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Shin Megami Tensei IV Review Thread

GeekyDad

GeekyDad

Member
I especially enjoyed Destructoid's review, not because of the high score they gave it, but because of how much he really seemed to enjoy and savor the experience, someone who obviously has some experience with the series. Just makes me look forward to the game that much more.
 
T

TheBaronOfNA

Banned
GeekyDad said:
I especially enjoyed Destructoid's review, not because of the high score they gave it, but because of how much he really seemed to enjoy and savor the experience, someone who obviously has some experience with the series. Just makes me look forward to the game that much more.
Click to expand...

Eh, Dale North likes almost everything jrpg related... so take that with a grain of salt.
 
GeekyDad

GeekyDad

Member
TheBaronOfNA said:
Eh, Dale North likes almost everything jrpg related... so take that with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

You fail to see my point. Like I said, it wasn't the score he gave the game, it's how much he enjoyed the game. I enjoyed reading about that. Though he may enjoy "almost everything jrpg," the way he is able to articulate his enjoyment is enjoyable to read. If this game sucked and he really liked it anyway, he'd probably get me curious about it simply because of how much excitement he's able to express in his reviews. That's rare in most game reviewers. Mostly, you read a lot of cliche comments regarding mechanics, visuals, "overarching story" and all that. This guy simply expresses himself. I dig that. It's what I dig most about gaming, really -- sharing the experience.
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
one of the few games I'd consider buying a US 3DS for. At least we're getting Soul Hackers in October..
 
V

vitiosuslepos

Neo Member
Hi everyone, this is Jasmine from GamesBeat (VentureBeat).

Talking about the specifics in the dungeons is a bit tricky because it can venture into spoiler territory but I'll avoid that. The dungeons are in third person, letting you crawl and jump and pick up relics. Demons appear as bursts of blue digital figures and can chase you great distances.

The reason it is a landmine for spoilers is that the types of dungeons will differ wildly throughout the game, and are eventually linked together through the overmap.

It's a nice change from SMT: Strange Journey and feels a bit more like Persona, which should help new players tremendously.
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
Lin Siniang said:
The other handheld games don't feature fully explorable 3d environments and a 3d mc. People have also waited ten years for a new SMT for it to only have worse presentation than III. Of course people are talking about it.
Click to expand...

I guess some people see the glass half empty.
 
V

Volcynika

Member
vitiosuslepos said:
Hi everyone, this is Jasmine from GamesBeat (VentureBeat).

Talking about the specifics in the dungeons is a bit tricky because it can venture into spoiler territory but I'll avoid that. The dungeons are in third person, letting you crawl and jump and pick up relics. Demons appear as bursts of blue digital figures and can chase you great distances.

The reason it is a landmine for spoilers is that the types of dungeons will differ wildly throughout the game, and are eventually linked together through the overmap.

It's a nice change from SMT: Strange Journey and feels a bit more like Persona, which should help new players tremendously.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Also excellent avatar choice! :p
 
jesusraz

jesusraz

Member
There's an audio review of the game on right now, if anyone's interested :)

It's a weekly gaming show called Glass to the Wall.

Other reviews on the show - Game and Wario, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Terraria, and New Super Luigi U, as well as some tech reviews.
 
R

robotzombie

Member
Fady K said:
I find the world of Shin Megami Tensei intriguing, but I'm *reaaaaaaaaally* not into fusions, demon collecting, and grinding. And I cannot stand it when a battle takes so long only for a lucky hit by the boss to destroy your entire party near the end.
Click to expand...

While I actually do like all that stuff, I would love to see another game similar to Digital Devil Saga that focuses on an actual party of human characters but within a SMT/Persona type world and with that kind of storyline. Basically DDS where they don't turn into demons themselves.
 
H

hardcastlemccormick

Banned
FluxWaveZ said:
Polygon

8.0
Click to expand...

They liked the game quite a bit, but they had some issues with the overworld map and the characters, which they felt were predictable and underwritten.

The complaints about the characters mirror what I think about pretty much every major RPG in the past five years, especially the Mass Effect series. I'm curious to see how I perceive the SMT4 characters.
 
J

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
flawfuls said:
I second this sentiment. The cheap cutscenes is what people should be really disappointed with.
Click to expand...

THIS! It's what I was saying from the beginning. The 3D cut-scenes in Nocturne were fantastic, the world and cut-scenes really added to the atmosphere and I don't think the demon sprites ruin that nearly as much as the switch to Trauma Team style cut-scenes. Nocturne's cut-scenes are even presented even better than what they did for Persona, and I would've gladly taken 3D cut-scenes over the VA if there had to be a choice due to budget.
 
R

RyougaSaotome

Member
jj984jj said:
THIS! It's what I was saying from the beginning. The 3D cut-scenes in Nocturne were fantastic, the world and cut-scenes really added to the atmosphere and I don't think the demon sprites ruin that nearly as much as the switch to Trauma Team style cut-scenes. Nocturne's cut-scenes are even presented even better than what they did for Persona, and I would've gladly taken 3D cut-scenes over the VA if there had to be a choice due to budget.
Click to expand...

I doubt the decision was between full voice or 3D cutscenes.

I loved Nocturne, but it didn't bother me even a little in IV.
 
M

Megidolaon

Member
So um stupid questions. If the battles are just you and demons, are the human party members just story characters? Or do they fight with you too?

And I know that you see a 3D model of Flynn in the dungeons. Do they other characters have 3D models at any point in the game?
 
GeekyDad

GeekyDad

Member
Megidolaon said:
So um stupid questions. If the battles are just you and demons, are the human party members just story characters? Or do they fight with you too?

And I know that you see a 3D model of Flynn in the dungeons. Do they other characters have 3D models at any point in the game?
Click to expand...

I believe there are random times when your human companions offer assistance in battle kind of in the same way as certain story characters would randomly help in FFIII.

And no, I believe it's just sprites for your companions, though pedestrians in Tokyo are 3D models.
 
M

Megidolaon

Member
GeekyDad said:
I believe there are random times when your human companions offer assistance in battle kind of in the same way as certain story characters would randomly help in FFIII.

And no, I believe it's just sprites for your companions, though pedestrians in Tokyo are 3D models.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I see. Thanks. The sprite thing doesn't bother me that much, but I would have hoped that the other characters played more of a role...

I guess I was just expecting a more Persona/Nocturne type battle system. Well, the reviews are very positive and it looks like a great game either way. I'm excited.
 
B

buddha0991

Member
Megidolaon said:
Hmm, I see. Thanks. The sprite thing doesn't bother me that much, but I would have hoped that the other characters played more of a role...

I guess I was just expecting a more Persona/Nocturne type battle system. Well, the reviews are very positive and it looks like a great game either way. I'm excited.
Click to expand...

But it literally is the Nocturne battle system. Do you mean like, the graphics?
 
M

Megidolaon

Member
buddha0991 said:
But it literally is the Nocturne battle system. Do you mean like, the graphics?
Click to expand...
I meant like the Nocturne battle system mixed with the addition of human party members like in Persona. Sorry, my wording was kinda confusing there.

I liked the Nocturne battle system, but you were solo in that. All the promotional art has a group of characters so I thought you'd be controlling them, plus the demons.
 
C

Chrono Helix

Member
At the end of your party's round in battle, if you have a human ally tagging along, they will attack or cast a spell automatically. Sadly, sometimes they'll use an element the boss is immune to, causing the boss to smirk and pull off an attack that wipes the party.
 
V

vitiosuslepos

Neo Member
Chrono Helix said:
At the end of your party's round in battle, if you have a human ally tagging along, they will attack or cast a spell automatically. Sadly, sometimes they'll use an element the boss is immune to, causing the boss to smirk and pull off an attack that wipes the party.
Click to expand...

I only saw this happen once, and that was when I had screwed up pretty royally with an attack and the AI just mimicked my tactic. I found it tried to stick close to what I was doing in most cases and just resorted to physical attacks if it could not.

But that once time I pulled a total Vinny Caravella and cast bufu on something? Yeah, that was the worst.
 
R

RyougaSaotome

Member
vitiosuslepos said:
I only saw this happen once, and that was when I had screwed up pretty royally with an attack and the AI just mimicked my tactic. I found it tried to stick close to what I was doing in most cases and just resorted to physical attacks if it could not.

But that once time I pulled a total Vinny Caravella and cast bufu on something? Yeah, that was the worst.
Click to expand...

Yeah. It's not a frequent thing at all. 99% of the time they'll roll with an attack that they know won't have any detrimental effects on your party.

Except that take I cast bufu, and it got absorbed, and then the AI cast bufu.

Then we all died. T_T
 
V

vitiosuslepos

Neo Member
RyougaSaotome said:
Yeah. It's not a frequent thing at all. 99% of the time they'll roll with an attack that they know won't have any detrimental effects on your party.

Except that take I cast bufu, and it got absorbed, and then the AI cast bufu.

Then we all died. T_T
Click to expand...

Accidental Bufus are, like, the WORST
 
V

vitiosuslepos

Neo Member
Yeah. After the first 20 hours, most deaths are your lack of focus/preparation than the monsters being overpowered.

Or you just walked into a massively overwhelming boss fight. But still, you didn't think it through before acting and got smoked because of it.

And that's why I love this game, I guess. :)
 
R

RyougaSaotome

Member
vitiosuslepos said:
Yeah. After the first 20 hours, most deaths are your lack of focus/preparation than the monsters being overpowered.

Or you just walked into a massively overwhelming boss fight. But still, you didn't think it through before acting and got smoked because of it.

And that's why I love this game, I guess. :)
Click to expand...

Exactly. I'm not sure I'd call anything after the first 20 hours super hard so much as the game requires you to be prepared for different kinds of encounters. If you're not? You'll die.

I walked into a late game optional boss fight feeling pretty confident since the last 10 hours had been no problem. I found myself getting smoked for over an hour before I finally found a demon combination that worked against the boss.

Also just read through your review. Good stuff.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
Did either of you find that the difficulty was almost solely a function of your party makeup? I'm experience with Strange Journey, there were cases where bosses could either be unbeatable to impossible to lose with a couple changes to the party.

Basically can out of battle strategy trivialize tactics in battle*?

*other than the zoning out and casting the wrong spell :p
 
V

vitiosuslepos

Neo Member
KarmaCow said:
Did either of you find that the difficulty was almost solely a function of your party makeup? I'm experience with Strange Journey, there were cases where bosses could either be unbeatable to impossible to lose with a couple changes to the party.

Basically can out of battle strategy trivialize tactics in battle*?

*other than the zoning out and casting the wrong spell :p
Click to expand...

The difficulty is definitely there despite having a party primed to take advantage of weaknesses. My biggest problem is that I rarely utilize buff and debuff spells for the sake of powerful offensive magic and group healing. If I take my time, I can brute my way through any situation, though I may have to swap out weaker characters with great magic for stronger characters with virtually no magic.

Being able to keep several demons with you at any given time makes it easy to mix up your party on the fly (even in battle).

But even the most prepared party can miss or be struck by a critical blow that will throw the turn count in the enemy's favor. Often, that one extra turn is enough to ruin your attack flow or knock out a demon.

Through fusion, you'll often end up with useful demons with wonky weaknesses too. Sometimes it's just unavoidable and you'll suffer the consequences.
 
F

Fady K

Member
robotzombie said:
While I actually do like all that stuff, I would love to see another game similar to Digital Devil Saga that focuses on an actual party of human characters but within a SMT/Persona type world and with that kind of storyline. Basically DDS where they don't turn into demons themselves.
Click to expand...

Yes, I would love that. I would als love a Megami Tensei game without the fusions and with a limited amount of party members, be they demons or humans, with stories to tell and character development. Of course, that would take away the identity if Megami Tensei, but I would not mind at all. (I know i'm in the minority by far here).
 
A

ASIS

Member
NeonZ said:
This is basically a repost from the first page, with some extra information:

Megami Tensei was a game series, based on the Japanese novel series Digital Devil Story, that started in the NES and featured many mythological creatures, collectivelly called "demons", which the player could recruit to fight alongside them through negotiations during battles. It was basically the first 'monster' franchise, although with a dark story focusing on the battle against hell's forces, and later heaven and hell battling with humanity in the middle of an Earth ruined by the battle (with figures from various mythologies - basically every demon is taken straight out of some legend). The two NES titles were made by Namco, when Atlus rebooted and continued the series in the SNES, it was renamed "Shin Megami Tensei." SMT introduced a law-neutral-chaos axis, which defined the various endings according to which faction the protagonist sides with, heaven's law, the demon's chaos or neither, humanity's neutral.

There was a SMT title for the SNES called "SMT:If" that changed several of the conventions that the series had up to then. It took place in an alternative timeline from the first two SMT games, where the all out war between law and chaos never happened, not following up their story directly. Rather than siding with factions, you chose a character to team up with and that was what changed the storyline and ending. It also introduced a "Guardian Spirit" mechanic, involving associating demons with the hero to get different boosts. It also focused strictly on high school characters, while still keeping the demon system from the previous games.

SMT:If's new mechanics and ideas, rather than staying in future SMT titles, were eventually further developed when Atlus made the original Persona for the Playstation (which was still labeled as a "Megami" title in Japan, although its successors weren't), which continued the world featured in SMT:If and greatly expanded on the Guardian Spirit mechanic with the new "Personas", which replaced the recruitable demons. Spells, fusions and demon/persona designs still are often shared between Persona and the original SMT series, but the focus, structure and tone of the story is very different. The routine and social links only exist in Persona - which dropped demons as party members since the start, and later also dumped demon negotiation. Meanwhile, negotiations and recruiting demons is still a core part of mainline SMT, which also continued focusing on battles involving heavenly and demonic forces with humanity's future in the middle.
Click to expand...

SteeloDMZ said:
Persona is a spin-off of the SMT series. The SMT series focuses on talking to demons, negotiating with them so they can join you in battle, exploring unique dungeons in a post-apocalyptic world, deciding what route will you take out of many possibilities, etc. And it's though as nails.
Click to expand...

Damn that sounds great actually, thanks guys.
 
Y

Young Magus

Junior Member
Reviews are looking niiiiiiice, was a little worried bout how it would be received by the press but as always ATLUS hits it out the park and it shows.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
vitiosuslepos said:
The difficulty is definitely there despite having a party primed to take advantage of weaknesses. My biggest problem is that I rarely utilize buff and debuff spells for the sake of powerful offensive magic and group healing. If I take my time, I can brute my way through any situation, though I may have to swap out weaker characters with great magic for stronger characters with virtually no magic.

Being able to keep several demons with you at any given time makes it easy to mix up your party on the fly (even in battle).

But even the most prepared party can miss or be struck by a critical blow that will throw the turn count in the enemy's favor. Often, that one extra turn is enough to ruin your attack flow or knock out a demon.

Through fusion, you'll often end up with useful demons with wonky weaknesses too. Sometimes it's just unavoidable and you'll suffer the consequences.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, it's good to hear that plans can fall apart. (that sounds weird)

I had completely forgotten about things like reserve demons somehow and new things like fusing demons mid battle. I'm not quite that much into planning optimized strats but it does make me interested.
 
G

Gambit

Member
Fady K said:
Yes, I would love that. I would als love a Megami Tensei game without the fusions and with a limited amount of party members, be they demons or humans, with stories to tell and character development. Of course, that would take away the identity if Megami Tensei, but I would not mind at all. (I know i'm in the minority by far here).
Click to expand...

that would be my absolute dream as well.

I fear the series, as it is, is not for me. Everything about it seems very appealing, except for the monster/demon recruitment, which I hate.

It almost stopped me from playing Dragon Quest V! Fortunately, it turned out to be mostly optional and I could ignore it.
 
F

Fady K

Member
Gambit said:
that would be my absolute dream as well.

I fear the series, as it is, is not for me. Everything about it seems very appealing, except for the monster/demon recruitment, which I hate.

It almost stopped me from playing Dragon Quest V! Fortunately, it turned out to be mostly optional and I could ignore it.
Click to expand...

Wow, we think exactly alike! This is exactly the feature I don't like in my RPGs, especially when it is not optional :(.

Btw bro, i'll be mailing you soon about Sherlock :)!!
 
P

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
Gambit said:
that would be my absolute dream as well.

I fear the series, as it is, is not for me. Everything about it seems very appealing, except for the monster/demon recruitment, which I hate.

It almost stopped me from playing Dragon Quest V! Fortunately, it turned out to be mostly optional and I could ignore it.
Click to expand...
Sounds like Digital Devil Saga are the games for you!
 
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