Shin Megami Tensei General

Discussions about the SMT series in general go here, hee ho!

For the sake of simplicity, Persona and Digital Devil Saga discussions go here too, despite not being considered part of the mainline Shin Megami Tensei franchise in Japan.


FAQ

Q: What is Shin Megami Tensei?
A: "Megami Tensei (Japanese: 女神転生?, "Rebirth of the Goddess"), commonly abbreviated as MegaTen (メガテン?), is a Japanese role-playing video game metaseries which was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani (taking its name from the title of the first of those novels) and has gone to become one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country. The games are published by Atlus with the exception of the Famicom games, which were published by Namco."

It should also be noted that in the West it's considered the third most popular Japanese RPG series, only behind Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. In the East, Falcom's Ys series is the second most popular, ahead of Dragon Quest but behind Final Fantasy, making SMT fourth.

Q: But where do I start? There are so many games!
A: Refer to this handy starter guide, kindly provided by the /vg/ Megami Tensei general, which also at least mentions the majority of the translated works. If you want my opinion or are too lazy to open that and read it, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Persona 3 more or less establish the gameplay mechanics present throughout the mainline SMT and Persona series respectively.

Q: How many fucking timelines and continuities are there?
A: Not counting Digital Devil Saga, there's the main SMT games, Devil Summoner, Persona, Devil Survivor and other minor spinoff likes Majin Tensei and Devil Children. My favourite timeline is Devil Summoner since it features the noir-ish Raidou Kuzunoha games and the cyberpunk Soul Hackers. Unfortunately, it's impossible to play the original Devil Summoner in English at the moment.

It should be noted that technically (with exceptions like DDS and Demikids) they're all rooted in the same core events that occur in Shin Megami Tensei I and II, but they branch out differently.

Q: So what's the deal with SMT X FE?
A: Nobody knows yet.

Q: Which purse owner would you fuq?
A: My waifu, which is better than your waifu.

First for FeMC isn't canon.

spplmj wrote:

First for FeMC isn't canon.

She is canon in my heart

Spoiler:

So has anyone here played Persona 2 yet? Kinda waiting on SMT until IV comes out.

I'm also loking forward to getting news on Persona 5. Think it'll be at E3?

Dracojounin7 wrote:So has anyone here played Persona 2 yet? Kinda waiting on SMT until IV comes out.

I'm also loking forward to getting news on Persona 5. Think it'll be at E3?

I've played P2: Innocent Sin, it's got a really cool demon negotiation system but the demons themselves are way too fucking finicky. It also has the best velvet room music.

I don't think we'll get any news on Persona 5 until SMT IV is released.

Dracojounin7 wrote:So has anyone here played Persona 2 yet? Kinda waiting on SMT until IV comes out.

I'm also loking forward to getting news on Persona 5. Think it'll be at E3?

Persona 2 works way differently from 3 and 4. Needless to say it's worth a try.

Alsoineverplayedashinmegamitenseigamebutireallywanttoo.

Oh hey, had no idea this thread was updating.

SMT IV shall be my first Shin Megami Tensei game. Sadly I've only played Persona 3 out of that series (besides P4A) but I'm still working on playing one of the versions of Persona 4 someday.

I may or may not try Persona 2 one day but I figure I should catch up with P4 before going backwards. Not to mention other games in my backlog.

Hunter Axel wrote: Sadly I've only played Persona 3 out of that series (besides P4A) but I'm still working on playing one of the versions of Persona 4 someday.

I plan on playing Persona 4 Golden as my first Persona 4. Gonna need to save up money for a vita though...

I tried to do the same and get P4G and a Vita while I was away, but complications happened and so that will have to wait.

Hunter Axel wrote:I tried to do the same and get P4G and a Vita while I was away, but complications happened and so that will have to wait.

I'm still kinda saving up money for pc parts, so me getting a vita will be a bit rough. In the meantime I plan to spoil myself 100% by watching a walkthrough or something of Persona 4 Golden.

Not_anon wrote:

Hunter Axel wrote:I tried to do the same and get P4G and a Vita while I was away, but complications happened and so that will have to wait.

I'm still kinda saving up money for pc parts, so me getting a vita will be a bit rough. In the meantime I plan to spoil myself 100% by watching a walkthrough or something of Persona 4 Golden.

I kind of liked sirlionhart's playthrough of it.

It's just kind of funny to me to hear and watch a black guy playing a Japanese RPG.

Screw watching a play through of it. Unless I know I'm never going to get the game, I don't want to spoil myself too much. There were some exceptions but that was before I could order games from online.

Dracojounin7 wrote:

Not_anon wrote:

Hunter Axel wrote:I tried to do the same and get P4G and a Vita while I was away, but complications happened and so that will have to wait.

I'm still kinda saving up money for pc parts, so me getting a vita will be a bit rough. In the meantime I plan to spoil myself 100% by watching a walkthrough or something of Persona 4 Golden.

I kind of liked sirlionhart's playthrough of it.

It's just kind of funny to me to hear and watch a black guy playing a Japanese RPG.

that actually sounds pretty hilarious

Last year I had been thinking about picking up Devil Survivor when I was looking for a new game to pick up during a bit of a dry spell I had. This was before I had gotten interested in Persona or any Shin Megami Tensei game.

Tried doing some quick research online to see if it was worth taking a gamble. It looked decent enough but I wasn't sure if it was for me. In the end I decided against getting it.

I just checked the SMT guide in the opening post here and it seems to be not a bad game from what they're saying. Has anyone tried any of the Devil Survivor games? Curious about opinions from here.

Hunter Axel wrote:Devil Survivor

ehehfhfhvgfj fuck i wanna play that game... isn't there an animu for the second one right now though?

There is an anime of the second Devil Survivor game, I haven't been watching it.

Anyway, I personally did play Devil Survivor but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as any other Megami Tensei game. I didn't really like how they handled the combat system there.

Seems like it according to the guide

edit: ack was too slow

Well yeah I was right



i don't understand a single thing about this but whatever.

I finished Nocturne and got the best ending (Neutral). Other endings a shit.

Anyway, it was an incredible game. I highly recommend everyone try it.

>Not fighting the bonus bosses for True Demon Ending.
>Not recruiting Dante

But yeah, I'd have to agree that it is the best ending when you get neutral.

And I WOULD play it but I neither have the power nor the means to play Nocturne.

Hunter Axel wrote:>Not fighting the bonus bosses for True Demon Ending.
>Not recruiting Dante

You can get Dante from the Devil May Cry series without completing True Demon Ending. You just have to enter the fifth Kalpa, it's not like you have to kill Metatron to get him.

My favourite part of the labyrinth was recruiting hee ho-kun. I was so glad when I met him in the labyrinth, because I felt like shit about killing him.

So who's ready for Shin Megami Tensei IV?

Another reminder of what Based Atlus has in store for us before we even start the game...

Little thought I just had.

P3's cast had mostly Personas from Greek mythology (Hermes, Io, Orpheus, Castor, Nemesis...) and the history teacher was really into Japan.

P4's cast had mostly Personas from Japanese history and mythology (Suzuka Gongen, Susano'o, Izanagi, Take-Mikazuchi, Himiko...) and the history teacher was really into Egypt.

It's a stretch, but maybe P5 will have Egyptian-themed Personas for the main cast?

Dracojounin7 wrote:It's a stretch, but maybe P5 will have Egyptian-themed Personas for the main cast?

Isis is already taken, and that's quite a major figure. Though it might be, who knows.

On another note, SMT IV's out tomorrow. I've already got my preorder set.

>Pallas Athena
>Tetrakarn and Makakarn
>reflects strike moves
I barely even need other demons in Soul Hackers. Anyway, apparently SMT IV being shipped soon is prompting me to marathon Soul Hackers.