Megami Tensei Topic

[CDFN]

Strange journey isn't the best way to get started with the franchise man. What systems do you own besides the DS? If you like SRPGs try devil survivor, it's great.

[Yoda]

Yeah I know it's probably not the best start, but I got it for cheap and it looked cool based on a review.

I have DS, PSP, PS2.


Summoner 2 looks great, but how does that compare to Digital Devil Saga?

[Starmongoose]

Okay.


The main series (1, 2, Nocturne ,Strange Journey). You control the protagonist, he's really the only human member that will ever be in your team. The rest of your team will be filled up with demons you have either coerced to join your side, or fused with another demon. The landscapes are usually pretty devoid of life and full of demons. The atmosphere is very oppressive and the storyline is heavily influenced by various religious and philosophical ideals. They are probably the toughest of all the games. Battles are played using a press turn system, where exploiting your enemies elemental weakness earns your party an extra turn to attack. There are multiple endings based on your alignment, Law, Neutral or Chaos.


Digital Devil Saga: This is a two part story. It has nothing to do with the main series, besides sharing things like spell names, demons you fight, and underlying themes. Battles are more traditional, as you have 5 permanent party members (3 allowed in a battle). Each character has an element and a weakness, ability levels are gained by eating your enemies. (As you are part-demon in the game). I don't want to say much about the story, only that it is amazingly well written and dark.

Persona: You play the role oh high-schoolers who are going through something extraordinary.  Persona are facets of someones personality given shape and form, usually representative of their hidden feelings. The main character in 3 + 4 is the only member who can switch between persona at will, (1 and 2 let all members change), Persona's are fused, leveled, bought (with tarot cards) at a place called the Velvet Room. Unlike the other games, Persona 3 and 4 are also part sim, where you go to school during the day and fight at night, though the day isn't wasted as the people you meet, and the strength of your relationship with them (Representative by the Major Arcana in tarot) decides the strength of your persona's.

Devil Survivor: Is an SRPG. You are trapped in Tokyo by the government and you only have 7 days to find a way out. It has all the staples of SMT including the multiple endings. Time matters, so you have to pick and choose your battles, and who you talk to before the timer runs out. It's grid-based, though when you attack, you are taken to a more tradition RPG battle screen.

Devil Summoner: I have no idea. It's an action RPG. That's about all I know.

[Yoda]

You are a mensch, Thank you very much. I appreciate the thoughts. A huge franchise like that can be overwhelming for a dude like me who's been out of the RPG game for the better part of 10 years.

I'm going to mull all this over then head on up to amazon.

Digital Devil Saga sounds great and I will probably start there. Summoner just looks so fucking sweet though.

[CDFN]

Digital devil saga > Devil summoner

DS is great but it's the weakest link imo.

The DDS games or Persona 3 FES would be a good start. Nocturne is a bit hard but it's a fucking masterpiece. Persona 4 is my favorite game ever so yeah, it's great.

Maybe you could do it like this:

Persona 3 FES
DDS1 & DDS2
Persona 4
Nocturne

Playing both personas back to back would be a bit much so this would allow you to mix it up and save the hardest game for last.
After playing all these masterpieces you coud check out the devil summoner games.

Don't forget Devil survivor, it's fantastic.

If you like P3&4 you could check out Persona 1 on the PSP, I'm not a big fan of the game myself but you might like it more, who knows?
The PSP also has persona 3 portable but since you own a PS2 you should go with FES, imo.

Let's see, that should take about... 400 hours, probably more.

[xXMelancholiaXx]

If you like P3&4 you could check out Persona 1 on the PSP, I'm not a big fan of the game myself but you might like it more, who knows?
The PSP also has persona 3 portable but since you own a PS2 you should go with FES, imo.

Don't forget about Persona 2!

[CDFN]

If you like P3&4 you could check out Persona 1 on the PSP, I'm not a big fan of the game myself but you might like it more, who knows?
The PSP also has persona 3 portable but since you own a PS2 you should go with FES, imo.

Don't forget about Persona 2!

I forgot you can play PSone games on the PS2 lol.

OK, make that 500 hours.

[MeshGearFox]

Persona 1 was the only Persona game I liked enough to finish.

[Fadedsun]

Persona 1 was the only Persona game I liked enough to finish.

Really? It's the one I'm having the hardest time finishing. Mostly due to time constraints, though. I lost interest when other games I wanted to play came out. I'll get back to it because I really do like it a lot.

[Farron]

The encounter rate in P1 is overkill and the battle take way too long for a rate this high. Sure Strange Journey is high by today's standards or even Dragon Quest but at least in those most battles are over in a flash, plus you can even use an automated battle. Sadly enough there are some that say the story in P1 isn't that great either, unlike P2 which in less then 30 min in is already interesting and bu the end it only gets better.

I'd go with CDFN suggestion and start with Persona 3. But hey, maybe you could play it on the PSP if you have trouble finding it not to mention that you can control your party on the PSP unlike the PS2 version and that can save a lot of frustration.

I have yet to play DDS myself, I got DDS1 but I'm not having much time to play it, so I'm putting it on hold. Hell, I've waited more than 5 years to find out about it, another months won't hurt.

[kyuusei]

Just in case you wanted yet another opinion:

Persona 3 and 4 are what got pretty much everyone into SMT I think. To me they're the easiest to get into and fighting-wise (though a couple of 4s bosses made me cuss. :P) Much like CDFN said, playing P3 and 4 back to back burnt me out. Play one, go to another SMT game and... maybe go back to the other if you really enjoyed the first one.

Devil Summoner 1 & 2 are action RPGs, unlike all the others they're not a 'modern' setting. They're.. I dunno, some other period in Japan. They look like a LOT of fun though and I wanna play them. That's all I know.

Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 are my favorite. But you HAVE to play them both to get the whole experience. 1 is pretty much the setup, 2 is where all the juicy stuff is. Gameplay is great. Story, despite getting a bit weird at the end, is awesome.

Nocturne is my uh, other favorite. It has the same battle engine as DDS 1 & 2 but came first. There's little dialogue but still manages a great story, I think. There is more to explore than in the DDS games though, so if you're into that, you're golden.

Persona 2, I STILL haven't beaten it, but it's supposed to be awesome. Downside: It's EXPENSIVE on eBay.

I have P1 for the PSP, but I haven't begun, so I can't comment on that either.

Like others said, Strange Journey is a terrible place to start. Good game, but if it gets frustrating quickly... well, you'll get the hang of strategizing in MegaTen eventually. Though Nocturne DID make me love the series first, I beat P3 first, then 4. then DDS 1 & 2..then Nocturne. The order in which I beat them seemed to help. If I had gone through Nocturne first like I almost did, I'd have been fucked.

But get DDS 1 & 2 and Nocturne if nothing else. I can't emphasize that enough.

[xXMelancholiaXx]

Persona 2, I STILL haven't beaten it, but it's supposed to be awesome. Downside: It's EXPENSIVE on eBay.

The Persona 2 duology is every bit as good as Persona 3 and 4. Don't let anyone tell you different! XD As far as price goes Eternal Punishment can be anywhere from 70 to 80 dollars I believe. But it's worth it! Innocent Sin is a bit cheaper though. I bought my copy for like 49 dollars.

[Starmongoose]

Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment work so well together, it's the best of its kind.

[kyuusei]

Persona 2, I STILL haven't beaten it, but it's supposed to be awesome. Downside: It's EXPENSIVE on eBay.

The Persona 2 duology is every bit as good as Persona 3 and 4. Don't let anyone tell you different! XD As far as price goes Eternal Punishment can be anywhere from 70 to 80 dollars I believe. But it's worth it! Innocent Sin is a bit cheaper though. I bought my copy for like 49 dollars.

Actually, I've heard people call it better than P3 and 4, but different strokes for different folks etc. I'm all for finding out.

Yeah true about the price. Luckily I still own P2: EP, definitely gonna grab Innocent Sin at someone point too though.

[xXMelancholiaXx]

Persona 2 was definitely a high point in the series in my opinions. In terms of characters, story, music, etc everything comes together. Not to mention it was actually connected to Persona 1. So you had essentially minus a few characters a two worlds of characters merging together to create this world. I don't know about you but I absolutely LOVE cameos from previous characters in the series and Persona 2 delivers in spades.