/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.6333042]

what is /vr/'s opinion on the smt series?

[Anonymous No.6333059]

>Must play exclaimed classic
Suck for being JP exclusive

[Anonymous No.6333068]

>>6333042
S'good. I like them.
They let the setting do the talking, the sprites still look great, Monster Dialogue is still such an odd concept but they went the full mile to implement it. Spinoffs were genuinely interesting.

[Anonymous No.6333091]

The best SNES rpgs

[Anonymous No.6333096]

One of the best RPG series of all time.

[Anonymous No.6333212]

>>6333042
I've played through nocturne, strange journey and 4. Never played any of the /vr/ era ones. Are they pretty similar to strange journey gameplay-wise

[Anonymous No.6333217]

some of the best games ever made

[Anonymous No.6333363]

>>6333042
The best games in the series are all non-/vr/. All of the SNES games are worth playing though, I liked how they were dungeon crawlers but with actual sane difficulty. They are very hard but you never have to worry about a ninja enemy instantly perma-killing one of your party members you spent hundreds of hours grinding up or running into an enemy that de-levels you with its attack thus wasting your time, or a thief enemy that steals a plot critical item thus making your game unbeatable.

[Anonymous No.6333396]

>>6333042
Nocturne is my favorite video game personally. Sadly, however, not /vr/.

The /vr/ games are rough around the edges but I find them sort of charming. I understand why people dislike them, as I played through If... recently I can definitely say I have no intention of returning to it any time soon, but overall I look back on the series findly. Some older titles like the Devil Summoner games genuinely excellent though, I feel those have aged well.

[Anonymous No.6333461]

>>6333042
I started with the 8bits. Didn't like. Have not returned.

[Anonymous No.6333553]

I can't believe the thread is filled with positive posts and not just stuff like "it's shit" or "it's shit like all jrpg's".

[Anonymous No.6333572]

I dislike dungeons crawlers and this is no exception. It has good music and art tho.

[Anonymous No.6333609]

>>6333396
>aged

[Anonymous No.6333630]

Want to play SMT2 but worry the balance will be broken like 1; with zio and nerve bullets, for example.

[Anonymous No.6333762]

>>6333042
Graphically and mechanics wise unimpressive, but certainly unique in their visuals and storytelling.

The problem is that they simply fail to hit the mark, they just don't have that kind of coherency as far as motifs go, which would allow the player to determine the "general atmosfere" the games would be trying to convey.

Imagine you're playing a silent hill game, when all of a sudden you get to a boss fight which is something completely ridiculous, such as a unicorn or clown.
It would be a complete mood wrecker, something that would undermine the entire playthrough, the entire game setting.

The smt series does this with every new thing it introduces, whether game mechanic or enemy design.

Fusion is stupid, rinky-dink enemy designes are stupid, anime characters are enjoyable but oftenly stupid, the setting being anything else than modern day japan is stupid, masked vigilante demon slayer teens are gay and stupid, technopunk/sengoku misticism low effort hybrid hubris designes are stupid.

The soundtracks are simple but nice.

[Anonymous No.6333965]

I've only played Megami Tensei 1 and 2 for the Famicom so far, that first game sucks ass.

[Anonymous No.6333972]

Too bad Megami Tensei 1 is so badly documented in the West. I'm considering writing an FAQ for it, because the one on GameFAQs, while it looks nice, is completely surface-level.

[Anonymous No.6333981]

>>6333630
Smt2 doesn't have that problem, the issue with 2 is that there's plenty backtracking which can wear you down.

[Anonymous No.6334001]

>>6333972
How do you compare the nes vs snes versions?

[Anonymous No.6334009]

Probably my favorite series of games with a consistent record of quality.

[Anonymous No.6334250]

>>6333461
Did you at least play them via Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei? The first two games for the Famicom are super primitive, and in my opinion do not really reflect what the series was like by the time SMT came out.

[Anonymous No.6334282]

>>6333042
They're great, but the stories are a bit samey.

[Anonymous No.6334304]

>>6333762
holy shit get a load of this muggle

[Anonymous No.6334380]

>>6333762
>enemy designes are stupid
Faggot

[Anonymous No.6334383]

>>6334282
Wasn't the series based on a single book? It's hard to create so many games without retreading plot points with so little source material.

[Anonymous No.6334390]

>>6334282
Are they? SMT1 and SMT2 alone are pretty fucking alien. The dichotomy of Law and Chaos factions being led by dickheads is the only really consistent element between the games, and even then the third game already ditches L vs C.

[Anonymous No.6334402]

>>6334383
The series began as a trilogy of novels, though only the first Famicom game really uses the novels fr inspiration. From Megami Tensei II onward the series has little to do with novels.

[Anonymous No.6334413]

>>6333212
In the sense of them being dungeon crawlers yes. Since you've played some of the newer ones I recommend trying out soul hackers on the 3ds, it's an update of the Saturn game and has a great story/setting

[Anonymous No.6334472]

>>6333972
Please do, based brother.

>>6334380
You'd think a faggot would like Mara though.

[Anonymous No.6334483]

>>6334402
>Tfw will never get a translation of the third book.
>Tfw will never get a translation of the New Digital Devil Story books
>Tfw will never get a translation of the SMT: El Seiram books

I wonder how Aya Nishitani feels about the giant media franchise, it's spinoffs, and if he gets lotsa yen from it's sales.

[Anonymous No.6334539]

>>6334483
Honestly based on what I've read I wouldn't say the third novel is a huge loss. While I admire the novels fr their historcal importance they're not particularly good.

While old this interview shows he's happy with Atlus' treatment of the series.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dijehtranslations.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/nishitani-aya-famitsu-interview/amp/

[Anonymous No.6334551]

>>6334282
Idk. They all center around apocalypse scenarios and technology going out of control but that's about it. As much as i like the game nocturne seems to have the most plain story of all of them

[Anonymous No.6334571]

>>6334551
Nocturne's story isn't plain, it's just rather minmalist for a jrpg. Compared t a lot of other jrpgs of its time Nocturne is very straightforward and to the point. The world is fucked and its a story of people fighting to reshape it in the way they feel is best.

[Anonymous No.6334607]

>>6334551
When I made that post I was thinking "well, except Nocturne, that's got a pretty unique one."

[Anonymous No.6334676]

>>6333363
Heh. Pic related.
I love the art, music, dungeons, and fusion mechanics. There's so much you can do in these games. Being able to talk your way out of fights is really nice too. If you have trouble fusing super demons you'll still create the same demons you're encountering in most areas, which almost always gives you a free pass. This is balanced by still needing to handle surprise attacks and full moon encounters, so the game won't let you take it -too- easy. Good stuff. Definitely my favorite franchise overall.

[Anonymous No.6334737]

As a total beginner to this series, where should I start? Always wanted to play these games but never got around to it.

[Anonymous No.6335568]

>>6334737
Nocturne is probably the bets place to start. The older games will feel brutal if you aren't familiar with old school dungeon crawlers. Digital Devil Saga on the ps2 is also nice if you want something more traditional. SMTIV is a bit more "generic" as it has more melodrama but it's an okay game to start with it.

[Anonymous No.6336534]

>>6335568
>Nocturne is probably the bets place to start.
Why do you hate others like this?
>>6334737
Start with the Raidou Kuzunoha PS2 games, they are very fun to play and will ease you up in the mainline games.

[Anonymous No.6336881]

>>6333553
it's the only jrpg series I like, persononally

[Anonymous No.6338138]

>>6333553
We're not faggots like you.

[Anonymous No.6338164]

Great series, great concept.
Hope V will come out, and be the true successor to Nocturne.
Wouldn't mind modern qol remakes of both Megami Tensei and SMT 1 and 2 as well, though only if involving Kazuma Kaneko, or at least faithful representation of his original style.

[Anonymous No.6338224]

>>6336534
Raidou games play nothing like the mainline, why would you recommend them?

[Anonymous No.6338272]

Really good.

[Anonymous No.6338303]

>>6338164
I loaded the translation of the original Digital Devil Story on my Everdrive and tried the mapping spell. It lasts for something like a dozen steps. Demons, per in-game NPC's, are easier to recruit when they're alone. Of course, if they run away (or I presume recruited), you don't get any XP. Most of the enemies deal one or two points of damage at most, until you hit a group of gnomes that blast you with spells. Healing spells are more effective the higher your vitality, so with the inverse being true in Yumiko's case I had to use gems to hope to keep her alive. Of course, my hopes were trashed, gnomes blasted me, died, and restarted in town.
Brutal fucking casual filter right from the start. 10/10 will return to get my ass kicked again.

[Anonymous No.6338402]

>>6338224
He didn't ask which mainline game he should start with.