What does /vr/ think about Shin Megami Tensei 2 ?
>>3171245
It's a great game.
>>3171245
I hear the MC fucks his mom then lives in a tormented cycle of reincarnation doomed to suffer for all time
>>3171335
I liked the futuristic setting less than the one in SMT1 and the story can be silly at times -Daleth, please. There are still a lot of awesome or creepy moments in this opus.
The UI and demon recruitment/fusion is a step up from the first game, so there's that.
>>3171335
What about the MC isHijiri in Nocturne?
>>3171245
Loved it until a bug in the translation ruined it for me. I could no longer heal anywhere. I'd get the dialogue and confirmation for paying money to heal, but neither my money nor my points would actually change, so I was fucked. Could not be fixed by rebooting either since the glitch seems to be permanent for my save.
Is SMT 2 the best game in the series ?
>>3171713
I don't think so. I prefer Soul Hackers and Nocturne, both for style and the latter for how battles work (disregarding the dumbed down negotiations), but I haven't played IV or IVF.
>>3171335
Explain please
I am confused why this series gets such special treatment from the West. It feels like final fantasy but with a stupid ass japan-highschool-demon-relationship-sim setting. I've put a few hours into the game and i don't understand the appeal. Is this game only for weebs or is there any actual gripping story or intuitive mechanics? For the record I grew up on FF, secret of mana, saga series, lunar so I am familiar with the genre, not trying to dis anyone's taste just genuinely always been curious as to why this game is so loved. Are these games the same as the persona series btw?
>>3171951
Which SMT? There are major differences between all the games.
>I am confused why this series gets such special treatment from the West.
There's that whole demon negotiation and recruitment thing which is kind of a Pokémon-like aspect and makes your party ever changing through the game. It also adds an interesting element to fights in some of the games as you might opt for negotiations when your in a bad situation.
The style is more distinctly cyberpunk, with some dark occult aspects mixed in, both things not entirely common or pulled of as attractively in other english available JRPGs. This is a HUGE draw for a lot of people.
>Is this game only for weebs or is there any actual gripping story or intuitive mechanics?
Both depend on which entry you are playing. I'd say the first game with really cool mechanics is Nocturne, and that isn't really retro yet. The SFC games are kinda standard on the combat aspects and only add difficulty by trying to overwhelm you with numbers.
>Are these games the same as the persona series btw?
Nope. Your description also sounds suspiciously like persona, but I guess you could also be playing SMT if...
>>3171951
Persona and mainline Shin Megami Tensei are very different.
>>3171951
It's nothing like FF and you're thinking Persona which have "dating sim" stuff.
SMT are dungeon crawlers with monster-recruiting/collecting mechanics and negotiations.
maybe you should try playing one before judging.
They managed to make the battle system even worse. Well, at least in the first one, magic actually worked. Here you're limited to healing spells because even a -raon spell will do crappy damage.
The first third of the game has some nasty foes (like bodyconian ). Then you grind, turn into a bulldozer and smash through the rest of the game.
Plot-wise, SMT2 has some interesting characters and some Matrix shit going on. Sci-fi vibe feels nice. Chaos route was better written in other games. Neutral isn't even fun. Law is actually nice.
>>3171245
I never play much further than the very beginning, it doesn't hook me anywhere near as much as as SMT 1 did
>>3171736
IV is a severely watered down Nocturne in terms of dungeons and overall challenge. At least the music and atmosphere are on par, though.
>>3172689
Nocturne with Daisoujou is a cakewalk though.
I really need to play IV; I listened to some of the OST and it's fantastic, I liked it better than the Nocturne OST so far.
>>3172689
4 lacks in dungeons but has the second best atmosphere and setting imo (bested only by smt1)
>>3172693
What about Hard Mode with Daisoujou?
Am I the only one on /vr/ who thinks Shin Megami Tensei is kind of lame? It's the most Japanese thing I've ever seen, and I don't mean that as a compliment.
It's the whole dark and edgy religion thing Japan always does. It's like Neon Genesis Evangelion. It tries way too hard to be deep, it's full of angels and demons the writers decided to throw into the roster after reading about them on Wikipedia. What can loosely be described as the game's "plot" is full of banal highschool pseudo-philosophical drivel. "What if... God and Satan are BOTH evil? Wooooah."
If there was any doubt as to who the target audience is, in one of the games you literally play as a guy in a trenchcoat and katana. Pic related, it's Shin Megami Tensei in a nutshell.
>>3173212
Sure, it's ultimately shallow, but you can say this about a lot of JRPG.
One thing I loved though, is that they included gods and mythical creatures from a lot of religions. The idea that they could function together is damn cool.
And the setting for the first SMT is really gloomy, bordering on horror at times. It was the first RPG I played that strayed from traditional fantasy or SF.
>>3173212
You're thinking too much about it. It's a video game buddy.
I enjoy the settings, the art, the music and especially the negotiation aspects.
>It's the whole dark and edgy
Yeah man, it's so dark and edgy... ho!
>>3173212
No, you're thinking of Persona.
Shin Megami Tensei is a series with some fairly unique mechanics, and the "lol religion" angle is pretty subdued compared to its sister series. When you boil it down, Shin Megami Tensei is really about mankind's cynicism in an increasingly digital age.
On the other hand, Persona is pretty much just Final Fantasy for "that guy."
it's another one of those jrpg series where the games are utter shit to play but people like the general look and vibe so it gets a pass.
>tfw ps1 port is still untranslated
>>3173872
The psx persona titles are good, though. Especiallythe PSP ports
>>3174351
I actually like P1 the most because it's closer to mainline SMT than the sequels.
>>3171778
The MC is an artificial Messiah created in the womb of a government soldier. She begins to suspect the regime and by chance they team up to take down the government. There's a little subtext about them liking one another, and then they discover she's technically his mom.
Also the MC (and his mom) kill God, who forces him to reincarnate and suffer forever for committing the ultimate sin.
It all sounds really cool but the game itself is boring as fuck unless you reaaaaally dig backtracking and first person mazes.
>>3173212
>It tries way too hard to be deep
What? There's hardly anything deep about it
God is a controlling bastard, Lucifer is a dickhead manipulator, people are awful when given the chance to gain power, and demons are fucking assholes
>>3171245
What the fuck were they thinking with the arranged OST?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naT8lTHh7s0
>>3174838
Every other character has a name taken from mythology or religion for the sole purpose of making it seem deep, even though it's fairly basic.
Also you know that you're supposed to be able to think that God's control is necessary, that Lucifer's manipulations are admirable, and that both pious people and demons have good points. The games are never black and white.
Even then they're really shallow and plot wise are usually esoteric just for the sake of being esoteric.
>>3173212
JC fanboy detected.
Divine Comedy btw is a much lamer fan fiction than MegaTen, old school dungeoncrawlers that are even harder to penetrate than Dante's purple prose (no, not that Dante, the lame Italian one that didn't get included), so you might want to use rely on a guide or a walktrough instead of cliffnotes if you deside to stop being a lame-o and take the plunge.
I mean honestly, what's not to like about Metatron Vs Cerberus? Super Robot Wars with Heresy instead of Mechs?
Pokémon with a Penis Demon?
My advise to you is git gud or git outya git
>>3174864
Just do Sword of Justice instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj4ArAaAZ8g
