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Shin Megami Tensei Community Thread: Be Your True Demon

Eolz

Member
This will sound a bit stupid, but I've just discovered that there was a community thread for SMT :p
Love the franchise, already seen some great content over the previous pages, looking forward to see/read more!

I know this is likely well known here, but enjoy this SMT II Arrange album.
 

Lynx_7

Member
Yeah pfft we knew that already there's only professionals in here git with the program scrub.
jk I haven't seen much of the first two SMTs in general so I actually never heard that

Welcome to the SMT Community Thread, there are
half a
dozens of us! Sometimes someone even posts something.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Yeah pfft we knew that already there's only professionals in here git with the program scrub.
jk I haven't seen much of the first two SMTs in general so I actually never heard that

Welcome to the SMT Community Thread, there are
half a
dozens of us! Sometimes someone even posts something.

If you're interested, I deliberately did two very, very time-consuming LPs of SMT 1 & 2 because I know how obtuse their stories are so people could experience them.
(Screenshot format, so no it won't take 20 odd hours.)
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/106437/lets-play-shin-megami-tensei-the-end/
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/dis...-megami-tensei-ii-finale-the-end-of-the-cycle
 

Lynx_7

Member
If you're interested, I deliberately did two very, very time-consuming LPs of SMT 1 & 2 because I know how obtuse their stories are so people could experience them.
(Screenshot format, so no it won't take 20 odd hours.)
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/106437/lets-play-shin-megami-tensei-the-end/
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/dis...-megami-tensei-ii-finale-the-end-of-the-cycle

That's pretty awesome, I'm bookmarking it. I do plan to go through SMT 1 and 2 by myself eventually though, the main thing stopping me right now is needing to go through a bunch of menus to get to the map in 1 and the fact that it rotates depending on which direction you're facing (it really throws me off and the perspective disorientates me as it is). And a bit of lazyness. Also I really suck at negotiation on those older games for some reason.

I do find it amusing how you named the Chaos Hero as Bruno because... reasons :p
EDIT: Also, reading your playthrough, I think I kinda have an idea on what I've been doing wrong (negotiations).
 

cj_iwakura

Member
That's pretty awesome, I'm bookmarking it. I do plan to go through SMT 1 and 2 by myself eventually though, the main thing stopping me right now is needing to go through a bunch of menus to get to the map in 1 and the fact that it rotates depending on which direction you're facing (it really throws me off and the perspective disorientates me as it is). And a bit of lazyness. Also I really suck at negotiation on those older games for some reason.

I do find it amusing how you named the Chaos Hero as Bruno because... reasons :p
EDIT: Also, reading your playthrough, I think I kinda have an idea on what I've been doing wrong (negotiations).
There's a known trick to negotiating in old school SMTs(and Devil Summoner). Upper left choice usually means good things.
 
You'll need magic for early and late game, so don't completely neglect it. Early game is not a good place to spend HP freely.
Ok. I think both are at like 8 or 9 currently, got up to level 10 yesterday I believe so I guess I can ease up on those two and put some into magic then. I'm at Ginza so I'm pre Matador fight. Guess I can level grind for a bit at some point.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Ok. I think both are at like 8 or 9 currently, got up to level 10 yesterday I believe so I guess I can ease up on those two and put some into magic then. I'm at Ginza so I'm pre Matador fight. Guess I can level grind for a bit at some point.

A good multi-hit magic spell will go a long way, i.e. Fire Breath or Tornado(especially Tornado).
 
Oh good I'm in this rabbit hole again. There goes 2 hours of my day listening to high quality rips, thanks.

As for magic in Nocturne I only ever used Tornado early on on my MC up to midway through the game.
Damn so magic is only slightly more important than it is in Soul Hackers it sounds like.
 

Rutger

Banned
It's been years so I don't remember the exact build, but I always had a magic attack on my MC, mainly because a STR build in Nocturne does not need many attacks to trivialize it so there's room to do other things. It was nice to have for occasionally hitting weaknesses for more press turns.

Otherwise, Magic was the job of my demons when they weren't applying buffs/debuffs.
 
Looks like Focus, Freikugal, Deadly Fury and Pierce are mandatory for end game pretty much, whatever else I add to that is just fluff probably.
 
Wasn't Soul Hackers the game where you could level up magic but MC couldn't actually learn a fucking spell all game? Pretty sure you needed Magic only to meet some minimum requirement for a good piece of armour. One of my least favourite MegaTens, if not the worst I've played.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Wasn't Soul Hackers the game where you could level up magic but MC couldn't actually learn a fucking spell all game? Pretty sure you needed Magic only to meet some minimum requirement for a good piece of armour. One of my least favourite MegaTens, if not the worst I've played.
Most SMT MCs can't use magic.
 
Wasn't Soul Hackers the game where you could level up magic but MC couldn't actually learn a fucking spell all game? Pretty sure you needed Magic only to meet some minimum requirement for a good piece of armour. One of my least favourite MegaTens, if not the worst I've played.
I think that's the one. I had it, but oddly didn't put too many hours into it, which is odd cause I normally love SMT games, though I think anything pre Nocturne plays too archaic for me. I tried Persona 2 as well, but it didn't click for me.
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
You'll want some mag stat. OP as hell in IV. Dex is great in SJ, though.

Good basic rule of thumb: have magic quotas covered by your demons. One of every element.

I must have missed your post. I decided to do my Dex route for gun use. Seems to be OK so far.

I also am one of the terrible people who abused the EXP DLC to boost my MC to level 40 or so. I haven't really raised too many of my demons that high - just using it to level and learn abilities. I kind of like how, even though I'm super overleveled on my MC, I'm not just mowing through content. I'm not a particularly huge fan of grinding, so the EXP DLC has been nice to level up and pass on abilities like that.

One of the reasons I felt justified in this was because I didn't see a good way to get back to the Barracks to heal up. When my demons would die in Naruku, I would end up having to trek back up from floor 4 or 5 and rest, work my way down, and do it all again when more died. On top of that, I'm preparing for the first major boss of 4 (the blue Minotaur) and, after dying once, I learned that I should have ice spells on me. Well, OK - I just don't have any demons with ice skills. So I need to summon some...But that costs money. So I need to grind money. Once I've summoned them, I need to level them a bit because they're low level and super squishy. Except grinding gets them killed. :|

I am actually loving the shit out of the game as a whole, but the way the system works means I sort of have to grind. Is there something I can do to alleviate this or should I just keep doing what I'm doing via DLC abuse for demons I need?

Also, do the other SMT games have a similar style regarding weakness abuse being the key to victory?
 

Lynx_7

Member
I must have missed your post. I decided to do my Dex route for gun use. Seems to be OK so far.

I also am one of the terrible people who abused the EXP DLC to boost my MC to level 40 or so. I haven't really raised too many of my demons that high - just using it to level and learn abilities. I kind of like how, even though I'm super overleveled on my MC, I'm not just mowing through content. I'm not a particularly huge fan of grinding, so the EXP DLC has been nice to level up and pass on abilities like that.

One of the reasons I felt justified in this was because I didn't see a good way to get back to the Barracks to heal up. When my demons would die in Naruku, I would end up having to trek back up from floor 4 or 5 and rest, work my way down, and do it all again when more died. On top of that, I'm preparing for the first major boss of 4 (the blue Minotaur) and, after dying once, I learned that I should have ice spells on me. Well, OK - I just don't have any demons with ice skills. So I need to summon some...But that costs money. So I need to grind money. Once I've summoned them, I need to level them a bit because they're low level and super squishy. Except grinding gets them killed. :|

I am actually loving the shit out of the game as a whole, but the way the system works means I sort of have to grind. Is there something I can do to alleviate this or should I just keep doing what I'm doing via DLC abuse for demons I need?

Also, do the other SMT games have a similar style regarding weakness abuse being the key to victory?

You shouldn't be using your compedium so often early on. If you need a specific demon for a boss just recruit and/or fuse one. It's specially easy on IV since you're given a pretty robust fusion search. In case you're not aware yet, you can rerecruit a demon you've recruited before.

Naraku indeed requires lots of backtracking to replenish your supplies but the other sections of the game are much easier so you won't have the same problems going forward.

And yes, some other Shin Megami Tensei games use a similar battle system. SMT IV's sequel, Apocalypse, uses it with much better results imo. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (which introduced the press turn system), Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 also use the same system. Persona 3, 4 and 5 uses a simplified version called "one more".
 
Nocturne and the Digital Devil Saga duo had everyone up to Kaneko, Satomi, Hashino, Meguro, and Yamai all working together. Kind of crazy to think about nowadays.

Those also happen to be my favorite games...
 
I've played like 15 hours of Strange Journey in the last couple of days. The story, gameplay and -design are really good so far. Though that soundtrack is kind of a waste and hinders the otherwordly atmosphere to truly shine sometimes.
 

Eolz

Member
So, did anyone here order the new Kaneko artbook? Wonder if it's worth tracking it down / ordering it.
 

Sallokin

Member
So, did anyone here order the new Kaneko artbook? Wonder if it's worth tracking it down / ordering it.

Which one are you talking about? The last one I have from him is the Artworks 3 release from like 2009. If there's a new one I wants it lol.
 
Wow, don't start losing me with shit-tier game design now, SJ - it's been going so well before. That Jack boss might be one of the most bs bossfights I've ever played. Completely unfair trash, like straight out of DDS. Literally unbeatable without one or two very specific demons from tons of hours ago and even then it's completely reliant on luck still (with luck leaning heavily towards the computer).
 

Golnei

Member
I don't think Mara's going anywhere - it's far too iconic a design at this point; they wouldn't abandon that just to go for a more traditional interpretation. Keeping the current design and trying to incorporate more of their mythical role in any future subplots they get might be a reasonable compromise.

A separate Priapus demon wouldn't be a bad idea, though. I'm surprised the series has avoided him for this long - it certainly wouldn't be due to prudishness, given the many other anatomically evocative designs. Maybe it was just too much of a low-hanging fruit?
 
I would never condone redesigning Mara. I just want him to do things other than spouting a load of innuendo or sex RP.

Priapus probably just didn't cross anyone's mind or they didn't care enough or something like that. He's minor and even mysterious absences like Brahma still persist.
 
What are the chances of us getting a Devil Survivor 3?

I love the concept of this series even though I feel 2 kind of dropped the ball story wise. I replay 1 a few months ago and I was reminded why I love the series so much. So much in fact that I rebought 2 to try and actually finish it this time.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
Hard to tell. I think the team's last project was Tokyo Mirage Sessions, so they've clearly been busy. Atlus did include "Devil Survivor 3" as an answer when asking fans what they wanted in their last survey, though, so they at least consider them.

And I agree, DS1 is one of my favorite games ever, but DS2 dropped the ball pretty much everything regarding writing. I'd love a third game more akin to the first... And please get a new artist, even Doi would do.

I was informed of this new Mara figure. I was waiting for a FuRyu one, but this achieves the scale anyway.

Incidentally, I've really wanted Mara to have a role in the series more congruent with his mythological role. The dick jokes can be passed down to Priapus, who can be designed as a dick on legs!

Yeah I agree, it's such an... Iconic demon for the series and with a cool origin at that, that having it relegated to those jokes all the time feels lazy at this point. I found it funny in SMTIV but in Apocalypse I was like eh, I guess Mara is back.
 
I would never condone redesigning Mara. I just want him to do things other than spouting a load of innuendo or sex RP.

Priapus probably just didn't cross anyone's mind or they didn't care enough or something like that. He's minor and even mysterious absences like Brahma still persist.

His Nocturne design tho

iu
 

NeonZ

Member
As far as a Mara redesign goes, they could just go with one of its alternate names if they want something closer to its mythological role. They've done that with several demons before, even featuring multiple of them together in the same game.
 
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