Shin Megami Tensei Series

Not just himself, he also has that weird obsession with the protagonist.

I think it's very telling that in the Alcor route that instead of teaming up with you he goes 'fuck you' then kills himself.

edited 19th Jun '18 8:33:37 PM by asterism

The game does too good a job at contextualizing Yamato.

I find it bizarre he's so popular. Like, does anyone really think he'd be pleasant to know in the real world?

Elaborate?

edited 19th Jun '18 8:35:29 PM by HamburgerTime

It's because he's gay for bunny hood

Dude's got white hair, Evil Is Cool air about him, and is prime yaoi fan-bait. No way he wasn't going to be popular. Not surprising given his predecessor in the previous game, and I guarantee you that if a Devil Survivor 3 is ever made there will be a third character in that mold.

In Redux news, I managed to beat the Demonhee-ho mission with the Angelic Blessing Azrael. Most satisfying cherry tap ever.

edited 19th Jun '18 8:41:02 PM by ComicX6

Yamato considers everyone trash... Except the player character.

He's a perfect example of one of those "But YOU'RE special!" narratives. Plus, y'now, the game's pretty rife with Yaoi bait in general.

Naoya's awesome don't compare him to Yamato.

edited 19th Jun '18 8:40:45 PM by ShirowShirow

Honestly? Even Ronaldo shooting Makoto seems forgivable next to what Yamato wants to me. Ronaldo shoots a fit young woman who can easily defend herself. Yamato wants to shoot your sick, bedridden grandparents. People should live for others; otherwise you end up like that.

That Matrix Raining Code kimono does look pretty cool...

edited 19th Jun '18 8:46:06 PM by ComicX6

Ronaldo shoots a defenseless woman who can't defend herself after a fierce battle. And attacks and tries to kill Alcor for no reason except for "Muh Reasons" on Alcors own route, or when he tries to stab Yamato in the back after Yamato spares him on Yamatos own route.

Hell Yamato never tries to backstab and relents on Ronaldos own route.

I also want to point out Trump is a buffoon whose knowledge of media and playing the will of the masses is how he got to where he is. Yamato was born, raised, and groomed for his position and because of the way japans society was structured he was forced into a position with no way out.

They also showed that no, constantly suffering isn't a thing in Yamatos world because it isn't mindless chaos. It's a strict hierarchy based on merit. You contribute to society even if its small and doesn't do much? You still have value and you're superiors will even protect you. If you are a rich politician like Trump getting fat and rich off Nepotism and choose not to do anything in said world you are literally left to rot. Which we also see in Yamato's ending with the ex-Politician who just expects handouts when he doesn't want to do anything.

Neither the first De Su or the Second presents Politicians in a good light.

Which is kind of dumb too since there are skills that are helpful if you’re a good politician

Honestly, Ronaldo has a more shitty personality (YMMV) and despite the context and whitewashing of ignoring what’s wrong with Yamato’s philosophy, it’s still repulsive too. I remember being disgusted by what I saw in my first play through and I went Meritocracy

They are not Good Ends

I mean I do feel the criticisms of Yamato actually fit his anime incarnation better than the game version, because he doesn't try to have his men killed no matter how shit they are, while Anime Yamato maliciously indulges in sending hundreds to die pointlessly ala one of Miyako's many "brilliant" plans.

edited 19th Jun '18 9:45:31 PM by OmegaRadiance

Honestly that's one thing that's a pretty big difference between DS 1 and DS 2, and an important one I think.

In DS 1 I'm pretty dead set on finding all the endings and routes. They're all interesting, with the only "Bad end" apparently getting revamped a bit in Record Breaker.

In DS 2 though, I don't really want to. Like, the big changes in plot direction happen by just straight-up letting potential party members die. Keita's an annoying twerp but he doesn't deserve to get electroroasted. They're all so easily avoidable you need to go out of your way to not save them.

And the endings in DS 1 are more even-handed. It's all there in the title; Devil Survivor. The endings are all about how humanity survives. Remaking the world's a secondary concern. I simply don't want to do Yamato's ending, dude's too much of a dick.

A party member always die. Hell you can get the achievement for all your human allies alive on the one where You Kill Polaris and that's pretty much the most Esoteric Happy Ending of the lot.

Raise your hand if you agree the Devil Survivor's games have better endings than the mainline games

Since you can't kill YHVH in any of those endings (and no, I'm not counting Polaris as YHVH no matter how similar she seems)...I'm going to say I like some of the mainline endings more.

DS version of YHVH seems like a pretty chill dude, to be honest

Compared to mainline SMT he'd have to be.

And even the "chill" version of YHVH was willing to nuke a whole bunch of innocent people if anyone stepped outside of the lockdown. Well, I suppose that's certainly better than nuking a whole bunch of innocent people for not worshiping him 24/7.

edited 19th Jun '18 11:14:44 PM by dragonfire5000

Polaris, Arcturus, and the Admins are literally Star God with a capital G, with Canopus as the Great Will of De Su 2's Universe.

I love commiting deicide.

Anyone else find it funny how the PS 2 got 8 SMT games and the PS 4 still only has one?

Atlus isn't rich. And it's Two if you include the crappy Dancing Game that hilarious underperformed.

Hamburger Time

What I was getting is that Yamato is given about as much depth as can be mustered in DeSu2. His FATE scenes all meticulously elaborate on how he got messed up and help him grow out of it to an extent while giving him plenty of shipbait moments with the hero, and the story just contextualizes him as a messed up child who was bred to be warped and a stalwart leader who gives the party food and shelter, and at least he fully believes in his ideals and is willing to die for them when his time comes unlike Ronaldo, who basically just comes up with his reason to spite him.

Standing next to Ronaldo he just looks better in ever way.

x4 While Polaris is similar to YHVH and Canopus is somewhat similar to the Great Will, they're not the same thing (Polaris can actually be reasoned with, for one thing). Canopus is no more the Great Will than Jungo the Cat is.

Yeah, they mostly just shifted focus to the 3DS since it's got plenty of SMT games. I find it funny that they still probably have tons of demon models from the PS 2 era they want to use again, those polygons where tight.

Nah, guy read too much Ayn Rand.

One thing I will say about Ronaldo and Yamato is that, depending on which route you're on, they're quite a bit more receptive to allying with you even if you oppose them, especially compared to the mainline alignment representatives.

Honestly though, I like both Ronaldo and Yamato. Sure, both can be quite trying to be around at times, but I think they both have their good moments and I like their interactions with the protagonist.