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

NEO0MJ

Member
Hold on tight for a few more hours, keep fusing, and the games becomes a LOT easier after three more bosses.

(If on any chance you are new in SMTs: buff/debuff is the key word (with elemental affinities of course). Hold on tight on Rakukaja/tarunda/war cry till you have luster candy/debilitate)

This is my first SMT, however I did play Persona 3&4. This game though is way tougher than either of them.
It it better to level up demons so they can learn new spells and pass them on to me or is it better to just fuse them right away?
 

Jisgsaw

Member
This is my first SMT, however I did play Persona 3&4. This game though is way tougher than either of them.
It it better to level up demons so they can learn new spells and pass them on to me or is it better to just fuse them right away?

Oh, well then, I should also mention that you should NOT make a balanced build when leveling up.
Choose a main stat (usually MAG or DEX), and keep pumping at least 3 points in it every level up.

For your question, it's up to you. If a demon has a skill that you absolutely want, or that is usefull for a long time (healing spells and Blight (for dex build) come to mind), absolutely do learn it.
If you can make a demon with a skill you need (especially buffs/debuffs early game), or elmental resistance for the element of the boss your having difficulties with, but you have to fuse a demon which isn't fully leveled up, do it.

But as said, past a few more bosses, the games becomes significantly easier, especially if you get a grasp of the combat system.
 
Is there a way to view enemies weaknesses during battles? I feel like I would do a lot better if I didn't keep forgetting which attacks to hit them with. I'm also an SMT noob, just picked this up tonight.
 
Is there a way to view enemies weaknesses during battles? I feel like I would do a lot better if I didn't keep forgetting which attacks to hit them with. I'm also an SMT noob, just picked this up tonight.

Once you beat a demon or has that demon, in battle when you target him an exclamation mark will pop showing that he is weak to the attack; Rp will pop if it repels; Nu for nullifying attacks; Dr for draining. Theres no specific display for resistance to an type of attack.

If you buy the demon analyze app, you can always check the enemy stats.

Keep in mind, that in boss battles or quest bosses the display will show ? even if you have that demon, so you will have to memorize.
 

Caladrius

Member
Is there a way to view enemies weaknesses during battles? I feel like I would do a lot better if I didn't keep forgetting which attacks to hit them with. I'm also an SMT noob, just picked this up tonight.

Unfortunately, no. You won't know an enemy's weakness/immunity until you hit it, and bosses never show it. After you defeat one or two of a regular enemy it should show you the effects an attack will have on it, but I don't know the exact mechanics.
 
Once you beat a demon or has that demon, in battle when you target him an exclamation mark will pop showing that he is weak to the attack; Rp will pop if it repels; Nu for nullifying attacks; Dr for draining. Theres no specific display for resistance to an type of attack.

If you buy the demon analyze app, you can always check the enemy stats.

Unfortunately, no. You won't know an enemy's weakness/immunity until you hit it, and bosses never show it. After you defeat one or two of a regular enemy it should show you the effects an attack will have on it, but I don't know the exact mechanics.

thanks guys! gonna get back into it in a bit. had to take a break after getting turn denied a few too many times.
 
So, after getting fustrated. I put the game down for a few weeks. Came back to it today, and I can't beat
The Minotaur in the 5th Stratum
. I get close to beating him, but he just bests me before I get the last series of blows in. Should I walk back and grind a bit more? Anyone got any advice for me?
 

Jisgsaw

Member
So, after getting fustrated. I put the game down for a few weeks. Came back to it today, and I can't beat
The Minotaur in the 5th Stratum
. I get close to beating him, but he just bests me before I get the last series of blows in. Should I walk back and grind a bit more? Anyone got any advice for me?

Only battle I had trouble with, because of his luck with crits (earning him the smirk every time, so another crit...).

Rakukaja/Tarunda all the way, abuse his weak spot, don't have any demon weak to its element, and hope he won't crit/Walter wont give him a smirk.
Spriggan can be usefull, he resist phys.
 
Beat White Rider! He destroyed me in the first battle but I got him in the second try.

Only Chemtrail and Trumpeter left.

Can you fight a Fiend again after beating them?
 

isual

Member
what's up with the fusion ? it seems like you're limited and can't just fuse randoms before...

5 hours in already facing that naga boss in the tower who is weak to zan ...

game is easy...even on normal.
 

JEKKI

Member
I had to work overtime today so I downloaded some random podcasts to keep my company;

one of them (VGHangover) had a talk about this game which made me realize,

I've literally played no other game since the day this came out (except for 10 minutes of Summer 92 Recca lol) and have yet to hear a single podcast talk about this game in the past 2 months

until today that is lol.

does anybody know if any major or popular podcasts ever had any type of discussion of this game?

if not, it's really sad that most mainstream gaming voices don't really have respect for what is easily one of the best games
 

Thoraxes

Member
Oh my god some of the DLC comes with its own music.

Shiiiiiiiit I need them all.

I'm still making good progress on my "Record the whole OST" project, too. Up to about 40 tracks, and I think i'm about halfway-ish done.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
what's up with the fusion ? it seems like you're limited and can't just fuse randoms before...

5 hours in already facing that naga boss in the tower who is weak to zan ...

game is easy...even on normal.

Your actually just past the hardest part of the game.
The game really disappointed me on this point, I was expecting something more challenging.
Even the DLCs aren't that bad (Well, excpet Masakados, obviously).
 

Acid08

Banned
Not that difficult? Damn, you guys must be naturals at this. I started today and even had trouble with the training missions :lol, I did start getting the hang of it near the end though.

I noticed that the encounters come fast. Enemies are constantly spawning. Are there any Apps you guys would recommend getting ASAP?

I'm loving the look of the game, all the little UI effects in dungeon are great. Navarre is a little bitch so far but the other three seem cool.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
Not that difficult? Damn, you guys must be naturals at this. I started today and even had trouble with the training missions :lol, I did start getting the hang of it near the end though.

I noticed that the encounters come fast. Enemies are constantly spawning. Are there any Apps you guys would recommend getting ASAP?

I'm loving the look of the game, all the little UI effects in dungeon are great. Navarre is a little bitch so far but the other three seem cool.

Well, to be honest, I found the first couple hours very difficult. I even died a couple times.
But as said, after a while, it becomes very easy.

As far as app goes, obviously wou'll want to expand your/your demons skill slots.
Mana refill, when it becomes available, is quite handy (just be sure to have a healing skill on your MC; and you almost won't need items anymore).
The skill change app (skill augment ? not sure how it's called anymore) is quite handy also. Easy way to get excellent skills early on without any effort, if you are lucky enough.
Reducing the skill costs for your demon is also quite nice.

Well, actually, most of the apps are usefull in their own right, it all depends what you want. Only must early on, as said, is the skill expand.
 

isual

Member
Your actually just past the hardest part of the game.
The game really disappointed me on this point, I was expecting something more challenging.
Even the DLCs aren't that bad (Well, excpet Masakados, obviously).

wait...that was the hardest part already ? dafuq. Minotaur boss wasn't hard, just used agni....

that was it all ? I thought this game would be hard...press turn system is easy to use (since dds and smt;N)

dafuq

dlc is bullshit...all that stuff should have been with the game...obviously milking all that extra content...

i'll buy some if not all of it sadly...
 

Jisgsaw

Member
wait...that was the hardest part already ? dafuq. Minotaur boss wasn't hard, just used agni....

Then you were lucky.
When he uses phys moves, he very often gets crits. And thus smirk status, which means more crits. I often got chained with 4 to 6 crits from him, which to this point is impossible to survive.
 
wait...that was the hardest part already ? dafuq. Minotaur boss wasn't hard, just used agni....

that was it all ? I thought this game would be hard...press turn system is easy to use (since dds and smt;N)

dafuq

dlc is bullshit...all that stuff should have been with the game...obviously milking all that extra content...

i'll buy some if not all of it sadly...

Minotaur boss isn't the hardest boss by a long shot. He's just that Matador of this game.

Then you were lucky.
When he uses phys moves, he very often gets crits. And thus smirk status, which means more crits. I often got chained with 4 to 6 crits from him, which to this point is impossible to survive.
Just make sure you level up your luck and agility and you should be fine.

I find strength and dexterity almost useless personally.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Just make sure you level up your luck and agility and you should be fine.

I find strength and dexterity almost useless personally.

Physical attacks are as powerful as magic. You only need to invest more in buying gear to be more versatile.
Take "Blight" for example. It's cheap and strong and annoying as hell.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
Just make sure you level up your luck and agility and you should be fine.

I find strength and dexterity almost useless personally.

That's the odd thing: I was at rather high ag and luck, still didn't help me.
I guess I was rather unlucky (5 times in a raw), the one time I didn't got chained, I beat him easily.

Physica attacks are as powerful as magic. You only need to invest more in buying gear to be more versatile.
Take "Blight" for example. It's cheap and strong and annoying as hell.

Physical is even slightly more powerful in raw power. But elemental magic has sure 50% more on weaknesses, phys can crit.
But well, not that it matters that much, considering how fast the ennemies and bosses go down.
 

isual

Member
instead of going magic route, i'm going for a pure physical crit MC.

Strength is at 220 and luck is at 50.

this the recommended way ?
 
ha. too late brah.

are there any missables in this game ? do completed and pending challenge quests carry over to ng plus ?

A lot of quests you only get by talking to demons, of course there are only some quests you can get in some routes. I dont know if challenge quests carry over.
 

sgt jumpy

Banned
Ok, so Mido told me I had unlocked Ares as a fusion, but he doesn't show up in my compendium or a search. I guess I just don't have the demons to fuse him? I'm going magic. I've put at least two points in magic each level, I've upped that to 3 each level and 1 in Agi and 1 in luck. Level 13, fourth spectrum of Naraku. I have a neat quest where I'm supposed to capture a badass monkey demon So Wong(I believe). Best him in the first fight, but he ran off. That dude was my toughest fight so far. The dragon at the lake wiped me the first fight, but silly me I had two demons weak to force and my PC was wearing force weak armor. Crushed him on the second fight.

I need five more app points to get mp while walking. About 1500 xp. Naraku fourth floor is giving good xp, but damn it's only two or three fights before I need to heal up. Running back to the barracks is a pain.
 

CorvoSol

Member
So I beat
Issachar
for the first time.
Was I supposed to feel emotional in that fight? Issachar was a pissant dweeb, and his foul behavior leading up to the fight just kinda sealed him as more the Argath than the Delita. Anyway, I only didn't slaughter him because he wanted me to kill him.

Is it just me or does Burroughs kinda seem weird? Like, she interrupts at tense moments and is so cheerful in spite of it.
Like her perky "Looks like the quest is going well, Master." RIGHT AFTER I'D KILLED MY SO-CALLED FRIEND.

Did you get all that?
 

JEKKI

Member
whooo~!!! I almost beat the
version of Tokyo that's on fire all the time

is thre any way to access
the other two cities that arent Shinjuku?

the guards wont let pass me and I already killed Kenji lol
 

Soulhouf

Member
instead of going magic route, i'm going for a pure physical crit MC.

Strength is at 220 and luck is at 50.

this the recommended way ?

That's what I did, except I had ~200 luck and ~100 strength by the end of the game.
Let me tell you. This will make the game even easier since 80% of the hits are critical and you can increase that chance to 99% if you use the OP Ace Bazooka (the best gun in the game and it's available very early).

You need to increase your dex for more damage out of your gun though.
Focus on multi hit weapons/guns and that way you will only need Desperate Hit against enemies who resist physical/gun attacks. Even the DLC boss fights went down with raw shooting.
 
Go to the Florida bar in Shinjuku, Fujiwara and Skins will tell you to head to Ginza's rubble pile in the surface street. after that you'll receive the quest to reach #1 in the hunter ranks. There are a set of required quests that you need to do in order to move forward.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/672441-shin-megami-tensei-iv/66894570

The
Resurrection of the Kosoushin
quest has to be found through demon negotiation. Some of the others in that list also have prerequisite quests, and you'll need to get access to Ginza's shopping district for one of them.(which requires 150,000 Macca.)

Once you actually get to #1, take a victory lap around all of the underground districts (including Ikebukuro) to finish up and head back to Ginza's rubble pile.
So Caladrious, I went around leveling up and exploring a bit before heading to Florida Bar. They want me to recall the name of the demon. I do not remember at all. Can you tell me how I'm supposed to find out again (as opposed to just telling me) please?
 

Soulhouf

Member
So Caladrious, I went around leveling up and exploring a bit before heading to Florida Bar. They want me to recall the name of the demon. I do not remember at all. Can you tell me how I'm supposed to find out again (as opposed to just telling me) please?

He is the god protector of Tokyo.
I don't know if his name is stated clearly in this game but if you played the previous SMT, it's obvious since he's always been there.

Here is his name if you can't figure out:
Masakado
 

NeonZ

Member
whooo~!!! I almost beat the
version of Tokyo that's on fire all the time

is thre any way to access
the other two cities that arent Shinjuku?

the guards wont let pass me and I already killed Kenji lol

You can go there in the Chaos and Neutral route after you
return to standard Tokyo.
. You're locked out of them if you get into the Law route though.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
instead of going magic route, i'm going for a pure physical crit MC.

Strength is at 220 and luck is at 50.

this the recommended way ?

As other have said, DEX is the major stat for phys and gun skills, for some reason:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/672441-shin-megami-tensei-iv/66751506

But well, maybe you get at least some challenge if you don't go the magic/physical nuker route down...

Ok, so Mido told me I had unlocked Ares as a fusion, but he doesn't show up in my compendium or a search. I guess I just don't have the demons to fuse him? I'm going magic. I've put at least two points in magic each level, I've upped that to 3 each level and 1 in Agi and 1 in luck. Level 13, fourth spectrum of Naraku. I have a neat quest where I'm supposed to capture a badass monkey demon So Wong(I believe). Best him in the first fight, but he ran off. That dude was my toughest fight so far. The dragon at the lake wiped me the first fight, but silly me I had two demons weak to force and my PC was wearing force weak armor. Crushed him on the second fight.

I need five more app points to get mp while walking. About 1500 xp. Naraku fourth floor is giving good xp, but damn it's only two or three fights before I need to heal up. Running back to the barracks is a pain.

If I remember correctly, Ares is a normal fusion, so it won't apear in the sepcial fusion list.
In the fusion search for a specific demon, you can only select demons (or races for that matter) you have in your compendium, so getting a specific demon you don't already have is a real pain in the ***.
Really not a fan of the search function. Especially endgame, when your compendium gets quite filled, you always semm to get too much results, it's annoying.

He is the god protector of Tokyo.
I don't know if his name is stated clearly in this game but if you played the previous SMT, it's obvious since he's always been there.

Yes, it's definitely stated by Stephen at the alignment lock, and I think some NPCs midgame also talk about him at some point.
 

Acid08

Banned
I assume money starts to flow in more freely at some point? I'm broke as fuck. Also getting destroyed over and over again by Ares on this side mission.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
I assume money starts to flow in more freely at some point? I'm broke as fuck. Also getting destroyed over and over again by Ares on this side mission.

If you use the compendium and don't have the grinding DLC, not really.
It's a bit less a problem then at the beginning, but you still will mostly be broke (as said, unless you have the money grinding DLC).

Little tip: don't bother buying gear, rewards from sidequests are better (except for the Ginza gear, but that's not really affordable).
 
Just beat the game, 50 hours, level 65.

My dude's skills:

  • Cold World
  • Floral Gust
  • Maragidyne
  • Maziodyne
  • Judgment Light
  • Doping
  • Tetrakarn
  • Mediarama

Thoughts:

  • Tetrakarn + Makarakarn is broken.
  • I was gonna get rid of tetrakarn since all my demons drain gun and phys, but I beat the game before I got the chance.
  • I love that there are so many demons, but I feel like a lot was sacrificed for quantity. There's really only 3 or 4 sets of stats, the demon conversations are random nonsense and there isn't enough incentive to stick with a really cool demon once you've got it for more than 5-6 levels.
  • I wish there was a way to transfer some of the skills, like Die For Me!, or transfer from the MC to demons when they max out.
  • Tons of content, but it can get confusing trying to do anything since you have to memorize all the names of things to know where to go. There really needed to be a more in-depth map function.

I must have missed a shit ton of stuff because I never got to the bottom-right section of Tokyo, and I'm missing one of the three sacred treasures. I also skipped a few optional quests. I also never got to that 100-stat door or whatever I heard about, which kinda sucks. And I never got to see the
Angels
again, which might be because of the path I chose?

Is there a reason to do New Game+ other than seeing new endings?
 
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";82156857]Just beat the game, 50 hours, level 65.

Is there a reason to do New Game+ other than seeing new endings?[/QUOTE]

Some challenge quests are exclusive to NG+.

Which route did you beat?
 

NeonZ

Member
I assume money starts to flow in more freely at some point? I'm broke as fuck. Also getting destroyed over and over again by Ares on this side mission.

Relic hunting becomes much faster once you get quests outside of Mikado, the money you get from it also increases. Also, remember to sell expendable items that give a lot of money, like summon stones.

Near end game, it's fairly easy to gather a good amount of money, although it might still not seem enough if you attempt to buy items from a certain shop in Ginza.

I must have missed a shit ton of stuff because I never got to the bottom-right section of Tokyo, and I'm missing one of the three sacred treasures. I also skipped a few optional quests. I also never got to that 100-stat door or whatever I heard about, which kinda sucks. And I never got to see the Angels again, which might be because of the path I chose?

Wait, what was the ending you got? Was it
agreeing with the Whites to blow up the reactor to destroy everything? That's the bad ending and it's shorter than all other ones.

Is there a reason to do New Game+ other than seeing new endings?

New Game + also adds more challenge quests spread throughout the game, quite a few with demons that don't appear at all in the first playthrough. But it sounds like you didn't even do everything in the first playthrough.
 

Caladrius

Member
I assume money starts to flow in more freely at some point? I'm broke as fuck.

Money is hard to come by the whole game. The best stream of steady money is by mugging enemies in the Tokyo bay (accessible once you finish "Resurrection of the Kosoushin") with Bind+fundraiser.

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";82156857]Just beat the game, 50 hours, level 65.

My dude's skills:

  • Cold World
  • Floral Gust
  • Maragidyne
  • Maziodyne
  • Judgment Light
  • Doping
  • Tetrakarn
  • Mediarama

Thoughts:

  • Tetrakarn + Makarakarn is broken.
  • I was gonna get rid of tetrakarn since all my demons drain gun and phys, but I beat the game before I got the chance.
  • I love that there are so many demons, but I feel like a lot was sacrificed for quantity. There's really only 3 or 4 sets of stats, the demon conversations are random nonsense and there isn't enough incentive to stick with a really cool demon once you've got it for more than 5-6 levels.
  • I wish there was a way to transfer some of the skills, like Die For Me!, or transfer from the MC to demons when they max out.
  • Tons of content, but it can get confusing trying to do anything since you have to memorize all the names of things to know where to go. There really needed to be a more in-depth map function.

I must have missed a shit ton of stuff because I never got to the bottom-right section of Tokyo, and I'm missing one of the three sacred treasures. I also skipped a few optional quests. I also never got to that 100-stat door or whatever I heard about, which kinda sucks. And I never got to see the
Angels
again, which might be because of the path I chose?

Is there a reason to do New Game+ other than seeing new endings?[/QUOTE]

You needed the third treasure (there's two near shinjuku and the third is east of Ginza) to complete the quest that gives access to the bay.

There's a lot of information that's restricted to individual routes, the loose end you're talking about is resolved in the Law Route, and Neutral has answers to a lot of early-game weirdness.(It sounds like you finished the
Chaos route
.) NG+ also gives you access to the strongest Bonus bosses, which are then available for fusion and are necessary to finish the compendium.

As a side note, there is a collection of apps that guarantees a stat point upon level up. Demons that are leveled up with all 6 stat apps in play actually receive far superior stats (save HP/MP, but you can give them life surge or Mana Surge to make up the difference) to the endgame ones.
 
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