Kaneko's artwork definitley added a lot to the older games that had small and somewhat crude sprites, showing off details and stuff you couldn't see in the game, but I like his new artwork too.

hahahaha what's wrong with that armor??

I'm a little more worried about Beth's jaundice myself :/

I'm assuming that that armor is the Ultimate Chaos armor in SMT 1. I wonder what he'd look like in the Ultimate Neutral and Law armor sets.

Have you guys seen those new arts of demons by the Kamen Rider Peoples in SMTIV?

edited 12th Oct '12 8:36:00 PM by Barrylocke

The official site for SMTIV updated with actual stuffs.

Profiles for the five humans have updated, as well as the five new demons. (Wait, five humans, five demons...You don't think there is a link?)

Link: Here

We have talked about them. I think we agree that while they look interesting, they clash like hell next to the Kaneko designed demons. Personally, I think they do even more so than the Soejima designed Personas do in the Persona games.

edited 12th Oct '12 9:08:37 PM by Otherarrow

Meh, I like them.

They mix it up a bit and at least try to change appearances a bit after a long while without any redesigns (Omoikane....)

And you disapprove of floating brain? For shame.

When it's the only design used for nearly over a decade, yes, it gets boring after seeing him like that so much.

I don't like Asmodeus at all, but Omoikane's new design I do. Even if it does kinda look like the Bugs from Men In Black.

Koga-Saburo looks like he's about to go skiing with that pose.

It's not like he is a major character, like Loki or anything. I think this game is the first time he has any plot relevance. (which is probably why he got a redesign, which is fair)

And there are more major demons who still use their SMTII designs. Like Mara. And Lucifer. And Satan. And the Archangels not named Raphael (though Gabriel and Michael got redesigns for the first two Persona games, where they were Eriko's Personas). Heck, Metatron has always had that one design, and it's become so iconic for him that a later game (Devil Summoner) had the designs of two new demons so that they would match with him, instead of redesigning him to match with them (the two demons were Victor and Sandalphon btw)

Raphael is a pretty major character and he was redesigned.

Unless something plot important happened, like him falling from grace, I don't think that was a very smart idea.

If the other three don't appear or are likewise redesigned, I could see it work.

But if they do appear, and aren't redesigned, yeah. Awkward. Especially Uriel, as he and Raphael were a double boss in SMTII, and thus their designs and poses kinda go together (well, more so than with Gabriel and Michael. All four of them fit together of course)

Of course, I do have to ask why Raphael now looks like a alien with a face on his chest.

edited 12th Oct '12 9:35:57 PM by Otherarrow

Considering most Angels actually looked more inhuman then they are depicted in christian art from the the 1500's onwards, I'm a bit surprised they haven't decided to make ugly angels in Megami Tensei yet.

Actually, they have dabbled in it. Cherubs used to be ugly robot things. But yeah, most of the time they are humanoids and usually handsome.

I think it ties into the Law thing. You expect unspeakable horrors to be more Chaos. (But don't tell that to Nyarly)

EDIT:...Actually, I think the only Lovecraft beings to be Chaos are Dagon and the Old One. The rest are Viles (and thus, Dark-Law). Even Azathoth in Giten Megami Tensei (though I suspect if Azathoth is ever used in a "real" game, he'd be Chaos all the way)

...Huh. But still.

edited 12th Oct '12 9:47:17 PM by Otherarrow

Did somebody say skiing?

An Old One of Lovecraft lore is part of the Gedou race. I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around that, honestly, because (human) Yakuza gang members and common muggers are also considered to be Gedou demons. Guess being a criminal means you aren't even technically a human being anymore.

Read the description of that race:

Yakuza isn't an actual human gang member, but rather a representation of how humanity as a collective has romanticized people belonging to that group.

Like with Hell Rider, who is just an infamous biker gang's logo(the Hell's Angels specifically, which is what its name is in the Japanese games), and Mothman, who is kind of a big-foot situation, entities infused into the popular consciousness can become demons.

Um, does Kazuma Kaneko has like, an official website or something? I really love his rather strange artstyle, and I wanna see if there's more...

Check the /smtg/ thread, they have a link to his stuff in every opening post.

To my knowledge, no, he doesn't have a site or a general gallery somewhere. I think fans have tried to compile a few, but they all tend to be incomplete.

I think he does have a few artbooks filled with his designs and such.

edited 13th Oct '12 9:07:19 AM by Otherarrow

Um.../smtg/ thread? Where is that, or rather, why does it sound like a 4chan thing?

Ah, a slight shame, but oh well. I'll look around for Nocturne artbook or something. That was one game where I really loved the artstyle.

Because it is from 4chan.

The /vg/ board, to be more specific.

Bumping to take some of the heat off of the Persona topic. Reason discussion is okay here, right?

Also had a thought about the Asura thing from a while back, regarding how Asura is both Ahura Mazda/Vairocana and Ashera: The Asura are an entire race of demons. In SMT terms, they're all different gods demonized by YHWH.

Also just finished Strange Journey. Got the Neutral ending, and I'm starting over to go for the Chaos ending. I'm seriously considering putting together a team of Meta Gore, Awake Jimenez and Judge Zelenin. Password shenanigans are awesome.

I think SJ is the only game to have Asura not be Ahura Mazda though. And even then, they give Asura Mazda a reference in Asherah!Asura's bio.

As for Asura as a class of being, I think Astaroth/Astarte would probably fit too. I think it helps that Astarte either is Asherah, or is Asherah's sister.

edited 22nd Oct '12 3:48:41 PM by Otherarrow

And Mara too, probably, though what Mara was before is still beyond me. And Abaddon, in SMT 2 he was promised his old form back if he swallowed parts of the world for YHWH. Too bad Michael was the one who made that promise. Heck, most of the Tyrants are demonized deities, and the Fallen too. Beezelbub and Bael make Baal, don't they?

edited 22nd Oct '12 3:52:51 PM by Watashiwa

Yeah. Beelzebub plus Bael makes Baal in MTII.

I think Abaddon is specifically a fallen angel, not a demonized deity like Asura and Astaroth and such. So while he is a similar case, I wouldn't group him in with a "Asura race".

True Form!Mara would probably still be called Mara, she'd just be a beautiful woman instead of penis chariot.

edited 22nd Oct '12 3:56:03 PM by Otherarrow