Sounds like there's no reason to rush into Soul Hackers. One thing that's really obvious about SMT from SMT IV onwards is how much the Persona series has poisoned the main games with animu bullshit. Strange Journey and Nocturne have almost no animu bullshit in them. Basically none in Strange Journey, since the plot is hard science fiction mixed with religious themes. But SMT IV is full of animu bullshit and stupid weeb characters like Isabeau who have one defining character trait (likes manga) and love to sperge about nothing in cutscenes. Honestly, it feels like there's less weeb animu bullshit in Devil Survivor 2 than in SMT IV. As in, the characters in DeSu (desu desu, heh) are less generic and cringe.AdorableOtter wrote: ↑Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:26 amSJR is probably the best SMT when it comes to overall quality. Story is okay (except for that cringey failure of new character), combat is actually well made/balanced for the first time, opera style music actually fits well (thank Allah they stopped re-using old materials) and various QoL improvements are quite noticeable.
I personally think SMT2 is the best SMT game purely for story(plot twists are pretty good)/atmosphere/music/power glove but that game is totally breakable (that's not always a bad thing though) and somewhat grindy (non-issue with emulator + auto battle), thus SJR is probably better game objectively speaking.
IMHO, SH tend to be overrated by western SMT PERSONA fans because it's more HaremAnime-like (WAIFUU!!!!!!) and easy, also you can qualify as a true certified mainline SMT player even though it's a spin-off of a spin-off. I beat the game once but, like that guest poster, I don't remember anything except for the fact this game is easy and totally forgettable. Considering I still remember the plots of SMT1 and 2, SH most likely sucks story-wise and that's bad. Story should be more of a strength in SMT games.VoiceOfReasonPast wrote: ↑Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:23 amI might get Soy Hackers as well, since it's pretty darn cheap to buy.
Also, SH is actually not that well received in weebland partly because original Devil Summoner was better game with good story (something really bad happens to you as always), really good music
, good art design, good atmosphere, interesting setting (basically super natural detective story) and totally broken game balance as always.
Unfortunately, main writer and composer for SMT series left the company and ATLUS decided to not continue (the original) Devil Summoner as a series even though that game has a half cliff-hanger ending. All the other Devil Summoner games (SH,Raidou, etc) are actually Devil Summoner in name only. Betrayal.
You really shouldn't be reading this if you wanna enjoy SH though. Foget It8-)
The new demon designs in SMT IV are all mostly bad from what I can tell. Especially the redesigns of kaneko art.
I don't know about the cringe new character in Strange Journey because I'm playing the DS version, without the stupid extra character or the added shit that makes the game easier. I still think Nocturne is the best SMT because it's beautiful to look at in addition to retaining the core dungeon crawling and "moral" choice system. Most SMT games are very light on spectacle because of the systems they came out for, but Nocturne shows you those massive demons in 3d, with a graphical style that still holds up. Digital Devil Saga is the same way, but it's not a mainline game.
Devil Summoner sounds interesting. I only know about that series from the Raidou games, which always seemed bland and bad.
Another aspect of Persona that infested SMT mainline is the whole "first attack" gameplay shit, where you have to press a button to hit the enemy in the overworld before their sprite touches yours, or else they get a full round of attacks for free. One big plus to random battles is this shit doesn't happen in Strange Journey or Nocturne. SMT games shouldn't be reliant on twitch reflexes.
