I liked it, but for me its not 10/10 peak fiction like some people say. The endings are good but leave a lot to be desired, i guess thats what apocalypse is for.
GAME SO NICE I PLAYED IT TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SMT IV is like a gentle slope leading down into a cliff, it is impressive how this game managed to slowly bleed out my enjoyment over the course of many hours before finally bringing down the hammer and crushing my soul.
The beginning section in Mikado is the best part of the game and I feel like this is a massively unpopular opinion. Despite knowing we'd eventually end up in a post apocalyptic Tokyo I had high hopes that Mikado would get about half as much screen time... that it didn't, and it disappointed me a little, but by far it is not my biggest problem with this game's story. What makes Mikado great is how it sets up the law/neutral/chaos conflict SMT is known for, gets you to know the friends that will more than likely betray you as is series tradition, and introduces the gameplay with some proper bite meant to say this isn't your grandma's monster collection game. By the end of the game most of these aspects will be botched, the only exception being the character dynamics, those survive the end game slump and that's commendable.
The first proper boss-like encounter of the game is the hardest it ever gets, I'd go as far as to say the minotaur boss is overhyped, but still, everything within Naraku is at a nice level of challenge. The game plays more or less like any other mainline SMT post 3, you got your press turns, you got your fusions now with manual skill selection, and you get to distribute stats, though with the notable disappearance of the vit stat. SMT 4's troubles aren't in the Megaten formula, but how it handles it, magic is simply too dominant, the game ends when you whisper megido to Flynn as you'll never struggle with a random battle ever again, and even bosses will fold in often only two turns. This isn't simply an elitist "Megaten is supposed to be hard" take, the game is just boring after a while and it never recovers unless you try your hand at the DLCs. What makes it worse is that one of the three endings, neutral specifically, requires you to do a mountain of mind numbing side quests in order to access the final set of dungeons, this is likely an attempt at making neutral feel like the definitive ending where you do the most stuff, a notion I already dislike because what's the point of choosing an alignment if the "neither" option is definitive, but it comes out as pure needless padding.
As mentioned above, neutral is framed as the definitive choice in a complete antithesis to the series' identity. The story arcs that precede the alignment lock are the closest the game ever gets to surpassing the intro, presenting arguments as to why chaos cannot exist without order and order cannot exist without chaos, it then promptly fumbles it by making chaos the bad choice and order the worse one. The only reasonable choice is the neutral route, and it ends up being too reasonable as the only thing you sacrifice to achieve the best outcome is losing your sanity doing a mountain of side quests.
I wanted to like this game, and I did for a few brief moments, but I cannot truly enjoy it, its flaws are too many. I do not put it in the same high pedestal as most other fans, but I'd much rather replay it than SMT 1 so that's something at least.
The beginning section in Mikado is the best part of the game and I feel like this is a massively unpopular opinion. Despite knowing we'd eventually end up in a post apocalyptic Tokyo I had high hopes that Mikado would get about half as much screen time... that it didn't, and it disappointed me a little, but by far it is not my biggest problem with this game's story. What makes Mikado great is how it sets up the law/neutral/chaos conflict SMT is known for, gets you to know the friends that will more than likely betray you as is series tradition, and introduces the gameplay with some proper bite meant to say this isn't your grandma's monster collection game. By the end of the game most of these aspects will be botched, the only exception being the character dynamics, those survive the end game slump and that's commendable.
The first proper boss-like encounter of the game is the hardest it ever gets, I'd go as far as to say the minotaur boss is overhyped, but still, everything within Naraku is at a nice level of challenge. The game plays more or less like any other mainline SMT post 3, you got your press turns, you got your fusions now with manual skill selection, and you get to distribute stats, though with the notable disappearance of the vit stat. SMT 4's troubles aren't in the Megaten formula, but how it handles it, magic is simply too dominant, the game ends when you whisper megido to Flynn as you'll never struggle with a random battle ever again, and even bosses will fold in often only two turns. This isn't simply an elitist "Megaten is supposed to be hard" take, the game is just boring after a while and it never recovers unless you try your hand at the DLCs. What makes it worse is that one of the three endings, neutral specifically, requires you to do a mountain of mind numbing side quests in order to access the final set of dungeons, this is likely an attempt at making neutral feel like the definitive ending where you do the most stuff, a notion I already dislike because what's the point of choosing an alignment if the "neither" option is definitive, but it comes out as pure needless padding.
As mentioned above, neutral is framed as the definitive choice in a complete antithesis to the series' identity. The story arcs that precede the alignment lock are the closest the game ever gets to surpassing the intro, presenting arguments as to why chaos cannot exist without order and order cannot exist without chaos, it then promptly fumbles it by making chaos the bad choice and order the worse one. The only reasonable choice is the neutral route, and it ends up being too reasonable as the only thing you sacrifice to achieve the best outcome is losing your sanity doing a mountain of side quests.
I wanted to like this game, and I did for a few brief moments, but I cannot truly enjoy it, its flaws are too many. I do not put it in the same high pedestal as most other fans, but I'd much rather replay it than SMT 1 so that's something at least.
ich mag es die dicktittigen dämonen mit dem kleinen kuscheltier zu fusionieren
Finished the game with Neutral (law) ending, I should be able to endure 3 more endings. Anyways i really liked the game and enjoyed both the story and combat; dlc content for exp and macca are greatly appreciated as they make the game less grindy in NG+. Overall it's a great game, the music fits the game in PERFECTLY and helps characterize certain moments/areas of the game. Battle-b2 slaps (c2 too)
Worth playing just for the setting alone. While the press turn system is still as fun as ever, the overall balancing of this game leaves a lot to be desired since you can basically steamroll the rest of the game after you defeat the second major boss. Despite the story itself being pretty basic, the world they've built and the simple but likeable cast of characters BEFORE THE ALIGNMENT LOCK more than make up for it. As with every SMT game it likes to pretend that each of the endings are equally viable choices but once you see all of them it's clear which is the definitive good ending. (And it's not the white ending.) Also has one of the best soundtracks of the genre.
I'm glad I tired to play this game 5 times and pushed through navigating one of the worst overworld maps in the history of games to complete this game. Really truly moving, a slow burn of a story that is like boiling a frog because before you know it, you're in Reverse Hills and everything is going to hell in ways you never anticipated.
I really like the thesis of this game. I tripped into the Neutral route for my first playthru (I KNOW, wtf) and there is something so compelling about the final message of the game, about the impermanence of this "golden" ending, it was deeply effecting.
Half star deducted for that fucking overworld map. Another half star deducted for Purgatorium.
I really like the thesis of this game. I tripped into the Neutral route for my first playthru (I KNOW, wtf) and there is something so compelling about the final message of the game, about the impermanence of this "golden" ending, it was deeply effecting.
Half star deducted for that fucking overworld map. Another half star deducted for Purgatorium.
this game is so fucking good man
This review contains spoilers
Do you know how fucked it is that you cannot legally buy the greatest turn based RPG ever made? That even the emulator to play the only platform it was released on is actually illegal and is now only fleetingly available to download on mirror websites that haven't been wiped from existence. A dizzying exchanging of a legally deemed nuclear football, all in service to prevent anyone from experiencing unique games that defy the tedium of its genre and defies limits on how brutal a game can be.
It's like the game itself achieved its own True Ending: wiping itself from existence as the cycle of death it represents is doomed to repeat infinitely.
This is the kind of shit that terrifies me about media laws and the fucked state of injustices that exist in every pocket of the legal systems that govern us. This earth shattering motherfucking CLASSIC is at the mercy of being remembered by those who jumped through the hoops to emulate it.
Nintendo is that fucking Minotaur. Beyond its watch, lies ruins of neglected software; and a underground that advances in defiance of its own imprisonment.
May the Minotaur never find and DMCA you
It's like the game itself achieved its own True Ending: wiping itself from existence as the cycle of death it represents is doomed to repeat infinitely.
This is the kind of shit that terrifies me about media laws and the fucked state of injustices that exist in every pocket of the legal systems that govern us. This earth shattering motherfucking CLASSIC is at the mercy of being remembered by those who jumped through the hoops to emulate it.
Nintendo is that fucking Minotaur. Beyond its watch, lies ruins of neglected software; and a underground that advances in defiance of its own imprisonment.
May the Minotaur never find and DMCA you
Good music fuck smirk