Well I have been looking through past threads, or as far back as I felt was necessary and at that, i noticed a lot of people (pointing mostly at a member called dudesraper but others did too.) talk about some kind of Shin Megamai Tensei games. ~Now, I am not really familiar with this series at all. I have heard about it many times, but back then i never really paid much attention to it and at the times I did, I'm afraid I could not find any games. ~So I ask, what kind of games are they? What do you recommend? I just recently got a copy of some kind of "Persona 2", is that any good? One more thing kind of off-topic, is there a reason why the forums keep mashing my paragraphcs together and don;t allow them to be separate? I find it to be harder to read.
Shin Megami Tensei are some of the most awesome RPG games ever created. They are dark, mature and in their own way humourous. The battle system is awesome and tactical. They are also some of the hardest and most challenging RPG's though and most of the titles require you to grind at certain points. Shoji Meguro also does an amazing job on the soundtrack. As far as the games go, Lucifers Call/Nocturne is the best IMO. DDS 1 and 2 are also really good but they don't allow you to have monsters in your party. Devil Summoner 1 and 2 are action RPG's and are awesome aswell. Persona 3 and 4 are probably the most popular. I never played 4 but I didn't like 3 that much. The whole game revolves around this tower and it gets very repeptitive early on. Anyway if you are going to play one, play Lucifers Call/Nocturne firstas its the best :)
It's my favourite RPG series. Persona 3FES and Persona 4 and the most reccomendable imo, they're the easiest of the PS2 SMT titles and the easiest to get into. You have a fun dating-sim-like calender where you make friends and stregthen bonds to increase your pwoer (like say this one friends type is Magician, any Magician-type Personas you have get tronger the better the bond is with that friend). A fun but complex Persona Fusing system, and fun turn-based combat where you have to focus on striking the enemies weakness. The other PS2 SMT titles are harder than those two, but equally great. Each one changes the formula quite a bit, so the series has plenty of variety, like Devil Summoner 1 & 2 are more action RPG, you directly control your character and must capture Monsters so you can use in battle (also has a monster fusing system, different from the Persona games but the same cncept) Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, are turn-based and they have "press turns", like you have 3 party members, so you see 3 symbols on tpo of the screen, each represents a turn, if you exploit a weakness, you gain another press turn, so if you can successfully exploit the weakness you can (maximum) double your turns in a round. The monsters in this one are different than in any other SMT, your characters ARE the monsters, you can turn into and out of your monster form during battle, and you learn various skills using a grid-based system. Imo it's the less reccomendable because of it's difficulty, I only advise it if you get into the SMT series. The random battle rate is incredibly high and you can die by the slightest of the mistakes, it's pretty brutal. Nocturne I do own, but haven't played, I tried it out though, it seems like the difficulty goes close to DDS1&2 but if focuses on recruiting monsters by talking with them, etc (like in Persona 2)
[QUOTE="Dudersaper"]It's my favourite RPG series. Persona 3FES and Persona 4 and the most reccomendable imo, they're the easiest of the PS2 SMT titles and the easiest to get into. You have a fun dating-sim-like calender where you make friends and stregthen bonds to increase your pwoer (like say this one friends type is Magician, any Magician-type Personas you have get tronger the better the bond is with that friend). A fun but complex Persona Fusing system, and fun turn-based combat where you have to focus on striking the enemies weakness. The other PS2 SMT titles are harder than those two, but equally great. Each one changes the formula quite a bit, so the series has plenty of variety, like Devil Summoner 1 & 2 are more action RPG, you directly control your character and must capture Monsters so you can use in battle (also has a monster fusing system, different from the Persona games but the same cncept) Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, are turn-based and they have "press turns", like you have 3 party members, so you see 3 symbols on tpo of the screen, each represents a turn, if you exploit a weakness, you gain another press turn, so if you can successfully exploit the weakness you can (maximum) double your turns in a round. The monsters in this one are different than in any other SMT, your characters ARE the monsters, you can turn into and out of your monster form during battle, and you learn various skills using a grid-based system. Imo it's the less reccomendable because of it's difficulty, I only advise it if you get into the SMT series. The random battle rate is incredibly high and you can die by the slightest of the mistakes, it's pretty brutal. Nocturne I do own, but haven't played, I tried it out though, it seems like the difficulty goes close to DDS1&2 but if focuses on recruiting monsters by talking with them, etc (like in Persona 2) So what are the main difference between say, Persona, original series, Digital devil etc? What series are there?
My first post basically tells the biggest differences, I don't really know how to explain it more, sorry. But in short: Persona3FES/Persona 4: -Easily reccomendable for newcomers to SMT -More accessible difficulty (with choice between easy, normal and hard) -You gain skills by getting new Personas -Personas are gained at the end of battles where you do a sort of pick a card game -Persona Fusing System -Calender Date-Sim to create bonds with friends and get stronger Personas -Simple turn-based combat, focusing on exploiting enemy weaknesses (if you exploit the weakness of a monster, it will stay "Down" and lose a turn, if all monsters in a battle are "Down", your party can perform an "All-Out Attack", where all members join and clobber the enemy. -Monsters are seen directly in the world, you then have a chance to strike the enemy befre entering the battle, this will decide who attacks first in battle Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 -Higher difficulty than the Persona games, no choice between easy, normal or hard. -You gain skills via Skill Grid, where you purchase a skill set and level it up, once it reaches it's max, you learn the skills in the set. -Your characters monster forms are the only usable monsters in the game (as opposed to Personas personas and Devil Summoners devils) -Incredibly high random encounter rate -Turn-based combat, using "press turns", exploit a weakness, you gain a press turn, you can also lose press turns if you hit enemies with elements they are strong or immune against. Devil Summoner 1 & 2: -Moderate difficulty. -You "learn" skills by capturing devils, your devils then have the skills you can order them to perform in battle. -Action battle system, you directly control your character and use the X button to strike, and also have a gun, Triangle brings up the menu to use items/summon captures devils/etc -You can use devils outside of combat fr various things (ex. reading peoples minds) -Random battles rate is moderate. Can't really elaborate on the other as I haven't played them enough.
[QUOTE="Dudersaper"]My first post basically tells the biggest differences, I don't really know how to explain it more, sorry. But in short: Persona3FES/Persona 4: -Easily reccomendable for newcomers to SMT -More accessible difficulty (with choice between easy, normal and hard) -You gain skills by getting new Personas -Personas are gained at the end of battles where you do a sort of pick a card game -Persona Fusing System -Calender Date-Sim to create bonds with friends and get stronger Personas -Simple turn-based combat, focusing on exploiting enemy weaknesses (if you exploit the weakness of a monster, it will stay "Down" and lose a turn, if all monsters in a battle are "Down", your party can perform an "All-Out Attack", where all members join and clobber the enemy. -Monsters are seen directly in the world, you then have a chance to strike the enemy befre entering the battle, this will decide who attacks first in battle Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 -Higher difficulty than the Persona games, no choice between easy, normal or hard. -You gain skills via Skill Grid, where you purchase a skill set and level it up, once it reaches it's max, you learn the skills in the set. -Your characters monster forms are the only usable monsters in the game (as opposed to Personas personas and Devil Summoners devils) -Incredibly high random encounter rate -Turn-based combat, using "press turns", exploit a weakness, you gain a press turn, you can also lose press turns if you hit enemies with elements they are strong or immune against. Devil Summoner 1 & 2: -Moderate difficulty. -You "learn" skills by capturing devils, your devils then have the skills you can order them to perform in battle. -Action battle system, you directly control your character and use the X button to strike, and also have a gun, Triangle brings up the menu to use items/summon captures devils/etc -You can use devils outside of combat fr various things (ex. reading peoples minds) -Random battles rate is moderate. Can't really elaborate on the other as I haven't played them enough. What about the first two personas? (as I mentioned, i just recently got Persona 2.)
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