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Shin Megami Tensei IV Review Thread

K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Aeana said:
I think it's just an issue of perspective.
Click to expand...

Personally, I feel like saying a character is flat or dynamic is a factual thing though. It's a subjective thing to say "I don't like this character" or "This character is good/not good" but saying a character is flat or not is objective for the most part as you're narratively critiquing the elements that compose that character from the beginning of the game to the end. Of course, this is different assuming the word "flat" is used in different sense of the word such as boring. That could be subjective.
 
A

Aeana

Member
kayos90 said:
Personally, I feel like saying a character is flat or dynamic is a factual thing though. It's a subjective thing to say "I don't like this character" or "This character is good/not good" but saying a character is flat or not is objective for the most part as you're narratively critiquing the elements that compose that character from the beginning of the game to the end. Of course, this is different assuming the word "flat" is used in different sense of the word such as boring. That could be subjective.
Click to expand...
Very few things are completely objective when critiquing something, and this really isn't an exception. The reason is that not everybody consumes media the same way or sees things the same as others. This is especially an issue with games where content can be missed completely.
 
T

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
3D enemies would have been a nice touch. So as long as the sprites look good and are well animated then I can't really complain.
 
E

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
mugurumakensei said:
Eh, most of the enemies in Persona are palette swaps. The number of Personas far fewer than 400(Persona 4 has 179 persona excluding side character personas).

Nocturne also had an extremely limited demon selection.
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Persona 4 also used the demon models from SMT3, DDS1/2, Persona 3. It's not like they made all those models just for Persona 4. People should get over the fact Atlus' RPGs aren't gonna have amazing production values comparable to FF. It's simply not going happen. They still make very nice looking games simply the art design is amazing, which is more than enough for me.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Aeana said:
Very few things are completely objective when critiquing something, and this really isn't an exception. The reason is that not everybody consumes media the same way or sees things the same as others. This is especially an issue with games where content can be missed completely.
Click to expand...

I'm not exactly sure about that though. Let's limit the focus to just this idea of whether a character is flat or dynamic. A flat character remains the basically the same from the beginning of the narrative until the end. A dynamic one grows and changes. Two good examples, one for each would be Yuri from ToV and Hope from FFXIII respectively. The defining terms for flat and dynamic isn't really subjective at all. I guess you could argue semantics and say "it didn't change THAT much so he's still flat" or "he changed a bit by the end so he's dynamic." Sure I guess in that sense I guess it could be subjective. However, the labels flat and dynamic I feel are objective and when defining a character as flat or dynamic it's an objective statement you're making as you're analyzing it within the scope of the term rather than your own opinions.

EDIT: Like I said before though, this depends on what the reviewer defines the word flat. It could mean boring, no depth, etc.
 
DR2K

DR2K

Banned
Well with this club code promotion this is back to being a day 1. Will use the credit to Phoenix Wright. Nice to see it's reviewing well.
 
D

Despera

Banned
kayos90 said:
I'm not exactly sure about that though. Let's limit the focus to just this idea of whether a character is flat or dynamic. A flat character remains the basically the same from the beginning of the narrative until the end. A dynamic one grows and changes. Two good examples, one for each would be Yuri from ToV and Hope from FFXIII respectively. The defining terms for flat and dynamic isn't really subjective at all. I guess you could argue semantics and say "it didn't change THAT much so he's still flat" or "he changed a bit by the end so he's dynamic." Sure I guess in that sense I guess it could be subjective. However, the labels flat and dynamic I feel are objective and when defining a character as flat or dynamic it's an objective statement you're making as you're analyzing it within the scope of the term rather than your own opinions.
Click to expand...
The labels are objective, that much is a given, But how people perceive what constitutes change in the character dynamic is where subjectivity enters the equation.
 
G

Gintoki313

Banned
So the only thing keeping this game from a 10 from some of the reviews is it's graphics. That's not so bad, I might pick this game up if I ever have some extra cash.
 
S

Seda

Member
kayos90 said:
I'm not exactly sure about that though. Let's limit the focus to just this idea of whether a character is flat or dynamic. A flat character remains the basically the same from the beginning of the narrative until the end. A dynamic one grows and changes. Two good examples, one for each would be Yuri from ToV and Hope from FFXIII respectively. The defining terms for flat and dynamic isn't really subjective at all. I guess you could argue semantics and say "it didn't change THAT much so he's still flat" or "he changed a bit by the end so he's dynamic." Sure I guess in that sense I guess it could be subjective. However, the labels flat and dynamic I feel are objective and when defining a character as flat or dynamic it's an objective statement you're making as you're analyzing it within the scope of the term rather than your own opinions.

EDIT: Like I said before though, this depends on what the reviewer defines the word flat. It could mean boring, no depth, etc.
Click to expand...

I think you want to say 'static' when you say 'flat'. When discussing it in that sense anyway.

And yes, it really boils down to that saying "The characters are flat" is just too vague a statement and can be interpreted in several ways. Uninteresting motivations? Cut and dry personalities? etc
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
Graphics wise, the only thing that's bothering me is the inconsistent art for the demons. I actually prefer 2D battles for this kind of game.
 
J

Jenga

Banned
Seda said:
I think you want to say 'static' when you say 'flat'.

And yes, it really boils down to that saying "The characters are flat" is just too vague a statement and can be interpreted in several ways. Uninteresting motivations? Cut and dry personalities? etc
Click to expand...
zelenin was flat

I thought jimenez was a tolstoy character bah gawd
 
S

Soriku

Junior Member
LuuKyK said:
These two sections of the IGN review have me worried. I would buy the game for its story and lore/world, since I am far from being fond of the battle system in the game, but hearing that the characters are pretty much all bland and uninteresting, that the world doesnt seem to be varied and colorful and that the graphics are unimpressive, sure didnt make me want the game more. :/
Click to expand...

You know there's more to a battle system than just the presentation right? Pretty much all reviews are praising the battles.
 
L

Lissar

Reluctant Member
T

ToastyFrog

Inexplicable Treasure Hate
Lissar said:
Glad he ended up enjoying it! I just wish this didn't have to be said:
Click to expand...

Please read the whole thing before assuming there's some sort of Persona/SMT in-fighting going on here. That sentence is part of the build-up to a larger statement.
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Pretenders to the throne, you Mass Effects, you Final Fantasys, flee now before the demonic onslaught overtakes you for your hubris! The True King has returned for his crown!
 
M

magnetic

Member
Wow, those are some very impressive review scores. My personal little hypetrain for this train is leaving the station!

And I'm kinda glad I managed to force myself into kinda forgetting about this game until we're less than a week away from it. Just the right amount of time to build up the excitement without suffering too much!
 
T

TheFLYINGManga_Ka

Member
After Etrian Odyssey IV, i can see how 2D enemies can be kind of a letdown especially with 3D backgrounds.

I don't mind either way becase I know the game will still be great, but the 3D cel shaded enemies in Etrian Odyssey IV was a really strong point. They were animated and not just images.

Would've been really awesome if the enemies in SMTIV had a similar development. But that's asking too much i guess. I'm just glad it got localized.
 
H

hardcastlemccormick

Banned
This game completely fell off my radar last month, but I pre-ordered it a few days ago and the reviews so far strengthen my resolve. Everything said about the game so far indicates that this game will be an incredible experience.
 
Bitmap Frogs

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
mugurumakensei said:
Nocturne went backwards in some ways compared to earlier games. The battle system was slow, and enemy encounters typically had few enemies for most part. The encounters with more than 5 or 6 enemies had minor framerate hiccups too.
Click to expand...

It still does not change the fact the series is taking a step back with a smaller budget.

We are all happy we are getting another mainline SMT and it is being released in the west, but the series is retreating.
 
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