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Atlus Shin Megami Tensei IV 3DS (beating MaroonSkein to the punch!)

Nikaido

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
521
Location
9th Hell
Asking demons for money and the scout app that gives you money whenever you recruit demons + bonus demon recruited are the best way of getting money (I was getting about 5K macca whenever I managed to recruit two demons in one go during the end game) but that would still take a while to get the stuff from the sikrit shop. I didn't bother with it on the first playthrough because it'll be an easy get on New Game + : you'll find yourself spending a lot less money in new game+, so by the time you reach that point again, you should have enough to splurge to your heart content.

Also keep selling the item drops. Things like the end game MP replenishment items and revival stuff can be worth up to 5K each and they're not that necessary for combat if you focused your app unlocks on Expand Stock. Actually, I think Expand Stock combined with Summon Discount are the most powerful apps in the game once you're done extending your skill slots. Because demons in your stock also get XP it nets you a lot of level up gifts and the like, potential skill mutations fodder for fusion and you never run out of healing because you always have an army of demons with you. I always had something like 5 demons with media and mediarahan, recam and posumudi.
 

Hobo Elf

Arcane
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
14,037
Location
Platypus Planet
I took all the Apps in the Fundraise line so that I can beg Macca from demons (these fucking games, man). At first the money I was getting ranged from peanuts to ok-ish amounts of cash, but occasionally it would "crit" (in the same way a demon might instantly join you) and they'd just give me a huge wad of cash, like 20k macca in one go. There's no way in shit that I'm gonna ever afford any of the secret shop items this way unless I grind forever, but at least it'll help me pay for the fusions. I guess you are right in that the Secret Shop items are more of a NG+ thing.
 
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Hobo Elf

Arcane
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
14,037
Location
Platypus Planet
Well I beat the game last night. The final dungeon and boss was pretty shitty and underwhelming. Definitely the weakest part of the whole game imo. Being able to go to Mikado after the last boss and talk with all the residents while the demons had completely overrun the place was quite amusing, though. It's ironic that the game that had the best demon customization hardly needed it at all due to how simplistic the encounters were. With that in mind I doubt I'll be replaying this game ever again. I don't feel like I need to revisit the game and try out different party setups. Still a decent game and worth the 20 eurobucks.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
Now I feel fucking jealous, cuz 3DS is sold here at the price of (roughly) my monthly salary (not to mention that the delivery would take quite some money, since the only offers I've found were from the capital). 2ds is about 50% cheaper, but I don't like the design of it, looks way inconvenient compared to 3DS XL.

Boy, I do hope that 3DS emulator will be finished by the time I beat other SMT games, or I''ll have to play Persona 3-4 and save money to buy 3ds (then force myself through Persona Q and SMT4 and remain butthurt for the next couple of years).
 

Tripicus

Augur
Joined
Oct 22, 2011
Messages
161
This is my first SMT title and probably about a third of the way through. I can't say I'm particularly fond of the demon customization system either. I seem to spend much of my effort there in preserving sets of certain abilities, rather than so much what they fuse into. Maybe it will change more later, but the high/medium/low hp/mp breakdown probably figures more into my fusion decision. i.e. this demon has a heavy force spell focus and little physical/needle so I want something with at least medium amounts of mp.

Is there a way to prevent surprise attacks, aside from Luck, say in areas like the underground/Tokyo? You can't preempt a battle with a sword swing, and being surprised to have two to three members of your party drop without retaliation is irritating. It's more a nuisance than anything serious, as with the weakness system it's easy to strike back quite hard, or bring in a demon with strengths in a pinch. Just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something here.
 

Kuhrazy

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2014
Messages
57
Not too familiar with SMT but I found Strange Journey a little weeby for my tastes, for the plot as much as the character designs. How do the 3DS games stack up against it? The older ones seem to have a way different look.
 

Vikter

Learned
Patron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
148
Location
Brazil
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
Not too familiar with SMT but I found Strange Journey a little weeby for my tastes, for the plot as much as the character designs. How do the 3DS games stack up against it? The older ones seem to have a way different look.
Strange Journey is pretty much the least weeby in the series. The Devil Survivor series, which toss away the first-person dungeon crawling elements for an SRPG vibe, is full of anime tropes and is really focused on comedy, sometimes. Shin Megami Tensei IV, while similar to Strange Journey, also has anime-y tropes, but to a lesser extent, although you'll have to deal with one-floor dungeons that almost make Final Fantasy XIII look like Wizardry, in terms of design. At least the dialogue is not as omnipresent as Devil Survivor.
And the older ones are also very japanese in essence. The difference is the graphics limitation, but yes, you will play as a silent teenage destined to choose between evil and good Law, Chaos and Neutral. Strange Journey is your best bet if weebness is a bad thing.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
Strange Journey is pretty much the least weeby in the series. The Devil Survivor series, which toss away the first-person dungeon crawling elements for an SRPG vibe, is full of anime tropes and is really focused on comedy, sometimes. Shin Megami Tensei IV, while similar to Strange Journey, also has anime-y tropes, but to a lesser extent, although you'll have to deal with one-floor dungeons that almost make Final Fantasy XIII look like Wizardry, in terms of design. At least the dialogue is not as omnipresent as Devil Survivor.
And the older ones are also very japanese in essence. The difference is the graphics limitation, but yes, you will play as a silent teenage destined to choose between evil and good Law, Chaos and Neutral. Strange Journey is your best bet if weebness is a bad thing.
Majin Tensei > Devil Survivor.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
Majin Tensei > Megami Tensei in general
The big sprites and music are just too amazing.
Well, I disagree. Majin Tensei 1-2 is on par with original SMT and Persona 1-2, which are the best games in my opinion (compared to Majin Tensei Ronde, SMT2, Persona 3, Devil Survivor, Strange Journey, and some other games that I played).
However, Hidehito Aoki > Shoji Meguro.
Meguro was a cool composer when he was starting at Atlus (Soul Hackers, SMT3 and Digital Devil Saga have pretty nice music, but he went full retard in Persona 3. Good thing that Strange Journey was alright, not to mention that Meguro did like 2 tracks for SMTIV (one of it is a nice remix of SMT3 track, another is some shitty club track). Another good thing is that he wasn't present in Persona 2 development.
 

Vikter

Learned
Patron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
148
Location
Brazil
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
Well, I disagree. Majin Tensei 1-2 is on par with original SMT and Persona 1-2, which are the best games in my opinion (compared to Majin Tensei Ronde, SMT2, Persona 3, Devil Survivor, Strange Journey, and some other games that I played).
However, Hidehito Aoki > Shoji Meguro.
Meguro was a cool composer when he was starting at Atlus (Soul Hackers, SMT3 and Digital Devil Saga have pretty nice music, but he went full retard in Persona 3. Good thing that Strange Journey was alright, not to mention that Meguro did like 2 tracks for SMTIV (one of it is a nice remix of SMT3 track, another is some shitty club track). Another good thing is that he wasn't present in Persona 2 development.
I like Meguro, but I find SMTIV's OST almost as good, if not better, than some of his past work, and it is made by three different guys, I think. I'm still trying to find the fanfare that plays when you win a battle with Urabe in Soul Hackers too.
But honestly, I prefer Majin Tensei to the first two Persona games. I dislike 3 but like 4, and yet I find Majin more appealing, mostly because I also prefer the take on SRPG than the usual faux dungeon crawling that happened in the franchise's start. And I'm not saying the music in it is better than the others, but it is great on its own right.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
I like Meguro, but I find SMTIV's OST almost as good, if not better, than some of his past work, and it is made by three different guys, I think. I'm still trying to find the fanfare that plays when you win a battle with Urabe in Soul Hackers too.
But honestly, I prefer Majin Tensei to the first two Persona games. I dislike 3 but like 4, and yet I find Majin more appealing, mostly because I also prefer the take on SRPG than the usual faux dungeon crawling that happened in the franchise's start. And I'm not saying the music in it is better than the others, but it is great on its own right.
SMTIV soundtrack was handled by Ryouta Kozuka, Toshiki Konishi, plus some tracks were done by Tsukasa Masuko and 2 tracks by Meguro (+ one track by Hidehito Aoki taken from Majin Tensei without any changes, since Aoki died in 2002). I forgot to mention the original Devil Summoner (1995-1996), which is one of my favourite games from the entire franchise due to the cool soundtrack and suburban setting. I recommend you to try it.
 

Vikter

Learned
Patron
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
148
Location
Brazil
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
SMTIV soundtrack was handled by Ryouta Kozuka, Toshiki Konishi, plus some tracks were done by Tsukasa Masuko and 2 tracks by Meguro (+ one track by Hidehito Aoki taken from Majin Tensei without any changes, since Aoki died in 2002). I forgot to mention the original Devil Summoner (1995-1996), which is one of my favourite games from the entire franchise due to the cool soundtrack and suburban setting. I recommend you to try it.
I played Soul Hackers on 3DS and PS1 to completion and loved it. Honestly I felt it was better than SMTIV at some points. I want to check Devil Summoner, and I actually own a Saturn, but I have no joystick nor memory car, and AFAIK, it is region locked, but it works, so maybe one day I'll get it on internet plus the joystick. I like how the protagonist looks. Kinda disco.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
2,434
Well, I disagree. Majin Tensei 1-2 is on par with original SMT and Persona 1-2

Out of all Megatens I've played both Persona 2 games are pretty low in ranking, being superior only to P3 - plot is awesum (specialy if you finish both in proper order) but gameplay is terribble: linear dungeons, grinding for skill cards, demon negotiations which gets old very fast, lack of any balance... overall they're just too close to generic jrpg and that's propably the biggest insult against SMT gaem.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
I played Soul Hackers on 3DS and PS1 to completion and loved it. Honestly I felt it was better than SMTIV at some points. I want to check Devil Summoner, and I actually own a Saturn, but I have no joystick nor memory car, and AFAIK, it is region locked, but it works, so maybe one day I'll get it on internet plus the joystick. I like how the protagonist looks. Kinda disco.
Get a PSP version if your Japanese sucks, it has demon compendium which makes negotiation at least partially unnecessary in the first few hours of the game.
Out of all Megatens I've played both Persona 2 games are pretty low in ranking, being superior only to P3 - plot is awesum (specialy if you finish both in proper order) but gameplay is terribble: linear dungeons, grinding for skill cards, demon negotiations which gets old very fast, lack of any balance... overall they're just too close to generic jrpg and that's propably the biggest insult against SMT gaem.
I liked them for the soundtrack and graphics, the story was okay for me, but I have to agree on dungeon design. Innocent Sin pissed me off with frequent encounters.
 

Kuhrazy

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2014
Messages
57
I played Soul Hackers on 3DS and PS1 to completion and loved it. Honestly I felt it was better than SMTIV at some points. I want to check Devil Summoner, and I actually own a Saturn, but I have no joystick nor memory car, and AFAIK, it is region locked, but it works, so maybe one day I'll get it on internet plus the joystick. I like how the protagonist looks. Kinda disco.
I took a chance on Soul Hackers and it's agreeing with me. I think if I watched somebody else play it, it wouldn't seem like my thing, but it grabbed me somehow anyway.
 

Bahamut

Arcane
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
1,196
Bought this game on eshop because it seemed pretty cheap with a discount, hows the difficulty for somone who havent played any part of the series?
 

Hirato

Purse-Owner
Patron
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
3,958
Location
Australia
Codex 2012 Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong
It's not too hard.

Early game is somewhat challenging (plus you're unfamiliar with SMT), it gets quite easy for the mid-to-late game though.
As long as you keep your demons up to date and cover your weaknesses, you shouldn't have too much to worry about except the occasional stroke of very bad luck.

This game's also a lot easier for the fact that it's not game over when the protagonist falls in combat, unlike nearly every other SMT title.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2015
Messages
891
Location
Canuckistan
My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
Bought this game on eshop because it seemed pretty cheap with a discount, hows the difficulty for somone who havent played any part of the series?

It seems slightly easier than the average MegaTen game to me, but that might be because I cracked through Strange Journey just before I started it.
 

Bahamut

Arcane
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
1,196
So far the difficulty is alright, and i like the game, altough i save/reload like crazy
 

Keldryn

Arcane
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
1,053
Location
Vancouver, Canada
It's not too hard.
Early game is somewhat challenging (plus you're unfamiliar with SMT), it gets quite easy for the mid-to-late game though.

Yeah, I'd never played an SMT game before, and I thought that the early game was fucking brutal. I don't think that any JRPG trounced me so completely since Phantasy Star II. I actually really enjoyed the challenge though, as it was a nice change of pace. The first few times that I successfully recruited demons felt like winning the lottery. ;) It took a little while to really grok the Turn Press system and making good use of weaknesses.

As long as you keep your demons up to date and cover your weaknesses, you shouldn't have too much to worry about except the occasional stroke of very bad luck.

Even 20+ hours into the game, it would still occasionally surprise me how quickly my party could get wiped out if I got careless and wasn't paying attention. I did some grinding to get a bit ahead of the curve and to recruit a lot of demons to experiment fusing, so I ended up somewhat over-leveled for the last half of the game.

I considered getting the game several times after it came out, but I always ended up passing on it. I put it on my wish list for Christmas 2013, and it ended up being one of my favorite games on the system. I'd be interested in playing some of the other SMT games. Which ones are most worth playing?
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,565
I considered getting the game several times after it came out, but I always ended up passing on it. I put it on my wish list for Christmas 2013, and it ended up being one of my favorite games on the system. I'd be interested in playing some of the other SMT games. Which ones are most worth playing?

Nocturne, if only one.

Otherwise it depends on what you want.
For example : - Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 are linear dungeon crawlers, with a good atmosphere and a story that is a little behind, a good combat system and correct character customing but no demon recruiting.
- Both Raidou Kuzunoha games have a fast but repetitive real time combat system, demon recruiting and fusion, a ~1900 japan atmosphere and a good story. The first one is linear, the second one includes many side quests.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
2,434
I considered getting the game several times after it came out, but I always ended up passing on it. I put it on my wish list for Christmas 2013, and it ended up being one of my favorite games on the system. I'd be interested in playing some of the other SMT games. Which ones are most worth playing?


Top 5:

Nocturne for everything (plot, atmosphere, balance, difficulty, music, visuals, no weaboo shit)
Strange Journey for being second to Nocturne in everything (+strong Doom vibe)
Persona 4 for story
Devil Survivor 1&2 for tactical experience and story -> first is better plot wise, the second - mechanics wise
 

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