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Shin Megami Tensei: New Reincarnation of the Thread (Actually Featuring Dante From The Devil May Cry Series)
- Thread starter Zef
- Start date
Mr. Sensible
Pitch and Putt Duffer
So I've been in an SMT mood as of late, which has got me wanting to pick up one of these wacky games for some demonic fun times. I actually own and have played a few different titles in the series, with Strange Journey and Persona 3 being the ones I've sunk the most time into. I've got a few questions about potentially playing certain other SMT games, but I wanted to pick the forum's collective brain before making any purchasing decisions.
Okay, so I like Strange Journey. At least, I liked what I played of it about a decade ago, and now I want to resume/finish my playthrough. Judging by my save file, it appears I was just about to start delving into Sector Delphinus, so I assume that's somewhere around the halfway point of the story? Anyway, my main question is this: has anyone here tried Strange Journey Redux? I completely forgot that Atlus remade the game for 3DS and I'm curious about whether it would be worth picking up at this point. Should I just focus on my original SJ playthrough, or can anyone here make a case for starting over with Redux?
Alright, moving along to Persona 4. This is one I've never played before; I actually promised myself that I wouldn't start a P4 playthrough until I finished P3 (which I still haven't done either), but now I want to try it. I know that several forum members have recommended Persona 4 Golden, and I do own a Vita, but there's something about the PS2-era aesthetics of Persona that really resonates with me. I've watched comparison footage of the two versions, and I find myself gravitating towards the original PS2 version despite all the cool extra content on the Vita. Should I just get with the times and grab P4G, or does the original still hold more appeal for anyone else?
Lastly is Shin Megami Tensei IV, another game I haven't touched. Basically I just want to know if I should get vanilla SMT4 or Apocalypse, or if they're both worth picking up and playing separately. Probably will only play one or the other, if I'm being honest.
Okay, so I like Strange Journey. At least, I liked what I played of it about a decade ago, and now I want to resume/finish my playthrough. Judging by my save file, it appears I was just about to start delving into Sector Delphinus, so I assume that's somewhere around the halfway point of the story? Anyway, my main question is this: has anyone here tried Strange Journey Redux? I completely forgot that Atlus remade the game for 3DS and I'm curious about whether it would be worth picking up at this point. Should I just focus on my original SJ playthrough, or can anyone here make a case for starting over with Redux?
Alright, moving along to Persona 4. This is one I've never played before; I actually promised myself that I wouldn't start a P4 playthrough until I finished P3 (which I still haven't done either), but now I want to try it. I know that several forum members have recommended Persona 4 Golden, and I do own a Vita, but there's something about the PS2-era aesthetics of Persona that really resonates with me. I've watched comparison footage of the two versions, and I find myself gravitating towards the original PS2 version despite all the cool extra content on the Vita. Should I just get with the times and grab P4G, or does the original still hold more appeal for anyone else?
Lastly is Shin Megami Tensei IV, another game I haven't touched. Basically I just want to know if I should get vanilla SMT4 or Apocalypse, or if they're both worth picking up and playing separately. Probably will only play one or the other, if I'm being honest.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
SMT IV: Apocalypse is the sequel to SMT IV. Or maybe a side story, but the point is that they are different games. I haven't played either, just wanted to clear this up.
Damn, your post makes me sad. There was a time when I was very hungry for SMT and Persona games, and I have played a lot of the PS2 and DS games. But that is so long ago, and I haven't even played the two SMT IVs yet. I really miss these games, and the time when a ton of them came out near each other, always in different flavours, or even genres.
Damn, your post makes me sad. There was a time when I was very hungry for SMT and Persona games, and I have played a lot of the PS2 and DS games. But that is so long ago, and I haven't even played the two SMT IVs yet. I really miss these games, and the time when a ton of them came out near each other, always in different flavours, or even genres.
SMT IV-A is a sequel to the true neutral ending to SMT IV. I played it, despite getting the Chaos ending for SMT IV, and still had a good time. Completing the first one grants bonuses in the second. The second also fixes a big issue with the fusion mechanic in the first game...kinda.
Everyone has different opinions on the story of SMTIV (and even more... extreme ones about SMTIV Apocalypse) but if you enjoy Strange Journey and see it to its end, at least once, you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least play the original SMTIV. It's THE best SMT gameplay yet.
SMT Strange Journey Redux... eigggh? There's some Quality of Life improvements, and IIRC the passwords from the original still work here (if you want to dig out our thread from the Archive) but the new additions are either very good or excruciatingly bad, and it's hard to come to a consensus on half of them. I personally prefer the original by a vast amount.
Between P4 and P4 Golden, I'd say the improvements and all the ways you can break the game so you can have an even more enjoyable experience make the Vita version the definitive one. It's still, technically, the PS2 models and visuals, just gussied up to HD, so the art style remains unchanged (if anything, if the visual motifs are a big draw for you, the colors really pop in this version.) The only place where the PS2 version is downright superior is the opening theme, which is one of the best Persona songs out there.
SMT Strange Journey Redux... eigggh? There's some Quality of Life improvements, and IIRC the passwords from the original still work here (if you want to dig out our thread from the Archive) but the new additions are either very good or excruciatingly bad, and it's hard to come to a consensus on half of them. I personally prefer the original by a vast amount.
Between P4 and P4 Golden, I'd say the improvements and all the ways you can break the game so you can have an even more enjoyable experience make the Vita version the definitive one. It's still, technically, the PS2 models and visuals, just gussied up to HD, so the art style remains unchanged (if anything, if the visual motifs are a big draw for you, the colors really pop in this version.) The only place where the PS2 version is downright superior is the opening theme, which is one of the best Persona songs out there.
No changes to existing music that I can recall, other than the OP being replaced with a happier, peppier tune, but there's a new "regular battle" theme that plays alternatively to the "Reach Out To The Truth" one (which I think now plays if you have Player Advantage). Also, all of the new content got accompanying themes, from the beach music, Rise's concert, the quiz game, the nighttime town exploration, all the post-Christmas stuff, to most importantly, all the Marie-related events. "Snowflakes" is the town music during January and February, "Maiden of the Empty Forest" is Marie's theme, and "Memory" plays during Marie's TV dungeon.
Mr. Sensible
Pitch and Putt Duffer
Welp, I'm back on my Strange Journey playthrough in earnest now and taking my first steps into Sector Delphinus. And pee-yew, this place stinks! But my real problem seems to be that I'm always short on Macca; the small amounts I earn in the dungeon usually get spent on healing my party back to full strength. Any tips for making some quick Macca? I do have the Extra Macca Sub-App installed, but I'm sure there's other ways to boost my cash flow...
The 100% foolproof Macca-harvesting method is Enemy Search. Regular enemies will hardly give any and you won't be able to cash in on your old equipment if you don't have new stuff to replace it with. But Enemy Search bosses, by dint of being much tougher and running the risk of being a Fiend, will yield pretty good cash, and once you learn their weaknesses or how to trivialize their attacks you can farm them until Irving and Chen are drowning in macca. Just mind the Fiends, natch
Also: if you fuse a lot of demons, you will need more macca than usual. First, because you may want to try out Password demons you run into online (our Archived threads have a bunch, but they're easy to google and Atlus themselves released several helpful ones). They have a steep price, but if you've already fused/fully-scanned the same type of demon, you'll get 50% discount--but only if you purchase it in the same session. If you only register it "to buy later", but then save and reload, the price will go back to normal. It's a known bug.
Second, is Source-fusing. Sources are one-of-a-kind, and the best skills can only be obtained from a single Source, so once it's gone, it's gone. But, if you want to spread those skills around, you can keep "reusing" Sources by fusing your desired demon with them, registering it as a Password demon, writing down the password somewhere else, then quitting without saving. That way, when you load your game, you get to keep your Source, and you can enter your own password to get your custom demon (at 50% off if you purchase it immediately).
Mr. Sensible
Pitch and Putt Duffer
Thanks for the tips! Seems like Enemy Search also yields some very nice Formas that sell for bookoo bucks. Now I've got like 30K in my pocket and a slew of manufactured upgrades! I think this will keep me going for awhile, as long as I avoid my MC getting Stoned by these dang Mothmen...
I've been in an Megaten mood recently as well, but I'm holding out for Nocturne HD. That is probably one of my most anticipated releases for this year since I never got to play it and have heard plenty of good things. I tried to alleviate the wait with Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth since I heard it was somewhat like an Megaten game, but while it was fun it didn't really hit the same notes.
As for Strange Journey Redux, while I know the new content and art is divisive among fans I like that the crew you talk to in the game have portraits now. It's unfortunate that it came out towards the end of the 3DS' life and never got a dub though, since I would have loved to hear Irving and Chens enthusiasm for forma in english.
As for Strange Journey Redux, while I know the new content and art is divisive among fans I like that the crew you talk to in the game have portraits now. It's unfortunate that it came out towards the end of the 3DS' life and never got a dub though, since I would have loved to hear Irving and Chens enthusiasm for forma in english.
Trauma Center
I'm new to the Persona series. I just finished Persona 5 Royal this month.
Character designs and writing (numerous reveals) in Persona 5 reminded me of Trauma Center which I played on Wii with a friend of mine years ago. I looked up the creator of Trauma Center on Wikipedia: Katsura Hashino. Katsura Hashino also worked on Persona as a director and producer. I thought that connection was pretty cool.
SMT vs. Persona
Like I said I'm new to Persona. What is the difference between SMT and Persona?
I'm new to the Persona series. I just finished Persona 5 Royal this month.
Character designs and writing (numerous reveals) in Persona 5 reminded me of Trauma Center which I played on Wii with a friend of mine years ago. I looked up the creator of Trauma Center on Wikipedia: Katsura Hashino. Katsura Hashino also worked on Persona as a director and producer. I thought that connection was pretty cool.
SMT vs. Persona
Like I said I'm new to Persona. What is the difference between SMT and Persona?
Mr. Sensible
Pitch and Putt Duffer
Shin Megami Tensei or SMT typically refers to either the franchise as a whole, or to the "mainline" SMT games: Shin Megami Tensei I, II, Nocturne, Strange Journey/Redux (kinda-sorta), IV and IV: Apocalypse. Persona is a spinoff/sub-series that started on PS1 and continued on through P2: Innocent Sin/Eternal Punishment, P3/FES/P3P, P4/Golden and P5/Royal (and other side stuff like Persona Q or Dancing All Night).
As far as stylistic differences, mainline SMT games are usually set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo and get way more into philosophy and existentialism, whereas in Persona it's typically more about Japanese high-schoolers preventing some sort of apocalyptic threat from manifesting itself in the first place while maintaining a proper schedule balance between school, social activities and dungeon crawling.
As far as stylistic differences, mainline SMT games are usually set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo and get way more into philosophy and existentialism, whereas in Persona it's typically more about Japanese high-schoolers preventing some sort of apocalyptic threat from manifesting itself in the first place while maintaining a proper schedule balance between school, social activities and dungeon crawling.
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Also, gameplay-wise, most SMTs focus on maintaining your Pokemon--that is, your demons, as an ever-rotating battle party. You have your human Main Character, sometimes another human partner, and then a bunch of demon teammates that are quickly outclassed as you advance through the game, so you're constantly required to fuse them away into stronger demons, or negotiate with them to make them join you, which drastically changes your party composition and skills. In some SMTs, your MC can also learn magic or specialized magical abilities, in others, they're just armed with a knife and a gun and your abilities depend on your weapon skills.
Persona, by contrast, has more or less fixed battle parties where your skills and abilities are determined by choosing which characters to bring along, and leveling them up. Lv 20 demons in Strange Journey may gain one or two skills as they level up, but even you grind them to Lv 40, their stats will never grow enough to pose a threat to Lv 30 enemies, so you need to update your roster if you want to survive. If Yusuke's falling behind and Goemon isn't dealing enough damage, you can just grind him until he's caught up. By the same token, if you're in a dungeon where you need Nuclear and Makoto's far behind, she's a liability until she's back up to speed, but in SMT you just fuse the highest-level demon you can afford and go to town right away.
Meanwhile, the MC still has access to the whole bunch of demons in his/her head, and they manage them the same way you'd manage an SMT party, but you can only bring one out per turn. So, in a way, SMT parties and Persona parties are exact opposites of each other: a constant, but limited MC leading a wild menagerie of demons, vs a ridiculously malleable MC who leads a relatively stable group of classmates.
The odd ones out are Devil Survivor, where your party is a bunch of human kids and each leads a squad of demons in grid-based SRPG battles; Digital Devil Saga, where you have character-based parties and they have FFX-like skill and level progression; and the Raidou Kuzunoha series, which are Action RPGs.
The first three Persona games are, at this point, their own little niche as well. You have character-based parties with unique Personas, but everyone is a Wild Card so they can also equip almost any other Persona depending on Tarot compatibility. Then the first Persona adds grids and positioning to the combat engine, where spell range and front/back rows are very important to strategy, while the Persona 2s do away with that and instead have a heavy emphasis on Fusion Skills, where two or more characters join for a single attack. And instead of fusing Personas or negotiating with demons to add them directly to your roster, you negotiate with them to obtain generic Arcana cards, a number of which are then traded at the Velvet Room to create new Personas.
Persona, by contrast, has more or less fixed battle parties where your skills and abilities are determined by choosing which characters to bring along, and leveling them up. Lv 20 demons in Strange Journey may gain one or two skills as they level up, but even you grind them to Lv 40, their stats will never grow enough to pose a threat to Lv 30 enemies, so you need to update your roster if you want to survive. If Yusuke's falling behind and Goemon isn't dealing enough damage, you can just grind him until he's caught up. By the same token, if you're in a dungeon where you need Nuclear and Makoto's far behind, she's a liability until she's back up to speed, but in SMT you just fuse the highest-level demon you can afford and go to town right away.
Meanwhile, the MC still has access to the whole bunch of demons in his/her head, and they manage them the same way you'd manage an SMT party, but you can only bring one out per turn. So, in a way, SMT parties and Persona parties are exact opposites of each other: a constant, but limited MC leading a wild menagerie of demons, vs a ridiculously malleable MC who leads a relatively stable group of classmates.
The odd ones out are Devil Survivor, where your party is a bunch of human kids and each leads a squad of demons in grid-based SRPG battles; Digital Devil Saga, where you have character-based parties and they have FFX-like skill and level progression; and the Raidou Kuzunoha series, which are Action RPGs.
The first three Persona games are, at this point, their own little niche as well. You have character-based parties with unique Personas, but everyone is a Wild Card so they can also equip almost any other Persona depending on Tarot compatibility. Then the first Persona adds grids and positioning to the combat engine, where spell range and front/back rows are very important to strategy, while the Persona 2s do away with that and instead have a heavy emphasis on Fusion Skills, where two or more characters join for a single attack. And instead of fusing Personas or negotiating with demons to add them directly to your roster, you negotiate with them to obtain generic Arcana cards, a number of which are then traded at the Velvet Room to create new Personas.
Oh yeah, forgot about the game progression itself. In Personas 3 and onwards (and Devil Survivor), you advance the calendar, and the time management is what provides story elements, dungeons, and restrictions/bonuses for Persona fusion or Main Character stat advancement. In the rest of the SMT franchise, game progression is geographical, like any standard RPG, where you get successions of dungeons, towns, etc. and reaching those is what advances the story.
Another big stylistic/thematic difference between them is that demons in SMT games are "real," whereas in modern Persona, they're much more abstract/metaphorical/alternate dimension-y.
Mr. Sensible
Pitch and Putt Duffer
Eventually I'm going to make a PowerPoint presentation for when I need to explain what the SMT series as a whole is, just because there's so much to talk about these days. It's an incredibly diverse and durable franchise.
Finished Persona 5 Royal, and did all the new content. Thoughts below:
Royal is an improvement over the original, but overall I don't feel like my opinion of the game has changed much from 4 years ago- it's a game I'm deeply conflicted on, much as the series as a whole. It's got some really great stuff and some really objectionable stuff. On the one hand it's got amazing style, the battle system is the best Persona has, I think this is the best execution on the social sim stuff, and the music is great. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore the awful handling of gender and queer issues, how incredibly repetitive the writing is by giving you the same information over and over again*, and how the endgame becomes a drag once you've run out of things to do. I don't think I'll ever fully sort out my feelings on the game, and the series at large. That said, it's ultimately a game I've put over 100 hours into on 3 separate occasions, so I can't deny that there's something about it I really love.
*(I recently played 13 Sentinels and was impressed at how well the game conveys a huge amount of information with a relatively small amount of dialogue- the game has more information to absorb, more concepts to understand, more plot twists to process, and yet the writer trusts the player to be able to follow along. Good economy of writing is something that JRPGs could use a lesson on.)
Anyway, more specific thoughts below in the spoiler box
Royal is an improvement over the original, but overall I don't feel like my opinion of the game has changed much from 4 years ago- it's a game I'm deeply conflicted on, much as the series as a whole. It's got some really great stuff and some really objectionable stuff. On the one hand it's got amazing style, the battle system is the best Persona has, I think this is the best execution on the social sim stuff, and the music is great. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore the awful handling of gender and queer issues, how incredibly repetitive the writing is by giving you the same information over and over again*, and how the endgame becomes a drag once you've run out of things to do. I don't think I'll ever fully sort out my feelings on the game, and the series at large. That said, it's ultimately a game I've put over 100 hours into on 3 separate occasions, so I can't deny that there's something about it I really love.
*(I recently played 13 Sentinels and was impressed at how well the game conveys a huge amount of information with a relatively small amount of dialogue- the game has more information to absorb, more concepts to understand, more plot twists to process, and yet the writer trusts the player to be able to follow along. Good economy of writing is something that JRPGs could use a lesson on.)
Anyway, more specific thoughts below in the spoiler box
I don't think much has changed for my feelings with the returning cast-
Ryuji sucks
Yusuke would be good if not for the beginning part where he tries to blackmail Ann into posing for a nude painting.
Morgana is less annoying because "you should go to sleep today" happens much less often in this version, but he's still not great.
Ann is great but it's unfortunate that Shiho leaves the story early on because Ann's relationship with her is the strongest part of her character.
Haru is still just kind of meh to me.
Futaba is great, though making her use "gamer" speak did get old quickly.
Makoto is a tragedy because she's an otherwise great characer who wants to be goddamn cop. It's a shame because there's so many great things about her arc- her strained relationship with her older sister, the pressure she feels to stay out of trouble, her private feelings that the Phantom Thieves aren't in the wrong while also trying to expose them for her own benefit- it's all good stuff! And yet when she says she wants to be a police commissioner I just cringe. It was bad enough in 2017, and now in 2021 it comes off as even worse.
When I first played P5 4 years ago I was struck by the fact that I had more interest in the adult characters than the playable teenage cast. After this playthough, I think I can understand where that comes from. I played Persona 3 and 4 in 2009, while I was stilll in college. But when P5 came out in 2017, I had been out of school for many years and was working a full time job. It became easier to relate to adults like Kawakami or Sae.
Speaking of Sae, I still think that the interrogation framing is the best part of the narrative. As I would learn more about her, the tension of the interrogation changes. To me, over time she becomes less an antagonist and more as somebody you want to realize is heading down a dark path. I wanted to see her help Joker, not just for Joker's sake, but for her sake as well, so that she could have that resolution with Makoto, so that she could come to realize the right path to take.
It's a shame Sumire has so little involvement in the main story until the new dungeon She's a great character, my favorite of the playable cast, and fun to use in battle too. The game isn't very graceful about putting her into the story- her involvement in events feels forced, and it's just a shame she hadn't been in the original.
The game has made some changes to the old content, and mostly for the better- Shido's palace feels shorter or at least the maze corridors were simplified in design, which is good because some of those sections dragged on. A few of the bosses have different phases added in- Shadow Madarame has a new part where he starts summoning copies of himself that all have a different elemental affinity.
Mementos is largely the same, though there are a few improvements- the music actually changes as you go deeper- even Tartarus had that! Also things like trading in flowers you collect for rare items, or stamps in order to get bonuses for EXP and yen helps make it less monotonous.
Ryuji sucks
Yusuke would be good if not for the beginning part where he tries to blackmail Ann into posing for a nude painting.
Morgana is less annoying because "you should go to sleep today" happens much less often in this version, but he's still not great.
Ann is great but it's unfortunate that Shiho leaves the story early on because Ann's relationship with her is the strongest part of her character.
Haru is still just kind of meh to me.
Futaba is great, though making her use "gamer" speak did get old quickly.
Makoto is a tragedy because she's an otherwise great characer who wants to be goddamn cop. It's a shame because there's so many great things about her arc- her strained relationship with her older sister, the pressure she feels to stay out of trouble, her private feelings that the Phantom Thieves aren't in the wrong while also trying to expose them for her own benefit- it's all good stuff! And yet when she says she wants to be a police commissioner I just cringe. It was bad enough in 2017, and now in 2021 it comes off as even worse.
When I first played P5 4 years ago I was struck by the fact that I had more interest in the adult characters than the playable teenage cast. After this playthough, I think I can understand where that comes from. I played Persona 3 and 4 in 2009, while I was stilll in college. But when P5 came out in 2017, I had been out of school for many years and was working a full time job. It became easier to relate to adults like Kawakami or Sae.
Speaking of Sae, I still think that the interrogation framing is the best part of the narrative. As I would learn more about her, the tension of the interrogation changes. To me, over time she becomes less an antagonist and more as somebody you want to realize is heading down a dark path. I wanted to see her help Joker, not just for Joker's sake, but for her sake as well, so that she could have that resolution with Makoto, so that she could come to realize the right path to take.
It's a shame Sumire has so little involvement in the main story until the new dungeon She's a great character, my favorite of the playable cast, and fun to use in battle too. The game isn't very graceful about putting her into the story- her involvement in events feels forced, and it's just a shame she hadn't been in the original.
The game has made some changes to the old content, and mostly for the better- Shido's palace feels shorter or at least the maze corridors were simplified in design, which is good because some of those sections dragged on. A few of the bosses have different phases added in- Shadow Madarame has a new part where he starts summoning copies of himself that all have a different elemental affinity.
Mementos is largely the same, though there are a few improvements- the music actually changes as you go deeper- even Tartarus had that! Also things like trading in flowers you collect for rare items, or stamps in order to get bonuses for EXP and yen helps make it less monotonous.
Portable Nocturne... what a time to be alive. Did they fix the issues mentioned upthread? I mean... I'll probably buy it anyway because portable Nocturne but still... it'd be nice.
I once said that such a thing would be the end of me and I still believe it.
But at the same time, getting the Playstation version would make it so much easier to restart my long-long-loooooong dormant Let's Play, and Portable Nocturne would decrease the quality of any snapshots or video clips I took.
Fortunately I have a Vita so if I leave my PS4 plugged in after getting the 5 I can still play from bed, even if not from the subway or the train or the plane.
John
(he/him)
I know that Nocturne's the latest rerelease, but my Switch is usually in use by my wife/kids, and it's harder to do appointment gaming with my PS4/5, so I'm back to older handhelds. I chose Strange Journey Redux as my entry point to the series, as I've never played a SMT game really, despite having owned many of them for years, and my New 2DS is more comfortable than my OG 3DS/DS Lite. I didn't look up any differences between Redux and the first version, but I'm still having fun with it. I was getting swamped at the beginning, both in lack of demon context and with difficulty, but then I read a post saying to start out, your team should be MC, a heavy, a mage, and a healer, and they recommended an Oni as a good heavy. So, I just focused on getting fools that would let me fuse into an Oni, and then picked an earth elemental as a mage, and an Angel as a healer. This got me through the first dungeon, though I do see 7 hours on my game clock, so probably significantly longer than most.
I'm just happy I stuck with it, and am slowly picking up on what it's all about. I think I still prefer games with fixed party members vs interchangeable/collectable ones, but I like the dungeon crawler aspect of this one. Auto-mapping is fun.
I'm just happy I stuck with it, and am slowly picking up on what it's all about. I think I still prefer games with fixed party members vs interchangeable/collectable ones, but I like the dungeon crawler aspect of this one. Auto-mapping is fun.
Fyonn
did their best!
Yeah, that's a solid party composition for the whole game, really, maybe with an extra of each in your back pocket in case one of them goes down. The big thing with SMT is just to always be checking to see if there's a stronger demon of the same kind of role available to you, and always try to recruit the newest demons so you can stay ahead of the curve by fusing them.
If there's a demon that really sucks to fight, you can recruit one of that demon and then you'll auto-succeed negotiating with that demon so long as you keep yours. It's a great way to neutralize random encounters that you just don't have to tools to deal with.
If there's a demon that really sucks to fight, you can recruit one of that demon and then you'll auto-succeed negotiating with that demon so long as you keep yours. It's a great way to neutralize random encounters that you just don't have to tools to deal with.
John
(he/him)
I figured that out after walking through the first dungeon to clean up side missions. Only downside is you actually have to beat them once. I went into the second strata and started clearing it out, but a group of three unknowns surprised me and immediately one-shotted two of my demons. I was able to retreat and heal up, but there will be some timid exploring until I get some new guys and level up.
In case people are weighing their options with Nocturne in its remastered form, I've been playing on Switch, and for a turn-based RPG that's locked to 30fps on all platforms, "performance" as that's usually defined isn't really very pertinent--at most you will get framedrops in effects-heavy scenes, environments or battle animations for a moment that on more powerful hardware might not occur, but that's about it. The load times were scary upon the port's initial Japanese release, but now those have been patched; it's hardly discernibly different from the original now. The oddities that exist in the game (like the "blinking out" of the picture for a frame or two after opening chests or interacting with characters) seem consistent across all versions.
What you get with it is a direct, no-frills remaster, and that's all I really wanted to be accomplished here. The new voice acting is fun (Chiaki's terrific; Hell Biker is... an event); skill selection is an expected modernity (you can still randomize inheritance); difficulty is freely toggleable from the in-game menu during play, should you want to peruse the shops at more reasonable rates during a Hard playthrough or such; Dante's involvement is now a paid privilege which both protects the game from expired licensing in the future, and protects me from being saddled with Reuben Langdon in the entertainment I engage with. Arguably the "biggest" change here, at least for a certain type of player, is the second pass given to the script, and particularly the demon compendium: previous character limits have been addressed, Chinese figures are more consistently natively named, and other inaccuracies that nearly two decades of research and hindsight by multiple invested parties have brought to light have now been righted. I'm happily playing it and would not deter others from doing so if they're interested.
What you get with it is a direct, no-frills remaster, and that's all I really wanted to be accomplished here. The new voice acting is fun (Chiaki's terrific; Hell Biker is... an event); skill selection is an expected modernity (you can still randomize inheritance); difficulty is freely toggleable from the in-game menu during play, should you want to peruse the shops at more reasonable rates during a Hard playthrough or such; Dante's involvement is now a paid privilege which both protects the game from expired licensing in the future, and protects me from being saddled with Reuben Langdon in the entertainment I engage with. Arguably the "biggest" change here, at least for a certain type of player, is the second pass given to the script, and particularly the demon compendium: previous character limits have been addressed, Chinese figures are more consistently natively named, and other inaccuracies that nearly two decades of research and hindsight by multiple invested parties have brought to light have now been righted. I'm happily playing it and would not deter others from doing so if they're interested.
I'm glad I bought it, then! I haven't started it yet, but plan to do so after I'm done with Trails to Azure. The load times were my biggest concern so I'm glad those have been fixed, and it's good to hear they let you select skills - I was somehow under the impression that skill inheritance was still random like in the original release. This is great news!