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

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Posts

  • AydrAydr Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Persona 4 School Trip.
    OMG Persona 3 Music. <3
    OMG Kings Game. <3

    Puuuursonaa!

    Aydr on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    an_alt wrote: »
    Yes, we should be putting many things in spoiler tags since people often stumble into this thread for the latest SMT game, then decide to play all the older ones after.

    So for DDS2 optional bosses...
    I'm level 5 of the sun and I'm pretty sure I'm close to the end game, so I looked online about fighting Satan.

    Holy shit, is it really a get to level 99, max the stats, get nearly all the mantras, demi-fiend level fight? I swear I remember someone in this thread saying Satan wasn't nearly up to demi-fiend's caliber, but what I read online implied that he was.

    Also, if I decide to finish the game now and leave Satan until I get some time off, what are end game levels for DDS2 hard mode? Are low 60s up to snuff or would I need to spend some time grinding first anyway?

    Oh you'll absolutely need to grind to 99, you probably will anyway getting the required items to fight Seth, but anyone who says he's as hard as the Demifiend is a fool. I beat him on like my 4th try.

    Gilder on
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Aydr wrote: »
    Persona 4 School Trip.
    OMG Persona 3 Music. <3
    OMG Kings Game. <3

    Puuuursonaa!

    Did I mention Drunken Laura Bailey voice? <3

    vagrant_winds on
    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Gilder wrote: »
    an_alt wrote: »
    Yes, we should be putting many things in spoiler tags since people often stumble into this thread for the latest SMT game, then decide to play all the older ones after.

    So for DDS2 optional bosses...
    I'm level 5 of the sun and I'm pretty sure I'm close to the end game, so I looked online about fighting Satan.

    Holy shit, is it really a get to level 99, max the stats, get nearly all the mantras, demi-fiend level fight? I swear I remember someone in this thread saying Satan wasn't nearly up to demi-fiend's caliber, but what I read online implied that he was.

    Also, if I decide to finish the game now and leave Satan until I get some time off, what are end game levels for DDS2 hard mode? Are low 60s up to snuff or would I need to spend some time grinding first anyway?

    Oh you'll absolutely need to grind to 99, you probably will anyway getting the required items to fight Seth, but anyone who says he's as hard as the Demifiend is a fool. I beat him on like my 4th try.

    Specifics? Does he have any uber kill everything attacks? I know nothing about what to expect.

    People said you need to be L99 for the Demi-Fiend, and that's just not true.

    cj iwakura on
    wVEsyIc.png
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    He does have a super attack, but you can block it by casting two buffs or debuffs on the turn he uses it. He'll use Dekunda or Dekaja instead. Honestly the worst attacks are the "You're charmed now" attack and the attack where he randomly picks someone to die. There's no guarding it, someone just dies. The hardest part of the fight itself is keeping track of his HP. If he gets too low he'll heal to full and keep all of his attacks, like the charm and death one. So you basically lose at that point.

    The thing is you'll probably be 99 anyway because to fight him you have to get past Seth, and Seth requires you to beat the other two bosses in the last dungeon and they require the items to open the door. I was probably level 150 by the time I found them if the game would've let me be that level.

    Gilder on
  • VelsperVelsper Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Excuse me, but I'm just starting Persona 1 right now and I was hoping anyone reading this thread might be able to answer a question I had. I found out that you have to pick your team mates in the two story modes. Is there any suggestions as to who I should pick just for the sake of not getting stuck with the exact same character in both story arcs? Or can I get anyone no matter what arc I'm in?

    Thanks.

    Velsper on
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Velsper wrote: »
    Excuse me, but I'm just starting Persona 1 right now and I was hoping anyone reading this thread might be able to answer a question I had. I found out that you have to pick your team mates in the two story modes. Is there any suggestions as to who I should pick just for the sake of not getting stuck with the exact same character in both story arcs? Or can I get anyone no matter what arc I'm in?

    Thanks.
    If you don't want any repeats between the two (other than the MC) get the secret character for the "Main" story, and take Eriko and Brown in the Snow Queen Quest.

    How to get the secret character

    As for knowing which route you're on...without spoilers, I will say it is very easy to tell if you're on the SEBEC route or the Snow Queen route. You need to do a lot to get the Snow Queen route and while it is technically possible to get it by just exploring everywhere, it's also very unlikely.

    Blackjack on
    camo_sig2.png

    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • VelsperVelsper Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Thank you very much, Blackjack.

    Velsper on
  • RainbowDespairRainbowDespair Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Hey, I thought you guys might be interested to see one of the Persona references that I stuck in my new XBox Live Indie Game, Molly the Were-Zompire.

    http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585503ab/?bt=0&sb=1&mt=32&gu=66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585503ab&p=1&of=0
    screen1_Web.jpg

    And for those young whippersnappers who have only played the PS2 games and need help getting the joke:
    persona2eternalpunishment.jpg

    RainbowDespair on
  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Quick question concerning Persona 3 FES: I've got thirteen days left before my big fight against Nyx and I'm currently training in Monad for the big event. My strongest Persona is Surt, who's at level 85 but has all the stats maxed (yup, I used lots of cards). Is there any point in levelling Surt any further, since the stats can't go higher than 99? Does the persona's level also influence their effectiveness in combat? Or does it make more sense for me to focus on my other Personas (especially the ones unlocked by Social Links) and max their skills?

    Thirith on
    webp-net-resizeimage.jpg
    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • JONJONAUGJONJONAUG Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Thirith wrote: »
    Quick question concerning Persona 3 FES: I've got thirteen days left before my big fight against Nyx and I'm currently training in Monad for the big event. My strongest Persona is Surt, who's at level 85 but has all the stats maxed (yup, I used lots of cards). Is there any point in levelling Surt any further, since the stats can't go higher than 99? Does the persona's level also influence their effectiveness in combat? Or does it make more sense for me to focus on my other Personas (especially the ones unlocked by Social Links) and max their skills?

    Yes, it does.

    You don't really need to level that much though, anything above 80 or so and the final boss just becomes a cakewalk. Or you could do like I did and have a level 99 Orpheus Telos with all stats maxed and the added magic resistance special weapon equipped.

    JONJONAUG on
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, if you're fighting in Monad there's basically a 1% chance the last boss will be anything approaching difficult for you. :lol:

    Blackjack on
    camo_sig2.png

    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • KiTAKiTA Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Blackjack wrote: »
    Yeah, if you're fighting in Monad there's basically a 1% chance the last boss will be anything approaching difficult for you. :lol:

    Unless you're level 1 and abusing the hell out of death spells. :P

    KiTA on
  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So, which of these two would you recommend: grinding so I can max 2-3 personas, or focusing on one and maxing that one? I have to say that the combat is slowly starting to wear thin (I've never been a big fan of RPG combat, playing them for story more than anything), so if I can just max out Seth or Thor and leave the rest of the personas where they are without shooting myself in the foot for the Nyx fight, I'll probably do that rather than max 4-5 personas.

    Thirith on
    webp-net-resizeimage.jpg
    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    KiTA wrote: »
    Blackjack wrote: »
    Yeah, if you're fighting in Monad there's basically a 1% chance the last boss will be anything approaching difficult for you. :lol:

    Unless you're level 1 and abusing the hell out of death spells. :P
    If you kill stuff in Monad until your Surt is level 85, you won't be level 1. :P

    Blackjack on
    camo_sig2.png

    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    ...Don't max anything?

    Elendil on
  • XagarathXagarath Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Max Helel, for hilarity.

    Xagarath on
  • JONJONAUGJONJONAUG Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Max Helel, fuse Satan, get Victory Cry and that passive move that halves magic attack cost on Helel.

    Watch everything in the game die in one turn and the last two forms (the only difficult ones) of the final boss die in one turn each.

    JONJONAUG on
  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Xagarath wrote: »
    Max Helel
    And here I thought that was some Jewish persona from New York, probably voiced by Billy Crystal...

    Thirith on
    webp-net-resizeimage.jpg
    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So, as I'll be smashing my way through the dungeon next time I fire up Persona 4... anything to note or be prepared for in the Secret Lab (or whatever the dungeon is called)?

    And you all were right. Black Frost > Void Quest. It was a cakewalk.

    vagrant_winds on
    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • MumblyfishMumblyfish Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Two threads ago I bought Persona 4 again. I missed Chie and the rest of the gang, thought I did the game a disservice by not dabbling in fusion on my first playthrough, and Dragon Age wasn't going to be released for a very, very long time.

    Yesterday I finally worked up the will to slog through the final dungeons and for the second time witnessed an awesome game end with a whimper, not a bang.

    It's tragic, really. On the day that I got the game, I wiped my previous save and played all the way through to the end of Kanji's dungeon in one marathon session. I wanted to beat every dungeon in one day apiece, which is not an achievement in the slightest from Rise's dungeon onwards, but in the first two dungeons this enables some really compelling gameplay. SP is truly precious, as it should be, a wider array of skills are used since SP-burning everything isn't a viable option and a lot of fights are best avoided. Also, boss fights are done underlevelled and with a half-drained party. I beat Shadow Yukiko with only Chie (edit: and the protaganist, duh) left standing, on 1HP each.

    Isn't that awesome? Isn't that how the game really should have been until the end?

    Unfortunately, after Kanji's dungeon the gameplay rapidly spirals down the shitter. Most random encounters quickly become beatable with one AoE from Yosuke and maybe a followup from whoever moves next. SP becomes practically meaningless. All your characters are reduced to having anything between one to three skills; typically one move only for normal encounters and two or three skills they repeat in a cycle for boss fights. Boss fights rapidly degenerate into using the same strategy, because of a killer flaw in the scaling of healing skills: when your party can heal to full every turn, if the boss cannot wipe out your party in a single turn you can not lose. To be fair, this is a problem common to every single JRPG I've ever played, but it's sad to see such a good game fall to such shitty skill design.

    And, on top of this, when you enter the Velvet Room a couple of times per dungeon, the main character becomes an all-conquering, game-ruining super faggot. I was torn between not having any customisation options at all, or customising the main character just a little and inevitably being overpowered as fuck. No inbetween.

    On top of this the story gets a lot less compelling after Teddie Ex Machina. Ugh. Because of all this, despite beating a quarter of the game in one day it took me three months to slog through to the end.

    This isn't going to be a totally negative post, though. Persona 4 is still my favouritest RPG ever, ever, ever.

    You know what I did when I took down the dull-as-all-fuck final boss and let the game play itself out twenty hours too late? I deleted my completed save file, started over from scratch, and beat Yukiko's dungeon in a single sitting again.

    Yeah, it was still great fun.

    Mumblyfish on
  • TeriferinTeriferin Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I've gotta agree with the difficulty. I wish the hard as nails nature of the first dungeon had carried over to all the others. It was a glorious victory when I finally took Yukiko's Shadow down, and took about 10 tries to deal with the boss shadow that shows up later in her dungeon. Every other boss was considerably easier.

    Though the boss of Heaven did manage to surprise and destroy me with quad converge the first time it dropped.

    Oh well. Here's hoping Strange Journey is harder.

    Teriferin on
    teriferin#1625
  • Chrono HelixChrono Helix Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    Two threads ago I bought Persona 4 again. I missed Chie and the rest of the gang, thought I did the game a disservice by not dabbling in fusion on my first playthrough, and Dragon Age wasn't going to be released for a very, very long time.

    Yesterday I finally worked up the will to slog through the final dungeons and for the second time witnessed an awesome game end with a whimper, not a bang.

    It's tragic, really. On the day that I got the game, I wiped my previous save and played all the way through to the end of Kanji's dungeon in one marathon session. I wanted to beat every dungeon in one day apiece, which is not an achievement in the slightest from Rise's dungeon onwards, but in the first two dungeons this enables some really compelling gameplay. SP is truly precious, as it should be, a wider array of skills are used since SP-burning everything isn't a viable option and a lot of fights are best avoided. Also, boss fights are done underlevelled and with a half-drained party. I beat Shadow Yukiko with only Chie (edit: and the protaganist, duh) left standing, on 1HP each.

    Isn't that awesome? Isn't that how the game really should have been until the end?

    I recall there was an interview with the producers and they were disappointed that most people would try to rush through the dungeons.

    Chrono Helix on
  • EmperorSethEmperorSeth Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    Two threads ago I bought Persona 4 again. I missed Chie and the rest of the gang, thought I did the game a disservice by not dabbling in fusion on my first playthrough, and Dragon Age wasn't going to be released for a very, very long time.

    Yesterday I finally worked up the will to slog through the final dungeons and for the second time witnessed an awesome game end with a whimper, not a bang.

    It's tragic, really. On the day that I got the game, I wiped my previous save and played all the way through to the end of Kanji's dungeon in one marathon session. I wanted to beat every dungeon in one day apiece, which is not an achievement in the slightest from Rise's dungeon onwards, but in the first two dungeons this enables some really compelling gameplay. SP is truly precious, as it should be, a wider array of skills are used since SP-burning everything isn't a viable option and a lot of fights are best avoided. Also, boss fights are done underlevelled and with a half-drained party. I beat Shadow Yukiko with only Chie (edit: and the protaganist, duh) left standing, on 1HP each.

    Isn't that awesome? Isn't that how the game really should have been until the end?

    I recall there was an interview with the producers and they were disappointed that most people would try to rush through the dungeons.

    Well, don't make it a choice between that and not getting all the S.Links, then. Jerks. I didn't rush the P3 dungeons nearly as much.

    EmperorSeth on
    You know what? Nanowrimo's cancelled on account of the world is stupid.
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    Two threads ago I bought Persona 4 again. I missed Chie and the rest of the gang, thought I did the game a disservice by not dabbling in fusion on my first playthrough, and Dragon Age wasn't going to be released for a very, very long time.

    Yesterday I finally worked up the will to slog through the final dungeons and for the second time witnessed an awesome game end with a whimper, not a bang.

    It's tragic, really. On the day that I got the game, I wiped my previous save and played all the way through to the end of Kanji's dungeon in one marathon session. I wanted to beat every dungeon in one day apiece, which is not an achievement in the slightest from Rise's dungeon onwards, but in the first two dungeons this enables some really compelling gameplay. SP is truly precious, as it should be, a wider array of skills are used since SP-burning everything isn't a viable option and a lot of fights are best avoided. Also, boss fights are done underlevelled and with a half-drained party. I beat Shadow Yukiko with only Chie (edit: and the protaganist, duh) left standing, on 1HP each.

    Isn't that awesome? Isn't that how the game really should have been until the end?

    I recall there was an interview with the producers and they were disappointed that most people would try to rush through the dungeons.

    Well, don't make it a choice between that and not getting all the S.Links, then. Jerks. I didn't rush the P3 dungeons nearly as much.
    This is funny because in Persona 3 to max all the S.Links you have, at most, one free day.

    In Persona 4, to max all of the S.Links you have an entire month.

    Blackjack on
    camo_sig2.png

    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'm waiting for my copy of Persona 4 to show up. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed at the postage service around here before.

    Rizzi on
  • JONJONAUGJONJONAUG Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Blackjack wrote: »
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    Two threads ago I bought Persona 4 again. I missed Chie and the rest of the gang, thought I did the game a disservice by not dabbling in fusion on my first playthrough, and Dragon Age wasn't going to be released for a very, very long time.

    Yesterday I finally worked up the will to slog through the final dungeons and for the second time witnessed an awesome game end with a whimper, not a bang.

    It's tragic, really. On the day that I got the game, I wiped my previous save and played all the way through to the end of Kanji's dungeon in one marathon session. I wanted to beat every dungeon in one day apiece, which is not an achievement in the slightest from Rise's dungeon onwards, but in the first two dungeons this enables some really compelling gameplay. SP is truly precious, as it should be, a wider array of skills are used since SP-burning everything isn't a viable option and a lot of fights are best avoided. Also, boss fights are done underlevelled and with a half-drained party. I beat Shadow Yukiko with only Chie (edit: and the protaganist, duh) left standing, on 1HP each.

    Isn't that awesome? Isn't that how the game really should have been until the end?

    I recall there was an interview with the producers and they were disappointed that most people would try to rush through the dungeons.

    Well, don't make it a choice between that and not getting all the S.Links, then. Jerks. I didn't rush the P3 dungeons nearly as much.
    This is funny because in Persona 3 to max all the S.Links you have, at most, one free day.

    In Persona 4, to max all of the S.Links you have an entire month.

    Except in Persona 3 considerably less happens at night. Even if you're maxing all the social links on your first playthrough you end up with considerably more free time over the course of the game (although admittedly you have very little free time at night at the beginning because you'll be busy maxing Courage out up until the second or third week of June). If you try for dungeon crawling in Persona 3 you only lose half of a day and it is the considerably less important half.

    If you go dungeon crawling in Persona 4 you lose an entire day and you need to rush through dungeons to get your courage/understanding/expression high enough to get a couple of answers that give you points in some social links high enough otherwise you're going to be going crazy trying to fit in a couple of the social links before their cutoff time.

    JONJONAUG on
  • blaze_zeroblaze_zero Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So, Persona 4...
    Just realized I missed maxing Dojima's SL (It's at 9) and a lot of others are either really low or not started. This is my first Persona game though.

    I'm currently in that Adachi dungeon and at that floor where you can't get hit by enemies or he ejects you out of the dungeon. It's kind of making me mad, since the enemies seem to be faster than me.

    Also, I just got up to Lvl. 75 and I can try and fuse Yoshitsune. Should I spend an hour or so trying to get him?

    blaze_zero on
  • JONJONAUGJONJONAUG Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    blaze_zero wrote: »
    So, Persona 4...
    Just realized I missed maxing Dojima's SL (It's at 9) and a lot of others are either really low or not started. This is my first Persona game though.

    I'm currently in that Adachi dungeon and at that floor where you can't get hit by enemies or he ejects you out of the dungeon. It's kind of making me mad, since the enemies seem to be faster than me.

    Also, I just got up to Lvl. 75 and I can try and fuse Yoshitsune. Should I spend an hour or so trying to get him?

    He's a pretty major gamebreaker, so yes.

    JONJONAUG on
  • blaze_zeroblaze_zero Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Well, I saw that he had Heat Riser, so I figured he'd be pretty awesome.

    I don't have the Tower SL though...

    blaze_zero on
  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    blaze_zero wrote: »
    Well, I saw that he had Heat Riser, so I figured he'd be pretty awesome.

    I don't have the Tower SL though...
    don't bother

    I'm not sure you can even pick up Hassou Tobi (which is the main reason to make one at all) without a significant amount of leveling on a maxed link and social link exp.+ fusion day

    with a straight up maxed link you have to level three more times to pick it up

    not to mention how much work it'll take just to gather the components

    Edit: Heat Riser is kind of mediocre, too, as buffing one character doesn't offer a whole lot over group buffs.

    You pretty much just want Power Charge, Hassou Tobi, and whatever Nulls you can get.

    Elendil on
  • blaze_zeroblaze_zero Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So, are there any other good Personas to use? I have Loki and Surt right now.

    blaze_zero on
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    If you're going to use Yoshi and his game-breaking skill, you might as well break the game completely by doing the Infinite XP trick to get yourself to 99 and get Yoshi all his skills. It's cheap, but I couldn't see why I should spend hours grinding just to complete my compendium.

    Robos A Go Go on
  • Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    blaze_zero wrote: »
    Well, I saw that he had Heat Riser, so I figured he'd be pretty awesome.

    I don't have the Tower SL though...

    Heat Riser + Debilitate, as seen on Trumpeter, is a nasty combo and makes Chie break the game open.

    Zephyr_Fate on
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    But the point is that you can achieve the same amount of damage with Chie by buffing the entire party's Attack while also boosting everyone else's damage as well. Heat Riser only makes sense if you're prioritizing one character for some special reason, and that usually won't be the case.

    Robos A Go Go on
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Buffing the party is always a better option than buffing one person.

    Especially since a Tri-Auto-Makaja Norn is so easy to make.

    Blackjack on
    camo_sig2.png

    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • ElKaboomElKaboom Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So I really want to jump into this series since I hear so much about it, but...
    To be honest, I don't want to wade through the whole series. I hear that P3 and P4 are probably the best...? Which one do you guys think is a better game? Thanks for the help in advance, and I'm sorry if I've offended you for not wanting to play any of the other iterations.

    Edit: To clarify, I'll be playing on my PS3 (80GB BC), so if there are any backwards compatibility issues with a certain one of these, that'd probably be important.

    ElKaboom on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Nocturne's the best in the series, and I hear it looks especially good when upscaled on a PS3.

    cj iwakura on
    wVEsyIc.png
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Also if you play P4 on a PS3 I think you don't ever see area location names. It's nothing major, but that's what I've heard. You're also going to have a really hard time catching a fish for a side-quest if you don't have rumble.

    Personally though I'd say go with Nocturne or the two DDS games. They're really the best.

    Gilder on
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I think Persona 3 and 4 are a lot better than anything else in the series, and more importantly I think they have a lot more broad appeal, so they're always what I recommend as an introduction to the series.

    So I always recommend Persona 4 as the first, with room to expand into everything else depending on what particular aspects you like most and how much you like them.

    Frosteey on
This discussion has been closed.