General SMT discussion thread

[Wolf Kanno]

I've dabbled in most of the series but have only managed to complete SMTIII, SMTIV, the four (technically five...) main Persona games, Strange Journey, and Devil Survivor. Also Catherine if we want to count that one too.

I've played SMT1, The first Raidou title in the Devil Summoner series (technically it's DS3) and Digital Devil Saga. I have a bad habit of playing too many of these games at once so I get burnt out which is why I haven't completed the above titles. I also have Soul Hackers, the second entries for Raidou and DDS, Persona Q, as well as SMT2; but I'll have to get to them later when I get my backlog in proper order.

Love the franchise, both in terms of subject matter, excellent detail from religious and mythological lore, as well as the gameplay that tends to favor status effects and thinking outside of the box. Press Turn is probably my favorite battle system in a long time. I'm also a huge fan of Kazuma Kaneko's artwork. I actually prefer him over Shigenori Soejima's art style.

I'm looking forward to SMTIV:Final and Persona 5.

My fave games in the series is SMTIII: Nocturne for the mainline games and a tie between Persona 2 and 3 for the Persona series. I feel Devil Survivor is my least favorite entry so far thanks to the grating characters and choppy way the game tried to meld classic SMT with modern Persona. It would take too long to mention which characters I like...

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[Vyk]

I perpetually keep attempting and faltering, and though I've thoroughly enjoyed a handful, and was completely turned off by a couple, I am always grateful the series exists, and I keep giving them money, and someday one of them will stick. I've never beaten one, but I've put my most hours and efforts into P4, both Golden and Original. And dabbled in both Devil Survivor games, the first Digital Devil Saga, Strange Journey, Persona 2, P3P, and ... well, I guess that's about it. I still need/want to check out SMTIV, Soul Hackers, Digital Devil 2, Nocturne, and the Devil Summoner games. Which I think the Devil Summoner games interest me the most. But I've went through 2 PS2s in the past couple years, and it's hard to rely on that technology anymore. I've had to put an end to playthroughs of the original P4, Tales of the Abyss, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Zone of the Enders: Second Runner, and the Champions of Norrath games because the PS2s just kept fritzing out, and neither mine, nor my girlfriend's computers can emulate PS2 very well, because they seem to be designed around NVidia archetecture, and we both have AMD rigs which struggle no matter what we do

But one day, I'll get back into the foray. And I think Summoner is the most likely to keep me entertained since it's so different and supposedly more puzzle and task oriented rather than being a grind slog like some of the others can be. Digital Devil Saga burned me out fast, since the story was sparse and vague, and the battles were many, with very little down-time in between. And the Devil Survivor games do what all Japanese strategy RPGs do these days, just battle battle battle, with a bit of story sprinkled in between. I want to do more than just battle and read. I think that's why the Persona games got so popular. The simulation aspect was massive and gave lots of down time between the grind, and story events

And sadly, I loved Strange Journey, but it's story bits was also few and far between, and it was very dungeon crawly grindy

But, they got my money, and I'm glad they exist. So it's all good. And I'm always willing to try a different game once I get over being burned out from a previous. So it's not a detriment to the series/franchise

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah the Raidou games are interesting. While they are not exactly stellar action-rpgs, the whole detective aspect of the game is actually pretty cool since you use demons to do your leg work for you. The time period stuff also makes the games really interesting as the Taisho Era was a pretty cool one for Japan (it's like their Roaring 20s but combine it with trying to "Westernize") so the game has a real fresh design that separates it from the more done to death high school and 80s cyberpunk post-apocalypse settings the series tends to gravitate to.

[Hollycat]

I uh... don't like the SMT games. ANy of them. I just cant bring myself to even finish any of them. I wonder if it's because I played P3P first and Persona ruined me for SMT games because it was too good.

[Yellow_Magic]

@Wolf Kanno: I love the "All my friends are assholes" image. So freaking much.

And I'll just pretend Hypoallergenic Cactuar didn't make the above post >_<

I started properly getting into SMT a couple of years ago. So far, I've played through:

- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (and played 50 hours of Innocent Sin before my save got corrupted #fml)
- Persona 3 FES
- Persona 4
- Persona 4 Arena(/Ultimax)
- Soul Hackers
- Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2
- Nocturne (/Lucifer's Call featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry (TM) series)
- SMTIV
- Devil Survivors 1 and 2

I've also touched Revelations: Persona, Strange Journey and Persona Q, but didn't properly get into them for whatever reason: I'll try them again some day.

It's hard to choose a favourite but I think Nocturne just about edges it, thanks to its atmosphere, killer soundtrack and my love for demi-fiend.

I really want to play the Devil Summoner games, but the last Raidou CD that I bought didn't work =(

[Formalhaut]

I've seen a lot of love for the Demi-fiend; what makes him so great?

[Fynn]

Well, he's pretty much the only protagonist that isnt human, but instead a human-demon hybrid. That, and the True Demon Ending make him one of the most badass character in the franchise

[Formalhaut]

But would you really want a true demon ending? That sounds horrible!

[Fynn]

Well, a lot of people love it. It's something you don't really encounter in many games

[Formalhaut]

Well, a lot of people love it. It's something you don't really encounter in many games

I suppose I'm always the person who chooses the 'best' ending whenever possible.

[Fynn]

Well, you rarely get "best" endings in SMT

And to many, the true demon ending IS the best ending. It all depends on your views.

[Wolf Kanno]

The True Demon ending is the best ending and one of the more difficult ones to obtain since it requires you to fight the game's hardest optional boss Lucifer himself. It's also considered the canonical ending for the game, considering what the Demi-Fiend is like in every other game he's shown up in.

I think he's well liked because he's one of the more unique takes on a MC in the series and because his game lacks more rigid paths like traditional SMT games do. Just about every ending in Nocturne can be described as a hard pill to swallow, and considering the Demi-Fiend walks away from every ending as a physical god helps as well.

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[Formalhaut]

It's interesting, because from what I've played of SMT: IV so far, and knowing general information about 'alignments' and all that, neutrality appears to be the best option, unless I'm mistaken.

[Fynn]

Except Nocturne doesn't follow the traditional alignment system. You get to choose from a set of personal philosophies though. Or you can follow your own path, abandon any philosophy whatsoever, or just follow Lucifer and just wreck trout up

[Yellow_Magic]

I've seen a lot of love for the Demi-fiend; what makes him so great?

Well, he's the motherfreaking demo-fiend, so there's that. Literally half a fiend!!!