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[Brandon F]

http://www.atlus.com/smt/index.html

Check it out. Movies, downloadable strategy guide preview(!), and a slick reference detailing the history of the franchise including a great slideshow of the old games in their SNES, PSX, and GBA port incarnations. (Apparently also culled direct from the strat guide!)

Impressive stuff.

 

[MetatronM]

I just realized the strategy guide is from DoubleJump. It ought to kick ass, then.

EDIT: Holy crap, the guide is 400 pages.

 

[SolidSnakex]

This game can't come soon enough. I need an RPG that's actually able to keep my attention through the entire game, and no RPG this year has been able to do that.

 

[RevenantKioku]

That font is pretty awful though. Not as bad as Symphonia's, (especially during this skits, fuck that was hard to read) but still annoying.

 

[epmode]

will the strategy guide be hard to come by? ie. should i preorder? i rarely buy them, so i'm not sure.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Laptop SMT..

Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec province) only

fuck them! Goddamnit!

 

[Drexon]

Anyone know where you can find that Digital Devil theme, "Danger"?

 

[Mrbob]

This game is gonna be sweet. Didn't know the release was this month!!! I'm grabbing the guide for sure! The website is cool too as I can look up on the history!

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I signed up for that laptop like months ago. Would be nice to win it.

I already have the guide and game pre-ordered. Can't wait.

The typeface is a little dull, but at least it's smooth and easy to read.

 

[GermanOfficer]

Does anybody know a shop that sells the guide and ships worldwide at fair prices?
I usually order my guides at dvdboxoffice, but they only have the guides from Brady Games and Prima's

GO

 

[Mrbob]

More people need to know about this game!

RPG OF THE YEAR.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

More people need to know about this game!

RPG OF THE YEAR.

I've been doing my best elsewhere. I know I got people interested that normally wouldn't look into this game at all. Hopefully it will have good word of mouth. It certainly deserves to sell well.

 

[Mrbob]

Heh, I didn't know much about this game until about a week ago when I first started reading info on it. The premise and settings sounds fantastic! I wish I would have known about this game before I bought Star Ocean 3. Not that I think SO3 is bad, but now I'm gonna have to rush to beat it or I never will once I get my hands on Nocturne. I'm gonna go preorder this and the guide at EB today, and I'm thinking about how to do it.

"Yeah, can I preorder Shin Mega-uhhh, NOCTURNE!". I hope they know what just Nocturne is because I can't even remember what SMT stands for and how to pronounce it.

 

[Greenpanda]

Wow, those screens look great! I haven't been watching the game too closely because I already knew I wanted to get it and I didn't want to spoil too much ... I knew it looked good, but those look fantastic!

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

"Yeah, can I preorder Shin Mega-uhhh, NOCTURNE!". I hope they know what just Nocturne is because I can't even remember what SMT stands for and how to pronounce it.

Based on all I've read, it's listed in their PCs as "Nocturne" so that'll be your best bet lol

 

[MetatronM]

Sweet! I'm in the game already!

 

[shoplifter]

Surprised they left this on the 'all about' area.

 

[Dram]

If this game sells well, what do you think the chances are of them releashing the first two, in a double pack, in the US?

 

[MetatronM]

If this game sells well, what do you think the chances are of them releashing the first two, in a double pack, in the US?

The SMT site says that the chances are pretty slim, actually.

 

[radios shipping overview]

The SMT site says that the chances are pretty slim, actually.

Although the original games of the SMT series may never see official domestic release, players who go through Nocturne can rest assured that they're getting the authentic Shin Megami Tensei experience.

Nice nod to the fan translations of SMT 1 and 2 there. The GBA ports would probably be the most likely to come over, but they wouldn't exactly be profitable for Atlus. The fan translations of the SNES versions are excellent, though, so play 'em! Oh, and buy the SFC carts for extra legitimacy.

 

[Yusaku]

PDF sample of the strategy guide:

http://djbooks.easystorecreator.com...bigdownload.asp?File_Location=SMTN_Sample.pdf

 

[RevenantKioku]

Surprised they left this on the 'all about' area.

Fuck, I was playing that game on like a Tuesday afternoon this past Spring, and the intro still spooked the fuck out of me. Its the atmosphere of these games that really puts them up a notch in my book.
Its not that the font is boring, its just something about it bothers me.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Although the original games of the SMT series may never see official domestic release, players who go through Nocturne can rest assured that they're getting the authentic Shin Megami Tensei experience.

Nice nod to the fan translations of SMT 1 and 2 there. The GBA ports would probably be the most likely to come over, but they wouldn't exactly be profitable for Atlus. The fan translations of the SNES versions are excellent, though, so play 'em! Oh, and buy the SFC carts for extra legitimacy.

They've also got an upcoming SMT game on the DS, which could possibly be a remake that takes advantage of the systems features since Atlus does like porting that series around (they've already got the original SMT going to cellphones).

 

[Greenpanda]

They've also got an upcoming SMT game on the DS, which could possibly be a remake that takes advantage of the systems features since Atlus does like porting that series around (they've already got the original SMT going to cellphones).

Whoa, I hadn't heard that there were any Megaten games coming to the DS (how did I miss that news?). Hope it makes it out here.

...are we sure it's not just Jack Bros. 2, though?

 

[SolidSnakex]

It's SMT so it could be a number of games. It could be an actual SMT game or one of its spinoffs. There was a rumor of a Persona game awhile back, that might be where it ended up at. A new Persona game would be awesome.

 

[Lambtron]

Man. I'll be 100% honest: I pretty much hate all RPGs. But this is pretty stylish, and looks cool, and sounds "different" than normal RPGs. And I may definitely have to pick it up. But, here's my questions, sell me on it:

- How does the battle system work? Is it pretty JRPG, turn based battle typical, or..?
- How long is the game? I'm too ADHD-ish to sit through an 80 hour game.
- What's Digital Devil Saga?

 

[SolidSnakex]

"- How does the battle system work? Is it pretty JRPG, turn based battle typical, or..?"

It's typical JRPG basically. Your team takes a turn hitting, and then the enemy takes their turn hitting you. It goes back and forth till one side dies. There are ways of stealing turns by hitting weaknesses on enemies, they can also do that to you though.

"- What's Digital Devil Saga?"

Another SMT spinoff. It's more of a mainstreamed type of RPG according to Atlus. Instead of being like SMT3 where you make choices to determine the story, DDS has a preset story, with preset character styles. It also has voice acting (although not completely voices) which SMT3 doesn't.

 

[Yusaku]

In Nocturne your allies in battle (up to 3) are monsters you've either persuaded to join you, or that you've evolved by fusing two monsters together. Shades of Pokemon.

 

[dark10x]

In Nocturne your allies in battle (up to 3) are monsters you've either persuaded to join you, or that you've evolved by fusing two monsters together. Shades of Pokemon.

This series has been around longer than Pokemon, though.

 

[Bobety]

Whoa... I knew absolutely nothing about this game until i finally got around to reading about this and the SMT series today, now i'm definitely buying both this and DDS when they come out

 

[bloke]

What did Maniacs version (the one US is getting) improved over original game, besides adding Dante? I know there are too many random encounters in the game, you can't have a rest for a single fucking second, not even in shops. Some of the dungeons are more frustrating than challenging, unlike Persona there are not much humor in the game and atmosphere is actually not all that. Turnbased battles are super fast and fun, and Pokemon aspect is (along the story) best thing about the game, you gotta catch them all ! ...err, I mean you gotta persuade all demons to join your party. Also you'll probably have to constantly change demons in your party, so that never gets boring.
It's good game for hardcore RPGers but for mainstream folks/media I'm not sure if they'll like it, probably will find it too hard aswell.

 

[Bebpo]

What did Maniacs version (the one US is getting) improved over original game, besides adding Dante? I know there are too many random encounters in the game, you can't have a rest for a single fucking second, not even in shops. Some of the dungeons are more frustrating than challenging, unlike Persona there are not much humor in the game and atmosphere is actually not all that. Turnbased battles are super fast and fun, and Pokemon aspect is (along the story) best thing about the game, you gotta catch them all ! ...err, I mean you gotta persuade all demons to join your party. Also you'll probably have to constantly change demons in your party, so that never gets boring.
It's good game for hardcore RPGers but for mainstream folks/media I'm not sure if they'll like it, probably will find it too hard aswell.

Maniacs added a new subplot that cuts in and out of the original game. This sub-plot has characters and bosses of it's own. They also added new demons to fight and join your party, they added Dante, and they made 2 difficulty levels (1 easier than Nocturne, 1 harder than Nocturne). They also made a whole cds worth of new music to go with the new subplot. Oh and a new ending (there were already 5 IIRC) to go with the subplot.

 

[dark10x]

How high is the random encounter rate? I'm pretty sick of random encounters, but if the battles are fun, I can deal.

 

[Jagernaut]

Maniacs added a new subplot that cuts in and out of the original game. This sub-plot has characters and bosses of it's own. They also added new demons to fight and join your party, they added Dante, and they made 2 difficulty levels (1 easier than Nocturne, 1 harder than Nocturne). They also made a whole cds worth of new music to go with the new subplot. Oh and a new ending (there were already 5 IIRC) to go with the subplot.

So, the US version has selectable difficulty levels (easy mode)?

 

[Alex]

I'm not really getting the backstory. I was hoping the history page would go a bit more in-depth, but it seems to only detail relevant info from SMT, and the intro areas of SMT2.

Is that world destroying "conception" talk in reference to SMT3 refering to this bit from the history:

"This peace lasted for about forty years before a Lawful sect called the Messians usurped power and went to war against the Chaos-loving Gaeans. In short order, the world was reduced to a barely-habitable post-apocalyptic nightmare."

And did anything notable happen in the ending of SMT2 that needs to be known? Something that would shape SMT3, or that Conception sillyness, or did the series take a smaller scope, focusing on the inhabitable little reigons instead of the entire world?

This is actually pretty interesting.

 

[ferricide]

So, the US version has selectable difficulty levels (easy mode)?

normal and hard. or rather, hard and FUCK YOU. not an easy game.

How high is the random encounter rate? I'm pretty sick of random encounters, but if the battles are fun, I can deal.

neither the highest nor the lowest on the PS2, i'd say. they're fairly frequent, but not unreasonable. you get a decent bit of walking done between battles.

 

[Yusaku]

How high is the random encounter rate? I'm pretty sick of random encounters, but if the battles are fun, I can deal.

Heh, you might not like Nocturne then. The frequency doesn't seem like a problem, but you can get attacked ANYWHERE. There are no 'towns' or safezones. If you're walking you can get attacked.

The thing I don't like from what I've seen of the import is that the enviroments are totally dead. The areas are populated by souls, which are represented by blue smoke, that just stand there waiting for you to talk them. There are occasionally other monsters you can talk to, and they also just sit there doing nothing. I guess there's not much to do in the afterlife. I doubt it'll be a problem, but it just kinda ruins the otherwise great atmosphere the game has.

 

[Dram]

Does anyone know of a good site where I read up on the past SMT games? Stuff like the general story lines, characters, and endings. The sites I've found don't go in to a lot of detail.

 

[AssMan]

Where have I heard THAT before?

 

[JackFrost2012]

Buy this game, people! Atlus needs your support (also: it's awesome).

Seriously, if you're tired of generic cutesy Japanese RPG shit (and God knows I am) then this stylish, moody, dark, serious, actually mature RPG is THE ONE FOR YOU! SO BUY IT!

 

[Bobety]

Does anyone know a good site where i can pre-order this game, that also ships internationally?

 

[GermanOfficer]

www.videogamesplus.ca
www.tronixweb.com
www.dvdboxoffice.com

 

[Bobety]

www.videogamesplus.ca
www.tronixweb.com
www.dvdboxoffice.com

Thanks