Re: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Series
Okay! Lets get started on these replies!
SMT IV is going to be released in less than 2 weeks. I need to get Soul Hackers over with, but I got stuck in one of the dungeons.
I heard Atlus' parent company is in financial trouble. I hope it doesn't affect them in the future.
Which dungeon was it? The second to last one, I think it's like the Amami Monolith? That dungeon is fvcking brutal. It's a complete pain in the ass.
Atlus' parent company, Index is doing fine now I believe. Atlus won't be affected thankfully.
I decided to give SMT IV a whirl. Some random impressions.
Art direction is pretty solid. Fully animated cutscenes seem to be abscent so far, but the sprites and background illustrations are superb.
I don't think there will be full on cutscenes. More or less, it will be like what you've saw already. Character drawing will move while the background moves/changes. That's it really. I don't mind it because I don't expect some MGS like cinematic on the 3DS lol. Plus the drawings are fantastic so I dig it.
Town navigation looks is streamlined to being entirely menu-based. I was kind of hoping be able to walk around the environment, but the upside is it will save time when needing to get from point A to point B. Speaking of menus, the interface is nice and clean compared to the earlier SMT games I played.
When you get further in the game, there will be a map like how you control in Nocturne with you being the dot and moving from place to place.
The menu is really nice. The easy functionality of it is really nice. Nothing overly complicated or anything like I was expecting.
Movement and camera controls is kind of awkward, like Nocturne. I prefer Persona the 3-4 scheme, but it's not viable since the 3DS doesn't have a second analog.
You'll get the hang of it. It plays pretty much exactly like Persona 3: Portable does. Having to press square (B in this case) to move the camera angle back to behind you. You'll eventually grow used to it. I'm already used to it.
While it doesn't have the traditional random encounters, enemies spawn on the field at any time. I once had 4 enemies run at me. Unless they haven't spotted you yet, it can be difficult to get away from them. Demons on the field can be pretty quick and the awkward movement controls doesn't really help things either.
The game is surprisingly challenging early in the game. A bad roll during an encounter can really F you up. Even Nocturne was not that rough at the beginning.
It's true they're fast and there really is sometimes when you just HAVE to fight them. There has been a few times when 4 of them will just pop up out of nowhere and charge at me. I really like how it shows the % chance of you getting away if you want to escape. If you play on easy (easy is unlocked by dying 2 times) the escape chance is always 100%.
The beginning of SMTIV surprisingly is pretty hard and thankfully too. I didn't want it to be a cakewalk the whole way through. I still have some problems negotiating with demons. I'm just not good at it lol. Here have 3 life stones and some macca and my health and the fvcker just leaves.
I really like buying the apps from Burroughs too, it makes things a lot simpler.
Dying cutscene is annoying long, although I suspect it was done on purpose to discourage save/reload tactics.
Yeah that I will agree on, however it adds to the eerie-ness of it. Honestly, the River Styx has always freaked me out for some odd reason and they did it perfectly.
But if you hold down X, you'll skip all the dialog.
Thankfully, saving the game is much more convenient since it can be done anywhere instead of relying on checkpoints.
There is more character customization than ever, with attribute distribution like Nocturne plus the ability for Demons to teach you their skills.
Saving anywhere is REALLY fvcking nice. I am able to save right before a boss fight so I don't have to go all the way through the dungeon again. I always save now right in front of a demons domain so I'll have nothing to worry about.
The character customization is really nice. I really like how the armor shows up on the character in game. I'm still looking for the white studded leather armor though. That armor looks bad ass. I'm currently using the white samurai DLC costume you can get for free (only free for a little while so snatch it up when you can).
Thankfully there are some funny moments in the game too.
Also, Isabeau <3
Well except her goofy ass haircut. Other than that, yeah <3.
ALSO! I hiiiiiighly doubt any of you guys have or know where to get one of these.
IF you do know, get it for me and I will HAPPILY trade you my promo Persona 4 t-shirt and give a hand job (lube not supplied).
