Atlus Did Persona kill SMT?

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Ok, I must I admit that I had fun with every main Persona games. It was pretty solid spin-off and was kind of refreshing after old school dungeon crawling in main SMT...

...but now? Atlus spawned so many SMT games back in the day, PS2 alone had 7 (!) of them and I'm not even counting different versions like Persona 3: FES / The Answer or that Wapanese Raidou-instead-of-Dante Nocturne.

Nowadays, all effort went into Persona 5. Last main SMT titles are strongly limited level-wise 3DS titles SMT4 and Apocalyspe, with latter being infected with terrible animu shit like retarded crew made of clowns or trust meter which has to imitate Persona's social link. They even tainted Devil Survivor 2 with that crap.

And what with other spin-offs? They're like fuckin' DEAD. No DeSu 3, no Raidou 3, no Devil Summoner 1 English version - instead all we've got are some horrible dancing games.

Trailer for SMT5 is extremely grimdark but so was the one for SMT x Fire Embled yet we ended with pink, cute vomitorium called TMS.

And I've forgotten about nu-Strange Journey, that one with horrible artstyle and Zelenin blushing like teenager. Bluuuuuurghhhhh....

Do you think guys there is even a chance for PROPER SMT geam in the future?

 

[Jenkem]

yes, waifufags and brainlets ruined atlus. they announced SMTV at switch launch event and have shown nothing since, meanwhile they've announced 5 persona spinoff meme games.

they are the persona company now.

around the release of persona 4 golden is when it all went to shit.

 

[Talby]

 

[RickOmbo]

SMT has died with Kaneko. RIP

 

[Vorark]

around the release of persona 4 golden is when it all went to shit.

It was the success of Persona 4 (2008) & being sold to Index that broke the camel's back.

The release dates all align up too: Raidou x King Abaddon (2008); Devil Survivor (2009); Strange Journey (2009), all which were probably already in development and couldn't be retooled to shove the animu in. To add fuel to the fire, Atlus was then bought and dissolved by Index in Oct/2010. From 2011 onwards, there was a noticeable drop in quality in newer games, plus a crap ton of rereleases.

 

[Ysaye]

Time kills all game series (and game companies) eventually.

 

[Ialda]

It's SMT3 that actually killed SMT, as the game notably underperformed in Japan at the time; IIRC okada and Kaneko left Atlus not long after...

Going back even further, maybe several years spent on milking the Devil Children franchise wasn't actually a good idea, as the classic SMT audience of 90's occult maniacs probably evaporated at that time.

Persona didn't directly kill SMT, but took advantage of it nonetheless as P3/P4 succesfully made the point that the Persona franchise was more relevant to modern time than classic SMT :/

 

[Deflowerer]

Okada did not really leave because of the failure of SMT3 per se, moreso he was just tired of making only Megaten games.

Kaneko is still around in the company, it's just that he has been relegated to a status of complete triviality.

But it is true, Atlus was not in the best condition before Persona 3. It's the success of the latter that really led to a change in company culture with the rise of Hashino as the director of P3.

I don't think any of that old magic will ever come back. The industry has changed and the people have changed, both the target audience as well as the creators themselves.

 

[Falksi]

SMT = Shin Megami Tensei

 

[Swigen]

Persona also killed Akiba’s Beat. Persona is killing games indiscriminately and there’s no telling who’s next. Persona is one sick bastard!

 

[Ialda]

Okada did not really leave because of the failure of SMT3 per se, moreso he was just tired of making only Megaten games.

Kaneko is still around in the company, it's just that he has been relegated to a status of complete triviality.

True, I should have been more accurate : Okada got tired of making SMT games around the time SMT3, and after that the DDS duology did disappointing numbers in Japan... ^^

But it is true, Atlus was not in the best condition before Persona 3. It's the success of the latter that really led to a change in company culture with the rise of Hashino as the director of P3.

I don't think any of that old magic will ever come back. The industry has changed and the people have changed, both the target audience as well as the creators themselves.

Agreed, especially concerning the audience.
The 90s SMT crowd was very much a product of its time, people whose tastes ranged from the "occult" sub-culture to "weird"-type shonen mangas like Jojo or Kujaku-oh, apocalyptic "wicked"-type shoujo manga like X or Angel Sanctuary, the Hideyuki Kikuchi novels or the Doomed Megalopolis stories, and gameplay-heavy RPGs like the Saga series. Not something you could easily replicate after the 2000s.

At least I'm thankful to Atlus for Strange Journey, a great love letter to classic SMT.

 

[Delterius]

Persona didn't directly kill SMT, but took advantage of it nonetheless as P3/P4 succesfully made the point that the Persona franchise was more relevant to modern time than classic SMT :/

they should go back to P2's 'conspiracies and rumours are real' but instead of mecha hitler in xibalba and the kingdom of the crystal skulls you have jeffrey epstein and the japanese clintons

now THAT would be more relevant to modern times

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Persona 3 killed Persona 2. Tokyo Mirage killed Persona 3.

 

[Rahdulan]

It's all about dat dosh.

Core SMT is at least somewhat alive, relegated to portables, and SMT5 is in the works. I honestly wish they'd make an effort towards new Digital Devil Saga or Devil Summoner, though. How many dance games/crossover Persona entries do we need?

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Raidou is least possible. Yeah, it's moar lighthearted than mainline SMT but also belongs to classy old-fashioned pre-90's anime category so it's unappealing for modern audience.

 

[taxalot]

I do not know if it killed SMT but it sure killed Final Fantasy.

Which is good.

 

[Nathir]

Interesting read: https://www.reddit.com/r/Megaten/comments/d5ubzz/wheres_kaneko_some_context_from_a_japanese_fan/

 

[Hobo Elf]

SMT4 Apocalypse is my favorite entry in the series so idk. It's different, it has changed (SMT I mean), but how's that new? SMT3 was considerably different compared to the two previous titles. We'll see what SMT5 brings. The teasers really make it feel like they're trying to go scratch that Nocturne itch again, but who knows what the finished game will actually look like. I don't think Persona killed SMT though. I don't feel like it affected the series either. I know at the time when SMT4 came out and people were angry that it was like Persona, but I didn't see it.

 

[Raghar]

I dislike sequels upon sequels upon sequels. They can make another game, or series and it would be better than making same stuff.

 

[Ialda]

Interesting read: https://www.reddit.com/r/Megaten/comments/d5ubzz/wheres_kaneko_some_context_from_a_japanese_fan/

The bit about the copyright is interesting. I don't own any of the more recent SMT books so I can't verify it first hand, though.

Raidou is least possible. Yeah, it's moar lighthearted than mainline SMT but also belongs to classy old-fashioned pre-90's anime category so it's unappealing for modern audience.

We need more Taisho-era adventures with demons and Pulp characters... but the only candidate I see coming from Japan is Shin Sakura Taisen ;p