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Shin Megami Tensei IV What is Shin Megami Tensei 4? The first numbered Shin Megami Tensei game released in over a decade, Shin Megami Tensei 4 is a slightly medieval/slightly post-apocalyptic themed RPG for the 3DS. If you haven't played SMT before, it can be described as "Paradise Lost: the JRPG" or maybe "Satanic Pokemon." Gameplay mostly focuses on encountering and recruiting gods and demons from world mythology and ordering them into battle. Or you can fuse them together to create even more powerful demons. High-level parties might very well be populated with deities like Thor, Shiva, and Quetzalcoatl. SMTIV has more demons and deities than any previous installment--over 400. Do I need to play previous games to understand SMTIV? No, SMTIV has no direct connection with previous games in the series. If you've played SMT:Nocturne you'll be off to a running start in terms of familiarity with the system but it's by no means required. So, is this like Persona? No, it isn't anything like Persona. Persona started as a spinoff of a spinoff of this series and has since gone down a totally different path. I hear these games are brutally difficult. The SMT series tends to have its difficulty level a little exaggerated, but it's definitely not as easy as the majority of hand-holding JRPGs nowadays. This is a game where you will be forced to adopt an appropriate strategy in nearly every battle and cannot grind your way through. Most enemies will be able to kill you in 2-3 hits, but once you learn the system and can consistently deny them the chance to attack, it's not so bad. And if you get killed enough times you can always wimp out and change to an easier difficulty level. In comparison to previous games, Normal mode is about on par with Nocturne on Hard--maybe very slightly easier, though the optional bosses are way tougher than anything Nocturne has to offer. Hard mode SMTIV is harder than Nocturne Hard Mode. What is the gameplay like? SMTIV most resembles its immediate predecessor, Nocturne, in terms of gameplay. You move around in the same third-person view and the battle system looks slightly different but operates mostly the same. SMTIV is much more streamlined than previous entries in the series with lots of added user-conveniences, such as being able to freely choose what skills to transfer in demon fusion, being told in advance when skill you'd be getting before you choose to do a skill mutation, and being given extra options to make demon negotiation less luck-based.   Returning/updated features: Equipment types: SMTIV follows old-school SMT conventions of allowing you to equip armor, sword, a gun, an ammo type, (you don't start with guns though) and armor. Armor is mostly cosmetic, adding only mild to moderate stat boosts or resistances. There's a very wide arrange of designs, some a little absurd, like a clown mask or a giant rabbit mascot head. Press Turn system: The Press Turn system from Nocturne is back. Press turns affect the number of actions you can take before it's the enemy's turn to attack. Make intelligent moves like hitting an enemy's weak point and you'll get extra turns. Make dumb moves like attacking an enemy immunity and you'll lose them. Application system: Like Soul Hackers and Strange Journey, you can install applications into your Gauntlet computer. Every level you gain 10 Application points which you can use to buy upgrades. These upgrades range from skill slots to stat boosts to new negotiation options. You can't realistically buy them all so you have to pick your upgrades carefully. Multiple endings and New Game+: There are four endings (Law, Neutral, Chaos, and "Screw everyone, burn it all down") and New Game+ keeps track of which you've seen. With a New Game+ you can choose to import a select set of Application upgrades and your Compendium, or you can carry over everything. Plus you can choose to play the game on Hard.  Fiends: The very, very, rare super-bosses from the early SMT games are back. Not counting a handful you'll fight in side quests, there are 7 in total, and all can easily destroy even a level 99 party that's not properly prepared. Finding them is extraordinarily painful and requires tons of luck or lots and lots and lots of reloads. Challenge Quests: Lots and lots of optional side quests. Much like the side quests in Strange Journey, except there are many, many more. Some can be done over and over, others are one-time only. Challenge Quests are picked up at bars or occasionally during negotiations with a demon. Charon: Charon is back from the original pre-SMT Megami Tensei games. If your party gets killed, he'll revive you for a fee that can be paid in in-game currency or Game Coins. MC death is not an instant Game Over too. Demon Compendium: Summon any demon you've saved into the Compendium at any time...for a price. The new Compendium is a little more friendly in terms of figuring out the pros and cons of overwriting an old demon. Also Mido, the master of the Compendium sounds absolutely baked in the Japanese version, which is amusing at first but gets grating after a while.   New features: Pre-emptive attacks: Random encounters in SMTIV occur when you run into an amorphous blob indicating an enemy party on the map. You have the ability to strike these blobs with your weapon, and if you succeed you'll automatically get first strike and do a minor amount of damage to everything facing you. Smirking: An addition to the Press Turn system, if a character strikes an enemy's weak point, or blocks/reflects an enemy attack, they have a chance to "Smirk." Smirking characters are nearly impossible to hit, and they deal additional damage with their attacks. As soon as that character takes an action, the smirking status goes away. AI-controlled characters: While not on side quests, most of the time you're traveling with a party, and one of them will join you in battle. They don't actively participate in terms of using or expending Press Turns, and will make one attack at the end of a round. Mostly they serve as an additional target for enemies to hit, though will occasionally come in handy. They can also be a minor annoyance when they attack an enemy's immunity and make them Smirk, but they're not likely to actually get you killed. Demon Whispers: When you "max out" a demon and it can't learn any more skills, it will "whisper" to you and you can transfer any of its active skills (with a few exceptions) to your MC. You can learn the same skill multiple times to power it up or reduce its MP cost or both. New Demon designs: This is a matter of taste but reaction to the new demon designs has mostly been negative. Some iconic SMT demons (Lucifer, the Seraphim, and Masakado to name a few) got hit hard by the ugly stick. Most of the new designs look like either generic tokusatsu costume design or Yoshitaka Amano-wannabe "weird" design. There's also what appears to be a decapitated claymation zombie head thrown in for good measure. The majority of designs are returning ones though, and some of the new designs aren't so bad. Relics: Demons don't drop money. You have to scavenge respawning "magic relics" (which are just modern objects) and sell them for money for the most part. This mostly consists of rummaging through garbage, smashed storefronts, and burned out cars for stuff like LAN cables, makeup, and even sex toys. (Though the low-tech party has no clue what any of this stuff is good for) Money is rare in general so you need to spend it wisely. DDS: I'm not entirely sure how this works as it requires StreetPass, but essentially you can mark one of your demons to trade to others, and it will either power up or spontanously fuse depending on how you mark it. From the little I've read on Japanese sites, it appears to be the most reliable method of getting Hero-class demons, which require incredibly rare fusion accidents otherwise. Expanded negotiation system: Rather than just recruiting demons, you can trade items, shake them down for cash, beg them to heal you or bribe them to go away. Each of these options can be powered-up substantially through Applications. For example a fully-tuned recruitment skill will, in addition to making negotiation easier, cause the demon that joins you to get a stat boost, immediately level-up, give you an item and a wad of cash, and attempt to recruit a buddy to come with it when it joins you. (who also will get all the stat bonuses and give you an item and a wad of cash if it succeeds) Also there are new options to make negotiation substantially easier--sometimes demons will demand a larger one-time fee up front rather than nickel and diming you. Also you can scam demons into joining you, or try to force an end to negotiations after you've given them a few things. STORY SMTIV is fairly light on story, with more of a gameplay and exploration focus. The story is set in the Eastern Mikado Kingdom, a medieval-style kingdom with knights and swords and serfs toiling in the fields. Eastern Mikado is stable and peaceful, but a heavily stratified society divided into two castes, one of the ruling 1% and one containing everyone else. These castes are, respectively, the unfortunately-named "Luxuries" and "Casualties." (not much better in translation as "Luxuror" and "Casualry") You control a character initiated into the Samurai, the police force of Mikado. In a throwback to the old Wizardry games, it turns out Mikado's castle was built on top of a system of demon-infested caverns and the Samurai are there to keep them from escaping. The plot starts with the main character and his fellow samurai doing just that. Oh, and also a lot of the game takes place in post-apocalyptic Tokyo. How exactly a post-apocalyptic metropolis relates to a fantasy medieval kingdom is explained fairly early in the game, but it'd be getting into spoiler territory to say it here. Law vs. Chaos is back, though it's much more subtle than previous installments and doesn't come into play until much later in the game. Nods to the old "god vs. demons" themes are there, but the central conflict is more about whether it's better to maintain an oppressive but peaceful status quo or risk destabilizing everything with revolution to right societal ills. CHARACTERS: The Party: The majority of the game you travel as a group with three other Samurai. You don't control them directly but they're nearly always together. Main Character (default name Flynn)  Flynn is a low-born citizen from the village of Kichijoji and a mute protagonist. As the character you control, he's a blank slate and most of his decisions are up to you. Jonathan  A Luxuror and SMTIV's Law-Hero figure. Very much a "I wanna be a knight in shining armor" type. Serious minded, loves the idea of pursuing justice and protecting the weak, but is also a naive child of privilege and somewhat clueless to the plight of the lower classes. Walter  A Casualry and SMTIV's Chaos-Hero figure. Fairly laid-back, falls into the "fun guy you want to have a beer with" character trope. Very class-conscious, and holds a grudge against the elites of society after being stomped on by Luxurors all his life. Isabeau  A Luxuror and SMTIV's Neutral-Hero figure. Most of her character development takes place in the very late game after you finalize your alignment path. Other characters: Other characters you get introduced to early. There are others, some more important than those listed below, but you'll meet them further into the game. Navarre  New Samurai and elitist Luxuror douchebag. Mostly exists to drive home the point that the 1% of East Mikado are nearly all assholes. Hope  Captain of the samurai. Sort of a mentor to the party. Cares a lot about his charges, dislikes civilian leadership interfering with his duties. Issachar  Issachar fills the JRPG-required "childhood friend of the hero" role. Really really REALLY wants to be a Samurai and leave his lowborn status behind. Black Samurai  A mysterious woman running around in a black Demonica suit. (The suits from Strange Journey, and no there's no connection to SJ it's just Atlus being a cocktease) Wanted by Eastern Mikado authorities for the crime of distributing literature in the "magic language" (AKA Japanese) to Casualries. A large chunk of the game is dedicated to the party trying to track her down and figure out who the hell she is. Downloadable Content: SMTIV comes with DLC that was released in batches in Japan. How much of it and what it will cost will probably depend on region. The last DLC comes out tomorrow in Japan so I'll update the OP accordingly then. The DLC so far can be put in the following categories: Armor sets: Ranges from barely better than newbie equipment to on par with the best stuff in the game. Grinding DLC: Three unabashed grinding areas that give you levels, money, and Application points quickly. Each has a freebie demon as well. Can be abused to utterly break the game. Super-boss fights: There are seven super-boss fights available for high-level parties. After killing each respective boss you unlock them as a fusion, and they all make very powerful allies. The first four (divided into 2 bosses per DLC) are about on par with the final boss(es), and the last three are much harder. The super-boss fights also slightly flesh out parts of the main story. When/Where can I get it? SMTIV will be available both at retail and on the Nintendo E-Shop in all regions. It takes a huge amount of space on an SD card so keep that in mind if you go digital. It's already out in Japan and is being released in the US on 7/16/2013. Still no release date announced for Europe. 
Genpei Turtle fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 00:44
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General hints and tips and goon advice: Oh god it's just the start of the game and I'm dying every fight what do I do? Don't even think about fighting anything without a full party. Recruit everything you can before you start getting into fights. Every fight in the early game is capable of killing you and tackling them with only one or two demon allies is a mistake. There are a ton of side quests. Which should I do? All of them, if you can. Not only do you get money and experience for side quests, you'll also get a lot of equipment, which will save you quite a bit of money. Note the rewards before cashing in on a quest--if the reward for a quest is 5 Chakra pots and you already have the maximum, you might as well sell those 5 Chakra pots first. I have no money, how do I get more? The further you get in the game, the better and more valuable the vendor trash gets. Upgrade your demon negotiation application enough and demons will pay you a tidy sum when they join you, which adds up. Sell stuff you don't need--if you're carrying the maximum amount of a given item, it won't hurt to sell off a few. I still don't have very much, what should I prioritize when I buy stuff? Weapons take top priority for purchases, as armor gains are modest in comparison. Only summon demons from the Compendium when you really really need to. Even with Compendium discounts it adds up quickly. Also you're going to get poisoned and sick a lot so always keep a good stock of Dis-poisons handy. Resurrection items are also a necessity until you get a demon that can cast Recarm. What should I spend my Application points on? Depends on your playstyle, but a few extra demon slots and extra skill slots for both your MC and your demons should be first priority. Demon Recruitment upgrades and MP regeneration are also really good choices. You won't have enough AP to get all the upgrades unless you abuse the DLC. How should I distribute my stat points? This also really depends on your playstyle. Strength affects physical attacks, Dexterity affects gun attacks, Magic affects magic spells, Agility affects accuracy/evade, and Luck affects critical chance, smirking chance, item drops, and chance for bad status to hit enemies and not hit you. Dexterity apparently has more of an impact on physical/gun skills than Strength so if you want to go physical-power keep that in mind. Luck is surprisingly useful in this game regardless of your build. One of my demons is Lost. How do I get it back? Fight some random battles, it'll come back within a few at most. I can't find where I'm supposed to go in Tokyo! This place is a maze! Here's a map of Tokyo:  If you can't find your destination on this map, odds are you're looking for some place inside one of the areas. For example, Shinjuku Second Block is going to be inside the general Shinjuku area. Do I miss anything major by picking one alignment path over another? Not really. You'll miss at least one boss. If you're going full-on completionist Neutral is probably the best path to start with as it's the only one that will let you fight and fuse all the Fiends. (You'll miss one fight in Law, two in Chaos, and about half of the fusions in both) Also Law and Chaos both have special quests that are available in a New Game+ so if you do one of those paths first, you'll have to do it again later to see the new quest. For the sake of detail, this is exactly what you can and cannot get in each path: Law:
Chaos:
Neutral:
How do I fuse Fameds? Fusing Fameds sucks. You have to perform a fusion accident to get a chance for one, and there's only about a 10% chance of getting a Hero even if you do. The best way to increase your chances seems to be by fusing dead demons roughly around your target Famed's level. (36, 43, 49, 55, 61, 67, 74, and 86) Using a dead Foul helps, but even then you'll still have less than a 1% chance of getting one. Prepare for a lot of reloads. How/Where do I fight Fiends? Finding Fiends sucks even worse than fusing Fameds. Fiends spawn at the end of the game in predetermined spots but the chance of them appearing is very, very low. Whether or not they spawn appears to be decided as soon as you enter the room/area they appear in. If one doesn't appear, you'll need to leave the area and come back. The "roll" for a Fiend occurs during an area change. Doing any sort of area change counts--entering an area from the world map or from an adjacent area, for example. Jumping in and out of the grinding DLC counts, which is useful for Fiends that spawn far from an exit. Again, prepare for a lot of reloads. Fiend locations: Chemtrail: Right in front of the fountain deep in West Shinjuku Park Matador: In the middle of Toyosu underground Shelter White Rider: At the 4-way intersection of the Ginza-paywall area with the super-expensive shops, right in front of the entrance. Red Rider: In the room at the end of B3F in Kasumigaseki (enterable only on the Neutral path, you need 100 luck to open it) Black Rider: In the middle of Tennozu underground Shelter Pale Rider: At the 4-way intersection directly across from the Fiend hunter in Minamisu Trumpeter: At the X-intersection in Kiccigiorgi Forest (blocked on the Chaos path) If you get killed in a Fiend fight, pay your dues to Charon and you'll be teleported right back in front of where it spawned--save the game and you can try again. Also you should probably fight the Fiends in the above order as later Fiends usually require previous Fiends as fusion components. Don't try to take any of the Fiends on until you're at least in your 70s in terms of levels--preferably your 80s or even 90s. I found a Fiend but it spammed Megidolaon 5 times in a row before I could do anything! How can I beat it? You can't cheese Fiend fights. At most you can only bring in one or two characters immune to their main attack. Any more than that and they'll cheapshot you to death in response. If you're getting murdered by unavoidable attacks change up your party to one a little less impenetrable and their AI routine should change. Is the DLC worth it? The DLC equipment is generally not worth it, especially the weaker equipment. The story/uberboss quests are very short, but are fun and you get some great demons and skills out of them. Plus they flesh out some bits of the story that go otherwise unexplained. If you're not going to do the Neutral path, don't bother with the final DLC unless you just want to fight the boss as you won't be able to cash in the reward. Also initial reports seem to indicate the final DLC is unwinnable without rewards gained from previous DLC packs. The value of the level and money grinding DLC depends on your self-control. If abused, it can utterly destroy the game balance. Used in moderation--such as to max out demons 10+ levels below yours so you can complete your Compendium, or to give your funds a quick boost so you can rearrange your party for a tough boss fight--it can save a lot of time and tedium. There's pretty much no use for the Application grinding DLC except to break the game, though you do get a nice demon with some nifty skills you can't get anywhere else from it. How do I get the Neutral path? The acceptable window for the Neutral path is very small. Alignment ranges from 100 (extreme Law) to -100 (extreme Chaos) and Neutral lies between 8 and -8. There's no one way to say "do this and you'll get Neutral" without spoiling the whole plot, as your final alignment will be decided by over a dozen smaller decisions that move your alignment very slightly in one direction or another. Most choices either require a Law answer or a Chaos answer so you need to strike a balance throughout the whole game, though it helps to skew very, very slightly in one direction right before the final choice. The safest place to be is at the border between Neutral and another alignment. At the final choice, you just pick the opposite of which way you're skewing and you'll be set. You're automatically given 5 Law points before the final decision so skewing very very slightly Chaos throughout the game and picking the Law option as your final option is generally easier than the other way around. There are a few "optional" decisions that can move your alignment significantly in one direction or the other. The two Hunter Tournment Challenge Quests can move your alignment up to 4 points in either direction. A challenge Quest involving two types of medicine will give you either a 0 point shift or a 10 point shift in either direction. Lastly, there is a random woman in Ikebukuro who will ask you if you're a human or a demon. This choice will also shift you 10 points in one direction. This list is a good general guide, but it was pulled from a Japanese website that had several mistakes. Addendums to that list: Do not follow that guide's instructions for being Neutral or you'll end up in a spot where at the final choice, you'll be able to pick Law or Chaos but not Neutral. The choices for Dullahan are backwards--killing her is +Law, not killing her is +Chaos The choices for the Black Samurai conversation are backwards--saying you could live in Tokyo is +Chaos, saying you couldn't is +Law. Killing Lilith gives you +5 Law. (Not Listed) Killing Yasomagatsuhi gives you +1 Chaos. (Not listed) Accepting the quest to free Blasted Shibuya gives you +5 Law (required, also not listed) Telling Akira you'd like to stay in Infernal Tokyo gives you +5 Chaos, not +1 Chaos Telling Akira his world of Equality is not strange is +5 Law, not +1 Law How can I tell what my current alignment is? At a certain point in the story, there will be a guy in each bar who will tell you where you stand. If you're "polite" you're Law, if you're "passionate" you're Chaos, and if you're "hard to get a handle on" you're Neutral. I'm at [insert plot point here]. Is this the point of no return when it comes to alignment paths? The point of no return is incredibly obvious when you reach it, so if you're asking this question, the answer is probably no. Immediately after making your final choice (and I mean immediately, as in right after the conversation) you'll be teleported into an area where a representative of whatever alignment path you're on will heal you for free. Whoever is healing you is indicative of what path you're on. If you think you might be at the point of no return, save your game, make a choice, and if you're not teleported anywhere, you're not there yet. Genpei Turtle fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Aug 24, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 00:45
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Something that people on the fence should know is that Nintendo of America (and Europe I think?) is offering a $30 credit on the eShop for people who've bought both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei 4 and registered them on Club Nintendo. If you're a fan of great 3DS games then Nintendo is literally paying you to buy this game.
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Jul 11, 2013 00:52
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I really, really, wish this was getting a midnight release at retailers. I don't want to miss out on all the sweet goodies you get with the physical edition  Either way though, I am extremely hyped and cannot wait to get my hands on it.
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Jul 11, 2013 00:52
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I actually didn't mind most of the new designs. Except Medusa. Medusa looks like she wandered in from someone's bad deviantart account.
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Jul 11, 2013 00:57
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ImpAtom posted:I actually didn't mind most of the new designs. I like the character designs, but the new demon designs are pretty eh.  I'm still really hyped for this despite that, though. 
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Jul 11, 2013 01:02
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Astaroth's new look seems fine to me. Of course I haven't really seen him up close in game, but based on what I have seen the art at least kind of meshes with the rest of the demons. I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see the design appear in a Persona title.
TurnipFritter fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 01:03
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ImpAtom posted:I actually didn't mind most of the new designs. I love how the first two bosses are Minotaur and Medusa
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Jul 11, 2013 01:09
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ImpAtom posted:I actually didn't mind most of the new designs. Hahaha, that's literally the exact same thing I thought. Lucifer (at least when you first see him) and the Seraphim are the ones that I didn't like. The Seraphim particularly, as they look like someone shoved random body parts into a Mr. Potato Head and drew the angels based on what they got. Masakado initially I didn't think look so bad until I looked closer and saw that he was an octopus with 5 rows of teeth. The tokusatsu-style designs aren't necessarily bad, they're just way too busy, and they look a lot more generic than the designs they replaced for the most part. The main problem is they're not nearly as good as the old designs they replaced, as tired as they were. El Belmondo posted:I love how the first two bosses are Minotaur and Medusa I think only those of us dumb enough to play the original 8-bit MT will ever get the significance of that.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:18
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Man I'm so loving stoked for this game. I've never played a mainline SMT game before but I'm excited to start with this game, and then move on to Nocturne later hopefully. Just one more week!
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Jul 11, 2013 01:22
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Policenaut posted:Something that people on the fence should know is that Nintendo of America (and Europe I think?) is offering a $30 credit on the eShop for people who've bought both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei 4 and registered them on Club Nintendo. If you're a fan of great 3DS games then Nintendo is literally paying you to buy this game. To add to this, if you pre-order you get a bunch of stuff for free. Gamestop and Amazon even have their own free unique armor DLC for pre-ordering. The music is pretty great, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hicykrzDJ_Q What I'm trying to say is, go pre-order the game right now.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:22
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Genpei Turtle posted:I think only those of us dumb enough to play the original 8-bit MT will ever get the significance of that. Still waiting for somebody else to give a poo poo about Kyuuyaku MT.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:23
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I've enjoyed the SMT games I've played before, but this is the first one I'll be playing that wasn't set in a real-ish place. It'll be interesting to see how it works out, at least.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:24
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I was unsure of how I was gonna approach getting this game, but thanks to that Club Nintendo deal and the fact that I can use the $30 credit on the Wii U eShop in addition to 3DS eShop, I'm heavily considering getting it when I can now. It'll be my first SMT game to boot, so I'm pretty excited to get it!
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Jul 11, 2013 01:27
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Genpei Turtle posted:Hahaha, that's literally the exact same thing I thought. Lucifer I'm iffy on. I don't like the design as Lucifer but I kinda like the design taken on its own. If it was another demon I'd probably feel less weird about it. The Seraphim are a little iffy but they remind me of the Bayonetta designs which I rather liked so I may be more forgiving of those than most. Masakado's pretty fuckin' weird though. The Kaneko designs are almost universally better but I feel that way about everything Kaneko does.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:28
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Is there any chance that this game will get a midnight release on the eshop even though it's not a nintendo game?
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Jul 11, 2013 01:31
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Genpei Turtle posted:The tokusatsu-style designs aren't necessarily bad, they're just way too busy, and they look a lot more generic than the designs they replaced for the most part. The main problem is they're not nearly as good as the old designs they replaced, as tired as they were. I wish they cut the number of demons and instead had higher quality or EO IV type models. I'd rather have 250 well done enemy models with some color palette swapping vs 400+ with half of those being iffy. Nocturne models look better on average, IMO. That said, game looks great, and that $30 deal is insane since I'd imagine most people buying SMT IV would already have FE  .
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Jul 11, 2013 01:34
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The OP says its light on story, but there IS a story, right? I never played Nocturne but despite the weirdness I loved reading about the story and how things developed. I love reading post-apocalyptic, "So the world really did end. drat. Now what?" fantasy stories, even not so great ones. I hope this is on the eShop. Nintendo's vampire-like aversion to accounts aside, I vastly prefer buying digital.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:37
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Ciaphas posted:The OP says its light on story, but there IS a story, right? I never played Nocturne but despite the weirdness I loved reading about the story and how things developed. I love reading post-apocalyptic, "So the world really did end. drat. Now what?" fantasy stories, even not so great ones. Yes, there's a developed story and a lot of worldbuilding.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:40
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Can someone link some of the designs besides Lucifer and who they are? I wanna laugh forever thanks.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:40
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oblomov posted:I wish they cut the number of demons and instead had higher quality or EO IV type models. I'd rather have 250 well done enemy models with some color palette swapping vs 400+ with half of those being iffy. Nocturne models look better on average, IMO. That said, game looks great, and that $30 deal is insane since I'd imagine most people buying SMT IV would already have FE I honestly don't understand this sentiment at all. It reminds me of when people complained about not enough FMV in PS1 games. It's a turn-based RPG, you're not playing it for eye candy. The sprites and 2D animations look nice enough as-is, but after about an hour or so of playing you want even them to go away so that battles would speed up. 3D models and the necessary animations they would encompass would slow things down even more. So you'd get slower combat and less content. ThePhenomenalBaby posted:Can someone link some of the designs besides Lucifer and who they are? I wanna laugh forever thanks. Knock yourself out, have a Yasomagatsuhi. Genpei Turtle fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 01:45
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Holy crap. This is so exciting. I don't have a 3DS, but I will beg, borrow, or steal one from a friend if I have to play this game. I love the SMT series--Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner, Persona, whatever. However, the mainline series are easily my favourite. Or, I should say Nocturne is my favourite. I haven't played the first two and I've been under the assumption that Strange Journey was SMT IV until I saw this thread. Regardless, this is amazing news after a long day.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:48
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ImpAtom posted:Lucifer I'm iffy on. I don't like the design as Lucifer but I kinda like the design taken on its own. If it was another demon I'd probably feel less weird about it. The Seraphim are a little iffy but they remind me of the Bayonetta designs which I rather liked so I may be more forgiving of those than most. Masakado's pretty fuckin' weird though. I actually liked the new angel design--it's weird as poo poo but it also comes from Isaiah which was apparently written by a dude on hallucinogenic mushrooms so it kind of makes sense that it's a Lovecraftian horror. The Seraphim kinda fall into that as well but it looks ridiculous in context, with Jonathan all in rapture of these grotesque abominations approaching. ed: Oh hey the final DLC just dropped on the Japanese version. It's more expensive than any of the others, let's hope it's worth it. Genpei Turtle fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 01:55
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Genpei Turtle posted:I actually liked the new angel design--it's weird as poo poo but it also comes from Isaiah which was apparently written by a dude on hallucinogenic mushrooms so it kind of makes sense that it's a Lovecraftian horror. The Seraphim kinda fall into that as well but it looks ridiculous in context, with Jonathan all in rapture of these grotesque abominations approaching. Yeah, I had the exact same reaction there. Jonathan was a bit too eager to embrace the abominations from beyond space and time, especially when they frankly look freakier than the hellspawn you encounter not long before. I guess he does spend all his time hanging out with horrible demons he summons from a magic gauntlet, but still.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:57
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Oh poo poo its Big Face. This guy is pretty bitchin' in a death metal album from the late 80's kinda way. http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/UnwopvNSCQU/maxresdefault.jpg
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Jul 11, 2013 01:59
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Ciaphas posted:
It's been announced on the eShop's future releases since mid-to-late June, though? Also the fact that it's not gonna cost 800 mxn pesos (around 60 USD) like most AAA titles is highly appreciated. Even when I already pre-ordered it, I'm still gonna buy it digitally and I probably have too much disposable income, so I should stop whining about how expensive 3DS titles are. 
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Jul 11, 2013 02:03
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Wark Say posted:It's been announced on the eShop's future releases since mid-to-late June, though? Also the fact that it's not gonna cost 800 mxn pesos (around 60 USD) like most AAA titles is highly appreciated. Even when I already pre-ordered it, I'm still gonna buy it digitally and I probably have too much disposable income, so I should stop whining about how expensive 3DS titles are. The Mexican version is cheaper than usual? The US version is $50.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:04
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I kinda like what they did with Omoikane.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:05
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Genpei Turtle posted:
Why are half the cast names derived from character names from the 80s fantasy film Ladyhawke?
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Jul 11, 2013 02:06
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This is my most anticipated game of the summer, I had it pre-ordered the moment they showed the LE. The extra $30 is just the icing on the cake.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:09
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Neo Rasa posted:Why are half the cast names derived from character names from the 80s fantasy film Ladyhawke? The names are all based off weird in-jokes for the Law/Chaos/Protagonist characters from earlier games.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:10
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Wait there's a new Fiend? Or a fiend I haven't heard of I guess? The first one in the blacked out list. Is it any good?
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Jul 11, 2013 02:12
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Remember to recruit a Jack Frost into your party, as he is the best "demon" in the game, hee ho! 
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Jul 11, 2013 02:13
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ImpAtom posted:The names are all based off weird in-jokes for the Law/Chaos/Protagonist characters from earlier games. I don't get the connection at all but the idea that anyone at Atlus would be like "Yeah, let's name them like SMTII, just like that Rutger Hauer flick directed by the guy that did Lethal Weapon and Superman, get it? HA HA HA," makes me anticipate the game even more.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:16
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ThePhenomenalBaby posted:Wait there's a new Fiend? Or a fiend I haven't heard of I guess? The first one in the blacked out list. Is it any good? Yes it's a new demon to the series.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:16
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My god, those sprites are awful. Did they run out of budget halfway through development or something? I think I'm going to stick to replaying Nocturne until Persona 5 comes out.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:18
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This thread is making me even more hyped for this game, and I didn't think that was possible. That said, I've never finished an SMT game. The furthest I ever got was maybe half way through Strange Journey.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:24
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PaletteSwappedNinja posted:The Mexican version is cheaper than usual? The US version is $50. It's just a little over 50 bucks, actually. Which is a welcome change and hopefully a sign that they're gonna start pricing the games at around the same price as they do in US and Japan. For example, most of the Mario, Zelda, FE, Castlevania and such cost from US $35 to $40, right? Those usually cost anywhere from US $15 to $20 more here in Mexico, whether in a cart or digitally. And that, my friend, is bullshit. eShop eye-gouging rants aside, I honestly do not mind those new designs, even if they feel a bit too... extraterrestrial, though?
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Jul 11, 2013 02:35
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Geek U.S.A. posted:My god, those sprites are awful. Did they run out of budget halfway through development or something? I think I'm going to stick to replaying Nocturne until Persona 5 comes out. Atlus has been downsizing artwork into sprites since 1995.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:36
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| # ? May 5, 2024 16:14 |
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Hurray another 3DS RPG to devour hundreds of hours of my life. They're like vampires, I tell you. On the other hand, the $30 credit is mighty tempting! Serious postin', I'm stoked for the return of the Press Turn system. It was one of my favorite parts of Nocturne.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:36
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