Now The Everything, And Anything Related To Shin Megami Tensei Thread

[FortNinety]

Here's a new video for Persona PSP with Atlus's Aram Jabbari, their main PR dude (and really nice guy), going over all the new features and junk...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRHW5xZELGU

... I'm back to wanting to play this again, after getting over the fact that it's not like P3 or P4, with social links and the such. Life is never perfect, plus there's always Persona 5, right?

Again, the day it's formally announced is the day I get my ass to a store to finally pick up a PS3. That is, if it's announced for that system, though I HIGHLY doubt it'll be for the 360. Better luck of it also appearing on the PS2 once again instead.

[Llydis]

So...  uh... When does Persona come out? I really want the sound tracks.

Actually I'm surprised this video is acting more like a primer for Persona. They're probably hoping for some more JRPG fans to come to the series.

[FortNinety]

Considering the games that sell the most on the platform, and the types of folks who play them... which skews towards teen males that are heavy into sports games (if not for EA, that platform would be in far worse shape than it currently is), I think it's a safe bet to say that a primer is more than necessary.

[isfet]

Persona on PSP is supposed to be out on Sept. 22. 

sometimes i'm sort of ashamed of how addicted i am to this series.

but it's nice that they're updating this game to make it a bit more playable nowadays.

Persona on PS1 was the first MegaTen game i was ever exposed to and even though i didn't end up buying it back then, it definitely registered on my radar as being "unique." 

i mean, laughing toilets possessed by demons?  good times.

[FortNinety]

Just curious Joe, how many MegaTen games have you played, which ones are your favorite, and why, plus which have you actually beaten?

On a side note, I'm pretty pissed how none of the Gamestops near me have Devil Survivor, and I refuse to pay full price for any game when I can off-set the stick shock (despite it being reasonably priced) when I have crap to trade in, like Ninja Blade and Halo Wars.

[isfet]

jeez, i needed to consult a list of the games for this.

this post might be a little on the long side and might bore the hell out of most of you.  but i have a lot of time tonight and you've all been warned.

in general, the only MegaTen games i've SKIPPED are the ones for the NES.  generally, they seem pretty antiquated and unplayable and if i want something sort of plodding and overly difficult, i'll go for the SNES games instead.  however, i have always been mildly curious about fist Megami Tensei on the NES, as it's actually a book adaptation.

ok, these are gonna be in release order, not necessarily the order i played them in.

Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2 on SNES
Shin Megami Tensei If...
Devil Summoner
Soul Hackers
Persona 1-4
Nocturne
Digital Devil Saga
Kuzunoha Raidou
Devil Survivor

when it comes to commenting on games, i tend to go a bit overboard with details, so i'll do my best to keep this kind of to the point.  out of the games that i've played, i'd say my personal favorites are probably Soul Hackers, Persona 2 (both Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment), Persona 3 and Nocturne.  i do happen to love the aesthetics of the SMT games on the SNES, but they're just too hard for me to get into nowadays.  but if you're a sucker for cyberpunk, you should at least check them out.  also worthy of note, is that SMT If... is the first game in the entire series that took place in high school (the subtitle "If..." is a reference to the British film of the same name).  you could also play as a girl, if you choose, which is something none of these games has done since.

Soul Hackers - the reason this game rocks is because...it's just so fucking awesome.  from the art style, to the music, to the graphics; the game itself just pops.  it has a life unto itself; it's one of those quintessentially wonderful PS1 games.  it's also where the series started updating, somewhat.  it plays similar to the older, SNES games (FPS dungeons and whatnot), but the interaction feels much more modern and less of a chore than the older games.  this game also eerily predicted how much MMOs were going to fuck people up.  but what i really love about this game is it's overall sense of dread.  it's very Japanese in that regard; it's a tension that i wouldn't describe as scary, so much as vaguely unsettling.  and the soundtrack...just some really great synth music that fits in so well with the mood.

Persona 2 - the characters in this game are fairly dynamic and not limited to being in high school.  on top of this, it improved on P1 in every single way.  on top of this, the game had an interesting mechanic where you could spread rumors among NPCs to change reality.  for example, if you wanted to find a weapon shop with inexpensive, but good weapons, you could start spreading a rumor that the bar down the block is actually a gunshop if you say the password.  spread this rumor to the right people and it becomes fact.  definitely worth checking out.  even moreso now that the first part of this game has been translated.

Nocturne - since you're playing this right now, i probably don't have to go into why this game is probably my favorite in the entire series.  but basically, long story short, it takes all the elements of new MegaTen and merges it with old.  it's exceptionally hard at times, but not impossible, and this makes you feel that much more awesome when you finally learn how to exploit that one boss.  what i really love about this game is how little importance grinding has on how well you do.  the game WANTS you to constantly find and fuse new demons and use them as a way to make it through.  if i had to go to an island alone and take one game of every genre, this one would be the only RPG i'd ever need.

Persona 3 - this game came out at just the right time in my gaming life.  i was just getting into dungeon crawls/roguelikes and then, hey, what do you know, a game that mixes those elements in with a dynamic social interaction mechanic.  plus, great music and graphics.  i know the majority of people seem to say P4 is better than this, but truthfully, i haven't given P4 enough time.  i think as an RPG, P4 is probably the better game, but as a game, i prefer P3.  P3 just has a feeling to it that allows me to pick up and play it at any time, very much like a roguelike.  plus, some of the changes made to how you heal in dungeons in P4 meant i had to completely rethink my approach to the game

actually, what it made me do was stop playing, not rethink my strategy and go play other games.

but i'll get back to it, i promise.


for the record, there aren't many games in the series i don't like.  the Raidou series is mediocre, at best, but it gets 5 stars in terms of idea and character design.  Digital Devil Saga is fun and also worth trying out, but if someone were to ask me "DDS or Nocturne," DDS sort of plays like Nocturne Lite in my mind.

[isfet]

oh, it's also worth mentioning that the Virtual Boy game "Jack Bros" is all kinds of awesome as well

but it doesn't really count

[FortNinety]

That's funny, I could have sworn that Soul Hackers was a Sega Saturn game. Was it updated for the PSone?

And one person described P3 as a proof of concept for PS4, which I think is dead on the money. But, due it's rougelike qualities I suppose, I find myself just picking that one up out of the blue more than P4. I guess because Persona 4 is so involving, maybe?

My biggest problem is how P4 really spoiled me, by making certain aspects such hand-holding affairs that I feel totally deaf and dumb while playing Nocturne. But I am so fucking blown away by the art design. I don't think I've been so genuinely creeped out by some of the game's environments.

[isfet]

you're not technically wrong; Soul Hackers was released on Saturn before it was released on PS1.  the only Saturn exclusive is the first Devil Summoner game (Soul Hackers is the spiritual sequel to DS), which is ok, but not great.  apparently, the only difference between the two versions of Soul Hackers is that you can raise a monster on your Pocketstation (remember that piece of shit?) in the PS1 version.

i really, really hope to play Soul Hackers in English some day.  Atlus wanted to way back when but Sony apparently said no.  Aeon Genesis Translations supposedly has the entire script translated, but they need people to hack the game.  but the game who runs that site seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, so it seems like it's not gonna happen soon, if ever.

which makes me sad


kind of wrapping all this up together, while i'm excited to play Strange Journey on DS, i was really pretty disappointed it wasn't a 360 or PS3 game.  i'm sure it'll happen eventually, but i want to be creeped out in HD.

[FortNinety]

If I'm not mistaken, Atlus hasn't been too fond of Microsoft's platforms due to poor success from previous titles. Not helping is how most of the stuff released there has sucked. Though I hear that MegaTen title for the Xbox 1, NINE, was somewhat interesting. Though I only wanted to play it cuz people who made Ranger X and Crusader of Centy, Gau Entertainment/Nextech, programmed the thing.

Meanwhile, they've been mostly golden with Sony's platforms.

[FortNinety]

This Persona 4 comic pretty much nails everything on the head...

http://hiimdaisy.livejournal.com/26044.html

[FortNinety]

So I finally picked up a copy of Devil Survivor, and thus far, it's pretty neat. Nothing mind blowing, just the now patented MegaTen formula, but for the DS. Though two things, this early into the game (I finally just reached day one)...

1. Maybe this will change, but I'm less than thrilled with the almost total lack of usage when it comes to the top screen. Sure it provides stats during battle, but otherwise, it's totally blank, which kinda bites. Especially during the conversations, so much stuff is packed into the bottom screen, just seems a little silly.

2. I now exactly what ATOMU was talking about the stupid character designs. I like big tits and all, but Yuzu's is just retarded, but not nearly as much as the main character's faux cat ears.

[pilot]

That Persona 4 comic is perfect.

[Llydis]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/08/05/shin-megami-tensei-persona-psp-launching-simultaneously-on-psn-sept-22/

I guess if you don't need things like a sound track or physical media or anything, that's a good option.

[FortNinety]

Since I'm somewhat of the collector type, I'll definitely get the physical version. I just hope the UMD case itseld does not have the insanely gay "Only On PlayStation" by-line (at least PSP cases doesn't actually spell out the world PlayStation, unlike on PS3 cases, where it's already listed twice or three times already).

Sorry, pet peeve.