The Beautiful Simplicity of Shin Megami Tensei IV
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- smt 4 is an insanely good game and i honestly can't believe you haven't played it yet. in this video, i will be trying something new - talking about a video game that i actually like.
(video contains big spoilers for pretty much the whole game - be warned)
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While Nocturne was my first SMT game, IV will always have a special place in my heart. The big reveal once you get outside of Mikado still gives me awe.
That big reveal is what I think about when I think of smt
I love games that are defined and remembered so fondly because of some artistic design, you say the reveal of tokyo in smt4, i remember Xenogear's first FMV contrasted with the basic village aesthetic moments later, sold me for hundo hours
It's nice seeing you branch out into other games. Talking about stuff you like seems like a better path than forcing yourself through each new Pokemon game that comes out.
yes but can you please still cover pokémon you’re really good at it 😸
They very intentionally designed the game like this and it's outright said in the interviews that there is an answer for all your questions somewhere in the game if you look well and that's what makes it so intriguing to me. The world is only as interesting as you interact with it and there's always something new to discover, sometimes details that entirely reframe the story of the game. It's a simple low budget 3ds game but the world and setting feels much more than that.
They actually accomplished good worldbuilding, you arent alone, you arent the best in everything, these people spent years under the domain, and of course they have their own agendas, incentives, results, where alot of games nocs are just fodder, heck even lacking some basic human qualities, this game felt... True
SMT 4's soundtrack is quite literally the one soundtrack in gaming that I will never shut up about, Battle B2 especially is quite possibly the best boss theme I've ever heard in both a JRPG and a video game.
Haven't seen any game replicate this game's soundtrack since.
Great retrospective! I really like the simplicity of SMT4 too. I played Nocturne when it was first released on the PS2 and enjoyed it a lot though it was tough, but when I saw SMT4 at first I was angry that it was 2D. But it was on the 3ds, so I tried it and played it while doing errands and man was it amazing. SMT4 has so many quality of life improvements compared to old SMTs like having hundreds of demons since they didn't have to model 3D, so many more skills now, you can make physical or magic build for your protagonist (all builds viable now), you can have equipment etc.
I was so impressed with this game back then. I know nobody actually does the other routes for these games, everyone does a neutral run of SMT4, but the routes are really great. You actually get more scenes with Walter/Jonathan if you do their routes, but you don't see their transformation if you do Neutral, and interestingly there are route-exclusive sidequests - if you do Law you can return to Mikado and do a whole slew of quests including Navarre's plotline that only ends on that route. Like you said the factions were done extremely well and there is amazing world-building. The sountrack along with 4A is simply phenomenal. I do have criticisms too, like the overworld map was annoying to explore which was fixed in SMT4A.
The alignment points system was also poorly implemented, it does have forced lawful choices right before the alignment lock I think and some choices have really odd weighting decisions. The endgame is rushed due to development problems. The fiends, everyone's favorite demons are 1/256 encounters and coming straight from Nocturne that was horrible, the fiends never had good implementation since Nocturne even SMTV makes you pay for them as DLC. Speaking of which the DLC of SMT4 was also horrible, they put the archangels as DLC which explains most of Gabriel's and the law alignment backstory, it relates to how they freed the prisoners from Asmodeus! That's the main story, it should've have been relegated to DLC! The bonus fights were fine for SMT4 DLC like Ancient of Days and Sanat that's fine they're not too plot relevant. The DLC for fighting Masakado was horrible, he should've been an extra fight on the Neutral route and the Neutral route was really hyping him up and he was plot relevant.
Sorry for the rant, but otherwise the game is really fun though it does have its faults. The dynamic between Mikado and Tokyo is really interesting, I like how they have a time difference between them as if they were different dimensions. It felt amazing because I realized that Akira went to Mikado and became Aquila in Mikado and he even named the towns and cities in Mikado and changed up the names slightly based off of Tokyo's cities. There's so much hidden details in the lore of the game. I really enjoy the world of SMT 4 and 4A, even more than SMTV.
I honestly don’t think that the fiends being a 1/256 encounter chance is a bad thing. I genuinely think it’s a good thing, and because of it, my weeks-long journey to find and defeat all of the fiends on Master rank is one of my most memorable gaming achievements and was incredibly satisfying because of it. The fiends are totally optional and don’t play any role in SMT4’s story, so I’m totally fine with them being optional ultra-rare super-bosses (looking at you Red Rider.) Honestly, I wish more games had ultra-rare hidden things these days, not less of them. It gives it much more of a sense of achievement for people like me, and for people who don’t like that, they’re entirely optional in every way.
I do agree with all of your other complaints through, especially the alignment locks. I had to replay the entire game once when I was going for a neutral run and realized I had miscalculated and was locked out of it at the reactor.
I love the aesthetic of this game, like the ruff looking lines of the demons and the real life photos as backgrounds, it looks like its a ps1 game in a good way
I went to smt4 completely blind, and that revelation of underground tokyo, i was in awe, i wish i could forget this game and have that revelation moment again
very good video stel :-) i really enjoyed hearing you talk about a game you love for a change
Simplicity? Einh ... that's a word .... maybe simplicity was the friend we vaguely made along the way?
There is nothing like that first time you play SMT and you are just loving everything and questioning how is this a real game.
And you just capture that first time experience of constant wonder in this game.
I see you with that Labyrinth of Refrain ost in the background, you should do a video on it if you want to! That game deserve to be more known.
Though I haven't played SMT IV in years and it was refreshing to hear someone talk about it, great video man.
I went totally blind picking up SMTIV Collector Edition: what a f****** blast! This game gave me some of the greatest memories playing videogames. Beating the Minotaur, Discovering Tokyo, And getting for the 1st ending a total Nihilism. This type of perfectly balanced craft, is what I think elevates this medium. Give yourself a faver and play this, is the total package! ;D
Thanks a lot for the video! yea i feel it hard.
Thanks for the video. Discovering Tokyo is awesome,
been getting back ito this game (finished it twice) and nice to see so many recent vids on it
This is a great video. Modern game developers can learn a thing or two from it. I agree with all of the points you made: tutorials need to be better, games shouldn't be overly complex for no reason, stories don't need to tell you how you should feel about stuff, etc.
Great video. Love me some smt 4 content.
I love this game to bits, even after just a short time playing it. Stumbling around the world and quickly learning the game's layout like the back of my hand, figuring out my usual haunts for offloading attack items I won't use, figuring out what magic to learn, it's all such a joy
SMT IV is one of my favorite games of all time, going into the game blind, only with prior experience in persona, I had no clue what I was in for and I’m so glad I did. The intrigue of out of place technology only to reveal Tokyo was just incredible. The story was unlike anything I ever played before the challenging of ideals between the main cast was so interesting to see unfold and made me rethink my own personal ideals in a new perspective. It has this weird charm with its mishmash of graphical styles that give it such a unique look. And the soundtrack is such a banger. And yeah the blasted infernal Tokyo section is seriously one of my favorite sections in games it convinced me that no matter the choices I make everything will still be awful. I think the game not just having a cutscene for them but allowing you to experience these possible futures first hand was such an excellent choice. In my first playthrough I definitely felt that nihilism and ended up going with the whites plan. I didn’t feel good making that choice but what other choice was there? I went back and did the law and chaos routes and they felt just as bad but in different ways. Like I never wanted to go to the extremes those paths make you take but your too far in and have to do it. There is just so much to take away from this game and I love it.
Thanks for the credit, and awesome shoutout to SMT4!
New stel
This game got me into the series haven’t looked back since 2013
HELL YEAH DUDE
Thanks for the video, I had forgotten about playing this and it brought some good memories back.
On the presentation, I think the 3DS pulls it off amazingly, I don't get your gripes on that part 🤔
tbf, it's an accurate representation of what a fucked up tokyo would look like - i certainly wouldn't expect that kind of hellscape to be bright and shiny at all. it's just not nice to look at on the 3DS, a lot of textures just look really muddy and ugly imo
Jack Frost.
I know nothing about this series.
Comments are good for the RUclips Algorithm.
jack frost :)
Hee-ho!
Oddly enough, I played through SMTIII when I streamed on my Twitch-channel, as for SMTIV, I'm far for finished with that.
I don't think that demon negociation is fully random, since I had a good chance to get almost any demon in one or two tries, but idk if that has to do with me being very wary of demon races and personalities or just buying all talk skills.
this game is my first taste of the Shin Megami Tensei title, 1st megaten series was persoma 3 portable then branched out to devil survivors since 3ds was my main console that time
i love the reveals and the story along with the dread of minotaur
designs were good as well, i loved the dark biblically accurate demon designs both doi designs and guest designs (lucifer was the weakest but the awakened form was nice)
loved the game, i just hate what they did with the fiends, even Apocalypse was less bad but still tedious in fighting the fiends
They just weren’t important to the story but yeah making the encounter rate for the fiends extremely low made fighting them a bit tedious
I swear like 90% of this applies to the og smt v on switch, quick 20 min intro, depth in simplicity, vengeance is waaaay better now with more systems like innate passives, demon haunts, etc, the way it all connects is the best in the series
SMT 4 is my favorite game of all time.
The best game ever
Since Last year having total of 6 NG+ for fun because the DEX Build is broken even on Master but the problem was Sanat and Angelic boss fight.
the poop sludge aesthetic is a major part of what makes smt4 so great
persona 2 opens in a similar way where it doesn’t bombard you with tutorials completely and it’s great
Trying to play more games on my 3DS (truly a game with some of the best exclusives) and once I'm through with my Monster Hunter itch Imma try to get back into SMT 4 then maybe actually play my copy of Soul Hackers
I've watched literal months worth of analysis videos like this but this video here, is the first time anyone has compared anything to Etrian Odyssey.
im a bit surprised i've never heard much about it before in general, cause it's a really good series. EO nexus was my favorite game that i played last year.
This my favorite JRPG of all time. Ive been trying to complete 100% which is collecting demons and hot damn i got all the fiends and it took me 10 hours to get. Theres so much depth.
godspeed my slime
Youre like the third youtuber that i see with STRONG opinions about this game, the others going as far a saying the game is PERFECT. I liked the game very much, even wondering how this story is so much better than anything we received from SMT V and SMT V: V, but i have to wonder... How do you guys cope with the GOD AWFUL minimap? I dont like when games hold my hand, i can think for myself, but god damn it was an absolute chore having to figure out where the fuck is the objective of certain main story quests and the majority of challenges, even using an actually functional map with locations on the internet it was difficult, since the quest briefings are so fucking vague about where certain things are. Maybe it wouldnt be so bad if the map werent so big and travelling through it so boring because of tons of encounters and slow/bland movement
looking back, i think the shitty minimap might be the game's overall worst feature. like within certain areas it isn't awful, but the world map certainly sucks complete shit. i think i had to have an actual labeled map opened on my computer every time i played lmao
I agree with the ‘if they do a remake’- the game is kinda ‘perfect’ for what it is and what it tried to do. The 2D presentation doesnt feel like a ‘system constraint’- the muddiness of the 3d areas add to the muddiness of the world itself. Central party being a band of people you dont control and might even disagree with only adds to the weight to the alignments. Press-turn being merciless at a moments notice. I almost feel like the best way to play this game is to play it on the original 3DS- yeah, it’s not truly perfect, but anything else will probably feel ‘lesser than’.
What do you think of the new announcement of shin megami tensei V vengeance? I can't wait to play it like I did with this one
im not planning on playing it, i was really disappointed in V. it definitely needed more content and a more thorough/understandable plot - which is hopefully what vengeance will give it. not worth 60 bucks though imo
@@hiimstel hope you get the chance to play it when it's reasonable price for it and review it here. I haven't played the first because I knew about it.
While I strongly disagreed with your Pokemon opinions (was baffled by some of them, even), I'm glad we found an opinion we could agree on.
i'll never get tired of seeing people fall in love with the press turn system, it doesn't matter if you start smt with nocturne, IV or V, you WILL go through the process of going "holy shit why is this combat so fucking good". the games without the system are also great, I love strange journey's combat but nothing beats good ol press turn
I picked up SMT IV a few years ago, and I absolutely adore it. I think SMT IV:Apocalypse has better combat, tbh, but the story of SMT IV is much better. I am SO disappointed with SMT V though... especially with regard to environment
I just started smt4 a few days ago and I fucking hate the demon negotiations 😞😞😞 game good tho
I always like to teach Flynn all the best buff moves (and a few hard-hitting gun or phys attacks) and bring in pinch hitters for elemental weaknesses in boss fights. I did the same thing with Apocalypse.
16:32 I think is quite obvious how Neutral is the right answer.. it has the most content, its the base for SMTIV A and the diamond realm dlc ,etc. Also both law and chaos ending are not good.
It was good... until it decided to shove Neutral simping down our throats...:/
Also, Isabeau is wife and LAW ALIGNED PERIOD END OF DISCUSSION.
You should probably check out the other games, like smt 3 which is considered the best of the franchise.
3 and strange journey have been on my backlog for ages but every time i play them im like. damn i like 4's battle mechanics so much better lmao. i'll definitely play through them someday though