THE BORE
General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: jiji on August 13, 2008, 02:29:29 PM
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So I found this at Gamestop new for $10, and despite duckroll's recommendation against it, I picked it up. I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. I'm addicted.
It's definitely a breezy Shin Megami Tensei-lite, as the battles are not difficult at all (so far). But everything about it is definitely SMT. The abilities your demons have outside of combat is a fun wrinkle, and it gives demon fusion just a little extra oomph (i.e. "I'd better not get rid of this demon, because I need to keep around one that can read people's minds.")
The script and localization are grade A. The setting is pretty cool (prewar Japan, yet still in a Taisho era that didn't end when it did historically :wtf). And while the music isn't exactly period-appropriate, it totally has the SMT feel. Even without voice acting, the 3D character models you see during conversations show a lot of expression. Oh, and :bow Kaneko :bow2
I've heard some people bitching about the prerendered backgrounds. Cry moar: they keep the game running at 60fps with miniscule load times.
The biggest problem with it I see is the melee combat moves, which are pretty boring and get repetitive quickly. But as you get tired of them, it becomes more important and practical to exploit demons' weak points with your demons' attacks, thereby stunning them and allowing you to get in easy critical hits (which make big, juicy flashes onscreen).
Oh, and I always love seeing the return of the SMT overhead map. :heartbeat
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It's not a bad game, but there's nothing remarkable about it either. the battle system is terribly dull and bland (and I like arpgs like SO/tales), raidou himself lacks a good move set to keep battles interesting and fresh. the demon AI isn't really that good either, the fact that only ONE demon can be summoned at a time is also lame. Also, I think the pre-rendered backgrounds for battles is a crappy idea, making the camera static in an arpg is a terrible design choice IMO.
the demon field skills are neat at first but then you notice that the game doesn't really take advantage of them. how many times do you use the 'mind read' skill? like 2 or 3 times.
I wonder how much bigger the sequel is going to be... R&D1 tends to greatly improve a so-so product, so we'll see.
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It's okay. I had fun but it's definitely the least memorable SMT on the ps2.
I'm anticipating the sequel because R&D1 knows how to improve formulas and make better sequels than anybody.
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Think I'll pick this up when ive finished P3, then I've played all the SMT games on the PS2. DDS, Nocturne, P3, are there any (currently released) that I'm missing out?
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i was really curious about this -- i love its character designs, and i'm not generally a huge fan of the smt designer (kaneko, is it?). maybe i'll try to find it cheap
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i was really curious about this -- i love its character designs, and i'm not generally a huge fan of the smt designer (kaneko, is it?). maybe i'll try to find it cheap
It's biggest sin is that it's repetitive and it feels low budget-y. The combat system seems novel at first, but there's not really a whole lot to it. If you can find it cheap (and you are an SMT fan), there's more to like than there is to dislike. But it definitely is a fans only game.
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I might have to go to gamestop this weekend. Only megaten game I didn't buy last gen.
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I'm pretty sure I got it for like 15 bucks off of Gamestop.com just like a month ago.