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[TintoConCasera]

Welp, I didn't know that.

Just a small complain tho! The music on SMT Nocturne is great. Might be Meguro's most schizo work, he used some Mac OS text-to-speech software for the vocals.

Kinda cool, gives it some weird demonic vibes.

 

[Kazdane]

I'm a filthy Casual difficulty player.

Spoiler

(let's conveniently ignore I played P4G on Easy because it was suggested to avoid it becoming too grindy)

 

[TintoConCasera]

Speaking of difficulty, which SMT game would you gents think is the hardest?

SMT III felt fine to me. IV starts off very hard but it gets easier over time. V I feel is very well balanced and challenging, but I also feel there's less "bullshit" here.

I think it might be either Strange Journey or Digital Devil Saga 2 on hard. SMT IV:A felt quite challenging too...

And no, Nocturne's Puzzle Boy doesn't count.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Think he's playing on easy.

Game takes much, much longer to beat on the higher difficulties, since most of the game is battles and those take more time to beat due to the bigger enemy HP pools.

Hell, I'm 18 or hours in and still at the first area.

This was me when I played it on Switch when it first released on Hard.

Currently I am 17 and I am in the third area. The magatama DLC makes the grind far more bearable and much faster. Couple that with the much improved balance pacing in boss fights early on, I am enjoying the game *so* much more. I should probably hit around 40-45 hours for the first playthrough for 100%. I would definitely add 15-20 hours if I hadn’t played this game before. Still a far better time than the originals endless grinding.

 

[Danjin44]

Speaking of difficulty, which SMT game would you gents think is the hardest?

SMT III felt fine to me. IV starts off very hard but it gets easier over time. V I feel is very well balanced and challenging, but I also feel there's less "bullshit" here.

I think it might be either Strange Journey or Digital Devil Saga 2 on hard. SMT IV:A felt quite challenging too...

And no, Nocturne's Puzzle Boy doesn't count.

Strange Journey, as much as I liked story and the atmosphere, I wasn’t the biggest fan of whole alignment system in its combat.

Especially when an enemy doesn't have weakness, so the combat would slow down to a halt.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[semiconscious]

Speaking of difficulty, which SMT game would you gents think is the hardest?

SMT III felt fine to me. IV starts off very hard but it gets easier over time. V I feel is very well balanced and challenging, but I also feel there's less "bullshit" here.

I think it might be either Strange Journey or Digital Devil Saga 2 on hard. SMT IV:A felt quite challenging too...

And no, Nocturne's Puzzle Boy doesn't count.

strange journey, no contest. love the unique atmosphere, had a great time with it (despite being unable to beat the final boss), but, damn, if i can manage more than a couple dozen hours when trying to replay it. a game too clever for its own good...

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Speaking of difficulty, which SMT game would you gents think is the hardest?

SMT III felt fine to me. IV starts off very hard but it gets easier over time. V I feel is very well balanced and challenging, but I also feel there's less "bullshit" here.

I think it might be either Strange Journey or Digital Devil Saga 2 on hard. SMT IV:A felt quite challenging too...

And no, Nocturne's Puzzle Boy doesn't count.

Strange Journey for sure, without the perfect party setup you will get destroyed. I love it though, played through it 5 times total, 3 times on the original release and twice on the 3DS version. Talking about it makes me want to play it again TBH. That atmosphere is just incredible, it's so unique. I believe it's the last game that Kaneko was still really involved in and to me, its a masterpiece.

 

[Arsic]

Finally left the desert area and this was the shake up the game needed. More story, more character building etc.

That world map song is a banger.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Daily Demon #69 – Nuwa

 

[TintoConCasera]

Daily Demon #69 – Nuwa

 

[Arsic]

Had such a good time with this game last night. The high school, the new red night desert area, etc.

The sad truth is today Elden Ring hits… who knows if I’ll even come back to this now lol.

It’s just too much game. I never complete games like this, BG3, Witcher 3 etc. The time commitment is massive.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Had such a good time with this game last night. The high school, the new red night desert area, etc.

The sad truth is today Elden Ring hits… who knows if I’ll even come back to this now lol.

It’s just too much game. I never complete games like this, BG3, Witcher 3 etc. The time commitment is massive.

Yeah it kinda sucks that those two games are coming out almost at the same time.

I think I'll commit to SMT VV tho, should be able to avoid ER spoilers anyway. What I'm afraid of is about From nerfing some DLC boss before I get the chance to play it.

 

[Arsic]

Yeah it kinda sucks that those two games are coming out almost at the same time.

I think I'll commit to SMT VV tho, should be able to avoid ER spoilers anyway. What I'm afraid of is about From nerfing some DLC boss before I get the chance to play it.

Exactly.

Gotta play on launch to get the optimal experience.

Lies of P was nerfed to dirt after its launch weeks. Basically added easy mode whether you like it or not.

 

[adamsapple]

Daily Demon #69 – Nuwa

I wouldn't mind Vol 69ing her.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

For peeps playing SMTVV on PC, you might want to keep an eye out for when this mod releases.

 

[Belthazar]

Is there a breakdown for what was added on the Canon of Creation path? I searched online and there's conflicting information.

 

[sigmaZ]

Daily Demon #69 – Nuwa

I'm facing her right now.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The new route gets that much more interesting after the first area.

Had a play session from fighting Naamah and the beast on the subway to rescuing the students at the start of the second area.

Lots of pretty cool stuff in between, enjoyed all the new narrative stuff a lot and can't wait to see how this goes on.

In fact, I think this might the best re-release of a game Atlus has released so far. Having all that new stuff sprinkled along the way feels much better than just some new stuff at the very end like in Persona 5.

 

[Danjin44]

The new route gets that much more interesting after the first area.

Had a play session from fighting Naamah and the beast on the subway to rescuing the students at the start of the second area.

Lots of pretty cool stuff in between, enjoyed all the new narrative stuff a lot and can't wait to see how this goes on.

In fact, I think this might the best re-release of a game Atlus has released so far. Having all that new stuff sprinkled along the way feels much better than just some new stuff at the very end like in Persona 5.

100% agree with that. They also perfectly balanced the difficulty without making you overly OP like they did with Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reload.

 

[adamsapple]

So what exactly is different in the Path of Vengeance?

Is it like a whole new scenario or is the broad story still the same but with different / added characters and scenarios?

 

[Danjin44]

So what exactly is different in the Path of Vengeance?

Is it like a whole new scenario or is the broad story still the same but with different / added characters and scenarios?

At first story starts the same but once you go back Tokyo the story just goes entire new direction, so far most everything changed even going in to new map.

 

[adamsapple]

At first story start same but once you go back Tokyo the story just goes entire new direction, so far most everything changed even going in new map.

Got it, so definitely worth a second run for it.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

For peeps playing SMTVV on PC, you might want to keep an eye out for when this mod releases.

What about on PS5? Is this also the behavior there?

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

While everyone is playing Elden Ring I've been putting a bunch more hours into my SMTVV save.

Made some good progress with both the side quests and the main storyline, and bumped into the Fairy Queen and Idun along the main path

But the best part is that I finally managed to get all the demons needed to special fusion for Alice. She's kinda creepy little girl, but she wrecks them demons.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

What about on PS5? Is this also the behavior there?

The pre-rendered videos look fine on my PS5 so I don't think there's any issue there (at least not on PS5 & XSX outputting to a 4K OLED).

 

[Yoshichan]

I know +/- affects the damage of damaging spells but what does +3 to for example Patra or other buffs/debuffs do?

 

[adamsapple]

Finished the Canon of Creation path, now onto the Canon of Vengeance*

27~ hours for my first run through the game. Took some pictures but will post them later when everyone's played through at least once. Good designs for bosses / areas in the final stretch.

*after Still Wakes the Deep.

 

[Danjin44]

I know +/- affects the damage of damaging spells but what does +3 to for example Patra or other buffs/debuffs do?

It would cost less SP to use, in SMTV support/healing spells, specially the good ones cost lot of SP to use If you or your demons don’t have high affinity for it.

While everyone is playing Elden Ring I've been putting a bunch more hours into my SMTVV save.

I'm playing both, this year too many good games coming out back to back!

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I'm playing both, this year too many good games coming out back to back!

I can't do two long(ish) 40h+ single-player games at the same time anymore so I'm saving Shadow for the Erdtree for later. Most likely for when I'll get my summer vacay so I can fully savor the experience without worrying that I have to go to work the next day after pulling an all nighter.

 

[Bojji]

These fucking Japanese designers, they are too good LOL

But this one (so far) is my favorite, it's gross and super sexy at the same time, masterful work:

Has there ever been a time when you made a design that you felt was too out there?​

Manananggal, which appeared in this game, definitely comes to mind. We did try to design her in a way that muddled any areas that could potentially be restricted, but because we really emphasized the grotesque and erotic, I did feel it was maybe a bit out there.

Ultimately, the fan reception has been well, so I’m glad I challenged myself, but there was a part of me that was a tad bit nervous if she’d be able to make it until launch of the game.

Shin Megami Tensei V and Masayuki Doi’s Eye for Demon Design | Digital Trends

Shin Megami Tensei's demon designer Masayuki Doi breaks down his monster designs and what goes into creating them.

www.digitaltrends.com

 

[semiconscious]

But the best part is that I finally managed to get all the demons needed to special fusion for Alice. She's kinda creepy little girl, but she wrecks them demons...

without die for me, it's just not smt...

 

[Yoshichan]

These demon statues that give xp to all demons.. is it better to wait until all demons have been recruited before using them or do new demons scale with your level?

 

[Arsic]

While everyone is playing Elden Ring I've been putting a bunch more hours into my SMTVV save.

Made some good progress with both the side quests and the main storyline, and bumped into the Fairy Queen and Idun along the main path

But the best part is that I finally managed to get all the demons needed to special fusion for Alice. She's kinda creepy little girl, but she wrecks them demons.

I… ended up playing this almost all day yesterday instead of Elden Ring lol.

I didn’t see that on my bingo card.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Okay, I think I've completed all the sidequests and main story from the zone I was at (there was a particular subquest involving Vouivre that was a real wtf moment ).

The best part of clearing everything in that area is that I finally managed in adding best girl Idun to my main party of demons.

Cleared Silky sidequest too, although I haven't added her to my demon roster yet.

Oh and also bumped into Agrat bat Mahlat

 

[Arsic]

Finished the Canon of Creation path, now onto the Canon of Vengeance*

27~ hours for my first run through the game. Took some pictures but will post them later when everyone's played through at least once. Good designs for bosses / areas in the final stretch.

*after Still Wakes the Deep.

Wait wait wait.

The creation path took 27 hours? Cock suckers here said this game is 100+ hours.

Is it 27 per run? I’m level 42 currently.

 

[adamsapple]

Wait wait wait.

The creation path took 27 hours? Cock suckers here said this game is 100+ hours.

Is it 27 per run? I’m level 42 currently.

If the canon of vengeance is the exact same length, the total time is going to be somewhere around 60 hours. And also don't forget that I'm a filthy casual player.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Daily Demon #71 – Naamah

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Man, I love the design of Konohana Sakuya, but I hate that Atlus locked her behind DLC.

She also has a dope battle theme.

 

[adamsapple]

These demon statues that give xp to all demons.. is it better to wait until all demons have been recruited before using them or do new demons scale with your level?

If I'm not mistaken, they only level up the demons in your current stock, not all the ones in your compendium, so it really depends on how large your current active stock is.

 

[Danjin44]

Man, I love the design of Konohana Sakuya, but I hate that Atlus locked her behind DLC.

She also has a dope battle theme.

I don’t mind Demon DLC in SMT because unlike Persona they don’t just give it away, you actually have to fight it first and the fight was fun. So I’m not only I’m getting the Demon but also pretty nice boss fight.

 

[semiconscious]

These demon statues that give xp to all demons.. is it better to wait until all demons have been recruited before using them or do new demons scale with your level?

it's basically the equivalent of giving every demon in your inventory a grimoire (a single level gain). so probably best to use with demons that still have spells to learn?...

 

[Danjin44]

Man, I love the design of Konohana Sakuya, but I hate that Atlus locked her behind DLC.

She also has a dope battle theme.

Also I also really like her design, more than her Persona design in P4.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I don’t mind Demon DLC in SMT because unlike Persona they don’t just give it away, you actually have to fight it first and the fight was fun. So I’m not only I’m getting the Demon but also pretty nice boss fight.

I mean I'll probably fork over the €5 for her since, as I said, I love her design. And having a subquest to unlock her is cool and all, but that doesn't change my feelings towards the nickel and diming practice that Atlus has been doing for years now. They're really no different from Ubisoft with their AC releases, as like them they're offering day 1 DLC quests and time-saving options (e.g. Mitama XP and Wealth boosters).

It's also one of the reasons why I haven't gotten P3R yet, as I was certain they would later announce 'The Answer' as separate DLC. Sorry, but as much as I love Atlus games, their practices regarding rereleases and DLC just don't sit well with me.

 

[jshackles]

These demon statues that give xp to all demons.. is it better to wait until all demons have been recruited before using them or do new demons scale with your level?

If you're trying to totally min-max the ability they give, it's best to unlock all the miracles that increase your available stock - then wait until end game when everything in your stock is very high level. Each statue will give all the demons in your stock +1 level.

But I've just been activating them at the end of each zone, since they're on the map and typically fairly easy to backtrack to. That way, it pumps up my strongest demons on my team by several levels each (and I minimize the battles between each to not waste time).

New demons you get don't exactly scale to your level as much as the EXP that the stuff you're fighting goes down as you level up, meaning that the new / strong enemies you find should typically always be about your same level.

 

[Danjin44]

I mean I'll probably fork over the €5 for her since, as I said, I love her design. And having a subquest to unlock her is cool and all, but that doesn't change my feelings towards the nickel and diming practice that Atlus has been doing for years now. They're really no different from Ubisoft with their AC releases, as like them they're offering day 1 DLC quests and time-saving options (e.g. Mitama XP and Wealth boosters).

It's also one of the reasons why I haven't gotten P3R yet, as I was certain they would later announce 'The Answer' as separate DLC. Sorry, but as much as I love Atlus games, their practices regarding rereleases and DLC just don't sit well with me.

No I agree, as much as I love Atlus games, when it comes to DLC they are no Monolith Soft.

But I still prefer the way Atlus does Demon DLC in SMT compare to Persona.....Not only they give you over powered Persona with no in-game cost which already make easy game more easier but also they mess up your Fusion table because they part of regular fusion instead of special fusion like in mainline SMT.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

No I agree, as much as I love Atlus games, when it comes to DLC they are no Monolith Soft.

But I still prefer the way Atlus does Demon DLC in SMT compare to Persona.....Not only they give you over powered Persona with no in-game cost which already make easy game more easier but also they mess up your Fusion table because they part of regular fusion instead of special fusion like in mainline SMT.

Oh yeah, on this I def agree. SMT DLC implementation >> Persona DLC implementation.

I actually started replaying P5R shortly after they re-released it on current-gen consoles and Switch, and those DLC powered personas were added to the base game which ofc messed up my fusion table real good. Took a bit from the enjoyment of replaying it, tbh.

 

[Danjin44]

Oh yeah, on this I def agree. SMT DLC implementation >> Persona DLC implementation.

I actually started replaying P5R shortly after they re-released it on current-gen consoles and Switch, and those DLC powered personas were added to the base game which ofc messed up my fusion table real good. Took a bit from the enjoyment of replaying it, tbh.

Exactly! they are DLC that actually makes the experience worse.....I hope they don’t do that with Metaphor.

 

[Arsic]

So I am at the part coming up with the giant fire demon who burns all the angels in the sky.

PS5 is saying in 73% done with creation story. 25 hours in.

Does this sound right?

If so this game will jump up the stratosphere for me. I’ve been wanting a short jrpg with high replay value forever… and this looks it could be it?!?!?

 

[Dr. Claus]

So I am at the part coming up with the giant fire demon who burns all the angels in the sky.

PS5 is saying in 73% done with creation story. 25 hours in.

Does this sound right?

If so this game will jump up the stratosphere for me. I’ve been wanting a short jrpg with high replay value forever… and this looks it could be it?!?!?

No. you are just 73% finished with that area/story. You still have two full dungeons and one full region left to explore.

Not to mention a wholly unique zone in Canon of Vengeance when you go to the other route.

The game is far better paced this go around with the updates. Should take about 40-50 hours for a first time playthrough. About 20 hours with subsequent playthroughs using your powered up demons and just going through the story. Assuming you are doing all the side quests and Miman collection now.