SMT: Nocturne

[Vorark]

Speaking of Devil Survivor, go straight for Overclocked because the original on NDS lacks the compedium.

 

[Tigranes]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

 

[Sarathiour]

Speaking of Devil Survivor, go straight for Overclocked because the original on NDS lacks the compedium.

What do you mean ? I'm pretty sure i had a compendium on the original one.

Going for overclocked is probably still the right idea, only still that's eventually doubtful in overclocked is that yuzu route is heavily extended, whereas in base that the one you want to do first in order to unlock the NG+ perk.

 

[d1r]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

 

[Tigranes]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

 

[d1r]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

Strange Journey Redux is a straight upgrade of the original game.

It's as simple as that.

The Kaneko art might be gone, but the new art is NOT that offensive to cull all the positive aspects (new dungeons, new music, new endings, new demons, new items, and so on) that come with the new version.

 

[WhiteShark]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

Strange Journey Redux is a straight upgrade of the original game.

It's as simple as that.

The Kaneko art might be gone, but the new art is NOT that offensive to cull all the positive aspects (new dungeons, new music, new endings, new demons, new items, and so on) that come with the new version.

Wrong. SJR adds save-anywhere, removes the cap on how many apps you can equip, and adds new overpowered apps, all of which neuter difficulty. On top of that, it invalidates the old endings with their extra oc donut steel new endings and character. And, I might add, the new art is indeed pretty lame.

 

[Puukko]

Redux has enough faults of its own that I wouldn't call it an objective upgrade. Mind you, there's no need to use the overpowered apps like 'MC death =/= game over' and there are new difficulty settings where OG had none so you can tune the difficulty to your liking. I played it on Expert without the OP apps (at least not until the very end when I was ready to finish game) and the difficulty there was spot on. It also emulates really well.

It has the usual Atlus brand magical girl who is just okay. The extra dungeon is good and whether the new endings are good or bad depends on the angle. The originals are straight up crazy with no discernible upsides, which might be appealing on its own, while the endings added in Redux have more nuance so they're toned down in that regard.

 

[Sentinel]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

Strange Journey Redux is a straight upgrade of the original game.

It's as simple as that.

The Kaneko art might be gone, but the new art is NOT that offensive to cull all the positive aspects (new dungeons, new music, new endings, new demons, new items, and so on) that come with the new version.

Wrong. SJR adds save-anywhere, removes the cap on how many apps you can equip, and adds new overpowered apps, all of which neuter difficulty. On top of that, it invalidates the old endings with their extra oc donut steel new endings and character. And, I might add, the new art is indeed pretty lame.

The redux content is entirely optional. You can ignore the 3 new endings as well as the new story and dugneon. The changes to app limit are good. In the original game the MC was a glorified cheerleader, literally worthless.
The "save anywhere" feature is also optional, and since he's playing on an emulator, he'll also have it available on OG.

Besides, Redux adds combat speed up options which come very handy and the fusion UI is a straight up improvement. The fact that demons will give you their essence immediately upon reaching max familiarity or whatever it's called is also way better than the original where you had to wait for them to level up again to trigger the event.

 

[Vorark]

What do you mean ? I'm pretty sure i had a compendium on the original one.

Nope, the original Devil Survivor shipped without it.

An enhanced port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS was released in North America on August 23, 2011.[1] Prior to its release, it was announced by Atlus at E3 2010. It was later fully revealed as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked.[1] New features include added plot with an eighth day that further explored the resolution. A compendium is also available, allowing the player to recover lost demons.[6] It also has full voice acting which concerned the staff due to the possibility of 20,000 words worth of voiced dialogue not fitting the cartridge.[38] The game also has the ability to choose different difficulty settings, and more than 150 demons (an increase from the original game, which featured 130 demons).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei:_Devil_Survivor#Remaster

 

[Average Manatee]

Devil Survivor had the demon bidding thing which sort of served the same role as a compendium but was less open to abusing by resumming perfect demons over and over for fusion. IMO it worked for the game and contributed a bit to the survival feeling.

 

[Nathir]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

Strange Journey Redux is a straight upgrade of the original game.

It's as simple as that.

The Kaneko art might be gone, but the new art is NOT that offensive to cull all the positive aspects (new dungeons, new music, new endings, new demons, new items, and so on) that come with the new version.

It really isn't a straight upgrade. It's a straight downgrade as far as art and story are concerned. And it has terrible anime voiceacting too boot.

 

[Sentinel]

Thanks everyone. I've set up both Strange Journey original & DS Overclocked, will see how it goes. SJO seems fine on RetroArch, DSO I'm doing on Citra standalone and we'll see if it holds up. I think doing DSO then going back to SJ might be good for fresh palate, and I like the Etrian Odyssey vibes on SJ. Will report back on bumbling progress.

I guess it is already well known that DSO opening & World Ends With You basically has identical vibes ja

There is absolutely no fucking reason to pick Strange Journey over Strange Journey Redux.

Tell me why and I'm open to changing! I looked a bit and it wasn't quite clear which is better and why.

Strange Journey Redux is a straight upgrade of the original game.

It's as simple as that.

The Kaneko art might be gone, but the new art is NOT that offensive to cull all the positive aspects (new dungeons, new music, new endings, new demons, new items, and so on) that come with the new version.

It really isn't a straight upgrade. It's a straight downgrade as far as art and story are concerned. And it has terrible anime voiceacting too boot.

You can turn off voices and not engage in the new story. It's well segmented.

 

[Tigranes]

Might as well update here:

Devil Survivor Overclocked - very good game, played through to the Gin route. Within the confines of the setting it does really well to choose the right kinds of plot points and events to express the slide from confusion to despair in a crumbling world. And again within animu conventions most characters are pretty good to work with. I especially liked the degree of control you had over fusion and the way you could then set up some nice combinations, esp. with racial skills as well.

The only lasting regret is that you cannot permanently eliminate the horrifying weeaboo girl with genuine sociopathy. Jesus christ.

Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker - I enjoyed DS1 so thought I'd push ahead to try this one out. It's a mixed bag - the story and characters are actually pretty OK for what they are, but fundamentally this becomes a Evangelion fan fiction and very far away from what I thought was the classic SMT vibe. All about superheros who are also 13 year olds (even the ones who aren't 13) learning about the power of friendship. The combat and fusion was still good enough to carry it through, though the new racial skills & stuff they added were too much, and by late game you are basically alpha-striking even most bosses without retaliation.

This time the shitty animu trope is the variations of "I am silver haired mysterious being and speak I in pretentious broken English using big words. You humans are so strange and wondrous! Is this what you call... a hamburger? Fascinating! You have taught me so much about the meaning of life!" Fuck me.

Now I can finally get on to Strange Journey.

 

[lightbane]

Devil Survivor Overclocked - very good game, played through to the Gin route. Within the confines of the setting it does really well to choose the right kinds of plot points and events to express the slide from confusion to despair in a crumbling world. And again within animu conventions most characters are pretty good to work with. I especially liked the degree of control you had over fusion and the way you could then set up some nice combinations, esp. with racial skills as well.

Have you played the original? Should I bother with this one if I already played the OG one?

The only lasting regret is that you cannot permanently eliminate the horrifying weeaboo girl with genuine sociopathy. Jesus christ.

You mean Yuzu, or the girl with glasses that can actually move 3/4 tiles (forgot how many they were) and is not complaining 24/7?

the story and characters are actually pretty OK for what they are,

Wut.
The characters in the second game are like the one you hate up to 11, all of them are clichés. There's even a male and female variations of tsundere who act identically to you, offering you food while saying they're not your friend or anything, almost word for word.
Also a big but kind giant who's a bit slow.

All about superheros who are also 13 year olds (even the ones who aren't 13) learning about the power of friendship.

The ones who don't are either freedom fighters, or nazi wannabes that talk about meritocracy, power and such, while he inherited superpowers from his clan with minimal effort.

and by late game you are basically alpha-striking even most bosses without retaliation.

Happens in the 1st game as well. Necessary because in both games bosses are gimmicky and deadly.

This time the shitty animu trope is the variations of "I am silver haired mysterious being and speak I in pretentious broken English using big words. You humans are so strange and wondrous! Is this what you call... a hamburger? Fascinating! You have taught me so much about the meaning of life!" Fuck me.

Don't play Persona 3 then. It has that one as well, and even more important plot-wise.

Now I can finally get on to Strange Journey.

Good one, if too similar to the classic games. Try the OG, then swap to the Redux without completing the first one for maximum effect. Shame the remake has shittier art.

 

[Sarathiour]

The only lasting regret is that you cannot permanently eliminate the horrifying weeaboo girl with genuine sociopathy. Jesus christ.

She's leaving if you take the overlord route.

 

[Sarathiour]

You mean Yuzu, or the girl with glasses that can actually move 3/4 tiles (forgot how many they were) and is not complaining 24/7?

Yuzu got extra speed (53 against 50) and better stat growth than the camgirl, who indeed can move up to 4 tiles in a turn.

 

[WhiteShark]

The only lasting regret is that you cannot permanently eliminate the horrifying weeaboo girl with genuine sociopathy. Jesus christ.

She's leaving if you take the overlord route.

Overlord route is the best. There's no reason to go any other route based on the logic of the setting.

 

[Tigranes]

lightbane because I am not creating a 24-quote monster:

Original vs Overclocked - never played original. This is my first time through Megatens.

Weeaboo girl - Midori. Yuzu whines all the time too, and most DS2 characters are idiotic cardboard cutouts ("I'm strong! I hate friends!!!!!"), but Midori goes the extra mile with hideous character design, non-stop SQUEEE, and in Overclocked, voice acting that is grounds for murder.

DS2 Story - Oops, yeah, it's massively worse than DS1. What I mean is if I accept that this is a derivative animu circus, then it rolls along pretty smoothly. I think I'd recommend anyone to just play DS1 only and move on, though.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is my favourite JRPG.

It is atmospheric, isolating, thought provoking, mysterious, and beautiful.

A friend played Redux and hated it; I put this down to the Redux being terrible and ruining artistic intent. What happens to a creative vision when a new auteur does not share it? I don't know if the company had the same people working for it years later, but it sounds like the atmosphere and isolation was diminished by terrible voice acting, and the art was rendered ugly. Unfortunately it has probably erased the superior original work from the public memory, which is what happens in a worst case remaster.

 

[Tigranes]

I fired up SJ original & redux to see, and I ended up playing Redux for a few hours (into start of Sector B). I see the differences, but I'm actually tempted to keep going with Redux in the sense that:

*Battle speed, fusion UI improvements, seeing what skills demons transform, additional save slots, are all really nice
*I'm not using emulator save states and not planning to use field saves, either
*I understand that some Apps are OP, and again they could be avoided if I know what they are / if they look obviously bad?
*Turned off VA, one thing that can't be avoided is art change though.

That said, Sector A was fairly comfortable difficulty-wise, and this is before really having any Apps - so surely that's not so different OG vs Redux?

Basically, I'd restart on original if there were unavoidable elements about Redux that fuck difficulty/pacing.

 

[Sentinel]

The difficulty in the OG game came from the save points, the game itself wasn't hard aside from BS bosses that might wipe 2 hours of progress cause lol no save.

Another thing was teleporting and pitfall mechanics in dungeons - in the original these were hidden on the map - basically had to either memorize where each teleporter took you or draw it on a paper map, in Redux there's an app that allows you to tap the teleporter on the bottom screen map and it'll ping the destination location, and another that reveals pitfalls.

If I remember correctly, none of these are gotten the very first time you encounter these mechanics, so they don't really ruin the sense of progression, or at least they didn't for me. I had time to be nervous about teleports/pitfalls and I had the sense of satisfaction when I got apps to deal with them.

Imo there is no point playing the original, despite the better art on the main cast.

 

[Sentinel]

Found this year's SMT Live Concert - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbwT28ZfOQkCNs5CQX97lMNoNIu6JLusO

Mostly Nocturne songs, also features SMT2, 4 and 4A.

 

[Nutmeg]

Can you skip cutscenes / dialogue in the re-release. Please tell me you can.

 

[Nutmeg]