Shin Megami Tensei

apathy

apathy

how'd i get to be so good?
I know we got a couple of fans of this series here on MAF, so I decided to make a thread dedicated to discussing all things Megaten

I won't go into too much detail explaining these games because there's so many of them and they often have their own ideas, but to some it up very simply they're a JRPG franchise by Atlus that has you recruiting demons through negotiation and fighting your way through dungeons.
The most popular entry in this franchise is the Persona sub-series, which has effectively become it's own thing at this point.

To those who have played them, which entry is your favorite? Do you prefer SMT or Persona? Are you looking forward to SMTV, and will you be picking up a copy of Nocturne HD when it's localized?
 
So since I'm a PC only player, I have only played persona 4 which got a PC release this year. I was loving it despite it not being anything like any of the games I usually play. One downside is just how unbelievably long it is. I bought it when it came out and I still have not finished it because if it's not over after 70 hours of playing it does loose it's charm. I wonder why all JRPGs are so long I had dropped Tales of Berseria too when I found out after many many hours of playing I wasn't near the end but only ike 1/3rd of the way though.
Anyway fingers are still crossed for persona 5's PC port.
 
I wanna play Persona 5 first. It's part of PS+ Collection on PS5 so I'll play it there. Plus it looks more interesting and stylish whereas SMT looks like your typical run of the mill JRPG with anime tier voice acting.
 
I've played the persona version of the series and enjoy it greatly. Though I hear this version can be a drag at times.
 
Burnsy said:
So since I'm a PC only player, I have only played persona 4 which got a PC release this year. I was loving it despite it not being anything like any of the games I usually play. One downside is just how unbelievably long it is. I bought it when it came out and I still have not finished it because if it's not over after 70 hours of playing it does loose it's charm. I wonder why all JRPGs are so long I had dropped Tales of Berseria too when I found out after many many hours of playing I wasn't near the end but only ike 1/3rd of the way though.
Anyway fingers are still crossed for persona 5's PC port.
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Yeah they're definitely long games, the version on Steam is the expanded version which took me over 100 hours to beat. The original PS2 only took me about 70 in total, so I can't blame you for starting to feel burnt out on it.
I definitely see P5 getting a PC port. SMT Nocturne HD I'd say is next in line, but apparently there's "big plans" for the Persona 25th anniversary next year, and Sega are apparently "aggressively" pushing for PC ports, so I think we may even see a P5 port next year.


MadaraUchiha said:
I wanna play Persona 5 first. It's part of PS+ Collection on PS5 so I'll play it there. Plus it looks more interesting and stylish whereas SMT looks like your typical run of the mill JRPG with anime tier voice acting.
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P5 is a good start but be warned, starting there does make it more difficult to get into earlier entries unless you have a stomach for older games. P4G isn't too bad to go to after, but it will feel a bit bare not being in HD and all, but P3 and definitely the PS1 games a lot of people can struggle to get into if they started with 5.

SMT is almost as good as Persona in my opinion, but it simply hasn't received the budget that Persona games do, so they can feel a bit cheap. I'd keep an eye on SMTV next year on Switch, I'm certain that will be the entry that makes SMT a popular franchise instead of just Persona.

Demon_skeith said:
I've played the persona version of the series and enjoy it greatly. Though I hear this version can be a drag at times.
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Persona is a lot more story-heavy than the SMT games, and despite liking the calendar system in P3-5 I have to admit it can be the cause of some really bad pacing issues.
P5 probably had the worst pacing of the bunch, so considering a new director will be taking over the series I kind of expect P6 to drop the calendar.
 
apathy said:
P5 is a good start but be warned, starting there does make it more difficult to get into earlier entries unless you have a stomach for older games. P4G isn't too bad to go to after, but it will feel a bit bare not being in HD and all, but P3 and definitely the PS1 games a lot of people can struggle to get into if they started with 5.

SMT is almost as good as Persona in my opinion, but it simply hasn't received the budget that Persona games do, so they can feel a bit cheap. I'd keep an eye on SMTV next year on Switch, I'm certain that will be the entry that makes SMT a popular franchise instead of just Persona.
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My PC is so trash I doubt it'd even run P4G. And the switch is pretty much non existent in my country so I'd have trouble when it comes to repair and warranty if I buy one and it develops issues. And I know it will, the joycon is a faulty product after all.

By the way, what would you say is the difference between P5 Royal and Vanilla P5?
 
I think a shorter list is what haven’t I played, which would be Megaten 2 and SMT 2

The old games are interesting, but you gotta really love your old school first person dungeon crawlers
 
MadaraUchiha said:
My PC is so trash I doubt it'd even run P4G. And the switch is pretty much non existent in my country so I'd have trouble when it comes to repair and warranty if I buy one and it develops issues. And I know it will, the joycon is a faulty product after all.

By the way, what would you say is the difference between P5 Royal and Vanilla P5?
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Dang, that's really rough. Hopefully some of these games get put put on the PS Store or something like that, a lot of them really aren't easily playable at all.

I've actually yet to play Royal myself believe it or not. I imagine (and have heard) it's basically just P5 + some new scenes + new dungeon at the end. It's actually supposed to be really well written though, so I'd recommend it over the original unless you see the original going for like $15/$20.


Nice that's really impressive considering how many obscure entries exist within the franchise! I really like the atmosphere the older games have but yeah I'm definitely not in the mood for them all the time, and I've yet to actually complete any of the pre-PS1 entries.
 
[quote="apathy" pid='233553' dateline='1609157613']
Nice that's really impressive considering how many obscure entries exist within the franchise! I really like the atmosphere the older games have but yeah I'm definitely not in the mood for them all the time, and I've yet to actually complete any of the pre-PS1 entries.
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Tbh I’m probably forgetting about some of the more obscure ones. I was aiming more for the big name RPG titles.

It is a shame that the majority of Persona fans only care about Persona 3-5, and nothing else.
 

Even still, I imagine that would be more than me. I've only finished 9 megaten games, I think, but I've played a good bit more than that.

Admittedly, Nu-Persona would actually be my favorite of the bunch too (it was how I was introduced to MT back in '09) but I agree that a lot of these fans just aren't very open-minded... I don't expect everyone to go back and play the SNES games but I don't see any reason why these fans wont give something like Digital Devil Saga a chance, for example. SMTV and Nocturne HD I'm hoping will be what draws them in.
 
[quote="apathy" pid='233581' dateline='1609160655']

Even still, I imagine that would be more than me. I've only finished 9 megaten games, I think, but I've played a good bit more than that.

Admittedly, Nu-Persona would actually be my favorite of the bunch too (it was how I was introduced to MT back in '09) but I agree that a lot of these fans just aren't very open-minded... I don't expect everyone to go back and play the SNES games but I don't see any reason why these fans wont give something like Digital Devil Saga a chance, for example. SMTV and Nocturne HD I'm hoping will be what draws them in.
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I feel that most Persona fans are really there for the life sim elements, because I really hoped that when SMT4 and Strange Journey 3DS dropped, they would use that as a platform to get them into the other titles like Digital Devil Saga or Nocturne, but they absolutely HATED both of them for basically being a SMT game. Lack of life sims, demon recruitment, being dark and dreary.

Tbh a lot of RPG franchises have large chunks of the community refuse to acknowledge before their introductory entry, or they only like that one game. For example, I’m a massive Dragon Quest fan, but until 11 came out, 8 was the only one relatively anyone cared about.
 
apathy said:
Dang, that's really rough. Hopefully some of these games get put put on the PS Store or something like that, a lot of them really aren't easily playable at all.

I've actually yet to play Royal myself believe it or not. I imagine (and have heard) it's basically just P5 + some new scenes + new dungeon at the end. It's actually supposed to be really well written though, so I'd recommend it over the original unless you see the original going for like $15/$20.
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I'm surprised P4G not available for PS4. Strange. Anyway P5 is available on PS+ collection for PS5 so I'll get it there I just wanted to know about P5R.
 

Well, I can kinda understand them struggling to get into those games - I would always recommend a Nu-Persona fan to try any of the other PS2 games first, purely because they have 3D environments. A lot of SMT4 does too, but I wouldn't blame them if they thought the battles looked cheaply made. I do agree the Life Sim is the main reason they're into those games though, so maybe I am just being overly optimistic hoping SMTV will be the gateway entry.

That's true about Dragon Quest, I've only ever played 11 myself but even before that 8 was the only game I ever heard mentioned.

MadaraUchiha said:
I'm surprised P4G not available for PS4. Strange. Anyway P5 is available on PS+ collection for PS5 so I'll get it there I just wanted to know about P5R.
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I'm fairly certain P4G will end up on PS4 soon enough, but I agree it's odd they didn't launch it alongside the Steam version. That's Atlus for you though.
 
apathy said:
Well, I can kinda understand them struggling to get into those games - I would always recommend a Nu-Persona fan to try any of the other PS2 games first, purely because they have 3D environments. A lot of SMT4 does too, but I wouldn't blame them if they thought the battles looked cheaply made. I do agree the Life Sim is the main reason they're into those games though, so maybe I am just being overly optimistic hoping SMTV will be the gateway entry.

That's true about Dragon Quest, I've only ever played 11 myself but even before that 8 was the only game I ever heard mentioned.


I'm fairly certain P4G will end up on PS4 soon enough, but I agree it's odd they didn't launch it alongside the Steam version. That's Atlus for you though.
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Given their reluctance when it comes to porting due to unfamiliarity with other hardware (according to them) and their experience with PS4 I thought it'd be possible but oh well. I have been meaning to get into JRPGs for quite sometime though, hopefully I can next year with Yakuza 7 and P5. And maybe DQ11S too which looks cool.
 
[quote="MadaraUchiha" pid='233766' dateline='1609249199']

Given their reluctance when it comes to porting due to unfamiliarity with other hardware (according to them) and their experience with PS4 I thought it'd be possible but oh well. I have been meaning to get into JRPGs for quite sometime though, hopefully I can next year with Yakuza 7 and P5. And maybe DQ11S too which looks cool.
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Tbh I find it funny that earlier you thought SMT looks like a generic JRPG, but DQ11 looks cool, despite DQ being THE generic RPG, as it’s the template everyone based themselves off. SMT stood out from the crowd with the cyberpunk and/or post apocalyptic settings.
 
[quote="Grungie" pid='233769' dateline='1609249862']

Tbh I find it funny that earlier you thought SMT looks like a generic JRPG, but DQ11 looks cool, despite DQ being THE generic RPG, as it’s the template everyone based themselves off. SMT stood out from the crowd with the cyberpunk and/or post apocalyptic settings.
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I just like the aesthetic in DQ I guess, it looks nice. I saw SMT5 in that Nintendo Direct(which led to a big meltdown though damn) and it looked kinda ugly. And I still am not sure what the gameplay loop is like. Given that I don't like turn based combat I'd probably prefer the simplicity of DQ.
 
[quote="MadaraUchiha" pid='233773' dateline='1609255307']

I just like the aesthetic in DQ I guess, it looks nice. I saw SMT5 in that Nintendo Direct(which led to a big meltdown though damn) and it looked kinda ugly. And I still am not sure what the gameplay loop is like. Given that I don't like turn based combat I'd probably prefer the simplicity of DQ.
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Most SMT games, including Persona, have you exploiting elemental weaknesses for more turns. DQ hasn’t evolved in the gameplay department in 35 years, so it’s just started turn based combat.

But yeah, I was just making the comment on SMT on being generic looking, but DQ started the medieval fantasy setting, which is even more generic in the genre, but with DBZ characters and monster designs.
 
[quote="Grungie" pid='233775' dateline='1609259888']

Most SMT games, including Persona, have you exploiting elemental weaknesses for more turns. DQ hasn’t evolved in the gameplay department in 35 years, so it’s just started turn based combat.

But yeah, I was just making the comment on SMT on being generic looking, but DQ started the medieval fantasy setting, which is even more generic in the genre, but with DBZ characters and monster designs.
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Yeah I get that but I don't know I guess it looks pretty and isn't too anime maybe? I just have an aversion to anime aesthetic in games not sure why and for some reason Persona hasn't made me cringe and looks very interesting.
 
[quote="MadaraUchiha" pid='233785' dateline='1609268511']

Yeah I get that but I don't know I guess it looks pretty and isn't too anime maybe? I just have an aversion to anime aesthetic in games not sure why and for some reason Persona hasn't made me cringe and looks very interesting.
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DQ characters aren’t super anime tropey, and outside of 8 and 11, they usually don’t talk either, they’re mostly based on DnD archetypes for the classes. Persona is anime tropes up the wahoo. Outside of the thief motive when you go into the shadow realm (or whatever it was called) it’s basically an anime life/dating sim.
 
Alright I finally finished Persona 4 golden. I thought the game would never end. Day after day of starting at school, going to the shopping district, coming back home, going up stairs and sleeping and then repeat till something happens in the story. How did they think this was good game design? Even though I was enjoying immensely at first it became the most repetitive game I've ever seen. And then there's the grinding. I had to go back and farm levels off mobs because some bosses become nearly impossible to beat. That is my gripe with all RPGs be it Dark souls, JRPGs or cyberpunk 2077. It puts mediocre players on the same level as skilled players though simple grinding.

But I did like the turn based combat aspect very much. There are so many boss fights that made me rethink my strategy, my build, my teammates and learning interactions and it was most certainly a thinking person's game which I definitely didn't expect out of this game.
Overall very much enjoyed it despite it being so old and having many flaws. Now this might be the time I might move on to the next entry of the series but Atlus being the dinguses they apparently are going to release a PC version of the sequel to P5 while the original isn't even available for the PC.
 
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