I love SMT3 because everytime I thought I was overleveled because I defeated a Boss relatively easily I got nuked by a random encounter on my way to the save point. Also I died 3 times in the tutorial. 10/10
There’s pretty much just one gameplay change between the original PS2 version and the HD remaster, and it makes all the difference. In the original, skill inheritance while fusing demons was random. If you wanted to ensure even just a few important skills were passed down, you’d have to enter and exit the fusion result screen over and over to reroll the skills passed down. In the HD remaster, you can select exactly the skills you want to inherit, just like modern MegaTen games today. Trust me, you do NOT want random skill inheritance. The other somewhat notable gameplay change was sort of fixing the AI for a very notorious boss, which, in the original, could randomly be… absurdly broken and unfair, to say the least. Also, Matador is well known for being the first “difficulty jump,” particularly for people new to the franchise, but he’s actually not very difficult if you apply your knowledge of the game’s core mechanics. Essentially, he’s a knowledge/skill check. All you need to beat Matador is to understand two things: the Press Turn system (abuse enemy weakness while protecting your own) and the importance of buffs/debuffs. These two things are the core of SMT gameplay. Matador is trying to force you to understand these early on because if you don’t, you will have a very painful rest of the game.
My first Megaten game was Persona 4 Golden on PC. I liked it. One of my friends recommended the mainline games, and I found SMT3. Good lord, the jump in tone and difficulty was insane. What got me the most weas the fact the Personas I was fighting with were now sentient creatures who were both real and want me dead.
You either start with SMT V or SMT III. There's really no choice unless you can tolerate the DS graphics or just 1990s graphics from the other SMT titles lol.
I'd argue 4 or 4 apocalypse he'll even SJ are better starting points. But I also think V kinda sucks. Hear VV is better but haven't checked it out. For the megaten over all I think P4 and DDS1+2 are the best places to get a taste
Honestly, it would be best to avoid games like SMT4A, SMT if... and older, and any spinoff outside of Persona. Those games are either too niche, too difficult, or subject to classic vidogame BS.
I’m glad you’re covering one of my favourite games of all time. You should check out Kazuma Kaneko’s work overall, and some of the other games in the MegaTen franchise like Digital Devil Saga and Strange Journey. Think you’ll like them!
I recommend the HD Remaster because it allows you to choose the skills you want to keep in demon fusion instead of them being randomly generated within a certain set of rules. This will save you a lot of time and avoid a lot of frustration.
i'd say the digital devil saga 1 and 2 are pretty balanced for the combat and encounters compared to smt 3, it doesn't have demons to swap and you can experiment with skills builds since you can switch skills a bit easier. i started with smt 3 at the time cause there was the featuring dante in the cover, me and friends found a copy at gamestop a long time ago ahah. but honestly if you have just a bit of time to dedicate to the games, any of them are pretty good. in smt 3 the strenght build is the easiest one to start.
I started with Nocturne after playing Persona 3-5 and having heard SMT is way more challenging. I went looking for a challenge, Nocturne delivered. I'd recommend starting with Nocturne if challenge and challenge alone is what you want. If a person didn't know ANYTHING about SMT, I'd recommend SMT V or IV as starting points. V is more accessible to the general public because it's available on multiple modern platforms, but it's not like the 3DS is a completely dead console.
I'll always recommend Persona games as a starting point to the series. Then the Devil Survivor games, which are kinda halfway between mainline SMT games and Persona. But I might be biased here as I dont care about graphics of a game as much as I care about the story, narrative and the world building I nearly gave up on SMT 3 Nocturne twice on the normal difficulty, but I still cherish that experience (might be stockholm syndrome XD). Great video, would like to see you play more games in the SMT series, especially Shin Megami Tensei 1 or 2 P.S. - Watch MarshSMT's videos if you dont wanna play it but still want to experience it
An interesting tip, the weapon based physical skills (the ones that scale with hp, brutal slash, mighty gust, dark sword) do not use str in your damage calculation at all, just HP so you can pump VIT for survivability and keep damage output
Nocturne is pure vibe but the gameplay is... a product of it's time for sure. Personally I prefer 5 for the gameplay, and I understand people's dislike of the story but VV is out now which I understand fixes that and the gameplay is actually just better. Glad you're enjoying Nocturne though, that's great.
Since you played Soul hackers 2. You got a pretty good grasp on how the mainline SMT games is going to go. SMT is more playing with a self insert protag rather then a cast of members like Persona and Soul hackers 2. You will get the hang of it in no time though since you beat SH2.
@@MagumoKawasaki Yeah it felt like the game had less of a budget so they tried to cut corners with the dungeons. It's a shame that a lot of the character development is locked behind side content as there's an interesting story there. I just wish the game was more fleshed out it could have been pretty amazing.
As a fan of atlus I always find it hard to recommend games to people. But for me if you liked nocturn Digital Devil Saga is a great one to try. For smt over all I feel 4 is by far the best option to try out first its Interface is stellar story is strong and it exudes style in its art and audio direction. Similarly P4 is the best starting point imo for person. And devil survivor remains a standout. Many of smt games archaic elements can be big detractors particularly when unfamiliar with the franchise at large.
I first played SMTV (The original release) and instantly started hesitating but started to love it. Then I played Nocturne, I hated how many random encounters can happen. It was genuinely frustrating at first. I ended up being okay with it because it helped me with not grinding as much. The most redeeming quality personally for me about Nocturne, IS DANTE FROM DMC CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!!!!
The Megaten games are like Pokemon because they're literally the precursor to the monster collector rpg, the first installment releasing nine years before Blue/Green/Red! People often say Megaten is pokemon for adults but it would be more accurate to say Pokemon is Megaten for kids!
I’m a massive Megaten fan. I always recommend SMT3 on pcsx2 over the hd remaster but if it’s not possible I’d still recommend nocturne as the best way to start megaten. In an ideal world I’d tell people to play smt2 but due to its “outdated” gameplay and horrible balance, it’s just not possible LOL. 3/IV are my favorite mainline megaten games, but VV is very good. Definitely don’t play smt1 though, unless you’re a hardcore jrpg fan willing to play through a ton of jank for a great story. Aside from mainline megaten, there’s an abundance of amazing spin-offs, with my personal favorite being the DDS duology and Strange Journey.
I agree with a lot you say. But one point. Why the ps2 version over the HD remaster? It has important quality of life like manageable demon fusions. And better graphics. And pretty much that's it. So why?
@@puzzle_boy better graphics is extremely subjective. Often times the atmosphere and environment takes a massive hit due to the lighting and particle effects not present on modern hardware that the ps2 did have. And while i do agree that being able to select skills is amazing, i feel the environment and the port being just barely enough doesn’t justify its existence. Its capped to 30fps, the music is extremely compressed, and classic atlus day1 dlc just doesn’t feel okay. Also, the cutscenes weren’t even remade, with them opting to reuse the classic cutscenes making them stick out like a sore thumb compared to how beautiful the rest of the game looks. All this jank kind of just makes it feel extremely disappointing and low effort. Don’t even get me started on the shitty textures you’ll randomly find lol. Smt 3 Hd was the biggest disappointment to me, as I love the game dearly.
Good thing that you played SMT 3 before SMT V because both has parallel to each other so many way in level it might look like SMT V is sequel to SMT 3 (it's not btw)
Nocturnes talk system is at a lower point in the series for me, it's actually predetermined your choices don't matter outcome already decided, you can reset the rng seed mid battle using analyze tho
Funny you mentioned the compressed music. I've had SMT 3 on my PC for a while but still haven't played it, but the soundtrack is on Spotify and it sounds way better than at 15:40 Also, I definitely recommend plaything through Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden. I recently finished Royal after previously only playing the base version back in 2017 and its great. Just started SMT 5 after that because Vengeance just came out, then I gotta pick 3 Reload or Nocturne next if Metaphor isn't out by then.
@@overleveledgames i cant tell if that response is a joke or not but frankly there aren't any. The games have always been heavily inspired by cyber punk, post apocalyptic themes, with emphasis on occult/religion, considering the demons are all based on religion. If you made references to violence jack or devilman, i'd agree.
i found smt 3 to be really boring the bosses werent nearly as hard as everyone says they are i quit going through ikebukuro tunnel because i was just having no fun with the game smt 4 is way better starting point if you ask me
SMT 3: You get bullied non stop or live long enough to become the bully
I love SMT3 because everytime I thought I was overleveled because I defeated a Boss relatively easily I got nuked by a random encounter on my way to the save point. Also I died 3 times in the tutorial. 10/10
There’s pretty much just one gameplay change between the original PS2 version and the HD remaster, and it makes all the difference. In the original, skill inheritance while fusing demons was random. If you wanted to ensure even just a few important skills were passed down, you’d have to enter and exit the fusion result screen over and over to reroll the skills passed down. In the HD remaster, you can select exactly the skills you want to inherit, just like modern MegaTen games today. Trust me, you do NOT want random skill inheritance. The other somewhat notable gameplay change was sort of fixing the AI for a very notorious boss, which, in the original, could randomly be… absurdly broken and unfair, to say the least.
Also, Matador is well known for being the first “difficulty jump,” particularly for people new to the franchise, but he’s actually not very difficult if you apply your knowledge of the game’s core mechanics. Essentially, he’s a knowledge/skill check. All you need to beat Matador is to understand two things: the Press Turn system (abuse enemy weakness while protecting your own) and the importance of buffs/debuffs. These two things are the core of SMT gameplay. Matador is trying to force you to understand these early on because if you don’t, you will have a very painful rest of the game.
What about the grinding spot with the Mitamas?
Happy to see this pop up after watching your rebirth video!! Especially since I’m currently playing SMT V and nocturne. Definitely subbed 🤘
My first Megaten game was Persona 4 Golden on PC. I liked it. One of my friends recommended the mainline games, and I found SMT3. Good lord, the jump in tone and difficulty was insane. What got me the most weas the fact the Personas I was fighting with were now sentient creatures who were both real and want me dead.
A major QoL bump for the remaster that I don’t remember costing in the original release: skill selection when fusing demons.
You either start with SMT V or SMT III. There's really no choice unless you can tolerate the DS graphics or just 1990s graphics from the other SMT titles lol.
Like I mentioned in the video, graphics are veeeery low on my list as far as what draws me into a game. Artistic direction and world design all DAY!
Barring graphics those two are just the most accessible SMT games with ports to modern consoles and PC ports.
I'd argue 4 or 4 apocalypse he'll even SJ are better starting points. But I also think V kinda sucks. Hear VV is better but haven't checked it out. For the megaten over all I think P4 and DDS1+2 are the best places to get a taste
Nah smt4 better than both
Honestly, it would be best to avoid games like SMT4A, SMT if... and older, and any spinoff outside of Persona. Those games are either too niche, too difficult, or subject to classic vidogame BS.
I’m glad you’re covering one of my favourite games of all time. You should check out Kazuma Kaneko’s work overall, and some of the other games in the MegaTen franchise like Digital Devil Saga and Strange Journey. Think you’ll like them!
I recommend the HD Remaster because it allows you to choose the skills you want to keep in demon fusion instead of them being randomly generated within a certain set of rules. This will save you a lot of time and avoid a lot of frustration.
i'd say the digital devil saga 1 and 2 are pretty balanced for the combat and encounters compared to smt 3, it doesn't have demons to swap and you can experiment with skills builds since you can switch skills a bit easier.
i started with smt 3 at the time cause there was the featuring dante in the cover, me and friends found a copy at gamestop a long time ago ahah. but honestly if you have just a bit of time to dedicate to the games, any of them are pretty good.
in smt 3 the strenght build is the easiest one to start.
I started with Nocturne after playing Persona 3-5 and having heard SMT is way more challenging. I went looking for a challenge, Nocturne delivered. I'd recommend starting with Nocturne if challenge and challenge alone is what you want. If a person didn't know ANYTHING about SMT, I'd recommend SMT V or IV as starting points. V is more accessible to the general public because it's available on multiple modern platforms, but it's not like the 3DS is a completely dead console.
I'll always recommend Persona games as a starting point to the series. Then the Devil Survivor games, which are kinda halfway between mainline SMT games and Persona. But I might be biased here as I dont care about graphics of a game as much as I care about the story, narrative and the world building
I nearly gave up on SMT 3 Nocturne twice on the normal difficulty, but I still cherish that experience (might be stockholm syndrome XD).
Great video, would like to see you play more games in the SMT series, especially Shin Megami Tensei 1 or 2
P.S. - Watch MarshSMT's videos if you dont wanna play it but still want to experience it
I'll definitely go back to the originals at some point!
An interesting tip, the weapon based physical skills (the ones that scale with hp, brutal slash, mighty gust, dark sword) do not use str in your damage calculation at all, just HP so you can pump VIT for survivability and keep damage output
Nocturne is honestly the only point that matters. If you finish it, you're here forever.
Nocturne is pure vibe but the gameplay is... a product of it's time for sure.
Personally I prefer 5 for the gameplay, and I understand people's dislike of the story but VV is out now which I understand fixes that and the gameplay is actually just better.
Glad you're enjoying Nocturne though, that's great.
i just finish smt VV and damn it so good highly recommend
i really love press turn system from this game and so excite that metaphor share the same
I've completed Soul Hackers 2 and dabbled in P3, 4, 5, so I want to get into the SMT series. Seems like 3 is a good place to start.
Since you played Soul hackers 2. You got a pretty good grasp on how the mainline SMT games is going to go. SMT is more playing with a self insert protag rather then a cast of members like Persona and Soul hackers 2. You will get the hang of it in no time though since you beat SH2.
i am so sorry that you played soul hackers 2
@@rotonek2887 It had an amazing cast of characters. The only bad thing about the game was that the dungeon lay outs were mid.
@@rotonek2887 Haha yeah it didn't quite live up to their other games
@@MagumoKawasaki Yeah it felt like the game had less of a budget so they tried to cut corners with the dungeons. It's a shame that a lot of the character development is locked behind side content as there's an interesting story there. I just wish the game was more fleshed out it could have been pretty amazing.
Ps you’re gonna fall in love with p3 reload and p5royal. Both phenomenal experiences
Great Video. I personally thought the compressed music was intended that way. It really fits the games aesthetic.
It's interesting because not every song in the remaster is compressed. Sometimes during certain cutscenes and stuff, the music will sound perfect
Nope it’s a disc space constraint. Or it was. In the “remaster”, it’s laziness.
@@ChrisStoneinator or it was on purpose
so weird seeing this video after my own smt binge before metaphor drops, i just need to play smt iv now
As a fan of atlus I always find it hard to recommend games to people. But for me if you liked nocturn Digital Devil Saga is a great one to try. For smt over all I feel 4 is by far the best option to try out first its Interface is stellar story is strong and it exudes style in its art and audio direction. Similarly P4 is the best starting point imo for person. And devil survivor remains a standout. Many of smt games archaic elements can be big detractors particularly when unfamiliar with the franchise at large.
I first played SMTV (The original release) and instantly started hesitating but started to love it. Then I played Nocturne, I hated how many random encounters can happen. It was genuinely frustrating at first. I ended up being okay with it because it helped me with not grinding as much. The most redeeming quality personally for me about Nocturne, IS DANTE FROM DMC CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!!!!
The Megaten games are like Pokemon because they're literally the precursor to the monster collector rpg, the first installment releasing nine years before Blue/Green/Red! People often say Megaten is pokemon for adults but it would be more accurate to say Pokemon is Megaten for kids!
I’m a massive Megaten fan. I always recommend SMT3 on pcsx2 over the hd remaster but if it’s not possible I’d still recommend nocturne as the best way to start megaten. In an ideal world I’d tell people to play smt2 but due to its “outdated” gameplay and horrible balance, it’s just not possible LOL. 3/IV are my favorite mainline megaten games, but VV is very good. Definitely don’t play smt1 though, unless you’re a hardcore jrpg fan willing to play through a ton of jank for a great story. Aside from mainline megaten, there’s an abundance of amazing spin-offs, with my personal favorite being the DDS duology and Strange Journey.
And I also just think the hdremaster is a massive disappointment, but it makes nocturne more accessible ig
Great video by the way, def subbing
I agree with a lot you say. But one point. Why the ps2 version over the HD remaster? It has important quality of life like manageable demon fusions. And better graphics. And pretty much that's it. So why?
@@puzzle_boy better graphics is extremely subjective. Often times the atmosphere and environment takes a massive hit due to the lighting and particle effects not present on modern hardware that the ps2 did have. And while i do agree that being able to select skills is amazing, i feel the environment and the port being just barely enough doesn’t justify its existence. Its capped to 30fps, the music is extremely compressed, and classic atlus day1 dlc just doesn’t feel okay. Also, the cutscenes weren’t even remade, with them opting to reuse the classic cutscenes making them stick out like a sore thumb compared to how beautiful the rest of the game looks. All this jank kind of just makes it feel extremely disappointing and low effort. Don’t even get me started on the shitty textures you’ll randomly find lol. Smt 3 Hd was the biggest disappointment to me, as I love the game dearly.
Good thing that you played SMT 3 before SMT V because both has parallel to each other so many way in level it might look like SMT V is sequel to SMT 3 (it's not btw)
Playing this on a CRT is an absolute treat! Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend you play it on PS2, I'd recommend playing it as a digital on PS3.
Nocturnes talk system is at a lower point in the series for me, it's actually predetermined your choices don't matter outcome already decided, you can reset the rng seed mid battle using analyze tho
takes over 5 mins to get to the actual point. but glad you enjoyed it
Funny you mentioned the compressed music. I've had SMT 3 on my PC for a while but still haven't played it, but the soundtrack is on Spotify and it sounds way better than at 15:40
Also, I definitely recommend plaything through Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden. I recently finished Royal after previously only playing the base version back in 2017 and its great. Just started SMT 5 after that because Vengeance just came out, then I gotta pick 3 Reload or Nocturne next if Metaphor isn't out by then.
Smt5 is definetly more accesible but dose lack the depth in lore and story in 4 and nocturne
They fix that in Canon of Vengence
@@Anarkyfloyd yes forgotten about that i have the game but still am on beating it
dont sleep on smt4 is really good too.
Of what I've played while live streaming. I really enjoyed it!
nocturne aint that long. like 40 hours
5 probably better for your first unless you have played a persona game then youve got an idea its just probably 10x more harder💀
Short answer for the title: Fuck no
probably just wat for fantasio since every game takes time and with the childrens doesn't seem feasible ahah
There are no inspirations from berserk within SMT.
I find that incredibly hard to believe, especially since almost everything post Berserk in Japan is inspired by Berserk, haha
@@overleveledgames i cant tell if that response is a joke or not but frankly there aren't any. The games have always been heavily inspired by cyber punk, post apocalyptic themes, with emphasis on occult/religion, considering the demons are all based on religion. If you made references to violence jack or devilman, i'd agree.
i found smt 3 to be really boring the bosses werent nearly as hard as everyone says they are i quit going through ikebukuro tunnel because i was just having no fun with the game smt 4 is way better starting point if you ask me
SMT3 > SMT4 > SMT5
SMT IV > SMT VV > SMT III
@@puzzle_boy lol no
3>5>4
III = IV = VV
@@Anarkyfloyd lol
This video was a waste of time. Disappointed.
I'll do better for you next time!
@@overleveledgames First impressions are not a good format . Idk why people would rather not just make full reviews.