As a fan of Persona who enjoyed the third through fifth entries, I decided to check out the parent Shin Megami Tensei series. Since I wasn't able to download IV on my 3DS, I bought III when it was on sale for 50% off. It was fun, but I honestly liked Persona more in many regards.
The game begins when you, two of your classmates and your teacher witness the end of the world, after which you are transformed into a human-demon hybrid and given the opportunity to decide how to recreate the world. It's a good story on paper, but in practice, much of it involves going around the Vortex World and witnessing plot-relevant events, and you don't make an appreciable impact on the story for most of the game.
The characters aren't very deep or likable. You barely know anything about your so-called friends or your teacher, which makes it harder to care about them even before they change for the worse.
Instead of a party of characters with certain personalities and specialties, you are accompanied by one of three demons based on religious and mythological figures. You acquire said demons by recruiting those at or below your level by talking with them during battle, or fusing multiple demons into more powerful ones, and it is absolutely critical that you build a team suited to your challenges, switching out members as necessary. Unfortunately, the demon negotiation mechanic is not very intuitive; for example, you might give the demons everything they ask for, only for them to walk away. That said, the remaster allows you to choose which skills fused demons inherit, which is crucial considering how important building demons is.
The combat system is the main draw of the game. Instead of each party member getting one turn per round, you have one "Press Turn" icon per party member and can either spend one icon by acting or skip your turn and go to the next party member at the cost of half a turn. Getting a critical hit gives you half an icon, while missing not only does no damage, but takes an additional icon, keeping you on your toes. The fact that buffs and debuffs are key to your success rather than completely useless is a nice touch, although I preferred Persona's take(recasting de/buffs extends them, rather than making them stronger).
The game is reasonably challenging if you know what you're doing(at least on Normal, which I played) and next to impossible if you don't. Some bosses become pathetically easy with the right party(e.g. a party that's immune to the boss's attacks), while others are still difficult even if you prepared. Many of the game's dungeons are gimmicky, featuring one-way doors and hidden pits among other traps. This is one game that becomes a lot more enjoyable with a guide.
If you like brutally unforgiving RPGs that are light on story, I recommend checking this out. If the core mechanics appeal to you but the shortcomings turn you off, I recommend Persona instead.
A good game, albeit one with mainly niche appeal
As a fan of Persona who enjoyed the third through fifth entries, I decided to check out the parent Shin Megami Tensei series. Since I wasn't able to download IV on my 3DS, I bought III when it was on sale for 50% off. It was fun, but I honestly liked Persona more in many regards.
The game begins when you, two of your classmates and your teacher witness the end of the world, after which you are transformed into a human-demon hybrid and given the opportunity to decide how to recreate the world. It's a good story on paper, but in practice, much of it involves going around the Vortex World and witnessing plot-relevant events, and you don't make an appreciable impact on the story for most of the game.
The characters aren't very deep or likable. You barely know anything about your so-called friends or your teacher, which makes it harder to care about them even before they change for the worse.
Instead of a party of characters with certain personalities and specialties, you are accompanied by one of three demons based on religious and mythological figures. You acquire said demons by recruiting those at or below your level by talking with them during battle, or fusing multiple demons into more powerful ones, and it is absolutely critical that you build a team suited to your challenges, switching out members as necessary. Unfortunately, the demon negotiation mechanic is not very intuitive; for example, you might give the demons everything they ask for, only for them to walk away. That said, the remaster allows you to choose which skills fused demons inherit, which is crucial considering how important building demons is.
The combat system is the main draw of the game. Instead of each party member getting one turn per round, you have one "Press Turn" icon per party member and can either spend one icon by acting or skip your turn and go to the next party member at the cost of half a turn. Getting a critical hit gives you half an icon, while missing not only does no damage, but takes an additional icon, keeping you on your toes. The fact that buffs and debuffs are key to your success rather than completely useless is a nice touch, although I preferred Persona's take(recasting de/buffs extends them, rather than making them stronger).
The game is reasonably challenging if you know what you're doing(at least on Normal, which I played) and next to impossible if you don't. Some bosses become pathetically easy with the right party(e.g. a party that's immune to the boss's attacks), while others are still difficult even if you prepared. Many of the game's dungeons are gimmicky, featuring one-way doors and hidden pits among other traps. This is one game that becomes a lot more enjoyable with a guide.
If you like brutally unforgiving RPGs that are light on story, I recommend checking this out. If the core mechanics appeal to you but the shortcomings turn you off, I recommend Persona instead.