Atlus What's the appeal of Megami Tensei?

[LarryTyphoid]

This series seems really eclectic. The first few are Wizardy-style blobbers, but the more recent are bland looking JRPGs. And the story seems fucking retarded. The first game's about the reincarnation of a Shinto god, along with his girlfriend who is a Shinto goddess, fighting Satan? This is like the worst weeb shit I've ever seen. So what about this series would draw anybody in? I played a little bit of SMT on SNES and it had kind of a cool style and horror atmosphere, but I haven't gotten far. And do I have to make maps for the Famicom games or what? I think SMT has an automap.

 

[Tweed]

It's a blobber with demons for pokemon if you don't think that's cool then there's no hope for you. The new games are garbage, but there's a lot of older ones worth playing.

 

[WhiteShark]

I have the fondest memories of the very first Megami Tensei and Nocturne from mainline. The ones in between I don't remember very well. SMT1 has some pretty broken mechanics that can trivialize the game (discovered on accident). I played the first two in their Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei release for the Super Famicom, so I don't know whether there was an automap in the original version or not.

Anyway, the atmosphere is cool, some of the fights are challenging, and it's neat to see all the various mythological entities in the games. Demon fusion is ok too I guess. Strange Journey is not technically mainline but is probably the best dungeon crawling of the series and Devil Survivor: Overclocked is the best gameplay of anything SMT-related but is a non-mainline tactics game with a different art style.

 

[Falksi]

 

[abnaxus]

Big tiddie demons

 

[Tweed]

It's also one of the few JRPGs where the buff and debuff spells actually do something for the player rather than just the enemy.

 

[Percy]

It's fun

 

[Lord of Riva]

I think the scope of the story is appealing. SMT especially compared to the side-stories and most other JRPGs but also CRPGs is not a character driven experience Is a Good vs. Evil Setting it's epic in scope and the story is driven by metaphysical ideas and concepts. Thats appealing, you can find other games that are in the same Vein and are appealing for the same reasons, I would argue that Terranigma (possible soul blazer as well, to some extent.), Mask of the Betrayer and Kotor 2 fall into the same vein to some extent.

It's a also Pokemon with big anime tiddies and a Dong on a chariot, that certainly helps.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Because you can summon devils, and as we know, the youth is satanic and rotten to the core

 

[Lord of Riva]

Because you can summon devils, and as we know, the youth is satanic and rotten to the core

But you can summon angels as well.

 

[WhiteShark]

Because you can summon devils, and as we know, the youth is satanic and rotten to the core

But you can summon angels as well.

Yeah, """angels""":

The games still classify them all collectively as demons, though. No, this is not a translation error.

 

[Lord of Riva]

Because you can summon devils, and as we know, the youth is satanic and rotten to the core

But you can summon angels as well.

Yeah, """angels""":

The games still classify them all collectively as demons, though. No, this is not a translation error.

No issue with anime tiddies, Angel has a lot of forms though and most other angels are not as sexy.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

In most DRPG entries you get to dungeoneer through devastated areas with a machine gun, a hot babe, and your personal army of demons.

What's not to like?

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Since everybody has covered everything else, say what you will about which ever iteration but the music is always nice.

 

[Hobo Elf]

There's no appeal in new SMT games, but before the appeal was fusing a Jack Frost strong enough to kill god.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I played Persona 2 on the play station a bit only because it seemed cool because I was in school and now it's like kids in school fighting demons but quickly realized I'm not that retarded and moved on to better things like CRPGs.

 

[Rean]

quickly realized I'm not that retarded and moved on

Are you really, really sure you're no longer retarded and have moved on?

 

[TheSoul]

1. Kaneko. His demon designs remain iconic for a reason and there's a certain creepiness to them that makes it not look stupid. It's the good kind of anime/japanese influence.
2. Areas were unique for the time. Most jrpgs were fantasy based, so post-apocalyptic tokyo helped it stand out.
3. The games were willing to experiment. Persona 3 was very different from P2 which was very different from P1 which handled itself differently from smt:if. DDS and nocturne are very different experiences even though both use the press turn system.
4. 

If you mean why did Persona 3-5 take off, it's because it had highschoolers and tried to be relatable similar to why slice of life anime is so popular.

 

[Lord of Riva]

I played Persona 2 on the play station a bit only because it seemed cool because I was in school and now it's like kids in school fighting demons but quickly realized I'm not that retarded and moved on to better things like CRPGs.

1. Kaneko. His demon designs remain iconic for a reason and there's a certain creepiness to them that makes it not look stupid. It's the good kind of anime/japanese influence.
2. Areas were unique for the time. Most jrpgs were fantasy based, so post-apocalyptic tokyo helped it stand out.
3. The games were willing to experiment. Persona 3 was very different from P2 which was very different from P1 which handled itself differently from smt:if. DDS and nocturne are very different experiences even though both use the press turn system.
4. 

If you mean why did Persona 3-5 take off, it's because it had highschoolers and tried to be relatable similar to why slice of life anime is so popular.

Persona is not SMT though, the Persona series has a vastly different Focus, you can not relate the two and say they appeal for the same reason. I have not enjoyed the Persona series at all.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I actually started looking into MegaTen because I saw the popularity of the Persona series and wanted to try and get into it from the beginning. I agree that Persona appears to bear little resemblance to its father series. SMT's darker and more horror-themed, while Persona seems to be a light-hearted anime-style series.

Trying to get into Persona from the beginning is also a mistake, because the first Persona game is complete dogshit. There's first-person dungeon crawling like a blobber, but the dungeons are dull, combat is horrendous, and everything else about the game is boring. Later Persona games appear to have no gameplay mechanics from SMT and look more like Final Fantasy 7 with dating sim elements. If you wanted to get into Persona because you saw people talking about it on the internet, then it seems like P3 is the best entry to start out with, though it appears to be quite the detested game on the Codex.

I played the first two in their Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei release for the Super Famicom, so I don't know whether there was an automap in the original version or not.

You start with a spell that can show you a small map, but its area is limited to a few tiles around you and it fizzles during new moons. I've still heard people recommending mapping it out yourself, while using the map spell as an aid. I'm pretty fatigued with mapping games out at this point so I might just play the remake like you did, even though the NES version is a little more aesthetically appealing to me.

 

[visions]

Saying Persona and SMT have no common gameplay mechanics is an exaggeration. You collect and fuse demons in both, combat is mostly about hitting elemental weaknesses and avoiding getting hit to your elemental weaknesses. When there's a difficult encounter, the solution is often to find/fuse/use demons/personas that drain/repel/null the damage types used by the difficult foe. Buffing/debuffing is pretty important, I very rarely bother with buffing and debuffing stats in other games but in SMT and Persona it's very helpful if not a must in boss fights. I find the fundamentals of combat pretty similar, apart from the difference in difficulty. I played SMT 3 Nocturne HD first, then Persona 4 Golden, then Persona 5 Royal so I don't know about the other games in these series but that's my experience based on these 3 games.

For me these games have some overlapping appeal (collecting, raising and fusing demons/mythological creatures, great soundtacks and nice visuals, especially for Jap games that often look cancerous to me). Although as far as dungeon crawling and the amount of dialogue is concerned, they are very different from each other. So I agree that SMT and Persona have a different focus but for me they have some overlapping appeal too.

I picked up Nocturne first because of its reputation and initially I had little interest in Persona, thinking it's SMT for casuals but I needed something for my Steam Deck and Persona 4 was verified for it so I gave it a chance and ended up liking it a lot. As far as the modern Jap high school setting goes, honestly I'd rather have that than some overly verbose fantasy setting with too much exposition about made up kingdoms I can't bother to care about. I have very little patience for normal fantasy these days and have dropped fantasy games I've recently tried in the first few hours, thinking I can't be bothered with this shit about the kingdom of Whatever being in war with the kingdom of Whereever. I guess the fact that I never watched any high school anime helps with Persona, maybe otherwise I would be sick of modern Jap high school settings too.

 

[Vic]

Saying Persona and SMT have no common gameplay mechanics is an exaggeration.

it’s literally the same shit. all persona and smt games I have played had the same basic gameplay only with different story as flavor. but it’s the same dungeon crawl with rock-paper-scissors pokemon battles. people who don’t see that they are basically buying the same game over and over are retarded.

 

[flyingjohn]

it’s literally the same shit

Combat wise yeah.

all persona and smt games I have played had the same basic gameplay

Show me a smt game with school sim elements? And I am not even gonna go in how dungeons are different between the series.

different story as flavor

It is not flavor it is focus. Smt has minimal story focus compared to persona. There is more story in persona's first hour then there is in most smt games.

the same dungeon crawl

If you consider persona a dungeon crawler that is your problem, it is a jrpg. It is like comparing wizardry to morrowind because they both have dungeons.

rock-paper-scissors pokemon battles

Or you can just buff/debuff your way to victory which is also a Pokemon strategy. In smt/persona exploiting weakness gives you something more then just extra dmg, in Pokemon it is just extra damage.
Also, both series are pretty good in making status effects actually decent. Hm, there is a lot of similarity it seems.

people who don’t see that they are basically buying the same game over and over are retarded.

I too feel that smt nocturne is the same game as persona 4, wait a moment?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

How many games cast Lucifer as a heroic rebel and God as a tyrant who nukes the world? True to the bible, the Voice of YHWH is a one-shot kill.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I always assumed Persona was like a side series to SMT though I'm not familiar with many of the games.