So, i played Nocturne and LOVED the whole setting and lore so i started to do some digging about the franchise and found out that there is a whole more to it, but this franchise is so huge and takes so much time that i think i need some help. Should i play only the main games (SMT 1, 2, 3 and 4), play all the games including persona or simply give up since its too much time investment and just read the wiki about the lore?
So...
Colton Kelly
Robert Phillips
>give up since its too much time investment
What the duck are you talking about? SMT is multiverse bullshit so every game has a vastly different tone. If you only play them for the setting and loved nocturne then you should just stop right now since everything more you learn will just dilute your experience.
That said PLAY THE FUCKING GAMES YOU CRETIN THEY ARE AMAZING. ALL OF THEM.
Connor Stewart
Soul Hackers and Strange Journey are amazing, you should play them. The lore changes pretty much ever game, so your better off playing them.
Caleb Howard
I started playing nocturne yesterday, knew the matador memes but GOD DAMMN IIt kkicked my ass, and not only that, buut when i beat him i do 3 steps AMBUSH KAMIKAZE Go beat matador again
Chase Thompson
>franchise is so huge
SMT is like six games nigga, this isn’t Final Fantasy
Cameron Moore
You're free to skip SMT 1 and 2 if you want to. Not that they are bad games, it's just that they are old and unbalanced as fuck. I played 1 to completion and wouldn't call it a fulfilling experience despite actually enjoying parts of the story.
With that said, 4 and 4A are mandatory. The Digital Devil Saga duology is also very good, though a bit more plot-driven and more akin to a traditional JRPG like Final Fantasy. Strange Journey is also fantastic and a more self-contained experience, though it is also a dungeon crawler and I'm aware some aren't into that kind of game. With that said, it's a very good dungeon crawler.
The elephant in the room is Persona. Should you play it? It's so different it's hard to tell. Even on its own, Persona can be divided into P1~2 and P3~5. They are more character-driven and have a usually more lighthearted tone, but keep very similar themes. P1~2 are more akin to your traditional mainline SMT, while P3~5 dip a bit into anime (don't worry, they don't go FULL anime) but are still very enjoyable experiences on their own.
There are other games in the series (Devil Summoner, Devil Survivor) and they are also good but I'd say this is the base guideline.
Juan Clark
It's less of a difficulty spike and more of a check if you have understood how the game actually works.
While some other parts of the game will probably bust your balls due to old-school jrpg sensibilities that SMTIV thankfully did away with, the combat doesn't really get that hard by itself.
Eli Martinez
unless i was underleveled for the fight, i think Matador should be a bit less punishing cause damn 40dmg to the whole party each turn is a bitt much
Luke Evans
Does 4A supersede 4, or should I play both? Also, are they playable on Citra?
Cameron Cook
DIgital Devil Saga is probably the best SMT after Nocturne, and it's in a nice spot where it's similar and yet different enough from Nocturne to be both familiar and surprising. So, play DDS next, I say.
John Gutierrez
>Does 4A supersede 4, or should I play both?
It's complicated. 4A definitely has much better gameplay, since it ironed out many of 4's flaws.
With that said, 4 has a much better story. Especially if you enjoyed Nocturne's worldbuilding, 4A delivers so little story about its setting and lore that it feels like an insult to mainline SMT. Plus, 4A is a lot more character-driven and feels more like a Persona game, and its story pacing is much worse due to it having a day-by-day mission structure.
>Also, are they playable on Citra?
No idea. Played 'em both on the real thing.
Grayson Jones
>playable on Citra
yes
>Does 4A supersede 4
A4 is a sequel so play it in order
Carter Lewis
It's to force you to get a party heal and a set of buffs/debuffs. Most of the strategy happens in the cathedral of shadows, not in combat.
Unless you got wiped by a single attack it was surely intentional, as you need to learn sooner or later anyway.
If anything is wrong it's the timing of the "test". You wouldn't expect it to just happen in a random hallway.
Play both, in order. A4 is a sequel/"what if" scenario that starts from the later parts of 4? The combat is an objective improvement, but the rest is up for debate.
Btw, go find a map of of the overworld if you play 4. Finding your way through it was a mess.
Austin Perry
Cheers guys. Obviously gonna play both if 4A is a sequel and not some sort of remake.
Parker Price
MegaTen as a whole is huge
>Mainline SMT (1-4 + IF + Strange Journey + Apocalypse)
>Devil Survivor
>Devil Summoner
>Devil Children
>Digital Devil Saga
>Persona and its spinoffs
>Megami Tensei 1 and 2
>Soul Hackers
From the top of my head, did I forget something?
John James
>The lore changes pretty much ever game,
...well that's a bit disappointing
Yeah i had to grind a bit before i was able to beat him, but i think i had more trouble with the final fiend
>4 and 4A are mandatory.
Are these 2 different games? I thought SMT4A was like Persona 4 golden, simply a upgraded version of the same game
I actually started DDS but when it was revelead that you become a monster instead of summoning them, and that there isnt any multiverse fuckery i started to think that it was more like a spin off similar to persona. I might go back to it now
Ayden Campbell
>he forgot the only TRUE SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI GAMES
>card summoner and jack bros
Chase Davis
The Super Famicom Megami Tensei I & II remakes are not fun. Neither is Shin Megami Tensei. The three have the same problem: unlike Nocturne, where Auto Battle is used exclusively when you KNOW a battle is not going to give you trouble, in these games it is pretty much used all the time because otherwise battles become a massive slog. No Press Turn system either to encourage you to do the fights yourself. And the encounter rate is IN-SANE. I haven't played SMT2 but honestly I don't feel like playing it after playing the earlier titles.
Robert Miller
>DDS
>no fusions
>the best
Yeah, fuck off. It's a borefest.
Evan Wright
Apocalypse is "kind of a sequel", it follows a different protagonist that starts the story at the end of the Neutral route of smt iv, and his actions lead to a completely different story from what happens at the end of IV. The game has notes that explain everything that happened in IV if you didnt play it, but you are missing a ton of stuff.
James Bennett
>...well that's a bit disappointing
You can try to puzzle together the lore, but it is clear that having an overarching plot isn't something the developers cared much about.
And occasionally, such as with the Great Will/YHVH/Axiom stuff, translation may also have been an issue.
> I thought SMT4A was like Persona 4 golden, simply a upgraded version of the same game
No. As said here , A4 begins in the middle of 4 and then does it's own thing. It's possible that the story in 4A is coherent even without playing 4, but I would not know.
Owen Clark
>well that's a bit disappointing
What he said isn't true. Now go play Strange Journey
Bentley Morris
Yeah IV: A is somewhat like an interquel since it starts during the end of IV and takes it in a whole new direction for endings. The combat tweaks are very nice, such as light and dark spells dealing damage instead of only being one-shot KO spells, but the characters and story takes a downturn (aside from the final moments).
Hunter Torres
>Strange Journey
I can't deal with the shitty music and new enemies being invisible.
Kayden Jenkins
What a fag. Your loss, failure of a human
Hunter Sullivan
>shitty music
>SJ
Pick one and only one
Easton Nguyen
If you can stand the persona bits devil survivor is really great
Luke Cox
It's the closest thing I get to feeling the "clown world" meme. It sounds like objective vomit to my ears but somehow people enjoy music that sounds like it was randomly generated by a computer, backed by constant grunting.
Trust me, I wish I didn't feel like I do.
James Hill
How far did you get?
Adam Torres
Not very far at all. Just passed the first ice caves to the ruined area, but everything about the game screamed at me to stop. And so I did.
Btw, is there any reason for the demons being invisible at first? It seemed like an objectively bad mechanic.
Ethan Rivera
Isnt that the one people say its hard as fuck?
Elijah Wright
I don't think it's too hard, but it is very punishing
Ryan Carter
not really, most of the time is a walk on the park besides certain encounters you cant auto to death
Jaxon Barnes
OP said SMT, not Megaten.
Connor Howard
Instead of MT 1 and 2 you should just play the remake Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei
Jacob Flores
You did
>Last Bible triology
Michael Howard
>no fusions
It has in kyuuyaku
Jeremiah Myers
ignore the stupid lore text
Joseph Murphy
Zachary Morales
Well I hope you enjoy walking into dead ends, trying to find indivisible doors that can only be revealed by standing right infront of it, having constand random encounters that helps you further lose track of where you have been with a neutered turn press combat that forces you to use only demons of a specific alignment.
Story and setting is pretty cool though.