Shin Megami Tensei

Can't get enough of this







Really excited for Persona 5. Does it come out in Japan before North America or do they release at the same time?



Also started playing Nocturne. Figured it could pass the time till Destiny gets here.
I like it a lot so far. It's such a strange sight seeing Demons wander around town whereas in Persona only a handful of people know they exist.

Just got to Ginsa, or Ginvo or Gensa. Whatever it's called lol. Level 14. Been grinding my ass off.
 
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I would say, that we get the game at least 5 months after the Japanese release. The localization process takes time from translating, voice overs, and occasionally changes to make things more understandable or palatable to overseas audience.

In rare cases, localized versions get an updated version of the game. The US version of Nocturne happens to be one of them.
 
What do you guys think of Digital Devil Saga?
I watched a few minutes of a playthrough and it looked pretty interesting. The MC of Nocturne is a boss I guess?

Also looks like you transform into your demon. Kinda like a mix of SMT and Persona. Pretty cool from what little I saw.
 
I think Nemesis is the only one here who played Digital Devil Saga. He didn't think much of it, if I recall correctly.

I want to try it one day, but it's kind of low on my priority list given my massive backlog. I heard it's more accessible than Nocturne because you keep every skill you learn. In Nocturne, any skill you remove from your limited slots are gone forever, so you have to plan ahead or seriously screw yourself over.

The only SMTIV games I finished are Persona 4 and Soul Hackers.
 
What do you guys think of Digital Devil Saga?
I watched a few minutes of a playthrough and it looked pretty interesting. The MC of Nocturne is a boss I guess?

Also looks like you transform into your demon. Kinda like a mix of SMT and Persona. Pretty cool from what little I saw.

Believe it or not, Digital Devil Saga was my very first JRPG. Even before P4, however, P4 was the first JRPG I've ever beaten. I didn't beat DDS. The concept and story is really cool actually, but you just watched a few minutes? Did you hear the fvcking god awful voice acting?


I don't know why I never got around to beating it. I just haven't yet. I'll surely get and play both of the chapters along with the Raidou Devil Summoner series when all 4 of them are on PSN.



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Yeah, the guy I watched was switching around his skills. Pretty crazy lol.


Nocturne doesn't seem too hard at the moment, mostly because I don't mind grinding. Only spot I had some real trouble with was Matador. But after rearranging my party he became pretty easy. The other times I died were by unlucky Hama skills (Grinding enemies with one hit kill moves is a great way to lose 30 minutes of progress :?)


Why haven't you played/finished Persona 3?
 
Believe it or not, Digital Devil Saga was my very first JRPG. Even before P4, however, P4 was the first JRPG I've ever beaten. I didn't beat DDS. The concept and story is really cool actually, but you just watched a few minutes? Did you hear the fvcking god awful voice acting?
I don't know why I never got around to beating it. I just haven't yet. I'll surely get and play both of the chapters along with the Raidou Devil Summoner series when all 4 of them are on PSN.


Nah I only watched some gameplay of a boss fight.

All 4 of them are already on PSN though.
 
I have a picture for everything SMT lol.



Nocturne is only hard on Hard mode and when you don't come prepared or you just get fvcked when trying to go to a save point with your best demons dead.

Nah I only watched some gameplay of a boss fight.

All 4 of them are already on PSN though.

Huh, I didn't know that. Last I checked the only ones up on the US store were Raidou 1 and 2 and Nocturne and DDS1 and 2 were just on the EU store.
 
Yeah, the guy I watched was switching around his skills. Pretty crazy lol.


Nocturne doesn't seem too hard at the moment, mostly because I don't mind grinding. Only spot I had some real trouble with was Matador. But after rearranging my party he became pretty easy. The other times I died were by unlucky Hama skills (Grinding enemies with one hit kill moves is a great way to lose 30 minutes of progress :?)


Why haven't you played/finished Persona 3?

I was little bit past the point where I defeated the Emperor and Empress bosses before I stopped playing P3. I get easily distracted and want to play other games in my considerable backlog. These days it's hard for me to find the time play video games as long and often as I want due to work and people who won't leave me alone. As for P3 itself, I'm not a fan of the dungeon crawling aspect of the game, so I needed a break from it anyways. P4 was much more playable with a more intuitive user interface and allies that can directly controlled makes it more bearable by comparison.
 
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I'm a little torn when it comes to P3 and P4 with how they handled battle AI.
Persona 4 was extremely convenient. No accidents like Mitsuri spamming Marin Karin.
But P3 made it feel like your friends were more like teammates and less like pawns.



As for Nocturne, I think this is the first RPG I've played where the NPC's were actually useful. They almost always warn you when a boss is nearby. I just had one that even told me the boss' immunities.
 
AI controlled allies can be tolerable in some real-time games, since you can rely on your own character to pull through. However, I don't like in turn based games. One reason is it limits my tactical options. I also hate it when my resources are wasted by an AI's blunder. Both Fallout 2 and P3 gave me fits in that regard. When playing P4, I always use direct command. For example, when Chie uses Power Charge, I want her to follow up with a God Hand to make the most of her damage output. However, when controlled by AI, she isn't going to reliably use that set up.


When it comes to NPC interaction, I just expect most of them for flavor material or random tips, along a few that are important to the plot or provide valuable services. One RPG that is big on NPC interaction is Planescape: Torment if you are into that kind of stuff.
 
Ah, I can see your point. There are definitely certain tactics in Nocturne I use that I doubt an AI would mimic.
 
I definitely see what BBBLP is saying, how AI-controlled allies make you feel a stronger connection to them, but like Flawless said, being able to direct commands certainly broadens your horizons when it comes to combat. Especially since sometimes the AI in Persona 3 would act seriously stupid. Aigis would always down 3/4 enemies, then use a different attack on the fourth, stopping the streak, preventing the opportunity for an all-out attack

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How the character is portrayed determines my level of attachment more than their in-battle autonomy.

That being said, if the devs wanted to go back to AI-controlled allies, giving players the option to program a sequence of commands (similar to Final Fantasy XII or Dragon Age: Origins) might alleviate the frequency of your teammeats doing things you don't want them to do.

BTW type of combat system would you guys prefer for P5?
 
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I've been getting a little bored of Nocturne. I think I'm overleveled. I've been destroying every boss so far.
It's my fault though. I actually enjoy grinding, so I do it every chance I get.
 
I just got to the Amala Temples. Level 64 I think?


I have Daisoujou 52 (Dude is my GOD. He has saved my entire team more times than I can count)
Loki 59 (Dude is meh. Not nearly as useful for me as he was in P3. But he has healing spells and Mana Refill, so he's alright)
Ose 51 (Buffer and Debuffer)
Titania 59 (Magic attacker)



Embarrassingly enough, I'm always listening to music or watching something on Youtube while I play. So I honestly couldn't say which songs I like. That song you posted though sounds sick. Like something out of DBZ lol
 
I don't really care much for grinding, but I do it anyways when I need to get a particular skill or persona/demon. This was especially true in SMTIV and Devil Survivor, where I didn't have enough money to use the compendium. P3 exp scaling and fatigue mechanic was supposed to discourage grinding, but I found it annoying more than anything else.
 
I forgot about that fatigue bullshit.
Damn that made me mad lol.


Even worse though was Persona 4 where Hard Mode made it so you gained less experience than normal. How does that even make sense?
 
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