Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey

[DANGERMAN]

If you played the PS2 Shin Megami games, or even the Persona games, then you're going to know what this is about. For the record the difference between the Persona games and the Shin Megami Tensei games is that Persona tends to be a bit more upbeat and has you working with other humans, where as SMT is all end of the world and sees you pretty much exclusively having demons as your partners.

There's no friendship building in SMT, it's more or less a straight up rpg. You fight alone initially, with a choice between a sword attack and a gun attack (which are distinct types such as fire, ice, electric, wind etc are) then quickly have a demon offer to help. You get into fights, both level up, but you need to recruit more help. This means starting conversation with demons before you fight, answering in a way they want to hear, then bargaining with them for items or recruitment.

Simple enough, a bit like Pokemon or Dragon Quest 5. But the SMT games, like Persona require you to fuse demons together to make new, more powerful demons. Persona has always done a better job or giving you a chance to get the mix of skills you want in my opinion, here when you fuse there seems less randomisation, you get what the game decides to give you. In Persona there was also a random chance of bonuses, things going wrong, or even a whole new demon being created, here it seems much more 'A+B=C and you get these skills'

I think the trial by fire in the previous games has stood me in good stead, because even though I'm bloody fucking loving it, I'm inching my way through. It's not too hard initially, but it's a game that requires you to build your team up, which makes grinding a by-product. I'm 6 hours in and already if I hadn't been cautious I'd be fucked.

[DANGERMAN]

In a way I've not much more to add but I wanted to just add that for whatever reason Strange Journey is much more manageable than previous games. It's still not easy, and things like healing your party at healspots still cost money (instead of relying on your magic and items), but it seems to hand out a bit more exp. The problem is you dont level up in the same way as something like Dragon Quest, or Fallout etc, you aren't going to get +10 strength, +9 Vit, +5 Magic, +7 Agility. Going up a level doesn't necessarily change anything, you might get +1 strength and some luck, and the same is true for your demons. You have to fuse them because they're never going to reach the high levels otherwise.

The game's a bit like the Third Reich in some ways, it's about breeding out weakness. You could have a great demon with 3 different types of magic attacks, but if it's weak to fire, ice, and electric as a consequence then it's going to get fucked up every fight. For the boss on the first area my party included a demon with no magic ability at all (just special physical attacks). He couldn't attack the bosses weaknesses, but he was strong against the physical attacks he was receiving and had enough health the shrug off the occasional magic attack.

I know eventually the demons in my party will have enough magic points that I wont need to worry, but at the minute, especially when exploring a new area without either a save point or a heal station, using magic still comes at a cost. I've taken to leaving a demon with healing powers in my reserves and using them to heal outside of fights. As I understand it you can buy back monsters you've already fused away, but I've no idea how yet, possibly that's something still to come.

I also got Jack Frost this morning, he's less awesome than he is in Persona simply because you can't just swap him in like in Persona (where his lowers stats are countered by you levelling up), but the conversation I had with him made me laugh

[DANGERMAN]

This has had a remaster of sorts for the 3DS. It still looks more or less the same, possibly a higher resolution than the old DS one, but the real changes are an extended story and a new dungeon you can return to throughout the game.

 

I've been to the new dungeon a couple of times, the first time it beat the shit out of me, the 2nd it was more manageable and had, so far, my favourite moment of the game. There's a version of Jack Frost hidden away who's a drill sergeant, he's pretty funny, and he's recurring as you make your way through the floors of the dungeon.

 

The game is less like a traditional Shin Megami Tensei game than I'd realised. Unlike Persona and Shin Megami Tensei 4 (and some of the PS2 ones) you don't have free 3d control, it's more like an Etrian Odyssey or Persona Q if you played that, you move in 1 of 4 directions one stride at a time. The weakness/strength mechanic is interesting in this one, I'm waiting for it to bite me on the arse but so far the enemies haven't benefited from it. You and your demons fall in to 1 of 3 classes (white, red, blue [I think neutral, authoritarian, individual?]) land an attack on an enemies weakness and any of the 3 other active party members of the same class as you will join in with a follow up attack. So, rather than just pick your 3 most powerful demons to join you, it might be worth at least making sure you have pairs of matching types, or as I've got at the minute 3 of one with my tank just being there to deal physical damage

 

Anyway, I've had an easier time with this game than I did back on the DS. The story is getting really good, not exactly laugh a minute but unusual. I'm at the point where I got stucck last time, and again the new area feels like a massive step up in difficulty, but more manageable this time. I've gone off to some older areas to do side quests, I'm not sure I'm leveling up a huge amount but I do think I need a few more levels and some stronger demons

 

but yeah, given that you could just play the original on your 3DS it's a bit of a pointless release, but the new stuff has been good so far

[Rikzilla]

How the fuck do I kill that Ouroborus boss? I can't work it out for the life of me. Do I just need to grind on the Womb of Despair for a while? I think I'm about 4 floors into that. 

 

[DANGERMAN]

you're much further than me. I remember beating a boss in the mall area, I think I jumped to the next area after that. I put this down to finish up Persona and Octopath, I preferred this to both (I really liked Persona 5 by the end though), so I need to get back to it

[DANGERMAN]

I've been playing this again over the last couple of weekends. I've finished the Delphinus sector, which I assumed was going to be a nightmare, but was actually fairly easy. Other than adding a Jaki I don't think I changed my team out for the entire zone. One of my demons was taking a lot of damage on the boss though, so she might have to be traded out, shes got good spells though so I'd rather not, but depending what the next areas demons are weak to it might be time

 

I'm approaching level 40 so some decently powerful demons have started showing up as possible fusions. I still prefer the way Persona handles fusions than SMT, particularly as you've now got to worry about alignment, but it's always good when you start seeing things that have been bosses in the past.

 

I'm aiming to get the next zone done before I put it down again for a while. I had thought, based on the story, that I was getting close to the end, but after looking at a guide it looks like I'm more like halfway through, which is a bit disheartening, hence wanting to get a bit more done before letting it rest

[Rikzilla]

I need to pick it up again, haven't played it since June. If you're on it again though I'll likely continue once I've finished The Legend of Dragoon. It'll be nice to have someone to talk about it with.