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

[IronicNeurotic]

Teaser Website is live

http://megaten4.jp/

Nice mood.

 

[felipepepe]

So, time travel? What you guys think, the cities do seem to be from different eras...

 

[Humppaleka]

Completely off-topic, but anyway: Is it actually worth it to get a 3DS? I don't even know any good games (not that I've even looked), but this seems so intriguing I might end up buying it just for this game's sake. What games are there?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Resident Evil: Revelations
Ghost Recon Shadow Warrior (top-down turn-based from the original X-Com designer)
Zelda shit

Don't know about much else atm.

 

[MaroonSkein]

So, time travel? What you guys think, the cities do seem to be from different eras...

I'm not so sure. It's difficult to make out, but the city at the top of the page, despite there being walls surrounding it, seems to have modern day buildings in it.

Completely off-topic, but anyway: Is it actually worth it to get a 3DS? I don't even know any good games (not that I've even looked), but this seems so intriguing I might end up buying it just for this game's sake. What games are there?

Etrian Odyssey IV (a Wizardry-like dungeon crawler)
Bravely Default (a Square Enix RPG with a FFV-like job system)
Crimson Shroud (Yasumi Matsuno's new RPG)
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (a first-person SMT game)

It's currently unknown if any of them will be published outside of Japan, however.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

The Codex?

All half a dozen of it you mean?

You elitist, you, conveniently leaving out that it has and will have much better gameplay mechanics than anything BioWare and Bethesda release.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

So, time travel? What you guys think, the cities do seem to be from different eras...

I'm not so sure. It's difficult to make out, but the city at the top of the page, despite there being walls surrounding it, seems to have modern day buildings in it.

Completely off-topic, but anyway: Is it actually worth it to get a 3DS? I don't even know any good games (not that I've even looked), but this seems so intriguing I might end up buying it just for this game's sake. What games are there?

Etrian Odyssey IV (a Wizardry-like dungeon crawler)
Bravely Default (a Square Enix RPG with a FFV-like job system)
Crimson Shroud (Yasumi Matsuno's new RPG)
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (a first-person SMT game)

It's currently unknown if any of them will be published outside of Japan, however.

Crimson Shroud probably shouldn't count as a whole game, since it will be a part of a compilation by 4-5 big Japanese game designers. It will be more like DLC.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Fucking finally.

Still not buying a 3DS for this, since I tend to never finish games on hand helds so it seems like a waste of money for me. And I thought Strange Journey was SMT4? Anyway, wish they'd bring SMT back to proper consoles. I can't believe they'd make a puzzle game for a console and then make a full fledged RPG on a hand held.

 

[damicore]

Where could I get good translations of SMT "1", "2" and "if..." ?
Haven't played anything in the main canon so are they somehow interconnected?
.SFC roms if possible as I want to play them on bsnes.
And yes, handhelds seem to be the new master race

 

[Sukeban Cho]

I always thought of Strange Journey as SMT4.

It was. I don't really understand what got into them.

Maybe they decided to use Strange Journey as the starting point of yet another thread in the Shin Megami Tensei multiverse.

It was probably Digital Devil Saga then.

Digital Devil Saga probably.

Or the Raidou Kuzunoha (Devil Summoner) games.

I can understand why some locals would find it hard to get into them if not already into Shin Megami Tensei.

Where could I get good translations of SMT "1", "2" and "if..." ?

For "if..." you are without luck. It seems there is a translation project going on by the guys who translated 1 and 2, but I believe they are translating the IMO much inferior SNES version.

Other than that there is a translation guide / translated script, but it only covers two and a half routes.

Haven't played anything in the main canon so are they somehow interconnected?

They are: Shin Megami Tensei 2 is a direct sequel of Shin Megami Tensei's neutral ending, and Nocturne is very inderectly a sequel of Shin Megami Tensei 2.

The plotlines, however, are self contained. You will lose nothing starting by Nocturne, for example, as while there is a plotline that sheds some light over the second game's ending you will only notice it is related if you did play it beforehand, if you haven't it looks like it's own thing.

I've been playing the very first SMT for the past several days. Two things:
This game is fucking LONG
and
This game is fucking GRINDY
But I'm still having fun with it, for whatever reason.
I also played SMT: Strange Journey, that game was excellent. I think I'm going to try to get all the way through the entire series before SMT IV. Between this and Etrian Odyssey IV, I'm glad I bought a 3DS.

What the manatee said, use SLEEP rounds and give your human characters guns that hit all the enemy party, or most of it, to demolish normal encounters on AUTO.

Then, BUFU and ZIO spells always freeze and shock on SMT1. And most bosses are not immune to either, or both. Do the math.

The enemies against which those two tactics (or exploits, if you will) do not work are not going to get any easier no matter how much you grind as they use those very same tactics on you, are insanely though tanks, spam instant death, or are innately reflective.

The really badass demons that are not bosses, like those insane Orobas groups that will demolish your party on AUTO, you can just bypass by fusing or recruiting one of your own, as they will then let you go unharmed as long as it isn't full moon.

 

[deuxhero]

Haven't played anything in the main canon so are they somehow interconnected?

The canon beyond the direct sequels (SMT1+2, DDS1+2 and Persona 1+2, Persona 3+4 and Raidou 1+2) isn't all that important. There are some nods here and there, but nothing required.

Raidou 1 is really the only critical peace to understanding the canon as a whole, and even then, it's not a big deal beyond "hey that's neat".

Spoiler

Raidou the 40th goes back in time from SMT2 and their actions result in "Thor nukes everything" not happening, leading to If..., Devil Summoner, the Persona series and possibly (the cameos are in a way that they may not be canon) Soul Hackers happening

 

[eric__s]

The final boss in Nocturne yelled at me for being indecisive and refused to fight me. Then I traded my copies of Nocturne and Persona 4 to some girl for a terrible Tales of game and I haven't been able to play it again. Why did I do that? That was like one of the worst decisions I've ever made. Nocturne is one of the best games ever made and probably the best JRPG. I don't want to buy a 3DS for the sequel so I'm going to cross my fingers for working emulation by the time it comes out : (

 

[MaroonSkein]

Or the Raidou Kuzunoha (Devil Summoner) games.

I refuse to accept the possibility that someone might consider Raidou games "gay".

Spoiler

Raidou the 40th goes back in time from SMT2 and their actions result in "Thor nukes everything" not happening, leading to If..., Devil Summoner, the Persona series and possibly (the cameos are in a way that they may not be canon) Soul Hackers happening

Spoiler

The way I understood the ending, the 14th stopping the 40th ensures that Tokyo does get nuked. I don't think it's been made clear what exactly triggers the if/Persona/DS continuity.

 

[deuxhero]

snip

Eh, time travel never makes sense.

 

[Krraloth]

Has the 3ds rerto-compatibility with the ds titles?
anybody owns one and can say?

 

[MaroonSkein]

Has the 3ds rerto-compatibility with the ds titles?
anybody owns one and can say?

It does have full compatibility with DS games. I've heard they don't look good when stretched to the higher resolution screen of 3DS, but I don't own one yet, so I can't confirm if it's true.

 

[spekkio]

MaroonSkein

Where's your "SMT5 using Catherine engine" now, Lestat?



Handhelds and cellphones are the gayming platforms of the future.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Even though I'm all for handhelds, I must admit it's pretty weird Catherine isn't being used as a basis for SMT5. I wonder why; being a numbered SMT title, it would probably sell very well on a "big" console.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Now I remember, the one I played was called Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Strange little game. Very odd atmosphere (not bad), pretty hard combat system. Are all SMT games in that style?

 

[Average Manatee]

Now I remember, the one I played was called Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Strange little game. Very odd atmosphere (not bad), pretty hard combat system. Are all SMT games in that style?

SMT is a label applied pretty indescriminately to any Atlus title with demons and shit in it. There is a ton of variation, from dating sim (later Personas) to action combat (Devil Summoner) to traditional jRPG (Digital Devil Saga) to dungeon crawler RPG (main line SMT games), to SRPG (Devil Survivor). They all tend to have good atmosphere and tough combat, though Nocturne is usually considered the best. Devil Survivor is my personal favorite.

 

[Jasede]

Now I remember, the one I played was called Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Strange little game. Very odd atmosphere (not bad), pretty hard combat system. Are all SMT games in that style?

Not holding it against you but if you didn't like Nocturne you should never touch anything remotely jRPG ever again. (Which is fine! But it just doesn't click.)

 

[Sukeban Cho]

I refuse to accept the possibility that someone might consider Raidou games "gay".

Action combat, Taisho period, a wise mentor talking cat, the original "Mon" setting. Your first summon is the demon of french fries, followed by cute little pixies who add small hearts to the end of their dialogue lines and HeeHoing singing snowmen. And it is very japanese.

Any local going into Raidou without knowing what to expect is for some pretty hardcore culture shock, of which calling it gay doesn't seem like a very difficult to obtain ending.

Don't burn me, though. I love Raidou. If anything, burn me because it's currently my favorite Shin Megami Tensei subset.

Followed by Persona.

Even though I'm all for handhelds, I must admit it's pretty weird Catherine isn't being used as a basis for SMT5. I wonder why; being a numbered SMT title, it would probably sell very well on a "big" console.

Japan is not that different from the west, and late Persona is the closest to a breakthrough into mainstream "pop" gaming culture Atlus has had in, like, forever with the Shin Megami Tensei series. It could be they want to use Catherine as the basis for Persona 5 instead.

Though that would turn Persona into SMT's new mainline. Which it kind of already is, unoficially.

Now I remember, the one I played was called Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Strange little game. Very odd atmosphere (not bad), pretty hard combat system. Are all SMT games in that style?

The odd atmosphere, the hardcore combat, and the general strangeness are the setting's key elements.

You can pretty much describe any game in the setting by saying you both fight and befriend very liberal interpretations of mythological beings while weird surreal shit influenced by japanese pop culture and very liberal interpretations of occult writings happen around you.

 

[MaroonSkein]

MaroonSkein

Where's your "SMT5 using Catherine engine" now, Lestat?

Hey, it's not my fault that Atlus is crazy enough to sink more than two years into the development of a PS360 engine for a one-shot puzzle game.

Don't burn me, though. I love Raidou. If anything, burn me because it's currently my favorite Shin Megami Tensei subset.

Mine too, story-wise. Pre-WWII 20th century is one of the most criminally underused time periods in gaming.

 

[Duraframe300]

Hey, it's not my fault that Atlus is crazy enough to sink more than two years into the development of a PS360 engine for a one-shot puzzle game.

They didn't.

Catherine was Gamebryo.

 

[MaroonSkein]

Catherine was Gamebryo.

My bad. It's still weird that Atlus decided to give their highest production values yet to a one-shot puzzle game. I guess the plan is to put games that may appeal to the West (Persona, maybe a Raidou-style ARPG) on consoles, and everything else will go on handhelds, which are the hot thing in Japan now.