I always have a hard time writing posts about Shin Megami Tensei games. I love them and all, but they all feel the same. Kill or befriend demons, kill or befriend various people, choose Law/Chaos/Neutral, kill boss, end. It’s usually fun, especially the demon-fusing collect-em-all aspect, it’s just not interesting to write about.
Current progress in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse – Moon Phase 2/8 (or 3?), level 36, just finished retrieving the parts to make the monster-detecting radar. That should be non-spoilery enough. The story is a spin-off set shortly before the end of the original Shin Megami Tensei IV. Some random annoying kids get involved and mess things up for Flynn so it’s up to them to set things right and ultimately save the people of Tokyo.
I hear SMTIV‘s director is called Kazuyuki Yamai. I bet his son little Tarou Yamai read the original script and thought “Wow, Flynn is so cool! But y’ know what would be even cooler? If Flynn had a little sidekick who looked just like me! And the sidekick has a cuuuute childhood friend! And, and then Flynn gets kidnapped so I, um I mean the sidekick is all heroic and stuff and then he saves the day! Wouldn’t that be the coolest? Daddy do it do it do it do it please please pleeeeaaase???” And that’s how we got Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse. My uncle who works at Atlus told me everything.
Of course just because something is a derivative spin-off packed with recycled assets doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, I’m enjoying it more than I did the original with around the same amount of time invested. The pace is faster and more focused, for one thing. And the game just packs on the EXP so I’m always leveling up. What RPG gamer doesn’t enjoy level ups? Atlus also changed the demon negotiation system so demons pity-join you if you fail enough times. The whole negotiation process is just 100 times easier than in any other SMT game to date, which is great. The best part is how the maps are sooooo much easier to read so I never get lost.
The negative side… there aren’t many negatives. I probably shouldn’t have expected much new content from a spin-off game anyway, but the number of new locations is low so exploration is a bit dull. And the whole blah blah mankind needs this, no, mankind needs that, no, mankind needs such-and-such drill has gotten old. Who cares what mankind needs, you pretentious pseudo-philosophers. My MC is just gonna beat everyone up and “carve his own path” anyway. Always carving our own path, then the next SMT game comes out and we carve again. And again. We must have carved the whole Statue of Liberty by now but it’s never enough.
Eh, anyway, I’m having fun. Except for that night I played so much I started seeing flashing spots before my eyes. That was scary. I’ve slacked the pace of my playing a bit, but I’m still on track to finish SMT IV: Apocalypse by the end of the week. You can get a lot of gaming done even with one eye on the World Cup matches. After SMTIV: A, what should I play? I’ll think about that next week!
I pretty much agree with you an SMTIV:A. It is a lot smoother and more fun to play compared to the original SMTIV. But the story and characters are seriously dumb and read like bad wish fullfilment nonsense. Everyone metaphorically sucks the MCs cock, and if they still have a cheek to spare, the MC from original SMTIV too while they are at it. I certainly enjoyed Nocturne and Strange Journey more, with the more doom and gloom storylines that are often just a lofty conversation about the world’s fate here and there but can be background noise.
I’m playing it with a “this is a fandisc” mentality and it’s working pretty well. The game is tremendously easy so it’s a good way to get back in the gaming groove.
Man, Strange Journey was so awesome.
I never finished Strange Journey but yeah, it was great. Nocturne gets a lot of praise but it was just okay for me. I really liked Digital Devil Saga too, 1 more than 2.