Whenever people talk about the strengths of Atlus games amongst many things “atmosphere” is commonly brought up. I’d argue the IV duology are some the best games ever at invoking the emotions of the player through its soundtracks, art direction and battle system. Anyone interested should 100% play them
For me the strongest aspect of the games is the setting Like you WANT to play the games based only on the setting itself they have some of the most unique settings rpg games
It's still amazing how much the developers did with just the 3DS technology. The monster designs are phenomenal, I liked them being 2D, there's hundreds of them and many of them come from untranslated games like the original Devil Summoner all the way back on the Sega Saturn. Gameplay is so much fun too, they put a high level boss in a domain early on on purpose and you get rewarded for exploiting its weakness. 15:55 Yep that's the one!
SMT IV is on the top of the top tower of my S Tier list of favorite games. With no doubt in my heart, I can declare this game has the greatest video game soundtrack ever. That Ikebukuro theme (legendary), Roppongi, my god, Shibuya, and the Satan boss battle theme that evolves with the fight.... man, this game TRANSFORMED my perception of videogames... and It's a handheld game! I've been playing since the 90s and to this day (2024) nothing has come closer to the immersion and catharsis this game gave me. Not even my nostalgia for older games, can compete with this game. And that first Tokyo skyline revelation, I will keep it in my heart forever. Thanks for making this video. Edit: I got the Neutral ending on my first playthrough by sheer accident.
It's one of the best JRPG stories of all time to me. Easily top 10, maybe 5. I put it up there with Xenogears, Chrono Cross etc. And yes the OST is amazing, i'm usually not into these grungy sounding OSTs but this is something else. Lucifer's Palace goes hard as well as Ikebukuro
I like how the neutral ending is the most convoluted one. If you want to remain in the middle of it all, you have to know both sides well and consider every single option in order to find a way to not damage nor benefit excesively neither side. So having to do certain challenge quests and pick the option that gives you no battle modifiers is very fitting.
Kaneko wasn't completely absent from SMT4's development, he acted as a supervisor and created the blueprint for SMT4's world and story long before the game started development.
Shin Megami Tensei IV is special , I'm an "old gamer" , My first Jrpg was Final Fantasy 1 for the nes and I can Say that just a few modern jrpgs really surprised me in the last 15 years , and SMT IV Is one of them. The story , the music(Ryota Kozuka), the Gameplay , the setting , the world building , everything Is very well designed. This post apocalyptic/cyberpunk Tokyo It really captures you once you left Mikado, and It Is something impressive what the developers achieved taking into consideration that this was released on a 3DS.
I was already a SMT 4 stan but MAN,the release of SMTV really showed me that we had it good in the 3DS era. Good story,very good gameplay and okay visuals just beat ASS story,great gameplay and good visuals out of the water imo.
The vid comedically paints the fact that Sega bought Atlus in a negative light but realistically it's been the best outcome for both companies. Atlus properties have made Sega a ton of money and Sega has extensively foot the bill for everything Atlus needs while completely respecting their competence by not interfering at all in the planning or development of Atlus games unless Atlus specifically asks for assistance. The partnership has led to both companies being much better than they were before.
the feeling i got playing through this for the first time is unmatched man. this games an absolute masterpiece in ever sense of the word and I hope more people get to play it for themselves
They're my comfort games too, ngl. I used to replay them all the time notably I'd regularly not finish either because I hate post alignment lock IV despite thinking pre-lock is peak fiction and skipping Apoc's last dungeon because... you know why, youve played it. ...but otherwise I loved them to bits
Me and my buddy are working on a remaster that transcends all the currently available HD texture packs. Includes reworked sprites and animations. Cell shaded looks for 3d models to match the sprite designs and a remixed higher quality soundtrack.
I don't think the story of SMT IV is talked about enough. It's definitely my favorite story of any game I've ever played. Won't say it's necessarily the best, but man if it's not it's close. Great characterization, a deep af world and lore that has you digging in long after finishing the game for the first part, and a very mature plot with definitely the most incredible climax I've experienced in any game (you know the one). It's not surprising to learn it had like six novels worth of content prepared by Kazuya for its plot. Wish I could say the same about V
Honestly, as a whole the IV duology are my two favorite games in the series. And for the sake of my 3DS that I don't know how long it's gonna last (L button doesn't work on mine anymore, for example) every single Direct I hope and pray they'd announce switch port of these... I don't even care if it would be the most optimized port, I just... I just want to have the game "safe"on my switch, not to mention play it on bigger screen, rather than live in the fear of waking up to a day my 3DS decides to stop working. On the positive side, seeing past DS AND 3DS games remade/ported to switch now keeps this hope of mine alive, no matter how actually realistic it would actually be.
14 year old me looked at this game with such intrigue, but unfortunately I never picked it up until a few years into the Switch's lifespan. It easily became one of my favorite RPGs ever, and my first SMT game after years of simply looking at the series from afar. One of my favorite OSTs as well!
Currently in the middle of playing this for the first time and I’m loving it. It took a decade and 4 false starts (could never get past the tutorial battles). Once you’re past that, it’s pretty smooth sailing!
SMT IV is peak of story and characters, but because it is the 1st SMT game I've ever played, it became my standard for SMT. And trust me, it is hard to find a game make me hype as this game. I'm so happy playing this game not knowing anything about SMT and it blow my mind.
I literally just started watching your videos and i noticed “Hey this guy has SMT4 music in his videos hell yea!” and then immeadiatly you post a video about one of my favorite games ever. A really well edited and good retrospective on SMT4 that speaks on the game and its uniqueness compared to other rpgs. Well done!!
It really is crazy how much more positively received 4 is now these days. I don’t even get it, it’s not like it’s more accessible these days. I always loved it so it’s nice to see more people enjoying it. Not my favourite megaten but close to the top!
I remember the beginning of this game beat me to death over and over. It only made me keep going in for more. The more hopeless, the more hilariously I had to keep going.
The best thing about Atlus and SMT just in general, is the fact that they understand that turn-based combat is boring and flawed. So much JRPGs give you the basic turn-based combat and don't evolve it or modernize it in any way, hiding behind the excuse of the game being a "JRPG" but Atlus has shown that you can make a JRPG with turn-based combat and actually make it engaging and fun. It's similar to how games used to be in the N64 - PS2 era, where a vast majority of the games being made were 3D since people viewed 2D as "outdated" or "old" but nowadays people realize that a game that's 2D doesn't have to be outdated and old, and there can be many modern games made with a 2D art style, because it's just that, an art style. SMT IV is a JRPG with turn-based combat, turn-based combat is not an excuse to have boring combat. And Atlus realizes that, and modernizes it well, it's no wonder you see so many JRPGs pretty much copying Atlus and their way of gameplay. However, I will say one thing, SMT IV is a very flawed game itself, the combat becomes overly easy and braindead after Medusa, and the Neutral Ending path is the most obnoxious and awfully obtuse path in an Atlus game to date. There are no indicators in the game telling you what to do, and you are left in the dark for that ending entirely. It's pretty much impossible to get the neutral ending without a walkthrough, and it's objectively the best one as well.
With the game's (god tier) soundtrack trending on TikTok and videos like this I'm happy that the game is FINALLY getting it's recognition. One of my favorite RPGs and games of all-time.
I recently got interested in the game because of your videos using its OST. Will watch the video after I played it. Thanks for showing me this, the Layton series, Yellow Magic Orchestra and many incredible songs of many games ♡
I will say, always be fusing new demons, and save old ones to the compendium. He probably covers it later in the video but demon whispering is so fucking good. Whenever fusing always consider skills what you want to upgrade for yourself. Maybe you don't really want agi on your new demon, but Flynn does have agi, so put it on the new demon because when it whispers skills to you Agi will be upgraded. Or tarukaja, rakunda, basically any buff move it over to a demon that hasn't whispered to you yet if Flynn has it. Agi does weak fire damage but through this upgrading you can get it to actuqally deal as much damage as Agilao, med fire damage. Then of course swap it out for Agilao and upgrade that skill when you get it, or of course whatever elemental skill you want to focus on.
SMT IV has in my opinion one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game. It’s pure agi. Great video! Btw what’s the song that plays @ 4:32?
Man, i have a neck injury because of this game. Not because i looked down the 3ds screen too long, but because the music got me in a state where i was continuesly headbobbing during the playthrough. AND I DID 5 PLAYTHROUGHS!
There's a trick to recruiting demons: I wouldn't actually recommend giving into their every demand, it's even more likely they will screw you over The trick is to assume that you can accept, cheat and give an evasive answer exactly once to get through 2 demand prompts, in which you can pick "end conversation" which means just you asking the demon whether will they join or not without you giving into more demands. This trick is afaik the most reliable way to recruit demons in the game, though you can still get rng screwed once in a while
yeah i like how you covered that the neutral route is difficult to attain. I also really wish this game got a port or a remake i think this would be the best megaten game ever if it did.
The fact that the only thing that felt rushed were the Chaos and Law endings at the very tail end is a testimate to how good this game is. On the easier side, yeah. But its hella well written and fun
The funniest part of the Etrian Odyssey jokes is that right after making one and explaining the "twist" of SMT IV is that *spoiler alert* it's literally the same twist as Etrian Odyssey 1
I bought this game on a whim, literally because I read the back cover. No other game in my entire gaming history compelled me to find all of the endings. K's Tavern theme is my fucking ringtone, and I have Burroughs as my phone wallpaper. When the original SMTIV art book was translated into English, I bought it, alongside the SMTIV:A artbook, which is in Japanese that I cannot read. SMTIV:A was excellent, SMTV was awesome, and GameStop is shipping my SMTV:V Launch Edition as I type this. The original SMTIV? That was an experience I'll never forget. Godlike.
14:05 isnt that track from Conception 2? Also, how is SMT V different/worse in combat than all the others? (In relation to what you said about strategy and affinity) I just started it a while ago
fusion in V can feel very restrictive compared to IV. affinities can make it nigh-impossible to fuse away weaknesses or to teach a demon a spell it is weak to
When you choose the exact same options for the exact same demon twice in a row with one trying to kill your party and the other actually being willing to join it, I’m not sure it can be entirely blamed on player “skill” lmao.
This video made me appreciate my age. My dad bought me revelations, Persona 2, and Persona 3, DDS 1 and 2, and I bought Persona 4 myself. I fell in love with this series at age 10. I realize I was in the weird range where these games hit me the right way. SMT is such a weird bug of a series it’s hard not to appreciate it when it fails completely, SMT V being a recent prime example. Imagine let me down so hard it isn’t funny. Your videos were my first introduction, and knowledge, that SMT 1 and 2 was translated and playable, Wish you the best. Edit: I will play this on Citra as SMT 4 was amazing IMO.
You are wrong on one thing, if you want the true neutral ending you need to SKIP some quests or you will be locked out of it. Not complete all of them.
While I do enjoy the 2d sprites personally the 3d ones are still good, at least what 5 and a little bit of nocturne did where the demons have unique animations and such for certain attacks
I never realised people hated the 2d sprites. I always loved smt 4 for the sprites. It was absolutely for the 3ds weak power, but i always felt like smt 4 was the bridge between old megaten, and the step intor the new. Ripping nocturne graphics for snes battles
SMT4 stands out the most for how it handled its alignments and what they were meant to represent politically since the first game. Law is the influence of the West, Chaos is far-right Japanese nationalism, and siding with either is a bad ending, full stop. You are shown how fairly ordinary people like Jonathan and Walter can be easily radicalized into being okay with committing atrocities while forcing you on the same path if you don't actively resist them. The hopelessness of seeing two seemingly unstoppable ideologies making Tokyo worse each time can tempt one to side with the White, which can be seen as a "bad" Neutral ending where you see both sides as wrong but your solution is even worse. The actual Neutral ending involves siding with people over ideology, which is why you have to do all the side quests and fill people with hope to work together against a common enemy (which Apocalypse really doubles down on). While I think they could have handled it better mechanic-wise, the Neutral ending being really hard to get without a guide stresses the point that forming your own cause without some all-powerful establishment as your benefactor IS extremely hard. And yes, the drawback to the Neutral endings is that it feels like building a house of cards where all it takes is humanity or even just one misguided fool with too much power to fall back on the same bullshit for things to go to hell all over again. But while it's tempting to use the power of a messiah to employ extreme quick fixes to society's problems (Apocalypse even lets you rebuild the whole world yourself with the implication that you become just as tyrannical and power-hungry as YHVH), when you look at Blasted Tokyo, Infernal Tokyo, and the normal Tokyo of the game, then what happens in the endings of the game, then what happens in Apocalypse's endings, it turns out the best thing you can do for humanity is to just leave the world a little less fucked up than you entered it, and pass on the torch hoping for the next person to do the same.
19:59 “not to tight so much lore behind the DLC” HOT TAKE OF THE DAY: The DLC plot points of both games-especially 4 Apocalypse- are non canon.. this is truly how I feel because if i tried to connect them with the main plot I will end up with contradictions. Their sole purposes are to sell you exclusive demons or to supplement other Megaten medias such as manga. Same thing happened with Fire Emblem Fates. Feel free to wage a holy war at me.
@@nitro5247 I remember the NPCs who talked about the event mentioned a young man sacrificed himself to protect Tokyo. Then in 4A we shown a cutscene of that event of him summoning Masakado and made the dome right away. The whole “he went berserk until someone else bonked his head” was never mentioned anywhere outside of that one DLC. That’s why I concluded this plot point was the DLC writer was having fun. The OST was badass though.
SMT IV não é apenas meu jogo favorito da franquia, mas o meu jogo da vida! Acho incrível a mistura dos estilos de Nocturne e dos jogos clássicos da franquia misturados, num plot ambicioso e bem construído ao ponto que chegar a Tokyo ser um puta plot Twist! Adorei o vídeo.
While i started with nocturne, SMT IV really got me into the SMT franchise. I do agree that the first few hours of the game did bend flynn's twink ass over and pounded him rough and unlubed. But after i say, medusa everything becomes much easier when you get a good amount of demons and a move set from the via learning spells from them. A magic centric build for flynn will never not be the meta for that game as you can just 1-3 tap everything with high enough Mag.
For as many times as they have re-released persona 3, fes, portable, reload. They have to at least try to drop a one and done smt iv, I'm not saying they did a great job, but at least they brought nocturne to modern systems. Atlus brought Etrian Odyssey 1-3 back from 3ds, so, hopefully soon-ish.
I still remember how this game blew my mind. Was the first mainline smt game and i played through the first hours really enjoying it. Didn't knew a thing about it because i bought it on whim on the store. With the dungeon crawling and the world menu in Mikado i thought it will be like persona 3 portable altering between the dungeon that will open up during the story with buying stuff in the world menu and all that. Just in a medieval setting, which i thought must be the mainline setting or something. Then you start getting further and further down the dungeon and suddenly you see modern aspects, steel walkways, modern lockers and all that even modern weapons. You go further and suddenly you stand in front of a huge window overlooking modern day Tokio. I was like "WHAAAAAT? Where is this going?" And you learn that you are actually in the post apocalyptic modern day, the world map and the whole setting changes, you don't use iron armor anymore but like Kevlar west's or just casual jeans and shirts. It was the biggest twist ever for me personally and pretty much at the start of the game.
I remember trying to get the neutral ending, and after defeating Kenji and geting the final choice in the game, the law one would send me to the law ending and the chaos one sent me to the chaos ending, i was on the perfect sweet spot that made neutral impossible So i went with the white ending
I remember playing this at launch when i was like 14, knowing full well i really didn’t like turn based RPGs that much, but was intrigued by the game’s atmosphere, then like 3 hours I realized it was one of my favorite games of all time. I still don’t really like turn based games. But I just got a modded 3ds xl and have been. replaying it. It holds up
While I think the game was heavily flawed, it was also what I would consider the final game of the series golden age, the final game in the series that understood somewhat what the series is truly about and having some of that distinct spirit that made the series so distinct. And I guess it was also the last game that had any involvement from the franchises original crew. The games that came after just felt like they had no idea of how the series actually worked.
this is one of my favorite 3ds games and really hooked me on the megaten series, my 1st taste was p3p and this being dark and hard was such a challenging and fun game hoping they remaster smt4 with apocalypse as a bundle
This is just my opinion, what I'm looking forward to is when Atlus remasters SMT 4? both PS5 and Nintendo Switch.Please Atlus allow choices and endings where we can save Isabeau, the Gaia Girl, Jonathan and Walter.There was nothing to lose, we saved them all and they followed Flynn towards a better ending.
So glad you uploaded this specifically when I'm eating my Chicken Sandwich
Yooo i was also eating at that moment
I love some “alone food and UA-cam” time, though it’s drastically less these days…❤
same 😂
Sameeee except it’s been 2weeks and I’m eating ramen 🍜
Would it be different if it was a Steak Sandwich?
Whenever people talk about the strengths of Atlus games amongst many things “atmosphere” is commonly brought up. I’d argue the IV duology are some the best games ever at invoking the emotions of the player through its soundtracks, art direction and battle system. Anyone interested should 100% play them
Also demons. Love Jack Frost and Metatron, among other demons in the series
Games were voice acted too. That added to the game's wonderful atmosphere. Something Pokemon failed to do, be it the 3ds games or the Switch ones.
For me the strongest aspect of the games is the setting
Like you WANT to play the games based only on the setting itself they have some of the most unique settings rpg games
Strange Journey did it even better
It's still amazing how much the developers did with just the 3DS technology. The monster designs are phenomenal, I liked them being 2D, there's hundreds of them and many of them come from untranslated games like the original Devil Summoner all the way back on the Sega Saturn. Gameplay is so much fun too, they put a high level boss in a domain early on on purpose and you get rewarded for exploiting its weakness. 15:55 Yep that's the one!
The DS and 3DS are GOATED, so many legendary games...
Recruitment tip
Avoid giving money as much as you can
So just like in real life. Got it.
Refuse once, Always offload life stones, only give twice and end talks. 80% success.
@@exmerion
I'll remember that, thanks
SMT IV is on the top of the top tower of my S Tier list of favorite games. With no doubt in my heart, I can declare this game has the greatest video game soundtrack ever. That Ikebukuro theme (legendary), Roppongi, my god, Shibuya, and the Satan boss battle theme that evolves with the fight.... man, this game TRANSFORMED my perception of videogames... and It's a handheld game! I've been playing since the 90s and to this day (2024) nothing has come closer to the immersion and catharsis this game gave me. Not even my nostalgia for older games, can compete with this game. And that first Tokyo skyline revelation, I will keep it in my heart forever. Thanks for making this video. Edit: I got the Neutral ending on my first playthrough by sheer accident.
If you got the neutral ending by accident then you must be blessed by the axiom or Yahweh
getting the neutral ending by accident is wild, bro is blessed by Stephen himself
Same, I also got Neutral on my first playthrough by accident.
It's one of the best JRPG stories of all time to me. Easily top 10, maybe 5. I put it up there with Xenogears, Chrono Cross etc.
And yes the OST is amazing, i'm usually not into these grungy sounding OSTs but this is something else. Lucifer's Palace goes hard as well as Ikebukuro
I like how the neutral ending is the most convoluted one. If you want to remain in the middle of it all, you have to know both sides well and consider every single option in order to find a way to not damage nor benefit excesively neither side. So having to do certain challenge quests and pick the option that gives you no battle modifiers is very fitting.
Doing all those sidequests in the context of the story makes sense but omg theyre super annoying and so long
Favorite SMT. It really changed my understanding of what the DS was capable of, and forever altered my own artistic vision
It's a 3ds not a ds you hecking jerk
3DS is not the same as the DS
Kaneko wasn't completely absent from SMT4's development, he acted as a supervisor and created the blueprint for SMT4's world and story long before the game started development.
Shin Megami Tensei IV is special , I'm an "old gamer" , My first Jrpg was Final Fantasy 1 for the nes and I can Say that just a few modern jrpgs really surprised me in the last 15 years , and SMT IV Is one of them.
The story , the music(Ryota Kozuka), the Gameplay , the setting , the world building , everything Is very well designed.
This post apocalyptic/cyberpunk Tokyo It really captures you once you left Mikado, and It Is something impressive what the developers achieved taking into consideration that this was released on a 3DS.
I was already a SMT 4 stan but MAN,the release of SMTV really showed me that we had it good in the 3DS era.
Good story,very good gameplay and okay visuals just beat ASS story,great gameplay and good visuals out of the water imo.
Will Vengeance fix this
Vengance fixed the story at least
@@minimanbeast1014 FR? May have to check it!
The vid comedically paints the fact that Sega bought Atlus in a negative light but realistically it's been the best outcome for both companies. Atlus properties have made Sega a ton of money and Sega has extensively foot the bill for everything Atlus needs while completely respecting their competence by not interfering at all in the planning or development of Atlus games unless Atlus specifically asks for assistance. The partnership has led to both companies being much better than they were before.
16:13 The PS vita home menu music just brought so many memories, thank you for unlocking them
the feeling i got playing through this for the first time is unmatched man. this games an absolute masterpiece in ever sense of the word and I hope more people get to play it for themselves
i mean uhhhh nevermind im gatekeeping dont play it this is my niche rpg
Is it weird that this game was my comfort game on the 3DS? Because I loved this game and SMT IV Apocalypse.
They're my comfort games too, ngl.
I used to replay them all the time
notably I'd regularly not finish either because I hate post alignment lock IV despite thinking pre-lock is peak fiction and skipping Apoc's last dungeon because... you know why, youve played it.
...but otherwise I loved them to bits
Voyan finally back with the annual uploads 🙏🙏
I like that you reference games that came out around the time because providing that frame of reference makes me realize I missed out on this game 😭😭
Me and my buddy are working on a remaster that transcends all the currently available HD texture packs. Includes reworked sprites and animations. Cell shaded looks for 3d models to match the sprite designs and a remixed higher quality soundtrack.
looking forward to it
I don't think the story of SMT IV is talked about enough. It's definitely my favorite story of any game I've ever played. Won't say it's necessarily the best, but man if it's not it's close. Great characterization, a deep af world and lore that has you digging in long after finishing the game for the first part, and a very mature plot with definitely the most incredible climax I've experienced in any game (you know the one). It's not surprising to learn it had like six novels worth of content prepared by Kazuya for its plot. Wish I could say the same about V
Honestly, as a whole the IV duology are my two favorite games in the series.
And for the sake of my 3DS that I don't know how long it's gonna last (L button doesn't work on mine anymore, for example) every single Direct I hope and pray they'd announce switch port of these...
I don't even care if it would be the most optimized port, I just... I just want to have the game "safe"on my switch, not to mention play it on bigger screen, rather than live in the fear of waking up to a day my 3DS decides to stop working.
On the positive side, seeing past DS AND 3DS games remade/ported to switch now keeps this hope of mine alive, no matter how actually realistic it would actually be.
14 year old me looked at this game with such intrigue, but unfortunately I never picked it up until a few years into the Switch's lifespan. It easily became one of my favorite RPGs ever, and my first SMT game after years of simply looking at the series from afar. One of my favorite OSTs as well!
SMTIV is the absolute peak of SMT (strange journey too but I love IV much more)
Currently in the middle of playing this for the first time and I’m loving it. It took a decade and 4 false starts (could never get past the tutorial battles). Once you’re past that, it’s pretty smooth sailing!
SMT IV is peak of story and characters, but because it is the 1st SMT game I've ever played, it became my standard for SMT. And trust me, it is hard to find a game make me hype as this game. I'm so happy playing this game not knowing anything about SMT and it blow my mind.
I literally just started watching your videos and i noticed “Hey this guy has SMT4 music in his videos hell yea!” and then immeadiatly you post a video about one of my favorite games ever.
A really well edited and good retrospective on SMT4 that speaks on the game and its uniqueness compared to other rpgs. Well done!!
It really is crazy how much more positively received 4 is now these days. I don’t even get it, it’s not like it’s more accessible these days. I always loved it so it’s nice to see more people enjoying it. Not my favourite megaten but close to the top!
It was handheld exclusive so people ignored it when it was released.
love Shoji, but SMT4 OST is one of the best in the series, I still listen to it and enjoy it.
insane amount of battle themes.
I remember the beginning of this game beat me to death over and over. It only made me keep going in for more. The more hopeless, the more hilariously I had to keep going.
The best thing about Atlus and SMT just in general, is the fact that they understand that turn-based combat is boring and flawed. So much JRPGs give you the basic turn-based combat and don't evolve it or modernize it in any way, hiding behind the excuse of the game being a "JRPG" but Atlus has shown that you can make a JRPG with turn-based combat and actually make it engaging and fun.
It's similar to how games used to be in the N64 - PS2 era, where a vast majority of the games being made were 3D since people viewed 2D as "outdated" or "old" but nowadays people realize that a game that's 2D doesn't have to be outdated and old, and there can be many modern games made with a 2D art style, because it's just that, an art style. SMT IV is a JRPG with turn-based combat, turn-based combat is not an excuse to have boring combat. And Atlus realizes that, and modernizes it well, it's no wonder you see so many JRPGs pretty much copying Atlus and their way of gameplay.
However, I will say one thing, SMT IV is a very flawed game itself, the combat becomes overly easy and braindead after Medusa, and the Neutral Ending path is the most obnoxious and awfully obtuse path in an Atlus game to date. There are no indicators in the game telling you what to do, and you are left in the dark for that ending entirely. It's pretty much impossible to get the neutral ending without a walkthrough, and it's objectively the best one as well.
Man I can't believe baseball legend Ichiro Suzuki actually made the megaten series
LET'S GOOOOO!!! I see a video about SMT4 getting the recognition it deserves, and I click.
With the game's (god tier) soundtrack trending on TikTok and videos like this I'm happy that the game is FINALLY getting it's recognition. One of my favorite RPGs and games of all-time.
I recently got interested in the game because of your videos using its OST. Will watch the video after I played it.
Thanks for showing me this, the Layton series, Yellow Magic Orchestra and many incredible songs of many games ♡
I will say, always be fusing new demons, and save old ones to the compendium. He probably covers it later in the video but demon whispering is so fucking good. Whenever fusing always consider skills what you want to upgrade for yourself.
Maybe you don't really want agi on your new demon, but Flynn does have agi, so put it on the new demon because when it whispers skills to you Agi will be upgraded. Or tarukaja, rakunda, basically any buff move it over to a demon that hasn't whispered to you yet if Flynn has it.
Agi does weak fire damage but through this upgrading you can get it to actuqally deal as much damage as Agilao, med fire damage. Then of course swap it out for Agilao and upgrade that skill when you get it, or of course whatever elemental skill you want to focus on.
Dude. I had a 3DS with both SMTIV and Fire Emblem Awakening and I NEVER knew that promotion was a thing at all.
You released this at the perfect time. Just beat the game today!
SMT IV has in my opinion one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game. It’s pure agi. Great video! Btw what’s the song that plays @ 4:32?
Man, i have a neck injury because of this game. Not because i looked down the 3ds screen too long, but because the music got me in a state where i was continuesly headbobbing during the playthrough. AND I DID 5 PLAYTHROUGHS!
After playing V and V Vengeance....i still prefer IV and IVA. There was something about talking to npc people and exploring tokyo at night.
I got this before the eshop went down. This will be my first SMT when I finally get around to it.
There's a trick to recruiting demons: I wouldn't actually recommend giving into their every demand, it's even more likely they will screw you over
The trick is to assume that you can accept, cheat and give an evasive answer exactly once to get through 2 demand prompts, in which you can pick "end conversation" which means just you asking the demon whether will they join or not without you giving into more demands. This trick is afaik the most reliable way to recruit demons in the game, though you can still get rng screwed once in a while
yeah i like how you covered that the neutral route is difficult to attain.
I also really wish this game got a port or a remake
i think this would be the best megaten game ever if it did.
The fact that the only thing that felt rushed were the Chaos and Law endings at the very tail end is a testimate to how good this game is. On the easier side, yeah. But its hella well written and fun
i hope someday smt 4 will be on steam
Yeah, baby
Subscribed for the Waltuh segment, and he ends it thus too.
The funniest part of the Etrian Odyssey jokes is that right after making one and explaining the "twist" of SMT IV is that *spoiler alert* it's literally the same twist as Etrian Odyssey 1
SMT IV's combat is so fast I encountered demons in Tokyo, looked away for one second, and saw the Cheron when I looked back.
5:22
yeah he was in epstein island
Brought the game for the same reason and it's one of my top games ever
It almost feels like SMT4 was the vibe that kingdom hearts DDD wanted for their 3ds installment
I bought this game on a whim, literally because I read the back cover.
No other game in my entire gaming history compelled me to find all of the endings.
K's Tavern theme is my fucking ringtone, and I have Burroughs as my phone wallpaper.
When the original SMTIV art book was translated into English, I bought it, alongside the SMTIV:A artbook, which is in Japanese that I cannot read.
SMTIV:A was excellent, SMTV was awesome, and GameStop is shipping my SMTV:V Launch Edition as I type this.
The original SMTIV? That was an experience I'll never forget.
Godlike.
Kaneko wasn't _absent_ from SMT4. He came up with the scenario.
8:29
My Bravely Default with over 300 hours comes to mind.
300 hours on Bravely is time well spent I dare say
14:05 isnt that track from Conception 2? Also, how is SMT V different/worse in combat than all the others? (In relation to what you said about strategy and affinity) I just started it a while ago
fusion in V can feel very restrictive compared to IV. affinities can make it nigh-impossible to fuse away weaknesses or to teach a demon a spell it is weak to
Great video, made me wana play SMT IV. Also, what's the song at 1:58? If anyone knows, please tell me!
Hey it’s ‘Infernal Tokyo’ from the SMT IV ost. The soundtrack for this game is unbelievable.
@@indexical1897 Wow, I really appreciate it! Thanks a lot I really like this track, it's great. The whole OST is great.
When you choose the exact same options for the exact same demon twice in a row with one trying to kill your party and the other actually being willing to join it, I’m not sure it can be entirely blamed on player “skill” lmao.
How did you get SMT IV so HD? I don't remember the mod making it look this good...
emulator called citra
@@gamesthatmatter9374 No duh
This video made me appreciate my age. My dad bought me revelations, Persona 2, and Persona 3, DDS 1 and 2, and I bought Persona 4 myself. I fell in love with this series at age 10. I realize I was in the weird range where these games hit me the right way.
SMT is such a weird bug of a series it’s hard not to appreciate it when it fails completely, SMT V being a recent prime example. Imagine let me down so hard it isn’t funny.
Your videos were my first introduction, and knowledge, that SMT 1 and 2 was translated and playable,
Wish you the best.
Edit: I will play this on Citra as SMT 4 was amazing IMO.
You are wrong on one thing, if you want the true neutral ending you need to SKIP some quests or you will be locked out of it. Not complete all of them.
The sprites will always be superior to the 3D models
While I do enjoy the 2d sprites personally the 3d ones are still good, at least what 5 and a little bit of nocturne did where the demons have unique animations and such for certain attacks
Can’t even put into words how powerful this game is. How well written. Voiced. Paced. And the endings were gut wrenching. Ty for this mate 👏
I never realised people hated the 2d sprites. I always loved smt 4 for the sprites. It was absolutely for the 3ds weak power, but i always felt like smt 4 was the bridge between old megaten, and the step intor the new. Ripping nocturne graphics for snes battles
whats the first song, so familiar
Es que Shin Megami Tensei IV G O D siempre lo mejor
I was getting worried you wouldn't mention my main man Minotaur. So sad we haven't seen him return
can we get a song list? specifically just the one at 0:34
edit: ok i take it back just tell me any of em u recognize theyre all good
SMT4 stands out the most for how it handled its alignments and what they were meant to represent politically since the first game. Law is the influence of the West, Chaos is far-right Japanese nationalism, and siding with either is a bad ending, full stop. You are shown how fairly ordinary people like Jonathan and Walter can be easily radicalized into being okay with committing atrocities while forcing you on the same path if you don't actively resist them. The hopelessness of seeing two seemingly unstoppable ideologies making Tokyo worse each time can tempt one to side with the White, which can be seen as a "bad" Neutral ending where you see both sides as wrong but your solution is even worse. The actual Neutral ending involves siding with people over ideology, which is why you have to do all the side quests and fill people with hope to work together against a common enemy (which Apocalypse really doubles down on). While I think they could have handled it better mechanic-wise, the Neutral ending being really hard to get without a guide stresses the point that forming your own cause without some all-powerful establishment as your benefactor IS extremely hard. And yes, the drawback to the Neutral endings is that it feels like building a house of cards where all it takes is humanity or even just one misguided fool with too much power to fall back on the same bullshit for things to go to hell all over again. But while it's tempting to use the power of a messiah to employ extreme quick fixes to society's problems (Apocalypse even lets you rebuild the whole world yourself with the implication that you become just as tyrannical and power-hungry as YHVH), when you look at Blasted Tokyo, Infernal Tokyo, and the normal Tokyo of the game, then what happens in the endings of the game, then what happens in Apocalypse's endings, it turns out the best thing you can do for humanity is to just leave the world a little less fucked up than you entered it, and pass on the torch hoping for the next person to do the same.
They don’t make em like this anymore. Simply the best game I played other than Xenogears
19:59 “not to tight so much lore behind the DLC”
HOT TAKE OF THE DAY:
The DLC plot points of both games-especially 4 Apocalypse- are non canon.. this is truly how I feel because if i tried to connect them with the main plot I will end up with contradictions.
Their sole purposes are to sell you exclusive demons or to supplement other Megaten medias such as manga.
Same thing happened with Fire Emblem Fates.
Feel free to wage a holy war at me.
For the past, for the future is canon though
@@nitro5247 I remember the NPCs who talked about the event mentioned a young man sacrificed himself to protect Tokyo. Then in 4A we shown a cutscene of that event of him summoning Masakado and made the dome right away.
The whole “he went berserk until someone else bonked his head” was never mentioned anywhere outside of that one DLC. That’s why I concluded this plot point was the DLC writer was having fun.
The OST was badass though.
Amazing video man
Congrats
You just learned what makes a GOOD isekai
SMT IV não é apenas meu jogo favorito da franquia, mas o meu jogo da vida!
Acho incrível a mistura dos estilos de Nocturne e dos jogos clássicos da franquia misturados, num plot ambicioso e bem construído ao ponto que chegar a Tokyo ser um puta plot Twist!
Adorei o vídeo.
such a great video
arthur play track B-2
While i started with nocturne, SMT IV really got me into the SMT franchise. I do agree that the first few hours of the game did bend flynn's twink ass over and pounded him rough and unlubed. But after i say, medusa everything becomes much easier when you get a good amount of demons and a move set from the via learning spells from them. A magic centric build for flynn will never not be the meta for that game as you can just 1-3 tap everything with high enough Mag.
For as many times as they have re-released persona 3, fes, portable, reload. They have to at least try to drop a one and done smt iv, I'm not saying they did a great job, but at least they brought nocturne to modern systems. Atlus brought Etrian Odyssey 1-3 back from 3ds, so, hopefully soon-ish.
11:33
Story of my life.
I’ve owned this game for years and years and have yet to play it. I was last night, but went to bed instead. One of these days I will.
It's the best SMT hands down. Smt5 is a close second.
SMT4's intro twist is so good. I went in blind and I was not expecting the Tokyo twist
If you like RPGs without grinding you should play divinity original sin 2 and baldur"s gate 3
My favorite aesthetic is fantasy built atop real world. Etrian odyssey, smt4 , Nier, even technically adventure time
I played 3 not 4 since I didn’t have the console for it. Finished 5 and still replaying it
1:45 did you get those loafers from kohl's??
4:53
Funny enough Etrian Odyssey 1 does the EXACT SAME twist as SMT IV just only at the last non post game stratum
Really called me out with that RNG shit huh.
still love this over 4A. Battle A2, B2 and C4 are godly bgms.
I still remember how this game blew my mind. Was the first mainline smt game and i played through the first hours really enjoying it. Didn't knew a thing about it because i bought it on whim on the store. With the dungeon crawling and the world menu in Mikado i thought it will be like persona 3 portable altering between the dungeon that will open up during the story with buying stuff in the world menu and all that. Just in a medieval setting, which i thought must be the mainline setting or something.
Then you start getting further and further down the dungeon and suddenly you see modern aspects, steel walkways, modern lockers and all that even modern weapons. You go further and suddenly you stand in front of a huge window overlooking modern day Tokio. I was like
"WHAAAAAT? Where is this going?"
And you learn that you are actually in the post apocalyptic modern day, the world map and the whole setting changes, you don't use iron armor anymore but like Kevlar west's or just casual jeans and shirts. It was the biggest twist ever for me personally and pretty much at the start of the game.
I remember trying to get the neutral ending, and after defeating Kenji and geting the final choice in the game, the law one would send me to the law ending and the chaos one sent me to the chaos ending, i was on the perfect sweet spot that made neutral impossible
So i went with the white ending
Song at 7:52
I remember playing this at launch when i was like 14, knowing full well i really didn’t like turn based RPGs that much, but was intrigued by the game’s atmosphere, then like 3 hours I realized it was one of my favorite games of all time. I still don’t really like turn based games. But I just got a modded 3ds xl and have been. replaying it. It holds up
does anyone know the song starting at 10:24? it slaps HARD
While I think the game was heavily flawed, it was also what I would consider the final game of the series golden age, the final game in the series that understood somewhat what the series is truly about and having some of that distinct spirit that made the series so distinct. And I guess it was also the last game that had any involvement from the franchises original crew.
The games that came after just felt like they had no idea of how the series actually worked.
Does anyone recognize the background song between 10:03 - 10:23 ?
I thought it actually wws SMT4 at first but it can't be.
What’s that outdo music?
To me it sounds like the track “Self” from SMT IV’s OST, but a lofi version.
ua-cam.com/video/1rRdHNXUh0A/v-deo.html
that Suikoden background music on 3:00 is LIT AF hahaha
this is one of my favorite 3ds games and really hooked me on the megaten series, my 1st taste was p3p and this being dark and hard was such a challenging and fun game
hoping they remaster smt4 with apocalypse as a bundle
0:01 Man who thought hmmm a crossover with demons and tactics with huge armies needs to be about Japanese idols!
This is just my opinion, what I'm looking forward to is when Atlus remasters SMT 4? both PS5 and Nintendo Switch.Please Atlus allow choices and endings where we can save Isabeau, the Gaia Girl, Jonathan and Walter.There was nothing to lose, we saved them all and they followed Flynn towards a better ending.
KILLER7 OST RAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
Also goated video
loved this game- super unforgiving at first but once you get more demons you become unstoppable for like the whole reset of the game
You just sold this game to me….now I just need a 3ds and a copy of the game
yo wasn’t revelations only for persona? specifically 1
idk anyways erm cool vid
On the 360 box, no way