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Fun Club Mainline SMT series is an incredibly underappreciated franchise that Jrpgs fans should give a chance

Beard said:
"Nocturne's difficulty is overstated", I said

Matador: "hello there, friend"

Christ almighty, that guy was tough. But I defeated him on my fourth attempt, thankfully. Three of my party members being immune to Force certainly helped a lot! Also having the demon that can heal your entire party was a lifesaver.
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The resist/null force + Fog Breath combo.

Fog Breath saved my life multiple times during SMT III. The best leuk parts of SMT III is where you have a party that undercuts the enemy at every time. I had several boss battles where I had little to no damage because I had great set up.

Plus buffs. Oh lord buffs are so important.
 
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Never been able to get into the IV on 3DS. Should really get on to it. There's some 3ds games in my backlog really waiting to be played. I also have fire emblem fates and echoes waiting. Decisions decisions

Leo said:
By the way, all the SMT games are on sale and super cheap right now on the 3DS eShop.
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Thanks i'll check if apocolypse is there!
 
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I have been scammed by demons for a decade and more, but I always try to befriend them.

God, I can't help myself.

Edit: And everyone should watch this.

 
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On a more serious note, i hope that we will see the return of SMT-adjacent games and spin-offs now that Atlus has supposedly built sizable roster of HD demon models. They are most likely not going back to the output of the PS2/DS era for obvious reasons, but i hope there's still place for smaller projects between mainline releases.
 
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asagami_ said:
I have been scammed by demons for a decade and more, but I always try to befriend them.

God, I can't help myself.

Edit: And everyone should watch this.

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AngryNopon said:



On a more serious note, i hope that we will see the return of SMT-adjacent games and spin-offs now that Atlus has supposedly built sizable roster of HD demon models. They are most likely not going back to the output of the PS2/DS era for obvious reasons, but i hope there's still place for smaller projects between mainline releases.
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What is the context of these? 😂😂

And thanks everyone for the replies!!
 
I'm not a RPG fan at all, but this franchise became attractive to me somehow. I don't know if the apocalyptic atmosphere did it, if was its religious and "satanic" content, all together,... I cannot answer but this franchise has something that makes me love it. And I'm no fan of apocalypse games or games extremely focused on religious content. I don't know why SMT has become an exception

Right now it's one of my favorite game franchises, together with 3D Mario, Metroid and Bayonetta.
 
Beard said:
"Nocturne's difficulty is overstated", I said

Matador: "hello there, friend"

Christ almighty, that guy was tough. But I defeated him on my fourth attempt, thankfully. Three of my party members being immune to Force certainly helped a lot! Also having the demon that can heal your entire party was a lifesaver.
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I was wondering if you got to him yet. He's the steamroller I was referring to earlier lol. But if you can beat him, you can handle the rest of the game.
 
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I didn't get into the series until the DS, but Strange Journey and especially the Devil Survivors instantly became some of my favorite games. IV and IVA were amazing, and I'm super hyped for V. The Soul Hackers remake was fine, but I didn't really love it like the others. I still need to get the Nocturne remaster, but I'm looking forward to trying it too.

Also really hoping once V is out, Atlus will have the resources/assets built up that they can start putting out more games at a faster rate. Starting with Devil Survivor 3.
 
1 & 2 are some of my favorite games of all time. They have such unique atmospheres. I never played 3 and did not like 4 at all which was made me drop the franchise because it made me realize I won't get the same experience as older SMT games.
 
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I've never played a mainline SMT, and I've only kinda dabbled in Persona (I just beat the first castle in P5R), but I think I'm going to try V. The mythology aspect seems super appealing to me, I love that stuff.
 
Zellia said:
I've never played a mainline SMT, and I've only kinda dabbled in Persona (I just beat the first castle in P5R), but I think I'm going to try V. The mythology aspect seems super appealing to me, I love that stuff.
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Like I said to anyone coming from any Persona, check how SMT actually is,
Because you can easily be disappointed with it and feel it is a lesser or worse experience than Persona. No social aspects, basically no NPC to interact with and less showy and stylish.

I love SMT and will try to get SMTV on day 1, but even though I am sure it will be the best selling SMT, it will be far from Persona 5 sales in won’t be anywhere as famous or talked about like that one either.

If with SMTV they continued the path they choose with SMTIV:A and kept going harder on it, maybe it can come close to Persona 5, but they info released so far shows that it is more like SMTIV than Apocalypse.
 
Tried all of them multiple times, just not really a fan at all.

I do like the theme / series, just not the mainline games. Not even talking about Persona here, Devil Survivor 1 + 2 and Devil Summoner (1+2 I think, the PS2 ones) are really good and I liked them a lot.

About SMTIII, Matador's difficulty is overstated though, more of a meme. And yes, I did just play and beat him recently on the Switch.
 
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dsosarod said:
Like I said to anyone coming from any Persona, check how SMT actually is,
Because you can easily be disappointed with it and feel it is a lesser or worse experience than Persona. No social aspects, basically no NPC to interact with and less showy and stylish.

I love SMT and will try to get SMTV on day 1, but even though I am sure it will be the best selling SMT, it will be far from Persona 5 sales in won’t be anywhere as famous or talked about like that one either.

If with SMTV they continued the path they choose with SMTIV:A and kept going harder on it, maybe it can come close to Persona 5, but they info released so far shows that it is more like SMTIV than Apocalypse.
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Tbh if you enjoy Jrpgs in general SMT shouldn't be hard to get into. Even I've seen lots of people use Nocturne as metric for SMT as a whole which isn't true. In fact Nocturne was the experimental title of the series which is why it feels different jumping from 3 to 4 because they are really different in terms of narrative structure and etc. Nocturne goes for a more minimalism approach while SMT 4 doesn't. SMT V seems to be following SMT 4 footsteps by having more characters and a big focus on narrative.

Maybe it doesn't mean much, but in one of the informational vids they even mentioned having an easy mode for those who just want to enjoy the story. This tells me that V will have a bigger focus on the story than previous installments. They are also trying to make the game accessible to new players which is a great step. SMT doesn't need to sell like Persona in fact if it sold over a million that would be a fantastic milestone.
 
dsosarod said:
Like I said to anyone coming from any Persona, check how SMT actually is,
Because you can easily be disappointed with it and feel it is a lesser or worse experience than Persona. No social aspects, basically no NPC to interact with and less showy and stylish.
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That's entirely subjective, it really depends on what the person likes in an RPG. Lacking the social aspects of Persona and focusing on other things like party building, atmosphere, multiple endings etc can be a good thing for many people.

I started with P3 and 4 before playing SMT3, and today SMT is my favorite line by far. I think Persona tends to be too bloated and feel SMT is a more streamlined and laser focused RPG experience, besides the themes and atmosphere which appeal to me much more.
 
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AquaWateria said:
Tbh if you enjoy Jrpgs in general SMT shouldn't be hard to get into. Even I've seen lots of people use Nocturne as metric for SMT as a whole which isn't true. In fact Nocturne was the experimental title of the series which is why it feels different jumping from 3 to 4 because they are really different in terms of narrative structure and etc. Nocturne goes for a more minimalism approach while SMT 4 doesn't. SMT V seems to be following SMT 4 footsteps by having more characters and a big focus on narrative.

Maybe it doesn't mean much, but in one of the informational vids they even mentioned having an easy mode for those who just want to enjoy the story. This tells me that V will have a bigger focus on the story than previous installments. They are also trying to make the game accessible to new players which is a great step. SMT doesn't need to sell like Persona in fact if it sold over a million that would be a fantastic milestone.
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I agree completely with all you and @Leo said, but I know some stories of people who went from Persona 4 or Persona 5 to play some SMT games and were like WTF IS THIS? I can understand that 100%.

Persona, at least since 3, offers something very nice in a really good package, which may not be unique to the series but it feels like it gives you something you won’t find any other place, and if you find it that there is more to this series you may go thinking it is the same or basically the same and that’s not the case.

I hope people learn to live and appreciate anything SMT.
 
dsosarod said:
I agree completely with all you and @Leo said, but I know some stories of people who went from Persona 4 or Persona 5 to play some SMT games and were like WTF IS THIS? I can understand that 100%.

Persona, at least since 3, offers something very nice in a really good package, which may not be unique to the series but it feels like it gives you something you won’t find any other place, and if you find it that there is more to this series you may go thinking it is the same or basically the same and that’s not the case.

I hope people learn to live and appreciate anything SMT.
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Np I do understand where you are coming from in giving new players a heads up on what SMT is like. Although I just have seen some people accidentally scare off new players from SMT because they always use Nocturne as a point of interest instead of using later entries which are back to the status quo for the mainline series in general. The minimalism nature is a one-off thing with Nocturne (which was incredible back in the day on PS2).

As long as players have played Jrpgs they should definitely have a good idea of what they are getting into. As long as they know it doesn't have a heavy focus on social links or that the tone is lighter (Personally I always felt like Persona 3 felt more SMT tone-wise in nature than say 4 and 5) they should be good.

I can say tho SMT is a really hard Jrpg series to describe as there are quite a few things that make it unique.
 
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GoedHeiligMan said:
Soul Hackers definitely needs more love.
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I think I made a post here a while ago talking about how I wanted to drop it, and I ended up doing it this week and putting my copy for sale lol (hopefully I'll get a few good bucks, it's the edition that comes with a CD).

The old-school vibe is top notch, but mechanically the game simply removed everything I love from SMT. The demons don't level up or learn new skills, and you can't transfer skill through fusion either so each demon is basically a pre-set thing that you can't customize at all. My progress felt artificial instead of something that I built myself. It's a shame because I was enjoying the game otherwise, but what can you do.
 
Leo said:
I think I made a post here a while ago talking about how I wanted to drop it, and I ended up doing it this week and putting my copy for sale lol (hopefully I'll get a few good bucks, it's the edition that comes with a CD).

The old-school vibe is top notch, but mechanically the game simply removed everything I love from SMT. The demons don't level up or learn new skills, and you can't transfer skill through fusion either so each demon is basically a pre-set thing that you can't customize at all. My progress felt artificial instead of something that I built myself. It's a shame because I was enjoying the game otherwise, but what can you do.
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Understandable. Compared to other SMT's it's really old-school. Demons do have inheritance for support and recovery though, but you need to fuse in the Gouma-den.

Where are you in the game? It's pretty short even for an RPG(+-30 hours).
 
Quoted by: Leo
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I played IV earlier this year and mainlined the whole thing in about a week and a half. Awesome game; difficulty is uneven and the random nature of some encounters can be annoying, but it's a really compelling package overall thanks to the superb atmosphere, snappy battle system and that devilishly good OST.

The Digital Devil Saga games on PS2 and Devil Survivor series on 3DS are def worth a punt, too.

V probably won't blow up like Persona, but I think that franchise's popularity coupled with the fabled Switch effect will propel it to new heights.
 
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GoedHeiligMan said:
Understandable. Compared to other SMT's it's really old-school. Demons do have inheritance for support and recovery though, but you need to fuse in the Gouma-den.

Where are you in the game? It's pretty short even for an RPG(+-30 hours).
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I stopped at the haunted mansion, i think I was maybe halfway through? The storyline kinda lost me too tbh.
 
I find it tragic that Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 are being left behind on legacy systems. Those two games deserve to be played by all fans of great JRPGs. They're both exceptional and a couple of the best games in Atlus's history.
 
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They're essentially dungeon crawlers and that genre seems to have limited mainstream appeal. They're much closer to Etrian Odyssey than Dragon Quest. I think JPRGs that aren't primarily narratively driven have a harder time in general.
 
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