History YMMV / MegamiTensei

** Even worse, Mazurka is home to Laos and Vampires, who, while they never attack in large groups like the Nasu and the Succubi, have a "smile and laugh" attack that ''permanently'' reduces your experience levels. Laos also like to spam a spell that saps away at all your party members' [=MP=].

* ThatOneAttack: Lucifer, the [[FinalBoss final boss]], gets ''two.'' One is a physical attack that deals over 100 {{HPs}} of damage to your entire party and it's his main attack, which is a big deal in a game where your strongest healing spell can only target one party member at a time. The other is a "curse" that will kill one member of your party. It ''does'' miss most of the time, but this is a game where there are no revival items, only a revival spell (good luck if you only have one party member who can use Recarm!), and don't forget WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou. You'll be praying he uses his third and weakest attack, Bufudyne (if you're playing the remake) or Breezaton (in the original), but of course it also seems to be his rarest move. Or that Lucifer wastes a turn trying to heal himself ...that is, [[UnwinnableByDesign if you remembered to bring the White Dragon Gem.]]

* ThatOneLevel: The aptly named Sea of Flames. On top of floor tiles that turn you around, some of the strongest enemies in the game, lots of dead ends, and a Save Point that's placed frustratingly far from the Healer, your Health Points are drained constantly while being there. In true RPG fashion, there is an item, the Robes of Izanami, that negates the effect...but you won't find it until you're more than halfway in and to get it you have to solve a true GuideDangIt puzzle in one shot. On top of all that, you're stopped from backtracking to Mazurka about halfway in (there is a goddess statue that will teleport you back to Bien, but it's not easy to find), and it's the only section besides the first, Daedalus Tower, you can't fly to with your mobile base Bien.

* SequelDisplacement: Even after the ''Persona'' series made ''Shin Megami Tensei'' much more well-known outside Japan, with ''Shin Megami Tensei I'' and ''II'' enjoying acclaim and attention from non-Japanese gamers, ''Megami Tensei'' still suffers from this, with even hardcore fans often tacitly treating ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' or, much more rarely, ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'' as the "true" beginning of the franchise. EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is surely to blame, although admittedly ''Megami Tensei'' just doesn't have the same reputation as its follow-ups, with even one person involved with the English fan translation saying ''Megami Tensei'' is "not very good." Even Atlus considers SMTI to be the franchise's start, though this might be because of legal reasons as they technically do not own the rights for MT.

* SequelDisplacement: Even after the ''Persona'' series made ''Shin Megami Tensei'' much more well-known outside Japan, with ''Shin Megami Tensei I'' and ''II'' enjoying acclaim and attention from non-Japanese gamers, ''Megami Tensei'' still suffers from this, with even hardcore fans often tacitly treating ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' or, much more rarely, ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'' as the "true" beginning of the franchise. EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is surely to blame, although admittedly ''Megami Tensei'' just doesn't have the same reputation as its follow-ups, with even one person involved with the English fan translation saying ''Megami Tensei'' is "not very good."

* ThatOneLevel: The aptly named Sea of Flames. On top of floor tiles that turn you around, some of the strongest enemies in the game, lots of dead ends, and a Save Point that's placed frustratingly far from the Healer, your Health Points are drained constantly while being there. In true RPG fashion, there is an item, the Robes of Izanami, that negates the effect...but you won't find it until you're more than halfway in and to get it you have to solve a true GuideDangIt puzzle. On top of all that, you're stopped from backtracking to Mazurka about halfway in (there is a goddess statue that will teleport you back to Bien, but it's not easy to find), and it's the only section besides the first, Daedalus Tower, you can't fly to with your mobile base Bien.

** Even worse, Mazurka is home to Laos and Vampires, who, while they never attack in large groups like the Nasu and the Succubi, have a "smile and laugh" attack that ''permanently'' reduces your experience levels. Laos also like to spam a spell that saps away at all your party members' {{MP}}s.

* SequelDisplacement: Even after the ''Persona'' series has made ''Shin Megami Tensei'' much more well-known outside Japan, and ''Shin Megami Tensei I'' and ''II'' has enjoyed acclaim and attention from non-Japanese gamers, ''Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei'' still has this, with even hardcore fans often tacitly treating ''ShinMegamiTenseiI'' or, much less likely, ''MegamiTenseiII'' as the "true" beginning of the franchise. EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is surely to blame, although admittedly ''MegamiTensei'' just doesn't have the same reputation as its follow-ups, with even one person involved with the English fan translation saying ''Megami Tensei'' is "not very good."