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Shin Megami Tensei Community Thread: Be Your True Demon

O

Opa-Pa

Member
PSP is amazing but if you want to play P4G anyway and have access to the biggest library possible then might as well go for a Vita.

If you don't care for portability then yeah, a PS TV sounds like the better deal, and yes you can play all those PSP games that way too (there are restrictions to which PSP games you can play on Vita and PS TV, but I'm confident all Persona games are compatible). However you'd be missing on Devil Summoner, only way to go about that is either emulation or a PSP with CFW.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
Opa-Pa said:
PSP is amazing but if you want to play P4G anyway and have access to the biggest library possible then might as well go for a Vita.

If you don't care for portability then yeah, a PS TV sounds like the better deal, and yes you can play all those PSP games that way too (there are restrictions to which PSP games you can play on Vita and PS TV, but I'm confident all Persona games are compatible). However you'd be missing on Devil Summoner, only way to go about that is either emulation or a PSP with CFW.
Click to expand...

Does Vita have CFW as well, or does it have to be PSP?
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
Hmm there is CFW for Vita but I don't know much about what it can do. I've heard it can play PSP backups but I'm not sure about compatibility, you might want to refer to the Vita homebrew thread to be sure.

I believe you can install CFW on PS TV as well as it's essentially a Vita too.
 
R

ramyeon

Member
How do PS2 classics run on PS3? Never had a PS3 so I'm thinking of getting a used one and using it to replay some SMT and get into some of the stuff I never got around to playing like Raidou. Are there any known issues with them?
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
ramyeon said:
How do PS2 classics run on PS3? Never had a PS3 so I'm thinking of getting a used one and using it to replay some SMT and get into some of the stuff I never got around to playing like Raidou. Are there any known issues with them?
Click to expand...
Yes. Graphical and audio glitches.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
Some have issues, some don't have any. Some issues are very minor and others affect the game a lot... I posted a list with impressions of each release in the P5 OT. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: Found it, looks like I was talking to you specifically too haha

Opa-Pa said:
Yeah about that... PS2 Classics performance for Atlus games is kinda funky in places. I can only speak for USA releases, but from my experience:

Nocturne: Seems to run just as on real hardware. If there are issues they're probably minimal because I didn't notice any back when I played it

DDS1: Terrible performance, below 30fps all the time and audio desync during cutscenes. Framerate is so bad in fact that sometimes it gave me motion sickness... Still technically playable though

DDS2: Seems to run as intended. I noticed minor glitches like a text box vibrating during a specific scene, but that's about it

Persona 3 FES: Runs perfectly fine except for some glitched textures in the late Tartatus floors, they won't stop blinking really fast

Raidou 2: Runs perfectly fine from what little I've played

Raidou 1 I avoided in this version due to framerate complaints, and I've heard P4 has some slowdowns too.

I know I make DDS1 sound awful but it's so damn good that if you don't have any other means to play it, go for it still.

Arena and Ultimax are great fun if you like fighters. The story in the first game is quite good actually, the story mode itself is a slog though. Ultimax's story is atrocious but the story mode is more fun this time, if a bit too long. Characterization is generally pretty bad in both for the most part, sadly.
Click to expand...
 
R

ramyeon

Member
Opa-Pa said:
Some have issues, some don't have any. Some issues are very minor and others affect the game a lot... I posted a list with impressions of each release in the P5 OT. I'll see if I can find it.
Click to expand...
That's disappointing :( I have physical copies but I'm not sure how they'd look being played on a HD TV through the PS2.

Edit: Thanks! I think that was probably a reply to me actually haha. I've seen some posts elsewhere mentioning the DDS1 issues and then other people saying they never experienced any issues so it seems like it may vary between PS3 models :/
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
ramyeon said:
That's disappointing :( I have physical copies but I'm not sure how they'd look being played on a HD TV through the PS2.

Edit: Thanks! I think that was probably a reply to me actually haha. I've seen some posts elsewhere mentioning the DDS1 issues and then other people saying they never experienced any issues so it seems like it may vary between PS3 models :/
Click to expand...

That's how I play my PS2 games. It's hooked up to my HDTV right now, and I wouldn't play the PS2 SMTs any other way. I can't fathom having my favorite RPGs messed up like that. I would have double dipped for Nocturne, too.
 
C

Capra

Member
ramyeon said:
That's disappointing :( I have physical copies but I'm not sure how they'd look being played on a HD TV through the PS2.

Edit: Thanks! I think that was probably a reply to me actually haha. I've seen some posts elsewhere mentioning the DDS1 issues and then other people saying they never experienced any issues so it seems like it may vary between PS3 models :/
Click to expand...

Just pick up some component cables (Monoprice makes pretty good, cheap ones) and you'll be good to go.
 
R

Rizzi

Member
tAYFXxQ.png

Yeah, I made the mistake of having a demon weak to force.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
Rizzi said:
Matador please stop murdering me.
Click to expand...

I'm considering making a thread about it, but Matador is pure genius from a design perspective. SMT games are ones with very complex mechanics, and you can't afford to ignore any of them. I know in other RPGs, such as Tales games or Final Fantasy, I have gone the entire game ignoring some mechanics. That Matador battle says "You can't do that here, you will learn this now or you're gonna have a bad time".

Bottom line, you will learn to use to use those buff/debuff spells. If I remember correctly, I think Noizuchi was particularly good in that fight, but it's been a while.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Nozuchi is a great choice for Matador. The instant win button is Uzume if you happen to be high enough level (I'm usually not).
 
A

asagami_

Banned
I wonder, how people learnt to exploit the Press Turn in Vanilla Nocturne? The Candelabra quest was not present in the original version, so I guess: either people learnt from other difficult boss, or just with playing a lot.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
Very random fact, but I watched the P5 anime special again, Day Breakers, and noticed that the two brothers are called Kazuya and Naoya, just like the protagonist (in the manga) and his cousin in Devil Survivor. Pretty cool!

I believe the SMT1 protagonist is called Kazuya in some material too and DeSu's is a reference as well, but I'm not sure.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
NeonZ said:
SMTI Hero is called Kazuya in the "Shin Megami Tensei Character Profile: Steven Report I" game guide.
Click to expand...
If I remember, aren't these the cannon protagonist names for mainline:

SMT: Kazuya
SMTII: Aleph
SMTIII: Hitoshura (when he isn't called Demi-Fiend)
SMTIV: Flynn
Apocalypse: Nanashi (major Spoilers:
Akira
SJ: Doesn't have one, at least as far as I know unless DSJ changes that
 
G

Golnei

Member
Hitoshura is the Japanese version of the title "Demi-Fiend". The name people tend to default as official for him is the drama CD one, Naoki.
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

Member
Hylian7 said:
If I remember, aren't these the cannon protagonist names for mainline:

SMT: Kazuya
SMTII: Aleph
SMTIII: Hitoshura (when he isn't called Demi-Fiend)
SMTIV: Flynn
Apocalypse: Nanashi (major Spoilers:
Akira
SJ: Doesn't have one, at least as far as I know unless DSJ changes that
Click to expand...

For SMTI, there's also the goofy Futsuo (Hero - Normal Man), Futsuko(Heroine - Normal Woman), Waruo(Chaos Hero - Bad Man) and Yoshio (Law Hero - Good Man) development names (from Kazuma Kaneko Complete Illustration Works), which are kind of relevant now since, aside from Futsuko, they were used as inspiration for the names of the SMTIV heroes - the first syllable of each name matches the way the names of the SMTIV protagonists are written in Japanese (フリン - Furin from Futsuo; ヨナタン - Yonatan from Yoshio and ワルター - Waruta from Waruo).

Also, Kazuya Minegishi from the Devil Survivor manga, in addition to the SMTI hero, is also a reference to Keiji Minegishi, the Soul Hacker's protagonist name in a novelization.
 
P

pronk420

Member
P5 is mostly just making me want to play some of the older games.. I was thinking of going back to Strange Journey but now deep strange journey was announced I feel like I should wait in case it gets localised.

Unfortunately I can't dedicate too much time to games, I think soul hackers is the shortest? I have basically all of the Vita/3ds/DS games, but never finished one. I got fairly far in Persona 1 and SMT IV, but I got completely stuck on a boss in IV and didn't seem to be making much progress by grinding.

Any suggestions for a first SMT game to stick with and finish?
 
H

Hylian7

Member
pronk420 said:
P5 is mostly just making me want to play some of the older games.. I was thinking of going back to Strange Journey but now deep strange journey was announced I feel like I should wait in case it gets localised.

Unfortunately I can't dedicate too much time to games, I think soul hackers is the shortest? I have basically all of the Vita/3ds/DS games, but never finished one. I got fairly far in Persona 1 and SMT IV, but I got completely stuck on a boss in IV and didn't seem to be making much progress by grinding.

Any suggestions for a first SMT game to stick with and finish?
Click to expand...
Nocturne is great, but I bet you can finish SMTIV
What boss are you stuck on?
 
S

snow in jamaica

Member
Hylian7 said:
If I remember correctly, I think Noizuchi was particularly good in that fight, but it's been a while.
Click to expand...

Aeana said:
Nozuchi is a great choice for Matador. The instant win button is Uzume if you happen to be high enough level (I'm usually not).
Click to expand...

Bicorn is also available at level 15 and comes with Sukukaja.

Opa-Pa said:
Very random fact, but I watched the P5 anime special again, Day Breakers, and noticed that the two brothers are called Kazuya and Naoya, just like the protagonist (in the manga) and his cousin in Devil Survivor. Pretty cool!

I believe the SMT1 protagonist is called Kazuya in some material too and DeSu's is a reference as well, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

In the P1 manga the protagonist is named Naoya and has a brother named Kazuya.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
There was a point in P5 where Futaba says "Let's go Joker!" and it made me think she would say "Let's go Nanashi!" because she sure sounded like Asahi from SMTIV Apocalypse. Looked up the VA, and it is in fact the same VA.
 
C

Capra

Member
I found the game was a lot easier after the trial-by-fire that is Matador. Just stick to the same strategy of buffing yourself, debuffing the enemy, and exploiting weaknesses whenever possible and you should be good for most of the game.

Honestly, aside from the final boss of True Demon (which is pretty trivial if you just invest enough time into fusing and leveling some good demons) I thought Nocturne ranked pretty close to the middle in terms of difficulty when compared to the rest of the series.
 
R

Reknoc

Member
Just coming in here to throw down some Raidou love.

Playing the first one currently, not super far at the moment just started chapter 4. Gonna give some love to the games narrative structure though, I think it does a really good job with its chapters making them their own thing that fits into the broader arc. It gives it that TV show feeling.

In regards to the combat, yeah, it's not good, the camera makes it hard to hit anything, Raidou homes in on the last thing you want him to attack, anything more than like, 4 demons is a clusterfuck with spells coming at you from all over the place (even worse with anything with zio because that zig zags). Even with that, I'd say that Raidou is still pretty much top of the Action JRPG combat scale. Though sadly that's less praise for Raidou and more knocking the other games.
 
R

Rutger

Banned
asagami_ said:
I wonder, how people learnt to exploit the Press Turn in Vanilla Nocturne? The Candelabra quest was not present in the original version, so I guess: either people learnt from other difficult boss, or just with playing a lot.
Click to expand...

The press turn system isn't that hard to figure out how to exploit really. Making sure your demons are not weak to anything the enemies currently around you have should be obvious from the start. Learning about how useful buffs/debuffs and status effects can be learned just from seeing enemies make use of them or testing out what your new demon's skills can do.

The only thing that could be annoying is figuring out a good build for the MC, thanks to the bad skill inheriting system for him, but even then the flexibility of the demon fusion system and being able to change up your party to fit whatever you need whenever you want is enough to figure out how to break the press turn system in your favor.

Capra said:
Honestly, aside from the final boss of True Demon (which is pretty trivial if you just invest enough time into fusing and leveling some good demons) I thought Nocturne ranked pretty close to the middle in terms of difficulty when compared to the rest of the series.
Click to expand...

I agree. Press turn and how much control we have over what our party is strong and weak to gives us so much to work with, I was really surprised at how little trouble I ran into when I played it.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
I've always been iffy on the Raidou games. I picked them both up on a sale on PSN, but haven't played them yet.

Watching videos, the combat looked kind of dull to me, and I wasn't particularly crazy about the setting, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I do prefer SMT games in a more modern setting though. I guess that's part of the reason Re-Fantasy doesn't interest me that much, and the Last Bible games definitely don't really interest me.

That said, I do like the Devil Summoner series concept (like I have said many times in here, I want to play the original). I loved Soul Hackers, but why did they stop the Devil Summoner series after Raidou 2? (Unless you count Soul Hackers 3DS)
 
R

Reknoc

Member
Hylian7 said:
I've always been iffy on the Raidou games. I picked them both up on a sale on PSN, but haven't played them yet.

Watching videos, the combat looked kind of dull to me, and I wasn't particularly crazy about the setting, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I do prefer SMT games in a more modern setting though. I guess that's part of the reason Re-Fantasy doesn't interest me that much, and the Last Bible games definitely don't really interest me.

That said, I do like the Devil Summoner series concept (like I have said many times in here, I want to play the original). I loved Soul Hackers, but why did they stop the Devil Summoner series after Raidou 2? (Unless you count Soul Hackers 3DS)
Click to expand...

The setting is great, if just because it allows us to have Oboroguruma aka the best demon design, and maybe even the best boss design in games ever.
 
L

Lunarwhale

Member
Hylian7 said:
I've always been iffy on the Raidou games. I picked them both up on a sale on PSN, but haven't played them yet.

Watching videos, the combat looked kind of dull to me, and I wasn't particularly crazy about the setting, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I do prefer SMT games in a more modern setting though. I guess that's part of the reason Re-Fantasy doesn't interest me that much, and the Last Bible games definitely don't really interest me.

That said, I do like the Devil Summoner series concept (like I have said many times in here, I want to play the original). I loved Soul Hackers, but why did they stop the Devil Summoner series after Raidou 2? (Unless you count Soul Hackers 3DS)
Click to expand...

oh man the raidou games are fun as hell though. Combat's a bit iffy, but the overworld puzzles are great. I never got around to finishing either for some reason, but I had a really great time with both.

the things i'd do for another devil summoner :( definitely my favorite megami tensei subseries. kind of love all of them equally, even if they all have some... unique issues (bad memories of devil summoner 1's bizarre conversation RNG).
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Hylian7 said:
I've always been iffy on the Raidou games. I picked them both up on a sale on PSN, but haven't played them yet.

Watching videos, the combat looked kind of dull to me, and I wasn't particularly crazy about the setting, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I do prefer SMT games in a more modern setting though. I guess that's part of the reason Re-Fantasy doesn't interest me that much, and the Last Bible games definitely don't really interest me.

That said, I do like the Devil Summoner series concept (like I have said many times in here, I want to play the original). I loved Soul Hackers, but why did they stop the Devil Summoner series after Raidou 2? (Unless you count Soul Hackers 3DS)
Click to expand...

Do you like Megaten Crazy? You'll love Raidou 1. Love it to bits.
 
R

Rizzi

Member
I have probably made better choices in my life than fighting Thor with a party that has two demons weak to electricity.
Still, my trusty method of "punch the demon in the face" worked well enough in the end.
 
C

Capra

Member
Can confirm: Raidou 2 is awesome.

I'm at Chapter 3 right now and despite some blatant reuse of assets and characters I couldn't really give less of a shit about (theoretically), I'm finding myself enjoying it a lot more then the first just because the battle system is so vastly improved. Grinding demon loyalty goes a lot faster when you can have 2 at once, and I find myself maxing out my demons and fusing a lot more often than in the first game.

And the music, as always, is incredible.

My dream is to see a Raidou 3 someday that combines an improved battle system with a crazy story more reminiscent of the first game's... And although it may be a GAF cliche at this point, Platinum Games would be such a perfect pick to handle it, especially after NieR Automata proved they can craft a slick ARPG battle system. Hell, they could probably handle the story themselves and it would be more in the spirit of Raidou and SMT than anything Atlus could do with their current writers.

Also I hope that if they ever do an HD remaster of Nocturne, they'll keep Raidou in place of Dante. I love Devil May Cry, but I've always wanted to play that version after hearing about it. Raidou just fits the game so much more...
True Demon spoilers And having Pierce would make him actually viable for tacking Lucifer instead of Dante.
 
B

brinstar

Member
man, I never even thought of a Raidou game with Platinum combat, that would be really cool. I still have to play those two games, they're sitting in my PS3 HDD waiting. I'm back on the SMTIV:A horse currently though.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
I'm really stuck in Nocturne at the Mantra Trial. I only have for demons, two of which are weak to elec (so Thor food). I can't fuse anything else to replace those that isn't worse than what I have, above my level (24), or also weak to elec.

I have been running around in Ikebukuro trying to recruit other stuff. I was low on Macca so I went to the first Kalpa and grinded money. Now I STILL A can't fucking recruit a Mumonfu! I get through so many steps and then they just fuck off. The same thing happened trying to recruit a Nekomata.

Wtf else can I do, I am between a rock and a hard place here?
 
R

Rizzi

Member
Hylian7 said:
I'm really stuck in Nocturne at the Mantra Trial. I only have for demons, two of which are weak to elec (so Thor food). I can't fuse anything else to replace those that isn't worse than what I have, above my level (24), or also weak to elec.

I have been running around in Ikebukuro trying to recruit other stuff. I was low on Macca so I went to the first Kalpa and grinded money. Now I STILL A can't fucking recruit a Mumonfu! I get through so many steps and then they just fuck off. The same thing happened trying to recruit a Nekomata.

Wtf else can I do, I am between a rock and a hard place here?
Click to expand...

My party when I beat it was Uzume, Nekomata and Momunofu and I was level 23. Should be doable if you buff/debuff Thor.
 
H

Hylian7

Member
Rizzi said:
My party when I beat it was Uzume, Nekomata and Momunofu and I was level 23. Should be doable if you buff/debuff Thor.
Click to expand...

I can't recruit either of those demons to save my life :( Tried so many times and it's failed, even after giving them so much shit.
 
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