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[Shin Megami Tensei/Persona]: the Strange Journey is underway. Suit up!

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  • an_altan_alt Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    The final party I used in P4 is Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji. I just chose the characters I liked the most...

    This was pretty much my main party throughout the game for pretty much the same reason. Teddie's squeaking ruled him out, while Naoto and Yosuke filled in spot duty as necessary. The boss fights in P4 are so bloody long that high SP spells are kinda ruled out. As good as Naoto was for death/expel, knowing she wouldn't be in the boss fights made it hard to find a reason to give her the EXP in dungeon runs over other characters.

    an_alt on
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  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    P3 FemMC battle them. No more Mass Destruction.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NDEOZzrSbc

    By the way, am I the only one with the P3 arranged CD (and the FES one too)?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42LXHCD602o

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  • LednehLedneh shinesquawk Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Do we know if P3P combat will allow direct control of our teammates? That's pretty much the ONLY thing that made P4 better than P3 to me.

    Ledneh on
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Ledneh wrote: »
    Do we know if P3P combat will allow direct control of our teammates? That's pretty much the ONLY thing that made P4 better than P3 to me.

    Yes, it does. As well as in-combat Social Link bonuses like P4 (pushing you out of the way of an attack, etc.)

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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    P3F Boss music:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zZ3HDCxfZE&feature=related

    They're sure keeping Meguro busy.

    cj iwakura on
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  • Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    thank god a return to form

    Zephyr_Fate on
  • PureauthorPureauthor Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I hear tell the Strange Journey soundtrack is pretty underwhelming.

    Pureauthor on
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  • Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Funny that what is considered a mainline SMT game would get a poor soundtrack, considering Nocturne's amazing tunes.

    Zephyr_Fate on
  • LednehLedneh shinesquawk Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Ledneh wrote: »
    Do we know if P3P combat will allow direct control of our teammates? That's pretty much the ONLY thing that made P4 better than P3 to me.

    Yes, it does. As well as in-combat Social Link bonuses like P4 (pushing you out of the way of an attack, etc.)

    I will play this game and I will never stop playing it

    Ledneh on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    P3F Boss music:

    Snip

    They're sure keeping Meguro busy.

    Please tell me this replaces the terrible Unavoidable Battle theme. Because that song was horrible and this one is so much better. If it's this song and Master of Shadow I will be very happy.

    Gilder on
  • cozy duckcozy duck Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Funny that what is considered a mainline SMT game would get a poor soundtrack, considering Nocturne's amazing tunes.


    I disagree quite strongly with this. While Nocturne's soundtrack is amazing, I find SJ's pretty decent as well. It's also the first time that Meguro has shown me that he can deal with orchestral music decently, as his previous attemps were rather underwhelming. The only problem is that there is way too little of it. Also, the final battle theme is very disappointing.

    cozy duck on
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'm not really enthralled by Strange Journey's music but Persona is really the only Shin Megami Tensei series with music that I actually like, so...

    That P3F boss music sounds way too much like a Devil Summoner song : (

    Frosteey on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Frosteey wrote: »
    I'm not really enthralled by Strange Journey's music but Persona is really the only Shin Megami Tensei series with music that I actually like, so...

    That P3F boss music sounds way too much like a Devil Summoner song : (

    Is that a bad thing? Devil Summoner 3 has the best battle music around.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgVr3f30oZc&feature=related

    4's wasn't nearly as good.

    Also, the first dungeon in SMT1 with a Cathedral has amazing music.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPEfQ4CYicw

    It's the original mix of this track, chiptune style. Can't find an audio of it.

    cj iwakura on
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  • DarklyreDarklyre Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    YggiDee wrote: »
    I'm waiting for Atlus to put in a bonus boss fight that is literally unbeatable, and sit back and watch how long it takes the hapless players to figure it out.

    Like, imagine the Demifiend fight, but he heals every time he gets below a certain hp percentage.

    Dry out all his MP?

    Gaea Rage. ...Maybe twice.

    Survive that, and actually kill him for real?

    Disc freezes. Perhaps your saved games are corrupted.

    To be fair, this is a monstrously, hideously wrong thing to do a player, any player. But this is Shin Megami Tensei, who teaches us futility of man; and this is Atlus, the company whose cruel masters are physically fueled by our despair.

    I can almost, almost see it.

    Well, it's Atlus. I mean, they have their own page on TVTropes about difficult bosses.

    On a side note, does anyone still play SMT Imagine? I logged back in on a whim yesterday and apparently there are a ton of new updates, including PVP, demon quests, demon reincarnation, motorcycles for quicker movement, and a ton more skills. It looks really good again, though I wonder if the grinding will still turn me off.

    Darklyre on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    They kind of exaggerate about Hitoshura. Max stats won't make that fight any easier. It's all luck.

    By L94, your odds are pretty much the same as they'd be at 99.


    Snowboard Kids? O_o

    cj iwakura on
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  • DarklyreDarklyre Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    Snowboard Kids? O_o

    Yeah, seriously. If Atlus ever made a checkers game it'd probably involve the final opponent starting with all Kings and you getting punched in the face.

    Darklyre on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    And last I checked on Imagine, it's just a bunch of little things detracting from what everyone wants: more story acts. Seems like all busy work.


    Hey, the clan's still intact at least.

    cj iwakura on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I guess now we know what Shinji likes in a girl.

    frmbuf164.jpg

    cj iwakura on
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  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Darklyre wrote: »
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    Snowboard Kids? O_o

    Yeah, seriously. If Atlus ever made a checkers game it'd probably involve the final opponent starting with all Kings and you getting punched in the face.

    This made me laugh for a good five minutes this morning.

    Bursar on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Er, apparently P3P has another P4 cameo... and then some.

    Uber boss revealed.

    http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8956492
    Margaret. And Theodore.

    Okay, not at the same time. But still.


    And it's in the Desert of Doors.


    P3F still has to fight the normal uber boss solo.

    cj iwakura on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    theo-1.jpg

    Brr. His Persona is Uriel.

    cj iwakura on
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  • PunkBoyPunkBoy Thank you! And thank you again! Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Hell, if people wanted to do an Imagine revival, I'll be up for it. I'm still in the initial story chapters, and it was a lot of fun just hanging out with the crew.

    PunkBoy on
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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't mind starting over with Imagine. I never got to play with the PA crew, so I wandered aimlessly by myself for the most part. However, I wouldn't be able to sink any real time in to it until the semester is over or close to over.

    LoveIsUnity on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    If a good four or five people want to gather for a random dungeon attempt(or better yet, killing Tarrasque), I'm for it.

    cj iwakura on
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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    If a good four or five people want to gather for a random dungeon attempt(or better yet, killing Tarrasque), I'm for it.

    I was never a high enough level to do anything awesome, so I'd have to grind, grind, grind to make that happen. I was thinking of starting over entirely.

    LoveIsUnity on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    A lower tier dungeon is fine too. Maybe being invited the hades.

    cj iwakura on
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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    A lower tier dungeon is fine too. Maybe being invited the hades.

    I'll level up a character a bit and see what happens. I feel like I just took a third job... At least I know my co-workers will be cool.

    LoveIsUnity on
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  • DarklyreDarklyre Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    A lower tier dungeon is fine too. Maybe being invited the hades.

    I'll level up a character a bit and see what happens. I feel like I just took a third job... At least I know my co-workers will be cool.

    Yeah, let's not concentrate too much on level grinding this time around, that just kills the fun. There's enough new content (non-storyline, unfortunately) that we can have fun trying to get new stuff.

    Like motorcycle races in Shinagawa, running like fuck from Powers.

    Darklyre on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I will defeat Theodore. That is all.

    Gilder on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    He can't be as bad as his sister.


    Err, the younger one.

    cj iwakura on
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  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Margaret is not worth my time to acknowledge the existence of. I am walking the path of the king, and the path is lined with foes that require me to prove myself. Margaret's presence is not required.

    Gilder on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Well, I don't know what time is ideal, but I happen to be lurking around Shinjuku Babel in Channel 5 if anyone's down for a sudden reunion.

    cj iwakura on
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  • DeMoNDeMoN twitch.tv/toxic_cizzle Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Shit, I would totally jump on, but I uninstalled weeks ago.

    DeMoN on
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  • DarklyreDarklyre Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    Well, I don't know what time is ideal, but I happen to be lurking around Shinjuku Babel in Channel 5 if anyone's down for a sudden reunion.

    I'm not even going to touch a single game beyond solitaire while my exams are going on.

    Darklyre on
  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I have to grade some shit that I'm handing back tomorrow, but I'll try to get it done so I can hop online.

    LoveIsUnity on
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  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I could continue with SMTII, but that'd be setting the bar too high for the other stuff to compare.

    So here's a bit of a sidestep.


    Devil Summoner
    [Saturn, 1995 | PSP, 2005]


    devsum.jpg

    Unlike SMT proper, we've been lucky enough to get half of this series released in the states.

    Could have been more than that if Saturn source code wasn't nigh impossible to crack, but that's another story!
    The first 32-bit Shin Megami Tensei game, Devil Summoner, made its way to the Saturn in 1995. Moving away from the apocalyptic themes of the original series, the setting is modern day suburban Japan, although demons have started to roam free. As the game begins, you’re on a date with your girlfriend, and while heading back to her apartment building to grab some concert tickets she forgot, you’re attacked by demons. No worries - you’re saved by a suave demon hunter named Kyouji. Unfortunately, shortly after his heroic rescue, Kyouji is killed under mysterious circumstances. Things aren’t going too well for you either - you’re kidnapped and subsequently murdered by a crazy lunatic named Sid. Things in the afterlife don’t go quite as planned, and your soul ends up in the reanimated body of Kyouji. After crawling out of the morgue, you team up with your partner Rei and try to solve the mysteries of the demon infiltration, as well as attempting to get everyone's soul back in the right place.

    Like most of the SMTs and its spinoffs, Devil Summoner 1 takes place in modern times.


    Only demons don't quite work with you as they do in SMT proper, it's more that you control them with an elaborate computer.

    ...

    Wait, SMT proper's like that too.


    Anyway!

    devsum-5.jpg


    Devil Summoner has more of the same first-person dungeon crawling madness that SMT vets might expect, along with the next-gen polish that Persona 1 fans might expect.

    Well, relatively speaking.

    devsum-6.jpg

    It still relies on fairly ugly polygons, but hey, that's the 32 bit era.

    devsum-2.jpg

    If any key differences could be stated, I'd guess it's that Devil Summoner 1 has more focus on story and character development.


    What to play it on?

    PSP would be the obvious choice for both that it's the newer(and probably cheaper) release and the fact that it's region free. Otherwise, Saturn.



    Fun facts

    This introduced the infamous Kuzunoha Agency that lives on not only in DS 1 & 2, but both Persona 2s. Also, they're likely the descendants of some guy named Raidou you may have heard of.


    Devil Summoner was almost localized.

    devilsummoner.jpg

    It seemed early Atlus USA did have big plans for Megami Tensei. However, the western powers that be had other plans. Perhaps the US just wasn't ready for games this dark.


    A shame.


    -I'm pretty sure Victor was still the fusion guide in DS1.

    200px-Victor.jpg

    Classy fellow.

    -The summoning devices in Devil Summoner are still called COMPs, but look like guns instead of elaborate arm computers.



    I've never played it, but the premise of being murdered and then reincarnated in the first fifteen minutes sounds too awesome to pass up.

    cj iwakura on
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  • elliotw2elliotw2 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Actually, I think it's called a GUMP instead of a COMP in that one, short for Gun Computer.

    Someone should translate the PSP or Saturn version of that, it would be fairly cool to play in English

    elliotw2 on
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  • PunkBoyPunkBoy Thank you! And thank you again! Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'll install Imagine again this weekend. I hope my character is still around.

    PunkBoy on
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  • XagarathXagarath Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I still want to know why we didn't get the last Devil Summoner game in PAL :(

    Xagarath on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P144_rhWZKM&NR=1

    Getting a serious Reach Out To The Truth (Orchestra) vibe. I love the chants.

    cj iwakura on
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This discussion has been closed.