Shin Megami Tensei Series

It’s just good to remember that there’s a LOT of dirty laundry and lists of reasons why you can be Anti-American Imperialism and not hate Americans. And it needs to understand how these politics also inform the routes.

Can't say I've heard that particular interpretation before.

This reminds me of when I played the original version of Strange Journey. Most of the Law choices sounded like your standard "be a good guy" responses, and then I got to the actual Law route and was kind of caught off-guard how bad they got.

Granted, I probably should have expected it since I played Devil Survivor and its Law ending had a bit of an ominous feel to its ending text...

I don't think that was what the developers of V were going for, so I wouldn't exactly call it a "missed opportunity" if they were never considering it in the first place. I wouldn't say no to a setting where humans and demons co-exist more openly in a less apocalyptic setting, though.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Feb 28th 2024 at 7:21:07 AM

Both her and Stephen are a lot more shifty than what seems on the surface. It’s always interesting to remember he was just as much in on what Krishna was doing with Fake Flynn as Dagda was, and he intentionally destroyed the machine that detects Shesha AND erased the memories of the people who knew his human identity that created the radar.

I didn’t even know he did this on my FIRST playthrough and it was when I was talking to NP Cs after any important event I realized it thanks to talking to people.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 28th 2024 at 7:24:20 AM

Fair, and same.

One of the things I liked about V was how the Law and Chaos reps acted like the traditional versions of the other side, if that makes sense.

Like, Dazai is a misfit delinquent who teams up with a fallen angel, for example.

And Yuzuru is a strait laced Honor Student who follows the words of his other half, only letting loose his anger when Tokyo is under threat or threatened.

Edit: Still kicks me how underutilized he is when he shares his Japanese VA with Dimitri Blaiydd aka Kaito Ishikawa.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 28th 2024 at 8:09:00 AM

In other news, I have finally finished all 6 Reason routes in Nocturne. It took me a little under 200 hours, but I can safely say this game is complete...on the Normal difficulty.

Like hell I'm doing all 6 on Hard.

Good! No reason to put yourself through hell doing it again! And congrats!

When that V spotlight talked about the whole "Bull God and Snake God" thing, I got my Apocalypse artbook to double-check if the "demonized YHVH" had a bull in his design, and sure enough, there was one.

I also wonder if Lilith will get some sort of super form as a boss battle that won't be playable. Kind of like how Krishna has his Vishnu-Flynn form, the various Nahobino bosses in V, etc.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Feb 28th 2024 at 8:34:14 AM

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Yoko is Lilith's Knowledge so we'll see a Nahobino Lilith form towards the end of the game.

I bet Samael will end up being a character in Vengeance complete with Doi redesign. His Slifer the Sky Dragon form wasn't in the original V.

I wonder if they'll add a second Demi-Fiend-level DLC superboss. Satan seems like a good candidate.

Edited by ComicX6 on Feb 28th 2024 at 11:42:16 AM

Nah, just do Freedom Route Demi-Fiend. He dresses like an ordinary Japanese teenager (for the early 2000's), yet still destroys your face with Oni-Kagura.

When you beat him, you don't get his Essence, but you do get his drip.

Before it was taken down cause it was uploaded too early, Vesk Scans posted a screenshot of Lion Wings english SMT TTRPG

It will include a Printed Signature of Kaneko.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 28th 2024 at 10:35:07 AM

Question: In SMT5, can one person be the simultaneous Knowledge of multiple demons?

I ask because I know in the game Zeus mentions that Dhu al-Qarnayn, aka Alexander the Great, as his previous Knowledge. In real life, apparently as a means to strengthen his hold over his various religiously disparate domains, Alexander held himself as the son of Amun and Zeus as a singular composite deity.

I know Megaten just grabs a bunch of ideas and throws them into a blender without necessarily following up on one particular path, but stuff like this does make me wonder if we'd get a composite Amun-Zeus or Zeus-Ammun one day, with or without the connection to Alexander.

It’s precisely due to their nature as Bull Gods. Zeus sought a substitute that theoretically could work due to being Bull Gods, but we never see such an example happen. So potentially it could fail as well.

And we know what failures result in because that’s what the Miman are.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 29th 2024 at 9:24:34 AM

The Shin Megami Tensei account on the site formerly known as Twitter posted a tweet containing the protagonist's character profile. The information on there isn't new, but there is a brief video showing off a cutscene where he is attacked by Glasya-Labolas and also a scene where he uses Heavenly Ikuyumi.

I hate it when I'm almost swatted by a giant dog monster when I'm just trying to catch my train.

I kind of doubt it will happen, but given how the devs mentioned that Vengeance is more "focused on the Snake God," I hope that Echidna will appear. I know she was in the mobile game, but I'm hoping she'll return to the main series again.

There's a challenge run in Nocturne I'm considering doing, but I don't even know if it's possible. A quick google search reveals nothing.

Nocturne with no Macca spend. Not on healing, not on buying items, not on negotiations, and not on the compendium.

So a minimalist run, huh? From what I can tell, that would mean that the only healing you'd be allowed is during battles, from items found in the overworld, from characters who heal you for free or any parts where the player is automatically fully healed.

Basically.

The immediate problem I can think of is "how am I going to recover my HP?" and "how am I going to recover my MP?". Items can only go so far, especially with how limited they are early game. Up until you leave the hospital and unlock the Healing Fountain you have a free heal, so my first assumption is "powergrind for like 20 hours so I can limp to Mana Drain".

The next issue is "how many Magatama can I even get?" A lot of them are shop only, so that leaves 14 (which is honestly more than I expected). There is the base Magoreh, Wadatsumi from beating Forneus, Ankh from letting Pixie leave (otherwise it's a shop item), Narukami from beating Thor, Anathema from beating Ose, Miasma from beating Mizuchi, Murakumo from beating Ongyo-ki, Geis from beating the Puzzle Boy minigame, Djed from beating the Moirae Sisters, Muspell from beating Mara, Satan from beating Black Frost, Adam from beating Albion, Gundari from beating Bishamonten, and Gaea from having 24 base Strength.

Anathema gives Mana Drain, so theoretically (if I can beat Ose) between that and Dia/Media from Ankh I have renewable HP for the party and MP for Naoki. Beating the Puzzle Boy minigame gives me Mana Refill, so I could run around in a safe area for hours to refill my MP for free. This is not counting demons who I could fuse to have a mixture of healing and MP regen.

Of course, this is all just speculation, since I'm not even sure if I could get to Ose let alone any further. If I did try this run, it'd probably first be a test on Merciful Mode before trying some of the real difficulties.

Gah, no matter how well I think I'm prepared for it, the "Barrier Failure" mission on Day 6 always, always gives me a rough time.

1 or 2?

2. It's the one where you go to Mt. Fuji to unleash the full power of the Dragon Stream. It takes a deceptively long time to get around the map even with Avians, you need to keep sending people back and forth across the stage, and there are a lot of Legions that'll greatly slow you down with Evil Bind and some Boss in Mook Clothing Take-Mikazuchi.

I also wonder why this is the only game in the whole franchise whose English localization calls the Fury race "Omega".

Edited by ComicX6 on Mar 7th 2024 at 4:48:54 AM

FUCKING FINALLY done with the Haunted Mansion. Absolutely massive dungeon with a very hard boss.

Any advice for making my Protag-kun stronger? He's by far my weakest link... which naturally sucks royally since this is Old Megaten and We Cannot Go On Without You.

Evil Bind is always a pain, and there's not much you can do aside from running a bunch of Wilders to raise your movement back up.

And speaking of Devil Survivor, I've been playing DS 1 again, and I think I've screwed everything up. I had a choice between helping Mari kill Kudlak and talking with Keisuke, and I chose the former. And Kudlak escaped. And then Keisuke died.

I also met Remiel, and I'm starting to question assertions I've heard about this games story from fans.

Edited by MisterTambourineMan on Mar 8th 2024 at 12:32:14 PM