I want to know more about the console Shin Megami Tensei series. Where to start?

Lol at the mature Pokemon part (considering the MegaTen series was around years before Pokemon). I say give SMT3: Nocturne (part of the man series) a go as well as Digital Devil Saga 1,2. The ones I listed are turn based RPGs (SMT 3 if kind of heavy when it comes to dungeon crawling elemenst as well the Digital Devil Saga titles) You can find them at a reasonable price on amazon.

Those are all turn-based? I saw some gameplay vids on youtube but I still can't get a good feel for it, since I didn't want any spoilers. In P3 and P4 you have Personas that battle for you, so it's the same here? Also is there a list for the series? So if Nocturne is number 3, what are digital devil saga? Devil Summoner? eccentric_view

1. Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne-PS2 (turn based RPG with heavy dungeon crawling elements
2. Digital Devil Saga 1,2-PS2 (turn based
3. Devil Summoner 1,2-PS2 (action RPGs)
4. Persona 3 (Fes, portable)- PS2,PSP (turn based, features dating sim elements and also dungeon crawler elements)
5. Persona 4 -PS2 (same description as Persona 3)
6. Persona 1- PSX,PSP (played in first person perspective similar to first two MegaTen titles, turned based system summon persona some what similar t P3,P4 and heavy on the dungeon crawler elements)
7. Demi Kids-GBA (never played it so I can't describe it)
8. SMT: Devil Survivor-DS (SRPG

I think that's all of them and I will provide vids of gameplay.

These are MegaTen titles available on consoles (I won't list Persoan 3,4 since you've played them)

SMT Nocturne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QsWJkl12GM

Digital Devil Saga 1,2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHJbE_kfybs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynzL2TnEDec

Devil Summoner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOt3Vmr8bM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3di0Qb-4jo

Nocturne only has normal and hard difficulty setting. I think it's the same for Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 (it's been a while since I played DDS).

They are difficult, especially if you're a newcomer, but since you've played Persona, it shouldn't be that difficult for you. A lot of the battle features you've seen in Persona like weakness, strengths, extra turn, etc are also implemented in Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga...just with slight modifications. Once you get a hang of the combat system, the game shouldn't give you that much of a problem.

Well it would be nice to start at the first one, which I think was Playstation 1 and later remade for the Playstation Portable.

The PS2 SMT games all are similar to P3/P4 with a few differences in the battle systems:

Nocturne: no social links. Instead of collecting/fusing then equipping personas on your main character like you do in P3/P4, you capture/fuse demons and they become your party members . Post apocalyptic/dark setting.

Digital Devil Saga: no persona collecting/fusing. Uses a party upgrade system similar to the FFX sphere system. Post apocalyptic/dark setting.

Devil Summoner: uses a real time battle system instead of a turn-based battle system. You capture/fuse demons who become party members. Historical (Early 1900s)/light hearted setting.

As for difficulty...since you already played thru P3/P4 the rest of the games will be easier for you. They all use the same spells/abilities. Demon handling in Nocturne and Devil Summoner is the same as persona handling in P3/P4.

I've only played Persona 3 and Nocture and the difficulty between these two are day and night. Persona 3 have lots of save points but I remember that Nocture had way too few save points espcially considering it's random battle encounters filled with mamudo trigger happy demons.

I've only played Persona 3 and Nocture and the difficulty between these two are day and night. Persona 3 have lots of save points but I remember that Nocture had way too few save points espcially considering it's random battle encounters filled with mamudo trigger happy demons.

xWoW_Rougex

Ehhh…If you already played P3 and P4 there's no reason you couldn't play Nocturne. The only reason anyone would die easily and repeatedly in Nocturne during the regular random encounters is if they didn't know how to set up their party properly. People who played Nocturne as their first SMT game would have this problem. Since you played P3 and P4 you shouldn't have that problem. You should already have a really good understanding of which abilities are most useful in SMT games so you should be able to put together a proper party. I'm not saying you will never be killed in a random enemy encounter in Nocturne, afterall the enemies do get lucky every now and then, but if you set your party up correctly it should be a very rare occurrence.

If you are that concerned with difficulty level go with Devil Summoner. It's not the best SMT game out there, but it is the easiest.

Oh man so there's no option for "Easy" like with Persona 3 and 4? That sucks. I'll pass.

Then how about the first Persona game on PSP? I've heard nothing but bad things about it, but if at least they give the option for Easy then I wouldn't mind starting the series and seeing how much they've improved, even if story-wise they're not related.