Semjaza

I'm not quite as far as you... I really haven't gotten to play as much as I would have liked so far lol. Last night I messed with some sacrificial fusions, which are very useful. They basically just increase the level of whatever demon you'd be creating via the fusion. How much seems to depend largely on the race of the demon you're sacrificing compared to the fusion result. It'll be nice when I play a second time without fusion level restrictions... [spoiler]with some of the demons you can recruit in the first area alone, you could wind up with some Level 30 demons like Baphomet heh.[/spoiler] I also went into [spoiler] the true Labyrinth of Amala... the first Kapla, which you can access by bringing the first candelabrum to the woman in black and the old man. Great place for gaining levels since its just a massive maze, but there are no healing points at all. I did find one, but it took ALL of my money (claims only 500, but they lie) and kicked me back to the S-Terminal lol.[/spoiler]

[quote name='satan665][Spoiler']I've made it to Ikebukuro at Level 21 so far, the underground tunnel to get there levels you up really fast, and I went a really long way without being able to heal. I fought Matador, who wanted my candlebraum(sp) as if it were some test of strength. He whipped me pretty good at first, but I fused and got some new demons around L18-19 and used a lot of support skills. He really killes you with his evasion, so using a skill that boosts accuracy and attack wiped him out pretty good. I was hitting for 100+ damage and finally took him down.[/Spoiler][/quote] Heh, I wanted to cite that battle since Sennen mentioned the difficulty. To me, it's really the first major battle in the game, since [spoiler]Forneus is a push-over[/spoiler]. The standard enemies surrounding [spoiler]Matador[/spoiler] are challenging... I was able to finish them off, but the battles were longer than most. If you can't pretty much blow through these guys, however, you're just not going to stand against [spoiler]Matador[/spoiler]. Lots of leveling up an fusing helped me out lol. I've still yet to try the Sacrificial Fusing though. [spoiler]Plus, I noted that his affinity was Force when I battled him the first time (and got absolutely massacred). There's a Magatama for sale in the junk shop that voids out Force for your main character and those furry trunk enemies prior to him are healed by Force, I believe. Very useful. Even then, though, we're talking about a guy who dodges probably 50 to 60% of your physical attacks, gets two attacks per turn and has a spell that removes all -unda effects (stuff that would lower his accuracy, power, etc). Quite a *****.[/spoiler] Just have to play the cards, I suppose heh.

OOC: I am very sorry about how long this took. I've been without internet at home, so I wrote this all in Open Office one night... couldn't open it at school to post it. Then the next time I was unexpectably banned from this area... lol [SIZE=2]Persona laid his back against an old barrel, still waiting in the black vessel used to reach Blaze's ship. Despite the commotion, much of the occupants were completely oblivious to it. After all, they were here for a party and Blaze's reputation spoke volumes. No one of sound mind would dare pull anything on the night of the wedding of his only daughter. The reflection of the moon flitted around in the water below. Dancing, only to be broken up by a lone body floating by. Despite the darkness, there was a hint of red surrounding the corpse. Persona took that as his cue to disembark. The main deck of the ship was bursting with light. Obnoxious, hard-tempo dance music poured out from the likely dozens of speakers that surrounded it. The silhouettes of the others on his team shot by; their sounds completely masked by the raucous from the front of the ship. He had no intention of following. Despite being part of a team, Persona wasn't quite a team player. He had no interest in playing a buddy cop, letting the more important members ? in Adam's eye anyway ? get the glory of the kill. Despite his renown, much of which was likely even worse than the stories and rumors portrayed, he was still the small fish in this group. He was a hired hand, as in almost every other similar situation, but this one was different. It was far more grandiose. There was still much to be done on the other end of the ship as it was. The rest of the group was cocky. They charged headlong into something that should be done far more slowly. More deliberately. Death doesn't have quite the same enjoyment to it if it's done too quickly. After boarding the luxury ship, Persona patted down his suit. Even in these circumstances, he had to keep appearances. His mask was secured tightly enough that it was almost suffocating: the way he preferred it. After checking his twin axes and the small package strapped to his side, he headed in the opposite direction the others had taken. Every so often he could make out faint screams and shots being fired. If he could only make them out, then certainly most of the guests on the ship, who were only an earshot away from the music, would be completely unaware of what was coming for them. It brought a small smirk to his face, although the mask couldn't portray it. Around the corner he could hear the sound of voices behind a door. Pressing himself to the adjacent wall, he listened in and waited. After a brief time, a Japanese man emerged smoking a cigar. The smoke that billowed from his mouth impeded his view just long enough for Persona to thrust the sharp tip at the top of his ax into the man's abdomen. A surely fatal blow, but one that would keep him alive long enough to have some fun. Persona lifted the man over his shoulder and tossed him into a nearby storage area, adjacent to the noisy engine room, which was a perfect place for his plan to be carried out to fruition. Plus it was large enough to fit a good majority of the bodyguard force that likely filled this ship. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Where's Persona?? ?He is otherwise occupied,? said Lelia, as she sipped the glass of red. Yokoi's eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness around him. His vision was still blurry, although he could make out a mass of colors all around him. Not knowing where he was, he tried to get himself up on his feet. This proved impossible, as he was tightly bound by the legs and arms with rope. The shock of this overwhelmed him at first. He slowly paid more attention to his other senses. A sharp, burning pain emitted from his side that caused his entire body to ache. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out sounds of moaning around him. From time to time, he'd hear the door open, followed by a large thump and rustling sounds. Still, his eyes could not make out what was going on or where he was. He decided just to close them and wait. It wouldn't befit him to panic, no matter what the situation. More thumps, rustling and door lock clicks followed. After Yokoi heard the door close for what seemed like the hundredth time, he tried opening his eyes once more. The light stung them, as did the blood and sweat that slowly trickled down the slope of his forehead. This time, however, they managed to adjust. What he saw managed to get the best of him, leading to a silent bit of panic on his part. Across from him was Shoichi, next to him was Ken. On the other side was Teijo and Saburo and Nyoko. These were the head members of Blaze's bodyguard battalion, completely bound with ropes from the side of the ship. They, like Yokoi, were all renamed in a comical fashion typical of Blaze, but he knew their proper names. Many of these men were friends of his and they often got together on off days. The only reason Yokoi even managed to get this position was because his Uncle was one of the major members of the group. Around them were at least two dozen other men in their bodyguard uniforms, most of which were wounded so badly that Yokoi could not identify them. He saw a man he automatically equated with his uncle, despite the deformation. The right side of his face looked like it had been rubbed quickly with a cheese grater. The area of the skull that kept the eye in its socket was cracked rather heavily, causing the eye to bulge out some. He quickly assumed his uncle was dead, as it was unlikely one could survive such brutality. Yokoi could hear the sound of man walking around behind him, but he was unable to turn himself. Everyone was fashioned into a crude circle, tied together by the harsh, wet ropes that were wrapped around their wrists and ankles. He could see that a few other members of his group were coherent as well. A couple were in the process of removing a walkie talkie from a dropped suit coat on the floor. Whomever was working behind him was still in motion, seemingly unaware of what the two men were doing. The walkie fell into one of their laps. The right man pressed down the button with his free finger and the other one muttered some words into the receiver. Yokoi heard a pop. One of the remaining bodyguards was responding! Yet nothing of value could be made out above the sound of the music in the background. Whoever had done this to them was careful enough to remove every last bodyguard who wouldn't be on the main deck. He managed to round up a majority of them without calling forth any real suspicion. Anyone that could help them was too wrapped up in the festivities. At that thought, Yokoi's uncle coughed. Blood shot out of this throat and into the air, raining back down on his face. He was a complete mess, yet somehow still alive. The being behind him rose up and walked over to his uncle. Yokoi strained to lift his head, but he had already lost a large quantity of blood. Any such movements required too much of his strength to actually accomplish. He could, however, make out a white suit and gloves. He keeled down, the gloved hands slowly caressed his uncle's face, pressing firmly at his cracked eye socket. The pain involved his uncle to wince and cry out, blood still pouring from various parts of his face and mouth. Yokoi tried to yell something out, but all he could managed was a large mumble. This caught the man in the white suit's attention, but only for a second. He didn't seem alarmed, but rather a slight bit amused. He turned back to Yokoi's Uncle and got back on his feet. Yokoi continued to mumble, eventually getting out a few words little by little. He managed to form an understandable sentence after a few tries, begging for the life of his uncle and friends. The man paid no attention to these cries and instead walked around the makeshift human circle. When he came to the two men with the walkie in their laps, he pulled out two shining shafts that were strapped to his back. He took a step back and swung twice, quickly returning the weapons back to their place. The heads of the two men dropped shortly after, rolling up to Yokoi and splattering blood all across their path. Their dark, placid eyes glared up at him. The man in white returned to the rear of the storage area, again making a bit more noise. He seemed to be assembling something, but Yokoi was not in the state of mind to think of what it could possibly be. By this point, his vision was already fading due to the lack of blood in his body. It wouldn't be much longer until he passed out and died completely. He decided to just resign himself to this fact. Behind him he could hear one last, loud sound: a beep. This was followed shortly by another beep and another. Yokoi recognized this sound, as it was something every single bodyguard in the room was familiar with: a specific, LED timer for a homemade bomb. In other circumstances, anyone in this room could have easily diffused it. The man who set it likely knew this as well. In this circumstance, they simply couldn't. For all their training, there was little a large mass of tied up, dying, wet men could do, particularly because most of their blood currently flooded the floor boards. After exiting the room, Persona looked down at his arm. One of the guards had managed to attack him, leaving behind a rather large wound. It wasn't fatal by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly wasn't pretty. The fact that he was injured at all angered him, but the pain managed to be a competent aphrodisiac. He welcomed it. At the same time, he realized that this wouldn't have occurred if it wasn't for the actions of the rest of his party. As he had earlier assumed, all hell did break loose following their entrance to the ship. Luckily, it didn't seem to disturb the ceremonies were seemed to be well underway at this point. Persona had managed to clean up the guards who may have been aware of what was going on that night. He climbed up a small ladder to a vantage point overlooking the main deck. From his position he could see the couple, mostly finished with their vows by this point from what he could make out. There was another large group of bodyguards flanking all sides of the deck, particularly in the area where the groom's men and bride's maids resided, as this was where the Blaze and Naganori families also sat. Persona knelt down, looking the various members of the main entourage up and down. The plan, last he heard, was for the rest of the group to assume the identity of Blaze's various bodyguards. This was such a large event that Blaze had hired many more bodyguards than he had under his payroll just a week earlier. Many of them were of races other than Japanese descent, and as such, most wouldn't be recognized even if Blaze and his henchmen tried their best to. This provided a rather large advantage for Adam's group, and since he had previous knowledge of the body types and builds of the rest of the team members, he quickly identified them despite the distance. Only Love was missing, but he wasn't surprised as she seemed to be the most brash and unexperienced of the group. He waited a bit longer. The anticipation of their next move started to irritate him, but he didn't allow it to overtake his actions. The wedding was just about to wrap up. Despite being on Japanese waters, the wedding was more Western orientated than he expected. As the bride and groom leaned into each other to kiss, finalizing the precedings, Persona saw a short glimmer between them. The combination of moonlight and deck lighting had quickly hit some sort of metal object clenched within the left hand of the bride. At this point, Persona realized Love was alive and well. His underestimation of her tenacity brought a quick smile to his face. She pulled the metal out of Arai's now limp body, holding him up into against her in such a way that most would believe they were still locked in a kiss and embrace. The closest guards to the bride and groom were all part of Adam's little group, and as such, blocked any notice by the few remaining official guards. The guests began to celebrate. For a brief time, anyway, as shortly after Love's hands took Arai by the face and pushed his body to the ground. His insanely expensive tuxedo was already dyed red from blood as it fell down onto the silk layered down below them. All around gunfire exploded. A mix of shots from the guards and Adam's group. Persona leapt from the balcony and landed cleanly onto the main deck, his axes already blazoned and spinning. The air around them whipped, creating soft whistling sounds. He let the Angels, Jamie and Joshua take out the remaining bodyguards. He already had tired of them, instead setting his sights on the various guests flopping around the deck like fish out of water. He did not let his ax blades discriminate, cutting down men and women alike with no hesitation. Children and the elderly had mostly been crushed in the rush by the more fit guests, but he quickly picked off the remainders. It was important that no one remain, much to the chagrin of Persona. He wanted to get some sort of recognition for this absolute massacre, rather than simply Adam, but that was the way it had to be. At least there was a large sum involved, both in blood and money. He didn't bother collecting the blood of anyone, as none were remotely formidable adversaries. He'd sooner collect the blood of rats. The gunfire died down and Persona quickly slipped the blade of his ax out of the last remaining invited guest. Her body slumped down, the sound muffled by the bodies under her. He shook the ax quickly, attempting to remove the excess blood. The rest of the group was huddled around what seemed to be the lone survivor: Ken Blaze. His kneecaps had been blown away, forcing him to sit haphazardly on the silk covered floor boards. The bride's veil sat in front of him on the ground, stained in parts with the blood of those surrounding them. Persona decided this part of the trip wasn't his problem and returned slowly to the black ship they arrived on. He sat in the back, leaning his back against the same barrel as when they first arrived. Again, he watched the reflection of the moon in the tranquil water below, only this time it was uninterrupted. After a short time, the rest of the group returned to the ship. They were in no hurry, as they felt everyone of a different persuasion was dead. Jamie kicked the boat away from Blaze's ship and they slowly sailed back to the shore. In the distance an enormous light burst forth. The sound of the explosion rattled their ears, a faint rumble shook the ship. While surprising, they all knew what had caused it and thought little more about it.[/SIZE]

I rented this game a couple of weeks ago, mostly because friends of mine were so positive about it. Honestly, I really wasn't into it that much. What it does, it does well... I won't deny that. I just don't seem to be into this type of game lately and I don't know why. In the past I probably would have enjoyed it greatly, but I don't know. I will say that I didn't find the camera to be all that problematic. At least not the to the degree that some people seem to. Apparently Team Ninja will be adjusting it with that downloadable add-on, though. I guess that'll please some people.

It's odd that Nintendo (well, IS in this case, but they are Nintendo) doesn't make more RPGs... What they do put out is general is among the best stuff out there, in my opinion. I played more of this game over the weekend (it's hard to split between this and SMT) and I'm really enjoying it. When I got through Hooktail's Castle, I was surprised by just how large it was. I was expecting a few rooms, but nothing as large as what actually awaits you. The game is surprisingly challenging, much like Paper Mario on N64. I imagine partly because the paper theme gives the idea that this game is aimed towards a younger audience, it's deceptive. The game really is suitable for anyone, just like most Nintendo games. I'm in Chapter 3, I believe.

I suppose Nintendo fell into the rut of trying to appeal to kids and adults... especially with those kids themes. I don't mind Bingo so much, as it's kind of fun on Gorilla. I still love the Zelda remix though. The graphics are very disappointing, I must agree. Obviously the focus is just the notes going by, but there is literally nothing going on in the background. Spicing it up wouldn't have hurt a thing and would have been better than two-frame animated DK characters. Seriously, two frame animations. Am I back in 1982? Animal Crossing has the excuse of being mostly a ported N64 title. Donkey Konga doesn't have this excuse. This game was made solely by Namco, and as such sports the same simple detail of their drum game: Taiko. Even so, it's rather dull. It's fun for a couple of days. That's really about it, because it wears out its novelty rather quickly.

I'm very happy to read the posts by you two. I'm not alone in getting this, so hopefully this thread will be interesting heh. I wrote up some really long impressions/information back at my house (I have no internet right now). I wanted to post it Friday, but they only have Word at my school... I use Open Office and didn't save as a .DOC file... Anyway, here they are for those interested: [quote]I've played a few hours of the game thus far and I must say, it has totally lived up to my expectations. Whether or not my expectations are the same as other peoples' here, I don't know. Again, I must say, I doubt everyone will love this game, but in my opinion, it offers everything I enjoy in RPGs. In terms of presentation, I'm impressed overall. Reviews such as IGN made it seem as if the menus were dull. While there is nothing insane going on, they're quite styled. The menu on the title screen is actually very interesting to look at, I think. The game also opens up with a montage video of random coinsurances in the game that I think was very well done. The music went with it wonderfully and I think it'll do a good job of getting anyone interested in this game. Great pace, lots of action, etc. The way it ends is very interesting for me, because it's extremely similiar to the box art for the original Shin Megami Tensei on the Super Famicom. It ends with your character standing in the center, with dark forms of demons and their glowing eyes all around him. This then turns into the title screen. I'm going to try and get a screen shot of that and illustrate it into a wallpaper. I love it heh. [u][b]The Beginning[/u][/b] When you begin a new game (only takes 171KB, surprisingly, to save - insane when I deleted a 300KB+ save for some random action game), you are allowed to choose between "Normal" and "Hard". I stuck with "Normal" for now. "Hard" raises the difficulty in battles substantially, as well as making things more expensive and adjusting other status issues. The game refers to it as a mode for "People who like the thrill of death". The game starts like the previous two Shin Megami Tensei titles in many ways. You're stuck in an uncontrollable cut scene of sorts where you name your character. You put in their first and last name, both of which are used often since the game takes place in Japan. Your character is Japanese, so I guess Japanese names make the most sense, but I don't know the Japanese equivalent of "Tony", so I just put in Tony lol. You're also allowed a nickname. This one is rather important because it's what you're referred to in battle, menus and by certain characters. You'll see it more often than whatever you enter for your real name, so make sure you don't regret it. Nicknaming your character "Assbite" might not be the best idea. At this point, you're given the ability to wander around. I won't get into any more specific details, but now I'll just stick with generic things that I'm not sure people are aware of unless they've been keeping up with this game. [u][b]The Dungeons[/u][/b] Every inside area in this game is portrayed as what would be referred to by most people as a "dungeon". This doesn't necessarily mean it's maze-like, as this method is also used inside your High School as well as a local hospital. You basically run around in third person, trying to find points of interest, items, fighting battles and so forth. Luckily, the game does its best to make this easy. Pressing Triangle brings up a map that shows exactly where you have been before. It is marked with icons showing areas such as healing rooms, shops, stairs and so forth. The map also marks important story areas with a "!", which makes them easy to find if you need to. It also shows you which way your camera (in purple) is facing, as well as a green arrow representing your character's direction. The main screen also has a compass showing which direction you're traveling in. Inside of it is a flashing light that changes from green to orange to red. This indicates how soon you can expect a new random battle encounter. Sometimes this takes over a minute to fill, sometimes only a few seconds. It just depends on how lucky you are heh. In addition to this is a little moon cycle icon on the top left. It is referred to as Katsaguchi (I believe that's the spelling). It's the silver moon that resides in the center of the new Tokyo. It has sixteen cycles, going through light and dark. I'll get into what these affect later. [u][b]World Map[/u][/b] The world map is unconventional compared to many other RPGs, but typical of MegaTen related games. Basically, you see the area in its entirety (sometimes) laid out before you. You are represented by a small blue triangular icon, which you move around the map to points of interest, somewhat like a board game. Characters to speak to are represented by similar green triangular icons (and later blue, glowing spheres). Important buildings you can enter flash red. In some situations, you can be attacked on the world map, so be aware. I like this system because it reminds me of tactical RPG games in some ways. Plus, it's nice to not have to run around a massive world map in addition to all those dungeons. The world in these games is so large that creating the entire thing in 3D would be almost unreasonable... likely akin to something like GTA. I don't see why they should bother heh. [u][b]Battling[/u][/b] You'll come across demons in both of those areas. They serve as both enemies and allies in this game. First I'm just going to talk about the battle system, as you'll spend most of your time beating the hell out of these guys. Most encounters in this game are completely random (although you can foresee them as I explained earlier). There are several that occur that are completely unavoidable, such as the obvious boss battles and story-based fights. On the battle screen are several important areas. Again, on the top left is the Katsaguchi indicator that I'll get into later. The top right indicates whether or not you're into auto mode. It also shows the number of attacks you have per turn, indention's by curled dragon designs. The bottom of the screen shows your current party's HP and MP, and the right shows the current characters battle options. Pretty standard in that case. Battles in this game are turn based, although it uses a modified system that isn't directly comparable to any other RPG I know of. It rewards you for finding enemy weaknesses and making critical hits, while also punishing you for missing or making bad moves. In each battle, you're given as many turns per phase as you have characters present. So if you have four characters in this battle, there will be four curled dragons on the top right, meaning four turns per player phase. After your phase is the enemy phase, on and on... although this can be reversed if an enemy gets the jump on you. A basic attack, spell or move will cost you one of these turns/dragons. A miss or void will cost you two of these turns/dragons. An attack that is critical or takes advantage of a weakness (and you'll know because the screen will clearly say it) will cause one turn/dragon icon to flicker. In this case, you could potentially link up several spells and attacks an enemy is weak against and beat the crap out of it rather quickly. Icons that are flickering can only be used again once, no matter how many weakness based attacks you make. For example, let's say you're battling a fire based creature. If you attack it with an ice spell, the little "weakness" icon will appear at the top of the screen. In addition to hitting it for major damage, one of the dragon icons at the top will flash, meaning it wasn't fully used. The game will then go on to your next character, who will now use this flickering dragon/turn instead of a normal one. The battle will continue to cycle through your characters until your turns are used up, at which point it will go to the enemy phase. They are given the same opportunity you are. So how do you know what an enemy's weakness is? Well, sometimes it's obvious, as in the ice and fire example above. Sometimes it just isn't and will require trial and error. You can also use "Analyze" or a similar command that will show you the enemy's status, strengths and weaknesses. The first time you encounter such a creature, these things will be blank even if you use "Analyze". It takes some time, and possibly notes heh. The battles are very fast paced. This coupled with the strategy involved makes them enjoyable, I think. If you go into Auto Mode (which can just be attacks or certain moves repeated), it goes even faster. This makes battles with weaker demons less of a chore. If this doesn't make sense, just ask me questions. It's hard to explain without showing lol. [u][b]Leveling Up[/u][/b] At the end of each battle, you're given Macca (money) and experience points depending on what demons you managed to kill. After a certain point, your character will gain a level. You are given one stat point when you raise a level. This can be applied to any of the stats your character has such as strength, intelligence, agility, magic, etc. It basically allows you to create a different character based on your own desires. Your character will also learn new magic and skills as he levels up, but these are based on what Magatama he has ingested. I'll get into that next. [u][b]Magatama[/u][/b] Magatama, in simple terms, just affects your characters abilities and status. Magatama are what make demons demons, and your use of them makes you a half demon, half human. You'll find these around in the game, some may be free, some may cost quite a bit of money. Each Magatama has a certain importance to it. Let's say you find an Ice Magatama. It sits in your inventory until you ingest it. Ingesting it makes your character strong against ice, weak against fire and imparts ice magic to him. So when he gains a level, he may learn some sort if ice-based attack. Properly utilizing Magatama is insanely important to your battles. Do not overlook it, which is somewhat easy to do. When you level up, there is also a chance that your ingested Magatama will start acting up. You can let it continue to do this, or you can make it stop. If you let it continue, it can do various things. Sometimes it will recover you fully, some poison you (easily cured via items) and some may even curse you. In this case, you need to find a "Lady of the Fount", who can remove curses. In your menu, there is a separate Magatama section. This will display all the Magatama you have collected thus far. In this menu, you can see the current status of each Magatama. By selecting it, you can see its effects on your status and what skill it will give off next (any skills beyond this are marked as a "?"). In the menu, heavily shaking Magatama will give you a skill if you level up with them once. Lightly shaking Magatama may require two or three levels up. Still Magatama will require around five levels. This is the limitation of the Magatama system. You can only ingest (aka equip) one at a time. Meaning, you can only learn a max of one skill per level (or even less, if the Magatama requires it). Your character maxes out at Level 99 (although HP and MP will continue to increase as he gains experience), at which point no more skills can be learned. So basically, it's completely impossible to even learn every skill in the game in one play. In addition to this, your character can only have eight skills at a time. If you have eight and you learn a new one from a Magatama, you can either skip that new skill or use it to replace one of your old ones. Once you replace or skip a skill, it's gone. It's impossible to get again, so you have to choose wisely. It can be a hard decision, but obviously there are stronger versions of spells to replace similar, weaker ones and so forth. When you learn all the skills a Magatama possesses, it tells you that it is "mastered". You can learn nothing more from this Magatama, so there is little reason to equip it unless you need the status change for a battle or something. Mastered Magatama affect what race your character is considered, as well as his alignment. This is extremely important to other demons when you converse with them. [u][b]Demons - Conversing[/u][/b] A bit later into the game (not far in, just not right away), you are given the opportunity to "Talk" to demons. Through this, you can speak to demons. Depending on how it goes, they will may ignore you, attack you, run away, give you items or money and so on. This is where the Katasguchi icon comes into play. When the moon is at its brightest, most demons are extremely irritable and will have little to no interest in helping you in any way. It's best to try and speak with demons when the moon is dark. This works out well because it allows you to more easily divide between speaking and just plain killing enemies. Katasguchi affects a LOT of things. From fusions, to luck, to the attitude of demons and so forth. Pay attention to its cycle. If you manage to interest a demon, they may join your group if you so desire (they don't go into your main party, but into your stock, which is of limited size at the start). Many of them will require some sort of collateral... it may be money (referred to as Macca in this game) or items. If you don't have these items, you basically run the risk of offending them or pissing them off in some way. It's not good as it generally forfeits your phase entirely and lets them attack you. Demons have up to four requesting cycles. Some will use all four, some may use none or another number in between. At this point, you either comply with their request or make them upset, forfeiting your turn. They generally ask for items that are easy to find, but it doesn't mean you have that item in your possession. If you don't, that will upset them as well. Stronger demons ask for more money or better items. When you have demons in your party, they also have various talk functions. Fairy type demons usually have "Seduce", annoying demons have "Pester" and so forth. Some of these work better than others in certain situations. Some are used for recruiting, some for just trying to get items or Macca. Choosing any of these costs you a turn/dragon if it gets you nowhere. You can keep trying if you think it'll have an effect, but most of the time the game will tell you if the demon is just not interested ("Not interested in you", "Can't understand you", etc). These are used in certain ways. If your female demon has "Seduce", it will have no affect on other female demons. However, it will have good effect on male demons. Sometimes when you attempt to talk to an enemy demon, another enemy demon will interfere. They usually tell you to not bother their friend or something to that effect. In this case, you can either talk to the more aggressive demon or just right out kill one of them (thereby getting rid of the obstacle lol). This seems entirely random, although weaker enemies do not stick up for stronger ones, only the other way around. Some demons cannot be talked to at all. In this case, there are a few alternatives. Some can be bought at the Jewelry Shop, some can be one over with other abilities (such as Jive Talk), some will approach you randomly, etc. Some will never speak to you and can only be acquired through fusion at the Cathedral of Shadows. Demons also care about the race and alignment of the being speaking to them. Angelic demons will not join your party if your main character has a dark alignment, and vice versa. Keep this in mind because you can try to recruit such a demon and they'll go along with you, taking your items and Macca... but at the last minute, they'll just run off. Rather annoying. [u][b]Demons - Party Leveling and Fusing[/u][/b] Once you recruit a demon, it goes into your stock. At the start of the game, your stock only maxes out at ten. From what I understand, you can raise this as the game goes on. Your actual party (that is, demons used in battle) maxes out at four. In your status menu, you're allowed to sort out who you want in your party or stock at will. You're also given the option to summon stocked demons in battle if you so desire, but they can only replace demons that have gone back in the stock (demons can also leave a battle when you so desire). As you battle with demons in your party, they level up just as you do. In the case of the main character, at each new level, you're given one point to distribute amongst his stats as I said before. For demons, this is automatic and you have no control over it. Demons also learn new skills as they level up. Some older skills can also transform into newer, more powerful skills (but you can deny them this, if you desire). As demons level up, some will also show "signs of change". This is basically an evolution. If you raise them a few more levels at this point, they will begin to manifest into a whole new demon. You can deny this if you so desire. For example, a Pixie can transform into a High Pixie fairly early on. When a demon levels up, there's a good chance that a gift event will occur. When this happens, the demon will try to talk to you. You can ignore him, but there is no reason to as you only get useful items through this (some pretty rare) and risk offending the demon. Later in the game, you'll come across a place known as "The Cathedral of Shadows". This place allows you to fuse demons, taking two and forming them into one new, more powerful ally. When you choose to fuse two demons, the chart in the Cathedral will show you the results before hand. There are various icons which tell you whether or not the fusion is even possible. In some cases the fusion will result in a demon so powerful that your character can not control it (this is based simply on your level compared to the demon's level). You cannot summon these demons until you meet the requirements. It seems as though you have to be within five levels or less of the demon you wish to summon (if you're higher than the demon, that's even better lol). Fusions allow you to get demons that you might not find at that point of the game in a dungeon or on the map. They also allow you to acquire demons that simply are completely against being recruited in battle. At times, a fusion may fail, resulting in a weak one. This is the risk you must take, so it's advisable to save before fusing two of your best demons. A bit later in the game, you are given new fusion options, such as the Sacrificial Fusion. This requires three demons. Two fused together, and one sacrificed, making the result stronger. This requires a Full Katasguchi though, which means it can only be done at certain times. It's also supposedly more risky according the man who runs the Cathedral. There is also a Jewelry Shop in certain areas of the game. Here you can trade gems and jewels you've collected for types of demons that are nearly impossible (or completely impossible) to get on the field. Many of these demons are elemental types (and another type I forget), which affect fusions in a different way than normal demons. ------------------------------------------------ Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to talk more about more aesthetic things. [u][b]Graphics[/u][/b] Graphically, I'm rather impressed by this game. It's going for the minimal in many cases, but seems to be doing so purposely. The game just absolutely oozes style, more obvious in person than in movies and shots I've seen. It uses some sort of cel-shading, but it appears differently than in many other games I've seen it used in. It's comparable to the style that was later used in The Wind Waker, only with realistic settings and characters. The character designs really stand out in this game, I think. Characters and enemies are excellently modeled and detailed. Despite there being no voices, characters still do move their lips when you speak to them. IGN complained that most of the animation was not very good, but to be honest, I've seen no problems outside of the sometimes stiff walking animations of the main character (which only seems to happen when you chain together walking and running). In battle, I've not noticed anything that I found strange. The game also seems to employ some sort of blur filter. It's very light and subdued, but I do notice it. This doesn't mean things in the distance blur, but that lights and such when you run around have a slight trail to them (nothing as major as in GTA, just very small). It's most obvious when you look around with the right stick or turn the camera. You move the camera with L and R. The right stick is not used for this because it is used to let your character look around. At times this is useful, but most of the time its just a novelty. I like using it because there is often more modeled in an area than you can actually access (like looking out a window for a better view). As for the bad stuff... I notice a slight bit of slowdown in very, very few areas when a door is opening. I assume because the game is loading up whatever is next and the graphics aren't a priority. This is just nitpicky and hardly a problem... especially when the loading in this game is among the best I've come across in a 3D PS2 game. It's up there with Nintendo's GameCube titles' loading speeds. There is also a slight bit of shimmering when the camera takes certain diagonal angles. Nothing horrible and completely normal for a good portion of PS2 games as it is. I'm sure most people are used to it by now. It doesn't approach the annoyances of the shimmering in, let's say, Wild Arms 3. [u][b]Sound[/u][/b] The sound is great. I really love the music, personally. If you've played Persona 2, it's somewhat similar to that, but with far less J-Pop. The game makes a great mix of synth and crunchy guitars, resulting in a sound that is completely different from other RPGs out there right now. I really enjoy it. The sound effects are strong and work well. Most demons make some sort of sound, but your character is silent. No one in this game speaks out loud. If this is a breaking point for you, wait for Digital Devil Saga which is fully voiced lol. If you pre-ordered or get a very early copy, you'll get a free soundtrack. It's 33 tracks, but doesn't cover the entire game. I've listened to it as I type this and have yet to find it annoying. [u][b]Translation[/u][/b] The translation is good. Atlus, in the past, could be faulted for their somewhat odd translations even as late as Persona 2. While none of these translations were anywhere near problematic or crippling, they still had strange points to them. SMT:N doesn't suffer from this, much like Disgaea. Atlus seems to be pushing forward in this area, which is wonderful. Nothing is confusing, characters are portrayed well and their dialog is fitting (Chiaki, for example, is somewhat cold and puts responsibility on others while still trying to seem important, which fits her character's description very well). Some have different accents and ways of speaking, which helps set them apart. As in any RPG, some characters never have anything useful to say. Some are just annoying, some are useful, etc. The game stays true to its Japanese roots. Most games take an English version of names when translated, even Persona did this. SMT, however, makes constant references to taking place in Tokyo, so everything reflects that. It can make some names hard to remember, for me anyway, but it's better than having Susan Johnson and Billy Smith running through some sort of demonic Japan. [u][b]Story[/u][/b] I find the story thus far to be very interesting. It's very occult and religion centered, just like the past Shin Megami Tensei games. Unlike Xenogears, for example, this game is referenced and what it uses is properly utilized. The game has a bibliography of somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 books, so it doesn't take its subject matter lightly. I don't want to give too much away, but basically in the starting moments, the world is destroyed and born anew. This is referred to as "The Conception". References to other important things are made at this point, including an almost Christ-like figure known as "The Maiden", but I'll not get farther into it. The world is turned inside out, a silver moon appears in the center of it and all humans outside of the central area (in this case, a hospital) are killed. You are turned into a demon with Magatama by a suspicious child accompanied by an old woman. They are actually central characters to the story-line... and although who they were was spoiled for me by the Atlus site (which has since been altered to say "boy and woman" or something), they're still quite interesting in many ways as you really do not know their level of involvement or purpose yet. Your purpose, at the start of the game, is fueled mainly by the desire to know what is going on. An old man and a young woman push you forward, as does Hikari, the aforementioned occult journalist, who feels that a man named Hikawa (he's introduced earlier) is tied to all of this. Plus you want to find your friends that were with you in the hospital at the time of The Conception and the teacher you were planning on visiting at the hospital back when all was normal in the world. Your character himself does not speak and I think this will turn off a lot of people. When other characters speak to you, they talk as though you are talking back to them, but none of your actual words are shown on screen. It's like Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest/Warrior or Zelda in this sense... more like Zelda since DQ and BoF don't even give your character an unknown voice lol. From time to time, you are given choices on what to do or say and these actually affect the outcome of the game... as do several other things. The game relies a lot on your ideology and actions to determine your path and the ending (there are alternates). How interesting your character is really just depends on how you read between the lines and how good your imagination is. I personally like this. However, the other characters you converse with are quite interesting. Your high school friends, your teacher, the occult magazine journalist who looks a lot like Johnny Depp, etc. When approaching this game, it's important to know its roots. Obviously it deals with religion, as all SMT games do in some way. It deals with the Judeo-Christian God, who is generally portrayed in these titles as ruthless and unforgiving. Lucifer is portrayed not as Satan (which is a whole other character), but as a freedom fighter of sorts. I find this an interesting twist on the stories about him, that while not perhaps "true", certainly feels plausible. To give you an idea of how far this game tries to go, in the last title, the final boss would be God himself based on your decisions. While this is obviously negative for religious people, the game is surprisingly respectful with a lot of these elements and doesn't toss them around like, again, Xenogears, without properly utilizing them. This game also has parts featuring intense violence and blood. Like everything else in this game, I'd refer to it as "tasteful", in the sense that it's not overused or comical. The same can be said of many of the sexual references in this game, as well as the appearance of many demons you'll come across. (A devil early on actually wears some sort of contraption that covers his massive penis that's even longer than he is tall, understandably he mostly talks about how hot the Lady of the Fount is... lol.) ---------------------------------------------------------- Here's some other stuff I wanted to mention: [u][b]DDS[/u][/b] The main menu also has an "Extra" entry. Selecting this plays a surprisingly long video of Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. I had not seen a lot of what was shown in this video yet and was pretty impressed. DDS, as I've said before, is far more character-centric. It also is fully voiced and more cinematic. It's been made to appeal more to the modern RPG gamer, basically, and not the gamer who has been waiting ten years for a new entry in the main Shin Megami Tensei line. Your characters are demons themselves and apparently can transform back and forth at will. This may sound like Persona in some ways, but your characters in Persona never actually turn into demons, they simply reflect parts of the characters' personality. Another face, as the title suggests. It looks even better than SMT graphically and very interesting, particularly the design of the characters as demons. Looking forward to it. Comes Spring 2005 now. [u][b]The Manual[/u][/b] The manual is not sufficient (and it's black and white... blah). They took the minimal route for a reason, I think... if you attempt to be detailed, you're going to wind up with a 200 page book that won't even fit in the case. It's enough to explain the basics and get you started. That's about it. More is explained in the game itself. If you want more detailed information, you might as well pick up the 400 page Double Jump guide for $20. It has maps and a beastiary... but the first 70 or so pages really just explain the game's set-up and how it works. Worth looking at. Plus it comes with a neat poster (beautiful painting that I think should have been the box art lol) and two paper bookmarks. The guide is not like something you'd find on GameFAQs, however. It doesn't tell you every last thing to do and look at. It gives maps of each area, along with information on important things in the area, but it doesn't hold you completely by the hand. It still leaves a lot of things up to you, which I personally like. -------------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, I hope this is sufficient in getting people to understand the basics of how this game is played and whether or not they'd actually be into it. It's not for everyone, but I love it thus far. This game has my highest recommendation. Just based on what I've played, it's my favorite RPG on the PS2 hands down. It's a lot of fun. I enjoy the characters, I love the references in the game (many of which one may not get if they're not familiar with the particular mythology or religion it refers to, but it's there), I LOVE the dungeon segments, I really like playing around with demon fusions (this is much like DemiKids on the GBA, if anyone knows that... I love the fusion system in that too heh). The game has a lot of replay value as well. Obviously, in the sense that you'll never get every last demon in one play through, nor will you get every last skill. There's hidden areas, cutscenes, demons and dungeons to be found. You can also change the stats of your character, making how you play different the next time. There's also the fact that you can try to get different alignments, which affect certain outcomes. There's multiple endings. You can try playing on "Hard" the next time through... Plus, the game features a New Game + mode, which affects more things the second time around. Demon fusing restrictions are removed (you can have a level 50 demon even if you're only level 5, for example) and other such things are added or adjusted. So yeah, I think it rocks and it has filled my expectations. If it didn't, I'd be in here bitching pretty loudly lol. However, this doesn't mean it will be your favorite. Keep in mind, my other favorite RPGs on PS2 are Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter and Disgaea. I haven't really loved a FF since IV (and VI, although far less) and I can't stand the PS2 incarnations thus far (although I expect FFXII to be amazing thanks to who is involved). I mention this since that's obviously the most popular RPG here... My RPG tastes do not mesh with a majority of the people here, so keep that in mind when reading this. I was just hoping that a more thorough explanation on how it works might get a few people more interested, yet at the same time keeping people from buying the type of game they might dislike.[/quote] Might not be super interesting to those with the game, but I think it might help for those on the fence still. I am actually working on a MegaTen fansite, which will include this game as well as the others in the series... It's in my sig. The design is complete, I just need to build it.

I'm just wondering what sort of game this is exactly. I'm tired of picking through four page long impressions, so I figured someone here could just answer it. Is this basically just Diablo/Champions of Norrath/Dark Alliance with X-Men characters? Screens gave me that impression. I might rent it, but I am not sure what to think of it yet.

This is just some Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne art that I love. [url]http://www.atlus.com/smt/downloads/wallpaper/smt_wallpaper_03.jpg[/url] It's way too large to bother attaching... almost 1 MB.

The original thread is apparently now in the Archives, so yeah. Anyway, I picked this up when I was on vacation in Florida. I had been looking forward to it for awhile since I really enjoy music games (Gitaroo Man, Frequency, Um Jammer Lammy... not that filth that is DDR). The game is rather easy to get into and thankfully features three different difficulty levels. The first is Monkey, which is ridiculously easy. You just have to follow the line and hit the left bongo, right bongo, both bongos simultaneously or clap. Monkey has very few beats to hit, so it's good to get your feet wet. Chimp is the next level, which steps it up some. Gorilla is the final level, which can be extremely challenging until you get good enough. When you're in a groove though, it's actually pretty easy to keep up with. In each song, you're expected to hit enough beats to clear the level. Just getting past the clear bar nets you a Silver award, but filling it up completely when you finish gets you a Gold award. As you do this, you're also raking up points (which are really just bragging rights) and coins. Coins allow you to buy things in DK Town such as new songs for Gorilla Mode (most need to be bought), new bongo sounds and a few different minigames. The songs themselves are all rather well known. There's some Nintendo themes such as Kirby Right Back at Ya!, Pokemon, Mario and this amazing Zelda remix. It's kind of calypso, I'd say and probably the best remake of the original theme I have EVER heard. I loved playing that one. There's a couple classical tunes, which are a lot of fun to play... one is done with electric guitar, which kind of spices it up a bit. The rest of the songs are mostly pop hits of some sort... The Locomotion, All the Small Things, We Will Rock You, Rock Lobster, etc. The only issue here is that none of these songs are done by the original group. Every last one of them is a cover. The strange thing is that they're not redone or anything, they're exactly like the original and the vocalist is doing all they can to sound like the original singer. It gives the impression that Nintendo just didn't want to pay the bands as much as would have been necessary or something. I guess it doesn't matter really, because in many cases, I could barely tell the difference. I've not gotten to play this game multiplayer, which I'm sure is what makes it the most fun... especially if you can get four bongos. The bongos are especially well made and the plastic on top is actually kind of leathery feeling. They're very responsive and can be adjusted in game if you want. The normal controller works too, though. As a single player game, however, you're really not going to have much to do with it after a few days. Depite having around thirty songs and things to unlock, the game is like all other music games: you're just going to keep doing things you've already done over and over and over. The game is never SO difficult that you'll be coming back to finish it weeks later like the Master mode in Gitaroo Man or Frequency. But if you like these sorts of games and have the money to play with a few other people, I think it'd be worth it.

[quote name='Alastor']I don't see the all the hype about it. From what I've heard and teh screens I've seen it looks and plays just like the original Paper Mario with the new fold into aorplane abilities,etc.[/quote] Doesn't that describe almost any sequel in existance...? If you want a vastly different game, then find a vastly different game lol. It's another Paper Mario game... I don't think one can expect major differences in style. Anyway, I picked this up last night thanks to a trade-in. The presentation is top notch, the translation is abslolutely excellent and full of humor (which is the best part of Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi. The graphics are wonderful. The style they're going for is somewhat minimal, as you can see in shots, but everything is vivid, clean and surprisingly detailed. The character sprites are beautiful and very well animated. They rarely get jaggy, except on very close-up views (which seem uncommon anyway). It's also pretty amazing seeing literally one hundred or more enemies on screen at a time. I didn't realize the GC could push sprites that well heh. The music is good... I'm not finding it to be amazing, but it's not annoying. I just don't find it that memorable thus far. Sound effects are nice, with the standard Mario sounds thrown in. Not often enough to be obnoxious, thankfully. The battle system is largely the same. It's kind of been spiced up with some ideas from Mario and Luigi, but it's still one character at a time. The addition of the audience is cooler than I expected, though. Basically, the better you do, the more people watch your battles. When you make a good move in the battle (like perfectly timing a press), they give you Star Points that can be used for special moves. The more members in the audience, the more points you'll get at once. More people come if you do well, people leave if you mess up, you can try and appeal the crowd to get more points and so forth. Sometimes people even throw things on stage... If you see this happening, you can press X and your character will jump into the audience and toss the guy out. You're taking a chance, though, because they might actually be throwing in something useful. Anyway, the reason to play this game is the same as the other titles... It's charming and fun. The battle system is not mind numbingly complex, but it keeps you active the entire time, which I appreciate it. The story, while kind of standard, is really enhanced by the visuals, characters, translations and their body language. It's just a really solid game from what I've played and I cannot see that changing. Supposedly lasts 30 to 40 hours according to reviews, and from what I've seen, there's a surprising amount of side quests.

Atlus games can be kind of problematic. I usually don't see them everywhere, but I always do stumble upon them at Toys R Us. Strangely, even Disgaea was at Target. I didn't expect that. Atlus apparently is sending out very few copies of this game outside of pre-orders. They did the same with Disgaea, but it sold out completely (apparently to their surprise) and they did another final shipment. Two shipments total and that was it. I notice most Atlus games kind of sell their shipment over a few months at retail, then excess copies can sometimes be found a bit cheaper... then they disappear and reappear on places like eBay for more money than they retailed for. It's a pain. Anyway, I got mine in today. I'm going to play it over the weekend and post here with impressions. Thought #1: The back of the box has the awesome artwork that should have been the cover, in my opinion. Oh well. Thought #2: The instructions are black and white.................... That's not fun. Thought #3: Originally scheduled for November, Digital Devil Saga is now scheduled for Spring 2005. Didn't see that coming :rolleyes: . Japan is already getting its sequel very soon.

[QUOTE=Queen Asuka][size=1][color=hotpink]I only said that because I thought you were GONE FOREVER! You have now idea how much I've thought about you over the past few days and how upset I've been about thinking you were gone and you didn't say goodbye. I first noticed you were gone when my site no longer existed, nor WrappedinPlastic. So then, I went to your myO site, and it was EMPTY! I HAD A PANIC ATTACK! And then you IMed me tonight and right when I tried to reply, it kicked me off and I SCREAMED SO LOUD!!!!!!!!!! And then, when I finally came back, you were gone, and I almost cried. Tony, you have to IM me again and tell me what is going on. -------- Anywho, what do you guys think of my story? No one has replied, but I think plenty of people have read. :P So, please? Do you like?[/color][/size][/QUOTE] Don't worry Tori... I do have e-mail, you know lol. Anyway, the post is done. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring it with me to post... (I don't have internet at home now). I'll put it up tomorrow.

I wasn't implying anything towards you James, just what it seems reviewers in general expect from RPGs as of late. I don't think a lot of reviews have taken into account those sorts of things. A lot of the reviews read as if they were judging the game based on what they want and not what it was attempting to do... As for the demon thing, I suppose if you play the game in a quick, haphazard way, you'd have those problems. There's never a demon in the game that is absolutely [i]required[/i] for anything. Some may be stronger than others, but in the process you're given the ability to see their status as well as what they use to attack your party prior to becoming an ally... I just find the Gamespy complaints to be somewhat unfounded. At the same time, a lot of time in the game is spent doing exactly what that reviewer seemed to dislike. You're going to be fighting a lot... not only to level up, but to converse and recruit. Most of the time, your attempts to ally with these demons will fail. It must be repeated in an entirely new battle, that's just how the series is lol. You also have the issue of enemies being extremely resistant to most attacks other than their one weakness... and at first, finding these weaknesses can be a pain. It's a lot of trial and error (although ice creatures get hurt by fire, etc). Now, obviously, most RPGs work like this, but SMT in general is a lot more demanding with it. Don't ask me why. So I guess that aspect just depends on how you try and play it heh. Anyway, my copy shipped yesterday. I paid for one day shipping, so I assume it'll be at my house sometime today. I'll leave impressions for everyone, as I figure if the game is disappointing, I'll be the most negative about it lol.

I can only think of two games. Viewtiful Joe as a small cameo on PS2 and a bigger role in SMT:N... that's it. Also keep in mind that the same guy is behind VJ and DMC, so I don't see a problem there. It really doesn't hurt a thing in this game, nor does it poorly affect the character. He was added by Atlus themselves and they asked Capcom after the fact if it'd be okay. It wasn't an attempt by Capcom to cash in on a character with a game they're completely unaffiliated with otherwise. It kind of just worked out and was done in Japan before VJ was even announced for PS2. It was his first, and at the time only, cameo that I am aware of. In addition to this, Dante plays more of a role in the game than simply being "one more demon". I think his inclusion was well utilized, although I wouldn't care if he wasn't in the game at all. I'm certainly not buying it for him... but perhaps it would help further purchases in this country by people who are more easily swayed by such things. There's quite a few of those types around, as I'm sure we all know lol So in this case, I think it was a nice move. He has less purpose in VJ than in this game, really... which I think is somewhat ironic. ---------------------------------------------- As for the review, it works and doesn't. I read several praising the storyline in this game, then Gamespy says little about it (going as far as making it seem unimportant is very strange). They also gave it the lowest overall score I've seen thus far (it'd round up to a 7 out of 10), mostly complaining about its difficulty it seemed from what I remember reading. Doesn't bother me, as I think RPGs are too easy lately. What it does lack, however, is main character development. There are lots of interesting characters in the game, but they are NPCs. Most of your party is simply just recruited for the hell of it. The main character is supposed to be an extention of you, which basically removes any direct actions from him in the game itself. It doesn't have him interacting in massive cutscenes, as he's kind of just a "host" so to speak. Think of Ryu in the Breath of Fire games for an example. So for people who tie together character with story, I suppose it could be a problem. It's not what this game is going for, and I've known it ahead of time, so it's not a concern or fault in my eyes. I can see why it'd turn off others, but I'd not use it as a complaint personally. True, the game has a heavy focus on battles. Not only for leveling up your main character, but for leveling the almost limitless amounts of demons you can recruit. Not to mention conversing with them to get them in your party to begin with. In this respect, I suppose an apt comparison would be Pokemon. None of the monsters have any real development, yet you still care about them and want to make them stronger. Same deal. It's very old-school in that sense. There are many battles and they are difficult. They're peppered throughout very long dungeon segments, which have been mostly abandoned since FF7 took stranglehold of the genre in the late 90s. This game isn't for everyone, especially the way RPGs have changed in the last few years. As such, I can understand why it would appeal to some more than others... but in my case, this is the type of game I want. Perhaps I'm a small minority now lol. IGNPS2 gave it a 8.6; Gamespot gave it a 8.5; EGM gave it 8, 8.5 and 9, which is a Silver award; OPM gave it a 4.5/5; PSE2 gave it 98%; Xplay gave it 5/5; Animerica gave it 5/5... The game is certainly getting decent enough reviews, and little of Gamespy's issues seem to be mirrored by them, strangely. ---------------- In any case, SMT:N is meant to appeal more to longtime fans of the series (whether or not people realize it, the series has been around in some form since the NES days) and older RPG players. It was a return to the series after ten years, and I think, because of that, it kind of forces them to instill a certain amount of nostalgic elements. Making it super flashy and ignoring its roots wouldn't make sense, especially with all the spin-offs, such as the one I will mention in the next paragraph... For those who are interested in this style and theme, yet aren't into that sort of "hardcore" thing, there's another game coming here: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. In Japan, it's simply a spin-off. The title doesn't contain SMT at all. It was added here by Atlus in the US, I assume to form some sort of franchise awareness. That game actually has complete character development (recruiting is ditched for a system where the characters themselves can turn into demons), more cinematic cutscenes, better graphics in a similiar style, voice overs and so forth. It has the sort of flash that SMT:N lacks in some ways and I think it'll likely appeal to a broader range of people because of it. It was set for Novemeber in the US, but I doubt it'll even make it out this year. A trailer for that game is here: [url]http://www.atlus.com/dds/movies/dds_trailer1.mpg[/url] I honestly expect it to get better reviews because of those additions. --------------------------- Anyway, for those that actually do want this game, it's slipped to shipping on the 14th.

All I've picked up so far from my list was Donkey Konga, which has been quite fun... even by myself lol. My main game is still Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. I should be playing it right now, but it's been delayed till October 12th due to some sort of manufacturing issue. Better to wait than get a game that doesn't work. It looks like it's safe to say that I'll probably be the only one here who will buy it. No one to talk to in my thread, which is already dead... :(

I liked the DC version, but many annoyances kept me from completing it. So little XP and Gold for battles, too many random encounters, annoyingly long load times, long save times, etc etc. The GameCube version fixes all of those issues and adds a few more things that I think really help complete it. My only complaints are that the music sounds a bit lower quality, it's not progressive scan (I have a HDTV in my room) and some of the textures don't seem quite as crisp. It also suffers from the same distance blurring the DC version had, which I thought would be fixed. It wasn't. The story is that standard "group of kids save the world" thing, so yeah, it is cliche... but as mentioned I loved the characters. They were lighthearted, yet determined. While they could be described as "two-dimensional", I really didn't mind it at all. It's such a nice alternative to the characters of today, where any three-dimensional character traits they have can really just be summed up as "angsty" or "melancholy". Good game. The ending sequences are amongst some of the best times I've had with a RPG.

My second PS2 is somehow on its last legs. I'm getting really tired of this nonsense, but I will need something to play Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne on... I'm between this at $149.99 and that awesome white PS2 for $199. I am not sure which to go with lol.

Most people ignored the first one and even more blew it off because it was just ugly as sin. The backgrounds were okay, but the CG was just awful and the texture work was sub-N64 quality. However, it did have a great, mature themed storyline. That's really what saved it, along with the wheel battle system (despite its flaws). I'm very interested in Covenant. I've not picked it up yet, but I think what it improves on is obvious. The graphics are very nice, the story is apparently just as good, the battle system was improved on, etc. I'm glad Midway brought it over. Along with Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, this is the only PS2 RPG I care about that's due this year (unless we somehow get DQ8 before January lol).

I've told Shinmaru, but for those that don't know, Paper Mario is currently demoing at various game shops right now. I played it at a local Best Buy awhile back. It's basically the same as the E3 demo. You choose from three separate areas and mess around. The game is absolutely gorgeous. Even movies I've downloaded have done it no justice at all. The sprites are clear and well animated, the world is sharp and colorful (and doesn't feel as simple as it does in some shots). Gameplay is mostly the same as in Paper Mario on N64, but there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. I'm getting it.

[quote name='Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]What are we going to do?[/color'][/size][/quote] You're going to sit still and wait :). I'm not taking any longer than anyone else has in the past with this RPG. However, I have spoken with James and he realizes my time constraints. I should have the post up soon. It's going well.

[quote name='Siren']I really think "Navi" is simply short for "Navigator." [/quote] Ding. There's no direct relation. Everyone else's explanations covered it just as well as I possibly could. There are a lot of interesting computer references in Lain (BeOS for example), but I honestly cannot think of any video game ones.

I was interested in this game. The key word is "was". Square-Enix purposely delayed its US release here so they could fill in some gaps in their schedule. I had been waiting and waiting, but by the time it actually got here, I really just didn't care anymore. There was too much else out and my interest and hype in Star Ocean 3 died out. I did play it, but I wasn't so impressed. I liked Star Ocean: Second Story, but it had a million flaws. I managed to get past them, somehow. This one fixes a few of those problems, but it has some of its own. The real time battles could have been neat, but they're really nothing special compared to the stuff in the Tales series (most recently Tales of Symphonia)... especially with the absolutely awful AI your teammates are given. The game looks good, but I wasn't really impressed. The character models honestly right out disturb me. They're fully grown, but have faces like scrunched up toddlers. In any case, Square and Enix didn't work together on this in a collaboration sense... It was just released by them as one singular entity. I've been very leary of this company as of late. I used to buy stuff from both of them without thinking twice about it, but not anymore.

These cameos only further my fear that this is going to be a more action-themed Kingdom Hearts styled game. As I've said before, the current screens give the very strong impression that they're running on the same graphical engine. I just hope the gameplay is adjusted. I'm not big on cameos unless they're short and sweet or particularly well done. As long as none of these unrelated characters don't have a huge bearing on the development of the story, I'm cool. Anyway, I'm glad other people have been adding news from Square-Enix to this thread, because, quite honestly, I've never had any interest in this game since I first posted it lol.

I wanted to apologize for the delay. Finals crept up and now I'm in Florida on a 33.6k dial-up modem. It takes me three minutes just to load up this website. I printed out everything in the current chapter and have been reading through it. I plan on posting by the afternoon of this coming Saturday at the latest, unless something major happens. I'm just a little unclear as to how far I'm supposed to go with this chapter. I'm under the impression I'm the final guy and must end this entirely, which is kind of a burden in some ways. If James or Shy could somehow get in contact with me, that'd be helpful. Thanks.