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

O

Ourobolus

Banned
Currently rocking

Zionga
Agilao
Bufula
Zanma
Energy Drain
Sukunda
Dekaja

on Flynn. I'll pick up the final skill slot after I get the Skill Mutation app. Seems to have been pretty good so far. I really haven't been doing a whole lot of calculated demon customization, but so far nothing has really come back to bite me in the ass...yet. Just got done killing off the corpses, but the boss at the end of the Insane Horde quest
Chernobog
is kicking my ass. Goddamn poison.
 
L

Li Kao

Member
Due to some really worrisome health news from someone dear to me on the day the game was released, I just begun playing the game yesterday. And yup, it delivers.

First observation, it is indeed an Atlus game. More than one hour and still no combat ( ^_^)
So I will admit that I'm a slow player and that I generalize a little too much here, but a lot of the SMT/Persona games I played share this trait. More funny than anything else, after all it helps install an atmosphere.
Second observation, yep, the game has the potential to be violently hard. The time between your first demon ally and full team is all kinds of crazy. But after that, I didn't have too much difficulty.
Apart from that, the game world is so good, so crazy. Each time I could say 'well, tired old fantasy setting and classical dungeon rpg' there is a new element of lore or gameplay that come and make me all fuzzy inside. I particularly love the... let's not spoil... I love Burroughs.

But some quick questions though...

1/ Are there stat points 'paths' to avoid ? I am traditionally a balanced player, prioritized some things over others, yes, but I spent at least a little points everywhere during my first 6 levels. Luck is surely my least used stat, and I tend to prefer Magic as if I understand correctly it impacts all magic skills.
No template please, just tell me if there is a really wrong way or not.

2/ Still new to the press turn system, not totally clear on that. Let's say I have a 4 members party. If I hit a weakness it will give an extra turn to the first character ? And another weakness and it will give one to the second ? That's it ?

3/ Smirk wasn't explained in the game tutorial, I had to read the Destructoid review to understand it. So if I hit an enemy with an element he is immune to, I lose my turn and it empowers him, that's it ?

4/ You assure me that alignment paths are obvious enough in the game ? When I had my first plot discussion on the castle rooftop with my fellow samurai, I was a little worried that Jonathan wholeheartedly agreed with me. Keep your distance, man, neutral for life ( '-_-)

I will surely have others question, but so far I love the game.
Not a fan of not seeing some of those sexy demons in 3d, not a fan of some (new ?) demon arts, and I'm growing tired of the 'bring the shopkeeper X item to unlock some new things in the shop' (ala Etrian, Unchained Blades etc... a mechanic I feel a little overused lately). But all that is just minor details, the game feels so very good to play.
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

Member
Why does a player used Blight doesn't seem nearly as cheap as the enemy one? I was really looking forward to getting Blight, and almost jumped when David learned it, but in the end it doesn't seem any better than the Archangel's explosion...

1/ Are there stat points 'paths' to avoid ? I am traditionally a balanced player, prioritized some things over others, yes, but I spent at least a little points everywhere during my first 6 levels. Luck is surely my least used stat, and I tend to prefer Magic as if I understand correctly it impacts all magic skills.
Click to expand...

Only physical attacks can get critical hits, so luck, for a magic based character, is only a defensive stat, while it also helps the offense of a physical character. And, in fact, luck is important for a physical character because most of the time those critical hits will be the only way to get extra turns.

2/ Still new to the press turn system, not totally clear on that. Let's say I have a 4 members party. If I hit a weakness it will give an extra turn to the first character ? And another weakness and it will give one to the second ? That's it ?
Click to expand...

It's extra turns to the party overall, not necessarily the character who hit the weakness. Anyway, yes, hit weakness or get criticals and you gain extra turns, and you can get even mroe turns on top of that.

3/ Smirk wasn't explained in the game tutorial, I had to read the Destructoid review to understand it. So if I hit an enemy with an element he is immune to, I lose my turn and it empowers him, that's it ?
Click to expand...

Anything you do that can give you an extra turn also can make you smirk and give you the same bonuses. The same goes to the enemy, so, aside using the wrong element against them, they also can smirk after criticals or hitting the weakness of your demons or main character.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Li Kao said:
Due to some really worrisome health news from someone dear to me on the day the game was released, I just begun playing the game yesterday. And yup, it delivers.

First observation, it is indeed an Atlus game. More than one hour and still no combat ( ^_^)
So I will admit that I'm a slow player and that I generalize a little too much here, but a lot of the SMT/Persona games I played share this trait. More funny than anything else, after all it helps install an atmosphere.
Second observation, yep, the game has the potential to be violently hard. The time between your first demon ally and full team is all kinds of crazy. But after that, I didn't have too much difficulty.
Apart from that, the game world is so good, so crazy. Each time I could say 'well, tired old fantasy setting and classical dungeon rpg' there is a new element of lore or gameplay that come and make me all fuzzy inside. I particularly love the... let's not spoil... I love Burroughs.

But some quick questions though...

1/ Are there stat points 'paths' to avoid ? I am traditionally a balanced player, prioritized some things over others, yes, but I spent at least a little points everywhere during my first 6 levels. Luck is surely my least used stat, and I tend to prefer Magic as if I understand correctly it impacts all magic skills.
No template please, just tell me if there is a really wrong way or not.

2/ Still new to the press turn system, not totally clear on that. Let's say I have a 4 members party. If I hit a weakness it will give an extra turn to the first character ? And another weakness and it will give one to the second ? That's it ?

3/ Smirk wasn't explained in the game tutorial, I had to read the Destructoid review to understand it. So if I hit an enemy with an element he is immune to, I lose my turn and it empowers him, that's it ?

4/ You assure me that alignment paths are obvious enough in the game ? When I had my first plot discussion on the castle rooftop with my fellow samurai, I was a little worried that Jonathan wholeheartedly agreed with me. Keep your distance, man, neutral for life ( '-_-)

I will surely have others question, but so far I love the game.
Not a fan of not seeing some of those sexy demons in 3d, not a fan of some (new ?) demon arts, and I'm growing tired of the 'bring the shopkeeper X item to unlock some new things in the shop' (ala Etrian, Unchained Blades etc... a mechanic I feel a little overused lately). But all that is just minor details, the game feels so very good to play.
Click to expand...

1. People will tell you to play the game how you want, but focus on one main stat. Do not balance. Luck is useful, if you are playing a more magic build you should be putting more into luck than you are into strength.

2. You hit a weakness you get another turn, you mess up like missing your attack you lose a turn.

3. Smirk is granted randomly when you do stuff that would give you another turn like hit an elemental weakness or get a critical hit. It adds a stat boost similar to the Rakukaja, Sukukaja, and Tarukaja skills.

4. There was no special neutral choice in that conversation.

I hope your friend is okay.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Li Kao said:
3/ Smirk wasn't explained in the game tutorial, I had to read the Destructoid review to understand it. So if I hit an enemy with an element he is immune to, I lose my turn and it empowers him, that's it ?
Click to expand...
You could have also read the manual.
 
V

vall03

Member
I don't know if people noticed this before but I feel so dumb because I just noticed this. I just fused Tiamat and she has this move called Sea of Chaos. In the description it says 'Varies with enemy's alignment'. I was wondering since when did the demons have alignment in this game since I never really knew considering this is different from Strange Journey. And then looked through some menus and saw that their alignment can be seen on their Profile. Now I'm wondering if demon alignment have any other features or effects on the game. Guess its not big of deal.
 
Jinfash

Jinfash

needs 2 extra inches
OH MY GOD

I just ran into
Demonee-Ho
's domain. I feel like raising this thing as my child instead of fighting it.
 
L

Li Kao

Member
Aeana said:
You could have also read the manual.
Click to expand...

You're kidding, reading an e-manual ! The horror ! ;-) (downloadable version here)
On a more serious note, sorry if my post is a little on the superficial side Aeana, I honestly think it's not a matter of laziness, I just thought it would be more fun to engage in conversation in this great SMT thread / community than looking for an answer elsewhere.

Thanks for the replies guys ! So focusing on a primary stat will be though for me, we will see. And the smirk clarification was really helpful, thanks again.
Regarding the first real conversation choices Trojita, yes I assumed that way. The two other answers were looking like chaotic and plain strange, not neutral at all.

On the press turn matter, I understood the concept, my question was more about how it works on the battlefield. Is the extra turn for the first member after all the others have hit, is it for the member who has hit the weakness, that kind of question. Now I admit this is borderline stupid as I should really know that by level 6, but I don't know, maybe yesterday I was too happy hitting a weakness to really take note of how things really work.

Edit - 20ap for a skill slot is armed robbery. There, I said it :p
 
O

Ourobolus

Banned
In the NG+ where you don't keep everything, I read you still keep your demon compendium, right? Do you also keep your apps, and thus can re-level and get the rest of the apps?
 
C

CSX

Member
duckroll said:
Dresden tells me there's a DLC demon later on which has a physical attack which hits 15 times. :(

The rest of the DLC are boss challenge quests, so basically it's like the Dragon of the Lake type quest where you take it up, there's a short conversation, you fight a tough boss, and then you unlock that demon for fusing. "Substantial" and "meaningful". Right. Thanks Atlus. :(

At least the game itself is great. The DLC seems so awful.
Click to expand...

That demon with the new Hassou Tobi is one of those boss challenge quests so at least you get to fight a tough boss to earn it :p
 
M

magnetic

Member
I absolutely despise the world map.

I get stuck on barely visible tiny walls, see a street that I can´t actually go on because it´s broken or something, nothing is labeled unless you actually stand on it... and the lower map isn´t really useful either. I wish I could at least make some manual notes or something.

I mean, I like that it´s an actual map of real Tokyo, but the downside is that it´s much easier to get lost compared to a fictional map that allows for more visually distinct areas. But other than that, I find it very hard to see where I can actually go (and where I´m supposed to be going). Sometimes there´s a big open field, but the gap between two buildings that looked like some sort of entry can´t be passed. Other times, I discover by pure luck that my little spinning cursors can actually travel along some paths.

I find it just very vague and ambiguous. I think a well-drawn pixel map would have been a lot more helpful than this weird low-poly 3D one, something with more visual clarity and clear indications of where you can go and what is off bounds.

I love absolutely everything else about this game. The music is absolutely brilliant and easily one of the best OSTs I´ve heard in the past few years, the environments are atmospheric, spooky and wrecked, I love the feeling of running through an actual city. But travelling that dull, frustrating map while running into low-level combat all the time not knowing where I´m actually going just sours my experience a bit.

At least the map theme is fantastic!

Aeana said:
You could have also read the manual.
Click to expand...

It took me over a year to actually understand that 3DS games have digital manuals and that I don´t even need to quit the game to read them. At first I thought that the game was being a bit condescending for telling me to RTFM every time I boot the game, but given how complex this game is, I can understand they wanted to be on the safe side.
 
S

SolidChamp

Banned
It looks like there is a wealth of info to wade through here...JRPG's of modern times have been sort of intimidating for me. I've never played a game like this before. The last RPG that I dumped a sizeable amount of time in was Pokemon Diamond. The fondest memories I have with any RPG is FFIV...when it was FFII for SNES.

Sooo...talk to me like I'm a total layman. This game is catching my eye because I've been tethered to the awesomeness of my 3DS as of late, and I'm looking for something to divert my attention away from Animal Crossing.

I'd like someone who is enthusiastic about bringing new people into the SMT fold to explain this game to me in the simplest terms...the awesome things you can do in it, any game play "nuances" that might be a selling point...etc.

For example, the things I've heard about Persona 4 have me thinking I might end up getting it when I get around to buying a Vita. The whole "balancing the life of a high schooler with RPG combat" is something that intrigues me.

Okay SMT IV fans...go! Sell me on it.
 
S

Snowden's Secret

Banned
I picked up one of the DLCs with my $30 credit last night... it's like a cheat code. I imagine the other ones are similar.

Not sure what I think about such things... sure I could definitely use some easy experience, but I feel like the intensity of the encounters are the point of the game, so why even play if I'm going to grind away?
 
GeekyDad

GeekyDad

Member
Snowden's Secret said:
I picked up one of the DLCs with my $30 credit last night... it's like a cheat code. I imagine the other ones are similar.

Not sure what I think about such things... sure I could definitely use some easy experience, but I feel like the intensity of the encounters are the point of the game, so why even play if I'm going to grind away?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not touching any of those. On the normal difficulty, it's already kind of surprising how much experience the battles (and scouting) dole out. I've yet to have to grind in this game. I might purchase the money DLC on my second playthrough just to help pay for summoning and completing the compendium. Also, any boss/story DLC. We'll see. Not earning stuff in games is usually a surefire way to ruin your own experience.
 
Z

Zonic

Gives all the fucks
Finally got started last night, doing 2 of the 3 first challenge missions (need to fight that one demon) and decided to get the White Samurai outfit as well (which should come in handy since I won't be weak to fire now). I gotta say, I'm understanding where people are coming from when they say the game is hard. I've had enemies 1-hit kill me or close to it, but at the same time, I'm finding myself not being annoyed by it for some reason. Though I do find it annoying trying to talk to demons and have them join the party (one thing I didn't care for in the Persona remake). Still, I'm looking forward to continue playing through the game.

& think it was mentioned before, but what's the story with Symbolic Equipment? Says it's suppose to be free, but when on purchase details, says it's 99 cents.
 
C

Chrono Helix

Member
Vamphuntr said:
Seems like you were right Aeana, with your tips posted in the thread I got the neutral path without using a guide. It's fairly obvious once your reach the STORY SPOILERS
Blasted and Infernal Tokyos
what the choices will do. It seems like the last decision is important as when I reloaded and try picking the first choice instead I got law.

I did all the side challenges in the game so far so I guess these balanced out, eh?

What is the maximum points you can put in stats. I have 250 Ma right now.
Click to expand...

I'm at level 91 and have
480 Ma. I've been wondering if being able to exceed 200 is a bug.

Jessicat said:
I think there's a skill you can get that does both at once? I dunno if the name of the skill is even the same in English, I was just surfing that SMTIV site everyone's been posting and yea ^^;
Click to expand...

Not sure what's the skill name, it's probably got Serenity or Balance in the name somewhere, but it resets buffs and debuffs for both you and the enemy. I don't think it's useful, since I can't think of a boss fight where you'll lose the buff/debuff race.

Basileus777 said:
How high does demon stock expansion go?
Click to expand...

You can carry up to 24 demons, including the ones you bring into battle.

Jinfash said:
OH MY GOD

I just ran into
Demonee-Ho
's domain. I feel like raising this thing as my child instead of fighting it.
Click to expand...

Sadly it's got less useful resistances than
Frost Ace, which you use to fuse it. I still want a plushie.
 
T

toadsworth

Banned
Finally beat
David
! Only took 10+ tries, his blight spell is a bitch. Now for the rest of the game....

Whats the best way to prepare for future boss fights? Is a well rounded team with all elemental attacks the best way to go?
 
I

InsaneZero

Member
toadsworth said:
Finally beat
David
! Only took 10+ tries, his blight spell is a bitch. Now for the rest of the game....

Whats the best way to prepare for future boss fights? Is a well rounded team with all elemental attacks the best way to go?
Click to expand...

Depends on the boss fight. Generally though, the focus should not be on having a range of elemental attacks, but rather buffs/debuffs.
 
C

CSX

Member
toadsworth said:
Finally beat
David
! Only took 10+ tries, his blight spell is a bitch. Now for the rest of the game....

Whats the best way to prepare for future boss fights? Is a well rounded team with all elemental attacks the best way to go?
Click to expand...

depends on the boss. Sometimes the best strat is going in with your best team just to see what moves it throw and see if it has a weakness. Once you know those, either try to beat it on the spot or die gracefully and get him/her on your 2nd try with new knowledge
 
T

toadsworth

Banned
InsaneZero said:
Depends on the boss fight. Generally though, the focus should not be on having a range of elemental attacks, but rather buffs/debuffs.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been trying to round out my party with all the buffs (Rakukaja, Sukukaja). I'm going for a dex build but my spells are still stronger than my bullets. Does the gun ever start to do big, non-elemental damage? (40ish dex)
 
J

jorgeton

Member
Whelp.. got my first ending.

Crap ending spoilers
I chose to turn the world to nothing, because it was late at night and I was tired. And so it did. I mean, lame ending, but it pretty much did what was advertised.
Now to reload my save and try to get a better ending.

End-game question:
Does choosing another dialog choice give you the chaos/law/neutral ending right there.. or is there more of the game? I don't want it to end and if Kenji is the last boss, that is incredibly disappointing.
 
C

CrichtonKicks

Member
I'm assuming that stat resistances boost elemental spells of the same affinity? So if I equip Agi-resistant armor on my MC then I will do more damage with Agi than Bufu (assuming that Demon doesn't have an affinity either way for those elements)?
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
NeonZ said:
Only physical attacks can get critical hits, so luck, for a magic based character, is only a defensive stat, while it also helps the offense of a physical character. And, in fact, luck is important for a physical character because most of the time those critical hits will be the only way to get extra turns.
Click to expand...

You could not be more wrong. Luck is useful as an offensive stat for magic characters unless you somehow dislike Smirks.
 
C

coopolon

Member
InsaneZero said:
Depends on the boss fight. Generally though, the focus should not be on having a range of elemental attacks, but rather buffs/debuffs.
Click to expand...

Really? Like having most demons have most buffs/debuffs so you can get them up to X3 as possible?

Wow, I guess I am not buffing/debuffing enough. I use them for boss fights, but typically only once or twice per turn depending on how many turns I get. I normally have archangel buffing/debuffing and everyone else exploiting weaknesses.
 
C

C-Jo

Member
Trying again for the morning crowd. Mild challenge quest and location spoilers:

C-Jo said:
Anyone know where I'm supposed to deliver
Baldur
to? The quest details say
Ikebukuro Firmament Viewers/Hunter Association
, but I've been wandering around and can't seem to find it.
Click to expand...
 
V

Volcynika

Member
The guy that they got to do the voice of (Ueno/Tokyo stuffs)
terminal guardian or whatever
is hilarious.

Also (same area spoilers)
the whole sequence of getting that demon in the swamp's head and each character passing it on to the next one gave me a good laugh.
 
M

Matt Attack

Member
jorgeton said:
Whelp.. got my first ending.

Crap ending spoilers
I chose to turn the world to nothing, because it was late at night and I was tired. And so it did. I mean, lame ending, but it pretty much did what was advertised.
Now to reload my save and try to get a better ending.

End-game question:
Does choosing another dialog choice give you the chaos/law/neutral ending right there.. or is there more of the game? I don't want it to end and if Kenji is the last boss, that is incredibly disappointing.
Click to expand...

End-game answer:
Kenji is not the last boss. If you choose not to turn the world to nothing, then you make one more decision there. After that you're locked into your CNL route.
 
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