There's also Alice's Die for Me! among the unique skills that can be whispered, but yeah, not much else (the ____ of God elemental skills associated with the archangels being among those that can't be whispered, as with the skills unique to
Masakado's Shadow
). It's definitely going to be a task keeping the game at least somewhat challenging on NG+ once I'm able to afford the customized versions of even my lower-level (< Lv. 50) demons...generally, I'll probably just have to not use them all that much.
There's no way I'd want to go back to shuffling for skill sets, but at the same time, the system is very easy to break once you know how it works.
An easy solution would be to introduce points.
Each demon has a set amount of points, each skill costs a set amount to carry over. You could even link that amount to difficulty to make an "easy" mode, for those who don't want a challenge.
I just completed the Kagome Tower area and boy, those were some easy ass bosses. The first two I was able to destroy in a single turn and the last only took three. It's crazy how quick the bosses with weaknesses are to defeat.
I finished SMTIV on neutral (still wish I went chaos). I'd say it's a solid 7, maybe 7.5 game. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting an RPG and SMTIV is pretty decent price. I think there's too many flaws and quite a few could-have-beens. Nocturne is way better and Strange Journey comes second to it (but that game itself has weird design choices).
The best thing in the game for me was easily the music. The soundtrack is outstanding. There's a lot of it and pretty much all of it is great. I'm really considering buying the soundtrack.
The fusion mechanics were really weird. I liked the standard "pick one demon, now pick another". It took me a long time to get used to SMTIV's, but it is a really user friendly system. It takes the good thing from Persona 4 Golden (being able to choose your skills) which saves so much time if you're after specific moves on your demon.
The world is great too. Spoilers obviously
with Tokyo being how it is and the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado being how it is. It's very interesting.
And as a negative for the world, I don't like how much lore/story is with the DLC. Like
Mastema
.
What even is he up to, is he being shady as fuck like in Strange Journey? He appears for a bit and that is about it. Then after reading about the DLC he's doing all sorts of stuff. I really like Mastema as a character and it sucks it is mostly DLC.
Actually I don't like how the archangels are DLC boss battles. I was really looking forward to fighting them and got disappointed
they never showed up again after you first see them.
Eh, the DLC isn't really affecting how I feel about the game, it just sucks all this cool stuff is separate.
A lot of the new demon designs are hit or miss. And a lot of the time they're miss. The most shocking and down right awful one is
fucking Squidward Lucifer
. What the hell.
They make it up because (despite poor Walter) the 2nd form is so fucking cool.
The new Omoikane is actually really rad too, better than the floating brain he used to be. I don't like how the demon portraits massively varied in quality and style. It has annoyed me in other games but there just seems to be too many styles in SMTIV.
The game balance as a whole feels a bit odd and a mixed bag. The first few hours up to Minotaur are great. The difficulty is just right, Naruku is a really cool dungeon. You get to Medusa, still a challenge. But when you get to
Tokyo
the game starts to get easier. There isn't any real dungeons like Naruku anymore and that really sucks. You have the demon domains, and they could've been much bigger and better and more included.: add a floor maybe (on later ones), couple of dungeon gimmicks etc. The only kind of good dungeons appear near the end
actually I'm tempted to say just Lucifer's Palace is the only good dungeon. To be honest it is a really good dungeon (if a bit short)
.
Bosses aren't really satisfying. They feel too easy
main story bosses, Beelzebub is a different beast I swear
. I love how you have mid fight conversations and that is something I'd like to see developed in the future, but I would've liked it more if the fights themselves were intense as it would've given those conversations more meaning to me.
The MC/Samurai/Flynn being able to use magic makes the game way easier. Being able to learn a lot of skills from demon whisper really makes it easy. The last 10 hours of SMTIV for me was basically "oh random encounter, megiodolaon".
Being able to save anywhere is something I'm iffy on. It's nice and I like it, but it removes tension. In the first few hours I was fine with it, because the game was actually keeping me on my feet. If the game was constantly going to kill me, then saving anywhere is welcomed very much. But because the game's difficulty takes a walk off a cliff it feels really hollow. Also Charon being included when you can save anywhere is just weird and bizarre and feels super unneeded and probably just put in to make it seem more casual friendly.
I would've liked an app like system like Strange Journey. Being only able to have a certain amount of apps on at a time.
I don't think this is even everything I wanted to say. But yeah. SMTIV. Good game. Get it because it is worth £18. But the 3DS is full of way better RPGs and they're all better Atlus games too. There's too much wrong with SMTIV for me to outright recommend it unless someone has played every other RPG on the 3DS that isn't SMTIV.
Sorry for the long post. I'm going to do NG+ on expert and I'm going for the chaos ending. Probably won't finish it because I'll probably go play something better.
The music in this game is really good. Like I already said I'm also quite enjoying the environments with normal, realistic layouts instead of huge labyrinths.
I agree with the complaints that are being mentioned regarding gameplay mechanics, at the end of the day it all feels part of an attempt to make the game easier/more accessible which is a shame. I still absolutely love the game though.
I don't think this is even everything I wanted to say. But yeah. SMTIV. Good game. Get it because it is worth £18. But the 3DS is full of way better RPGs and they're all better Atlus games too. There's too much wrong with SMTIV for me to outright recommend it unless someone has played every other RPG on the 3DS that isn't SMTIV.
Are there really that much good RPGs on the 3DS?
Aside from remakes, I don't see that much other than Bravely Default (wich has huge flaws too) and Fire Emblem...
I completely agree with
Beelzebub
, he was a bitch to beat.
Also, as I mentioned before, I find the opinion that free skill choice during fusion are great, but then complaining about the difficulty a bit strange. The latter is a direct consequence from the former.
I don't think i'd be enjoying this too much if it wasn't my first smt game other than persona, can't wait to dig into the others now though DS seems so interesting to me
Are there really that much good RPGs on the 3DS?
Aside from remakes, I don't see that much other than Bravely Default (wich has huge flaws too) and Fire Emblem...
I completely agree with
Beelzebub
, he was a bitch to beat.
Also, as I mentioned before, I find the opinion that free skill choice during fusion are great, but then complaining about the difficulty a bit strange. The latter is a direct consequence from the former.
I completely realised that mistake afterwards. I forgot to say I didn't like how you could transfer ANY skill, that was shit and really screwed up game balance. At least in P4G you could choose your skills but they were still limited. Also while saying that, your MC levelling up his magic skills just made them even stronger. Megidolaon+5 just wrecked every mob.
SMTIV is full of weird gameplay choices that make the game more easy than it should have.
I guess there aren't a lot of 3DS RPGs that aren't remakes or ports. Though Devil Survivor never came out in Europe
but the DS wasn't region locked so you could've easily imported it
. Soul Hackers got an English translation for the first time though I'd find this harder to recommend to someone new to RPGs (I'd tell them to play SMTIV). Etrian Odyssey IV is really good and easily my favourite RPG on the system, Untold is a remake of 1 but I've never played 1 so I can't say if the differences between them make the remake worth playing. Break Record is coming and that is supposedly twice more game than the original. I've held off the original so I'm looking forward to that.
Devil Survivor Overclocked has been available on the EU Shop for quite a while. I finished it earlier this year. Also, it has free skill choice and it's hard as shit. I really hate not being able to choose my skills freely. In SM TIII I just kept resetting the fusion combination dozens of times until I got the skills I wanted. Just a waste of time really.
Depends on what your priorities are. If it's a demon you only have around as fusion fodder, then it's feasible to not bother registering them at a higher level, especially if you're not interested in transferring any of that demon's skills. Still, re-registering fusion fodder demons loaded with skills you plan on transferring to other demons can be helpful should you need that same fodder demon as an ingredient to create something else later. If it's a demon that has a skill that mutated into something that it normally wouldn't learn, then it can also be useful. You'll also want to re-register modified versions of demons you've already recruited or fused previously, if you've made a better version of that demon than your old one.
Another thing that can be done is to register a demon just before it levels up and learns a new skill, allowing you to save money and potentially avoid dropping skills you may not want to lose.
Devil Survivor Overclocked has been available on the EU Shop for quite a while. I finished it earlier this year. Also, it has free skill choice and it's hard as shit. I really hate not being able to choose my skills freely. In SM TIII I just kept resetting the fusion combination dozens of times until I got the skills I wanted. Just a waste of time really.
Oh I know, I stated DS and kinda implied that to Overclocked. It is a great game and probably my favourite 3DS game. Having to make tactical decisions on the skills made fusion worthwhile, it made sense seeing as it is an SRPG. In SMTIV it is a palette swap, fusion was easy in SMTIV but being able to have any skill any my demon just takes all the difficulty out of title. P4G did it best because it gave you the choice to choose the skills that the demon could use the skills instead of being able to give the demon anything. But yeah, I don't miss resetting until I get the skill combination I want.
Man, I jumped onto the EU Miiverse board for SMTIV. Can't even post from my NA account, although I can read all your guys' posts. I know it's nothing compared to waiting a year for the game, but I am really jealous of the Miiverse board. It really seems like all Atlus needs to do if flip a switch too.
Oh I know, I stated DS and kinda implied that to Overclocked. It is a great game and probably my favourite 3DS game. Having to make tactical decisions on the skills made fusion worthwhile, it made sense seeing as it is an SRPG. In SMTIV it is a palette swap, fusion was easy in SMTIV but being able to have any skill any my demon just takes all the difficulty out of title. P4G did it best because it gave you the choice to choose the skills that the demon could use the skills instead of being able to give the demon anything. But yeah, I don't miss resetting until I get the skill combination I want.
Can't wait to play this, but considering the file size I'm going to wait till I get the New 3DS later next week and my system transfer is done as I hear that takes a while.
I think the Mitamas make fusion in Overclocked much more convenient than in SMTIV. Having to completely reset demons in order to add new skills is really annoying if you aren't using the grinding DLC.
Man, I jumped onto the EU Miiverse board for SMTIV. Can't even post from my NA account, although I can read all your guys' posts. I know it's nothing compared to waiting a year for the game, but I am really jealous of the Miiverse board. It really seems like all Atlus needs to do if flip a switch too.
Yeah, this is frustrating. It's basically look, don't touch when you go there.
The fact is that now the game is out everywhere and Europe has the most complete version.
I don't know though whether it's Atlus or Nintendo who's to blame for this lack of competence.
God I HATE getting lost in this game, especially when the map only ever shows stairs or exit icons AFTER YOU USE THEM.
Spent maybe 15 mintues trying to find my way to Club Milton in Shibuya only to find it was accessible from a stairs that is in the southern most area. Reason I didn't notice it before is because I found an item close to it, but turned around back to explore another area.
Had to check the net to find that there is a stairs nearby.
Worse still was FINDING SHIBUYA. I really wish Buroughs would've given simple instructions like 'Shibuya is to the south' and from what ti can be accessed.
...but other than that I'm having a blast. Only other thing that bothers me is demon recruitment, I can never tell if my reply is gonna be offensive to them or not.
I haven't had that much of a problem finding main quest objectives, the npcs usually give good enough directions. I'm just looking it up for sidequests though, can't be bothered with that.
I haven't had that much of a problem finding main quest objectives, the npcs usually give good enough directions. I'm just looking it up for sidequests though, can't be bothered with that.
You're gonna want the Estoma Sword skill for this sort of thing. I never used it, but a lot of people swear by it for avoiding encounters.
I didn't have too much issue with finding sidequest locations, but there were two exceptions. One was this quest in Ikebukuro. The game had you accept the quest on the worldmap before the main underground mall in the area and tells you that you're looking for your objective "somewhere in Ikebukuro" The objective location had you go through the mall location and pop up on street level on the other side. The problem was that the game had a plot gate before the street level location (the game will stop you from advancing to locations if you're in the middle of a quest). So this made me think that the location was somewhere before Ikebukuro. I spent over an hour figuring out that I was wrong.
The other example was the Tournament finals. I had passed by the location at some point earlier, but I forgot where it was located, and it was in one of those regions that you only pass through but don't do much in, so I had no clue. I had to look that one up.
I just beat the game for the first time and I got the Law ending. The final boss was kind of disappointing, but the ending was very fitting for Law. I'm going to try and actually get neutral next time, in a New Life game. I'm probably going to take a good break from this game though.
I can also vouch for Estoma Sword as someone who made a good amount of use of it. Cancels battles automatically when demons run into you on the overworld map, but striking them is still required in field environments.
I can also vouch for Estoma Sword as someone who made a good amount of use of it. Cancels battles automatically when demons run into you on the overworld map, but striking them is still required in field environments.
I'll make Tam Lin and use it then.
Speaking of which, although I have yet to fuse him but don't Cu Chuthlin and Tam Lin share the same art but different colors
I'll make Tam Lin and use it then.
Speaking of which, although I have yet to fuse him but don't Cu Chuthlin and Tam Lin share the same art but different colors
I can also vouch for Estoma Sword as someone who made a good amount of use of it. Cancels battles automatically when demons run into you on the overworld map, but striking them is still required in field environments.
Which is just bizarre. I would have made it so that everything low enough is instantly defeated and if you deliberately want to engage low-level mobs, you strike. As it is, you still get jumped by them sometimes, which defeats the entire purpose of Estoma.
I played Persona 2 (forgot which one) for a while. Overall I wasn't too happy with the gameplay, but really enjoyed story and characters. And at least there you have human party members you can really see on the battle field.
It's not like I dislike the main SMT series, but I think it's the main reason why I prefer some of the spin-offs over it. Although I totally see why others prefer the main series and it is indeed a series of high quality.
- a great design imo- also fall so low to do the monstrosity that is
Sanat
, the worse Design I have ever seen
(well, just above Nomura's Batman at least)
?
But for all the bitching I'm doing on the new designs, a few of them were really good. The bad one are just that bad it leaves off a bad impression on the new designs.
I've been doing a lot of sidequests and had a couple of occasions where I wasn't sure where to go but the game usually tells you enough if you pay attention to the description and what the npc tells you. If it's on the world map than it will usually tell you wich area within the district you need to check, it's always at the top of the map so you just need to roam that district untill you find that area. If you're looking for something inside a "town" you might need to walk around a bit checking points of interests but they're not very big so it usually doesn't take long.
I like the open-ended nature of the game, all the stuff I've been doing for the past few hours could've been done in any given order. Story is picking up, I'm curious to see where this is going.