So I kinda feel...inadequate in a way when I try to talk about SMT. I've only played Nocturne and Strange Journey (unless most of DDS 1 counts but given there was barely a plot there, I don't feel it enlightened me about anything relating to SMT Cosmology) and until such time as SMTIV is ported to the Switch or the 3DS emulator becomes better, I won't be playing that.
So I decided to start up SMT 2. It's the only "classic" Mega Ten title I really ever hear about. I figure I should give it a try.
I've always heard the older SMT games are kinda...silly or hokey? Like the creators didn't take them all that seriously. I guess Nocturne was a dark twist or evolution. This beginning is certainly quite odd.
Going just by "this one is strong, this one is intelligent and this one is kinda like you" I wasn't sure what to name "them." The strongest one I named Nik, the smartest one I named Akechi and the one like me I named Cloud. No rhyme or reason, just whatever came to mind.
Red Bear kicked my ass the first several times I fought him. I got a Knocker which had Tarukaja and I figured that would be my saving grace. Only he got oneshotted. Turns out investing all my points in Stamina (defense) and using Gun instead of sword attacks was the key to victory. But now it costs 1200 Yen to revive Knocker. Fucking hell.
This Fortune Teller told me that I already know Hiroko somehow so I made sure to accept her request to take her to Madam's Manor. She seems important and I have no idea what's going on so accept any clues I can find about who I am and what I'm doing.
I guess the free Pixie was a tradition started later in the franchise since the only Pixie I've encountered so far is a High Pixie who did nothing but steal my EXP.
Wow, we're really incompetent. We couldn't stop one stupid doctor from fiddling with statues. On he bright side, I have a name. I just went with Aleph because I heard that was the canon name for the SM 2 PC. Plus I already kinda named somebody else Nik by mistake. I also have a new party member who will be mine forever.... I was wondering if any of the "named people" would be female. The fact the one named female is my apparent eternal "companion" is...maybe problematic? I named her Yuko after my teacher in Nocturne aka the only human character in that game worth a damn.
Speaking of Nocturne, I remember Gaians and Messians from the handful of times they were mentioned in Nocturne. I don't really remember what the hell they did in Nocturne but they were definitely mentioned towards the start. I think Hikawa was involved with all that somehow but went "rogue" from whichever group he was part of.
The gameplay is...something. It feels like Strange Journey but super primitive and dumb. There are so many needless rooms and hallways. I'm not even talking about obligatory time wasters in dungeons, even non-combat areas have a ton of wasted space. It's a really weird design philosophy.
I was talking to someone on Reddit where a newbie whose first game was P5 was thinking about playing older Persona stuff. Somebody told him that "P2 is a 20-year-old game, it's gonna have problems." There are a lot of 20-year-old games people love and still regularly replay. It just seems like the 20-year-old SMT and Pesona games have aged ten times faster and 20 times worse than Final Fantasy VII or whatever. My conclusion is that they probably just weren't actually that good to begin with.
But I just started SMT 2. I'm not trying to be down on it. It's just that I'm kinda sleeping through gameplay right now just to try and advance the story. That is absolutely why I am here. I want to see more of the SMT Mythos
Well my post came to a premature end 'cuz I'm goddam nanoyed. I went to try and stop King Frost and Basilisk but everyone in my party ended up dead. We fough tsome "Depth" monster that I didn't know what the hell to do because all it kept saying was it enveloped itself in water and I'm like what the fuck does that even mean. I had Yuko use Jionga on it which I guess worked but didn't seem super effective. It took forever to beat it. I lost a monster fighting it and decided to run away. Only I ran into Basilisk who poisoned MY ENTIRE PARTY so everyone died. I spent every last Yen I own to revive Yuko and Angel. My Jack Frost and Hag? Dead.
I was so fucking happy to finally have a real team at last. I got this Hag, Jack Frost, Angel and Alp plus Yuko. Only now I can't even get at some of my acquisitions because I spent every last bit of money I've gathered all game just to revive two of them.
So I'm irritated and stopping for now. There better be a nice and easy way to grind money in this game. This game isn't exactly giving me any help. I have to figure out what half the items and stuff I have even do all on my own.
P..S.
Some jackass I remember on another forum talked about how he could fuse Metatron or Micheal in the first hour of this game and steamroll everything. Fuck that guy.
They were sacrificed to kickstart the Conception.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Which ones, the Gaians or Messians?
Also willingly sacrificed or just murdered by somebody?
Both. Against their will.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Why are they even still making games for the 3DS? Why isn't this going to be on the Switch?
I guess I'll just have to wait for whatever SMT game is coming out on the Switch. I heard we're getting details the end of this month. I don't have a Switch but I'll buy one if the new SMT will be important. Can't get enough of them Alignments.
Also, for the people here who played IV/IV Apocalypse, someone told me the games support the origin of demons being human perception? It's called "Observation" and they were all only dreamed up the way they are because of us?
I know Strange Journey said demons predate humanity and I'm just kinda curious if maybe there is no consistent origin for demons in the SMT-verse.
Because the 3DS still has a a year or two left.
SJ is special cause it states creatures other than humans ojce walked the earth, amd Gods creating humans is a part of the series as much as humans making gods.
edited 5th Oct '17 4:03:49 AM by OmegaRadiance
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Well what are teh odds Atlus will join Square and pretty much every other major JRPG company and start porting their library to Steam?
I don’t know. Probably when Half-Life 2 Episode 3 is released.
edited 5th Oct '17 4:57:36 AM by CybranGeneralSturm
@Nikkolas: Seriously? Honestly, I hear more people talking about the first SMT than the second one, and that one was in no way 'hokey.' It's also strongly recommended you play/watch that one before playing/watching II, because II's kind of a direct sequel. I guess you can still understand what's going on, but it would still be a big help. Nevermind that I's plot is basically the gold standard against which all mainline SMT games are judged. I'm not saying it's the best plot, but when even a spinoff game (Devil Survivor 1,) is taking story beats and inspiration from it, that's really saying a lot.
I played the first couple minutes of SMT 1 but had no real interest in it. I guess the "Hero" destroyed everything. Neutral for the win? (I'm being flippant. As I understand it, there was actually a huge battle in the Neutral route. I'm not sure if that happens in the Law/Chaos endings too but I'd assume not which I guess does kinda mean it's the hero's fault maybe?)
But I already asked some people and was told I didn't really need to know much about SMT 1 to enjoy 2. And I honestly never hear anyone talking about SMT 1. As a huge fan of Alignment chat (if that wasn't obvious) it's always SMTII that I read about. Have to avoid spoilers but it's brought up far more than 1 in my experience researching Law vs. Neutral vs. Chaos.
As for being hokey, at least in SMT 2, there's literally silly music and weird joke mini games and a Bar you can talk to crazy people at and overall it just feels a lot more lighthearted than, say, Nocturne's beginning.
edited 5th Oct '17 7:23:48 AM by Nikkolas
I know Strange Journey said demons predate humanity and I'm just kinda curious if maybe there is no consistent origin for demons in the SMT-verse.
Strange Journey kind of has it both ways. In it demons exist before humanity but they exist as kind of weird blobs before the thoughts and feelings of humanity shape them into demons/gods/etc.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Weirdly, Apocalypse does the opposite - there, it's YHVH restricting Observation that forced them into physical bodies.
So apparently I fucked up and I didn't need to name my fellow test tube people. You actually get Law points for not doing that.
I suck.
Also my eternal companion in SMTI was apparnetly Lilith who fucked everything up. Yuko better not do that. I like her.
Half-Demon Dude In A Bizarre World
If its any consolation, I did not know that you get Law points for doing that either when I played the game. I just finded out about that some time ago.
Actively seeking out the Law route of SMTII? Hoo boy...
It was mostly just the fact I didn't have to name my companions that took me by surprise. Haven't really had a lot of choices as of yet and the fact I made a choice without even realizing it was a choice was weird.
Mega Ten has not aged gracefully, though. It seems like Nocturne is the oldest game that really still holds up in terms of gameplay.
edited 5th Oct '17 7:22:37 PM by Nikkolas
So have Atlus always had a Neutral bias? Some people I was talking to said that, if anything, they originally really liked Chaos.
TDE certainly is the most lovingly detailed ending in Nocturne.
Although I have heard that IV or maybe IVA, i forget which, is the most obviously pro-Neutral game to the extent that the other endings are almost like bad endings/game overs because it ends a lot earlier than Neutral?
MONSTER COACH
That's IVA, yeah, it was actually marketed as "neutral only" game.
And it had some pretty nifty Neutral endings as well. Whether you went Bonds or Massacre, it was definitely a fun ride.
I still hope that the Divine Powers return in future games in some form.
I thought eschewing the traditional LNC routes was a good idea. It's gotten stale.
Massacre for Life.
Is the new approach better than Nocturne's Reasons?
That depends on the person. I don't find Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse's ending better just because it's a neutral only game, but both good endings being neutral isn't a objectively bad design choice either.
edited 6th Oct '17 9:26:20 AM by VeryMelon
x2 TDE is one of the coolest endings to any video game, but it did destroy the carefully crafted balance of the Reason endings.
Excluding Jimenez and Space Marine Dwnt is the most attractive male crewmember.
@Nikkolas: It works better to judge when there are only two routes to serve as opposites. IVA had the two Neutral Routes align with earning dark/light points based on ones choice, De Su Naoya/Kaido 8th Days, or Majin Tensei II. Nocturne doesn't really have that so I'd be basing it on bias.
edited 4th Oct '17 6:41:09 PM by OmegaRadiance
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.