How Does The FIRST Megami Tensei Game Hold Up Today?
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Before Shin Megami Tensei and Persona came Digital Devil Story. How is it?
Developed by Atlus, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei was released for the Famicom in 1987, exclusively in Japan. It also saw a 1995 Super Famicom release and came to mobile in 2004.
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デジタル・デビル物語女神転生
#retrogaming #NES #Megaten #Persona #JRPG - Ігри
"its a bizarre concept", sir, have you actually seen what a circuit board looks like? closest thing to demon summoning runes the world has ever seen.
Plus technopaganism was a thing in the 90s media.
The demon summoning on a computer concept makes sense when you consider that what those rituals involve is drawing symbols and saying words at specific times. Computers can draw shapes extremely precisely and execute commands at exact time intervals, so they could conceivably perform those things more consistently than a human could.
That's a good point
They remade this game along with MegaTen II on the Super Famicom under the title Kyūyaku Megami Tensei(1995). Has a bunch of QoL updates if I remember correctly.
I might go with that version when I play MT2
It's incredibly impressive how many mechanics and ideas this game created would indirectly inspire turn-based RPGs today. Recruiting tens of monsters to train and grow, a time mechanic in the form of moon phases, the idea of replayability in an RPG, and multiple endings (hence the word “Tensei”, reincarnation, in the title). It's fascinating how Megami Tensei and SMT as a whole were the catalysts of so many ideas in future RPGs, and yet even after 30+ years, it's relatively niche.
Well said. Atlus carved out their own niche in the genre that others can't copy without looking like ripoffs.
And wow, I didn't even mention the moon phases. Probably because I don't understand them ;]
@@rpg_haven It's fine lol. A lot of people struggle with it.
Basically, as you walk, the phases of the moon change, from new all the way to full, then reverse. Like everything else in MT, it's archaic and not fleshed out well, affecting the attack power of demons. It wouldn't be until SMT that would progressively flesh it out, often as a measurement of time for puzzles or items in SMT3 Nocturne.
Persona 3 in 2006 and SMT4A, years later, in 2016, would actually use the phases of the moon as an important part of the story.
Hope that helps!
@@Wevegottrouble Iirc, some of the skills in Nocturne (mostly physical) also requires you to be in a New Moon or Full Moon if you want to land criticals.
@@shinyanakagawa8241 Yep! In short it was really until Nocturne where they managed to flesh out a plethora of more ideas that they could do with the moon phase system
Yeah, having watched the SMT themed UA-camr, Marsh, detailing the plot of the digital devil story series, knowing the full context only makes it weirder, to the point where you question how SMT even got the chance to spawn from this.
fun fact: you can obtain hinokagutsuchi as early as after defeating the minotaur.
just buff up nakajima's combined STR, WIS, and LUC stat to 48 (ex: 20 STR + 20 WIS + 8 LUC) and reach the secret room. you might die on your way there.
The plot makes more sense if you read the books.
And holy crap, those books are not what you're going to expect.
The fun thing is; there are 2 games based on DDS. The RPG on the NES and there was an action based game on PC (Japan only). I can't imagine there is any way to play the PC game these days.
I came across that in my research. Sounds weird
Thanks for this video - I'd been curious about the earlier Megami Tensei titles but hadn't heard much about them.
Excellent review. These early dungeon crawlers were brutal.
Have you played SMT: Strange Journey yet? If you enjoyed the dungeon crawling of the early series, Strange Journey is the fully evolved, as of this point, dungeon crawling experience for the series. I'd say it's worth experiencing to see how far the the early formula got before it shifted away from it for the more 3D approach they started going with.
Strange Journey is one I hear a lot about, I'll check it out. Is it anything like Avatar Tuner / Digital Devil Saga? I played the first one of those and liked it
@rpg_haven Haven't played DDS yet. It's more in line with the first two smt games and the digital devil games, only strange journey is actually fun to play and explore. I tried playing soul hackers after, and I was surprised by the amount of qol added between the older dungeon crawlers and strange journey, most importantly the removal of magnetite and summoning costs. I feel it's one of the better games in terms of alignment endings too. Your choices actually matter, instead of it being just, "which ending do you choose", they don't feel as divergent content wise as smt 4 was, and the endings actually sell the values of each alignment with out feeling dissonant or over complicated to how the alignments are portrayed in the game up to the point, unlike smt 2 and 4 with their non-neutral routes.
I feel the same way about the NES Final Fantasy games. I've tried the original NES game, then the GBA remaster, and every time I never finish. There is a lot of grinding in old NES RPGs, just like "NES difficulty", to pad out the game length, and the battle system is nothing more than have bigger numbers and manage your resources so you can make it back to up after a long dungeon dive or make it the next save point.
That's what I like about old RPGs hahah
7:35 Just like Gen 9 Pokemon!
Rarely would I ever say a game "hasn't aged well," but if there ever was an RPG I would say that about it's this one! If you played the second one right after like I did it is honestly amazing how much the sequel improved on every aspect of the game. I'm no MegaTen expert, I've only played about half the games at most, but MT2 is my favorite out of all the MT games I've tried, even including Persona and the other spinoffs! Can't wait for you to try that one out; I think it will be right up your alley.
A huge problem with this game is the number of unrecruitable enemies. It's also a nitpick in MT2 but it's a lot less of an active problem there. In the first game there are simply not enough different recruitables to the point it actively hurts the game experience.
I don't think Magnetite has ever done anything in Megami Tensei except add an insignificant amount of grinding. It's just too easy to grind for it so it never really influences your decisions beyond once in a blue moon. There is a reason why the concept as a whole is dropped in the later SMT games.
Good to hear MT2 is a big improvement. I was going to put off playing it, but maybe I should reconsider
@@rpg_haven If you loved SMT1 as much as you said you did I can't see why you wouldn't love MT2 even more. It may not have the alignment system and story that makes SMT1 special but it also doesn't have the ailment bullets and stunning spells that break the battle system in half, so the actual dungeon crawling is a lot more fun.
@@rpg_haven MT2 has a great reputation among fans, but it’s just not very popular. It’s surprisingly ambitious and I’ve even seen people rank it among the best RPGs on the console.
There's a tie in OAV that acts as a prequel. It's pretty barebones but gives all the context that you need.
Thank you, I might have to check that out before playing MT2
Love these games. You know, ive been playing these games for awhile, and i could swear when i did the Japanese sound test in sj redux, i heard the Japanese voice say "SHEEN MEGA-ME TANE SAY" but everyone not in japan says muh GAH me.
Edit: have you played kyuuyaku? The remastered soundtrack is great, especially the song you ended with! Love that one
I think I'll play the Kyuuyaku version of MT2. Not sure I can stomach another NES game in this style
i have to ask, where is the final fantasy 6 video? i see it ranked, but i cant find the video on it.
Hey, thanks for asking. I don't believe I've ever ranked FF6 anywhere. I'm actually playing through it now! Video soon-ish, I've got a couple more coming first
It's funny how much the story seems to depend on you reading the novel or watching the 45 min anime adaptation of the first novel. Except the story of the game has nothing to do with it but things are explained more in a stupidly graphic way lol. One thing about this game I cannot get over though is the spritework. I am a sucker for NES sprites in general but they have so much personality in this game.
I am sure you know this and its sequel got a remake bundle on the Super Famicom and I hear that fixes alot of issues one would have with the original versions so it is really interesting you chose the original version specifically. A better choice when you want to see things historically for sure.
I wanted to start with the actual first game this time, since I played remakes of the early FFs and other series. I'll probably check out the SNES version for MT2
Where do you find time to play all of these games, come out with videos, and perhaps eat and sleep? :)
He doesn't. He uses others playthrough videos and reads from wiki articles. He spends most of his time ranting on twitter about those who don't share his right-winged views.
Hahah, it's all about priorities. I spend more time on games which means less time for other hobbies
Having only played the kyuuyaku Megami Tensei remake of this game. I can say it was a frustrating experience for sure though the atmosphere and music were definitely highlights for me. That being said Megami Tensei 2 is definitely the game for the better every aspect. I might eventually get to the originals for both one day though.
Doing the lords work
I wonder if the Super Famicom ones are slightly more approachable 😅
It probably is
Just agreeing with the video. There's very little reason to play the Famicom MegaTen games today, but SMT1 does hold up reasonably well as long as you're OK with grindy dungeon-crawls.
I absolutely adored SMT1
Bad, I've played it to completion.
Still, the music goes hard
Can you make a video about Suikoden or Ogre battle
I've done one on Suikoden. Haven't played Ogre Battle yet
@@rpg_haven Ok
i gotta be honest tho, you should check out and talk about digital devil story 2, it's such an underrated game!
I will!
When I hear anyone talk about any series or old games that this or that mechanic is just too annoying today etc etc just makes me want to love the game alot more.
I'm glad games like the SMT series exist to not appeal to the mainstream, games should be for gamers not just for regular joe.
I get a sweet kick out of adapting to BS in alot of games, also we have save states these days so if we're not up for BS today then we can just stop it and come back 7 months later if we wish. No harm in taking a break for the real world :D