Muito PEAK Hee-ho
This would genuinely be a 10 if A) It wasn't stuck on the 3DS, and B) had an actual overworld map. Everything else is perfect.
Excelente.
O jogo que me trouxe de volta à franquia desde o PS2.
Ambientação perfeita, trilha sonora sensacional, flow de gameplay simples mas super efetiva, dificuldade bem equilibrada (fora o minotauro), uma ótima porta de entrada pra franquia e personagens super interessantes que tem uma ótima química e conduzem a narrativa de maneira ótima.
O jogo que me trouxe de volta à franquia desde o PS2.
Ambientação perfeita, trilha sonora sensacional, flow de gameplay simples mas super efetiva, dificuldade bem equilibrada (fora o minotauro), uma ótima porta de entrada pra franquia e personagens super interessantes que tem uma ótima química e conduzem a narrativa de maneira ótima.
Shin Megami Tensei IV has got to be one of the best games I’ve ever played. The atmosphere, gameplay, story and aesthetics are some of the best in any RPG.
Story? Don’t get me started. Amazing. There’s very few games where after I beat them I’m sitting in my room contemplating what I’ve just played. A really captivating story and one of the best in Megaten.
Gameplay is amazing too. It’s lightning fast and endlessly satisfying with the press turn combat and unique demon mechanics. Fusing demons is fun and rewarding, and using their skills on your main character adds more planning into your fusion process, as you consider which skills you want to transfer. The bane on this game’s gameplay is the dungeon crawling and smirking. The dungeon crawling is mostly nonexistent with only 4-5 real dungeons in the game. The dungeons you do get are pretty good, but often lacking in good loot and side routes to flesh them out. And smirking is just bullshit.
The graphics are pretty good for a 3DS game, though if they went with their original idea of making it a first person dungeon crawler it’d probably look better, but make the game far less as unique as it is.
The music is stupendous. Nothing else I have to say other than it’s ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. There’s really nothing that compares except the Shin Megami Tensei V OST, done by the same people.
Overall, fantastic game that I will play again and again and never get tired of.
Story? Don’t get me started. Amazing. There’s very few games where after I beat them I’m sitting in my room contemplating what I’ve just played. A really captivating story and one of the best in Megaten.
Gameplay is amazing too. It’s lightning fast and endlessly satisfying with the press turn combat and unique demon mechanics. Fusing demons is fun and rewarding, and using their skills on your main character adds more planning into your fusion process, as you consider which skills you want to transfer. The bane on this game’s gameplay is the dungeon crawling and smirking. The dungeon crawling is mostly nonexistent with only 4-5 real dungeons in the game. The dungeons you do get are pretty good, but often lacking in good loot and side routes to flesh them out. And smirking is just bullshit.
The graphics are pretty good for a 3DS game, though if they went with their original idea of making it a first person dungeon crawler it’d probably look better, but make the game far less as unique as it is.
The music is stupendous. Nothing else I have to say other than it’s ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. There’s really nothing that compares except the Shin Megami Tensei V OST, done by the same people.
Overall, fantastic game that I will play again and again and never get tired of.
This review contains spoilers
"But keep this in mind. Man is a creature that repeats it's mistakes. a day will come when we must fight."
SMTIV has been my first introduction into the greater megaten franchise and an amazing one. the combat feels great, the gameplay loop of demon whispering and fusion is engaging, the music is fantastic and the world is one that feels truly dreary and hopeless.
SMTIV's core themes revolve around the choices and morality of the player, allegiance to chaos and law brings suffering and even neutrality is not truly free of adversion. no matter what choice the player makes it will eventually come undone at the hands of someone later on, this is bittersweet, as is reflected in the games neutral ending, which I got. there won't be any everlasting peace, but man will always be able to bring it about, even if for a short time.
SMTIV has been my first introduction into the greater megaten franchise and an amazing one. the combat feels great, the gameplay loop of demon whispering and fusion is engaging, the music is fantastic and the world is one that feels truly dreary and hopeless.
SMTIV's core themes revolve around the choices and morality of the player, allegiance to chaos and law brings suffering and even neutrality is not truly free of adversion. no matter what choice the player makes it will eventually come undone at the hands of someone later on, this is bittersweet, as is reflected in the games neutral ending, which I got. there won't be any everlasting peace, but man will always be able to bring it about, even if for a short time.
This review contains spoilers
i cried at the issachar fight in the kiccigiorgi forest
This review contains spoilers
Minha primeira experiência com SMT e não posso negar que gostei mais do que tava esperando.
Dito isso vou falar de alguns prós e contras na minha experiência.
Prós:
-O combate é bem satisfatório e te possibilita criar grande variedade de estratégias pra lidar com os bosses.
-As reviravoltas que ocorrem na narrativa jogo, cito principalmente aquela em que descobrimos a verdadeira identidade da lider do círculo de Gaia.
- A ambientação do jogo é magnífica, vai de uma cidade medieval do protagonista a uma Tokyo desértica 25 anos do futuro.
- A trilha sonora casa perfeitamente com o que o jogo lhe está apresentando.
Contras:
-A navegação não é muito intuitiva nesse jogo.
-o jogo fica um pouco cansado quando lhe obriga a fazer a mesma dungeon em 3 eras diferentes, eu achei um pé no saco ao menos.
-A ultima dungeon é extremamente confusa, tive que recorrer a guia nessa parte por não ter sacado como resolvia o looping.
Tirando esses detalhes que me incomodaram ainda o vejo como um sólido 4/5.
Dito isso vou falar de alguns prós e contras na minha experiência.
Prós:
-O combate é bem satisfatório e te possibilita criar grande variedade de estratégias pra lidar com os bosses.
-As reviravoltas que ocorrem na narrativa jogo, cito principalmente aquela em que descobrimos a verdadeira identidade da lider do círculo de Gaia.
- A ambientação do jogo é magnífica, vai de uma cidade medieval do protagonista a uma Tokyo desértica 25 anos do futuro.
- A trilha sonora casa perfeitamente com o que o jogo lhe está apresentando.
Contras:
-A navegação não é muito intuitiva nesse jogo.
-o jogo fica um pouco cansado quando lhe obriga a fazer a mesma dungeon em 3 eras diferentes, eu achei um pé no saco ao menos.
-A ultima dungeon é extremamente confusa, tive que recorrer a guia nessa parte por não ter sacado como resolvia o looping.
Tirando esses detalhes que me incomodaram ainda o vejo como um sólido 4/5.
Came with very high expectations as this is possibly the most glazed game of mainline and was pleasantly surprised when the game really delivered
A very fun gameplay loop in wich I never really felt burnt out by dungeon crawling like in other megaten games, the dungeons are fine and filled with a really varied amount of demons, haven't checked but i wouldn't be surprised if this is the game with the biggest catalogue of different demons, i had to give up on completing the compendium because it would take too long and cost too much money that was hard enough to get already. There's a healthy amount of subquests wich are fine and do a good job of keeping you entertained and spending a decent amount of time in each zone.
The game is very well balanced, I don't recall ever having to stop to grind for XP yet I never felt over or under leveled, every bossfight was pretty challenging and engaging, the only times i felt really overwhelmed and had to change my approach multiple times was for the last three dlc fights wich were just insanely difficult. I really appreciate the freedom you get to build Flynn from the stat spread to the amount of skills you can learn, it makes you feel like any build can work because it's true.
My only complaints are that the Mido fusion interface can be a bit awkward to navigate at first and that the money grind is extremely slow, but then again I was able to do just fine with what I could scrape and rewards from subquests for armor, so maybe it made sense in the setting of the game to make money so hard to get, by the endgame I even got the money farming DLC but even with that it was just too slow so I just gave up on getting the expensive sets on ginza :(.
Game has a stellar soundtrack, had read good things about it before too and it really delivered, i found myself standing still to better appreciate the background music many times.
I really liked the story, felt like both law and chaos were well represented up until the end were both reps became sort of brainless and cliche'd in my opinion but for the rest of the game were really well done. Really liked the setting and world and how they were presented, the highlight of my first run was definetely beating the minotaur and seeing what really lies below Mikado, i didn't expect the twist at all and from that point on got really engaged with the game
So far i've only done neutral runs (wich is a bit of a chore ending to get) but can definetely see myself coming back to get all endings, really loved this game
A very fun gameplay loop in wich I never really felt burnt out by dungeon crawling like in other megaten games, the dungeons are fine and filled with a really varied amount of demons, haven't checked but i wouldn't be surprised if this is the game with the biggest catalogue of different demons, i had to give up on completing the compendium because it would take too long and cost too much money that was hard enough to get already. There's a healthy amount of subquests wich are fine and do a good job of keeping you entertained and spending a decent amount of time in each zone.
The game is very well balanced, I don't recall ever having to stop to grind for XP yet I never felt over or under leveled, every bossfight was pretty challenging and engaging, the only times i felt really overwhelmed and had to change my approach multiple times was for the last three dlc fights wich were just insanely difficult. I really appreciate the freedom you get to build Flynn from the stat spread to the amount of skills you can learn, it makes you feel like any build can work because it's true.
My only complaints are that the Mido fusion interface can be a bit awkward to navigate at first and that the money grind is extremely slow, but then again I was able to do just fine with what I could scrape and rewards from subquests for armor, so maybe it made sense in the setting of the game to make money so hard to get, by the endgame I even got the money farming DLC but even with that it was just too slow so I just gave up on getting the expensive sets on ginza :(.
Game has a stellar soundtrack, had read good things about it before too and it really delivered, i found myself standing still to better appreciate the background music many times.
I really liked the story, felt like both law and chaos were well represented up until the end were both reps became sort of brainless and cliche'd in my opinion but for the rest of the game were really well done. Really liked the setting and world and how they were presented, the highlight of my first run was definetely beating the minotaur and seeing what really lies below Mikado, i didn't expect the twist at all and from that point on got really engaged with the game
So far i've only done neutral runs (wich is a bit of a chore ending to get) but can definetely see myself coming back to get all endings, really loved this game
embora eu tenha sofrido MUITO com as direções (localização de cidades, etc), o jogo é muito divertido! me fez ficar viciado por um bom tempo e fazer questão de ir atrás de todas as missoes de dlcs... muito provavelmente vou jogar o 4 Apocalypse pelo gostinho de "quero mais" que ficou!
Not 5 stars as in I think it's perfect (it's not) but 5 stars as in it felt like it was created in a lab just for me to become obsessed with
MEU DEUUUUSSSSSSSS
I enjoyed this smt a lot more than nocturne. The characters where very enjoyable and added to my decision on what ending to try for as I wanted to see more of all 3 of them. I tried to stay neutral but slipped to order near the end. I might follow a guide for neutral ending on new game plus but for now I'm satisfied.
Devo agradecer persona3 reload, melhor coisa que saiu daquele jogo foi ter aberto a porta pra eu adentrar na franquia Shin Megami Tensei.
e caramba como eu me diverti muito mais nesse jogo. o combate é melhor, a mecanica dos "demonios" é superior, a historia por mais que tenha sido um ponto que deixou a desejar da metade pro fim ainda assim é muito mas por muito mais interessante que persona 3! A historia de Shin Megami Tensei, é o esperado doq voce espera de um samurai se voce seguir a ordem = bonzinho. Nao segue a ordem = CANALHAAA MALDITO. E isso é complicado, pq eu ja nao curto japones fazendo firula em historia e ainda adiciona esse fator de samurai... ja viu onde vai parar...
Ainda assim o jogo tem muitas falhas, mas pelo oq eu me diverti jogando isso aqui merece a nota.
e caramba como eu me diverti muito mais nesse jogo. o combate é melhor, a mecanica dos "demonios" é superior, a historia por mais que tenha sido um ponto que deixou a desejar da metade pro fim ainda assim é muito mas por muito mais interessante que persona 3! A historia de Shin Megami Tensei, é o esperado doq voce espera de um samurai se voce seguir a ordem = bonzinho. Nao segue a ordem = CANALHAAA MALDITO. E isso é complicado, pq eu ja nao curto japones fazendo firula em historia e ainda adiciona esse fator de samurai... ja viu onde vai parar...
Ainda assim o jogo tem muitas falhas, mas pelo oq eu me diverti jogando isso aqui merece a nota.
To anyone who finished this game without a guide, you have my respect. It has the most fucked way to progress forward as finding places and progressing the main quest is just fucked. You have to go places you have no indication to go to and you have to do random challenge quests to continue the main quest.
Combat is good. Unfair at times but good. But when you get Megido and Concentrate game becomes a joke. Paired with MP Walk you can breeze through every random encounter and most bosses.
SPOILER I feel like the ending is really rushed. Like you return from Blasted & Infernal Tokyo, get locked into an alignment by the bogus alignment system (and this is according to the Law route cause that’s what i got), and then you go through The Monochrome Forest which is just some random hocus pocus from The White which is just bullshit cause you never get told what they are and then put back in Mikado.
And then you’re told that Lucifer has returned and you need to take him out. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE DEMON LORD, THE MAIN ANTAGONIST OF THE SERIES JUST POPPED BACK UP AFTER NEVER HAVING BEING MENTIONED AT ALL??? AND EVEN IN THE CHAOS ROUTE, IT’S REVEALED THAT SOME RANDOM GIRL YOU SPOKE TO TWICE THAT WALTER HAD THE HOTS FOR, WAS ACTUALLY LUCIFER THIS WHOLE TIME?? WHAT THE FUCK???
Combat is good. Unfair at times but good. But when you get Megido and Concentrate game becomes a joke. Paired with MP Walk you can breeze through every random encounter and most bosses.
SPOILER I feel like the ending is really rushed. Like you return from Blasted & Infernal Tokyo, get locked into an alignment by the bogus alignment system (and this is according to the Law route cause that’s what i got), and then you go through The Monochrome Forest which is just some random hocus pocus from The White which is just bullshit cause you never get told what they are and then put back in Mikado.
And then you’re told that Lucifer has returned and you need to take him out. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE DEMON LORD, THE MAIN ANTAGONIST OF THE SERIES JUST POPPED BACK UP AFTER NEVER HAVING BEING MENTIONED AT ALL??? AND EVEN IN THE CHAOS ROUTE, IT’S REVEALED THAT SOME RANDOM GIRL YOU SPOKE TO TWICE THAT WALTER HAD THE HOTS FOR, WAS ACTUALLY LUCIFER THIS WHOLE TIME?? WHAT THE FUCK???
A happy middle ground between the 3D SMT games (as well as Persona to a certain extent) and the classic 2D ones (including Strange Journey here). My biggest complaint is the use of multiple designers for the demons, which can end up making this feel like a fan game with how often art styles clash with one another--that and losing Kaneko as the sole designer for most things SMT is just a massive loss for the franchise in general.
Oh, and making you beat basically every shitty side story to complete Neutral is an incredibly stupid decision.
Oh, and making you beat basically every shitty side story to complete Neutral is an incredibly stupid decision.
MY BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Half a point deducted for having a terrible world map
Is pretty fun
The story is trash, despite some interesting ideas. I got the very underwhelming Chaos ending, so I went looking for the "canon" Neutral ending on YouTube and it was just as bad.
There is like no payoff for any plot point. Almost nothing is explained, you just wander around the terrible Tokyo map (while Mikado is completely ignored) doing fetch quests and killing demons for random people.
And all of this is just made worse by the disgusting English dub, and the character design and artstyle which I personally don't like at all.
And don't get me started on the awful Alignment system. It's almost impossible to get on the Neutral path without following an extremely strict guide (they literally suggest you to not do any side quest). So you're stuck with Flynn becoming an extremist genocidal piece of shit.
The combat is fun in the first half of the game or so, but becomes extremely boring towards the end of the game when you just start to spam Megidola on all encounters. Also the bosses are mostly frustrating damage sponges that unfairly one shot your entire team if the luck isn't on your side. So most of them were just a matter of how many times I needed to close and reopen the game before I got lucky.
I think this series is stuck in the past, there's a reason it naturally shifted into Persona. There you have an actual story, with actual dungeons, and actual characters you can interact with.
There is like no payoff for any plot point. Almost nothing is explained, you just wander around the terrible Tokyo map (while Mikado is completely ignored) doing fetch quests and killing demons for random people.
And all of this is just made worse by the disgusting English dub, and the character design and artstyle which I personally don't like at all.
And don't get me started on the awful Alignment system. It's almost impossible to get on the Neutral path without following an extremely strict guide (they literally suggest you to not do any side quest). So you're stuck with Flynn becoming an extremist genocidal piece of shit.
The combat is fun in the first half of the game or so, but becomes extremely boring towards the end of the game when you just start to spam Megidola on all encounters. Also the bosses are mostly frustrating damage sponges that unfairly one shot your entire team if the luck isn't on your side. So most of them were just a matter of how many times I needed to close and reopen the game before I got lucky.
I think this series is stuck in the past, there's a reason it naturally shifted into Persona. There you have an actual story, with actual dungeons, and actual characters you can interact with.
Still on of my favorite games ever, this is easily the best game on the 3DS. A must play for anyone who's ever owned a 3DS.
El juego entro en mis cosas favoritas pese a todos sus problemas (la exploración y los finales) pero simplemente lo que me transmitió fue muy superior. Primero que nada destacar la música que es simplemente maravillosa es muy buena y tiene temas legendarios (Battle B2, Battle C5 y Tokyo), segundo la ambientación es brutal sabe presentar su mundo para luego expandirlo ampliamente y por sobre todo, a través de esto transmite la hostilidad que existe en el ambiente y como las personas ya sean de Tokio o de mikado reaccionaran a los eventos de la trama y se iran relacionando con la misma; los NPCs de este juego llegan a tener personalidad e inclusive un desarrollo de cara al final y todo esto se ve en sus diálogos, logran meterte en el mundo del juego ya que constantemente te cuentan datos importantes para el mundo y como ellos lo perciben y reaccionan a este teniendo historias muy conmovedora, esto enriquece de sobremanera las conversaciones. De mano con la ambientación está el mapa que de verdad te transmite la desesperación de estar cerca del fin de la humanidad y acompañado por el soundtrack te hace sentir que estas en una sociedad legendaria y perdida de la cual solo quedan vestigios de su grandeza, esto también se puede llegar a apreciar en ciertas mazmorras y en los NPCs.
La trama es muy buena y sabe mantenerse concisa e interesante a lo largo del juego presentando momentos RELIGIOSOS (Cuidado spoilers) como la llegada a Tokio y las realidades alternas de Akira, Al final, a mi vista, se desinfla bastante (las 3 rutas) pero lo que me transmitió es superior, todo es desesperación y miseria junto a pizcas de humanidad.
Los personajes destaco muchísimo a Walter que fue con el que más congenie y Akira que me parece el mejor personaje del juego. Simplemente un juegazo muy superior y todos deberían jugarlo.
La trama es muy buena y sabe mantenerse concisa e interesante a lo largo del juego presentando momentos RELIGIOSOS (Cuidado spoilers) como la llegada a Tokio y las realidades alternas de Akira, Al final, a mi vista, se desinfla bastante (las 3 rutas) pero lo que me transmitió es superior, todo es desesperación y miseria junto a pizcas de humanidad.
Los personajes destaco muchísimo a Walter que fue con el que más congenie y Akira que me parece el mejor personaje del juego. Simplemente un juegazo muy superior y todos deberían jugarlo.
De mis juegos favoritos para siempre.
No es sólo que las mecánicas RPG funcionen bien, que el cómo aborda la muerte para que no tengas un Game Over me parezca novedoso, el sistema de críticos interesante y la dificultad proporcional. O que tenga una banda sonora BRUTAL.
Creo que es la inmersión.
La historia de las distintas facciones, humanas y sobrenaturales; la gente, viviendo su día a día, sus preocupaciones, sus sueños y esperanzas; las subtramas, con las hadas, los dioses olvidados, el caballero carmesí...
Me han llegado hondo al corazón, me he sentido dentro y escuchándoles en persona de las cosas que les preocupan y las cosas en las que creen.
Es un juego que me encanta y me ha dejado marca. Ojalá más gente lo disfrute.
No es sólo que las mecánicas RPG funcionen bien, que el cómo aborda la muerte para que no tengas un Game Over me parezca novedoso, el sistema de críticos interesante y la dificultad proporcional. O que tenga una banda sonora BRUTAL.
Creo que es la inmersión.
La historia de las distintas facciones, humanas y sobrenaturales; la gente, viviendo su día a día, sus preocupaciones, sus sueños y esperanzas; las subtramas, con las hadas, los dioses olvidados, el caballero carmesí...
Me han llegado hondo al corazón, me he sentido dentro y escuchándoles en persona de las cosas que les preocupan y las cosas en las que creen.
Es un juego que me encanta y me ha dejado marca. Ojalá más gente lo disfrute.
me deixou real triste tnc que paia
So... that was a thing that I just cleared off the smoker.
I want to kick off by saying that the reason that this game was stuck on my backlog for 2 years and some change is that this games' start, up to the first Gabby twist (the one where Lilith is actually executed) has all the haste of freeze-dried molasses (and if it isn't that, yes, Medusa and the Minotaur are just as obnoxious to deal with as you might have heard, basically boiling down to Sukukaja cheese or you die). The initial trip into Tokyo is where I point my finger to most primarily, which ended up as directionless in where you were supposed to be going, and what you were meant to be doing (not to mention what little indication there was that you had to tape down acceptance for Challenge Quests before entering a given area) - or as I said to myself several times when playing: 'a lot of bumblefucking about'.
Were it just the above, I would have to feel especially generous to give this game any higher than a 2-Star rating. Thankfully, after said Gabby/Lilith twist, the game gets noticeably better. Like... probably a 4-Star mid-end game. Hence, I split the difference, and here we are.
On the note of said Gabby twist: it's actually pretty neat stuff. I was tipped off to something like this happening after lurking BTVA and noticing that Gabby and Yuriko/Lilith have the same English VA. Hence I found it conspicuious when Gabby wasn't initially around for Yuriko's execution, only to turn around and have everyone say 'that's a spitting image of Gabby, not Gabby herself'. Basic Chekov's gun dictates something had to happen, and as someone cynical to 'foreshadowing' excuses, I'll hold the L just this once. Oh, and... then Gabby becomes Gabriel of the Four Archangels... which I should have also seen coming, but still.
This probably isn't the best time to say this, but I did dig out a guide for the Neutral/True ending (and if you're wondering, I do plan to replay Apocalypse at some point very soon). One of my mantras when playing games like this is 'whatever you call spoilers, I just call doing my homework' - and this is one of the reasons why.
As for Character Writing, I'd say it's respectable... until it isn't. I'm aware that probably sounds a bit harsh, so let's really break this down:
- Jonathan: His patriotism to Mikado is compelling, until he hears about the plan to 'purge the filth' (cue the memes), in which case he ends up looking like an idiot for taking all of the Church at face value. His means are fine up to that point, but his ends are pretty dippy because of it, mostly on an account of being an ambassador for a belief system he doesn't believe in, even after seeing shit like Pluto from the Blasted Tokyo timeline.
- Walter [Post Lilith visit]: "Hey so I found about about this cool thing called Globalism for the first time, so I'm going to transform into literal Satan to achieve my goals." (/sarc). Oh well, he's at least chill before then, and Matthew Mercer sounds like he was having fun with the role.
- Isabeau: Basically what a restraint check should be, even if there are instances where she's not as proactive as she should be. Reserved, reasonable, and (if the 'Manga' subplot that supposed to lead to Lilith's motivations are any indication) a TOTAL dork (although the through line between said literature and Lilith's motivations are... a bit more disjointed than I would have liked).
As for the Neutral ending in question... yeah, your mileage will vary. Tony4You has an excellent video on Alignment Issues that is a part of what could be considered part of the problem with this game's lack of moral complexity ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoALN7HnvxA ), yet at the same time, while I see why Nyarly thinks that Neutral is the 'worst ending in SMT he's ever seen', as someone who thinks this game in general levelled out to 'kinda mid', I do at least feel impartially towards said ending. I know the wording of this paragraph sounds kinda confused, and I think it's worth talking about in more detail elsewhere. All I'll say for now is that the people trying to use the CU as an explanation for the uninitiated (or otherwise unexplained) will not offer the implication that Isabeau managed to evac the entirety of Mikado the same curtsey.
Anyway, that was a long and disorganised first thoughts. I'll end off by saying that the OST and Graphics are also great. I mean, I enjoyed Apocalypse, so I enjoy this. Simples, methinks.
I want to kick off by saying that the reason that this game was stuck on my backlog for 2 years and some change is that this games' start, up to the first Gabby twist (the one where Lilith is actually executed) has all the haste of freeze-dried molasses (and if it isn't that, yes, Medusa and the Minotaur are just as obnoxious to deal with as you might have heard, basically boiling down to Sukukaja cheese or you die). The initial trip into Tokyo is where I point my finger to most primarily, which ended up as directionless in where you were supposed to be going, and what you were meant to be doing (not to mention what little indication there was that you had to tape down acceptance for Challenge Quests before entering a given area) - or as I said to myself several times when playing: 'a lot of bumblefucking about'.
Were it just the above, I would have to feel especially generous to give this game any higher than a 2-Star rating. Thankfully, after said Gabby/Lilith twist, the game gets noticeably better. Like... probably a 4-Star mid-end game. Hence, I split the difference, and here we are.
On the note of said Gabby twist: it's actually pretty neat stuff. I was tipped off to something like this happening after lurking BTVA and noticing that Gabby and Yuriko/Lilith have the same English VA. Hence I found it conspicuious when Gabby wasn't initially around for Yuriko's execution, only to turn around and have everyone say 'that's a spitting image of Gabby, not Gabby herself'. Basic Chekov's gun dictates something had to happen, and as someone cynical to 'foreshadowing' excuses, I'll hold the L just this once. Oh, and... then Gabby becomes Gabriel of the Four Archangels... which I should have also seen coming, but still.
This probably isn't the best time to say this, but I did dig out a guide for the Neutral/True ending (and if you're wondering, I do plan to replay Apocalypse at some point very soon). One of my mantras when playing games like this is 'whatever you call spoilers, I just call doing my homework' - and this is one of the reasons why.
As for Character Writing, I'd say it's respectable... until it isn't. I'm aware that probably sounds a bit harsh, so let's really break this down:
- Jonathan: His patriotism to Mikado is compelling, until he hears about the plan to 'purge the filth' (cue the memes), in which case he ends up looking like an idiot for taking all of the Church at face value. His means are fine up to that point, but his ends are pretty dippy because of it, mostly on an account of being an ambassador for a belief system he doesn't believe in, even after seeing shit like Pluto from the Blasted Tokyo timeline.
- Walter [Post Lilith visit]: "Hey so I found about about this cool thing called Globalism for the first time, so I'm going to transform into literal Satan to achieve my goals." (/sarc). Oh well, he's at least chill before then, and Matthew Mercer sounds like he was having fun with the role.
- Isabeau: Basically what a restraint check should be, even if there are instances where she's not as proactive as she should be. Reserved, reasonable, and (if the 'Manga' subplot that supposed to lead to Lilith's motivations are any indication) a TOTAL dork (although the through line between said literature and Lilith's motivations are... a bit more disjointed than I would have liked).
As for the Neutral ending in question... yeah, your mileage will vary. Tony4You has an excellent video on Alignment Issues that is a part of what could be considered part of the problem with this game's lack of moral complexity ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoALN7HnvxA ), yet at the same time, while I see why Nyarly thinks that Neutral is the 'worst ending in SMT he's ever seen', as someone who thinks this game in general levelled out to 'kinda mid', I do at least feel impartially towards said ending. I know the wording of this paragraph sounds kinda confused, and I think it's worth talking about in more detail elsewhere. All I'll say for now is that the people trying to use the CU as an explanation for the uninitiated (or otherwise unexplained) will not offer the implication that Isabeau managed to evac the entirety of Mikado the same curtsey.
Anyway, that was a long and disorganised first thoughts. I'll end off by saying that the OST and Graphics are also great. I mean, I enjoyed Apocalypse, so I enjoy this. Simples, methinks.
I need to go back and get all the endings. I think it just suffers from having no good way of grinding. People will tell you smt games don't need grinding but they really do if you wanna fuse anything worth a damn. I just dropped the difficulty because I wasn't having that much fun. The combat I still think is decent and smirking is a fun albeit broken at times mechanic. The music is def top tier though and especially the storyline.
É O SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI DEFINITIVO NAO TEM COMO
best jrpg jj
I still loved this game, and it's a crime that it's still only on the 3DS
After starting the game back in October of 2021 and coming back every now and then, I can say that this was a great game. I went for the Chaos ending and I found it good but I wished they showed a bit more of the side characters. I might play again for the neutral ending but I won't get the Law ending or the "Other" Ending because they sound less interesting to me. But for anyone who still has a way to play 3ds games and likes SMT, Then I would like to say that this isn't a waste of your time. :D
ESSE É GAYMES PRA CARALHOOOOO