[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/g95N7s7.jpg[/IMG]

All right, people, it's been a while, so grab a drink and sit back, this is gonna take a while.

First of all, status report. The stats worth talking about are as follows:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5CaGfgM.png[/IMG]

(And about 150 hours of actual playtime, but who cares about those.)

I've gone through Law (unwillingly) and completed Neutral (by min-maxing.) I'm missing exactly 19 demons ([SPOILER]DLC Masakado; the error-only Undeads Corpse and Zombie Cop; error-only Fameds Lanling Wang, Hagen, Tokisada, and Huang Di; the Chaos-only Lilith, Ishtar, Asherah, Astaroth, and Mother Harlot; all non-Plasma Fiends.[/SPOILER]) Completed two [URL="http://www.the-weaving.com/images/forum/Megaten/Shivadrain.jpg"]rites[/URL] of [URL="http://www.the-weaving.com/images/forum/Megaten/Xiuhtenulltli.jpg"]passage[/URL] and made a [URL="http://www.the-weaving.com/images/forum/Megaten/Nullciel.jpg"]new one[/URL] (and there was a Repel Metatron in there until I realized an Elemental Pierce one was better.) Maxed out my MC at Lv99 with stats ranging between 169 and 185.

So all righty, some thoughts on this thing. Probably a bit rambly and stream-of consciousness since too many of its individual elements are tied to each other, and trying to analyze the game by categories would only do them a disservice.


I understand now why this game, and not Strange Journey, bears the coveted "IV" numeral and a spot in the main line. Even if this game cribs a lot from SJ and far too many characters refer to it as the "fifth" cycle of humanity, implying SJ was the fourth. And yes, like the producers said, it has everything to do with the setting and the characters.

It's not just that mainline Shin Megami Tensei is set in Tokyo, specifically. Tokyo has its own appeal, yes, but the point of it is its familiarity towards the target audience, and the psychological horror of deconstructing the familiar. Games like GRAW, CoD, Assassin's Creed, et al that are set in real locations have huge appeal towards people who live in those cities, especially for the catharsis of saving or destroying a place one has known since childhood. So even when Megaten goes into deep abstractions --Tokyo Millennium, the Vortex World-- there are more than enough landmarks to anchor it to the audience's mind; to make it even more uncanny to see the [I]alien[/I] constructions rise next to the Hachiko statue or the 109. It draws from fears of invasion, of intrusion (and devastation) of one's home and memories, but at the same time it empowers the audience with a sensation of "home field advantage."

That's not all the setting does, though. An unspoken, and probably accidental theme of mainline Megaten is empowerment through solipsism. Right from the start, in all four games, the main character isn't just a Chosen One, he's literally the only one that matters. Any other friends, factions, and companions may have had a hand in the preliminaries, but ultimately their agency must bow to the protagonist's, and if they can't manipulate him to join their cause their influence becomes nil. It's his decisions, his experiences, and nobody else's, that decide how the world will live from now on, and often with very little personal merit to earn this power. He's a Messiah not because he grew into the part, but because he chosen by an external factor. Wish-fulfillment fantasies usually work like that: you've lived an ordinary life until now, but yer really a wizard, 'arry. Or you were created in a test tube by angels to be their Savior. Or you're a reincarnation of a really cool guy ([SIZE="1"]eh kills demons and isnt afraid of anything[/SIZE]) So, by extension, it's [I]your[/I] city that matters to the exclusion of all others, it's [I]your[/I] neighborhood from which the rest of the world will be reshaped, it's [I]your[/I] attachment to your home that will decide the fate of humanity, so here's a worm in your eye. 

Strange Journey breaks from this line as much as it dares. It has factions, yes, and companions, and its the protagonist's decisions that lead the world towards one end or another... but he never does it alone. Instead of cutting a bloody swath across the land to forge a new world according to his standards, the protagonist is dialed back to more of an [I]enforcer[/I] role, the spearhead and executive arm of an effort greater than himself. You're not even in charge of defining the nature of the new world, you just choose whose right-hand man you'll be.

This, I feel, makes Strange Journey feel more [I]real[/I]. You're not a teenager on the cusp of adulthood anymore; you're not seeking your own path, or your own identity. You don't feel the drive to change the world to accommodate your needs. In Strange Journey, you're already an adult, a decorated professional who has already made a name for himself elsewhere, and who knows that reaching goals is more a matter of cooperation than individualism. Even if you're a blank slate, the mere fact that you're a grown adult inevitably colors the impact of your choices: whatever extreme they go to, they come off as the result of a lifetime of experiences, not a teenager's attempts to make sense of himself.

The setting, like before, adds to this theme. It's two steps removed from relatability not just by setting up shop in the Antarctic, a real but unreachable place by virtually anyone in the audience, but by further abstracting it to metaphysical representations of humanity's excess. And then, when it's done beating us over the head with that, it goes into full symbolism with completely alien locales that appeal more to the spiritual than the cognitive.

This complete removal from our (or at least the Japanese audience's) comfort zone all but forces the game to abandon the "childish" needs of mainline Megaten. Our home is our home, even if it's been blown halfway to hell, so despite the dissonance of seeing our neighborhood crumbling and filled with demons, there's both a sense of safety from being there and one of ire for seeing it overrun, fueling a desire to set it right. Even for non-Japanese players, the sight of SMTIV's skyscrapers, all lit up with (apparent) life is comforting, because they shout "civilization!" among all the destruction; Nocturne's Shinjuku, shrouded in smoke, makes us worry about its state even if there's nobody human left in it. But SJ isn't just another dimension, but a metaphysical one at that, so there's neither a security blanket for us to cling to, nor anything provoking us into action except for some distant and impersonal "mission objectives."

Basically, while the execution is similar between SJ and mainline SMT, the difference boils down to a matter of [I]theme[/I]. Mainline is basically all [I]You, you, you, who will you be, what ideals will you uphold and how will you define yourself against the world?[/I], versus SJ's [I]This is humanity, looking in the mirror; what does it see?[/I] And therein lies the reason it doesn't exactly align with the main line's ideologies: SMT is about growing up, SJ is about [I]being[/I] grown up. Even if the producers themselves believe it's just "It's not set in Tokyo."

So with that out of the way, I'll go into SMTIV itself :) I'll try to avoid any more direct comparisons to SJ as much as I can, but the former owes so much to the latter the temptation is overwhelming :p

The easiest aspect to talk about is the presentation. And good God this is a gorgeous game! The PS2 and the Vita may be more powerful machines, and they may have the advantage of cinematic direction, but the [I]art[/I] direction of this game is above and beyond anything I've seen in those (except maybe DDS.) The game [I]oozes[/I] atmosphere, from the Vagrant Story-like feeling of Naraku, with its quiet music and torchlit caverns, to [SPOILER]Purgatorium[/SPOILER]'s dreamlike glory. Where previous SMTs were endless successions of featureless hallways, often blending into one another, every single dungeon in this game is exciting to behold. Even the places where featureless hallways [I]would[/I] make sense --Midtown, Ichigaya, and Reverse Hills-- feel like real places built by people [I]for[/I] people... however alien their purpose is.

And it's all so very [I]vibrant[/I], too. Although it doesn't make sense, and works against the narrative, all the lit up skyscrapers mentioned above, the streetlights casting realistic cones of light on the world map, the searchlights, etc. they all contribute to filling Tokyo with a larger-than-life sensation no other Megaten game has. Then there's the burning wrecks, the underground waterfalls, Tokyo Skytree turning into an actual tree, light flowing through cracks in the masonry, [SPOILER]Purgatorium's flying cathedrals[/SPOILER], or [SPOILER]Pluto Castle's [I]everything[/I][/SPOILER]. There's not a single place in the game I'd call "drab" or "boring," and instead I have a lot of trouble figuring out what my favorite dungeon is, or even what my favorite subway station is.

Unfortunately, because the art is so strong sometimes the actual dungeon [I]structure [/I]fails to live up to it. Most dungeons are really good, just the perfect length for 3D environments (even if some of them have a bit too much backtracking and one-way doors.) But then there's [SPOILER]Kagome Tower[/SPOILER], the saddest dungeon ever with the most undeserved artwork. And [SPOILER]Lucifer Palace[/SPOILER], where evidently they got as far as designing "Room #2" and then ran out of storage space on the card so they made the whole thing a teleport maze. And, seriously, not putting a master key at [SPOILER]the bottom of Camp Ichigaya, or at least the Infernal one[/SPOILER], is one of the most infuriating omissions in the game. The repurposing of SMT's trademark pitfalls into shortcuts or legitimate ways to progress was amusing and balanced out the annoyance, though.

Of course, the character work is an excellent match to the environments. The MC is already pretty incredible, even up close against the camera, just bursting with detail and with flowing from one animation to the next. But the NPCs deserve a mention too. Even if they're just walking around aimlessly, they feel like distinct, living personalities. It's a real shame none of the major characters got this sort of treatment and were relegated to static cutscenes.

Too much has been said about the new demon designs, so there's no need to belabor the point here. Surprisingly, many of them work really well --Minotaur, AoD, Kuebiko, and all the NDDs, especially, where the worst thing one can say is that Skiing Guyver and Yamato Takeru look like Soejima Personas-- and some of them are interesting in concept, but fall short in execution --Astaroth, Masakado, Medusa, Raph and Gabby-- and others are just disastrous --Mike, Uri, Liliroach, Lucy, Asmoeshgoo. And others still belong in a Final Fantasy or Star Ocean somewhere --Naparead, Sanat, Plasmatrail. What DOES annoy me is that so much of the publicity hinged on the guest designers, and their demons, that it misrepresented large portions of the game. Wasting [I]so many words[/I] on Asmogoo feels stupid enough after he turned out to be an extremely minor miniboss, but why is he even on the cover? Why are Astaroth and Guyver on it, for that matter, let alone on Liliroach's side, when she's the only one who is even in line with Lucy?

But even if their looks are terrible, and their narrative importance is nil, at least fighting them is a blast. I went back to Strange Journey immediately after completing Neutral, and I was surprised at how [I]slow[/I] it felt in comparison. There's very little narrative justification for the MC becoming a force of nature (how does the Demon's Whisper even work, anyway?) but it makes battles snappy, it allows for an immense degree of customization, and you always feel in complete control. Even when you're losing, you feel that it's because you wasted your resources or didn't plan appropriately, not because of any inherent flaw or cheapness in the battle engine.

(Then again, I haven't fought any Fiends yet :p)

The only problem with that is that it's way too easy to break the game. I'll get into demon customization in a bit, but the game simply doesn't reward balanced or experimental builds. Magic and Luck are way overpowered, and developing them at the expense of other attributes carries no penalty. As long as you keep your armor up to date, a mage MC is just as tough as a strength-oriented one, and the only stat of any relevance is your agility (and even THAT is boosted with accessories and buffs.) And since striking enemies in the field yields negligible damage, there's really no point in upgrading your strength or melee weapon anymore once you get your first gun or your first all-hit Phys skill. And if you go for an uber-magic build, fusing demons becomes more of a hobby than a necessity.

(Personally, I went for a Dex/Luck build, to ensure added-effect bullets would always hit. Most random battles in my Law game ended with just one barrage of Skull or Shinno rounds, but I went with Occult Flash for all of my Neutral NG+ and achieved the same effect. Recently changed it to Deadly Fury and regretted it after one battle.)

Now, as far as Fusion is concerned, I never felt really comfortable with it. The Search function is astonishing and incredibly helpful, yes, and it's a godsend for inheritance planning, but I always had a feeling this new engine was too big to fit in the 3DS. Nevermind the "Too Many Results" thing, or the inexplicable "0 demons found" when you tried to restrict THOSE "too many" to just the "Top Ten," but the lack of "Normal" fusion like in P4G robbed you of quickly and easily seeing the results of fusing just one pair of demons. And without Mitamas, I never got the hang for the new rules for Elemental rank-ups or -downs. But the absolute worst aspect of it (aside from route-exclusive demons that unlock fusions in [I]other[/I] routes) is the way it handles signature skills. As in, either ban them from inheritance completely (like P4 does) or allow them completely, but don't obscure them behind the random and impenetrable Fusion Lite rules. Figuring out inheritance paths and maximizing skill loadouts can break the game (even more) but it always takes time, forethought, and skill; coming up short because of an arbitrary roadblock, and knowing that Special Fusion demons can NEVER inherit a "top" skill, turns the whole thing into a waste of time.

(Especially since the top "normal" skills, Victory Cry and Antichthon, aren't even worth it anymore. Victory Cry is pointless, and there are better alternatives to Antichthon.)

The signature skill part may be the worst part, because it cripples what should've been a rewarding aspect of the game, but it's closely followed by the second worst --and it's only second because it's nearly invisible to most people: Error fusion.

Every Megaten game has had fusion accidents. Strange Journey even had error-exclusive demons, too. But there, at least, you could improve your chances by purchasing an app. And the Compendium % would at least let you know what you were missing. But here, I'm completely certain there's a LOT of players who don't even know the Famed race exists, or how many members it has. I probably still wouldn't, since the only three error-only Fameds I have I got through random Streetpass fusion, and the twenty or so passes I've gotten since have all resulted in huge downgrades into demons I already had or even lost skills (Streetpass fusion doesn't like signatures, either.) Supposedly, you can improve your chances by fusing two dead, high-level demons, but did anyone think how [I]difficult[/I] it is to let enemies kill off Lv80+ demons in a random battle?

(Then, to add insult to injury, the Seraph Challenge Quest happily announces you've unlocked the Tokisada fusion. [I]Tokisada is error-only to begin with[/I]. That's just mean.)

And with all that bile and vitriol out of the way, here's about the fun part of the game: the characters and story.

[IMG]http://www.the-weaving.com/images/temp/emot-grin.gif[/IMG]

Yyyyyeah, OK. The worldbuilding in this game is absolutely [I]phenomenal[/I]. Unlike most people, I did all the quests as they were presented, and I had a TON of fun with them. "Flynn" may be an angsty Blessed Samurai upon whose shoulders rests the fate of humanity, but Ollin was only a Samurai until he hit the first bar in Tokyo. THEN he became everyone's happy little errand boy whose only wish was for Jon and Walt to leave him alone so he could take photos for Nozomi. One of my favorite aspects of Strange Journey was how it incorporated the real-world myths into its quests, even if it was only a minor reference. But this game is overflowing with them, and I wish every last demon in the Compend-- er, in the "Book" had its own challenge quest. And that's just from the demons; the regular humans all seemed so much more interesting and worthwhile than any of the "fellow Samurai," or even the major characters, ever did. Oh, yeah, Fujiwara, you [SPOILER]were once Minister and you founded the CDF and now you hang out at a bar of ill repute with a schoolgirl in a short skirt and mismatched eyes.[/SPOILER] But how about that Hunter who [SPOILER]left her Platinum Card as a trophy in Ginza and then puts her Black Card up as a prize? Her story sounds a lot more intriguing[/SPOILER]!



[IMG]http://www.the-weaving.com/images/forum/Megaten/the_hard_choices.jpg[/IMG]