Not enough people consider this the masterpiece of fiction it actually is
The most beautiful blending pot of the older SMTs, these archaic, products of their time but with a lot of soul and passion that drives it, and more modern iterations, with the specific feeling of modernity to it that doesn't really abandon the old, but remakes it to fit a more modern landscape
These are mixed to create an atmosphere that creates an extremely alien and hostile atmosphere in ways that the rest of the series never really approaches. It's most similar to the Vortex World in Nocturne, but more reversed. While Nocturne utilizes familiar locations to create a sense of abandonement and stillness, Strange Journey uses things that merge the familiar and the foreign to create an extremely hostile enviorment. It's this mix that creates an amazing plot-gameplay mixture, where even if at a surface level, it's simple, the more you dig in, the more it bites back. YOU are in danger, at every time, and the game doesn't make you forget that, making sure you are very aware that at any moment, you CAN die. Your fellow crew can die, nothing is ever really "safe".
The writing has a similar structure to 1's concepts, with Jimenez taking the role of the Chaos hero and Zelenin, the Law hero. It's similar, but it's deeply expanded here to lengths and quality never seen before. Both these characters are shaped by the Schwartzwelt, where Jimenez thrives and decides strength is everything, as he gains a deeper understanding of demons with his relationship with Bugaboo, while Zelenin decides that peace is the best option for humanity, where she is somewhat indoctrinated by Mostima to believe that only YHVH's kingdom can bring peace. This struggle between these two factions create a similar role to SMT 1's, but ot decides to change the setting and expand on its ideas much more that it still feels like a fresh experience.
Gameplay's really fun. I like the bosses a lot. Not as good as press turn but I do think it has its charm.
Dungeon crawling's great. People call it too hard but I think that's a skill issue and a lack of a correct mindset more than anything. Barely had issues, I had my fun with everything.
New content's weird. I like it but I think it's weirdly jammed in at times. New Law's definetly the best Law ending, and New Neutral's just the best SMT ending.
It's a unique game compared to what people are used to in some ways, but I personally think that this mixture of old and new makes the game shine much more than most of the other titles.
The most beautiful blending pot of the older SMTs, these archaic, products of their time but with a lot of soul and passion that drives it, and more modern iterations, with the specific feeling of modernity to it that doesn't really abandon the old, but remakes it to fit a more modern landscape
These are mixed to create an atmosphere that creates an extremely alien and hostile atmosphere in ways that the rest of the series never really approaches. It's most similar to the Vortex World in Nocturne, but more reversed. While Nocturne utilizes familiar locations to create a sense of abandonement and stillness, Strange Journey uses things that merge the familiar and the foreign to create an extremely hostile enviorment. It's this mix that creates an amazing plot-gameplay mixture, where even if at a surface level, it's simple, the more you dig in, the more it bites back. YOU are in danger, at every time, and the game doesn't make you forget that, making sure you are very aware that at any moment, you CAN die. Your fellow crew can die, nothing is ever really "safe".
The writing has a similar structure to 1's concepts, with Jimenez taking the role of the Chaos hero and Zelenin, the Law hero. It's similar, but it's deeply expanded here to lengths and quality never seen before. Both these characters are shaped by the Schwartzwelt, where Jimenez thrives and decides strength is everything, as he gains a deeper understanding of demons with his relationship with Bugaboo, while Zelenin decides that peace is the best option for humanity, where she is somewhat indoctrinated by Mostima to believe that only YHVH's kingdom can bring peace. This struggle between these two factions create a similar role to SMT 1's, but ot decides to change the setting and expand on its ideas much more that it still feels like a fresh experience.
Gameplay's really fun. I like the bosses a lot. Not as good as press turn but I do think it has its charm.
Dungeon crawling's great. People call it too hard but I think that's a skill issue and a lack of a correct mindset more than anything. Barely had issues, I had my fun with everything.
New content's weird. I like it but I think it's weirdly jammed in at times. New Law's definetly the best Law ending, and New Neutral's just the best SMT ending.
It's a unique game compared to what people are used to in some ways, but I personally think that this mixture of old and new makes the game shine much more than most of the other titles.
1 Comment
I know this review is a few months old, but I'd like to comment on it. I haven't played Strange Journey, and in fact something about the game always repelled me. I finally caved and bought it knowing the eshop is going away soon, and figured it'd be nice just to have it, just in case there's no way to get at it ever again. Your review actually makes me really want to tear into the thing now. Pretty excited to get to it, though I need to clean my plate of SMTIV:A and Soul Hackers first.
Weatherby
2 years ago