Support NeoGAF

[Jawmuncher]

Oh man i'm going to have to take a step back and reevaluate how I jump into this game.
Going in I knew it was going to have the first person dungeon crawling like persona 1.
But already i'm having bad flashbacks with all the elevators and the like. I think I might have to play with a guide so that I don't go crazy. i don't mind grinding and exploring but I sure don't like being lost.

I'm really liking the setting though. So that should be enough to see me through.
Not feeling the more geared towards new comers though. You just get thrown into that first dungeon. unless i'm missing something.

Anyone have any tips on the game for someone like me?

 

[Kipe]

Oh man i'm going to have to take a step back and reevaluate how I jump into this game.
Going in I knew it was going to have the first person dungeon crawling like persona 1.
But already i'm having bad flashbacks with all the elevators and the like. I think I might have to play with a guide so that I don't go crazy. i don't mind grinding and exploring but I sure don't like being lost.

I'm really liking the setting though. So that should be enough to see me through.
Not feeling the more geared towards new comers though. You just get thrown into that first dungeon. unless i'm missing something.

Anyone have any tips on the game for someone like me?

Use the bottom screen map. It helped me out a lot figuring out where to go.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Use the bottom screen map. It helped me out a lot figuring out where to go.

I was but already all the elevators and the like made me put it down.
Persona 1 has seriously affected me more than I though, that game still traumatizes me.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I was but already all the elevators and the like made me put it down.
Persona 1 has seriously affected me more than I though, that game still traumatizes me.

If I let Persona 1 take its toll on me, I'd hate every SMT game. Just pretend that pile of shit doesn't exist.

 

[Kipe]

I was but already all the elevators and the like made me put it down.
Persona 1 has seriously affected me more than I though, that game still traumatizes me.

I also forgot, the one thing that made dungeon crawling easier was obtaining the demons in the dungeon and just talking your way out of battles. Of course you have to watch your magnetite levels if you constantly avoid battles.

 

[Jawmuncher]

If I let Persona 1 take its toll on me, I'd hate every SMT game. Just pretend that pile of shit doesn't exist.

Believe it almost had that affect on me.

I also forgot, the one thing that made dungeon crawling easier was obtaining the demons in the dungeon and just talking your way out of battles. Of course you have to watch your magnetite levels if you constantly avoid battles.

Ahh ok. Took a break but i'll be hopping back on it in a hour.
Reading the OT and some other things should make it easier for me to jump in.

 

[BearChair]

I beat the full game post-game bosses and all tonight and started a new game plus. I didn't really want to try for the extra game quite yet.

I only made it to the first vision quest.

What exactly are the changes in the new game plus compared to the first play through?

 

[Soriku]

The dungeons really aren't confusing. I'd say one late game one is, as well as one optional dungeon, but that's it.

Pro tip: Turn off the automap hack and turn it on temporarily when you want to see your surroundings. This way you can easily tell where you haven't gone. You pretty much never have to consult a FAQ or ask for help by doing this.

Also, this is a good game for newcomers because:

1. It's one of the easiest SMT games.
2. If you fight most battles it'll pay off because you'll overlevel and you can use Estoma or Repulse Water to avoid low level random encounters, ie. most or all of them given your level is high enough, which it should be. This makes the high encounter rate not drive you nuts, especially in the longer dungeons.
3. Automap on/off makes it easy to traverse dungeons.
4. The Backer Upper install lets you save anywhere.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Does anyone know how worth it it is to start NG+ before the Extra Game? Also, do the Pet Shop quests reset in a NG+?

Fairly pointless imo as you lose your level in NG+ . Unless you want to grind back to 85+ again to beat the bosses in the exhibit all. Just farm mags in the

Spoiler

Belzeebub

area so you can fuse mitama to all the high level demons and beat the ex game.

Then again you get nothing for beating the ex game besides a thank you message from Atlus.

 

[Soriku]

Fairly pointless imo as you lose your level in NG+ . Unless you want to grind back to 85+ again to beat the bosses in the exhibit all. Just farm mags in the

Spoiler

Belzeebub

area so you can fuse mitama to all the high level demons and beat the ex game.

Then again you get nothing for beating the ex game besides a thank you message from Atlus.

OK thanks. I want to grind to 85 for Shiva though :x Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

The reward itself doesn't matter. Beating all the bosses is enough for me.

 

[Jawmuncher]

The dungeons really aren't confusing. I'd say one late game one is, as well as one optional dungeon, but that's it.

Pro tip: Turn off the automap hack and turn it on temporarily when you want to see your surroundings. This way you can easily tell where you haven't gone. You pretty much never have to consult a FAQ or ask for help by doing this.

Also, this is a good game for newcomers because:

1. It's one of the easiest SMT games.
2. If you fight most battles it'll pay off because you'll overlevel and you can use Estoma or Repulse Water to avoid low level random encounters, ie. most or all of them given your level is high enough, which it should be. This makes the high encounter rate not drive you nuts, especially in the longer dungeons.
3. Automap on/off makes it easy to traverse dungeons.
4. The Backer Upper install lets you save anywhere.

Ok sounds good.
About to jump back in. Like I said earlier the biggest thing that got to me was the persona 1 flash backs. Should be good to go now.

 

[Vamphuntr]

OK thanks. I want to grind to 85 for Shiva though :x Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

The reward itself doesn't matter. Beating all the bosses is enough for me.

You will have to grind for LOTS of mags. The bosses they added to the 3DS version are kinda the bonus bosses of modern megaten games that requires really strong/demon characters to beat.

I spent about 450k mags only on mitama (w/ manual fusion to save mags). Make sure you use the high level demons as most of their stats can be increased to 40.

Like Hero Huang Di (83) or General Masakado (81) (since you can only have one at a time Huang Di is kinda better w/ megidola), Fury Shiva (85), Entity Alilat (82), Lady Xi Wangmu(81), Deity Vishnu(84), Herald Metatron (80), Tyrant Mitra (80). Most of them are Strong against everything and Null Expel/Death or at least reflect Death/Expel or Null Mind/Nerve.

Alilat is kinda OP if you fuse him well, mine had Mediolaon, Samarecarm and Mediarhan and can have 40 Str/Int/Ma.

The rooms in the ex game and their bosses are kinda easy. The issue is the exhibit hall which has 4 boss fight in a row and you are only healed after the first. The first two are easy with good demons but the third one is really annoying. The fourth one is kinda long but easy with Rakukaja + Tarunda + Makakaja.

 

[Totakeke]

Lower level demons can have their stats increased to all 40 as well, no? You don't have to use the high level demons.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Lower level demons can have their stats increased to all 40 as well, no? You don't have to use the high level demons.

Nope. Demons stats have caps.

EDIT : And only the really high level ones will let you have all STR/INT/AG/MA/EN at 35-40

 

[Soriku]

You will have to grind for LOTS of mags. The bosses they added to the 3DS version are kinda the bonus bosses of modern megaten games that requires really strong/demon characters to beat.

I spent about 450k mags only on mitama (w/ manual fusion to save mags). Make sure you use the high level demons as most of their stats can be increased to 40.

Like Hero Huang Di (83) or General Masakado (81) (since you can only have one at a time Huang Di is kinda better w/ megidola), Fury Shiva (85), Entity Alilat (82), Lady Xi Wangmu(81), Deity Vishnu(84), Herald Metatron (80), Tyrant Mitra (80). Most of them are Strong against everything and Null Expel/Death or at least reflect Death/Expel or Null Mind/Nerve.

Alilat is kinda OP if you fuse him well, mine had Mediolaon, Samarecarm and Mediarhan and can have 40 Str/Int/Ma.

The rooms in the ex game and their bosses are kinda easy. The issue is the exhibit hall which has 4 boss fight in a row and you are only healed after the first. The first two are easy with good demons but the third one is really annoying. The fourth one is kinda long but easy with Rakukaja + Tarunda + Makakaja.

Did you switch the difficulty to the lowest option? Saves a ton of MAG.

I'm planning on using Shiva, Vishnu, and Metatron. Should I use Lucifroz or make an Alilat? Lucifroz's main use would be Samarecarm and Mediarahan but Alilat has Megidolaon too...

Do you remember how you fused that Alilat? Also, do you think it's worth giving Metatron Megidolaon or another buff (which one?)? He already has Sukukaja innate. He also has Heaven's Vengeance, which I believe is an attack, but is it worth it over Megidolaon?

I think Shiva has Tarunda innate so that's good. Might give Shiva Rakukaja/Makakaja and give Vishnu whichever one Shiva doesn't have. If I do that, I'm not sure if I should give Metatron Rakukaja or Makakaja if Heaven's Vengeance as a replacement for Megidolaon is fine.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Did I waste levels by leveling up magic and int on my MC.....?

 

[cj_iwakura]

Did I waste levels by leveling up magic and int on my MC.....?

Yep.

 

[Soriku]

Did I waste levels by leveling up magic and int on my MC.....?

Magic, yes. Int is supposed to improve magic defense so not necessarily. Putting in a couple points in Int is probably a good idea.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Did you switch the difficulty to the lowest option? Saves a ton of MAG.

I'm planning on using Shiva, Vishnu, and Metatron. Should I use Lucifroz or make an Alilat? Lucifroz's main use would be Samarecarm and Mediarahan but Alilat has Megidolaon too...

Do you remember how you fused that Alilat? Also, do you think it's worth giving Metatron Megidolaon or another buff (which one?)? He already has Sukukaja innate. He also has Heaven's Vengeance, which I believe is an attack, but is it worth it over Megidolaon?

I think Shiva has Tarunda innate so that's good. Might give Shiva Rakukaja/Makakaja and give Vishnu whichever one Shiva doesn't have. If I do that, I'm not sure if I should give Metatron Rakukaja or Makakaja if Heaven's Vengeance as a replacement for Megidolaon is fine.

Alilat is Entity so you have to follow the rule given by the Pet Shop. I think it's during a full moon fuse a light demon and a dark demon with one of them being from:
Deity, Megami, Fury, Lady, Vile, Tyrant, Death

You can check at the pet shop anyway to be sure.

Your team above will have problems if you don't play with the alignment hack as Shiva is ExChaos while Metatron is ExLaw.

I didn't use the Nemechi demons much so I can't really comment on them. It's really your call in the end but transferring Kaja skills specifically can be tricky. The high levels demons usually can inherit all skills but the skills themselves have different inheritance priority. My Xi Wangmu and Shiva had Rakukaja but I'm not sure if it's in their basic skills. I only used Makakaja in the last fight and I used Reaper Mot (72, I think) to cast it then unsummoned it.

Most of the high level demons I mentionned will have Megidola which is stronger than Medigolaon but hits only on a line which is good too.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Did you switch the difficulty to the lowest option? Saves a ton of MAG.

I'm planning on using Shiva, Vishnu, and Metatron. Should I use Lucifroz or make an Alilat? Lucifroz's main use would be Samarecarm and Mediarahan but Alilat has Megidolaon too...

Do you remember how you fused that Alilat? Also, do you think it's worth giving Metatron Megidolaon or another buff (which one?)? He already has Sukukaja innate. He also has Heaven's Vengeance, which I believe is an attack, but is it worth it over Megidolaon?

I think Shiva has Tarunda innate so that's good. Might give Shiva Rakukaja/Makakaja and give Vishnu whichever one Shiva doesn't have. If I do that, I'm not sure if I should give Metatron Rakukaja or Makakaja if Heaven's Vengeance as a replacement for Megidolaon is fine.

If you give Metatron Megidolaon, you can fuse him with a Salamander to rank him up to make a Lucifer Frost that has Megidolaon.

Lower level demons can have their stats increased to all 40 as well, no? You don't have to use the high level demons.

Demons can only have, at most, double their base stats.

 

[Soriku]

Alilat is Entity so you have to follow the rule given by the Pet Shop. I think it's during a full moon fuse a light demon and a dark demon with one of them being from:
Deity, Megami, Fury, Lady, Vile, Tyrant, Death

You can check at the pet shop anyway to be sure.

Your team above will have problems if you don't play with the alignment hack as Shiva is ExChaos while Metatron is ExLaw.

I didn't use the Nemechi demons much so I can't really comment on them. It's really your call in the end but transferring Kaja skills specifically can be tricky. The high levels demons usually can inherit all skills but the skills themselves have different inheritance priority. My Xi Wangmu and Shiva had Rakukaja but I'm not sure if it's in their basic skills. I only used Makakaja in the last fight and I used Reaper Mot (72, I think) to cast it then unsummoned it.

Most of the high level demons I mentionned will have Megidola which is stronger than Medigolaon but hits only on a line which is good too.

I use the alignment hack so no worries.

I don't believe Shiva has innate Rakukaja so if it's easy to get that on him I'll try. Then just have Vishnu with Makakaja. I'd like to use Makakaja since it's really useful and makes a notable difference in damage. Of course it'd suck if the bosses can use Dekaja lol (same goes for any other buff). Can they?

If you give Metatron Megidolaon, you can fuse him with a Salamander to rank him up to make a Lucifer Frost that has Megidolaon.

Wait...you can fuse Lucifroz? I thought you could only get him with Nemechi. Hmm. If Medarahan and Samarecarm are innate with him and not just Nemechi skills that'd be cool.

Though Alilat has higher HP and MP and a higher level. Lower stats but that can be rectified with Mitamas I guess if Alilat's stat cap is 40. Hmm...decisions decisions lol.

Edit: Oh, so stat caps are only double stats at most? In that case Lucifroz would work better since he has higher stats.

 

[TurnipFritters]

I use the alignment hack so no worries.

I don't believe Shiva has innate Rakukaja so if it's easy to get that on him I'll try. Then just have Vishnu with Makakaja. I'd like to use Makakaja since it's really useful and makes a notable difference in damage. Of course it'd suck if the bosses can use Dekaja lol (same goes for any other buff). Can they?



Wait...you can fuse Lucifroz? I thought you could only get him with Nemechi. Hmm. If Medarahan and Samarecarm are innate with him and not just Nemechi skills that'd be cool.

Though Alilat has higher HP and MP. Lower stats but that can be rectified with Mitamas I guess if Alilat's stat cap is 40. Hmm...decisions decisions lol.

Once you buy them from Nemechi, they become fusable.

Other thoughts:
Lucifronz's resists are something like 10% damage from all magic except almighty and 150% damage from guns and skills, while Alilat's is 80% from everything except Almighty. Lucifronz is highly resistant to Death and Expel, while Alilat nullifies them. Ultimately I think Lucifronz would be better because he can max Ag though.

 

[PhoenixSFT]

Damn, just got my ass handed to me in the warehouse. Guess I should go back upstairs and get the insulated clothes.

 

[Soriku]

Once you buy them from Nemechi, they become fusable.

Oh OK. That's useful.

Damn, just got my ass handed to me in the warehouse. Guess I should go back upstairs and get the insulated clothes.

If you talked to the one dude already you might already have them. You have to equip it manually.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Oh yeah, you may want to check out Lucifronz's lunar cycle. I actually don't know what it is because I have yet to unlock him, but for what it's worth both Shiva and Alilat are strong during the Full Moon (Vishnu and Metatron are unaffected by the lunar cycle).

 

[CSX]

I got a Heqet stuck at level 4 loyalty. Sly personality and i keep on using maragi. Loyalty hasnt increased for past 10 battles

 

[TurnipFritters]

I got a Heqet stuck at level 4 loyalty. Sly personality and i keep on using maragi. Loyalty hasnt increased for past 10 battles

get her love drunk off your humps
wait
i mean, get her drunk on sake that turns her personality to kind then have her use the guard command until her loyalty is maxed out

 

[Soriku]

Goddamn grinding is a pain. Demons only seem to give 100-200 EXP most of the time in the highest level areas. And I need like 18k or more EXP per level. I'm close to 82 but this is taking forever...but then again this is a SMT game.

Putting battle effects off speeds things up a bit btw.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Sat down and played for 2 and a half hours after the Bulls-Heat game ended.

Yep, this game is good.

Honestly, I don't even know why I like the dungeon crawling. It's just... oddly satisfying and addictive. Even this early on.

 

[Ultrabum]

Gaf, wtf am I doing wrong. I have 0 money and 0 mag. I cannot get anymore. Walk around I use more mag than I get from killing enemies. All of my demons have max loyalty. Is there some status effect on me or something? I don't understand.

 

[Horseticuffs]

Gaf, wtf am I doing wrong. I have 0 money and 0 mag. I cannot get anymore. Walk around I use more mag than I get from killing enemies. All of my demons have max loyalty. Is there some status effect on me or something? I don't understand.

Have you tried lowering the difficulty? It makes the Mag cost of everything way smaller.

 

[Soriku]

Gaf, wtf am I doing wrong. I have 0 money and 0 mag. I cannot get anymore. Walk around I use more mag than I get from killing enemies. All of my demons have max loyalty. Is there some status effect on me or something? I don't understand.

How many demons do you have in your party? Remove some.

You see the number next to CP in a demon's status? That indicates how much MAG that demon takes up per step in a dungeon. You'll want to use only a few demons so you keep your MAG up.

 

[Soulhouf]

Gaf, wtf am I doing wrong. I have 0 money and 0 mag. I cannot get anymore. Walk around I use more mag than I get from killing enemies. All of my demons have max loyalty. Is there some status effect on me or something? I don't understand.

I usually walk around with only one or two demons in the dungeons to minimize MAG costs and summon a full party against bosses.
When I need more MAGs, I just use attract water.
I'm playing hard mode though...

 

[Ultrabum]

Ah. well I've had 6 out the entire time, that seems to be the problem then.

 

[Soulhouf]

Goddamn grinding is a pain. Demons only seem to give 100-200 EXP most of the time in the highest level areas. And I need like 18k or more EXP per level. I'm close to 82 but this is taking forever...but then again this is a SMT game.

Putting battle effects off speeds things up a bit btw.

I don't activate battle effects because they are useless. I'm glad we are given the option to disable them.
As for EXP, be aware that the higher your level, the less exp you gain from battles. So yeah... but I will do it for Vishnu <3

 

[GeekyDad]

Anyone know how to find/fuse Nata Taishi?

 

[Soriku]

Anyone know how to find/fuse Nata Taishi?

I don't know an exact fusion but it's very easy to fuse one (and other demons) without knowing the specifics. Make use of the Formula option at Goumaden to do this. It's important to know how to do this since we don't have any comprehensive FAQs with combinations.

He's a level 30 Genma, so all you have to do is find a combination of 2-3 demons that make a Genma, and are a bit below lvl 30. By doing this the demons you use will "rank up" to a certain level demon higher than them, and they should net you a Genma that's a bit higher leveled than them, ie. a Nata Taishi in this case if you're fusing a Genma. Or you can use a demon or two higher leveled than him, and have one or two that are noticeably lower than 30 so it balances out and you end up with him.

This is basically the deconstruction of the formula system.

 

[GeekyDad]

Thanks. That worked.

 

[PhoenixSFT]

If you talked to the one dude already you might already have them. You have to equip it manually.

Oooh, I have to equip them...Crap, that'd be good to know. Thanks!

 

[CSX]

So i convinced a demon to join me but he said "Oh you have no more room for me. Let's talk next time."

So i went back and fused a bit, did a few more battles, and the same demon reappears.

I was expecting to bribe him again but he said "Oh hey it's you! You got room now? Nice to join ya"

This game is awesome

 

[Meowtor]

just picked this up yesterday, whats a good build for the MC?

 

[CSX]

just picked this up yesterday, whats a good build for the MC?

From what i understand, he can't do any magic so avoid putting points on that.

I'm making him a melee beast

 

[Soulhouf]

I just beat it, after 32 hours, hard mode. The final boss was almost a pushover.
My review (on legendra) is in progress but here is a quick opinion.

I liked:
+Dungeons ultra fun to explore. The level design is brilliant, varied and always fascinating.
+One of the best conversation system.
+The alternation between the real world and the virtual world and the vision quest system
+Meticulous cyber punk atmosphere in general
+Battles are speedy and very smooth
+Simplistic gameplay but very efficient
+The characters are very memorable and the comeback of some familiar faces such as Rei or Dr. Drill is always a pleasure.
+Kaneko did a kick ass job by redrawing almost every demon and creating many new ones.
+Beautiful beautiful music composed by 3 veterans of the series: Tsukasa Masuko, Toshiko Tasaki and Shoji Meguro.
+First class English voices. We have almost Demon's Souls/Deadly Premonition quality. This is probably the most pleasant surprise in the 3DS version
+Being able to increase the difficulty level (the original game was easy).

I didn't like
-The hero is too discreet.
-UI isn't very ergonomic. Why is the only button to advance dialogue is "A"? Why can't we skip conversations/CG?
-Being able to change hacks on the fly (such as the difficulty level) completely break the game. Human is a weak race and we are all tempted to concede to the temptation.

Anyway, I loved this port and I'm so glad Atlus didn't screw it up (I still have nightmares of the 1st Persona PSP).
This game was made for me, a brilliant port which succeeded to push my buttons. Kudos Atlus for bringing it to the US after 16 years~

My final score: I hesitate between 8 and 9/10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I do ranking, it would be something like:

SMTIII Nocturne Maniax
SMTII
SMT if...
Devil Summoner Soul Hackers
SMT Strange Journey
SMT
SMT Devil Summoner
Devil Summoner 4
Persona 2 Eternal Punishement
Persona 2 Innocent Sin
Persona 3
Devil Summoner 3
Persona

I won't rank P4 or Degital Devil Saga 1&2 since I didn't like them enough to beat them.

 

[CSX]

+Kaneko did a kick ass job by redrawing almost every demon and creating many new ones.

really? I thought they were the designs from the original game?

 

[Soulhouf]

really? I thought they were the designs from the original game?

Yes, I mean he did a kick ass job in the original game of course.

 

[ForteanMan]

Thanks. That worked.

Ok just curious, which demons did you end up using in order to fuse Nata Taishi? I tried numerous times to follow the "formula" to get a level 30 Genma, but I'm clearly doing something wrong......

 

[Soriku]

just picked this up yesterday, whats a good build for the MC?

First, forget Magic since the MC can't use spells.

AGI and EN are probably the most important. Putting in a couple points in Int will help with magic defense. Str helps for random enemies mostly, as late game physical damage will fall by the wayside in favor of magic. Put in some points but don't focus on it. Later on it's better for your MC to use Support or just Guard really. At least for bosses.

Also, when Spooky asks what do you think of Hitomi in the beginning of the game, he gives you three options (Calm, Cheerful, Sexy) and depending on your choice Nemissa's skillset will change. IMO Sexy is far and away the best choice

Ok just curious, which demons did you end up using in order to fuse Nata Taishi? I tried numerous times to follow the "formula" to get a level 30 Genma, but I'm clearly doing something wrong......

What result do you get?

 

[GeekyDad]

Whelp, great story. The voice acting wasn't great, especially at the end, but the story was really good.

Just curious, is the "Extra Game" considered NG+, or is that where you do the bonus dungeons/bosses?

 

[Soriku]

Whelp, great story. The voice acting wasn't great, especially at the end, but the story was really good.

Just curious, is the "Extra Game" considered NG+, or is that where you do the bonus dungeons/bosses?

Go to Sea Ark floor 11 for an optional dungeon. Once you beat it and go through the final locked door you get the option of rewinding time and starting NG+.

Extra Game involves another dungeon and more bosses. You don't have to be in NG+ to do it.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Whelp, great story. The voice acting wasn't great, especially at the end, but the story was really good.

Just curious, is the "Extra Game" considered NG+, or is that where you do the bonus dungeons/bosses?

It's an optional extra boss section.

And regarding the voices at the end, I bet you mean

Spoiler

Kadokura. He was hilarious. SOULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLS