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Shin Megami Tensei IV |OT| The Dark Souls of Persona
- Thread starter Volcynika
- Start date
ActStriker
Member
Cleared through all of the training missions last night. Man, I forget how squishy you can be at the beginning of games.
This is a strength to me. I wish if the game continued being that brutal because almost everything else becomes perfect once you reach Tokyo.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
Grah. I'm lost again. So I made it to (early Tokyo spoilers) the
and reported back to Mikado. Now I'm not quite sure where to go next. I wandered all the way over to
, but the path was blocked by a wall of fire.
Did I miss the entrance to
somehow?
Counter-Demon Force HQ
Ikebukuro
Did I miss the entrance to
Shinjuku Station
Malenkov, because I like the name.
Urban Scholar
Member
side quest spoiler question: please read at own discretion
So is anyone doing or has done the Irsis quest in Naraku? I have no idea where her husband's coffin is. Plus I'm scared about having to run away from a strong demon? So um help on the location?
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I still think the game is easier than Nocturne at every juncture. I haven't died on a non-boss encounter though, and I'm not playing on Easy.
chickdigger802
Banned
Man I fucking hate recruiting.
seems totally random with them trying to be funny... except when you mess up there is a high chance the enemy will wipe out at least 1 of your dudes.
seems totally random with them trying to be funny... except when you mess up there is a high chance the enemy will wipe out at least 1 of your dudes.
No shit. And having never played this series before, I am wondering when, if, to fuse.
Learn to love the save.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
It's on
Naraku Level 4. Go through the waterfall and an ? point should appear at the dead end of the path. You have to bring it back to Isis, and Seth will periodically spawn as a red icon on the map while you're carrying it. Just run away from him, or avoid engaging him entirely if you can.
Don't do what I did and try to carry it all the way out of Naraku entirely. That was a bad move.
Urban Scholar
Member
Thanks : )
Okay. So right when I get the option to fuse, I should fuse any and all demons?
mugurumakensei
Member
Except ones that evolve.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
Fuse when a demon has outlived its usefulness, when it falls behind in level, or when it learns every ability it's going to learn and it isn't the only demon you have filling a specific niche. Fusion is a great way to get rid of extraneous demons, like that Agi-using slime you have that's 6 levels behind everyone else in your party.
No. I fuse demons after I've learned whatever skills they have. After that, apart from them evolving on their own, there really isn't a huge reason to keep old demons (unless they have good elemental strengths for the area, or something). Fuse away at that point.
GeekyDad
Member
No. You should have enough for a full team and at least a couple in reserve.
Let them learn their skills first, then always fuse.
Since you can transfer the useful skills, there are only benefits to fusion.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
I sometimes hang on to demons that I get attached to for whatever reason. The reserve in this game is big enough that you don't have to fuse everything, but it makes sense to constantly refresh your team with bigger and better demons when you can.
For example: I'll probably keep Tam Lin around for a while since his stat growths seem pretty nice - at least until I get Cu Chulainn, then all bets are off.
I fuse if I fight a boss and realize I need X elemental skill or if my I can get a stronger replacement with similar skills.
Well yeah, everyone has favorites. I know in Persona 3 I kept Yomotsu Shikome and Lamia around farrrrr past their original levels.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
I think I had Cu Chulainn and the special semi-unique Emperor Black Frost from the Amala Labyrinth in my party for most of the last third of Nocturne. I'm not counting Dante since you literally can't get rid of the guy once he joins your party, but he was with me for most of it too.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
The SMT games are very, very, very different compared to Persona. They share a similar set of spells and special attacks, and a lot of the same demons, but there's very little crossover between the two otherwise.
Do you like crushing difficulty and minimalist storytelling? SMTIV is basically a niche Super Nintendo RPG with 3D dungeon environments, so if that sounds interesting to you I would say go ahead and play it.
njean777
Member
Guess I will give it a go, I mean I don't like OMG I HATE MY LIFE difficulty, but I did enjoy Dark Souls more so then any other games this gen, so I should be alright with this game.
How can you tell if a demon will evolve?
ForteanMan
Member
If you have the concepts of the weaknesses and strengths from Persona, I.E. Jack Frost is weak to fire spells type stuff, you should be just fine. The game was only really "difficult" for the first maybe 3 or 4 hours, but once you start fusing some good demons with their weakness covered and your MC gets some more levels on him you should be fine. Also saving every chance you get is a great idea in this game.
TheBaronOfNA
Banned
Finally buy it. Thanks Atlus(?) for having it in the big chains.
Eh, I wouldn't say they're that different. Take out the social aspect, make every member of your party demons, and amp the difficulty up to 11.
PlanetSmasher
Banned
I honestly kind of disagree. SMT is more of a dungeon crawler game about a setting, whereas Persona is much more heavily based around narrative and characterization. SMT's a lot more minimalist, whereas Persona is a lot more direct with a lot of its themes and elements. All in all, the core concept of each game is different enough that I really don't think they're similar at all aside from featuring the same demons and the same spell database.
Especially since Persona dumped the conversation system after Persona 2.
Is it actually possible to recruit the low level slime demons? I always assumed they were never recruitable, in any SMT game I've played; the more you know.
I also agree with everything that duckroll said above; my frustration at not finding the type of RPG I wanted to play on the current gen consoles led me to breakdown and buy a DS - which I swore I'd never do - and redevelop a new appreciation for - i guess SRPGs is how you classify the grid type games?
Only a month or so ago, I was scrolling through PSN and XBLM, trying to find a turn based RPG that wasn't retro-ish, and satisfied my nebulous criteria. I was surprised by how little there is out there. So, DS it is. I hope this Etrian Odyssey, when I get to it, is decent as well.
A new Persona can't come soon enough either.
I also agree with everything that duckroll said above; my frustration at not finding the type of RPG I wanted to play on the current gen consoles led me to breakdown and buy a DS - which I swore I'd never do - and redevelop a new appreciation for - i guess SRPGs is how you classify the grid type games?
Only a month or so ago, I was scrolling through PSN and XBLM, trying to find a turn based RPG that wasn't retro-ish, and satisfied my nebulous criteria. I was surprised by how little there is out there. So, DS it is. I hope this Etrian Odyssey, when I get to it, is decent as well.
A new Persona can't come soon enough either.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Having designed dungeons and places to explore is a significant difference from the randomized dungeons of Persona 3/4, as well as the lack of a time management aspect.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
Yeah, I tried it once, got past the first two teams and said eff it. Im leveling up and coming back later. That was at level 31 or so.
Honestly, if you know about no social links and stuff and are still interested? I think you'll like it. The story in this game (thus far) has a bit more of a Persona-y feel to it as well in my opinion.
They are very different, but I enjoy both for their unique differences. Watch a trailer and if that looks cool to you, pick it up!
PlanetSmasher
Banned
I think one of my biggest complaints with the game is that it's basically impossible to survive a battle if the enemy gets to go first. On my bus ride into work this morning, a random enemy got a surprise attack on my party (despite the fact that I was facing it directly when combat was initiated) and cast Mabufu on us four times in a row, wiping my entire party before I got a single turn. I almost dropkicked my DS.
Is it just me or does enemy damage output scale with your level? A level 1 enemy on the first floor of Naraku was doing 70 damage a hit to me when I was level 22. Why the hell is there no Endurance or Defense stat? It's absolutely ridiculous.
Don't think I'm gonna use my GS pre-order outfit, considering the attributes. First person to quote me AND state my avatar origin can have it (artist & game). Consider it a semi-gift for Neogaf for getting me to get the game (I'll get around to playing this weekend, hopefully).
ActStriker
Member
Just curious, do different weapons give you different attack animations in the field?
I've noticed that I'm a little bad at judging distances; swung too early a bunch of times
I've noticed that I'm a little bad at judging distances; swung too early a bunch of times
Yup they do! I switched from using my starter sword to a blunt weapon and it showed me swinging a mace! My question is, does the actual weapon model differ from weapon to weapon?
PlanetSmasher
Banned
Hiimdaisy's Persona 4 comic thingy?
You need to have demons who repel/absorb/null a different element each.
Just wanna say its easy to grind for a lot of levels in this area. So many demons 5-10 levels higher than you so the exp gains are huge. Attacking enemies as you do quests in the area net you a whole lot more exp than the quests lol
Correct. Give me a moment & I'll PM you.