-
Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.
StarTopic SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI V |ST| It's Not Persona(L), It's Demon Negotiations
- Thread starter AquaWateria
- Start date
Leica
Chain Chomp
- Pronouns
- he/him
Angel race demons have a Magatsuhi skill called Sea of Stars which heals your parties MP.
JRPGHurtsWallet
Ghoul Patrol
I took me about 15 hours worth of gameplay before I accepted it for what it was. The third area had an unbearable frame rate at times and did make me nauseous on a few occasions but nothing I didn’t get over after getting into a battle.
I just wish we could see how the creators truly intended to make this game on a Nintendo console and not have to go potentially go elsewhere to experience that.
JRPGHurtsWallet
Ghoul Patrol
There’s no shame in playing on Safety difficulty if you just want to experience the story and are getting frustrated. Even just using it on boss fights and then switching it off.
Shadow
Openly likes cuddles
I had no idea, pulled my angel into the battle and did it in one go. Thanks for the tip!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Finally finished all side-quests, all abscesses, found all Miman and all glory chests. And I beat 2 of the 3 area 4 bosses. Besides that, fused some demons and have 72% completion.
In the end, this game will take me about 90 hours. Haven't yet decided what route I take.
In the end, this game will take me about 90 hours. Haven't yet decided what route I take.
Leica
Chain Chomp
- Pronouns
- he/him
You're welcome, a lot of the magatsuhi skills are quite good and worth experimenting with.
- Pronouns
- he/him
Alright, spoiler tip/rant for alignments, I'll keep it vague but there will be some endgame info. Still, this frustrated me so I think it's useful to know
So, the game lets you choose freely your ending route but gives you bonuses based on your alignment based on dialogue/quest choices. Even if you want to go the Neutral route, do NOT go for a Neutral alignment with dialogue. You don't any benefit from it while you will for Law/Chaos alignments if you end up choosing those routes. You can still choose to go Neutral at the end without any downsides
- Pronouns
- he/him
And that's a wrap! What a game. Definitely my GoTY though I did get a bit burnt out at the end.
Level design and combat were the highlights, surprised how much of a step up those areas were from my previous SMT IV experience. Story was definitely minimal but I honestly didn't mind that at all, and I enjoyed it and the characters enough. Probably more so than IV honestly, even though I'd say that game does those things objectively better
I went Law and was burnt out enough by the end that I just cheesed the final boss by just power leveling with all my hoarded Gospels, then fusing a bunch of powerful demons like Beelzebub and Sandalphon and wiping the floor with Lucifer after he annoyed me half to death with my first few attempts
Level design and combat were the highlights, surprised how much of a step up those areas were from my previous SMT IV experience. Story was definitely minimal but I honestly didn't mind that at all, and I enjoyed it and the characters enough. Probably more so than IV honestly, even though I'd say that game does those things objectively better
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Finally defeated the third boss of the last area. After that, I searched for some Mitamas to get more glory and then finally went in the direction I was supposed to go - only to find out there are two more side-quests...
Besides that, some more demon fusions put me over 75% completion and gave me some unexpected dialog from Sophia. That was a surprise.
Tomorrow it is then.
Besides that, some more demon fusions put me over 75% completion and gave me some unexpected dialog from Sophia. That was a surprise.
Tomorrow it is then.
Sumio Mondo
Lynchian
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Finally in the 4th area now. Damn, feels like a lot of stuff happened then anyway. A lotta really cool demon designs in that "meeting" too. The enemies in this new area do not mess around either. Multi-crit attacks and getting their turns in first aplenty. Where's Rangda when I need her? Too busy eating kids again? I need those phys blocking demons yesterday.
Aogami only has so much room to put all those items. Always sounds like it physically hurts the MC when he tries to obtain items he has too much off, which is funny.
Aogami only has so much room to put all those items. Always sounds like it physically hurts the MC when he tries to obtain items he has too much off, which is funny.
marmoka
Shriekbat
So I'm already in the end of Area 3, level 50. Did anyone try the boss in full or half potential?
Area the next areas as big as Area 3? For what I've seen here, there are about 5 areas in the game, and the third is huge. I wonder how many Mimans are there left, as I have already collected 3/4 of the total in the game.
And I have already beated Pale Rider. I'm surprised that the fiend battles are not that challenging in this game. Which is the Demi-Fiend's level? Considering the levels of the previous fiends, I don't expect him to be above 80.
I'm playing the game pretty slowly, I don't have much time lately, and I'm wasting a lot of time on exploration, recruiting demons, doing sidequests and so on. I've played like 45 hours already and still feel like I have only completed half of the game. Am I enjoying it? Yes!! I'm really enjoying this game!! A lot!!
I initially tried fighting the Queen of Heavens with all Magatsuhi things on, and I didn't even last a turn. Disconnected all of them and expected another hard but easier fight, but it became a joke fight. I wonder how the fight would have been if I switched off only half of the Magatsuhi machines. Now I'm at the castle of the Lord of the Demons
Area the next areas as big as Area 3? For what I've seen here, there are about 5 areas in the game, and the third is huge. I wonder how many Mimans are there left, as I have already collected 3/4 of the total in the game.
And I have already beated Pale Rider. I'm surprised that the fiend battles are not that challenging in this game. Which is the Demi-Fiend's level? Considering the levels of the previous fiends, I don't expect him to be above 80.
I'm playing the game pretty slowly, I don't have much time lately, and I'm wasting a lot of time on exploration, recruiting demons, doing sidequests and so on. I've played like 45 hours already and still feel like I have only completed half of the game. Am I enjoying it? Yes!! I'm really enjoying this game!! A lot!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Played for about three hours yesterday, cleared the first abscess.
As expected, the performance issues are hugely blown out of proportions, I honestly can't understand hoe someone can say the game is unplayeable. The performance is absolutely fine, i almost never notice any frame rate dips, it's the frame pacing that is a bit wonky especially when moving the camera, but I've seen worse (FFXV is an action game and has worse frame pacing as far as i remember). Some of the menu transitions are a bit choppy but I think that's a (poor) artistic choice. Resolution is perfectly fine for the Switch, it's on par with most games on the system. I honestly don't understand what's so bad about the performance, the whole thing sounds ridiculous now that I'm playing the game.
As for the game itself, holy fuck it looks gorgeous. Art direction is amazing as expected, the first area looks mesmerizing. The lighting stood out to me, it's really really good, almost too good for the Switch. Battles are a bit slower than ideal, but it's still faster than most RPGs. I'm glad the story doesn't get in the way of gameplay, I didn't care for the anime highschool crew and I hope they all died in the apocalypse lol The music is a bit hit or miss so far, I don't like the menu music, but the battle theme is hype obviously. I also like the overworld theme, but I wish there was more variety, I'm still far from clearing the area and it's already getting a bit repetitive.
Can't wait to get home and dive in again, first impression was great and it feels amazing to finally be playing this game after all this time.
As expected, the performance issues are hugely blown out of proportions, I honestly can't understand hoe someone can say the game is unplayeable. The performance is absolutely fine, i almost never notice any frame rate dips, it's the frame pacing that is a bit wonky especially when moving the camera, but I've seen worse (FFXV is an action game and has worse frame pacing as far as i remember). Some of the menu transitions are a bit choppy but I think that's a (poor) artistic choice. Resolution is perfectly fine for the Switch, it's on par with most games on the system. I honestly don't understand what's so bad about the performance, the whole thing sounds ridiculous now that I'm playing the game.
As for the game itself, holy fuck it looks gorgeous. Art direction is amazing as expected, the first area looks mesmerizing. The lighting stood out to me, it's really really good, almost too good for the Switch. Battles are a bit slower than ideal, but it's still faster than most RPGs. I'm glad the story doesn't get in the way of gameplay, I didn't care for the anime highschool crew and I hope they all died in the apocalypse lol The music is a bit hit or miss so far, I don't like the menu music, but the battle theme is hype obviously. I also like the overworld theme, but I wish there was more variety, I'm still far from clearing the area and it's already getting a bit repetitive.
Can't wait to get home and dive in again, first impression was great and it feels amazing to finally be playing this game after all this time.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I finally beat the game! The last part really lasted longer than I would have liked and it had quite a spike in enemy levels. Did everything besides the superboss and fused demons up until a completion rate of 82%. There's a side-quest boss in this last part that is multiple times more difficult than the last 2 bosses imo.
Decided for
I don't have much to say what others haven't already. I agree with @NabiscoFelt that the final "dungeon" burnt me out at the end. Gameplay is king in this game, and that not only includes the excellent turn-based battle system, but also the almost platformer like level-design. It was so much fun just running and jumping through the different areas, finding new ways and secrets.
The characters and story are definitely the weak parts, and I hope Atlus will improve on that in SMTVI, but nonetheless this is my goty!
Decided for
the chaos route and created a new world.
I don't have much to say what others haven't already. I agree with @NabiscoFelt that the final "dungeon" burnt me out at the end. Gameplay is king in this game, and that not only includes the excellent turn-based battle system, but also the almost platformer like level-design. It was so much fun just running and jumping through the different areas, finding new ways and secrets.
The characters and story are definitely the weak parts, and I hope Atlus will improve on that in SMTVI, but nonetheless this is my goty!
I am so conflicted on whether to pick this up or not. I love the SMT games but the technical aspects have held me off. I can handle some amount of issues but the DF ye h review was eye opening. Maybe I should be patient and see if it releases elsewhere next year. Ugh tough decision as FOMO is killing me lol
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Beat the first boss just now. I'm thinking I probably should have been playing on hard. I don't know if this game is easier or if it's because I'm more compelled to explore everything because it's so rewarding, so I end up getting a lot of resources and leveling up in the process. Either way, I've only game over'd twice, once was an accident against the stone giant, and the other was fighting Apsaras. The battle against the first boss was a close call, though, Sandman with Dream Needle was the MVP, the boss spent half the battle sleeping and if it wasn't for that I would have lost.
Also, the Nahobino doesn't learn any skills by leveling up? I'm meant to use essences to teach him skills? I'm a bit underwhelmed by my physical build so far, he doesn't have any worthwhile physical skills and the tradeoff isn't worth it when I can hit weaknesses with magic. The game builds all stats anyway so it isn't a huge problem, but I hope physical will get better along the way.
Also, the Nahobino doesn't learn any skills by leveling up? I'm meant to use essences to teach him skills? I'm a bit underwhelmed by my physical build so far, he doesn't have any worthwhile physical skills and the tradeoff isn't worth it when I can hit weaknesses with magic. The game builds all stats anyway so it isn't a huge problem, but I hope physical will get better along the way.
- Pronouns
- he/him
Yep, you use Essences. I think Physical builds probably start fairly weak but
they should start getting good at around the second area I think (I wouldn't know for sure, I went Magic) which is where the stronger physical demons start showing up. At around the third area you start getting elemental physical skills
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Cool, thanks! Will keep investing in physical then since I focus on magic for my demons
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I've been enjoying the story so far, it reminds of SMT3 in which it doesn't care about explaining every little detail to you and just leave some things up in the air to focus on what's important. It's also not intrusive which is aok in my book. I'm slightly intrigued about what happened, but I'm more eager to keep exploring so it's great that the game isn't on a rush to flood me with cutscenes.
Judging by the overall reactions, the plot will turn into a shitshow at some point so let's see.
Judging by the overall reactions, the plot will turn into a shitshow at some point so let's see.
I can understand the sentiment, and I'm rooting for a PC release.
One point of practicality that occurred to me wrt to grabbing a copy now: If you can secure one of those steelbooks at the ~$35 price point I have been seeing past few weeks, thats a no-brainer in terms of resell value in the worst case that you don't like it.
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah, for me it's this. I don't dislike the characters, and I think they could have been pretty good if we got a lot more of them, but as it is now there's just not enough there to really form strong bonds or opinions. It's not that the plot is bad, it's just... barely there.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it lets the game focus heavily on the gameplay, but I admit I would've liked a bit more.
Elven_Star
Nintendo Neophyte
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
“Finished” the game last night. YouTube’d those last couple of boss fights, because I was too lazy to grind and wanted to see the true ending.
This game was worth the wait. I’m actually kinda glad they went the minimal route with the story.
This game was worth the wait. I’m actually kinda glad they went the minimal route with the story.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I wish there was more details on the inspiration for the demons in-game, especially for anything that isn't a yokai or based on Japanese mythology (if only because those get explored a ton in other game series as well). Some of these demons come from cultures where there doesn't seem to be much information available publicly. I'd love to get as much details on both real-world origin and even some developer's notes tab that can talk through some of the inspiration guiding the in-game designs.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I wasn't referring to the discussion here on Famiboards. At a certain point the discussion was actually deflating my immense hype because so many people were trashing different aspects of the game at different times, I started to wonder if it was worth all the hype I had.
But now I'm playing it and it's wonderful in every aspect, it hasn't disappointed, except that I can't tell about the story yet, but it's enjoyable so far. My gaming sensitivities mist just be a lot different from the majority, i don't know.
Sumio Mondo
Lynchian
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A lot of the designs are legacy from Kazuma Kaneko's (the original main artist on the series) designs from the 90s and 2000s, he did release art books where he goes into the design process as well but there's not much on the internet about it outside of the Megami Tensei wikis and the odd fan translation from an old art book.
I know the series current main artist Masayuki Doi (who did the new demon designs and the character designs) did a Twitter thread about the designs of the demons for SMTV and it was translated onto Twitter.
Tye
All-around Nintendo enjoyer
- Pronouns
- they/them
So, I own this game and I'm really wanting to finally get around to playing it, but I have quite a few questions first, if anyone here wouldn't mind helping me out...
First of all, I have both SMTⅢ and SMTⅤ, though I haven't started either of them yet. I've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before (or a Persona game for that matter—closest is Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, which I only played about 5 minutes of and never got around to playing more, lol), but I'd like to finally change that by playing these two games on Switch. However, I'm torn on which to play first... I kinda really want to just jump into SMTⅤ and then get around to playing SMTⅢ sometime later after I've beaten Ⅴ, and that was my original plan...but then the other day a friend of mine (who's beaten Ⅲ and is currently playing Ⅴ) said I should probably play Ⅲ first for plot related reasons. When searching this topic online, though, it seems most people are suggesting that the plots are separate and that it doesn't matter if you play Ⅴ first, so I've got conflicting answers here and I'm not sure which is more correct... My friend said that (spoiler tagging this just in case) SMTⅤ is a sequel to SMTⅢ, specifically the "True Demon Ending" of that game, so if that's really the case, would it not be better to play Ⅲ (and get that specific ending) first? Or does it really not matter? I'm not sure what to think here!
Also, for when I do start SMTⅤ, what exactly should I be aware of when it comes to multiple endings? I'm aware that Ⅲ has multiple endings and that the SMT games generally do, so I assume Ⅴ likely does too, but if that's the case I'm gonna want to make sure I get the true/best/most canon ending, if that's a thing. So, like, what do I need to know regarding that? Hopefully this isn't something I'm gonna need to use a walkthrough for or something...
And finally, my friend mentioned having to name the player character—do they have a canon/default name to use? 'Cause if I have to come up with my own name for them it might be quite awhile before I ever get around to actually playing the game...lol.
I think that's about it as far as questions I have right now...but if anyone has any other useful info that you think I should be aware of before starting feel free to let me know! And thanks in advance to anyone who may help me out with some of these questions, I know I'm kinda asking a lot, sorry, lol.
EDIT: One more question! When it comes to the DLC, is it something that I should buy at the beginning of the game, or can it be done whenever? Basically, should I buy the DLC before starting for the best experience, or am I good to put it off until later if I want? I'm really not sure how the DLC works with this game.
First of all, I have both SMTⅢ and SMTⅤ, though I haven't started either of them yet. I've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before (or a Persona game for that matter—closest is Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, which I only played about 5 minutes of and never got around to playing more, lol), but I'd like to finally change that by playing these two games on Switch. However, I'm torn on which to play first... I kinda really want to just jump into SMTⅤ and then get around to playing SMTⅢ sometime later after I've beaten Ⅴ, and that was my original plan...but then the other day a friend of mine (who's beaten Ⅲ and is currently playing Ⅴ) said I should probably play Ⅲ first for plot related reasons. When searching this topic online, though, it seems most people are suggesting that the plots are separate and that it doesn't matter if you play Ⅴ first, so I've got conflicting answers here and I'm not sure which is more correct... My friend said that (spoiler tagging this just in case) SMTⅤ is a sequel to SMTⅢ, specifically the "True Demon Ending" of that game, so if that's really the case, would it not be better to play Ⅲ (and get that specific ending) first? Or does it really not matter? I'm not sure what to think here!
Also, for when I do start SMTⅤ, what exactly should I be aware of when it comes to multiple endings? I'm aware that Ⅲ has multiple endings and that the SMT games generally do, so I assume Ⅴ likely does too, but if that's the case I'm gonna want to make sure I get the true/best/most canon ending, if that's a thing. So, like, what do I need to know regarding that? Hopefully this isn't something I'm gonna need to use a walkthrough for or something...
And finally, my friend mentioned having to name the player character—do they have a canon/default name to use? 'Cause if I have to come up with my own name for them it might be quite awhile before I ever get around to actually playing the game...lol.
I think that's about it as far as questions I have right now...but if anyone has any other useful info that you think I should be aware of before starting feel free to let me know! And thanks in advance to anyone who may help me out with some of these questions, I know I'm kinda asking a lot, sorry, lol.
EDIT: One more question! When it comes to the DLC, is it something that I should buy at the beginning of the game, or can it be done whenever? Basically, should I buy the DLC before starting for the best experience, or am I good to put it off until later if I want? I'm really not sure how the DLC works with this game.
Last edited:
I haven't played the game yet, but I also have both it and SMT3 so I face the same question.
I plan to play SMTV first because:
a) I expect it to be superior in terms of gameplay; I already love the combat system and demon negotiation and fusing aspects from SMT4, and the new exploration aspects look great
b) It will be superior in terms of audio/visuals
c) It is one of the switch's bespoke exclusives, an experience created with the parameters of the switch in mind, so I might as well enjoy that "in the moment"
d) I have read from our fellow posters that the story is on the sparser side, but that this aspect skews towards SMT3 anyway, so no "big win" for the latter; Plus I suspect this won't matter so much to me
There will be at least the three main endings between Law, Chaos and Neutral. In SMT4 you needed to look up a walkthru to stay neutral. I expect to do the same here with 5 but am curious what our compatriots have to say
Everything that I have seen and read suggests we are totally fine to go straight to 5.
What I get (please correct if wrong) are that there will be a handful of offhand background/flavor/easter-egg refs to SMT3, and one big reference in the form of an optional challenge DLC. But nothing core to 5's story.
Let me nominate a default name to use if push comes to shove: Vegeta
Naw! Play the game first at least a ways! DLC provides some optional cool demons and battles, and some cheats. All I have read suggests that we do not need no cheats, and the optional demons would only be feasible once we are in like Chapter 3 or past. Which by that time you will know whether you want to keep going.
Note, the DLCs are full price right now. So worst case is you start SMT5 and its banging, and you decide to spring for the DLCs then and pay full price. On the other hand, you might feel totally satisfied by the core content OR by the time you have progresses far enough to consider the DLCs they might be on sale.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
-I'm still playing V, but I'm 99% sure its plot is completely independent from III. The Return of the True Demon DLC, which is a separate sidequest, is what ties with SMTIII, but it's just a series of bosses, really, there's no plot. You can play it without having played III. The final boss of the DLC is the protagonist from III (this isn't a spoiler, it's how the DLC is being advertised).
-I've looked a bit into the different ending to see if there was something missable. Apparently you can get any of the three normal endings very easily, it's down to a final choice that should be obvious. There's a secret ending though that involves a choice that happens earlier in the game. If you're interested, you could research or ask someone here who has finished the game.
-The character does not have a canon name. Also SMT game ask you for a name and a last name lol You could go with Go (five in japanese) and your last name if you're undecided.
-The True Demon DLC should be bought from the start because it is a series of bosses that are spread evenly throughout the game, and their level scale up as you progress. So if you beat the game and get the DLC after that, most of the bosses will be trivial at that point, which defeats the purpose imo. The other DLC consist of late game bosses except for one, so it should be fine if you get them later. I personally just went with the True Demon, since it's the best value and its bosses are favorites of mine (and most fans).
Tye
All-around Nintendo enjoyer
- Pronouns
- they/them
Thanks you two! I decided to just start SMTⅤ after all, 'cause yeah, I know it's gonna be the better experience overall since it's the latest one and all. Guess I'll wait on the DLC for now (does Atlus DLC usually go on sale...?) and just start playing the game some more first. Hopefully this secret ending isn't gonna be a headache to get, though, and I suppose I should try to find a spoiler-free guide for that... I did get super stressed about naming my character (normally this isn't a problem 'cause I just use my own name, but when it asks for a last name and when all the characters are very specifically Japanese like this, I don't know what to do...), but I ended up going with Tai Ninten, lol.
Haven't been able to play very much yet, but I'm already fearing that this is gonna give me the usual RPG stat stress big time since I've already been asked to distribute points to whatever stats I want and I have no idea what is supposed to be the best course of action here... ._. Throw it all in attack? Keep everything balanced? What works best? I'm guessing this isn't a game where all stats can be maxed eventually so it doesn't matter too much, is it...?
Haven't been able to play very much yet, but I'm already fearing that this is gonna give me the usual RPG stat stress big time since I've already been asked to distribute points to whatever stats I want and I have no idea what is supposed to be the best course of action here... ._. Throw it all in attack? Keep everything balanced? What works best? I'm guessing this isn't a game where all stats can be maxed eventually so it doesn't matter too much, is it...?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The stats building in V is far more forgiving than in past games because the game automatically distributes most of the point for you to make sure your character is balanced to progress in the game. You only get 1 point to assign, so you can get more careless with it because the other stats won't get too weak.
Usually you pick if your character will focus on physical or magic, and you ignore the other one. Both choices are viable and have pros and cons. One of these should get most of the points.
The next most important stat is agi, because it determines the accuracy and evasion and these are big things in SMT. When you attack misses, you lose a turn (in addition to the one you used), same for the enemy, so you want to make sure all your hits land and you can only do that if your agi is higher than the enemy's. It also determines your chances to strike first in battle (which is the difference between victory and death a lot of the time) and the chance you successfully run.
Then there is vit, which in V isn't that important to invest in because it will grow anyway. It determines your defense and HP, so put a few points if you feel like you're too frail. Keep in mind that a defensive approach in SMT doesn't mean to have a high defense stat. Because of press turns, you still will get pummeled if you have absurd amounts of HP but is losing turns all the time. The best way to defend yourself is to explore enemie's weaknesses and cover your own, and use those extra turns to buff your team.
And lastly there is luck, which is a stat for a specific type of playstyle. It basically improves your RNG odds in the game, so you will crit more frequently, you will have a higher chance to inflict status ailments or instant death, and a higher chance of resisting those too. In past games if you go the luck route you kinda have to build your character around it, but in V you can invest into it and still have versatility with the other stats, if you feel like it.
D
Deleted member 2
Guest
how did you do it
Man God
Non Canon™
The important part was to be Phys Null because Shiva and friends use those a lot. Boon Boost EX helps keep up Debilitate and Luster Candy. You must absolutely kill Ananta the first turn they appear as they can heal all of Shiva's HP. Ananta is weak to force. The best Omagatori moves are Critical to keep doing damage when healthy, God's Shield to really nerf the damage from Shiva's Almighty attacks. Dance if you can get three debilitates/luster candies up to really wreck a solo Shiva with Glacial Blast, Frekigal EX/ or the one that doubles MP cost but doubles damage to put him away if you think you can hammer in the damage. Bead Chains, Chakra Pots, Somas are also very helpful. My next step if this didn't work was to really level up Tao and do another fusion of Fly King because I forgot about Boon Boost EX working on Debilitate and Luster Candy so I skipped it.
D
Deleted member 2
Guest
you da bomb
The important part was to be Phys Null because Shiva and friends use those a lot. Boon Boost EX helps keep up Debilitate and Luster Candy. You must absolutely kill Ananta the first turn they appear as they can heal all of Shiva's HP. Ananta is weak to force. The best Omagatori moves are Critical to keep doing damage when healthy, God's Shield to really nerf the damage from Shiva's Almighty attacks. Dance if you can get three debilitates/luster candies up to really wreck a solo Shiva with Glacial Blast, Frekigal EX/ or the one that doubles MP cost but doubles damage to put him away if you think you can hammer in the damage. Bead Chains, Chakra Pots, Somas are also very helpful. My next step if this didn't work was to really level up Tao and do another fusion of Fly King because I forgot about Boon Boost EX working on Debilitate and Luster Candy so I skipped it.
Tye
All-around Nintendo enjoyer
- Pronouns
- they/them
Thank you, that's good to know!
I keep having more and more questions as I progress but I won't continue to bog down this thread by asking about every little thing, lol. RPGs are generally full of all the things I dislike most in games, lol, so jumping into a new one will almost always be very difficult for me unless it's designed a specific way (Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of my favorite games ever despite being an RPG, for example), but I really want to give SMT a chance. I'm loving the visuals and sound so far, at least!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
No problem at all in asking questions! I'm sure folks will try to help when they can.
SMT has A LOT of systems going on, but once it all clicks, it's amazing. You're always progressing and unlocking new miracles/skills, it's very addictive and exploration is very rewarding.
Try to gather as much glory as you can from Mimans and glory spots, and use them to buy miracles, they unlock all kinds of cool abilities and some are extremely useful. Priorities imo should be the ones that help build the magatsuhi gauge and the ones that give you extra demons slots and skill slots.
Try to dabble with fusion as soon as you can. It might look overwhelming at first, but you will get the hang of it. Basically what you have to keep in mind when fusing is: you're looking for demons with good abilities that you don't have yet (look at the next abilities the demon is gonna learn too); pay attention to affinities to make sure the skills you're passing on to the new demons will be optimal (affinity increases damage and reduces the MP cost); remember you can always get any demons you had previously by paying a fee at the compendium. At first money will be short and you will think the compendium fees are exorbitant, but you will get a lot of money soon, so make use of the compendium. The best way to fuse imo is to look at Reverse Fusion and Reverse Compendium Fusion, they show what demons you can make with the ones you currently have (and the compendium option includes demons you have on your compendium). If you want a new demon but still want to use one of the material demons, just fuse it and get it back from the compendium (you can register a demon any time to update it so when you pay to get a demon it will have the same level and skills it had when you last registered it).
If you're struggling with a boss, try to build a team that is custom made to destroy it. You can fuse new demons that block the boss' element and have skills of the element it's weak against, and you can use essences to change Nahobino's weaknesses and resistances. Focus on getting as many turns as possible.
The press turns icons are easier to understand than to explain, but basically a normal icon can turn into a blinking icon when you hit a weakness, which means you get an extra turn. So if all your icons are blinking, you can't get any more turns. As long as you have a normal icon, you can still get an extra turn by making it blink (hitting an enemy's weakness). Passing the turn or switching a demon in your party also makes the icon blink instead of consuming a turn.
Tye
All-around Nintendo enjoyer
- Pronouns
- they/them
Thanks again! It's good to hear that things seem to become more accessible later on, 'cause right now I've been stressing over money and my demons and all, lol. Only just unlocked Miracles though, so I'm still very early on.
Regarding Mimans, will there be a way to find them more easily later on, like have them be displayed on the map and/or tell me how many I still need in any given area? They can be kinda hard to see, and just exploring through the first area I've already come across some that I'm surprised I missed at first.
When it comes to demons, so far I've been recruiting every new demon I come across...but clearly I'm not going to be able to keep doing that since there are limited slots for demons. Good to know that you can easily get back any demon you've had before, though! Also, is there any rhyme or reason to what you have to do or say to the demons to make them join you, or is it just pure RNG? And is it like Pokémon where each individual demon may have its own unique traits, or is every demon exactly the same beyond the level you meet them at?
What do you mean by registering demons? Maybe I've not unlocked that ability yet but I'm not sure what that is. It's not just recruiting them, right?
EDIT: One more question I'll throw out here—what should I be doing in regard to Essences? The game told me that I can only hold one of each at a time so it's best to not just hoard them (lol, hoarding items is what I do best in RPGs =P), but at the same time I have no idea how I should be using these right now...
EDIT 2: Oh noooo I've now reached my limit of demon slots (after already upgrading it once), now what do I do?? Just...not recruit any more demons for the time being? It's hard for me to not go at this with a Pokémon-like mindset, lol...
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah, there's an npc at the end of the area that will mark remaining Mimans in your map for a fee.
When you first recruit a demon, it's automatically saved in your compendium so you can get it back anytime later if you use it on a fusion. The registered demon will have the level, stats and skills it had in the moment you recruited it, though, so you have to option to update this register later to "save" the demon as it is at that moment. Registering is free, but the higher the level of the demon when you update it, the higher it will cost if you want to summon it later. What Man God was saying is that you should generally avoid updating the demons because it will make them more expensive, which I agree. Unless in specific cases when you need to use a demon as fusion material but still want it in your party as it was, don't register any demon.
The demon negotiations aren't RNG, the right answers are always the same for each kind of demon, but there's no way to tell which is the right answer except from trial and error, so it's still luck based. Don't stress too much about this and just try to have fun, some of the dialogue are hilarious. When they start asking you for items/money, is when they're recruitable. Give them what they're asking if you have it or tell them to ask for something else if you don't. After you've given them 3-4 things, tell them they've had enough and they will usually join. Oh, another tip is that you should always kill every other demon before trying to recruit one, because if the negotiation fails, the enemy team will get a free round and they can wipe you out lol
It's a good approach to recruit every demon you see, because that will fill your compendium and, in turn, give you a wider pool of demons to fuse (by using the reverse compendium fusion option). You should unlock a miracle that will give you extra slots in your party very soon, don't worry. Also, if you have a full party and the demons have already learned all the skills they can learn when leveling up, just fuse them. Focus on getting new demons with new skills to get access to strong/useful skills asap. Demons of the same species that you find in the wild are identical, same level, same skills. Different species have different affinities and stats though, so you should consider that when fusing to make demons that are optimal for the skills you want to teach them.
You can use essences in two ways: to override your weaknesses/resistances to match the essence, or to learn the skills the essence gives you (you can't do both). So you want to use an essence when you're going to fight a boss and needs to change your weaknesses to survive the boss, or when there's an essence with a good skill that you want to teach the Nahobino (remember essences are the only way the Nahobino can learn skills, so use them!). You can also use essences on demons to teach them skills, but not to change their affinities.
