[PS2] Shin Megami Tensei Series/Persona 3

Liked Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga? Can't stop talking about them? Or are you more interested in the older Persona games, or the upcoming Devil Summoner? This is the place to discuss those awesome games!

I myself finished Digital Devil Saga 2 last weekend, and the two games are definitely among my favourites. It's a relief to find some games that actually are a challenge, especially the second one kicked my ass with some boss fights, but it makes the ending all the more rewarding. I'll post a more indept review when I have some more time.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm currently playing the first Persona game, and although the graphics and overall style look pretty awful, I still enjoy it.Localization is pretty bad though, but it also gives us some rather hilarious lines ("I'm at the age where I want to experience older women" is just priceless).
I tried to start Persona 2 a few times, but something always came up and I quit after the first dungeon. I'll probably start it again in the near future though.

I don't really understand how people couldn't like DDS2. I mean, it had a brilliant prologue with DDS, and this time the characters got some more background, except for Cielo, which I was a bit disappointed in, but characters like Angel were brilliantly fleshed out. I'll go in deeper on the aspects that make me love this game when I have some more time.

And so far, there has been no word about a localization for Devil Summoner, or the Persona game for the PSP (which is a remake, I think).

How ya doing, buddy?

I'd personaly suggest Digital Devil Saga, or Nocturne. They don't have any connections to the other games, so background isn't necessary. If you're more interested in a good story, DDS is perfect for you, while Nocturne relies heavily on gameplay, and the story isn't that important (it's good nonetheless). The best Persona game is the second one, but it's more or less a direct sequel to "Innocent Sin", a Japan only persona game, so the story may be confusing. The first persona game isn't really that special, so it might turn you away from the entire series if you start with that.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

From what I've played in Persona 2 (I'm talking about the US one, with the reporter and the Joker), I quit just after the dungeon on a mountain or something, the first one after you get to explore the town map, I liked it better than the first game, especially being able to get the demons to actually join your party appealed to me. I'm not a big fan of the first persona (by which I mean the one with Sebek and Guido), except for the battles and the overall story. the dungeon design is rather boring and the rest of the gameplay isnt that good. It offered a good basis for the Persona system in the second game though.

I agree with you on Jinana, Bat and Argilla (although I loved her voice), but I personally liked Heat. The "real" Argilla is pretty lame, and easy to manipulate, but the other one isn't that bad. I also like to look at the characters that made the game great, like Angel, Gale or Cuvier. Welll, opinions difer, and I'm not such a big fanboy that I'll go into a pointless discussion.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

As for my favourite character besides Angel , I have to go with Heat or Gale (except for his voice, which sounds way too dull).

That plot twist about Angel was rather freaky, I have to admit. Some people go on that it's a method of showing her determination to eliminate the Cuvier disease, but it was useless imo.

As for Heat:

Spoiler:

While the real Heat tried to be more of a big brother to Sera, the AI Heat was just confused. Does he love her like, well, a lover and is that why he wants to protect her, or is his affection for her a product of the memories of the real Heat? This gives Heat a surprising amount of depth, which makes him a cool character. Too bad that the way he died was so damn shitty though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Tri:

Spoiler:

Serph bursting out of monster Heat's stomach was pretty cool, I was more disappointed that he just died in a chair in the control room. It still was kind of sad though.

As for Cielo, I never found out how he died in the game, it wasn't until I read about it on Nirvana, that I found out that he was also one of the cyber shaman. Speaking of which, even though he was weak, shouldn't it give him some of the same powers Sera had?

I LOVED Gale and Angel's final scene though, especially since the woman who did Angel's voice is just awesome. It was really one of the defining moments in the game, and I've already watched it like 10 times. Argilla's and Roland's fight against Meganada was also rather cool, especially since they were slaughtered so brutally by Meganada.

Speaking of him, is it ever said in the game who he was? I know that he showed up after real Serph went on his demon rampage, but I don't know if he's also a transformed human, or if he was sent directly by god?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

DDS is more story driven, but it's also suffers from the mute main character thing (except for one point in the game). For one instance there's voice-acting, which really enhances the overall story experience. Nocturne's based much more on the gameplay experience and the battles, while DDS has much ore interesting characters (only having one main hero in Nocturne isn't that great, and the demons don't really have what you call a real personality). You should really give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

FELIPE NO

Spoiler:

I'm actually glad that there wasn't a second Angel fight. I would have thought it to be really lame if you had to kill her with your party. The scene with Gale was brilliant because it was so simple. No big attacks or flashy effects, just Angel stabbing him out of anger and sadness, and Gale looking at her with a caring look in his eyes when he kills her was amazing.

I think that Cielo was a candidate who died during the tests or during some of the experiments like Real Serph performed on Sera. And to be a Cyber Shaman candidate, I think that it would be necessary to possess some special powers, so I would have thought that there would have atleast been some that were activated during the tests.

As for Meganada, the most likely option is that he's a same deity like Shiva and Vishnu. I believe that there was some mentioning about it when you first see the coccoon that contains Meganada.

And offtopic, what's that avatar from Tritoch? It reminds me off Heero frm Gundam Wing, but it's someone else obviously. What's it from?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Thanks, although the quality isn't super. I laughed when the guards tried to detain her. "Seems you forgot who created the demon virus".

I almost didn't use Cielo in the first game, but he was a life saviour in the second one, since you where stuck with him for a while. His weakness to status effects could be devestating, but skills to prevent that where cheaper than trying to give a character elemental immunity. He was a lifesaver in a certain battle the second time you visit EGG, thanks to his Ziodyne combined with Elec amp and boost. His accent ticked me off too, but it grew on me.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Zeroslash: That battle is one of the hardest in the goddamn game. I had to train and get quite a lot of high level skills for that one (get Ziodyne, it's a lifesaviour). The scene you get afterwards kicks ass though.

Do you happen to have a link to the translated rom?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Thanks for the links Zeroslash! I never knew that there was a group that translated the roms. Anyway, I've patched the second Shin Megami Tensei game if anyone's interested.

You can get it HERE

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Zero,
It's rather easy. Just download IPS Patcher HERE, download the rom and it's patch, and just apply it, the programs really easy to use.

Thanks for the link btw, I'm only just discovering the whole SMT univrse, and there is a lot of info out there aside from game; novels, manga, anime, even Live Action can be found when looked for.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I demand a US release for this one. I'm currently going through the first Persona (about to go to the haunted house), and the battle system is rather enjoyable, although the graphics suck. They had three games to take out any flaws, so this'll be good, I hope.

How ya doing, buddy?

I meant the graphics in general (dungeon, field), the battle graphics are okay, especially the persona manifestations.

The game with the train conductor lookalike (it's actually an old Japanese police uniform I think) is the new Devil Summoner game. I don't think any of those ever saw a US release.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Ever heard of using some punctuation? The US Persona 2 is a direct sequel of a Japan-only Persona game, so there are most likely a lot of things that you can't understand. I've heard rumours of a PSP port of one of the persona games, and I really hope that it'll be Innocent sin (the Japan only one), since the chance of a US release will be relatively high.

How ya doing, buddy?

There's a thread for Persona 3 located a bit below, should I ask a mod to merg them?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Some new information on Persona 3, thanks to RPGfan.

Quote:

Following a candid remark by Kazuyuki Yamai hinting at a brand new Persona game, Atlus today revealed what is now officially known as Persona 3. The PlayStation 2 title is produced and directed by Atlus veteran Katsura Hashino (who has worked on the Shin Megami Tensei series since Shin Megami Tensei ...if and served as director of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne), while Shigenori Soejima (whose track record includes Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Persona 2, and Stella Deus) serves as character designer and art director.

The game's protagonist is a high school student attending a private school on an island located close to the harbor city of Iwatodai. At first glance he lives a normal life as he attends school in the morning and then heads for the city to hang out with his friends in the afternoon. However, in the world of Persona 3 a day does not have 24 hours. In fact, every day at midnight the so-called Shadow Time begins. The lord of this time is the game's villain: A monster by the name of Shadow. While normal human beings don't realize its existence, the protagonist and his friends are apt at moving around in this Shadow Time. After being attacked by Shadow, the 17-year old acquires this ability and because of his extraordinary capability becomes the leader of a unit set up to defeat Shadow. Other playable characters include the protagonist's fellow Junpei Iori (who can summon the Persona Hermes) and the optimstic and cheerful heroine Yukari (whose Persona is known as Io).

During the day players will attend school and after the club activities in the afternoon they are able to move around freely in town, visiting various locations, such as the school, the station or the local Shinto Shrine.
At night, when the Shadow Time begins, the world around the protagonists changes and the battle for the future begins. A mysterious tower known as Tartaros Director also exists in this world. Hashino explains that the Shadow Time is basically an extension of the spiritual world highlighted in previous Persona games. Character designer Soejima mentions that it was his aim to create a world that was neither science-fiction nor fantasy-themed from the very beginning. Instead he wanted to create a stylish modern-day world. In total the game will cover a one-year period which translates into a playing time of more than 50 hours, according to Atlus. The game will try to emulate a student's life in a realistic way, by throwing exams, school festivals and illnesses such as a cold at the player.

An important aspect of the game are so-called Communities. If the player manages to befriend community NPCs, he can level up his community levels. A high community level will translate into being able to raise more powerful Personas.

Persona 3 will let players fuse multiple Personas. Therefore the player needs to bring two or more Persona cards to the Velvet Room. Those Persona cards can be obtained by defeating Shadow in battle. Once the player obtains a new Persona card, the creature residing within the card can be summoned. After a victorious fight, players might have to choose among five different Persona cards. Up to four party members can take part in a battle.

Persona 3 is currently 75% complete and on track for a July 13th release in Japan.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

As far as I know, there isn't a fan translated ISO floating around (it's rare for a PS game to get translated, too difficult I think). However, there's still a Persona remake planned for the PSP, and it hasn't been confirmed which one it'll be. It has to be either 1 or IS, or it could be a compilation (like they did with the first two Suikodens), and the chances now are higher of a US release than a few years ago.

How ya doing, buddy?

Quite some time ago, there was an announcement that there would be an online Shin Megami Tensei game. Not much was known about it at that time, but some new info was posted on RPGfan a little while back:

Quote:

Cave Online Entertainment today announced some new details regarding its online RPG Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Online. Similar to previous series installments, the PC-based title takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Following the destruction of Tokyo in the year 202X, the survivors have begun to build Shinjuku Babel, a massive tower under the guidance of seven wisemen. In addition to the game's starting point, the underground platform 3, this tower will be one ofthe game's field maps.

Cave today also detailed the character creation process. Players can choose between a male and a female character model and then in a second step freely combine various face types and hairstyles. The game will offer more than 200 different kinds of clothes and accessories. A character can be outfitted with 13 of those. Weapons will include katanas, bats, shotguns, and rifles.

Unlike its offline predecessors, Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Online will employ a real-time battle system. The negotiation system however has been retained. Another series trademark, the fusion of demons has also made the transition into the online world. Following a fusion, the newly created demon now retains the skills of its two "parents".

Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Online will be available in Japan this winter.

As for what I think of it, the story is what can be expected from a SMT game, and I really hope that they can adapt the various choices that a traditional SMT game gives you, in a satisfying way. As for the gameplay, not much is out about that yet, bt I'm glad that they kept the negotiating, since it's one of the most interesting parts of a SMT game.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

it is a common problem for people who play the PAL version, every copy seems to have it (I think shin also had the same problem, as did I). It sucks alright, but if you use the item that reduces encounters, your chances of it occuring is rather low, and once you get past that point, it will not happen again.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?