P3P was my first MT and it took me until the second playthrough (because I stopped halfway through - didn't really like the game) to get them. But the second playthrough really clicked with me.
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Shin Megami Tensei Community Thread: Be Your True Demon
- Thread starter cj_iwakura
- Start date
P3P was my first MT and it took me until the second playthrough (because I stopped halfway through - didn't really like the game) to get them. But the second playthrough really clicked with me.
Ultimate_Trainer
Member
It took my second playthrough of Persona 3 FES to remember what all the spells. Buff and debuff spells were the ones I has trouble with.
Revelations: Persona was my first Megaten so trying to parse the differences between things like "Light All" and "Lighten" was fun.
SMT3 was my next Megaten and I don't remember how long it took for me to get used to the names beyond "quite a while." Especially since that game didn't really have ability descriptions in as handy a place as later ones. There were also no English language fusion charts at launch that I could find so I had to memorize all the Japanese demon family names like Yoki and Yuki. It was a great way to get REAL invested in the series, as fun as learning a new language!
SMT3 was my next Megaten and I don't remember how long it took for me to get used to the names beyond "quite a while." Especially since that game didn't really have ability descriptions in as handy a place as later ones. There were also no English language fusion charts at launch that I could find so I had to memorize all the Japanese demon family names like Yoki and Yuki. It was a great way to get REAL invested in the series, as fun as learning a new language!
ispendtoomuchmoneyongames
Member
So after not getting truly hooked by (but still enjoying) playing Soul Hackers, DSO, and Nocturne, SMT IV has hooked me and Strange Journey should be arriving tomorrow. I've just beaten Minotaur and Medusa and have made it to
Even though I haven't really gotten hooked by DSO yet I'm still going to buy Break Record. I think it looks good and from most of the people I've spoken to I've heard it's the better game.
Tokyo
Even though I haven't really gotten hooked by DSO yet I'm still going to buy Break Record. I think it looks good and from most of the people I've spoken to I've heard it's the better game.
Barrylocke
Member
Gameplay wise I highly preferred DeSu2 to DeSu1, but I skipped Overclocked which iirc had a lot of the gameplay changes that DeSu 2 had added into it.
SMT if... was my very first megaten and I struggled during the first 10 hours to remember what every spell did and my limited Japanese skills didn't help.
Most of them are in katakana so it was very accessible but I had no clue what they meant.
Every time I try a new skill I wrote it down to remember what it does. So that what Dia does etc...
At the time (shortly after the PS1 re-release) it was a friend of mine who recommended SMT if... to me because it was, according to him, very accessible. When I replayed the game in 2008, I could see why. It's indeed the most accessible of the old school megaten.
I ended up loving it and that's how I entered this most wonderful series.
cj_iwakura
Member
Persona 2 was my first exposure, but Nocturne was when I really got accustomed to it.
Speaking of which, silly conversation fodder...
VS
Arguably the two most fearsome optional bosses in SMT, excluding maybe DDS2's Satan(who took me a fraction of the time). Who would come out ahead?
Consider the following:
The Demi-Fiend
- Endless army of demons.
- Gets deadlier the closer he is to death.
- Massive, ever-changing elemental resistances.
- Eats gods for breakfast.
- Is Lucifer's top general.
Elizabeth
- Endless army of Personae.
- Equally resistant to all kinds of magic, AND physicals.
(And unlike Hitoshura, earth isn't that useful against her, either.) - Doesn't need demons to take on gods.
- Has a literally endless supply of money.
- Arguably the sharper dresser.
(As far as actual difficulty goes, due to sheer BS- it's easily Hitoshura.
So, we're talking in universe terms.)
It does, but like Raidou 1 VS 2, it has the better gameplay.
And also like Raidou 2, it still has a good story.
That would be a fight that would destroy most of the planet 
Elizabeth has been referred as a terrifyingly strong individual in the Persona universe, sure. Demi-Fiend is arguably the strongest MC the mainline series has seen.
Since they can do somewhat of the same things (except for Elizabeth herself using magic), I think the outcome comes down to their attitudes. Elizabeth often seems too cocky/immature to ever go hard, and I'm thinking Demi-Fiend would overwhelm her before she gets serious.
I just wouldn't want to be on either of their bad sides, holy fuck.
Elizabeth has been referred as a terrifyingly strong individual in the Persona universe, sure. Demi-Fiend is arguably the strongest MC the mainline series has seen.
Since they can do somewhat of the same things (except for Elizabeth herself using magic), I think the outcome comes down to their attitudes. Elizabeth often seems too cocky/immature to ever go hard, and I'm thinking Demi-Fiend would overwhelm her before she gets serious.
I just wouldn't want to be on either of their bad sides, holy fuck.
ispendtoomuchmoneyongames
Member
Strange Journey arrives today! Can't wait to get out of work and play, this is actually my first plain old DS game as I never had a DS and never got around to buying any DS games to play on my 3DS until now.
Also purchased a 64GB memory card for my Vita so I finally won't have to keep shuffling around my Vita games every time I want to play something new. I would love if Sony was able to put PS2 classics on the Vita (not remasters) as being able to play Nocturne and DDS on the go would be awesome. One of the reasons I haven't been back to Nocturne (IIRC my save is just before you fight Matador) or played DDS is because I would have to dig my PS3 back out and hook it up.
Also purchased a 64GB memory card for my Vita so I finally won't have to keep shuffling around my Vita games every time I want to play something new. I would love if Sony was able to put PS2 classics on the Vita (not remasters) as being able to play Nocturne and DDS on the go would be awesome. One of the reasons I haven't been back to Nocturne (IIRC my save is just before you fight Matador) or played DDS is because I would have to dig my PS3 back out and hook it up.
Barrylocke
Member
I hope this is only the start of your DS collection. The DS has my favorite portable library. The 3DS is a solid system too but it can't compare to the DS imo. Strange Journey of course is a fantastic place to start. It's also one of the hardest games in the series, so good luck and have fun!
ispendtoomuchmoneyongames
Member
I can imagine seeing the demons as blobs and not being able to pinpoint weaknesses and converse on your first time seeing them can get pretty annoying. I do hear that save points are pretty well placed and close to bosses which sounds awesome as that is something that has been annoying me in Nocturne and SMT IV
The difficulty progresses nicely in it. Never gets too hard or too easy in my opinion.
They are very fearsome indeed but I had more trouble with Lucifer in Devil Survivor.
I think it was mainly because when you reach lv60 you level up so slowly in that game and I never managed to go beyond lv80 IIRC.
But still, it was a fearsome boss.
Barrylocke
Member
The final boss of SJ is definitely the most notable
example, but I also remember finding a lot of the other bosses to be tricky as well. Ouroboros was another example, and IDK how I would have beaten
if I didn't just pack a bunch of demons that repelled his powerful gun attacks. If nothing else, it's harder than SMT1, Devil Summoner, both Devil Survivors, and all of the Personas imo. Nocturne's the only one I can say comes close (haven't played enough SMT2 or DDS to properly judge).
FUCKING RIDICULOUS OH MY GOD
Soil Jimenez
cj_iwakura
Member
Barrylocke
Member
I can definitely agree that the difficulty curve of SMT:SJ is miles better than what they did with SMT4. But (and I know I've said this more than once so forgive me), it's more in how the player gets so much more powerful that the enemy can't keep up. The enemies skills and strength increases at about the usual Megaten pace in SMT4
cj_iwakura
Member
Everyone did.
Barrylocke
Member
He had 2 demons that use Bites the Dust (Bomb ailment), and he also had an ability that both healed and did Dekunda.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
....a fucking wall at end game after 45 hours of largely grab-assing?
Barrylocke
Member
The final boss was a major exception...
and it took me 100 hours to get to the final boss...
Hah. I hate it when final bosses are pushovers. The game also didn't fall victim to the usual MT powercreep. Most of them become pretty easy about halfway through and even easier towards the end.
cj_iwakura
Member
ispendtoomuchmoneyongames
Member
Really enjoying Strange Journey so far. Pretty easy, not frustrating and "cheap" at all like the very beginning of SMT IV.
Barrylocke
Member
What stat build did you wind up with? And did you choose it yourself or did you answer the personality questions honestly?
ispendtoomuchmoneyongames
Member
I answered honestly and got Luck.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Barrylocke
Member
Thinking back on Strange Journey, I just realized that despite it being one of the most restrictive SMT games in ages at the time in terms of fusion, I fused in that game more than any other, including SMT4. I'm really not sure why that is.
cj_iwakura
Member
Boy does SJ punish you if you want to keep old demons around. You fuse 'em and lose 'em or you DIE.
Maybe because you can fuse whenever and demons don't learn skills so there's not too much reason to hold onto them?
Strange Journey is well balanced until you have access to almighty spells. Those are OP in this game and will make the 2nd part a cake walk until you hit the last boss.
That final boss wasn't really hard (I never died to it during my 3 runs) but for sure it's a brutal difficulty spike compared to everything else until that point, which is nice.
I always had a luck build for some reason.
Edit:
That final boss wasn't really hard (I never died to it during my 3 runs) but for sure it's a brutal difficulty spike compared to everything else until that point, which is nice.
I always had a luck build for some reason.
Edit:
I'm not sure what you mean by that because I had very powerful "old demons' when I've beaten the optional NG+ boss:
cj_iwakura
Member
Mine was agility. You can imagine that was a life-saver against the final boss.
Barrylocke
Member
I had a Magic Build. I was pissed when I learned that elemental bullet attacks aren't based on Magic, so the only thing magic does for the Space Marine is buff his Mag Defense and attack power with Spell Stones. It seemed like a waste, especially since I was looking forward to physicals being MP based instead of HP based (HP based physicals often leans the balance to physical because it's more efficient to use physical moves and then heal up than it is to use attack spells).
I love that so many of us who answered honestly ended up there. Make sure you get the Dragon Armor and save a shitload of money to
Anyways, these amazing tumblr dudes can't stop won't stop so if you want a five part compilation of Kaneko commenting on every one of his SMT3 demon designs you're in luck.
Also on the spell name discussion tip, for the 2 people in the world who are interested in a chat about the mythological cognates of SMT spell names, boy are you covered! Maybe we can figure out the secret meaning of Bufu???
cj_iwakura
Member
I'm not sure what you mean by that because I had very powerful "old demons' when I've beaten the optional NG+ boss:
More power to you, but it never worked for me.
(Mm, delicious high res Kaneko.)
More power to you, but it never worked for me.
(Mm, delicious high res Kaneko.)
IIRC these screenshots are from my NG+2 and I had these demons since NG end game. They are very slow to level up, I give you that but the game has an app, or whatever it's called in SJ, that makes demons gain more points when they level up which makes them more powerful stat wise than high level demons at the same level. It's basically the same feature that was used in SMTIV.
Barrylocke
Member
Yeah, I was wondering about the amount of input you had to put in to get those demons, since Demons in the games usually have exp gains that discourage keeping a demon for too long. I forget if SJ did that though.
cj_iwakura
Member
It definitely did, hence my fuse'em&lose'em philosophy.
I'm getting tempted to do my NG+ run soon, but I need to do Raidou 2's first.
Barrylocke
Member
I've still never beaten Mem Alph after all these years. I feel like I should just get my cartridge out and bring closure on the game, because it really is one of my fondest SMT experiences (beaten by Persona 3 and maybe 4 in terms of comfy memories).
Speaking of which, I also need to get back to MT1 on Kyuuyaku. I stopped off halfway through the 4th area, with 2 more to go. After a lull in demon collecting thanks to a bit of a fusion level wall, I managed to overcome it and was rewarded with some powerful and VERY hardy demons that makes me feel more confident in taking longer romps in the labyrinth.
cj_iwakura
Member
Heh, I still haven't touched Kyuuyaku much. I was playing the OG FC version first, and I feel like I should do that instead.
I was also trying to do a blind LP of Kyuuyaku at the same time, which probably wasn't wise.
Definitely keep at MA, or just grind some more. You might just get a lucky encounter and she'll be a kitten.
I was also trying to do a blind LP of Kyuuyaku at the same time, which probably wasn't wise.
Definitely keep at MA, or just grind some more. You might just get a lucky encounter and she'll be a kitten.
Barrylocke
Member
This is just a random thought I had when reading the Confused about the Persona franchise topic. I notice that when people talk about Persona 2: Innocent Sin and how Yukino is a party member, she's referenced as being a cameo or a guest character, which I always thought was kind of weird.
While it's true that her plot isn't tied together in the same backstory as Maya and the high school kids, she's still around for far longer than Jun is. When I hear of her being a guest member I wonder if people might think she's only around for a couple dungeons, when in reality she's there from introductory scenes up until Jun is brought back to normal and the city ascends into the sky. By that point there's only the 4 Zodiac dungeons and then the final dungeon, which is about 20-30% of the game as a whole. She is still technically a temporary character, but I sometimes think she deserves a little more credit. On the other had I can definitely understand Jun getting more billing as he's more relevant to the overall plot and is also around as the Joker from the start.
cj_iwakura
Member
Yeah,
I was really surprised how small Jun's role was, but they do give him a lot of backstory from that point on. Shame he only gets to be around when things go to hell, not during the calm before the storm.
This is also why I recommend people play P1 first. Even if it's not the most fun game, P2 becomes so much more rewarding because of it. Hannya, the returning PCs, Miss Saeko, Tamaki and Tadashi, etc.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Atlus knew they needed her supercool awesomeness to get the game off the ground is all.
Hahahaha. I just read about those characters last week, and I'll just say this: somethings never change.
Hahahaha. I just read about those characters last week, and I'll just say this: somethings never change.
cj_iwakura
Member
Supposedly that's the reason Tadashi didn't get to write much after P2. The fans accused him of shipping himself with Tamaki, though how much of a backlash that really caused is anyone's guess. For them to ditch one of the best writers in the industry, it must have been huge.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
It certainly didn't seem like the company cared. Damn waifu wars, starting even before they even started!
As for him, I just find it hilariously sad in a "oh you!" sorta way.
As for him, I just find it hilariously sad in a "oh you!" sorta way.
cj_iwakura
Member
I'd be happy to see that the If protagonist found happiness after all the hell she went through(literally), but that's just me.