What's the best SMT game.

[Nightmare]

Seconding all suggestions of Strange Journey here. I think it's absolutely the best entry-level game in the SMT franchise because of how it's made and because of how it's geared to appeal internationally as well. You'll learn all the terminology and other mainstays of the series very well with it. It has incredibly good atmosphere, writing and soundtrack too.

Digital Devil Saga games are among my favourites and also very strongly written. The writer also worked on the Persona 2 duology, which also has excellent writing. They're both very strong character-driven dramas.

I guess I should clarify. I hated SMT-SJ's battle music. The the sector tunes, like Eridanus's, were good. I just wish the battle music was more, lively I guess. It didn't capture the desperation that would be present when fighting demons. Nocturne's, SMTIV's, IF's and even the spinoff games had memorable battle tunes that made fighting absolutely awesome. SJ's battle music fell flat. SMT should stick to rock/trance/techno. This is only my opinion.

I'm not trying to say that you should definitely like it and your opinion is wrong, but how did it not feel desperate? All the battle themes feel different levels of oppressive and dire. I can't even listen to them without feeling like my heart is being crushed.

[Zerosabers]

Devil Survivor is my favorite of the ones I've finished so far.

Slightly off topic, would you guys suggest Devil Survivor 2 or Soul Hackers?

[Leif]

Seconding all suggestions of Strange Journey here. I think it's absolutely the best entry-level game in the SMT franchise because of how it's made and because of how it's geared to appeal internationally as well. You'll learn all the terminology and other mainstays of the series very well with it. It has incredibly good atmosphere, writing and soundtrack too.

Digital Devil Saga games are among my favourites and also very strongly written. The writer also worked on the Persona 2 duology, which also has excellent writing. They're both very strong character-driven dramas.

I'm not trying to say that you should definitely like it and your opinion is wrong, but how did it not feel desperate? All the battle themes feel different levels of oppressive and dire. I can't even listen to them without feeling like my heart is being crushed.

Well, take the battle theme for instance. The first few seconds of the battle theme are a complete miss for me because the notes seem all over the place and it sounds like a cacophony. Around the 50 second mark is where is gets much better and captures that desperation feel. I don't like having to wait through other melodies to get to the good part in a song so this tune doesn't do it for me.

Now compare this song from SMT II.

It's intense, fast-paced, and hectic. It is slightly catchy and gets you pumped for a boss battle. To me, the consistency of this song make it a much better battle tune than the one from Strange Journey.

It really comes down to personal taste; I am simply explaining my reason for not liking Strange Journey's battle music.

Devil Survivor is my favorite of the ones I've finished so far.

Slightly off topic, would you guys suggest Devil Survivor 2 or Soul Hackers?

Soul Hackers is more old school. If you are into playing a first-person dungeon crawler, then that's your game.

Devil Survivor 2 is a SRPG that many people have liked. It's down to preference, but I think Devil Survivor is more accessible.

[Zerosabers]

Soul Hackers is more old school. If you are into playing a first-person dungeon crawler, then that's your game.

Devil Survivor 2 is a SRPG that many people have liked. It's down to preference, but I think Devil Survivor is more accessible.

Alright I think I'll go with Soul Hackers thank you!

[Nightmare]

vYVXdQQoAcc

Well, take the battle theme for instance. The first few seconds of the battle theme are a complete miss for me because the notes seem all over the place and it sounds like a cacophony. Around the 50 second mark is where is gets much better and captures that desperation feel. I don't like having to wait through other melodies to get to the good part in a song so this tune doesn't do it for me.

Now compare this song from SMT II.

_IfgxcZ5y0s

It's intense, fast-paced, and hectic. It is slightly catchy and gets you pumped for a boss battle. To me, the consistency of this song make it a much better battle tune than the one from Strange Journey.

It really comes down to personal taste; I am simply explaining my reason for not liking Strange Journey's battle music.

I understand that. I think the cacophony is what makes it effective as a desperate battle theme. It seems like your preference is fast-paced battle music though, which is totally OK. I just wanted to know why you think the way you do.

[Ein]

SJ's soundtrack fits the entire game to a t. Absolutely strange yet familiar in the sense that all you have are your own fears and wits to get you through every challenge you will face. The battle themes themselves build on the atmosphere itself and give the game a unique identity I have not experienced in any other game.

If the normal battle theme feels like a boss theme the boss themes and strong enemy themes are far and above the caliber which they are supposed to instill upon the player over what they are facing and fighting against on all fronts.

[Locust]

​I like Persona 4 and Nocturne. Still have to play Strange Journey, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers and the Digital Devil Saga games.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Devil Survivor is my favorite of the ones I've finished so far.

Slightly off topic, would you guys suggest Devil Survivor 2 or Soul Hackers?

Devil Survivor 2 should have pretty much the same gameplay as 1 for being the sequel.

I have heard from rumors that the sequel shall be even better.

So if you liked 1, there's no reason not buy it.

I've got 2, but not played yet, because I must finish 1 first.

[Topazd]

It's a great game, no doubt, but DeSu2 does kind of attempt to blend the narrative style of the first game with a more Persona 3/4-esque one, so make of that what you will.

And I wish the character designer knew how to draw with something other than his dick (that's not how breasts work). His DeSu1 work certainly had some oddities, but nothing that egregious.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Topazd

[Shin]

Devil Survivor 1 and 2 were the ones I enjoyed, I'm not particularly fond of the main series games.

[Masked And Dangerous]

For those of you who are wondering to yourself "How many games ARE in this series, and how did they go?"

Long ass post ahead. First thing - Tales of the Goddess's Reincarnation is punk. The only thing stopping it from being Cyberpunk is the lack of cyberspace, and in fact a couple games move into that genre

• Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei (Old Testament Goddess Reincarnation) - technically a remake of the first two Megami Tensei games on the SNES machine. The first one follows the dumbass from the novel and his girlfriend as the plumb the depths of a labrynth made by Lucifer. The second is basically SMT II, made four years earlier: Post apocalyptic survivor plays video game version of first game, lets out the demon from the Exorcist, ditches his friend for a hot chick, loses his arm, makes friends with Lucifer, and kills YHWH. They're old ass games, basically Dragon Quest meets Cyberpunk.
• Shin Megami Tensei - The start of the series proper. Normal shmoe has a dream about two dumbshits, meets said dumbshits, is emailed a program for summoning demons by Stephen Hawking, watches his mom get eaten, turns his dog into Cerberus, watches Thor nuke Japan before getting flung into the future where my evil is LAW, gets ditched by his besties, meets the reincarnation of his girlfriend, and ends up killing everyone
• Shin Megami Tensei II - Years after the previous games, the world somehow ended up back under YHWH's heel. A gladiator, who is secretly Jesus, joins forces with his mom, flips off his fake dad and dances crazy.
• Shin Megami Tensei IF - The first spin off. Instead of a post apocalyptic wasteland, this game had a bunch of kids running through a school that had been dragged to hell by a loony. Introduced a psychological element to SMT, along with these mysterious guardian forces which gave the kids their powers. It was a far more Personal journey with a lot less demons and stuff, but didn't get a US release because they stole the logo from a movie with similar themes called IF.
• Devil Summoner - College student body swaps with a demon summoner. It's okay, but it takes out the punk out of SMT
• Soul Hackers - Cult investigator's girlfriend get possessed by hot demoness. Mulder dies. A lot more Cyberpunk than average thanks to it's love letter to the X-files
• Persona 1 - One route of this game rips of IF, and has the most disturbing final boss ever. Seriously. The second route was later ripped off wholesale by Persona 3, complete with Nyx saying that she'd be back. Damn straight she would
• Persona 2 - Duology with the series first true female protagonist. Nyarlothatep, Hitler, killer Creepypasta, reality warpers, the Mayan calendar, and at least one timeline that bites the dust forever. The male protag in the first half is gay as hell.
• Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne (with Dante from Devil May Cry) - Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair. This game was ambitious as hell, more ambitious than anything that Atlus had done before and since til Persona 5. More alignments, more bizarre locations, more crossover characters, MORE MATADORE! But it still has that same murder your friends goodness, and the re-release added a bonus dungeon which ended with you becoming Lucifer's Number One Guy.
• Persona 3 - The most base breaking game of them all. It was a cult hit here, and a resounding success at home. The visual novel elements helped it stand out from the JRPG crowd, while the sharp writing hooked fans for the long hall. Pity the plot is literally identical to the Snow Queen branch of Persona 1. Kinda. The devil is in the details, and that devil is the Social Link system.
• Digital Devil Saga - Hindu Mythology, Digital Purgatory, and viral cannibalism. You could call the DDS saga almost the Anti-Final Fantasy, for how hard the themes clash. If you have a Vita or a PS3, pick this up on PSN. You will not regret it. Or you could get the translated visual novels written by the game's original author on Kindle for ten bucks each.
• Persona 4 - You know Persona 4. It's Scooby Doo, and loves every minute of it.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - The game that would be SMTIV, if the not-being-in-Tokyo thing hadn't been a deal breaker. The UN sends special forces to Antarctica to investigate an eldritch location. One part Aliens, one part SMT IF, and one part classic Wizardry screw-yous, this game is a magnum opus of storytelling. It also has the most optimistic neutral ending.
• Devil Survivor - The SRPG. It's the first game, with Persona mechanics (namely, visual novel-esque morale systems and time management). There's a quarantine around Tokyo, and you gotta find out why. It's the demons. The demons are everywhere. Also, you have a way of telling when people are gonna die.
• Devil Survivor 2 - See the above, and add Evangelion to the plot
• Shin Megami Tensei IV - You probably know this game, but it needs to be reiterated. IV is a shakeup of the formula, ruined by executives wanting to stick to formula. The game starts in more typical fantasy fair... right when the rest of those JRPGs are moving into modern day chasing those Persona dollars. Then they go back to Tokyo, it's muddy, you get lost, and both of your besties take idiot pills. In the good old days, the transformation into demons by the cast was logical (Inferiority complex, rezzed by YHWH, Horrific genetic experiment, humans desperate for survival in an uncaring world, really really liking Bugaboo). This game has no reason for Walter or Johnny-boy to offer themselves up for demon fodder. The alignment counter is so testy that getting neutral is more of a miracle than something the Great Will could perform, characterization is muddy, this game just zigs where ever it should zag plotwise. Still, it is the best SMT game mechanically. Everything has been streamlined without sacrificing complexity.
• Persona Q - Do ya like Etrian Odyssey? How about SMT IF? With Persona 3 and 4 characters? Congrats, that's this game. Still good, if somewhat flatter writing wise. The two sets of Persona users escort a cute kid and her creepy emo protector through a nightmarish vision of Inaba high school.
• Genei Ibunroku #FE - How should I know? It just came out in Japan.

Plus Special Guests:

• Etrian Odyssey Franchise - It's a throwback to Wizardry, which is weirdly popular in Japan despite being ancient. This series big twist is that you act as cartographer just as much as adventurer. Comes in to Flavors: OG and Anime. Theres a big twist, but the remakes spoil it in a one off gag. There's also a Mystery Dungeon spinoff

Edited December 26, 2015 by Masked And Dangerous

[Radiant head]

Dang, good post.

I don't think Vita can play PS2 classics, but that sure would have been nice as hell.

[Masked And Dangerous]

On review you are correct...

[Jedi]

Theres also the Majin Tensei games (which I intend to play)

And the Last Bible trilogy (One of the oddballs in the franchise)

Edited December 26, 2015 by Jedi

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Actually I'm very glad that the Shin Megami Tensei series made it even to Nintendo handheld consoles.

Same goes for the Etrian Odyssey series.

EDIT: I didn't know that most of their games were released for Nintendo consoles.

I always connect SMT with Persona at once, a series which was released for Sony consoles except for Q.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Mister IceTeaPeach

[Jedi]

The funny thing is, Mainline SMT has mostly always been on Nintendo consoles, while Persona was more Sony inclined.

[TheAstraWolf]

I am still playing Strange Journey and so far I am really liking the game...minus Sector Delphinus. Other than that I have only watched DeSu 2 Animation which was disappointigly bad and the Persona 4 anime and Persona 3 movie 1, both which I really liked.

[Masked And Dangerous]

I am still playing Strange Journey and so far I am really liking the game...minus Sector Delphinus. Other than that I have only watched DeSu 2 Animation which was disappointigly bad and the Persona 4 anime and Persona 3 movie 1, both which I really liked.

You will be happy to know that DeSu 2 the Animation has little to nothing to do with the game beyond the first few episodes.

[Jedi]

Didn't it go out of its way to be super depressing?

I haven't played DeSu 2 yet, but I heard the anime is super unfaithful in loads of aspects.

[Masked And Dangerous]

Didn't it go out of its way to be super depressing?

I haven't played DeSu 2 yet, but I heard the anime is super unfaithful in loads of aspects.

I mean I suppose if you actively went out of your way to be bad at the game on a New Game +, you could get a similar result. Not the same, obviously. But similar.

[Jedi]

I mean I suppose if you actively went out of your way to be bad at the game on a New Game +, you could get a similar result. Not the same, obviously. But similar.

Oh geez... That off huh?

[Radiant head]

The DeSu 2 animation is like a parody of shounen anime. I had to close it not even half way through the second episode. This was before I played the game, so unfaithfulness has very little to do with how poor it is.

[Saphy]

It's a great game, no doubt, but DeSu2 does kind of attempt to blend the narrative style of the first game with a more Persona 3/4-esque one, so make of that what you will.

And I wish the character designer knew how to draw with something other than his dick (that's not how breasts work). His DeSu1 work certainly had some oddities, but nothing that egregious.

Actually both games have different artists, DeSu1 has Suzuhito Yasuda (Yozukura Quartet, Durarara!) DeSu2 has Mohiro Kitoh (Narutaru, Bokurano, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Didn't it go out of its way to be super depressing?

I haven't played DeSu 2 yet, but I heard the anime is super unfaithful in loads of aspects.

Supposedly, it's based on a Manga that came out, it's alright I recommend watching it if not for the aspects it brings, but really the game is way better experienced.

[OakTree]

Actually both games have different artists, DeSu1 has Suzuhito Yasuda (Yozukura Quartet, Durarara!) DeSu2 has Mohiro Kitoh (Narutaru, Bokurano, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Mohiro Kitoh only designed the Septentriones.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Well, I've finished Devil Survivor Overclocked.

It has been my favorite 3DS game so far and I liked its gameplay even more than in Persona, because this was an entire roundbased strategical RPG game. Not only the battles were roundbased, but also the command of each single unit in the map (like Project X Zone).

The only thing I kinda disliked, was that you didn't have the guarantee to attack first, when you attacked an enemy in player phase. This was kinda annoying, especially when you were in low health and had to finish the enemy leader off.

Like in Persona it required good time management from you. There was a time limit, so you couldn't chose all the info conversations. If you missed an important conversation, you could let characters die in the story and will not join your party. However the thing is that you don't exactly know, which conversations are important. I had to restart a few times to get two more characters in my party.

The music really kicked ass.

All in all it was an awesome game for me and I recommend it to everyone, who's interested in roundbased strategical JRPGs.

I'm really looking forward to the sequel right now.