Interesting interview at Waypoint about the process of updating the localization, for anyone interested.
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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
Load times are fine, yes, there are some technical hiccups such as Peklo mentions after talking to a character where the screen goes blank for a split second, but honestly? It's all worth it for being able to choose inherited skills manually. Game plays smooth as butter with that. I played all day today and got to the Assembly of Nihilo base infiltration bit, which is pretty far considering I've been goofing around with fusing and the compendium.
John
(he/him)
My Strange Journey continues. I'm possibly wrapping up the second strata, and just finished a side diversion into the Womb of Grief, narrowly beating the first boss there. The boss is weak to fire magic, and my demon builds so far have lacked much of that, so I was stuck with the first level fire and physical attacks. I got super close to dying a few times, but made sure to actually use items. I normally play standard JRPG games, so having items both be pretty rare and important is a marked difference. I eked out a win through attrition and some lucky swapping of team members at the right time.
My MC is in the low 20's for levels, and I'm hoping I can get some better gear soon to add in more options. I wish I could swap out his gear mid-battle to adjust for demon weaknesses.
It's a fun game, and low key enough that I can just turn the sound off and play while chilling with the family. I'm at 17 hours of playtime, and I could see this going for a hundred plus, especially with trekking around the Womb.
My MC is in the low 20's for levels, and I'm hoping I can get some better gear soon to add in more options. I wish I could swap out his gear mid-battle to adjust for demon weaknesses.
It's a fun game, and low key enough that I can just turn the sound off and play while chilling with the family. I'm at 17 hours of playtime, and I could see this going for a hundred plus, especially with trekking around the Womb.
I don't know Nocturne inside and out like I think some people here do, so here's a weird question - if I'm unsure what I want my MC build to be so far, is it okay for me to not switch the Magatamas around too much until I figure out what I want to do with him? I guess what I'm asking is, is there a level cap which would prevent me from eventually learning new skills? I think I want to go physical for the MC but Tornado + Force Boost is kinda crazy good...
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All Magatama skills only have an associated minimum level requirement for learning them; you can't miss out on them permanently unless you just actively skip or overwrite them upon leveling up. A single level-up past that threshold with the Magatama equipped learns the skill anytime thereafter. You can externally look up the specific levels if you want to, or just work with what the game gives you--the Magatama that are itching to share their knowledge will be visibly and erratically wriggling in the selection interface, as well as glow.
I agree that it's nice to keep at least one powerful spell on the protagonist, and Tornado is the first available that does damage on that scale, so it's a popular one to stick with. Exclusively physical, magical, healing, supportive builds are all "viable," but so is a generalist approach. The demon lineup will always be fluid in composition and purpose so the one constant fixture may as well also be.
I agree that it's nice to keep at least one powerful spell on the protagonist, and Tornado is the first available that does damage on that scale, so it's a popular one to stick with. Exclusively physical, magical, healing, supportive builds are all "viable," but so is a generalist approach. The demon lineup will always be fluid in composition and purpose so the one constant fixture may as well also be.
Ah, okay, good. Yeah, I knew the Magatama wiggling on that screen indicate how likely you were to learn the new skill, I just wasn't sure if I'd be locked out somehow of learning new skills. Thanks!
I usually prioritize magic on demons, so having somebody constantly around for physical damage would be good since my instinct is to always fuse demons with good elemental coverage. I suppose I could just... not do that lol
I usually prioritize magic on demons, so having somebody constantly around for physical damage would be good since my instinct is to always fuse demons with good elemental coverage. I suppose I could just... not do that lol
Pajaro Pete
(He/Himbo)
apparently the JP website for SMT5 accidentally updated ahead of e3, release date is slated for November 11 and also the game description:
John
(he/him)
I got to the third dungeon of Strange Journey, where you have to give specific demon types to another entity. I only had one of those, and the other type was one that doesn't talk to humans, so I was stumped. I looked it up, and found the right fusion path to make one of the other types. This led me to the fact that you can just straight-up pay cash money to re-summon old demons, instead of trying to remember what section of what dungeon they run around in. I had apparently missed that in the tutorial, and have only been playing with ones that I've come across.
This led me to a 10 hour rabbit hole where I would summon old enemies, get them fully analyzed, and then use them to fuse into other types that I hadn't registered yet. This accomplished nothing at all other than filling in the spreadsheet, and I'm going to stop that immediately. The completionist in me was okay with it, but it was an empty feeling, because the dudes disappear immediately, and I had no use for the lower level unregistered demons I was making. It was busywork I was doing while watching television, but I'd rather do busywork that will level up my MC instead of getting all level 10 and under demons in a compendium.
Other than that sojourn into madness, I can't help but feel like my demons are never really properly attuned to the situations they're in. I'm always just doing a bit of brute force along with some lucky weakness attributes, but I don't have every attack type assigned across my party at the moment. It's getting me by, but I wish I could just add a fire attribute to demon 1, or lighting to demon 2, instead of waiting on chance to mutate on a level up or by fusing with a specific source.
This led me to a 10 hour rabbit hole where I would summon old enemies, get them fully analyzed, and then use them to fuse into other types that I hadn't registered yet. This accomplished nothing at all other than filling in the spreadsheet, and I'm going to stop that immediately. The completionist in me was okay with it, but it was an empty feeling, because the dudes disappear immediately, and I had no use for the lower level unregistered demons I was making. It was busywork I was doing while watching television, but I'd rather do busywork that will level up my MC instead of getting all level 10 and under demons in a compendium.
Other than that sojourn into madness, I can't help but feel like my demons are never really properly attuned to the situations they're in. I'm always just doing a bit of brute force along with some lucky weakness attributes, but I don't have every attack type assigned across my party at the moment. It's getting me by, but I wish I could just add a fire attribute to demon 1, or lighting to demon 2, instead of waiting on chance to mutate on a level up or by fusing with a specific source.
I've finally put the old bugbear to rest and finished Nocturne for the first time. This was a game that I started, played, quit, restarted, got a little further in, quit, and repeated the cycle at least half-a-dozen times across more than a decade. Until last year, FFXII was the same, and for both games it's not because I don't care for them, but the opposite: they occupy my thoughts to such an extent when I interact with them and are so vast to take in that even a partial playthrough sates in a way other games might not through their entire running time.
The funny thing is that I've been really, really down or indifferent to SMT for the past several years. It's cumulative disillusionment with recent projects and series direction, but in ways that have threatened enjoyment and perspective on even the material that I do and have liked previously. I went through that with Etrian Odyssey, when the Untold remakes were so at odds with what I liked about the series that they made me question whether I liked it at all to begin with, but V restored faith there. With Dragon Quest, XI left me feeling kind of sickened with the series but in quick turn I fell into II and VII which became favourites and so avoided any longterm turmoil on that front. SMT... I couldn't make it very far into IV, and while Persona 5 the game is loathsome to me by its own merits, it also happened to coincide with a period of awful personal health issues, so at this point I associate the game with the feeling of encroaching death, and I don't think it's particularly inappropriate of a connection to land on.
To return to and be introduced to Nocturne is to reconnect with something lost or wasted and find those bonds stronger than ever. There's an aesthetic worth imprinting on, and it's a consistent one. There's a narrative that's thematically novel and conversant with series precedent without being chained to it. The direction and storytelling show restraint and know when to indulge in turn. The demons--why this series is what it is to me--have never been more prominently featured or portrayed. Tons of player guidance is offered, but it's all organically integrated into interacting with the world and its denizens out of curiosity, so nothing feels restrictive even if the unraveling of the world is strictly linear; you are allowed to miss things. Nocturne is often characterized as a lonely game, and it is--but the Vortex World is also teeming with life, whether it's echoes of wandering souls or the demons that now inhabit it--the distinction is that the manner of those interactions seems strange and detached from a sense of humanity as a human audience would define it, and that's why it's so striking in its atmosphere throughout.
The strongest aspects of the game is that for as much as it's viewed as a traditionalist, stark dungeon romp, it's making such strides to differentiate itself from even-then stagnant series norms and expectations. The abandonment of cyberpunk aesthetics and trappings is already a hard turn to something divergent, but also the upheaval of the D&D-style spectrum of morality that has and continued to power the series. It's been restrictive to the kind of stories and characterization possible in the games, and often acted in counter to the supposed depth of the thematic nuances the series is perceived to profess--an overestimation for what most often are young adult pulp yarns, but it's been a limitation all the same. The Reasons of Nocturne aren't complex philosophies as their prophets embody them, but they do free up characters from the molds of played-out archetypes, and in absence of having to fill out a quota, allow those characters to contradict themselves, overlap with each other, and ultimately come out more distinct and less pigeon-holed at the other end. I don't see a character like Chiaki, in the role that she has and the person she is, playing out in the same way under the dogma of the law and chaos divide, and the same goes for all the prominent thought leaders in the story.
That's why it's sort of funny and bittersweet to interact with Nocturne in the shape that it's always known in English. The Maniax re-release additions, with the Labyrinth of Amala, the Fiends, Dante and Raidou, and Lucifer's central role, all feel like so much vestigial, ill-fitting chuff next to the tonal and formal direction of the main game. As someone who's come to love interlocking, multi-dimensional murdermazes in video games through experiences with material like Brandish or The Dark Spire, the expansion's dungeons are actually among my favourite in the game to play through, with all their pitfalls, cursed floors, one-way passages, illusionary walls and counterintuitive navigational challenges. But the whole "True Demon" story thread of the game, and especially how it's conveyed in the interstitial story expositions of literal show-and-tell renders illustrating plot points and minutiae that absolutely never needed expounding upon in this fashion or otherwise run entirely counter to the narrative strengths and appeal of the rest of the game in one of the most severely struck divides I've seen in what's technically still a single, unified game. It feels like all the regressive theming and narrative inanity that eventually pushed me away from the series concentrated to this branch of additional story content, trying to claw its way back into relevance after the promise for evolution and change the rest of the game offered. It's fun to experience as a set of mechanics, but served to remind me that even if I feel really good about Nocturne as an individual work, that necessarily doesn't reflect back on my relationship with the rest of the series. For better and for worse, it is that unique of a game.
The funny thing is that I've been really, really down or indifferent to SMT for the past several years. It's cumulative disillusionment with recent projects and series direction, but in ways that have threatened enjoyment and perspective on even the material that I do and have liked previously. I went through that with Etrian Odyssey, when the Untold remakes were so at odds with what I liked about the series that they made me question whether I liked it at all to begin with, but V restored faith there. With Dragon Quest, XI left me feeling kind of sickened with the series but in quick turn I fell into II and VII which became favourites and so avoided any longterm turmoil on that front. SMT... I couldn't make it very far into IV, and while Persona 5 the game is loathsome to me by its own merits, it also happened to coincide with a period of awful personal health issues, so at this point I associate the game with the feeling of encroaching death, and I don't think it's particularly inappropriate of a connection to land on.
To return to and be introduced to Nocturne is to reconnect with something lost or wasted and find those bonds stronger than ever. There's an aesthetic worth imprinting on, and it's a consistent one. There's a narrative that's thematically novel and conversant with series precedent without being chained to it. The direction and storytelling show restraint and know when to indulge in turn. The demons--why this series is what it is to me--have never been more prominently featured or portrayed. Tons of player guidance is offered, but it's all organically integrated into interacting with the world and its denizens out of curiosity, so nothing feels restrictive even if the unraveling of the world is strictly linear; you are allowed to miss things. Nocturne is often characterized as a lonely game, and it is--but the Vortex World is also teeming with life, whether it's echoes of wandering souls or the demons that now inhabit it--the distinction is that the manner of those interactions seems strange and detached from a sense of humanity as a human audience would define it, and that's why it's so striking in its atmosphere throughout.
The strongest aspects of the game is that for as much as it's viewed as a traditionalist, stark dungeon romp, it's making such strides to differentiate itself from even-then stagnant series norms and expectations. The abandonment of cyberpunk aesthetics and trappings is already a hard turn to something divergent, but also the upheaval of the D&D-style spectrum of morality that has and continued to power the series. It's been restrictive to the kind of stories and characterization possible in the games, and often acted in counter to the supposed depth of the thematic nuances the series is perceived to profess--an overestimation for what most often are young adult pulp yarns, but it's been a limitation all the same. The Reasons of Nocturne aren't complex philosophies as their prophets embody them, but they do free up characters from the molds of played-out archetypes, and in absence of having to fill out a quota, allow those characters to contradict themselves, overlap with each other, and ultimately come out more distinct and less pigeon-holed at the other end. I don't see a character like Chiaki, in the role that she has and the person she is, playing out in the same way under the dogma of the law and chaos divide, and the same goes for all the prominent thought leaders in the story.
That's why it's sort of funny and bittersweet to interact with Nocturne in the shape that it's always known in English. The Maniax re-release additions, with the Labyrinth of Amala, the Fiends, Dante and Raidou, and Lucifer's central role, all feel like so much vestigial, ill-fitting chuff next to the tonal and formal direction of the main game. As someone who's come to love interlocking, multi-dimensional murdermazes in video games through experiences with material like Brandish or The Dark Spire, the expansion's dungeons are actually among my favourite in the game to play through, with all their pitfalls, cursed floors, one-way passages, illusionary walls and counterintuitive navigational challenges. But the whole "True Demon" story thread of the game, and especially how it's conveyed in the interstitial story expositions of literal show-and-tell renders illustrating plot points and minutiae that absolutely never needed expounding upon in this fashion or otherwise run entirely counter to the narrative strengths and appeal of the rest of the game in one of the most severely struck divides I've seen in what's technically still a single, unified game. It feels like all the regressive theming and narrative inanity that eventually pushed me away from the series concentrated to this branch of additional story content, trying to claw its way back into relevance after the promise for evolution and change the rest of the game offered. It's fun to experience as a set of mechanics, but served to remind me that even if I feel really good about Nocturne as an individual work, that necessarily doesn't reflect back on my relationship with the rest of the series. For better and for worse, it is that unique of a game.
It's funny, I was feeling similar about the True Demon Ending route, which I'm doing now for the first time myself (I've beaten Nocturne a few times before, but never managed to find my way through the whole Amala Labyrinth, usually stalling out in the Third Kalpa, iirc). Mechanically, I agree, the Amala Labyrinth is a fun place generally (even if I did google how to beat the warp maze right before Beelzebub, I've got no patience for that now - though had they let me use the automap, I wouldn't have looked it up). Though, yes, the added story bits have been disappointing for the most part - I like peeking into the hole to see the stage, and the way those expositional scenes are set up, but the actual strands of plot it adds aren't that interesting. Granted, I haven't beaten the game yet, so maybe the actual ending will be more interesting, I'm not sure yet.
I'm currently trying to beat the tombstone Burial Chamber sidequest, which I'd never even attempted before. It's been pretty fun so far. I've looked up what the target number of Press Turns are for the fights, though I've been developing strategies for beating them myself. Currently grinding levels to get my Luck stat up to get through that dumb Luck door in the Third Kalpa lol. I've used the paid grinding DLC sparingly, mostly just using it for money when I need to when a skill mutation doesn't go my way, but I'll be using the experience grinding DLC tonight to get my levels up to get through the dumb door. I did get all the Magatama, which I've done before, and I did end up going with a physical build for the MC, though I kind of wish I'd kept Deathbound rather than Gaea Rage (which I then replaced with Hades Blast), as I like the random nature of hitting an enemy more than once. Focus and Freikugal is as powerful as I'd heard, though, wow, especially paired with Raidou's Provoke.
I'll probably play through New Game + to make some overpowered demons and see the other endings I've not gotten before. I hope I don't stall out at Yoyogi Park in NG+, it's the only dungeon I dislike in the game, due to that section where the fairies change formations. It always takes me forever to work my way through that properly.
Still, what a game! I love it.
I'm currently trying to beat the tombstone Burial Chamber sidequest, which I'd never even attempted before. It's been pretty fun so far. I've looked up what the target number of Press Turns are for the fights, though I've been developing strategies for beating them myself. Currently grinding levels to get my Luck stat up to get through that dumb Luck door in the Third Kalpa lol. I've used the paid grinding DLC sparingly, mostly just using it for money when I need to when a skill mutation doesn't go my way, but I'll be using the experience grinding DLC tonight to get my levels up to get through the dumb door. I did get all the Magatama, which I've done before, and I did end up going with a physical build for the MC, though I kind of wish I'd kept Deathbound rather than Gaea Rage (which I then replaced with Hades Blast), as I like the random nature of hitting an enemy more than once. Focus and Freikugal is as powerful as I'd heard, though, wow, especially paired with Raidou's Provoke.
I'll probably play through New Game + to make some overpowered demons and see the other endings I've not gotten before. I hope I don't stall out at Yoyogi Park in NG+, it's the only dungeon I dislike in the game, due to that section where the fairies change formations. It always takes me forever to work my way through that properly.
Still, what a game! I love it.
Appreciate the info regarding the Switch performance. I've been on the fence about which version to buy, but now feel confident pulling the trigger on the Switch version.
I'm in the same boat where I've played the game in fits and starts, but looking forward to diving in deep this time around.
I'm in the same boat where I've played the game in fits and starts, but looking forward to diving in deep this time around.
I've gotten the True Demon Ending and Yosuga endings so far, in that order, with the latter coming during New Game +, which was cleared in 16 hours lol. You get access to the Compendium as soon as you get to a Cathedral of Shadows, and as soon as you beat the first Amala dungeon while warping to Ginza for the first time, you get access to the DLC areas, which is where I had fun grinding out macca to get my best demons back and steamroll everything in my path. Metatron was in my party for the whole game, and hitting Matador with Fire of Sinai felt great 
Also, I was able to beat the Burial Chamber sidequest, so I have five press turns now, which is cool. Haven't gotten to the Burial Chambers in my third playthrough yet, but I'd heard that you only have to do the Burial Chambers once, and all subsequent playthroughs get you the bonus Press Turn. Hopefully wherever I read that wasn't wrong...
I think I'll go for Musubi next, I guess.
EDIT: Yep, you only have to beat the Burial Chambers once, you get the bonus Press Turn every time you do a NG+. Yesssss
Also, I was able to beat the Burial Chamber sidequest, so I have five press turns now, which is cool. Haven't gotten to the Burial Chambers in my third playthrough yet, but I'd heard that you only have to do the Burial Chambers once, and all subsequent playthroughs get you the bonus Press Turn. Hopefully wherever I read that wasn't wrong...
I think I'll go for Musubi next, I guess.
EDIT: Yep, you only have to beat the Burial Chambers once, you get the bonus Press Turn every time you do a NG+. Yesssss
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Apparently the English script from the vaporised iOS port of SMT1 is now available in a patch for the GBA version. I'd love to be able to play every non-SFC iteration of the game at some point (I own the PCE CD and PS1 ports despite their being impenetrable to me), so it's nice to realistically be able to dive into one of them sooner than expected.
Thanks for posting this - I've been so addicted to Nocturne lately that I'd been thinking about trying the earlier games in the series, and this provides a great way to do so, at least for the first game (as I don't have an iOS device and would hate playing it on a touchscreen even if I did).
I'm glad I found a pre-patched rom though, as trying to patch it myself was super confusing, because you need to use the command prompt and the patching file couldn't locate the files I needed, even though I was dragging and dropping them into the prompt so the locations should have been correct...
In any case, I'll probably see if I can find a spoiler free FAQ and use that to get through the game, as I can't imagine it won't be super punishingly difficult on first playthrough... or is that ill-advised? Is it friendlier than I give it credit for?
John
(he/him)
You can't even play it on modern iOS anymore, it was a 32-bit app and Atlus never updated it to 64-bit when Apple forced everything to conform. I thought it was a good port, but didn't get far because of the virtual gamepad.
It's still not the first game, since they had the Famicom games before Shin came out on SNES. I just spent 5 minutes reading up on those, and am now confused. So, DDS: Megami Tensei 1 & 2 came out on Famicom, but a different version came out on Japanese PC's, which is more of a top-down action RPG like Zelda/Ys/Tower of Druaga? And then some variation of those were remade on SNES, called Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei. Which version(s) was that port based on, and if there are fan translations to English, which one should people try out?
It's still not the first game, since they had the Famicom games before Shin came out on SNES. I just spent 5 minutes reading up on those, and am now confused. So, DDS: Megami Tensei 1 & 2 came out on Famicom, but a different version came out on Japanese PC's, which is more of a top-down action RPG like Zelda/Ys/Tower of Druaga? And then some variation of those were remade on SNES, called Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei. Which version(s) was that port based on, and if there are fan translations to English, which one should people try out?
Kyuuyaku remakes the two Megami Tensei Famicom games, and it was the one I played when the fan translation came out some years ago.
I am not sure what the top-down game might be though, where did you read that?
John
(he/him)
This is great. I'm glad my work on that game isn't gone forever.
Spoiler-Free Walkthrough: Buy some Charm Bullets.
The top-down computer action game Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei is by Telenet, while the Famicom RPG is by Atlus. Both companies acquired the license at the same time after the original novel's publication, and especially after the OVA adaptation of it happened. Per Kouji Yokota, who did monster graphics for the Telenet game:
Jack Bros. wasn't an anomaly; it was just taking the license back to its roots.
Jack Bros. wasn't an anomaly; it was just taking the license back to its roots.
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Ah, nice one, Nich! All the more reason for everyone here to check it out.
Just to quickly vouch for the Kyuuyaku remakes. I'd highly recommend them to anyone curious about them, especially those who may have struggled with the early games. They came out after SMT1 and 2, and feature a lot of home comforts those games (originally) didn't (most notably a scrutable, quick-access automap). They're also just vastly more focused dungeon crawling experiences which have none of the unwieldiness or excess fat of the later games (the first one is set entirely within the dungeon, with 'towns' consisting of sparse enclaves on certain floors), so anyone wanting to get straight down to the business of Demon Summoning and besting labyrinths will probably appreciate them. The games also feature belting new arrangements of their soundtracks by no less a figure than Hitoshi Sakimoto!
Just to quickly vouch for the Kyuuyaku remakes. I'd highly recommend them to anyone curious about them, especially those who may have struggled with the early games. They came out after SMT1 and 2, and feature a lot of home comforts those games (originally) didn't (most notably a scrutable, quick-access automap). They're also just vastly more focused dungeon crawling experiences which have none of the unwieldiness or excess fat of the later games (the first one is set entirely within the dungeon, with 'towns' consisting of sparse enclaves on certain floors), so anyone wanting to get straight down to the business of Demon Summoning and besting labyrinths will probably appreciate them. The games also feature belting new arrangements of their soundtracks by no less a figure than Hitoshi Sakimoto!
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So I just finished my fourth playthrough of Nocturne (third on NG+ so it's quick) and I'm wondering - what is the "canon" ending of SMT3? TDE? One of the freedom/neutral endings I haven't seen yet (I've gotten Shijima, Musubi, Yusuga, and TDE so far)? Or is there no agreed-upon ending? Or should I not care? lol
Trying to wrangle canonicity or inter-game continuity with these games has always felt like the most restrictive and prescriptivist way to read them, so I don't. Pick whatever suits you, or none at all--if the ostensible messaging has any merit whatsoever, the games should accommodate for that just fine.
That's the thing - all of the endings are downers lol. I guess I'd pick none at all? I'm not the type to argue with people that this or that ending is canon and is thus "better," I'm just wondering if it's been stated anywhere which is canon. I've only played III and IV in the main series anyway (never even finished IV Apocalypse) so I was unaware these games even could be fit within each other's continuity somehow lol
This is the only mainline SMT game I beat and it seems pretty isolated. Why would any ending be canon?
I beat this once in high school and chose to preserve a world where stylish teen demons could engage in bullying… Chiaki’s still very cool looking but everyone’s got voice actors now. Will that shift the balance for me? Decisions… Will never do TDE bc I hate optional super bosses that punish you for having fun. (nullifying/absorbing attacks) I’ve never seen it but neutral might be what you’re looking for.
I beat this once in high school and chose to preserve a world where stylish teen demons could engage in bullying… Chiaki’s still very cool looking but everyone’s got voice actors now. Will that shift the balance for me? Decisions… Will never do TDE bc I hate optional super bosses that punish you for having fun. (nullifying/absorbing attacks) I’ve never seen it but neutral might be what you’re looking for.
I typically go with, "Whichever one is the hardest, both in gameplay and narrative terms, is intended to best reflect the protag's journey and is therefore the writers' preferred ending." That's usually Neutral or, in the case of original Nocturne, "Freedom." TDE I consider an extra bonus from the extended versions, but I wouldn't personally consider it canon to my protag, because rebelling against the Great Will on my own terms does not mean I want to become Lucifer's underling.
AFAIK, the only "canon" paths in the franchise are SMT 1 Law/Neutral -> SMT 2, and SMTIV Neutral -> SMTIV Apocalypse. But it's still perfectly valid to want to choose something different for yourself, because that (as opposed to a strict narrative) is the driving theme of the franchise.
AFAIK, the only "canon" paths in the franchise are SMT 1 Law/Neutral -> SMT 2, and SMTIV Neutral -> SMTIV Apocalypse. But it's still perfectly valid to want to choose something different for yourself, because that (as opposed to a strict narrative) is the driving theme of the franchise.
What I'm spending a lot of time doing is running around with demons a bit, until they get cool spells or their spells evolve, then fusing them to make space and carrying over not much of that, all before I have access to the demon-saving feature or whatever. I know I'm not getting anything that impressive right now, either! It's been five hours and I'm just at the manikin sewer town. I know! But I'm enjoying myself...
That town also has the flirtatious, gay shopkeep I remembered. Still gay! I forget quite what he was like in the original release - could be the same. (I know some other lines of dialogue are) In any case, probably wouldn't be as heavily revised as some other other gay merchants in early mid-aughts games I can recall if they were re-released. (the Shadow Heartses!) Met a manikin woman who was like, "weird shopkeep, huh" and I was like, "wow, are you just calling him g*y?" but no, she was talking about another one. No idea what he does, but he's voiced.
Getting to the point where I have to decide about how to build my character... I think since I'm pretty committed to not doing TDE (so much of that seems annoying to me) I'll go with magic but that doesn't narrow it down much.
That town also has the flirtatious, gay shopkeep I remembered. Still gay! I forget quite what he was like in the original release - could be the same. (I know some other lines of dialogue are) In any case, probably wouldn't be as heavily revised as some other other gay merchants in early mid-aughts games I can recall if they were re-released. (the Shadow Heartses!) Met a manikin woman who was like, "weird shopkeep, huh" and I was like, "wow, are you just calling him g*y?" but no, she was talking about another one. No idea what he does, but he's voiced.
Getting to the point where I have to decide about how to build my character... I think since I'm pretty committed to not doing TDE (so much of that seems annoying to me) I'll go with magic but that doesn't narrow it down much.
In this case, even the source material for that merchant is basically fine, so the localization isn't having to struggle to cover up something really awful in the original release like certain other Atlus games (SMTIV, Persona 4). In that broader context, you could maybe read it as a relatively minor example of Atlus games having gay people primarily only exist to make unwanted advances, and it's either a joke or scary or both. But, isolated to just this one scene, it basically comes across as just a flirty gay shopkeeper that you don't have to think about too much.
(It probably helps that no annoying cartoon teens are their to be your audience stand in for a gay panic freakout...)