the boss uses the skill on its own as well. Definitely a single target unblockable insta-death, not the other.

I have a save right before the boss so I can check when I get home.

Edit: Just saw the edit. I seem to remember her doing it a couple times on random targets, again without makarakarn or tetrakarn skills or items, but I'll doublecheck later. Maybe it is only once.

 

[7Th]

Doesn't look like it. Instead you get to manual select what is inherited during fusion, and the player gets to pick a skill to learn off a demon's list when the demon levels up. (And maybe these skills can be leveled up? There are these tiny green numbers over the player's skill icons and we don't yet know what purpose they serve).

Yeah, but that doesn't help you create broken demons by fusing them with -Tamas while using Demon Sources.

 

[semiconscious]

The final boss in the true ending in SMT if... has a similar attack. But like MA it's possible to survive with a specific equipment you only get from the casino. Yeah...

never played smt if. &, thanks to you sharing this info, i likely never will ...

 

[vall03]

That's as OP as you can get. No wonder you dispatched the boss quickly before even she can use her nasty attack.

BTW Demiurge is much more dangerous in that respect.

The fusion system in Strange Journey is very exploitable though thanks to Demon Sources and the Password system which makes passing skills very easy. I never fought Demiurge so I really dont know how nasty the other bosses in the game are.

 

[Sinople]

Maybe putting up makarakarn/tetrakarn is a way to guarantee the skill gets cast (as a few SMT bosses do have mechanics where they punish these skills or demons that reflect all of their attacks) but I'm pretty sure the boss uses the skill on its own as well. Definitely a single target unblockable insta-death, not the other.

I have a save right before the boss so I can check when I get home.

No it's okay, you were right. My bad

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I really dont understand the hate for Strange Journey. It wast even a particularly difficult game too. I also had no troubles with Eridanus. And what the hell are people talking about that the final boss is cheap? I dont remember it being any particularly difficult at all. If theres anything dangerous about it, it was a skill that will return demons of a particular alignment back to your demonica. I dont know but I just basically spammed Freischutz and almost all my demons had the same moveset using Jihad, Luster Candy and Salvation with the exception of Demoneeho.

Here ya go. Remember, you approach that boss at 60-65 and everything's been a relative breeze until this point. I don't like walls, I like spikes and steep slopes, and this was a tall wall starting from a very low elevation.

 

[PK Gaming]

HYPED

One fan asked about Shin Megami Tensei lead roles always being male characters and if there’s a chance we could be seeing a female lead in the future. The possibility of a future female lead wasn’t ruled out, although different development team members seemed to have different feeling towards the idea. Some welcomed the possibility of there being a choice of gender, while others felt that Shin Megami Tensei games are better suited to male leads.

:|

 

[Jenga]

never played smt if. &, thanks to you sharing this info, i likely never will ...

silly billy, nail biting boss fights are why smt rulz

 

[semiconscious]

silly billy, nail biting boss fights are why smt rulz

yeah. nothing i like more, after investing 50-60 hrs into an otherwise good rpg, than to have the final boss battle pivot around a dice roll. cuz that's what awesome, clever game design's all about...

smh...

 

[Soriku]

At this event they had they had a demo.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/672441-shin-megami-tensei-iv/66116342

Impressions:

Tweets are coming in from the play session

Apparently there is death, death everywhere
It has not been made easier.
Charon apparently won't put it on your tab when you resurrect, you pay up or pass on.
e: Difficulty to escape from battles, general sense of hopelessness

ee: More choice tweets.
"Issachar lololol"
"lololol death spree"
"can't escape! (despair)"
"Who said this game would be easy?!"
"Crap, I need to save frequently"
"Need to save a lot, holy crap. Finally cleared Naraku. Navarre is creepy lol"
"lololololol died again lolololol"

More info!
"Turning up the 3D effect to max, the depth is crazy"
"Name input is via touch"
"First town doesn't let you roam freely, you move via ADV"
"Movies are also in 3D"
"Lower screen is like the screen of the gauntlet"

"Unlike SJ, you can freely allocate parameters when leveling up. You get 5 points"
"Only 2 save slots"
"I was wearing headphones while playing, and the bass was amazing. The music was perfect. The music that played in the Ueno underground center was totally to my liking, the tracks were all entirely dark/gloomy and very Megaten!"