Masonvrocks Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 How the series works? I can give it a go. Most SMT games barring the two most recent Persona games and the DDS series revolve around recruiting and fusing demons, usually through negotiation. Other than that they're pretty straightforward, if difficult, JRPG's. Fair amount of combat and some can be a little grindy. As far as spin offs and such there's the 4 mainline SMT Games (Plus Strange Journey on the DS which was originally intended to be SMT4). The Persona series which is pretty well known, the Devil Summoner series which is two Saturn games (and some modern remakes) and two PS2 games. These games are of course about Devil Summoners, shadowy organizations and eventually time travel. The two PS2 games take place in 1920's Tokyo and are super stylish. There's the two Digital Devil Saga games for PS2 which I recommend if only because they play similar to the main line games but don't have recruitment and aren't as hard. Good entry point if you can find them. Takes place in a post apocalypse setting where warring tribes fight to ascend to Nirvana before they all get turned into Demons. There's the Devil Survivor series on the DS/3DS. They're kind've FF tactics style SRPGs but I haven't played them so I don't have much to say. There's a few other spin offs like Demi kids and Maijin Tensei but they're not great or super relevant anymore so... Catherine has a few tie ins SMT as well =D And while there is a timeline that ties most of the games together it's super unimportant. The only real ties are stylistic and atmospheric, along with the carrying over of demon design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 SMT: Nocturne, what I played, and kind of SMT IIII, isn't set in 1920s but roughly early 2000s. They've got mobile phones and such. Oh it's also kinda hard, hence my never finishing it. Though I can't remember what aspect I found overly hard (that eventually stopped me, cos Matador was a fucking hard boss) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I started SMT IV recently and it is kicking the shit out of me. It's my first SMT game outside of the Persona universe, and it's almost overwhelming. Has anyone else played this one? Any early game tips that might give me a chance? I'm around level 12 or 13 right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMW Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Yes! I am your guy - I am resident SMT enthusiast. SMT IV is absolutely brutal for the first 20 levels. It's honestly a flaw in the game - it's just kind of mean. You must save and save often. The game's only kindness is that it lets you have complete control over what skills are inherited by your minions. You need to prioritize keeping multiple healers and posumudi handy. Other anti-ailment techniques are of limited utility, but you are going to be spending time walking across poison floors. It sucks. Be prepared. Then you've also gotta figure out how you're building your protagonist. Remaining evenly balanced is not a path to victory in this game, you need to choose either strength, agility, or magic and get a lot of points in that. My first time through I maxed Agility and made sure my hero was inheriting gun type skills over and over (needle strike, etc). I'm currently partway through a second run focusing on Magic and I think it's way harder. I've found early App investments into walking MP regen to be absolutely vital. Increasing your demon stock is also necessary, though you can ramp that up slowly. Just don't leave it entirely forgotten! You almost never have enough money to upgrade to each new set of equipment that shows up in the shop. Don't worry too much about missing a set. Never sell your old armor once you upgrade, make sure you always keep one set back. That way if you run into a boss who uses attacks your current armor is weak to you have a fall back option. Only once a set is 2 upgrades back then it's safe to sell it. If you get lost in the overworld, just use the included strategy guide. The overworld map is pretty rotten in this game and it's completely possible to wander into areas that are not level appropriate. And even if you don't wander into instant death, it's also easy to wander around not finding what you're looking for and not having fun. Just find a map or a FAQ or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 So are you saying I should put my points into agility? I've been doing balanced out of habit but that's only been getting me so far so obviously I need to rethink how I am building the MC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMW Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Well, Agility is an option. You definitely need to prioritize one of the first 3 stats, and then make sure you're inheriting skills that compliment those. So spells for magic, agility for needle shot/grand tack/whatever gun type skills you find, and strength if you wanna pick up physical attacks like lunge/madness nails/tetanus cut. You need to be really good at ONE of those options and have your stats and skill in sync with that choice. I've done dexterity with a lot of gun damage moves, and it worked really well for me. Gun block and reflect aren't too common an issue. I'm currently doing magic and it's really strong... but I have way more issues running out of mana and using up all my skill slots (since you want all four elements, some healing, and maybe some ma- spells too. ALL those things are based on the Magic stat.). All three offensive specializations are viable though. Just pick one, put a ton of points into it, and keep the last two stats (Luck and Agility?) respectable. Those are useful/necessary to have regardless of how you hit bad guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Is there some kind of trick to negotiating with demons that I'm missing? So far everything I do is based completely on guesswork, and I gotta say that the demons are real assholes who like to cheat me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMW Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Nope, it's a complete luck of the draw kind of deal. In the previous installment (Strange Journey) you could kinda learn what each demon wanted to hear (I mean, after 3 playthroughs. It's still pretty random) but I'm 1.5 times through SMT IV and still have NO feel for the negotiation. The rule I follow is to only ever chat up the last demon alive in a group, so that if/when things go south damage is minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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