The worst game I've ever 100%ed. This game taught me to hate SMT properly. Not being ironic, either. Don't mess with me.
7 Comments
I encountered 2 Hua Pos early in my 2nd run of this game. I had a demon that was weak to fire. The 2 Hua Pos got to cast Maragi 4 times before I got a turn. Entire team got wiped.
That isn't even my major complaint for the series. I can forgive the combat being stupidly unforgiving, if it's in service to a good story. I honestly think the combat is pretty serviceable. I enjoy completely dominating enemies by using the system properly. It's just that everything else sucks on top of it.
Getting the true ending for SMT4 requires being schizophrenic. In order to maintain neutrality, you have to waver between being good and being evil. You can't just make neutral choices, because there are no neutral choices. You actually can't get the true ending unless you are purposefully trying to get the true ending. This is thematically nonsensical. You're supposed to be not choosing between "good" and "evil," not being both good and evil.
Not to mention, there are no characters in this entire series. Characters represent alignments. They are more symbols than characters.
That isn't even my major complaint for the series. I can forgive the combat being stupidly unforgiving, if it's in service to a good story. I honestly think the combat is pretty serviceable. I enjoy completely dominating enemies by using the system properly. It's just that everything else sucks on top of it.
Getting the true ending for SMT4 requires being schizophrenic. In order to maintain neutrality, you have to waver between being good and being evil. You can't just make neutral choices, because there are no neutral choices. You actually can't get the true ending unless you are purposefully trying to get the true ending. This is thematically nonsensical. You're supposed to be not choosing between "good" and "evil," not being both good and evil.
Not to mention, there are no characters in this entire series. Characters represent alignments. They are more symbols than characters.
Your reply to Sanjuro should have been a part of the actual review. Getting the true ending being nonsense is amazing criticism.
@AxiomOpus Most of my reviews for games I played a long time ago are just like the lingering impression I have from 100 years ago. It's really just the instant response I have to remembering the game. If I was playing this game today, I'd have written a real review.
People telling me what they didn't like about it just kind of rekindled my flame to talk about what I hate about it. lol
People telling me what they didn't like about it just kind of rekindled my flame to talk about what I hate about it. lol
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@jackindisguise I see lol. I dropped it once I realized the tonal inconsistency was too jarring among other things. There's a scene where a character is practically tortured to death, but minutes later, a gag happens where the male characters get knocked out by being charmed by multiple female demons and the female character comments on how the guys failed.
On gameplay bits that are bullshit: It's nearly impossible to check the map for longer than 10 seconds, cause the game doesn't let you pause and check it at the same time. A demon can spawn, attack you and gain the upper hand in battle while you weren't paying attention.
Your own allies can screw you over during a boss fight, cause the fact you discovered a boss' weakness doesn't carry over to your allies. One of the other characters can hit a boss with something that it nullifies, make you lose a turn, and then it kills one of your demons because of it. This happened to me twice and it was never my fault. It's never the player's fault.
On gameplay bits that are bullshit: It's nearly impossible to check the map for longer than 10 seconds, cause the game doesn't let you pause and check it at the same time. A demon can spawn, attack you and gain the upper hand in battle while you weren't paying attention.
Your own allies can screw you over during a boss fight, cause the fact you discovered a boss' weakness doesn't carry over to your allies. One of the other characters can hit a boss with something that it nullifies, make you lose a turn, and then it kills one of your demons because of it. This happened to me twice and it was never my fault. It's never the player's fault.
@AxiomOpus Another issue later in the game is that boss fights consist of just hoping you get lucky. I know there were dozens of bosses where they would legitimately instantly kill my entire team in 1 turn because they used 2 specific abilities in a row that hit everyone. This happens from the first boss in the game -- the minotaur. It can use its AOE attack twice in a row and kill your entire team just based on RNG. It doesn't do it often, but it can, and did.
I can see why someone might enjoy it. I just don't see why anyone would enjoy it. You know? lol
I can see why someone might enjoy it. I just don't see why anyone would enjoy it. You know? lol
@jackindisguise I beat the Minotaur boss on my first try, but that was also when I first experienced what it's like to get stabbed in the back by an ally. It resisted an ally character's fire skill and killed one of my demons, which made things more tedious.
"2 to 3 hits of mega physical damage to multiple foes." That's pretty much up to RNG, all right.
It also has this skill: "Medium physical damage to one foe. High critical but low accuracy."
Critical hits grant + 1 turn. Again, more RNG. What's funny is that no sane player would actually use skills like this one, cause missing makes you lose 2 turns. Someone once said they'd consider using a skill like this if they had accuracy/dodge +3 and the enemy had accuracy/dodge -3. Basically, it's not worth it. It only helps enemies where one lucky crit can ruin everything for the player. That's just bad game design.
"2 to 3 hits of mega physical damage to multiple foes." That's pretty much up to RNG, all right.
It also has this skill: "Medium physical damage to one foe. High critical but low accuracy."
Critical hits grant + 1 turn. Again, more RNG. What's funny is that no sane player would actually use skills like this one, cause missing makes you lose 2 turns. Someone once said they'd consider using a skill like this if they had accuracy/dodge +3 and the enemy had accuracy/dodge -3. Basically, it's not worth it. It only helps enemies where one lucky crit can ruin everything for the player. That's just bad game design.
SanjuroDjango
7 months ago