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

cj_iwakura

Member
I'm fine with the B-team when they do a better job than the A-team.
The handheld design on the other hand is a real issue which caused some compromises though.

Don't get me wrong, they do great work. But imagine if the full console team had been involved and they had made a PS3 game out of this(which they hardly have done any of).

Anywho, here's the rest:

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Dantis

Member
Getting a US 3DS with this at some point over the next few days. Weird to think that I'll finally get to play it.

Someone I follow at tumblr posted a bunch of it. I'll share the rest later. I assume it's from the artbook?

What's sad is that imagine how this game could have been with a real budget, not Atlus' B-team resigned to a handheld.

Who would you consider the A-team? Hashino's team?
 

Dantis

Member
Pretty much. The full weight of their console programming staff that worked on Catherine.

It could happen at some point, to be honest. I feel like Hashino has some control over what he does, particularly when you read about them pitching Catherine.

You know you'd be sad when Soejima was on art direction though. :p
 

cj_iwakura

Member
It could happen at some point, to be honest. I feel like Hashino has some control over what he does, particularly when you read about them pitching Catherine.

You know you'd be sad when Soejima was on art direction though. :p

Says who? I love his art. I would totally play a Soejima-designed IV. The IV art is great, especially the concept art, but I wish they'd gotten those artists to do the demons instead of the Kamen Rider Goof Troop.
 

Dantis

Member
Says who? I love his art. I would totally play a Soejima-designed IV. The IV art is great, especially the concept art, but I wish they'd gotten those artists to do the demons instead of the Kamen Rider Goof Troop.

For some reason I had expected that you'd want Kaneko back for it.

Which would be excellent, but is looking less and less likely.
 

Guess Who

Banned
P-Studio is absolutely the Atlus A-team. There's a reason the only HD-console Atlus games are coming out of there, they can't afford the budget on anything but their most proven team.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
For some reason I had expected that you'd want Kaneko back for it.

Which would be excellent, but is looking less and less likely.

Of course I would. But I acknowledge he's probably done with Atlus. Whether it was his call or theirs, we can only wonder.

PAMSCHF.png


I suspect his.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Yeah, SMT2 & 3 kind of shied away from that. 1, Soul Hackers, and IV are all about that though.

SMT if... also had strong cyber punk theme.

Now that you posted these artworks I'm considering getting the artbook but I still can't stomach the absence of Kaneko...
 
Says who? I love his art. I would totally play a Soejima-designed IV. The IV art is great, especially the concept art, but I wish they'd gotten those artists to do the demons instead of the Kamen Rider Goof Troop.

Hahaha. Expect that term to pop up in SMT4 threads from here on out.

For some reason I had expected that you'd want Kaneko back for it.

Which would be excellent, but is looking less and less likely.

Could you give your reasons why? I'm wondering as I have my own reaons to think so too.
 

NeonZ

Member
SMTIV's director had previously directed the Raidou games and Nocturne Maniax (not the original Japanese release, although the Maniax version was the one released internationally). SMTIV's two scenario writers (including the director himself) now are going to be the scenario writers for Persona Q. SMTIV's art director also had worked on Nocturne Maniax, but afterwards he went on to work in Strange Journey and Soul Hackers 3ds...

So, yeah, it's pretty much a B team.

Yeah, SMT2 & 3 kind of shied away from that. 1, Soul Hackers, and IV are all about that though.

How did SMT2 shy away from that? The beginning of the game is all cyberpunk. Later on it's downplayed, but it has much more presence than, say, Mikado in SMTIV.
 

randomkid

Member
yeah cj's getting his wires crossed, SMT2 and 4 are cut from the same cyberpunk cloth. SMT1 and 3 are the ones I personally link together.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
yeah cj's getting his wires crossed, SMT2 and 4 are cut from the same cyberpunk cloth. SMT1 and 3 are the ones I personally link together.

Eh, not really. SMT1 pre-Great Flood felt very cyberpunk. I never got that vibe from 2. It was just post-apocalyptic. With a Messian shade of paint slapped over it.

Imagine kind of had a cyberpunk thing going.
 

NeonZ

Member
Eh, not really. SMT1 pre-Great Flood felt very cyberpunk. I never got that vibe from 2. It was just post-apocalyptic. With a Messian shade of paint slapped over it.

Imagine kind of had a cyberpunk thing going.

The beginning of SMTII with the tournament and the battle in the slums was very cyberpunk, like the most cyberpunk the series ever was. Even after joining the center, the atmosphere still appears in some locations, like the factory. It only really completely disappears by the time you go to the
underground and the Abyss/Expanse
, but that's already near end game anyway.
 

Soulhouf

Member
He came up with the original concept. People say he's still with them, but his lack of involvement in, well, anything seems kind of suspect.

IIRC, last year Nich Maragos said that Kaneko is still with Atlus.
He got tired of making demon design I guess.
I wonder if Okada comes back, perhaps he will find some motivation?
 

cj_iwakura

Member
IIRC, last year Nich Maragos said that Kaneko is still with Atlus.
He got tired of making demon design I guess.
I wonder if Okada comes back, perhaps he will find some motivation?

Okada's gone. The new Atlus just isn't the same. Either he won't come back, they don't want him(unlikely), or both.
 
Alright guys, I really need motivation to finish this. I couldn't put this game down until I reached the Neutral Ending path, but now I'm having a hard time seeing it through. I reached Tennozu but I'm unsure as to what I should do next. I appear to only have Challenge Quests, and I'm wondering if y'all can tell me which are worth doing. Also, which demons should I be after? How much more time to I have to go?
 

NeonZ

Member
Here's the list of required challenge quests:

Eggs for One Hundred
I Want to Make the City Bright
Deliver the Film
Samurai and Hunters United
Hunter Tournament Prelims
Phantom of Madness
Shelter Inspection
Ikebukuro Free District
Demon Guarding the Shrine
Hunter Tournament Finals
Serial Kidnapping + Arson
I Will Give You My Black Card
The Great Drunkenness
Take A Picture of Ginza for Me
Rebirth of the Lady
Multi-Demon Fusion
Mysterious Story of Tennozu
Tokyo Cosmos

Keep in mind that aside from the standard challenge quests you get from the guilds, you also need to finish all photography quests you get from some npcs (one of them isn't listed by name above, but it's required in order to make one of the quests there appear in the first place). Here are the locations where you can get the photography quests:

1. Shinjuku - South Entrance: Girl in the north-west room (the only room on the map).
2. Shinjuku Station - Underground: Old Lady in the west room.
3. Shinjuku Station - West Entrance: Hunter in the south-west room.
4. Tokyo Station - Yeasu Passage: (The entrance to the Cult of Gaea's base/Ginza. Girl in one of the rooms to the right).
 

Dantis

Member
So I'm a few hours in now. Just met the Black Samurai. Overall, enjoying it much more than I thought I would. A few thoughts:

Doi's character art is wonderful. He's come really far, and whilst he's still not as good as Soejima when it comes to expressions and the like, the portraits are all incredibly polished and technically superb. I also love the way the portraits move forwards and backwards to create a sense of place for each character in a conversation. It's a really, really cool little touch.

The story and characters seem pretty standard fare. The voice acting is about what I'd expect from Atlus and the writing is generally decent. Surprised how much story there is, so far. Much more than Nocturne and DDS. I'm enjoying it a lot.

Gameplay is really solid. Press Turn is still a great system. Seeing enemies on the map is appreciated, as are various other tweaks.

The game over screen is way too long.

The dungeons are fine, but I think I was expecting more based on what people said. Areas feel really small, and there's a lot of "Backtrack through three floors to heal, then walk all the way back again", which is kind of frustrating. The dungeons look nice enough though, particularly considering the low powered hardware.

Honestly, most of the new demon art seems fine. Some of the demons they posted pre-release looked really awful, but most aren't nearly as bad.

Battle presentation is uninteresting, which is a shame, but probably unavoidable.

Don't care for the soundtrack one bit, but it at least fits the mood of the game. It sounds really retro, and completely lacks any punch. It's not something I'd mute the game because of, but I'll never listen to any of this outside of the game, and I often have a podcast playing at the same time as non-story sections.

This post probably sounds more negative than I feel, because it's easier to talk about the things that I dislike than the things I like. So far, it's the best JRPG I've played since Radiant Historia. I'm really, really enjoying it.

Could you give your reasons why? I'm wondering as I have my own reaons to think so too.

I think he probably just feels out of the loop with the new direction Atlus has taken. Doi and Soejima both draw influence really heavily from his art, and I think he probably knows that, and he's kind of passed the torch. Atlus is progressing to bigger and bigger things, but Kaneko's art will always be niche and weird.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I think he probably just feels out of the loop with the new direction Atlus has taken. Doi and Soejima both draw influence really heavily from his art, and I think he probably knows that, and he's kind of passed the torch. Atlus is progressing to bigger and bigger things, but Kaneko's art will always be niche and weird.

That's a very negative way of describing it.


IV's new demon art, that's weird.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Don't care for the soundtrack one bit, but it at least fits the mood of the game. It sounds really retro, and completely lacks any punch. It's not something I'd mute the game because of, but I'll never listen to any of this outside of the game, and I often have a podcast playing at the same time as non-story sections.

I'm sure you'll soon change your mind.
I think SMTIV ended up having better soundtrack than Nocturne over all, which was unthinkable given how much I loved that one.
 

NeonZ

Member
The game over screen is way too long.

If you actually
accept the resurrection, rather than reseting without saving after seeing it once
, it becomes much shorter in later appearances.

I think he probably just feels out of the loop with the new direction Atlus has taken. Doi and Soejima both draw influence really heavily from his art, and I think he probably knows that, and he's kind of passed the torch. Atlus is progressing to bigger and bigger things, but Kaneko's art will always be niche and weird.

Kaneko's art was actually pretty standard anime back in the early 90s, it was only around the time of the PSX, with the SMT remakes and Persona that he changed to his current art style. Of course, his old style also wouldn't be mainstream nowadays, but it's not like his current art is the only thing he knows how to draw.
 
Here's the list of required challenge quests:



Keep in mind that aside from the standard challenge quests you get from the guilds, you also need to finish all photography quests you get from some npcs (one of them isn't listed by name above, but it's required in order to make one of the quests there appear in the first place). Here are the locations where you can get the photography quests:

I can't thank you enough for this post. I wasn't sure in what way these would be required to beat the game, but now I do.

I'm off to defeat the last two bosses!
 

dantehemi

Member
About to jump into this game and I can't wait!! I have been reading some beginners guides online and they say maybe easy would be a good starting point. I've just come off 120 hours of persona 4 golden on normal difficulty, what difficulty would you guys recommend I start with?
 

Protag

Banned
Start on normal, i mean you'd have to start on normal anyway;as its either that or the easier prentice mode. Game actually does get easier after the first 7 hour long dungeon, but its an absolute blast. finish it on your most least desired route, then play it on the harder master difficulty on your most desired route. Thats what im doing right now (trying to go for neutral)


Edit: i adore this game, and i hope you enjoy it too, b
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
The lack of compendium percentage completion in this game really annoy me.

Because I feel it deprives me of the ultimate satisfaction of getting it all like in Nocturne, makes me way less excited to get new demons because what's the point since at some point all the demons you have will have similar set of skills.
 

Protag

Banned
The lack of compendium percentage completion in this game really annoy me.

Because I feel it deprives me of the ultimate satisfaction of getting it all like in Nocturne, makes me way less excited to get new demons because what's the point since at some point all the demons you have will have similar set of skills.

Agree, but since there are pver 400 demons, i just manually count

Hold up, do demon hordes count in the compendium??
 

NeonZ

Member
Agree, but since there are pver 400 demons, i just manually count

Hold up, do demon hordes count in the compendium??

No, they have entries in the "enemy analyze" list, including flavor text descriptions, but they aren't part of the actual Compendium.

Because I feel it deprives me of the ultimate satisfaction of getting it all like in Nocturne, makes me way less excited to get new demons because what's the point since at some point all the demons you have will have similar set of skills.

I guess they did that exactly to avoid the frustration of people not completing the Compendium, thanks to stuff like the Fiends and their 1/256 spawn rate.

Edit:Speaking about fiend, I finally managed to face Matador, and then after many tries I defeated it. I hadn't spoiled myself for the battle, so my team was really badly prepared for his
"one hit drop to one hp"
attack.
 

Protag

Banned
Can anyone tell me two things:

First, did
fujiwara and skins know that Hikaru was lucifer?
and if they did, will that be explained in law,neutral, or DLC?

Second, id like to know the name of the piece that plays in florida cafè, where the three of them are at (proof of membership?).
 

randomkid

Member
Can anyone tell me two things:

First, did
fujiwara and skins know that Hikaru was lucifer?
and if they did, will that be explained in law,neutral, or DLC?

Second, id like to know the name of the piece that plays in florida cafè, where the three of them are at (proof of membership?).

Like most of the non battle themes in the SMT4 OST, it's sensibly named "Café Florida"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZscuJCOoIPc

Very lovely breather track, one of my favorites.
 

NeonZ

Member
Can anyone tell me two things:

First, did
fujiwara and skins know that Hikaru was lucifer?
and if they did, will that be explained in law,neutral, or DLC?

They don't seem to know that.
In the law route, if you go back to talk with them, there's a big conversation about how the Archangels would kill them if they attempted to go to the surface. However, aside from that, there's a short conversation about Hikaru, however, they can't remember her at all. The same thing happens to some minor npcs in other locations, like Ginza, IIRC, even in the neutral route. It seems like they were just manipulated by Lucifer, and didn't really know about Hikaru's real identity.
 

Protag

Banned
Like most of the non battle themes in the SMT4 OST, it's sensibly named "Café Florida"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZscuJCOoIPc

Very lovely breather track, one of my favorites.

Thanks man, its haunting, i love it, thanks bery much.

They don't seem to know that.
In the law route, if you go back to talk with them, there's a big conversation about how the Archangels would kill them if they attempted to go to the surface. However, aside from that, there's a short conversation about Hikaru, however, they can't remember her at all. The same thing happens to some minor npcs in other locations, like Ginza, IIRC, even in the neutral route. It seems like they were just manipulated by Lucifer, and didn't really know about Hikaru's real identity.

I see, i thought that might have been the case. I thought another possibility
would have been that the three of them knew, and were working with her. I mean skins looks pretty sus, for obvious reasons. fujiwara looks like he could have been one of those passivs bad people types who are usually calm. Interesting though, i was wrong.

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it
 

Soulhouf

Member
First, did
fujiwara and skins know that Hikaru was lucifer?
and if they did, will that be explained in law,neutral, or DLC?

It wasn't explained in the story but I think that they did know.
Fujiwara is the real king of Tokyo. He manipulates many things behind the scene so I believe he has many spies and important acquaintances including Lucifer.
 
About to jump into this game and I can't wait!! I have been reading some beginners guides online and they say maybe easy would be a good starting point. I've just come off 120 hours of persona 4 golden on normal difficulty, what difficulty would you guys recommend I start with?

You'll be fine, just take it slow. Persona 4 is definitely easier, but SMTIV is such that you'll naturally get a lot better as the game goes on. I found the difficulty progression to be very satisfying--it's a struggle for the first few hours, but it becomes pretty easy to wreck shit once you have the game figured out.
 

Protag

Banned
You'll be fine, just take it slow. Persona 4 is definitely easier, but SMTIV is such that you'll naturally get a lot better as the game goes on. I found the difficulty progression to be very satisfying--it's a struggle for the first few hours, but it becomes pretty easy to wreck shit once you have the game figured out.

Keep in mind though that you csn still get your shit wrecked if you dont get first slice. I just got obliterated twice because of this. I never learn
 

SJS

Member
While I think we can all agree that SMT4 gets easier as you go on, I'm surprised to not see more people bitching about King Kenji. He's a pretty significant exception to the rule.
 

Dresden

Member
Kenji is a nice break from all the pushover bosses in that stretch of the game. There certainly was much lamenting about this, tho
 

Ultratech

Member
Kenji is a nice break from all the pushover bosses in that stretch of the game. There certainly was much lamenting about this, tho

True. Either he walks all over your ass or he gets stuck into a favorable/manageable pattern.

(First fight, he wrecked my party quickly. Second fight, I got very lucky in that he didn't pull any BS moves mostly.)
 

Protag

Banned
Yeah only gripe that i have with IV, is that even on master it feels a little easy down the line, or maybe im overleveled. But i still love this game.

That said, id love a re-release on home Nintendo console or Sony console (though i doubt it). Full 3D battles, (thoughi dont see that happening with 400+ demons), and a more balanced/re-tuned difficulty
 

NeonZ

Member
That said, id love a re-release on home Nintendo console or Sony console (though i doubt it). Full 3D battles, (thoughi dont see that happening with 400+ demons), and a more balanced/re-tuned difficulty

I feel like they could easily do 3d battles on the 3ds itself if the game had a larger budget. The only problem would be horde battles.
 
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