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Shin Megami Tensei IV |EU OT| Atlus Shrugged
- Thread starter Samurai_Heart
- Start date
I'm so used to hard-resetting from EO4, RF4 (which has soft reset but I've heard it can cause data corruption so I don't use it), and FE:A that it doesn't even phase me anymore lol.
Charon is supossed to be like Mr. Resetting; there to punish you for what you did.
Pretty sure FE:A has a soft reset.
IV is also the only game in the series that lacks a defensive stat.
Nocturne doesn't have defense stat either.
E_Darkness
Member
The only times I use Charon is when I think I didn't save for a period of time. I get too paranoid after I lost about an hour of playtime because of it.
The fact you can save any kinda removes any kind of tension from the game. But it is nice to be able to choose where you save.
It does. It has vitality.
Vitality only increases your HP.
Yes and that directly influences your survival chances. Your "defense" in SMT IV is pretty much always static and limited by your progress and the equipment you can buy. You'd see far less random ambush followed by multi target phys attack game overs if you could invest a little bit more into your HP pool.
Yeah but that doesn't change the fact that there is no defense stat in Nocturne.
In SMT4 the MC has a good HP increase over the levels and you can equip an accessory to increase your max HP, not to mention the skill "Doping" which is by the way one of the most important skills to have.
Demons can also learn the passive skills Life Surge & co which again increases the max HP.
Between SMT3 and 4 they only changed the way you can control your max HP but the system remains the same. The only exception are the demons who have 3 different static HP growth but you can usually bypass it with Life Surge, Life Gain... On top of that they stack which can lead to having some absurd amount of HP for the already high HP demons.
You're not far from the next terminal. You should be able to make it on your next push.
This. Charon and the save anywhere really remove a lot of the difficulty or tension I had in previous SMT games. Trying to reach a terminal before having the party wiped added a lot even if it seemed frustrating at the time.
The actual charon sequence don't bother me with it being skippable it is just the fact it is in the game in the first place.
Starting to enjoy the soundtrack.
Dragon1893
Member
Damn, the game sure opened up now, love it.
Around the third successful negotiation seems to be the right point. It's not guaranteed but it works often enough.
This game definitely starts off harder than I remember Nocturne or SJ being. Problem is
it doesn't seem to keep it up as much. Especially compared to SJ. I'm finding the difficulty right now really not that bad at all.
Edit: And yes, I'm skipping the revival system as well.
Was really disappointed to find out those two elements in this game. It amuses me that so many people here seem to be ignoring the option to be revived.
I don't mind the save everywhere feature. It does steal some of the tension, but also saves you from a lot of frustration. I'm still in the begining, just got to
Ueno Station
Charon is useless though, and kind of immersion breaking, but i'm not bothered, as i love everything else about the game.
Can't wait to see some of the reactions to the bigger reveals in the game.
Due to this thread I picked up my Law save and just finished it. This game was truly astounding imo. What I wouldn't give for a high budget console version only for full environments and whatnot (but the game is good as is).
Due to this thread I picked up my Law save and just finished it. This game was truly astounding imo. What I wouldn't give for a high budget console version only for full environments and whatnot (but the game is good as is).
Barrylocke
Member
I agree a bit on the save anywhere. It means that it's almost impossible to call this game very difficult just because you'll never lose any progress in fights and can likely brute force them.
I need to finish my own playthrough...
I need to finish my own playthrough...
I would likely consider the nature of the combat (versus the more drawn out battles of the older games) a negative rather than a positive without the save anywhere feature, especially with the game's habit of giving reinforcements the initiative should they arrive, which can very easily be a death sentence depending on your party when it happens.
After five tries I finally killed the
yesterday. I almost got him on my first try
, but he got lucky and wiped out my entire party in one move.
I really like the game so far. I'm not sure why, but it kind of reminds me of Dark Souls...
Minotaur
(when I only had one bufu capable demon in my party)
I really like the game so far. I'm not sure why, but it kind of reminds me of Dark Souls...
For what it's worth, in regards to how the NA OT subtitle was decided upon...
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=70748371&postcount=1797
Etrian 1 was most likely built on the foundation of the old Shin Megami games... So, yeah. Similarities in some regards are to be expected.
Man the beginning of this is rough. Everything hits like a truck and not getting first hit is almost guaranteed to kill one or two party members. It's like, not even a "oh SMT" thing as nothing steamrolls you this early on in the previous games. It's actually pretty frustrating.
How many of you guys are playing in Easy Mode? I had to decrease difficulty at Naraku, I died all over again. I'm enjoying the story and the game a lot, this game really catched me.
BTW, am I the only one who does not understand how does the cathedral of shadows work? The ones at the SNES games and Nocturne were very simple and intuitive.
BTW, am I the only one who does not understand how does the cathedral of shadows work? The ones at the SNES games and Nocturne were very simple and intuitive.
Dragon1893
Member
Select search, then select the demon you want to use in the first option, press Y and you'll get a list of possible fusions with the demon you selected. You can refine the search further with the other options.
The 3 fusions you see in the bottom screen as soon as you enter the cathedral are the recommended fusions based on what you have.
Special fusions involve more than 2 demons, the AI tells you when you can fuse one.
just to make sure: guns need bullets, but bullets are infinite once you bought them?
they seem pretty expensive... are there going to be any upgrades (as in stronger versions of the same type like ice for example)? I don't want to waste money on potentially useless bullets early on...
they seem pretty expensive... are there going to be any upgrades (as in stronger versions of the same type like ice for example)? I don't want to waste money on potentially useless bullets early on...
I'm disappointed in the difficulty this time around. Nocturne felt way more consistently difficult to me.
Only times I've died since the training were in random battles where reinforcements come and get the initiative which is kind of bullshit really.
Haven't died against any bosses yet and I'm more than half way through the game.
It's still fun though because press turn system. Some of the demon designs are atrocious though. I miss Kaneko's art. It definitely gave the games a really unique look and atmosphere that I just feel is missing from this instalment.
It's still the best RPG I've played this year.
Dragon1893
Member
Yeah, Nocturne is definitely harder, SMTIV just has this weird difficulty curve early on. I'm not a big fan of the demon designs either, they're too cartoony for SMT. Minor gripes though, the game is fantastic.
Bullets are infinite when acquired, yes. Better versions of individual types show up as the game progresses, but are generally spaced out well enough not to make getting earlier ones a waste. I tended not to bother with the elemental rounds, but I played a magic build.
Barrylocke
Member
This needs to be said very loudly concerning the quests.
The later VR battles are complete and utter bullshit. Especially that last one. Trial and Error play at its absolute worse. I suppose it being a quest saves it from being a true detriment but still.
For me,
VR challenge 8 wasn't so bad. 9 and 10, however, were absolutely a load of crap, and I definitely didn't have the patience to figure those ones out myself
Yeah, my thoughts exactly when I played it.
Warning: the game just gets easier later on. The final boss (on neutral at least) was a complete letdown for me (0 death, and only 6 or 7 turns).
Hard mode is harder, but in an unfair manner.
I really like how this game looks. 3D dungeons are great but I'm glad they kept in the character sprites always been a big fan of the sort of style SMT sprites have. Character portraits are a bit hm though, most of them are okay but Navarre's face looks like someone having their nob constantly bitten by a duck.
I played for about seven hours over the weekend during my two train rides. Keep in mind this is my first Shin Megami Tensei game.
The beginning was very rough. I was dying constantly in fights with random monsters and the battle at the end of the first tutorial quests seemed impossible. I managed to beat it and the got my ass kicked by the Challenge Quest monster.
I leveled up a bit, got some more demons and managed to beat him, too.
From then the pace picked up. The fights started becoming more fun and I am barely ever dying. This all changed when I reached the Minotaur and promptly got my ass handed to me.
The worst thing about those boss battles is that they feel impossible. It's not a Final Fantasy battle where I'll at least be able to put up a fight. They usually end in two turns. By the time I can do anything I'm out of options: most of my demons are dead and I'm left with barely any HP. It's very irritating, though at least now I know that leveling up, catching new Pokemon and fusing them is the way to go and should yield positive results.
Also, right now I feel like I don't get monster fusing at all. I just do a search and try to get the demon that looks the coolest (taking into account if it's going to use any of my favourites of course)
Though as I said, I'm only 7 hours in and this is my first SMT experience (I haven't even played a Persona game), so I expect to be quite a proficient and knowledgeable fuser in a dozen hours or so.
So yeah, the experience has been a bit rough, but the things that always made me want to check out the series - the crazy, weird worlds and demons and interesting stories - are definitely present here. Now, most of the dialogue feels like it was written by a 5-year-old (might be the translator's fault), but the world is fascinating:
. What's up with all this? I have no idea and I can't wait to find out.
I might not be able to touch the game during the week as studying will keep me busy, but I'll definitely put in some hours over the weekend!
The beginning was very rough. I was dying constantly in fights with random monsters and the battle at the end of the first tutorial quests seemed impossible. I managed to beat it and the got my ass kicked by the Challenge Quest monster.
I leveled up a bit, got some more demons and managed to beat him, too.
From then the pace picked up. The fights started becoming more fun and I am barely ever dying. This all changed when I reached the Minotaur and promptly got my ass handed to me.
The worst thing about those boss battles is that they feel impossible. It's not a Final Fantasy battle where I'll at least be able to put up a fight. They usually end in two turns. By the time I can do anything I'm out of options: most of my demons are dead and I'm left with barely any HP. It's very irritating, though at least now I know that leveling up, catching new Pokemon and fusing them is the way to go and should yield positive results.
Also, right now I feel like I don't get monster fusing at all. I just do a search and try to get the demon that looks the coolest (taking into account if it's going to use any of my favourites of course)
Though as I said, I'm only 7 hours in and this is my first SMT experience (I haven't even played a Persona game), so I expect to be quite a proficient and knowledgeable fuser in a dozen hours or so.So yeah, the experience has been a bit rough, but the things that always made me want to check out the series - the crazy, weird worlds and demons and interesting stories - are definitely present here. Now, most of the dialogue feels like it was written by a 5-year-old (might be the translator's fault), but the world is fascinating:
The don't knwo what "Literature" is? They live in something resembling feudal Japan, but with high-tech gadgets like the Gauntlet? France is a fictional place, and yet I know the game is going to take me to Tokyo?
I might not be able to touch the game during the week as studying will keep me busy, but I'll definitely put in some hours over the weekend!
Ahaha.
As for your frustration, team building is by far the most important part of SMT. Levels typically don't make much of a difference unless you have found a potential fusion with the skills and resistances you want.
For skills: Make sure you use buffs and debuffs, you can get away without using them in other RPG's, but in SMT not using them is a quick way to die in 2-3 turns. With fusions, a demon gains the skills from the fusion materials, plus a couple of additional skills.
For resistances, see what type of attacks a boss uses and then just fuse demons that resist, or even better null/repel those types. You can get auto skills that add additional resistances and they can come in handy. Use fusion materials to pass over resistance skills that cover for your weaknesses.
The Minotaur fight is particularly hard because he uses physical skills and you haven't had the chance to get many physical resistances yet. He also has a high crit rate on one of his attacks, which leads to smirks. Once he gets a smirk you are pretty much finished. Just buff your defenses and hit/evasion rate and go ham with
bufu
I also wouldn't worry about the story or dialogue choices. Just keep going for a bit longer.
Dragon1893
Member
Going to end the night after beating
. 2x Rakukaja at the start and 2x Zan casters and a team with no Elec weaknesses. Piece of cake on the first try.
Reinforcements suck, but most of the time I've had them was after recruiting so I'm usually still at full health and can survive them attacking first. I like the designs though! A change in style is nice sometimes.
.
Medusa
Reinforcements suck, but most of the time I've had them was after recruiting so I'm usually still at full health and can survive them attacking first. I like the designs though! A change in style is nice sometimes.
.
It's still the best RPG I've played this year, but I think I'm gonna like Persona Q more.
Imp the Dimp
Member
If I alternately pick good and bad choices, will I end up with the neutral path?
. Is that the way to go? Also, where can I check my current alignment?
I didn't finish off evil Issachar but I did kill Dullahan in Shinjuku