(PSX version played)
This game goes hard on 4x speedup
This game threw a lot of shit at me, but for the record I did use a guide. It wasn't too bad, although things did feel real sluggish, even for dungeon crawler standards. I suppose the combat was faster than Nocturne's and V's, but after trying SMT2 on SFC, even the text feels slower than usual. The same applies to the PSX version of 2 for some reason. I meant more the general game anyway so I'll get into that.
I didn't have much of a problem with the bosses until the one in the Mind dungeon, the spider. I didn't have the best team so I had to go all the way back, find the place where weaker demons were hanging out, get those, then fuse certain demons. I ended up getting Estoma which was really helpful, and a few others I threw out rather quickly. Try to make it a habit to get Estoma and Traport ASAP in the classic SMT titles. The boss itself wasn't that hard honestly, but setting up my team was a bit of a pain without the Compendium. I'll get used to it.
The game simply does so much crazy shit. You start off as a normal guy having a crazy dream. You head out, and you're greeted with some more crazy shit. I don't want to spoil much, but there's a point where you meet Alice, she asks you to kill yourself and then she cries when you don't, so you face a super strong boss, escape from it, then later seal it in a jar. All in one dungeon. That's not even addressing the other thing that happens. Eventually you get to Tokyo Destinyland, a clear Disneyland knockoff that's cool visually and conceptually but kind of ass to navigate. I saw a screenshot of the SFC version and damn, every dungeon looks real samey in that one. Pretty sure they improved on that with 2. This is one of the last dungeons in the game, too. Really, the experience of Shin Megami Tensei is the main thing to enjoy about it. It's hard to explain exactly what it is, but it'd make a killer OVA.
Combat kind of sucked but that's something most should and likely do know about the first few SMT titles. Not once did I make a team to counter an enemy's weakness; if they can be stunned or charmed, that's a weakness. Otherwise, just go full power. MAG also isn't too important of a stat for your MC, but it's an option. It simply doesn't do much since he can't even use magic. Neither can the protag in 2, but you'll need 10 there because SMT2 still has some bullshit and to progress the game you'll need that later on. Luck is really only good for the protag, and you'll be getting a lot of it in Destinyland (10 points exactly, through incenses alone) so level it up a few times if you want, you don't really have to though. Honestly, stat spread doesn't matter too much, but if you want my opinion, go for STR, VIT and SPD, with a bit of INT/WIS. Try to get STR and SPD to 40 ASAP. For the Heroine I suggest SPD and MAG. SPD matters even more for her because of Zio spam; make sure she goes before the enemy. That's really what you need to know for most of the fights. There are a few exceptions of course, but if you save up your gems, get the Hinokagutsuchi. Even if you haven't, there's a few gems in the final dungeon. I chose to cheat it in because I'm a cheap bastard but there's a particular sword you're supposed to keep for the whole game, which I did keep, I was off a few gems though.
The final dungeon itself... kind of sucked. Not the best music either, but the SFC version has a way better song. Mainly, I had to go through about 16 floors total, due to being Neutral. Without backtracking too much, that's two sets of 8 floors, with numerous traps and bosses. Use your best items because it's not fun going back to the main floor. Encounters are rather crazy too, but this is why I suggested Traport and Estoma.
Overall, it's a very interesting game. Lots of crazy twists and turns. There is something of a problem with the older games in general though: people need to know what they're getting into. The average person should not start with this game. Hell, even starting with Nocturne is a bit bold. IV and V kind of helped make the series easier to enter. I don't mind the games being hard, personally, but there has to be at least a few people who tried this game as their first and quit. You have to be READY for this one, or in other words just enjoy the series already or be into boomer shit. I guess it could be called an acquired taste. Basically, unless you've got balls, don't start with this.
Pascal is a king
This game goes hard on 4x speedup
This game threw a lot of shit at me, but for the record I did use a guide. It wasn't too bad, although things did feel real sluggish, even for dungeon crawler standards. I suppose the combat was faster than Nocturne's and V's, but after trying SMT2 on SFC, even the text feels slower than usual. The same applies to the PSX version of 2 for some reason. I meant more the general game anyway so I'll get into that.
I didn't have much of a problem with the bosses until the one in the Mind dungeon, the spider. I didn't have the best team so I had to go all the way back, find the place where weaker demons were hanging out, get those, then fuse certain demons. I ended up getting Estoma which was really helpful, and a few others I threw out rather quickly. Try to make it a habit to get Estoma and Traport ASAP in the classic SMT titles. The boss itself wasn't that hard honestly, but setting up my team was a bit of a pain without the Compendium. I'll get used to it.
The game simply does so much crazy shit. You start off as a normal guy having a crazy dream. You head out, and you're greeted with some more crazy shit. I don't want to spoil much, but there's a point where you meet Alice, she asks you to kill yourself and then she cries when you don't, so you face a super strong boss, escape from it, then later seal it in a jar. All in one dungeon. That's not even addressing the other thing that happens. Eventually you get to Tokyo Destinyland, a clear Disneyland knockoff that's cool visually and conceptually but kind of ass to navigate. I saw a screenshot of the SFC version and damn, every dungeon looks real samey in that one. Pretty sure they improved on that with 2. This is one of the last dungeons in the game, too. Really, the experience of Shin Megami Tensei is the main thing to enjoy about it. It's hard to explain exactly what it is, but it'd make a killer OVA.
Combat kind of sucked but that's something most should and likely do know about the first few SMT titles. Not once did I make a team to counter an enemy's weakness; if they can be stunned or charmed, that's a weakness. Otherwise, just go full power. MAG also isn't too important of a stat for your MC, but it's an option. It simply doesn't do much since he can't even use magic. Neither can the protag in 2, but you'll need 10 there because SMT2 still has some bullshit and to progress the game you'll need that later on. Luck is really only good for the protag, and you'll be getting a lot of it in Destinyland (10 points exactly, through incenses alone) so level it up a few times if you want, you don't really have to though. Honestly, stat spread doesn't matter too much, but if you want my opinion, go for STR, VIT and SPD, with a bit of INT/WIS. Try to get STR and SPD to 40 ASAP. For the Heroine I suggest SPD and MAG. SPD matters even more for her because of Zio spam; make sure she goes before the enemy. That's really what you need to know for most of the fights. There are a few exceptions of course, but if you save up your gems, get the Hinokagutsuchi. Even if you haven't, there's a few gems in the final dungeon. I chose to cheat it in because I'm a cheap bastard but there's a particular sword you're supposed to keep for the whole game, which I did keep, I was off a few gems though.
The final dungeon itself... kind of sucked. Not the best music either, but the SFC version has a way better song. Mainly, I had to go through about 16 floors total, due to being Neutral. Without backtracking too much, that's two sets of 8 floors, with numerous traps and bosses. Use your best items because it's not fun going back to the main floor. Encounters are rather crazy too, but this is why I suggested Traport and Estoma.
Overall, it's a very interesting game. Lots of crazy twists and turns. There is something of a problem with the older games in general though: people need to know what they're getting into. The average person should not start with this game. Hell, even starting with Nocturne is a bit bold. IV and V kind of helped make the series easier to enter. I don't mind the games being hard, personally, but there has to be at least a few people who tried this game as their first and quit. You have to be READY for this one, or in other words just enjoy the series already or be into boomer shit. I guess it could be called an acquired taste. Basically, unless you've got balls, don't start with this.
Pascal is a king
2 Comments
NOT LIKE THIS
Sue
3 months ago