Building on the styles of ATLUS' Persona, Devil Summoner, and Devil Survivor titles, SMTIV is the first true successor to 2004's Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. The story of SMTIV revolves around the Samurai, the sacred protectors of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado. As a newly appointed Samurai, players will struggle with factions that have nefarious designs on the world as they defend their home kingdom from a growing army of demons. Decisions players make throughout the course of the story will have lasting repercussions, as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
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SMT IV is one of those games that stand the test of time with ease, it's hard to believe 10 years have gone by since this masterpiece came out, gameplay aged like wine, it's a clear evolution of the mechanics introduced in Nocturne, but i feel that it tries to be a bit TOO much of an evolution, to the point where new systems can make the game too easy, like the smirk system, if you happen to smirk during battle you've won, but it's still really fun and just a joy to play, the dungeons can be hit or miss, they went with a more minimalist approach, where in the earlier games the dungeons were these big places where you would spend a lot of time going back and forth, falling in traps, exploring and trying to find the right path, here they have a pretty normal level design, i understand some people might prefer more straightforward dungeons like these, but i would like for them to have a little more spice; now we get to an aspect where i see a bit of hate towards but i really don't understand why, the story, it's a very well done and clever retelling of the first SMT with very good characters that really pick your interest, i understand the criticism towards the difficulty of achieving the neutral ending, but with the story per se i see nothing wrong, overall, Shin Megami Tensei IV is a timeless masterpiece and already a classic, a must play for anyone who likes videogames in general, and i'd dare say it's the best game Atlus put out in the 2010's.
the right-handed-dodgeball-double-spin-hurl velocity of the combat careens headlong into the pacing of literally everything else. the story, fusing demons, the mandatory “side”quests in the route i stumbled into— this game is too long to have combat this clean!!!
Super fun, love how brutally fast all the fights are and the music was insane
I salute you Waltuh thank you for ending it thus
Um dos melhores jrpgs que já joguei em anos, mega divertido e envolvente, mesmo sua narrativa não sendo das melhores, os personagens e a atmosfera, além da gameplay desafiadora, me manteram entretida por horas.
This review contains spoilers
When I think of my favorite games, I think of products where each detail and decision was made in harmony. Culminating in an experience that uses every aspect of a video game to convey a message. What makes SMT IV special is how it’s the opposite of what I just described, it’s a product where every asset from gameplay to story is competing with one another. Culminating in a hodge podge of ingredients and recipes with no finished meal in sight. It’s a half game.
It’s Frankenstein’s monster made of ideas ranging wildly in quality. I admit that there are pockets of good, but even that is incidental. The soundtrack is great, the world building and underlying mystery is solid, but they ring hollow as the rest of the game isn’t up to par. The storyline is a debate on ethics in which both contenders are embarrassing caricatures of the ideas they’re supposed to represent. The game cowers away from this discussion for a “both sides are bad” conclusion that just feels insulting. There’s no reason to care about anyone because they’re all pawns for the writers to do whatever they want with. A character will throw a monologue at you explaining their motivation, only to have them betray it for the sake of the plot moving forward.
The gameplay is supposed to be challenging to represent the hostility of Tokyo, but everything is so easy and cheesable. The structure of an open world with multiple side quests conflicts with the story of being a mercenary completing time-sensitive missions. The world building portrays Tokyo as a rough and gruff place, but the story tries to make you care about it near the tail end. The game is marketed as a visual novel in which you choose your own adventure, but your character is a blank slate who only does what others tell him to.
This is why SMT IV is so fascinating to me. It gets worse the more I think about it. It’s this decayed onion where peeling back a layer reveals one stinkier and rottener than the last. I haven’t talked about the broken combat system, the multitude of mechanics that go nowhere, or the dubious design decisions for I fear this review would get too repetitious. I’ve played worse, I’ve played soulless cash grabs that only serve to take consumer’s money, and SMT IV isn’t one of those games. However, it’s my prime example of a “bad game,” it’s what I would tell upcoming developers what not to do to save face.
addicting beginning to end
ILL END IT THUS!
ILL END IT THUS!