SMT/Persona: General Discussion (P4 Arena, P4 Golden, P5, SMT: IV, Etc.)

[Skull]

So what is Soul Hackers? I see a bunch of people going crazy for it but all I know is that it's the team that made #FE, so is it classic turn based rpg?

Part of the “Devil Summoner” series of SMT spin-off titles, Soul Hackers was pretty typical of what you’d expect from a SMT game with first person dungeon crawling, turn based battles and of course demon negotiation.

Granted at least some of that is getting updated since we saw the player running around in 3rd person in the trailer so I will be interested in seeing how much gets keep in.

[NMR-3]

It looks like TMS 2. I very much didn't like TMS. Hard pass.

[ResidentSeagull]

So a bit more info that I saw online:
-I'm not sure what their roles in this are but two people working on it are the director of Strange Journey and one of the designers from Raidou 1, so on that front at least it looks like it's in good hands imo

-your party members this time around are Devil Summoners from different opposing factions who died and were resurrected by the MC

[Mattias]

Part of the “Devil Summoner” series of SMT spin-off titles, Soul Hackers was pretty typical of what you’d expect from a SMT game with first person dungeon crawling, turn based battles and of course demon negotiation.

Granted at least some of that is getting updated since we saw the player running around in 3rd person in the trailer so I will be interested in seeing how much gets keep in.

Weren't the Demon Summoner games action ones? Or was that just the Raidou ones?

It looks like TMS 2. I very much didn't like TMS. Hard pass.

On the other hand I LOVED TMS, so seeing those same aesthetics gets me all in.

[Skull]

Weren't the Demon Summoner games action ones? Or was that just the Raidou ones?

Whilst the Raidou games are also part of the "Devil Summoner" series, they are alone in having the Real-Time Action system.

Seriously, here's a trailer for the 3DS port that will give you an idea of what the original Soul Hackers was like.

[Mattias]

Neat, I'm getting some "Smt4 but more anime vibes" from it. And with the 3ds about to die I'm stocking up on games so I'll add it to the list.

[Skull]

Yeah, SH1 was a very underrated SMT title IMO.

My only gripe with the trailer for the new game is that they've ditched the 90's cyberpunk world aesthetic of the first game for something that looks more like Digimon: Cyber Sleuth but I'll probably get over it if the rest of the game is good.

[pinetree]

I liked the old aesthetic but I can't complain about Shirow's job here and I like neon.
I've seen both the Cyber Sleuth and the TM's comparisons before and neither makes sense to me (visually).

This looks pretty distinct from both, is digital world and neon colors all it takes?

[Skull]

So, looking up some more details on the gameplay. The battles run on the "Sabbath" system which is basically a combination of the Press Turn from mainline SMT with the Once More from later Persona games (plus what looks like maybe All Out Attacks). Added onto the fact that the Party are humans with Demons equipped for Skills, this is definitely not your dad's Soul Hackers. The fact that we have a fully voiced protagonist is certainly a plus though.

Plus some screenshots from the official website.

Big Pics

[pinetree]

It all looks very good, but on a different subject:

Is SMTV going to maintain the same pacing for the whole game? I feel like there's never any sense of urgency, which translates to me having very little interest in playing/progressing through the story.

That's not the only problem either. Battle mechanics are great as expected, but the astoundingly barebones story coupled with the samey-looking areas is making this a pretty underwhelming experience.

[Aozaki-desu]

The last big area is by far the best area, but otherwise yes

[pinetree]

Well, that's a bummer.

[Skull]

I can't stop thinking about SH2.

So obviously, the "Phantom Society" was namedropped in the trailer and Milady being an apparent member of it according to her official Profile suggests the group is still around after the events of SH1. Though the fact that the organisation opposing them is Yatagarasu and not Kuzunoha anymore is very interesting. The "Herald of Yatagarasu" *was* a character in the Raidou Kuzunoha games charged with supporting the main character under orders from the divine bird itself so I will be interested to see if the SH2 organisation has anything to do with that since both games are set in the Devil Summoner timeline.

Other than that, one thing I have been thinking about is the if they are going to do anything about the alternate ending to the original SH that the New Game Plus path creates. The one where SPOILERSpooky survives his demon possession by Satanel and gets a happy ending. It would be really awesome if they acknowledged that in some way to not only create another connection to the original game but also to canonise that ending.

[pinetree]

I wish I could participate in the speculation but it's been way too long since I played Soul Hackers lol

[ResidentSeagull]

I only started it a few days ago so I'm in the same boat.

[LegalLoliLover]

Yahweh is the Father. The Great Will is the Holy Ghost. Where is the Son? I recently found out: https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Agony

[TomPen94]

Finally got myself SMT V and have been playing it on and off for the last week. Just got through the Joka Nuwa bossfight.
The first thing I have to say about it is it feels old-fashioned. I think that might be on purpose, but it really felt like I was playing a game from the 2000's with the lack of retries on fights. It doesn't even give you the save slot list to load from right away, you just get booted back to the start screen. Died a couple times to random enemies losing 30 minutes to an hour of progress.
So far my favorite fights were boss fights, forcing me to strategize on team composition, team order, balancing the placement of members with buff/debuffing abilities and super-effective moves. But those only managed to be fun because I could save right before them and try right away. Dying to random enemies (who also turn into weaker versions of themselves when they become allies) was the most frustrating part. One unlucky move and the whole battle can get derailed.
Maybe these complaints are expected of a Persona toddler that hasn't yet cracked the P3-5 starter kit but still, I didn't feel most of the game being difficult as much as it was just a bit frustrating.

I'll at least get one ending though. And I think I've already made a decision that narrows down the path to take.

[asterism42]

Make sure to pick dialogue choices aligned with your chosen path, because you'll get a special Miracle for each story path if they match.

I mention this because the Law one is unbelievably broken, so if you're going Law you absolutely want to get it

[Nikiri]

just as i'm finishin P4G, cool

one less reason to buy ps4/ps5

[pinetree]