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Shin Megami Tensei IV |OT| The Dark Souls of Persona

SteeloDMZ

Banned
Are there any shortcuts or healing areas within Naraku though? I've entered the 3rd Stratum, and it takes forever to go back up.

It takes like a minute, tops, to ge out of Naraku and go back to the Barracks. There are shortcuts in each level that make the backtracking much faster.

But after you play for a while and go deeper down that dungeon, you'll unlock something to travel faster in certain locations.
 

JCizzle

Member
3 hours in and feel like I finally found a good groove after finishing up that second quest. Now I'm on the three challenge quests and died to the mini boss, but feel like I can beat him with the right strategy. Much better feeling now that I'm not getting one shot before I can even take a turn.
 

Mupod

Member
If you're talking about mainline SMT games then I don't think there are any. As for for spinoffs and such look no further than the DS/3DS libraries!

Soul Hackers, the Etrian Odyssey series, and a whole bunch of other titles I had never played nor can recall the names of!

In terms of pure gameplay, strange journey isn't even a spinoff IMO. Hell I think I remember them telling us to consider it as SMT4 when it came out, heh.

It would kill the tension and dungeon-crawler aspects of the game if this was possible.

yeah the main thing keeping 'save anywhere' from being overpowered is how long you tend to go between terminals and such. So unless you want to run back and forth after every few fights you need to invest in sustainability - spirit drain has saved my ass a lot, by the way. The last boss I fought would have been very hard without it.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
It takes like a minute, tops, to ge out of Naraku and go back to the Barracks. There are shortcuts in each level that make the backtracking much faster.

But after you play for a while and go deeper down that dungeon, you'll unlock something to travel faster in certain locations.

A minute? uhhh. What? The amount of enemies rolling at you and the fights you have to go through because you can't dodge for shit in corridors makes it much longer than a minute.

Also who thought it was a fucking brilliant idea to have enemies below cliffs so you get into a fight immediately or you enter a zone and there's an enemy you can't dodge and gets the first strike in. who. the. fuck. designed. this. shit.
 

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Omg. I am dying over here. I need to get that Macca negotiation skill ASAP.

It's a good way to make some extra cash, and it seems certain Demons carry more (like the Melchior dude, guy with the cash-bag, gave me a bunch), plus it's pretty funny to shake them up for cash.
 

Tamanon

Banned
I never use revive in the middle of a fight. Never.

Eh, those guys were such a pain in the ass, and seeing as I only had one demon knocked out it worked out perfect for me. It's good for salvaging situations after spending an hour doing a quest for 80 XP and 900 Macca!

Also today, had my first demon give up when I was about to kill him and offer to join my party instead. Fused that coward immediately!
 

Mupod

Member
A minute? uhhh. What? The amount of enemies rolling at you and the fights you have to go through because you can't dodge for shit in corridors makes it much longer than a minute.

Also who thought it was a fucking brilliant idea to have enemies below cliffs so you get into a fight immediately or you enter a zone and there's an enemy you can't dodge and gets the first strike in. who. the. fuck. designed. this. shit.

I never had trouble dodging enemies in the first few levels of naraku when I really wanted to avoid fights. Except one asshole who was part of a challenge quest and kept spawning under my feet.

I don't know how early you can get Estoma Sword, but that shit's amazing. It even works on the world map, once you get access to it.
 
Holy shit I hate Medusa! I'm level 14 and I smack her with nothing but Zan and I still can't kill her. I came close once but she was able to wipe my party in three hits
any have any tips on how to beat this bitch.
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
A minute? uhhh. What? The amount of enemies rolling at you and the fights you have to go through because you can't dodge for shit in corridors makes it much longer than a minute.

Also who thought it was a fucking brilliant idea to have enemies below cliffs so you get into a fight immediately or you enter a zone and there's an enemy you can't dodge and gets the first strike in. who. the. fuck. designed. this. shit.

Yes, going from Naraku lvl 3 to the top takes almost nothing. You can absolutely avoid all the enemies that pop-up. I did it numerous times during that David side-mission.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Yes, going from Naraku lvl 3 to the top takes almost nothing. You can absolutely avoid all the enemies that pop-up. I did it numerous times during that David side-mission.

If you're lucky and you don't run into anything it'll take about two minutes probably. Sadly, that's rarely the case. If you can dodge those enemies that spawn in small corridors then you're either thin as a paper or you're a ghost going through enemies because the way they spawn and chase you down makes it impossible to dodge half of the time.
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
Nope, you can avoid them. Make them follow you to a fairly open area and turn around the enemy, then keep running. The enemies don't run faster than you.

Also the event spawns are random. There's a part on the first level that spawns 4 enemies at the same time, which is the only one really hard to avoid.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Nope, you can avoid them. Make them follow you to a fairly open area and turn around the enemy, then keep running. The enemies don't run faster than you.

I understand that they're not faster than you. Hard to turn around and lead them back when a fair amount of the areas are corridors. Even then you're wasting time turning around. So... Not exactly sure where you're getting the one minute.
 

scy

Member
If you're lucky and you don't run into anything it'll take about two minutes probably. Sadly, that's rarely the case. If you can dodge those enemies that spawn in small corridors then you're either thin as a paper or you're a ghost going through enemies because the way they spawn and chase you down makes it impossible to dodge half of the time.

lrn2kite
 
Holy shit I hate Medusa! I'm level 14 and I smack her with nothing but Zan and I still can't kill her. I came close once but she was able to wipe my party in three hits
any have any tips on how to beat this bitch.
Use the White Samurai armor that's free DLC. It resists gun attacks so your MC should do better. Other than that try to have Zan on everyone and maybe fuse Fortuna so you can have access to Sukukaja. If you have any other buffs like Rakukaja or debuffs like Rakunda, use those to make your life easier.

Enemy spawns are really random. A lot of the time you can avoid them but sometimes they'll just spawn underneath you, wait for you around corners and entrances, or jump out of nowhere. There are quite a few tight passages in Naraku where it's very easy to bump into them.
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
I understand that they're not faster than you. Hard to turn around and lead them back when a fair amount of the areas are corridors. Even then you're wasting time turning around. So... Not exactly sure where you're getting the one minute.

I'd go and time it right now if I wasn't at Tokyo and haven't found the terminal to teleport yet.

The thing is, navigating Naraku is easy and takes little effort to get out of it since the map is so simple and there are areas you can by-pass entirely thanks to the look down shortcuts.
 
Use the White Samurai armor that's free DLC. It resists gun attacks so your MC should do better. Other than that try to have Zan on everyone and maybe fuse Fortuna so you can have access to Sukukaja. If you have any other buffs like Rakukaja or debuffs like Rakunda, use those to make your life easier.

Every single one of my guys has Zan. I don't have the free DLC armor unfortunately. I might grind another level or two and try to smack this assclown down.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Is it me, or was (early game spoiler)
Long
ridiculously easy? He hit my weaknesses multiple times and I still had no issues.
 

Dresden

Member
A multi-hitting gun + elemental bullets is trivializing many of the bosses I'm encountering now. If they have a weakness, that's 600~1200 damage going out from the MC every turn.
 

Sleepy

Member
I am often given to hyperbolic statements about games, and then I get bored of them; but goddamn, I have spend the last hour or so recruiting demons and this game is my GOTY.
And yes I said this about Animal Crossing: New Leaf and I traded that game in for this one.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Did Calamity Horde use Blight? Reload.
Did Mamudo kill two or more people? Reload.

:/

Never reload, ever.
I got good surprise twice when I only had 1 demon still alive. When you win in that condition, it's the best feeling and satisfaction, at least for me.
 

Dresden

Member
I am often given to hyperbolic statements about games, and then I get bored of them; but goddamn, I have spend the last hour or so recruiting demons and this game is my GOTY.
And yes I said this about Animal Crossing: New Leaf and I traded that game in for this one.

This is certainly better than the Last of Us or Fire Emblem. I haven't played a better game all year.
 

Althane

Member
So I'm going with a physical build, I read that Dex increases skill damage, while Str increases attack damage. Been going with a 1/2/0/1/1 build for my levels, anyone know think that's a viable build?

Also, is it me, or is the damage in this game seriously amped? I fought the boss for the first set of Challenge missions, and he basically ripped through my team. I ended up killing him with some lucky crits, but I only had one demon alive at that point, and the main character had melted (literally. Fire breath.)
 

scy

Member
Never reload, ever.
I got good surprise twice when I only had 1 demon still alive. When you win in that condition, it's the best feeling and satisfaction, at least for me.

Well, yes, I'll finish the fight off anyway but then I'll reload so I can do it with everyone still alive.
 

Sleepy

Member
This is certainly better than the Last of Us or Fire Emblem. I haven't played a better game all year, and I don't think Atlus has made a better game in quite a while.

The negotiations are so tense, and random that it is so incredibly satisfying when you actually recruit one on the first try. Lang Daahl (?) was a bitch to recruit. Took me five times.


I didn't even finish Fire Emblem. Traded that one in for Animal Crossing.
 

Mupod

Member
A multi-hitting gun + elemental bullets is trivializing many of the bosses I'm encountering now. If they have a weakness, that's 600~1200 damage going out from the MC every turn.

crap I'm heavy into dex and I basically forgot about elemental bullets entirely. I'd imagine you'd need to know about the boss weakness beforehand though, and I haven't died in a while. Unless I'm dumb and there's a way to swap ammo mid-fight.

can elemental shots be critical?
 
So I'm going with a physical build, I read that Dex increases skill damage, while Str increases attack damage. Been going with a 1/2/0/1/1 build for my levels, anyone know think that's a viable build?

Also, is it me, or is the damage in this game seriously amped? I fought the boss for the first set of Challenge missions, and he basically ripped through my team. I ended up killing him with some lucky crits, but I only had one demon alive at that point, and the main character had melted (literally. Fire breath.)

The game doesn't have a Defense stat at all - better armor just increases your HP - so enemies just hit you with set damage. That's partly why enemies hit so hard - the only way to resist damage is through elemental resistances and Rakukaja spells.

That being said, if you're going for a phys build, prioritize Dexterity and AGI. Luck and STR can be secondary stats, since STR only affects actual physical weapon damage and most of the protag's weapons are crap.

This is certainly better than the Last of Us or Fire Emblem. I haven't played a better game all year.

I don't think I'm inclined to agree there, but I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as you are.
 
I am often given to hyperbolic statements about games, and then I get bored of them; but goddamn, I have spend the last hour or so recruiting demons and this game is my GOTY.
And yes I said this about Animal Crossing: New Leaf and I traded that game in for this one.

It's my favorite this year easily. I haven't really played anything that I've really loved besides this.

I'm in Shinjuku currently but I'm loving it. Probably not going to get back to it till after work tonight but I can't wait. Haven't felt this way about an RPG in a long time.
 

massoluk

Banned
Finally beaten the Minotaur by the skin of my teeth (the hero died, all but 3 monters survived).

Run into Chinese demon girl next door, tried to recruit, got nuked to hell, died. Realized I forgot to save after beating Minotaur. Threw the 3DS away hard (it's ok, I threw it to the bed, but FUCK). Thanks god for super convenient resurrection, totally forgot before I threw the 3DS.
 

CSX

Member
nnFHapq.jpg

Update on #TeamLuck after using all my incenses

As mentioned before shinjuku demons gibe u a lot of exp which will happen as u try to do quests there
Edit : ignore the blight. Its going away soon. Just bought the last skill slot
 
Update on #TeamLuck after using all my incenses

As mentioned before shinjuku demons gibe u a lot of exp which will happen as u try to do quests there

There's really no reason to hang on to Incense items, is there? I know they're an emergency full-heal, but I never remember to use them during battle.

I have a pile of like 10 of them in my inventory. Should I just burn them all or save them?
 

CSX

Member
There's really no reason to hang on to Incense items, is there? I know they're an emergency full-heal, but I never remember to use them during battle.

I have a pile of like 10 of them in my inventory. Should I just burn them all or save them?
I was thinking that as well but decided to screw it and used them all lol
 
Fuck that tournament challenge quest. 4 enemies in a row and they to go first every time? Half of my party is dead before I even get a turn. Such bullshit.

Yes I raged at it so hard the first time I did it. They could at least let you heal between fights... I suggest you try again when you're level 30+.

Does the Fusion Exp Boost App just slightly increase the XP the rest of the party gets when you fuse something or does it make the thing you fused better? If it is the first thing that sounds fairly useless.

It's the former. It goes up to triple experience.
 
As mentioned before shinjuku demons gibe u a lot of exp which will happen as u try to do quests there

Yeah they do! I went into Shinjuku at like level 19 or 20 and went up three or four levels doing the main quest there.

I love the environments in this game. Shinjuku looks awesome and the pond area in Ueno was great too.
 
Update on #TeamLuck after using all my incenses

As mentioned before shinjuku demons gibe u a lot of exp which will happen as u try to do quests there
Edit : ignore the blight. Its going away soon. Just bought the last skill slot

Looking good. I used all of mine so far too aside from STR and DEX. I'll probably wait until I have my final team to use those seeing as I never use any phys attacks aside from when I'm autoing.

I'm currently about 20 hours in and I'm heading to Shibuya for the first time. I ended up liking
Asmodeus's design
a lot more than I did before, and I just finished some extra challenge quests. Defeating
Okuninushi
at the shrine was a cakewalk.

 

magnetic

Member
...so I took a little break from playing to claim my 30$ ehop credit. So, just let me go ahead and link my system to my freshly created Club Nintendo account...

Please also note that download versions of games downloaded from Nintendo eShop cannot be registered if the Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo 3DS XL system used to download them is not first linked to a Club Nintendo account.

bth_Angry-Muslim-Guy.jpg


So now I´m getting punished again for buying digitally and not following the SPECIFIC order of steps Nintendo had in mind. (My bad karma started back when I was dumb enough to import an US 3DS to europe because I was craving Etrian Odyssey 4 too much and now am forever locked into buying eshop titles because importing the physical copies is stupidly expensive.)

I fucking hate Nintendo sometimes.
 

Lissar

Reluctant Member
When trying to get Jack Frost as an ally, he said (spoilering just in case people don't want to read demon talk dialogue)
that his father became an adult with a demon girl who was in stock with him. Oh my. What are they doing in there? Maybe I don't want to know.

...so I took a little break from playing to claim my 30$ ehop credit. So, just let me go ahead and link my system to my freshly created Club Nintendo account...



bth_Angry-Muslim-Guy.jpg


So now I´m getting punished again for buying digitally and not following the SPECIFIC order of steps Nintendo had in mind.

I fucking hate Nintendo sometimes.

Ask support about it? I've heard others say they will help.
 

Dresden

Member
So what's the earliest demon with diarama/mediarama? I still haven't fused one and at this point dia/media is really lacking (and making fights harder than they should be).
 

Althane

Member
The game doesn't have a Defense stat at all - better armor just increases your HP - so enemies just hit you with set damage. That's partly why enemies hit so hard - the only way to resist damage is through elemental resistances and Rakukaja spells.

That being said, if you're going for a phys build, prioritize Dexterity and AGI. Luck and STR can be secondary stats, since STR only affects actual physical weapon damage and most of the protag's weapons are crap.



I don't think I'm inclined to agree there, but I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as you are.

What does Luck do?

I think maybe I'll go with a (1/2/0/2/0) and (0/2/0/2/1) build, varying between levels. Although I thought AGI was just how fast you go in comparison to the rest of your team. What else does it do?
 

Ravager61

Member
...so I took a little break from playing to claim my 30$ ehop credit. So, just let me go ahead and link my system to my freshly created Club Nintendo account...



bth_Angry-Muslim-Guy.jpg


I fucking hate Nintendo sometimes.

Yeah similar thing happened to me. I guess when I bought Fire Emblem, I had not made my Club Nintendo account yet. I bought SMT thinking I'd get the 30 bucks but no dice.

Nintendo's online policies are just fucking insane.
 
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