Support NeoGAF

[Laughing Banana]

....I am currently playing Devil Survivor 2, and SMT games really can make it look like the computer is deliberately cheating you by making the attacks from the enemies hit harder and almost always connect...even the status effect ones.

My party doing elemental dances/multi-hit physical attacks like Berserk or Deathbound: 2-3 hits at most, most of the time. The enemies doing them: holy shit they hit 5-6 times!

My party doing status effect attacks like Paralyzing Eyes or +Stone/Poison/Paralyze, almost never connects. The enemies doing it... "God damn it need Affection or Amrita STAT!"

Not to mention how often the enemies getting Critical doing physical attacks and how sometimes (it feels like quite often, though) even when I'm striking enemies' weaknesses my teams do not get extra turns.

Not to mention spawns, spawns, back-ups, spawns, and don't let them get away/don't let them get killed missions............. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

......However, it must be said that winning the skirmishes in this game do entail a much greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishments that most games available out there.

 

[Absoludacrous]

P3P so far is sweet for typically not liking these types of games. The "skip" feature on battles is especially nice. The whole social thing so far isn't pulling me in like I feel it should though. Don't care about a lot of the characters so far (4~ hours).

Which personas should I focus on making, or is it purely opinion based?

Edit: I started on easy, anticipating that it'd be a hard game. Kinda blowing through it right now, only died once and used a revive. Will the rest of the game be like this?

There are a couple level-check bosses as you work your way up the tower, but I didn't find anything overly difficult, especially if you have prior SMT experience. If you're playing on easy you'll probably blow through it without any trouble though. I'd really recommend restarting on normal if the difficulty is bothering you.

As for personas, you should really only focus on making fusions for higher level demons as you work your way up, keeping an eye on enemy weaknesses on the floors you're going through. Try to get as many different demons as possible, that way you can fill your compedium, which will make getting a specific demon later on much easier.

Bringing personas of the approproate arcana when you do social links also helps level the links faster, which is something to keep in mind.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

So yeah I'm playing SMT II. Man this game is great. It has a few issues (I think its way too easy) but so far its really good. Man, even back then Atlus made JRPGs that weren't childish. The setting is incredible.

 

[Koroviev]

....I am currently playing Devil Survivor 2, and SMT games really can make it look like the computer is deliberately cheating you by making the attacks from the enemies hit harder and almost always connect...even the status effect ones.

My party doing elemental dances/multi-hit physical attacks like Berserk or Deathbound: 2-3 hits at most, most of the time. The enemies doing them: holy shit they hit 5-6 times!

My party doing status effect attacks like Paralyzing Eyes or +Stone/Poison/Paralyze, almost never connects. The enemies doing it... "God damn it need Affection or Amrita STAT!"

Not to mention how often the enemies getting Critical doing physical attacks and how sometimes (it feels like quite often, though) even when I'm striking enemies' weaknesses my teams do not get extra turns.

Not to mention spawns, spawns, back-ups, spawns, and don't let them get away/don't let them get killed missions............. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

......However, it must be said that winning the skirmishes in this game do entail a much greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishments that most games available out there.

Berserk and deathbound are okay, but multi-hit/strike is where it's at. Create a demon with high Srt/Ag and bring swift, violent death down upon on your enemies!

I never really bother with debuffing. As you point out, they almost always miss. However, attaching a debuff to physical attacks can be fairly effective.

Don't forget that your Ag stat also factors into extra turns. Also, tetrakarn/wall can be a very effective means of gaining extra turns for a magic team. Use makarakarn/barrier for a physical team.

Yep, that is a feature of the AI. To prevent that, don't kill party leaders, just the allies. Drain is a great way to severely weaken a team without completely destroying it. Once you've reduced the team to a shell (i.e. only the leader remaining with low hp/mp), it won't pose a threat to you anymore, and moreover, the boss won't summon additional mobs.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Berserk and deathbound are okay, but multi-hit/strike is where it's at. Create a demon with high Srt/Ag and bring swift, violent death down upon on your enemies!

I never really bother with debuffing. As you point out, they almost always miss. However, attaching a debuff to physical attacks can be fairly effective.

Don't forget that your Ag stat also factors into extra turns. Also, tetrakarn/wall can be a very effective means of gaining extra turns for a magic team. Use makarakarn/barrier for a physical team.

Yep, that is a feature of the AI. To prevent that, don't kill party leaders, just the allies. Drain is a great way to severely weaken a team without completely destroying it. Once you've reduced the team to a shell (i.e. only the leader remaining with low hp/mp), it won't pose a threat to you anymore, and moreover, the boss won't summon additional mobs.

I am using my MC as a Mike Tyson type, since on the 100-200 hours I've spent on the 1st Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor: Overclocked the MC was always the Gandalf / Dumbledore type, so I want something different this time around.

I am currently focusing on spreading my level up stats on Strength and Agility, with a few invested in Vitality and none in Magic. I don't know whether this will screw me up in the end but we'll see, I guess. What's your MC looked like?

I desperately want that Pierce and Multi-strike to appear fast, though. Have fond memories of Atsuro or Garudas completely wiping out teams with Multi-strike on Devil Survivor Overclocked, hahaha. I am currently just about to begin on the 4th day and my MC is equipped with Power Hit, Multi-hit, Dia, Anti-Phys, Double Strike, Phys Boost, and Marksman. Paralyzing effect attacks annoy me to no end when it inflicts my MC and it seems so many of them this time around *sigh*

As for the Fate links, I am intending to focus on Io, Airi, and Joe first. Once they're full, then I'll work on the rest. Not really care about Daichi since from what I can see his role is somewhat to Atsuro--good agility + strength + okay magic--and there's only one room for a Mike Tyson character in my team in the MC.

I am contemplating whether I should swap Io/Airi/Joe for Fumi though, since her magic stat looks delicious and can complement Drain nicely.... hmmmm.

 

[Koroviev]

I am using my MC as a Mike Tyson type, since on the 100-200 hours I've spent on the 1st Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor: Overclocked the MC was always the Gandalf / Dumbledore type, so I want something different this time around.

I am currently focusing on spreading my level up stats on Strength and Agility, with a few invested in Vitality and none in Magic. I don't know whether this will screw me up in the end but we'll see, I guess. What's your MC looked like?

I desperately want that Pierce and Multi-strike to appear fast, though. Have fond memories of Atsuro or Garudas completely wiping out teams with Multi-strike on Devil Survivor Overclocked, hahaha.

As for the Fate links, I am intending to focus on Io, Airi, and Joe first. Once they're full, then I'll work on the rest. Not really care about Daichi since from what I can see his role is somewhat to Atsuro--good agility + strength + okay magic--and there's only one room for Mike Tyson character in my team.

I am contemplating whether I should swap Io/Airi/Joe for Fumi though, since her magic stat looks delicious and can complement Drain nicely.... hmmmm.

My first MC was a mage. I haven't put much time into my second playthrough yet, but this time I'm pursuing a physical build. Going to be much easier with multi-strike already cracked and ready to go. You might want to invest some points into magic, as it influences not only the potency of your magic skills, but also your defense against them.

I didn't pursue the fate links based on skill. I just talked to the characters I like and ignored the ones I don't :lol

I love Fumi, but keep in mind that she is a glass cannon. I wouldn't recommend adopting her as your primary mage until you have some means of nullifying/reflecting/draining physical attacks. I'm partial to tetrakarn because I like to watch enemy teams pwn themselves; then, I proceed to suck the remaining life out of them with drain. It makes me feel like some sort of vampiric God (._.)

 

[Laughing Banana]

My first MC was a mage. I haven't put much time into my second playthrough yet, but this time I'm pursuing a physical build. Going to be much easier with multi-strike already cracked and ready to go. You might want to invest some points into magic, as it influences not only the potency of your magic skills, but also your defense against them.

I didn't pursue the fate links based on skill. I just talked to the characters I like and ignored the ones I don't :lol

I love Fumi, but keep in mind that she is a glass cannon. I wouldn't recommend adopting her as your primary mage until you have some means of nullifying/reflecting/draining physical attacks. I'm partial to tetrakarn because I like to watch enemy teams pwn themselves; then, I proceed to suck the remaining life out of them with drain. It makes me feel like some sort of vampiric God (._.)

I'm kinda sorta regretting my decision of going full physical for my MC right now since WHERE ARE YOU PIERCE AND MULTI-STRIKE WHY BOTH OF YOU TAKE SO LONG TO APPEAR *sigh*

Meanwhile one of the cornerstone of magic-based character--Drain--already appears as fast as the 3rd day. Not to mention all the dances have appeared and now I already have a King Frost too which can supplement a Gandalf type MC very nicely at this point of game.

This game feels more difficult than the 1st one, I think, although now I wonder maybe that is because I am using a physical build MC instead of Magic.

Also honestly feels kind of bad neglecting Daichi as he and the MC are supposed to be best friends or something, hahaha.

 

[Koroviev]

I'm kinda sorta regretting my decision of going full physical for my MC right now since WHERE ARE YOU PIERCE AND MULTI-STRIKE WHY BOTH OF YOU TAKE SO LONG TO APPEAR *sigh*

Meanwhile one of the cornerstone of magic-based character--Drain--already appears as fast as the 3rd day. Not to mention all the dances have appeared and now I already have a King Frost too which can supplement a Gandalf type MC very nicely at this point of game.

This game feels more difficult than the 1st one, I think, although now I wonder maybe that is because I am using a physical build MC instead of Magic.

Also honestly feels kind of bad neglecting Daichi as he and the MC are supposed to be best friends or something, hahaha.

Yeah, I think Devil Survivor 2 is more difficult. Other than

Spoiler

Beldr

and a few goal-protecting missions, I pretty much breezed through Overclocked.

 

[Zekes!]

I finally ordered SMT: Nocturne off Amazon on the weekend, so I guess I'll join this party soon.

 

[Koroviev]

I finally ordered SMT: Nocturne off Amazon on the weekend, so I guess I'll join this party soon.

One of us! One of us!

 

[Trojita]

I think the last point I was at in Strange Journey was in some Garbage Heap place. I haven't played it in forever and probably will have forgotten all of the tactics and plans I had in place to beat stuff.

I still need to start my Devil Survivor: Overclocked game (I got to a certain point in the original and then hadn't played it since).

Devil Survivor 2 still hasn't been played.

Persona 4 I have my first playthrough with every social link maxed and every persona made, with a ridiculous armada of hard to make Persona. The last things I was trying to do was make a good Satan (The Satan I had in my compendium has frivolous skills needed to make other more powerful persona) and a Helel that was like lvl 91 and I didn't know what the best stats to level would be. I still haven't gotten the

Spoiler

True End

 

[Korigama]

That's ok, a lot of DS1's mechanics were annoying and bad. Bask in the joy of not having to max loyalty before you fuse and a pseudo-infinite MP pool. Feel the luxury of demons with more than two action skills. Kind of... get annoyed when demons decide they want to chat you up right before you deliver the deathblow.

Late in replying to this, but it's very much true. It's not too bad if you know when to give what reply (show them mercy if they're slouching from low health, or say you're going to kill them if they're faking and in good health), but even then there's still no guarantee that things will go well.

At the start of Ch. 3 in DS2 now. I have enough loyalty to hold 12 tubes so far, but have yet to run into any Fiends now that they show up during new moons.

 

[Trojita]

I think the last point I was at in Strange Journey was in some Garbage Heap place. I haven't played it in forever and probably will have forgotten all of the tactics and plans I had in place to beat stuff.

I still need to start my Devil Survivor: Overclocked game (I got to a certain point in the original and then hadn't played it since).

Devil Survivor 2 still hasn't been played.

Persona 4 I have my first playthrough with every social link maxed and every persona made, with a ridiculous armada of hard to make Persona. The last things I was trying to do was make a good Satan (The Satan I had in my compendium has frivolous skills needed to make other more powerful persona) and a Helel that was like lvl 91 and I didn't know what the best stats to level would be. I still haven't gotten the

Spoiler

True End

 

[Korigama]

EDIT: Damn 500 error. Double post.

 

[Koroviev]

I think the last point I was at in Strange Journey was in some Garbage Heap place. I haven't played it in forever and probably will have forgotten all of the tactics and plans I had in place to beat stuff.

I still need to start my Devil Survivor: Overclocked game (I got to a certain point in the original and then hadn't played it since).

Devil Survivor 2 still hasn't been played.

Persona 4 I have my first playthrough with every social link maxed and every persona made, with a ridiculous armada of hard to make Persona. The last things I was trying to do was make a good Satan (The Satan I had in my compendium has frivolous skills needed to make other more powerful persona) and a Helel that was like lvl 91 and I didn't know what the best stats to level would be. I still haven't gotten the

Spoiler

True End

Yeah, I'm still at the garbage heap, but haven't played since Devil Survivor 2 came out.

You should play Devil Survivor 2, then Overclocked to satisfy your insatiable SMT SRPG lust! ;D

 

[Trojita]

Yeah, I'm still at the garbage heap, but haven't played since Devil Survivor 2 came out.

You should play Devil Survivor 2, then Overclocked to satisfy your insatiable SMT SRPG lust! ;D

Shouldn't I beat one of the Devil Survivor 1 Versions before Devil Survivor 2

Side Note:

A lot of sites always seemed to mix up the Megami Tensei games and the Shin Megami Tensei games.

 

[Koroviev]

Shouldn't I beat one of the Devil Survivor 1 Versions before Devil Survivor 2

Side Note:

A lot of sites always seemed to mix up the Megami Tensei games and the Shin Megami Tensei games.

No, the games are completely unrelated, story-wise. I think it makes more sense to play the NDS game first since it might seem lacking after playing the 3DS game. I mean, I prefer DS2 overall, but an NDS game can't compete with a 3DS game with respect to presentation. And of course, DSO has VA, whereas DS2 does not.

Edit: Don't bother with non-Overclocked DS at this point. It's obsolete.

 

[perfect free]

At the request of Irving, my ship’s fun-loving, coyote-killing lab technician, I’m traipsing through the now-familiar ice caverns (which the crew has codenamed “Sector Antlia”) in search of forma--crafting materials. Some I find lying around in corridors I know I’ve traversed before... nothing one minute, treasure the next. Odd. Others are left behind from battles with demons. How my Demonica suit knows that a bit of mucus from a Slime or the rags from a Knocker will be useful to me, I don’t know... but there’s a lot I don’t know down here in the Schwarzwelt, after all, so my only choice is to trust the machine.

I take these materials back to Irving and get the chance to power myself up. It’s not for free, of course, but if I’m dealing with demons I’ll pay whatever I need to give myself an edge in combat.

While collecting all this good stuff, I discover a forma that’s a little different from the rest. Turns out it acts like a key of sorts, letting me get through several doors that were previously impassable. I also obtain a new ability to further enhance my control over demons: fusion. Say what? I can fuse these guys together like some kinda mad scientist? Truth be told, that’s kind of... exciting. I decide to let this slip to Jimenez...

Hmm! Maybe he and I have more in common than I thought. (This is also where I apparently move into Chaos alignment.)

Now that I have access to more of the caverns, I discover that they actually contain multiple levels. Not only that, but on a macro level there seem to be several layers to the Schwarzwelt itself. How deep does the rabbit hole go? And if there are this many layers... how screwed are we, exactly? How can we hope to escape with our lives?

The crew’s not happy about this development, obviously. Neither am I, but I guess I should focus on getting out of one layer before worrying about escaping all of them. I descend deeper into the caverns, musing about how this place gets more and more complicated by the minute... but then I pass through a doorway and realize I don’t know the half of it.

The smoldering shell of a city? Fires everywhere? Planes in the sky? Well, Jimenez sees it too, so I’m not crazy... of course, it’s always possible that we’re both losing our minds. The scenery isn’t the only thing that’s changed, though: There are tougher demons and new forma in here, too. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know, it seems.

More Antlia exploration to come.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I finally ordered SMT: Nocturne off Amazon on the weekend, so I guess I'll join this party soon.

Notice all you see and prepare...

 

[cj_iwakura]

I anticipate the rage when people see Soul Hackers' Matador.

It takes half the game.
(Not literally Matador, but a boss that's difficulty spike city.)

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Best tutorial for the game. I love "gatekeeper bosses", not only do they teach the system tough but fairly, but they give true accomplishment at victory.

Remember, the best bosses are the ones you loathe while fighting, but love after beating them.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Man I'm loving SMT II so far. But I'm kind of confused. So far I just

Spoiler

beat the Anti-Messiah at the Colosseum. I then got a letter telling me to meet some guy in the slums. He tells me that I have to go to the Great Church (I assume Holy Town) to find a guy who will show me a secret passage to the factory to save this woman. But I've searched all over the Great Church and I can't find him!

 

[cj_iwakura]

Man I'm loving SMT II so far. But I'm kind of confused. So far I just

Spoiler

beat the Anti-Messiah at the Colosseum. I then got a letter telling me to meet some guy in the slums. He tells me that I have to go to the Great Church (I assume Holy Town) to find a guy who will show me a secret passage to the factory to save this woman. But I've searched all over the Great Church and I can't find him!

I think I know exactly where you're at. Pretty sure it was a single room beyond a door you've been to before.

I can probably dig up the solution if you remain stumped. I had a screen or two.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I think I know exactly where you're at. Pretty sure it was a single room beyond a door you've been to before.

I can probably dig up the solution if you remain stumped. I had a screen or two.

I've searched every single room. Here let me explain further.

Spoiler

I assume that I'm suppose to climb to the top. But when I get there I get a Stalker telling me "We searching for treasures. Come back later." So I start searching the rest of the building. The only things of interests I have found is a guy yelling "AHHHH! I messed up again!" and finding a portal to the otherworld. I assume these are both similar but when I talk to the guy he asks me "So you want to know what I've been doing" and answer yes or no doesn't really do much. I then decided to open the portal to fight a slime that dies immediately...still nothing. I've even tried talking to the guy after doing this...still nothing. I see a mesia begging for $1,000 in donations. I gave it to him...nothing. I then went back in there and gave him another $1,000...noting. I looked at my map and I been to every nook and cranny in this place. Still nothing...

 

[Jucksalbe]

Woa, thanks, perfect free, for putting in the work to actually make photos of your DS. It's nice to have some screenshots of SJ in the thread.

 

[Finalow]

Notice all you see and prepare...

is this guy so hard or something?
I'm going to play Nocturne soon, after I finish with DDS2.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

is this guy so hard or something?
I'm going to play Nocturne soon, after I finish with DDS2.

If you're familiar with Megaten, which the bolded states you are, he's not bad. You've probably ran into far worse in DDS2.

It's that "higher plane of RPG battlin'" that he exists on that often stumps people who haven't clambered onto that plateau before.

 

[Trojita]

I'm pretty sure that I beat Matador in my first fight.

Now I was getting owned when I was going through the sewer. SMT games have the weirdest difficulty curves.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

If you're familiar with Megaten, which the bolded states you are, he's not bad. You've probably ran into far worse in DDS2.

It's that "higher plane of RPG battlin'" that he exists on that often stumps people who haven't clambered onto that plateau before.

You could just grind and raise your level by 2 and you can beat him. He isn't THAT hard.

 

[Finalow]

If you're familiar with Megaten, which the bolded states you are, he's not bad. You've probably ran into far worse in DDS2.

Abaddon was pretty hard, needed to grind 10 levels.
now in the final dungeon I just need to get better mantras (and it takes soo loong), levels are fine.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I've searched every single room. Here let me explain further.

Spoiler

I assume that I'm suppose to climb to the top. But when I get there I get a Stalker telling me "We searching for treasures. Come back later." So I start searching the rest of the building. The only things of interests I have found is a guy yelling "AHHHH! I messed up again!" and finding a portal to the otherworld. I assume these are both similar but when I talk to the guy he asks me "So you want to know what I've been doing" and answer yes or no doesn't really do much. I then decided to open the portal to fight a slime that dies immediately...still nothing. I've even tried talking to the guy after doing this...still nothing. I see a mesia begging for $1,000 in donations. I gave it to him...nothing. I then went back in there and gave him another $1,000...noting. I looked at my map and I been to every nook and cranny in this place. Still nothing...

Anybody?

 

[cj_iwakura]

I'll dig up my walkthrough later and help.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

You could just grind and raise your level by 2 and you can beat him. He isn't THAT hard.

C'mon man, read the post. I came out of Vagrant Story, Star Ocean 2, and FFV so it wasn't a total shock to rock hard into Gatekeeper bosses and three shot him, but again to someone used to rote equipment upgrades, jamming on the X button, and a low mechanical understanding threshold will slam headlong into this guy as they ain't learned to learn.

Abaddon was pretty hard, needed to grind 10 levels.
now in the final dungeon I just need to get better mantras (and it takes soo loong), levels are fine.

Abaddon was a loooooooong one-shot for me.

Spoiler

Vritra

was the one that had me rejiggering my entire party to fight him. Even had Lightning magic!

 

[Finalow]

Abaddon was a loooooooong one-shot for me.

Spoiler

Vritra

was the one that had me rejiggering my entire party to fight him. Even had Lightning magic!

yes that boss is pretty hard as well, won at the first try but guess I was lucky. (and I used an impel stone)

 

[Aeana]

Now that the E3 madness has subsided, I can settle in and start SMT2. This time, I plan to stick with the updates throughout the game. I just hope I don't run into any bugs in this verison.

For anybody who tries to get their hands on the PSX version in the future, a little tip. You know you have the bug-fixed version if the text on the title screen is yellow, as it is here. If it's white, then it's the original buggy version.

The game begins with some dude telling us to wake up. His name is Okamoto. Apparently we've made it to the finals of the tournament, whatever that is. It turns out we're some sort of amnesiac, and Okamoto has given us the name Hawk for now. He's been grooming us for this tournament, so we need to train some more so we can beat Okamoto's rival, Haneda.

Training! What's training entail? Well...

It's a virtual reality simulator, of course. I think this looks especially neat on the PSX version.

Once we make it through the maze and beat the boss, Okamoto congratulates us and we get to leave and explore and junk.

In one of the rooms, this guy shows up. He says some guy was looking for us... what was his name?

A flashback! We see this scene.
He's the most powerful among us. His name is Zain.
You can name the character here, or you can say you don't remember his name and let the game name him for you. It's a bad idea to let the game handle naming unless you want to be law, though, because it gives you a boost toward law every time you do that. I personally want the default names, but I will be putting them in manually.

Turns out that the guy who was looking for us was named Zain, too. What are the odds?

In the bar, one of the patrons tells us they saw some dude in a wheelchair in the virtual battler. A guy in a wheelchair? Hmm.

Exploring some more, a mysterious voice calls out to us asking us to find it. And we're led to this door.

Inside is a fortune teller. She's nice and tells our fortune for free. She sees a woman who is important to us, and asks us if we remember her name. Her name is Hiroko, and apparently we shouldn't forget that name, because her fate is linked with ours. Neat.

Next, we head back to the virtual battler. Inside is... a guy in a wheelchair. Doesn't he look familiar?

Hey, it's STEVEN!!. Wait, how is he still around? No matter, he's still cool and gives us a demon summoning program again. Radddd.

Upon entering the virtual battler again, someone invades our mind. Hello... if you can hear this message... this is...

Another one of these! His name is Gimel.

Gimel. And he's in Arcadia.

Disco break! Everybody is dancing intensely!

Now we need to head to the colosseum for the tournament, but in reality, we're not ready for that at all yet. We need some demons and some levels in us.

Fortunately, a high pixie was eager to join in my very first battle.

Along the way, we come across Haneda's gym.

It has a very homey, lived-in feel to it.

We talk to Haneda, and he wants us to join his gym and offered to let us use his virtual battler if we want. He also expresses that we have no chance of beating his champion, Red Bear, in the finals. But not before letting us know that he wants Hawk's body.


That's all for now. Next time, we'll hit up the colosseum for some fun.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Matador fight is difficult because even if you are prepared for it, like bringing Force-resistent demons with media (Kikuri Hime--IIRC--is pretty much a MUST) or demons equipped with Fog Breath to counter his crazy evasion skill, you still require a decent amount of luck to beat it.

That Red Capote skill is hack (4 x Sukujaja in one swoop) plus you'd better pray he doesn't pull off a Focus + Andalucia combo too often or that Andalucia doesn't connect too often.

The best fiend fight in Nocturne was, however, the Trumpeeter. The various 'rules' he imposed during the battle were interesting, and how the players could manipulate the demon rosters to circumvent and ultimately benefit from the rules themselves.

Just finished Wednesday on Devil Survivor 2. What an interesting boss fight.................

Also, the compendium brought about the kind of flame I thought I had lost so long ago--the desire to grind. It is just way too absorbing trying to create awesome demons with skills or trying to cover their inherent weaknesses by fusing and fusing and fusing. And since the best demons are always the ones you store in the compendium, and the cost of summoning them is mad expensive, in the end I am trapped in the vicious cycle of Fusing Demons --> Registering awesome new ones --> Checking search --> New demons can be fused --> Summoning the demon materials from the compendium --> not enough money! --> grind for money --> fusing demons --> and here we go back again at the beginning.

So addicting *sigh*

 

[Dice]

I still need to finish Persona 4, Nocturne, and DDS 1&2.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I've searched every single room. Here let me explain further.

Spoiler

I assume that I'm suppose to climb to the top. But when I get there I get a Stalker telling me "We searching for treasures. Come back later." So I start searching the rest of the building. The only things of interests I have found is a guy yelling "AHHHH! I messed up again!" and finding a portal to the otherworld. I assume these are both similar but when I talk to the guy he asks me "So you want to know what I've been doing" and answer yes or no doesn't really do much. I then decided to open the portal to fight a slime that dies immediately...still nothing. I've even tried talking to the guy after doing this...still nothing. I see a mesia begging for $1,000 in donations. I gave it to him...nothing. I then went back in there and gave him another $1,000...noting. I looked at my map and I been to every nook and cranny in this place. Still nothing...

I think I found where this is at.

Go to the road connecting Valhalla and
the Center, and talk to the man guarding
the western intersection. He will know to
let you by. Please, you're the only one
I can ask this of...

That's the guy you want. Hope the image helps.

Part 5 here:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/15362969#Comment_15362969

 

[cj_iwakura]

Uh huh. Right.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I think I found where this is at.

That's the guy you want. Hope the image helps.

Part 5 here:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/15362969#Comment_15362969

Thanks!

 

[Aeana]

All righty, last time we were headed to the colosseum to win the tournament.

Looks colosseumy.

Inside, we take a slight detour to check out the hall of fame.

Inside, we see statues of previous champions. Akira Ootomo, who was small and fast. King Muscle, who was proud of his physique and renowned for his good luck. Gou Mifune, who was known for always being fair, earning himself the nickname True Samurai. Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas Tank, a hardy fighter rumored to have triple the MAG of a normal person. Feather Adonis, known as the strongest warrior to fight in the colosseum, famous for his battle to the death with Killer Fox. Who's next?

The Hero!! The first ever champion, said to have the ability to control demons. This guy sounds familiar!

Onward. The colosseum guy greets us (well, kinda), telling Okamoto to make sure we don't die too quickly, or the audience will riot. Okamoto is a little more optimistic, he thinks we can win for sure.

Time for the main event! The contenders are...

Red Bear and Hawk! READY! GO!

The arena here is just a small dungeon with random battles and equipment upgrades for every slot, including our first gun. Yay. When we're ready, there's a door in the center that leads to the the encounter with Red Bear.

You're...

Ahh, another one of these! He's quite similar to you... his strength is nearly the same as yours. His name is Daleth.

Red Bear mad 'cause we're not listening to him.

He congratulates us for getting his far, acknowledging our strength. And our impending death.

I don't think it quite went as he planned, 'cause we beat him in one turn.

Just one more win... and I could have been champion. I could have gone to the Center...

Well, nobody told us about winners being able to go to the Center. Actually, what's the Center? Huh.

VICTORY

Okamoto moves into Haneda's place, and informs us that as champion, we'll get to meet the Madam (all while drooling over her).

Just then, a visitor appears. She says she's Hiroko, a resident of the Center. Apparently, an accident occurred and a little boy disappeared. She doesn't think it's an accident, though, but an event orchestrated by two scientists, Hanada and and Mekata. She's been trying to find them, and has discovered that Hanada might be hiding in Madam's place. It turns out that the champion can take one guest along to meet the Madam, and Hiroko insists it be her.

As it should happen, just then, a man from the Madam's place comes and gives us an invitation. Neat. But we're not going there yet...

Now that Okamoto is rich, and we won the tournament for him, he no longer blocks our entry to the casino.

The games here are your standard casino fare, slot machines and such, but there's one game that is extremely easy to win, called Big & Small. All you have to do is guess whether the next number will be big or small, and if you're right, you get a chance to double your winnings, or cash out and claim a prize. For some reason, I have never failed at getting the first 5 stars, it almost seems rigged, and at that point, you're sitting on at least 600 coins. This time, I managed, to get all the way to the last star and got a really powerful weapon for Hiroko and over 10,000 coins. It didn't matter, though, since with those coins, I was able to purchase an even more powerful whip for her, and new guns, and a new weapon for Hawk. Armed to the teeth, it's time to move on.

Before going to see the Madam, I head into the slums, because there's a cathedral of shadows here. There's also an interesting NPC who says that rumor has it that macca is produced in the demon world by a subordinate of Lucifer named Lucifuge. That's weird. The Mesians, warriors of god, using the underworld to make money? What's that all about?

Now it's time to hit up Madam.

Inside is a weird room with a curtain, and a flashback. "She is yours" what
Anyway, her name is Beth. And apparently she's ours. what

Back in real life, the curtain moves to reveal a screen, and Madam shows up. She's the governess of Valhalla, placed there by Center officials. Valhalla has become successful and peaceful due to the casinos and the colosseum, and people can live happily without conflict.

This is the Center, the core of Tokyo Millennium. They don't quite rule the same way as Madam does, and they have every intent on making things even worse for their citizens. Madam doesn't intend to follow suit, though.

However, something has happened that is causing Madam trouble, and she wants our help with it. You see, she hired a scientist and he was working at her estate, but he ran away. He plans to open a portal to the demon world and summon demons! His name? Hanada.

*record scratch* Isn't that the person Hiroko is looking for? Of course we'll help!

She then offers her "pet" to us. It's Cerberus! Hey buddy, long time no see.
He's not so happy, though, about working with such weak humans. Oh well.

Let's go find Hanada! We'll start with the slums.

In the deepest, most slummy part of the slums, we find Hanada. He explains that he left Madam's service because he felt too restricted, and a scientist needs Free Rein to experiment and destroy the world. Indeed, his unrestricted experiments have made him able to open a tunnel right into the demon world. Woo-hoo.

He then performs his ritual using some dolls. It's a success! Kinda. A tunnel does indeed open to the demon world, but when he commands Mercerius to attack us, he gets killed instead. And then we have a boss.

A really, really easy one, because Cerberus hits like a truck.

After the battle we take the dolls, and discover that the entrance to the demon world is one-way and demons are spewing forth into our world. Rats.

 

[Finalow]

the final boss of DDS2 doesn't make any fucking sense.
he has a move that after 2 times he used it makes 1000 of damage to all my party, almighty damage, so you just DIE. I was like winning without a problem then BAM, dead at the end. also while he uses it some random messages appear, can this be a bug? Especially 'cause gamefaqs doesn't mention anything like "that skill becomes stronger until it kills all your party".

also in every video I watched on you tube that skill never arrives to that damage, think I just found a fucking bug. =/

 

[perfect free]

Those dolls are awfully cute, as far as demon-summoning tools go.

 

[Fuu]

Any tips on how to make Ghost (gloomy, foolish) and Nighmare (timid, gloomy, foolish iirc) happy? I'm at the first P2:IS dungeon at Sevens and everything I try seems to get them pissed, lol. No other demon was a problem so far, I managed to get them eager but I want to make the pacts too.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Any tips on how to make Ghost (gloomy, foolish) and Nighmare (timid, gloomy, foolish iirc) happy? I'm at the first P2:IS dungeon at Sevens and everything I try seems to get them pissed, lol. No other demon was a problem so far, I managed to get them eager but I want to make the pacts too.

Use this guide here if you don't like trial and error

For the Ghost try Michel + Maya and for Nightmare try Yukkiko's first contact option.

The PSX version of the SMT II looks so nice :O . Are you going to do a playthrough of SMT IF next, Aeana?

 

[Fuu]

Use this guide here if you don't like trial and error

For the Ghost try Michel + Maya and for Nightmare try Yukkiko's first contact option.

The PSX version of the SMT II looks so nice :O . Are you going to do a playthrough of SMT IF next, Aeana?

Thanks! I enjoy the trial and error to an extent but when some of them start being too much of a pain I don't oppose using a guide so I'll bookmark that.

 

[Finalow]

yep, it was a bug. second time I tried and won easy.
done with DDS2.

next one is Nocturne. DDS is some really good stuff, wanted more explanation about the story though, I was expecting more about the past and such. kinda disappointed about that aspect.

btw I'm too lazy to post some screens since I'm not playing these games on pc. =p

 

[Jucksalbe]

btw I'm too lazy to post some screens since I'm not playing these games on pc. =p

I wish I could play them on my PC, the screenshots I make through my capture card look so bad since I can only use composite input.

 

[Finalow]

guess I'm the lazy one then.
what's this cover, japanese version?

geez it's so much better. =|

 

[Jucksalbe]

guess I'm the lazy one then.
what's this cover, japanese version?

It has an ESRB rating, so it's the US version.

Edit: Seems the US version has a flip cover.