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StarTopic SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI V |ST| It's Not Persona(L), It's Demon Negotiations

Reader mode
Almost at the end, woooo

Just fought Metatron... that was easy. Critical Gugnir with Odin rocks
 
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Jooxed said:
It’s the first game I’ve played in a while that I have wanted to get everything and explore everything. Quite nice
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Yeah you end up chalking up a ton of time exploring the areas thanks to how much you can do in each.

And each area is somehow bigger and more complex than the last, it's really cool to how the game steadily ramps up its level design
 
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Shiva's theme has been stuck in my head all day at work today.
 
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So I got past the point of no return and encountered a superboss lite.
Fuck this Zeus bullshit! Being overleveled is one thing, rotating between Madness Glint (almighty + confusion), Impaler's Animus + Maziodyne (self explanatory) and Panta Spane (phys/debuffs) is a totally different kind of suffering. I got my ass handed to me 4 times despite figuring out his pattern since the 2nd try. The last time I beat him it's still a close call with some lucky crits, a sucess poison + Poison Master, and a timely Freikugel EX.

My takeaway from this boss fight: NG+ only please, for your own sanity, especially when the best choice against Zeus is a level 84 Raphael. My comp: Amanozako, Odin, and a roration between Norn, Huang Long (candy), Alilat (Donums + Reflect) and Sraosha (Magatsuhi Shield of God).
 
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well Shiva's certainly the hardest fight in the base game

Might have to actually grind everyone up a bit, all my Boon Boosts and Endure Souls and Luster Candies and Debilitates aren't even getting me halfway through the fight yet

@dman2000 same here shit is catchy
 
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I feel like I'm turning on this game a bit since starting the third zone lol. Don't really like making my way around this area, and I'm not sure if this is just bad luck or what but it suddenly seems near impossible to negotiate with demons. Gonna keep going for now, but my last couple sessions have been kind of grim.
 
big lantern ghost said:
I feel like I'm turning on this game a bit since starting the third zone lol. Don't really like making my way around this area, and I'm not sure if this is just bad luck or what but it suddenly seems near impossible to negotiate with demons. Gonna keep going for now, but my last couple sessions have been kind of grim.
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Sometimes, RNG is just out for your throat. It's SMT, it happens.

It took me 6 tries to successfully negotiate with the Setanta demon in the second area.
 
Bonejack said:
Sometimes, RNG is just out for your throat. It's SMT, it happens.

It took me 6 tries to successfully negotiate with the Setanta demon in the second area.
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Yeah, I definitely had moments like that leading up to this zone. But I've been a while now and I don't think I've been able to recruit one here? Doing well in a battle and then getting wiped out of nowhere is definitely on the rise too haha. Maybe it is just a bad RNG run but it really felt like passing through to this zone is where my troubles began.

Just feel like I'm losing a little steam on it. I feel like I don't remember being as disheartened with SMT IV lol. Maybe I was just younger and more willing to take a beating through a longer game. 😂
 
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I'm still in Area 2 and I'm considering to complete all challenge quests before beating the boss. Is it worth it? Or better to finish the Area directly and leave these quests for later because I might be underpowered?
 
marmoka said:
I'm still in Area 2 and I'm considering to complete all challenge quests before beating the boss. Is it worth it? Or better to finish the Area directly and leave these quests for later because I might be underpowered?
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I remeber those optional bosses to be much stronger than the main story boss at that point, so I think it's better to revisit them when you reach Area 3.

Additionally if those bosses are already popping up without a need for quest triggers, escape is guaranteed with Smoke Bombs or Trafuri, so it doesn't hurt to poke and see what happens.
 
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Phew. Finally some progress!

Still don’t really like the look or layout of the third zone — and I feel like it runs a little worse too? — but I’ve spent enough time there to somewhat know it.

Went back to earlier areas for a bit and as it turned out, a couple of demons I had missed filled in the gaps to some pretty great fusion options. I’ve been pretty thorough so far! Just bad luck with the ones I did miss I guess. Fused a new team and popped some grimoires, that gave me the foothold I needed to press on. Feeling a lot more like a gradual ramping up of difficulty again.

Sometimes it feels like maybe too much RNG at play. I’ve had regular mobs level me with like six criticals in a row, no Magatsuhi! Then I go fight Dionysus and he didn’t even attack, just spent every turn doing a Sexy Dance that never affected anybody lol. Can make it feel like what you’re doing and how you’re building the team doesn’t matter at times.
 
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I can't for the life of me make the four Mitama that drop gospels respawn

I keep revisiting their four spawn places for the past couple days and they just won't show up

I'm at level 95! I'm not grinding my way to the finish line!
 
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So I reached one ending today
Although I have said before, that I'm not impressed with the way SMT V tells its story in bits and bits with a lack of intricacy, at the end I still love it for the themes it tries to deliver. After destroying the throne. the main takeaway for me are:

1. Harmony between Power and Knowledge

Among several Nahobinos, only Aogami (Susano) and V-kun manage to coexist in a shared being and was successful in overtaking the throne. For almost all the others, it is the Knowledge that follows Power, and at the end there is almost no trace of the former in the resulting creature, they just poof, leaving the demons as the sole speakers (Lahmu included and Zeus to some extent). And it's not only the current ones, but also the former ones that failed to reach the throne and were diminished into red children with broken heads. Their demonic power was stripped away, exposing the remaining fragments of their memory and personality - their human half.
sMmdUL9.jpg

An interesting exception is Nuwa and Yakumo. I sided with them at the end and somehow Yakumo is killed even before fusing with Nuwa. I have not tried other routes so I will amend this point later with my impression on how they were shaped into the SMT political spectrum.

2. A heavy emphasis on politics and governance

In many way, the setting of SMT V has a lot of call backs to previous entries, yet they still stand out due to how different the interpretation and implementation are. The familiar themes to me:
  • Human was caught in power struggle between demons, then survive under the protection (and control) of the lawful force. (SMT I+II)
  • The battle between the old gods and YHVH, and the perverted eternal law vs chaos struggle (SMT IV/IV:A, but I have not played these entries so pls feel free to correct me)
  • The life cycle of the universe (SMT III)
  • Killing God and ending the cycle (SMT III Maniacs/IV:A, also II for the killing God part)

They all exist in SMT V, but now closely tied to the complexity of the power struggle. It is notable that the chaotic force is greatly diminished in this game versus the lawful one, but the latter is not unified at all. Bethel was split into multiple forces, multiple religions fighting each other over the absence of YHVH (Or Brahma? this is not clear to me but perhaps it's Shiva's interpretation of the Creator God in his own religion) for control. This eerily mirrors the ideological wars in the ancient times in our real world.

The fact that only Shiva is the one in the game who grasped the circle of nature among other religions intrigues me. This probably has sth to do with the actual historical development and the principles of Hinduism, but I don't have enough knowledge to comment on this for now. Perhaps I will try to make another post expanding on this in the future.
 
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Really enjoying this. Just made it to the start of the fourth area, with some new fusions my team is looking pretty good at the moment.
 
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Aaaand that’s the ending!

Went for the “mankind ending” and smashed the throne, because that throne sucks. Endgame was pretty easy for me, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. I stockpiled on items and enhancements.

So my team, V-kun, Odin, Laksmi and Arioch were at lvl 91 and fully pumped with enhancements. Odin with an insane strength stat, Arioch with a plus 9 Ice attack on the loose.. essentially I smashed everything. Have to collect my thoughts.
 
I’m just at the end of the big open fourth area, bosses going down like dominoes now. Level 70. Such a great game, I’ve loved exploring Daat
 
Sadist said:
Aaaand that’s the ending!

Went for the “mankind ending” and smashed the throne, because that throne sucks. Endgame was pretty easy for me, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. I stockpiled on items and enhancements.

So my team, V-kun, Odin, Laksmi and Arioch were at lvl 91 and fully pumped with enhancements. Odin with an insane strength stat, Arioch with a plus 9 Ice attack on the loose.. essentially I smashed everything. Have to collect my thoughts.
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Now for Shiva!
 
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Done with the game, got the neutral ending. It was overall a fantastic experience, the map design alone impressed me to no end, especially the fourth area.

The game is a bit light on characters and relationships but the moment to moment gameplay intertwined with its myriad systems more than makes up for it. Atlus hit a homerun with this one and I hope the series gets the recognition it deserves. This and Returnal are my picks for GOTY with SMTV being ahead due to it not being as dependent on RNG.

Won't dive into NG+, might even wait to see if that PS4 port rumor is true or not. But will try to tackle the other routes at some point next year.
 
Either I'm over-leveling, or the game has gotten much easier. Haven't struggled on a major fight since entering the third zone. Between dampeners, blocking skills, and affinity changes for Nahobino, and Demons using items, there's just so much you can do to give yourself an edge. My deaths tend to be insta-kills from a dark/light weakness (e.g. Horus knocked out MC on the first attack due to the light affinity weakness I had).

I will say Idun in particular has been a huge help with her over-heal. It's more impressive than most Magatsuhi skills. I'm tempted to keep her on the team indefinitely.

Edit: I'm sure this'll come back to bite me
 
bellydrum said:
Where do you see this?

edit: just saw it's released in japan. Will probably come to the states shortly then
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Oh, I didn't know it was Japan only! I saw an article from... Nintendo Life, I think? That said it was out and gave the patch notes, so I just assumed they meant everywhere.
 
karmitt said:
Either I'm over-leveling, or the game has gotten much easier. Haven't struggled on a major fight since entering the third zone. Between dampeners, blocking skills, and affinity changes for Nahobino, and Demons using items, there's just so much you can do to give yourself an edge. My deaths tend to be insta-kills from a dark/light weakness (e.g. Horus knocked out MC on the first attack due to the light affinity weakness I had).

I will say Idun in particular has been a huge help with her over-heal. It's more impressive than most Magatsuhi skills. I'm tempted to keep her on the team indefinitely.

Edit: I'm sure this'll come back to bite me
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I think the third area is probably the easiest in terms of enemy difficulty.
 
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Third area done! Currently doing the

Demon King's Castle. Honestly, it's been kinda a refreshing change of pace so far. While I absolutely adore the Da'at areas I can get kinda overwhelmed with all the exploration related activities so it's nice to get some straightforward dungeon crawling (with Nahobino's fast paced movement and exploration, which helps a lot I imagine). Though I've only just entered the 3rd Stratum which I believe is the one everyone hates so hopefully my positive impression can bear what's coming

Also my completionist mindset for this game means my party and I are currently woefully overleveled. I'm running into demons I've already fused, leveled up, and fused off
 
NabiscoFelt said:
Third area done! Currently doing the

Demon King's Castle. Honestly, it's been kinda a refreshing change of pace so far. While I absolutely adore the Da'at areas I can get kinda overwhelmed with all the exploration related activities so it's nice to get some straightforward dungeon crawling (with Nahobino's fast paced movement and exploration, which helps a lot I imagine). Though I've only just entered the 3rd Stratum which I believe is the one everyone hates so hopefully my positive impression can bear what's coming

Also my completionist mindset for this game means my party and I are currently woefully overleveled. I'm running into demons I've already fused, leveled up, and fused off
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I didn’t find this area a problem at all, but I suspect decades of crawling through Zelda dungeons and then Etrian Odyssey with various puzzles around conveyor belts/ocean currents etc helped. It felt really short and simple to me, I’ve spent more time trying to work out how to reach things in the overworld. Just looking at the map and then around the area to see what is going to take you where, and thinking that if something feels really hard or fiddly, you are probably trying to do it wrong or aiming for the wrong spot, will get you through it.
 
Pixelknight said:
I didn’t find this area a problem at all, but I suspect decades of crawling through Zelda dungeons and then Etrian Odyssey with various puzzles around conveyor belts/ocean currents etc helped. It felt really short and simple to me, I’ve spent more time trying to work out how to reach things in the overworld. Just looking at the map and then around the area to see what is going to take you where, and thinking that if something feels really hard or fiddly, you are probably trying to do it wrong or aiming for the wrong spot, will get you through it.
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Yeah reached what I believe is the end and it wasn't so bad. The last stretch was a tad annoying but that was mostly on me getting impatient
 
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After continuing my proud tradition of getting stuck in parts of games no one else gets stuck on, I’m at a different and much more REAL impasse:

The Demon King’s dungeon is SO irritating lol. I went from being stoked to see the first real “dungeon” of the game to wondering aloud about who could possibly have signed off on this! Something about this specific gimmick is making me nuts. I think maybe it’s that the gust of the fans and the charging up animation don’t seem to line up to me. Give me Strange Journey’s poison tiles any day lol.

Think I might take the weekend off of this and come back fresh next week.
 
So thinking about the game…

I’ve played a lot of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona the last couple of years, with both SMT III and SMT V in 2021.

What SMT V does so well after completing it is its core gameplay. I know a lot of people started with the Persona series and that’s their first experiences with Atlus RPG’s, so reading SMT newbie posts is something I understand. But, as much as I like the Persona games, they don’t flow as naturally as SMT V. I like story beats, but I prefer that the game just drops you in Da’at and tells you good luck.

And the cool thing is, exploration is really rewarding. Secret macca stashes, Mimans, Glory crystals, secret bosses… and the areas are huge! I think these areas succesfully replace the more tradtional Dungeon like levels and it was a joy to discover.

The story itself.. it’s pretty standard fare if you played earlier SMT games. Its not bad, but nothing special either.

But what a good game.
 
Sadist said:
So thinking about the game…

I’ve played a lot of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona the last couple of years, with both SMT III and SMT V in 2021.

What SMT V does so well after completing it is its core gameplay. I know a lot of people started with the Persona series and that’s their first experiences with Atlus RPG’s, so reading SMT newbie posts is something I understand. But, as much as I like the Persona games, they don’t flow as naturally as SMT V. I like story beats, but I prefer that the game just drops you in Da’at and tells you good luck.

And the cool thing is, exploration is really rewarding. Secret macca stashes, Mimans, Glory crystals, secret bosses… and the areas are huge! I think these areas succesfully replace the more tradtional Dungeon like levels and it was a joy to discover.

The story itself.. it’s pretty standard fare if you played earlier SMT games. Its not bad, but nothing special either.

But what a good game.
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Couldn’t agree more. I prefer it when rpgs dump you in the world and let you get on with learning exploration and combat, rather than an hour or more of cut scenes and training wheels before you’re finally left to go and actually play the game.
 
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big lantern ghost said:
After continuing my proud tradition of getting stuck in parts of games no one else gets stuck on, I’m at a different and much more REAL impasse:

The Demon King’s dungeon is SO irritating lol. I went from being stoked to see the first real “dungeon” of the game to wondering aloud about who could possibly have signed off on this! Something about this specific gimmick is making me nuts. I think maybe it’s that the gust of the fans and the charging up animation don’t seem to line up to me. Give me Strange Journey’s poison tiles any day lol.

Think I might take the weekend off of this and come back fresh next week.
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Yeah it's funny, I've seen several people have problems at this point but I... actually kind of liked it? It was fun to have some mechanics and gimmicks that weren't battle-related for once. It was also nice since this is the kind of thing (the fans) that would be infuriating with random encounters, like unplayable levels of bad, but I didn't mind here since I could just avoid everything pretty easily.

But it sounds like from the patch notes that they're making the Third Stratum less annoying whenever the patch comes out, so soon it won't be as big of an issue!
 
Just watched the end sequence.

Spoilers for final battle, ’myriad gods’ route.
Lucifer was tough, especially without Tao as I’d poured a lot of work into levelling her up and had been heavily relying on her spell that is both a heal and luster candy at the same time!

Fionn mac Cumhaill was a total hero for me.

There’s so much I loved about the game. shame about another generic final area of
’all JRPG alternate/holy dimensions are floating geometric platforms in space’
.
However, there was a lot of really cool stuff in the late game too, and it all hung together better than the other ones I’ve finished (SJ, IV and IV:A). I loved being out in the open, broken world of Daat too, looking for ways to climb and find things. It’s more atmospheric than dungeons that are office buildings. I liked the abcesses too, added challenges you can tackle in your own time and with tangible rewards, rather than getting stuck on a boss and needing to grind.

The only exception to that looks like Shiva
at level 95 to me. I stuck my head in and after they summoned level 92 Parvati who healed the 22,000hp damage I had spent half an hour trying to do, I have zero interest in grinding out another 10 levels in order to just do a lengthy, tedious, boss fight. Reckon I’ll watch that ending on YouTube.
 
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I loved SMT5 so much that I decided to jump right into SMT4 upon finishing. I've had this game for years now but never got around to it. In general SMT was always a series I looked at like "I'm interested in trying this but idk if I'll actually like it" so the game was in my backlog for years. I almost never play games in the same series one after another but I just liked SMT5 that much.

It's really interesting seeing some of the changes between the games, working backwards like this. I almost look at them as balance changes lol. Also kind of explains why certain things in SMT5 work the way they do.

In SMT5 you level up and you only get to distribute a single stat point yourself, and that seemed a bit limited when I played through the game, but now I'm playing SMT4 and realize why they cut back on that so much. You can distribute all your stat points in SMT4 and it's honestly pretty busted lol. I'm like level 17 or 18 walking around with 60 magic. And it's not like I'm completely sacrificing core stats to achieve that. This is one of those changes where it feels good to build your character completely the way you want to in SMT4 but I think the decision to pull back on this in SMT5 serves the gameplay better.

I think the biggest thing I've noticed changed in SMT5 from 4 that I really appreciate the most is that I think they made the early game in 5 far less volatile. I think 5 struck the perfect balance of a lot of early encounters feeling dangerous but still making it pretty difficult to just completely eat shit and die instantly to a random mob with initiative criting you or something on the first turn. At least, it never happened to me in the SMT5 early game. In SMT4 it feels quite common, even with bosses (bosses are fairly easy unless you just get stomped on the first turn due to a crit or something, but are quite trivial once you get your first turn of buffs and debuffs up).

I am really enjoying SMT4, though, thankfully. Very very different game. More differences than I was expecting. But still really good. I think my opinion will probably be that SMT5 plays quite a bit better in terms of exploration, side quests, and the battle system itself, but SMT4 feels like it has the far better realized setting, story, and characters.
 
SammyJ9 said:
Yeah it's funny, I've seen several people have problems at this point but I... actually kind of liked it? It was fun to have some mechanics and gimmicks that weren't battle-related for once. It was also nice since this is the kind of thing (the fans) that would be infuriating with random encounters, like unplayable levels of bad, but I didn't mind here since I could just avoid everything pretty easily.

But it sounds like from the patch notes that they're making the Third Stratum less annoying whenever the patch comes out, so soon it won't be as big of an issue!
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I honestly liked it in the end (well presumably, I haven't actually exited yet but I'm pretty sure I'm near the end). It's a nice diversion from how overwhelming the Da'at zones can be with how much stuff there is to do, and honestly it impressed me more than any of 4's dungeons at least. Didn't really get frustrated much since everything felt like my fault when I messed up instead of the game's, and movement is fast enough that getting back to where you were is trivially quick

Also as the self-deemed Famiboards' resident CrossCode superfan, you're gonna have to do a lot more than that to frustrate me with a dungeon puzzle.
 
lightning16 said:
I am really enjoying SMT4, though, thankfully. Very very different game. More differences than I was expecting. But still really good. I think my opinion will probably be that SMT5 plays quite a bit better in terms of exploration, side quests, and the battle system itself, but SMT4 feels like it has the far better realized setting, story, and characters.
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Nailed it in one, at least for me. I’m not QUITE done with 5 yet but I don’t see that changing, although I have really liked the game.
NabiscoFelt said:
I honestly liked it in the end (well presumably, I haven't actually exited yet but I'm pretty sure I'm near the end). It's a nice diversion from how overwhelming the Da'at zones can be with how much stuff there is to do, and honestly it impressed me more than any of 4's dungeons at least. Didn't really get frustrated much since everything felt like my fault when I messed up instead of the game's, and movement is fast enough that getting back to where you were is trivially quick

Also as the self-deemed Famiboards' resident CrossCode superfan, you're gonna have to do a lot more than that to frustrate me with a dungeon puzzle.
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Man I LOVE CrossCode. It’s still on my list to do a replay and get to the DLC at some point.
I love puzzles in RPG dungeons in general, but CrossCode really set the bar there. It’s a game that only rises in my estimation the more I think about it, I swear in a lot of ways it’s the kind of game that feels like it was made specifically for me.
 
SammyJ9 said:
Man I LOVE CrossCode. It’s still on my list to do a replay and get to the DLC at some point.
I love puzzles in RPG dungeons in general, but CrossCode really set the bar there. It’s a game that only rises in my estimation the more I think about it, I swear in a lot of ways it’s the kind of game that feels like it was made specifically for me.
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Yeah, I relate to that wholeheartedly. Just a phenomenal game overall and one of my all time favorites. Definitely get the DLC when you get the chance, it's a really nice wrapper on the story as a whole and has some really fun content.

Oh right, the thread topic. Also agree on this
lightning16 said:
I think my opinion will probably be that SMT5 plays quite a bit better in terms of exploration, side quests, and the battle system itself, but SMT4 feels like it has the far better realized setting, story, and characters.
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But since I tend to value gameplay a lot more than story and I still enjoy SMT V's scenario and characters, IV's probably an 8 to V's 9.5 for me (though I still haven't even entered the 4th area so maybe that'll change? Kinda doubt it though). Really surprised how much more I'm enjoying the battle system this time around, actually, given how I figured that would be pretty similar between the two games. But I guess V's larger boss health pools, emphasis on switching demons mid-combat, and more distinct demons in general help give it a pretty unique flavor that jives with me more than IV.
 
lightning16 said:
I loved SMT5 so much that I decided to jump right into SMT4 upon finishing. I've had this game for years now but never got around to it. In general SMT was always a series I looked at like "I'm interested in trying this but idk if I'll actually like it" so the game was in my backlog for years. I almost never play games in the same series one after another but I just liked SMT5 that much.

It's really interesting seeing some of the changes between the games, working backwards like this. I almost look at them as balance changes lol. Also kind of explains why certain things in SMT5 work the way they do.

In SMT5 you level up and you only get to distribute a single stat point yourself, and that seemed a bit limited when I played through the game, but now I'm playing SMT4 and realize why they cut back on that so much. You can distribute all your stat points in SMT4 and it's honestly pretty busted lol. I'm like level 17 or 18 walking around with 60 magic. And it's not like I'm completely sacrificing core stats to achieve that. This is one of those changes where it feels good to build your character completely the way you want to in SMT4 but I think the decision to pull back on this in SMT5 serves the gameplay better.

I think the biggest thing I've noticed changed in SMT5 from 4 that I really appreciate the most is that I think they made the early game in 5 far less volatile. I think 5 struck the perfect balance of a lot of early encounters feeling dangerous but still making it pretty difficult to just completely eat shit and die instantly to a random mob with initiative criting you or something on the first turn. At least, it never happened to me in the SMT5 early game. In SMT4 it feels quite common, even with bosses (bosses are fairly easy unless you just get stomped on the first turn due to a crit or something, but are quite trivial once you get your first turn of buffs and debuffs up).

I am really enjoying SMT4, though, thankfully. Very very different game. More differences than I was expecting. But still really good. I think my opinion will probably be that SMT5 plays quite a bit better in terms of exploration, side quests, and the battle system itself, but SMT4 feels like it has the far better realized setting, story, and characters.
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I really like how different they both are. SMTIV’s early game and twist blew my mind when I played it, and the whole setup was so enjoyable that the world they built helped me get through the worst excesses of IV:A’s party setup, as the wider plot kept me interested. But yeah, it also didn’t feel anywhere near as smooth to get into as SMTV, where after the first ten minutes you are happily wandering around rather than in a lengthy, samey dungeon crawl.

One thing they both have in common is that their maps are terrible for navigation :D
 
lightning16 said:
I loved SMT5 so much that I decided to jump right into SMT4 upon finishing. I've had this game for years now but never got around to it. In general SMT was always a series I looked at like "I'm interested in trying this but idk if I'll actually like it" so the game was in my backlog for years. I almost never play games in the same series one after another but I just liked SMT5 that much.

It's really interesting seeing some of the changes between the games, working backwards like this. I almost look at them as balance changes lol. Also kind of explains why certain things in SMT5 work the way they do.

In SMT5 you level up and you only get to distribute a single stat point yourself, and that seemed a bit limited when I played through the game, but now I'm playing SMT4 and realize why they cut back on that so much. You can distribute all your stat points in SMT4 and it's honestly pretty busted lol. I'm like level 17 or 18 walking around with 60 magic. And it's not like I'm completely sacrificing core stats to achieve that. This is one of those changes where it feels good to build your character completely the way you want to in SMT4 but I think the decision to pull back on this in SMT5 serves the gameplay better.

I think the biggest thing I've noticed changed in SMT5 from 4 that I really appreciate the most is that I think they made the early game in 5 far less volatile. I think 5 struck the perfect balance of a lot of early encounters feeling dangerous but still making it pretty difficult to just completely eat shit and die instantly to a random mob with initiative criting you or something on the first turn. At least, it never happened to me in the SMT5 early game. In SMT4 it feels quite common, even with bosses (bosses are fairly easy unless you just get stomped on the first turn due to a crit or something, but are quite trivial once you get your first turn of buffs and debuffs up).

I am really enjoying SMT4, though, thankfully. Very very different game. More differences than I was expecting. But still really good. I think my opinion will probably be that SMT5 plays quite a bit better in terms of exploration, side quests, and the battle system itself, but SMT4 feels like it has the far better realized setting, story, and characters.
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SMTIV is arguably the easiest game in the series (I started with Nocturne and then Strange Journey, both of which felt way harder than SMTIV), SMTIV: Apocalypse fixes a lot of the gameplay balancing and retains challenge throughout. The final boss is definitely the highlight of IV: Apocalypse for me. SMTIV has a really interesting story/setting at least, so is worth it. Plus the music is a 10/10.
 
For those on the fence, SMT V Steelbook is down to $34.99 (new) at GameStop (US).
 
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Sumio Mondo said:
SMTIV is arguably the easiest game in the series (I started with Nocturne and then Strange Journey, both of which felt way harder than SMTIV), SMTIV: Apocalypse fixes a lot of the gameplay balancing and retains challenge throughout. The final boss is definitely the highlight of IV: Apocalypse for me. SMTIV has a really interesting story/setting at least, so is worth it. Plus the music is a 10/10.
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Apocalypse was a weird one for me in that I utterly despised the anime shonen party and all its tropes as it just felt shoehorned in, but the overall story around the myriad gods, the combat system, the map and the ending were way better. Also having Dagda with you the whole game made it interesting too.
 
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I'm currently re-playing SMT III and frankly, I'm finding its difficulty almost trivial. It's considerably easier than SMT V. V is also a much better game honestly, but I do like 3's simplicity.
 
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So I need to be saving my money and not unnecessarily buying anything and adding to my backlog, but I saw the steelbook on sale for about $40 and I jumped.

 
Rhisiart said:
So I need to be saving my money and not unnecessarily buying anything and adding to my backlog, but I saw the steelbook on sale for about $40 and I jumped.

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I saw that as well at Gamestop ... It was actually $34.99 (note: 1 cent below free shipping, well played! ... Edit: ah i see EM already posted this)

Deep discount, not even 1 month on market. And that frankly makes me worried the game tanked below expectations in North America 😕
 
Elven_Star said:
I'm right outside the demon king's castle after beating Ishtar. I'm still on 1.0.1. Should I update?
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Is there any reason we shouldn't be updating? I'm at the same spot, but I'd have assumed how far into the game you are would be irrelevant :X
 
Played so much today I gave myself a headache, oops. But I'm very close to the end now. I absolutely love the fourth area, the layout and the music are just perfect. I think I can finish the game by the end of the week, free time permitting.
 
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