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[Hylian7]

Well, I decided on a whim to see how far I could get in Naoya's route without updating my level 30-40 demons and rushing through to try to one-shot bosses as quickly as possible, and the answer is that with some shameless suspend abuse you can beat the whole game that way. Who would have thought that my two little Mothmen would have such a crucial role to play in demolishing all the Bels. The ending seems to be designed to get you to play through the eighth day content too (was it that way in the original version?) so I guess I'll keep going.

So very much like cracking Ziodyne super early in DS2.

I think it's on Day 2 or 3 when you have to save Fumi and she is possessed by Botis. Botis attacks but his Abraxas only attack and all Botis does is spam Shield All. He has Ziodyne, but will Shield All until he runs out of MP. Just keep guarding until he runs out, then kill him for easy Ziodyne.

 

[Zeroro]

That arrange soundtrack CD that comes with the special edition for Strange Journey Redux seems like it's pretty great.

 

[Lunarwhale]

It's... definitely Meguro. Is he doing all the tracks for the arrange album?

 

[Golnei]

It's... definitely Meguro. Is he doing all the tracks for the arrange album?

The second linked track wasn't arranged by him. Other samples are attributed to Michiko Naruke, Toshiki Konishi and Masafumi Takada.

 

[Lunarwhale]

The second linked track wasn't arranged by him. Other samples are attributed to Michiko Naruke, Toshiki Konishi and Masafumi Takada.

Oh! I didn't even notice that second track, hah. Really looking forward to this.

 

[snow in jamaica]

I want Takada to work on a full SMT soundtrack.

 

[TheRazielim]

It's... definitely Meguro. Is he doing all the tracks for the arrange album?

Memorial Arrange Tracks - 2 CD
Known arranger list: Kenji Ito, Masaharu Iwata, Yuzo Koshiro, Professor Sakamoto, Hideki Sakamoto, Tetsuya Shibata, Masafumi Takada, Manabu Namiki , Michiko Naruke, Shinji Hosoe, Atlus Sound Team (Shoji Meguro, Ryota Koduka, Toshiki Konishi)

 

[cj_iwakura]

Memorial Arrange Tracks - 2 CD
Known arranger list: Kenji Ito, Masaharu Iwata, Yuzo Koshiro, Professor Sakamoto, Hideki Sakamoto, Tetsuya Shibata, Masafumi Takada, Manabu Namiki , Michiko Naruke, Shinji Hosoe, Atlus Sound Team (Shoji Meguro, Ryota Koduka, Toshiki Konishi)

My god.

 

[Dragon1893]

Finally finished Record Breaker.
I heard that the final boss is pretty tough but it actually went smoothly for me. With

Spoiler

an ability like True Phantasm you can be next to it within 2 turns, ignoring all the barriers. Then you just need to kill it really quickly and since it has an elemental weakness and no resistance to physical or almighty it's relatively easy to take it down before the minions overwhelm you.
I went with the option of creating a new world from scratch outside of the akashic record and damn, that ending couldn't be more perfect.
At first I thought that it at least had the downside of sacrificing Saiduq and Miyako but even they are reincarnated as humans.
Then everyone just decides to hit the beach at the same time lol.
Felt a bit too happy for a SMT game, it's literally perfect.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Michiko Naruke

Good goddamn I'm glad she's stil gettin' work.

I want Takada to work on a full SMT soundtrack.

Kenichi Tsuchiya too!

Memorial Arrange Tracks - 2 CD
Known arranger list: Kenji Ito, Masaharu Iwata, Yuzo Koshiro, Professor Sakamoto, Hideki Sakamoto, Tetsuya Shibata, Masafumi Takada, Manabu Namiki , Michiko Naruke, Shinji Hosoe, Atlus Sound Team (Shoji Meguro, Ryota Koduka, Toshiki Konishi)

MY GOD ITS FULL OF STARS.

 

[Dragon1893]

Yuzo Koshiro!

 

[Stairouais]

That arrange soundtrack CD that comes with the special edition for Strange Journey Redux seems like it's pretty great.

Oh my god this is so good.

 

[cj_iwakura]

There is no way I'm shelling out $100+ for an LE of a sketchy rerelease of a game I already own that's in a language I don't speak, but if they release that OST on its own, I'm there.

 

[Hylian7]

There is no way I'm shelling out $100+ for an LE of a sketchy rerelease of a game I already own that's in a language I don't speak, but if they release that OST on its own, I'm there.

I will gladly buy that LE if it comes to the West. I still expect SJR to be good.

That said, I am sadly not counting on it coming to the West. Unless Atlus USA pleasantly surprises us. To date, the biggest LE of a thing Atlus USA released for SMT was Raidou 2 wasn't it? With the Raidou Frost plushie.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I will gladly buy that LE if it comes to the West. I still expect SJR to be good.

That said, I am sadly not counting on it coming to the West. Unless Atlus USA pleasantly surprises us. To date, the biggest LE of a thing Atlus USA released for SMT was Raidou 2 wasn't it? With the Raidou Frost plushie.

I still remember when it came out. Everyone was going nuts over getting it... then no one played the damn game.

 

[Hylian7]

I still remember when it came out. Everyone was going nuts over getting it... then no one played the damn game.

I worked in a mom n' pop game store at the time (before I was into SMT) and that game came out, and the store got one copy of the LE. No one bought it and it eventually sat up on the top shelf next to the Xbox 360 HD DVD players lol

 

[Joqu]

That arrange soundtrack CD that comes with the special edition for Strange Journey Redux seems like it's pretty great.

;__; it's beautiful

Please tell me they'll release that CD separately down the line

 

[snow in jamaica]

I'm not crazy about these arrangements. Not quite what I wanted from Takada and Hosoe! Oh well.

The Nocturne town battle one is kinda cute though.

 

[Golnei]

They're for the most part not exactly what I'd prefer to hear in a mainline soundtrack, but they're reasonable arrangements as an extra side thing. I do think that Takada could bring more to the series if he were brought on as a guest composer in a larger capacity rather than doing a one-off track for an arrangement album.

Also, I wouldn't mind hearing Akira Yamaoka's take on Hari-Hara part 1, or Michiru Yamane's arrangement of any of the Cathedral of Shadows themes...

 

[snow in jamaica]

^This is on-point.

 

[Hylian7]

Say what you will about Alex, but her battle theme sounds like it could have been in the original game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9abSKWg1ZE

That arrange soundtrack sounds incredible, and I really hope Atlus brings that special edition over to the US.

 

[spiritfox]

Fuck this arrange album is great.

I wonder what track is Koshiro doing.

 

[Zeroro]

I didn't know Masafumi Takada was one of the featured artists on the arrange album until now and listened to his take on Deicide, and... I'm gonna need Masafumi Takada to compose the music for an SMT game at some point.

 

[Edris]

Wish we had a port from smt nocturne for smartphones. Miss that game badly. How awesome it would be to play it on the go?

 

[Golnei]

The PS2 games would probably suit a handheld better - but the time for a 3DS or Vita port is long past. Persona ports on mobile also might be an avenue worth exploring - I don't think PPSSPP has done that much to take away from the audience of a dedicated port.

Still, all of that would be a sideshow to a successful gacha game. I hope that they can achieve something reasonable with that mobile project - have they released anything other than that vague teaser?

 

[Hylian7]

The PS2 games would probably suit a handheld better - but the time for a 3DS or Vita port is long past. Persona ports on mobile also might be an avenue worth exploring - I don't think PPSSPP has done that much to take away from the audience of a dedicated port.

Still, all of that would be a sideshow to a successful gacha game. I hope that they can achieve something reasonable with that mobile project - have they released anything other than that vague teaser?

As annoying as it is...Switch ports would be amazing. I'm particularly looking forward to the idea of playing the next mainline SMT on Switch and being able to have it portable and on a TV.

 

[asagami_]

As annoying as it is...Switch ports would be amazing. I'm particularly looking forward to the idea of playing the next mainline SMT on Switch and being able to have it portable and on a TV.

The PS2 games would probably suit a handheld better - but the time for a 3DS or Vita port is long past. Persona ports on mobile also might be an avenue worth exploring - I don't think PPSSPP has done that much to take away from the audience of a dedicated port.

Still, all of that would be a sideshow to a successful gacha game. I hope that they can achieve something reasonable with that mobile project - have they released anything other than that vague teaser?

Well, Soul Hackers was 15 years old when was ported to 3DS, and Nocturne is almost as old as that. So maybe for 2019 we will finally see PS2 Megaten ports to new systems xD

inb4 ATLUS re-release Devil Survivor for Switch

 

[TheRazielim]

I really want to see some of the SMT IV battle tracks in the live concert. They must get some pretty metal guitarist to play some of those solos live.

 

[randomkid]

kazuma kaneko's first interview in 8 years or so is about the el shaddai rpg

http://www.4gamer.net/games/381/G038147/20170814085/

they appear to have spent like 2 hours talking about everything except why kaneko was locked in the basement all this time

 

[Opa-Pa]

Hold on... Kaneko is involved in that project then? What?

they appear to have spent like 2 hours talking about everything except why kaneko was locked in the basement all this time

Sigh, of course they did.

 

[Lynx_7]

Huh, never heard of this El Shaddai: Ascencion of the Metatron game. Looked at some screens and it looks kinda cool. Is it good?

 

[randomkid]

I really liked El Shaddai even if other people thought the combat was too simple. I used to dream about an SMT game that used its engine haha.

 

[Hylian7]

The flower petals in the SMT Switch trailer meant he is back... BELIEVE!

 

[Narco]

We have to believe. I would like him to be the creative director (and character designer of course) of SMT Switch. Like good old Nocturne.

 

[Zeroro]

Is there any chance of them showing new information regarding SMT Switch at TGS or that SMT concert in October?

That game's gonna be the thing to finally push me to actually get a Switch.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Isn't that the game NISA is releasing here? Kaz is involved? He's looking good, at least. Way better than the Decarabia pic.

 

[Hylian7]

Is there any chance of them showing new information regarding SMT Switch at TGS or that SMT concert in October?

That game's gonna be the thing to finally push me to actually get a Switch.

There was that SMT stream that is this month, so possibly that, but at the same time that might be about the mobile game.

If it is in that stream or TGS though, I don't expect gameplay, and would expect something akin to that first trailer we got for SMTIV, the cast in the castle with the camera zooming out. The game was very early in development back in January when the game was announced, which was already a huge surprise. We had that extended version of that first trailer that just showed a street light in Tokyo.

 

[randomkid]

Kaneko is not involved in that game in any way. He just decided to break years of radio silence to do a lengthy interview about it because ????

I'm going to be honest. The theory that Kaneko is returning to direct SMT games because there were floating flower petals in the SMT Switch teaser is one of the stupidest theories I've ever heard.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Kaneko is not involved in that game in any way. He just decided to break years of radio silence to do a lengthy interview about it because ????

I'm going to be honest. The theory that Kaneko is returning to direct SMT games because there were floating flower petals in the SMT Switch teaser is one of the stupidest theories I've ever heard.

It's nice to want things. Maybe Eirikr or his Crib Notes posse will translate the interview.

 

[Golnei]

It's nice to want things. Maybe Eirikr or his Crib Notes posse will translate the interview.

They've taken a couple of bullet points from it, but not translated the whole thing.

 

[Opa-Pa]

The fact that all we've seen of SMT HD is a teaser trailer with no real title has me convinced the game had barely entered production, so I wouldn't expect anything this year outside of some talk about the project, stuff like target platforms and general concept. No footage or release date though.

And lol so Kaneko just decided to talk about it? Sounds like him all right.

 

[cj_iwakura]

They've taken a couple of bullet points from it, but not translated the whole thing.

Thanks. Sounds like it's just him providing his two cents before he goes back to the broom closet.

 

[Hylian7]

Kaneko is not involved in that game in any way. He just decided to break years of radio silence to do a lengthy interview about it because ????

I'm going to be honest. The theory that Kaneko is returning to direct SMT games because there were floating flower petals in the SMT Switch teaser is one of the stupidest theories I've ever heard.

It's nice to want things. Maybe Eirikr or his Crib Notes posse will translate the interview.

Don't rain on my parade.

Spoiler

I know it's silly af, but I would love for it to be true in an alternate reality.

 

[PensivePen]

Finally finished my first playthrough of Nocturne, around 48 hours by the end according to the game clock, though 2-3 of those were probably spent leaving the game on whilst doing other things. This has been a game I've wanted to play since I first got into Megaten games a few years ago when I got Devil Survivor, but I was sort of intimidated to start it as odd as that may sound. But having finished it now it was well worth finally getting around to it.

The depth of customization and huge variety of unique boss encounters are just what I would want out of this, and the game's unapologetic old-school dungeon design really grabbed me, even if I hated some of those teleport mazes. The Obelisk was probably my favorite dungeon in the game, as it felt like such a grueling climb to the top of it. The art direction looks fantastic when being played on a CRT and the haunting tone came across perfectly. I felt that they really used the shift to 3D to great effect to convey the massive scope of some areas. Having played a bit of SMT1 and 2, though finishing neither, I can appreciate how it felt like they set out to stay true to the themes and design goals of the series while also trying out totally new ideas.

In hindsight I sort of wish I had played on hard mode. The game did provide an overall good challenge, but being able to just buy healing items and chakra drops en-masse did feel a bit cheap towards the last 3/4 of the game. And by the end I was just spamming the same multi-hit physical attacks + buffs over and over to end almost every random encounter. The boss battles remained entertaining all the way through though, and I appreciate how unique they managed to make all of them feel. I tried to do as much as I could, though I'm sure I missed a few sidequests or other optional battles here and there, but I did go all the way through the Labyrinth of Amala to get the True Demon Ending. I somehow managed to barely scrape by the very final boss fight with just one of my demons left alive. My endgame party

Up next I'm hoping to go through either SMTIV and then IVA, or Strange Journey.

 

[jzbluz]

They've taken a couple of bullet points from it, but not translated the whole thing.

Maybe this Takeyasu person will be the next megaten artist.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Maybe this Takeyasu person will be the next megaten artist.

Well, better him than the Tokusatsu brigade. I think Doi has done a fine job though.

 

[Golnei]

Maybe this Takeyasu person will be the next megaten artist.

I foresee transparent shirts, clothing damage, skin-tight latex and product placement for designer jeans in Lucifer's future.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I foresee transparent shirts, clothing damage, skin-tight latex and product placement for designer jeans in Lucifer's future.

Not much of a decline from a schoolgirl outfit and whatever the hell that Matador look was in IV.

 

[Hylian7]

More tracks from that arranged soundtrack that comes with SJR are getting uploaded:

Wew

 

[spiritfox]

More tracks from that arranged soundtrack that comes with SJR are getting uploaded:

Wew

This is such a strange remix, but it kinda works?