Riding The MegaTen Train

So this is new, I don't usually do video game reviews (the last one I did was "Saints Rows 4", love that game) but today I'm actually gonna review 2 games (more or less). So I'm VERY new to the MegaTen (Shin Megami Tensei) series as it's called and I've been looking to sink my teeth into a REALLY good JRPG with some nice turn-based combat. You see I'm a HUGE fan of "Xenosaga" (my first JRPG, suck it "Final Fantasy") and since there will be no remastered version of it (because Satan clearly sucks at hiding his existence, why else would there be no remastered version if he didn't meddle with it) I've been at a loss. I did play "Tales Of Beseria" and while I enjoyed it, the combat left SO much to be desired I can honestly say I barely have a clue what I was doing, and that combat system, whatever it's called is crap, I hate it and I hate that JRPGs are moving towards that. Rant over.  Anyway, thanks to my awesome niece I was turned on to "Persona 5" and BOY, OH BOY did this thing slap (as the kids say). This got me onboard The MegaTen Train as I've played "Shin Megami Tensei V" and I am currently playing "Soul Hackers 2" and eagerly awaiting the next "Persona" installment and will without question purchase it. Wanna find out why? Let's dive in and I'll tell you guys all about it!

Let's start with "Persona 5" now, right outta the gate you're gonna wanna buy "Royal". YES! I understand it's more expensive but TRUST me on this, spend the extra money, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! For starters not only do you get some very strong Personas right outta the gate, you gain some extra Confidants and a bonus story added to the game, which basically feels like an extra game, all of that is well worth the price! Not to mention there are new mechanics and combat dynamics that are not present in the regular version. So long story short get "Persona 5 Royal", spend the extra money, you will not regret it, I promise you. All of that out of the way, I'm brand new to the whole "Persona" series and as such I didn't know what to expect, but like any good consumer I did my research and found out that it was pretty much a life simulator with time management mechanics, all of this I really didn't care for initially because I just wanted to knock some heads, HOWEVER, when I understood what I was doing the game got really interesting.

I cannot praise this game enough from its soundtrack (Good gravy, the soundtrack is AMAZING, easily Top 10 Video game soundtracks) to the story and the characters, I cannot say enough good things. I can't really breakdown the story for "Persona 5" but to make a long story short, "Persona 5" tells the story of Joker, a wrongfully accused young man who is labeled an outcast and is sent off to Tokyo where he meets a talking cat named Morgana, other troubled youths and a strange phone app that allows him to travel to another world and gives him and the others the ability to change the hearts of evil-doers. that's my extremely poor summary of "Persona 5". I honestly had no clue what I was getting into when playing this BUT the mechanics are very easy and simple to follow, and by simple I don't mean it holds your hand through the process, I mean if you don't read the tutorials you can still figure it out. By the 2nd dungeon, I was already a pro, striking weaknesses, getting those baton passes, and really working my crew into a good routine. Something I wasn't expecting was the New Game+ feature, this must be either new or I haven't played enough JRPGs because I don't think "Xenosaga" gave you this option but OH MY GOODNESS, this is insane.

So the New Game+ is starting a new game with all of your stats still intact, you start from level 1, of course, BUT you have all your Lv.99 gear, all your money, and ALL OF YOUR PREVIOUS PERSONAS! This blew my mind as my 2nd playthrough was a snap. Upon the 2nd playthrough, now that I really wasn't worried about leveling up Joker to make sure I was strong enough for the next boss I really got to enjoy the social aspect of the game. Granted, I enjoyed this aspect in my 1st playthrough but this time I actually purchased gifts for some of my Confidants and really paid attention to what I was doing. I'm rambling a lot in this article but it's 1:08am and I haven't written an article in a while so bear with me. The Confidant system I like to a point...some Confidants aren't as important as others (Specifically Ohya, who everyone agrees is useless and Yoshida, and I had to look his name up because I honestly never ran into him in either playthrough). What I liked is the added abilities each Confidant gave me, what I hated is the ultimate Persona had to be unlocked by completing the Confidant and even this I only sort of hate. It was the right incentive to pursue Confidants and utilize your time outside of the metaverse but some of the confidant's "missions" (if that's what you wanna call them) seemed to drag. Also for your first game, boosting your stats is a PAIN!

Level up his Confidant first, the Insta-Kill Skill is TOO good not to have!

One of the reasons it took me so long to replay "Persona 5" is that I was dreading having to raise my stats again and I thought about just how hard it was to raise my "Kindness". That's what I hated most about this game is that there weren't enough ways to boost your stats quick enough. I understand that the developers need to pad the game out and create things like shops and mini-games to help boost your stats BUT GEEZ did they make this a slog through hell! Worst yet is that you can't advance some of your Confidants if you didn't reach a certain level of a certain stat. In my 2nd playthrough, since I was already capped at every stat I decided to see what else the game had to offer me and was surprised by the Darts mini-game that boosted Baton-Pass damage and buffs during that, I was thinking "Why can't every stat be boosted by doing a mini-game as fun as this?!". For example, you want guts? There's the Big Bang Burger Challenge (except in this case, the challenges increase thus allowing you to earn more points in guts) want knowledge, read books or get answers right in class, want Charm, get a job at a store chat up customers, make coffee, want kindness, offer to do odd jobs for people around the neighborhood, want proficiency, play darts, craft tools, EASY! But NO! "Persona 5" makes this painstakingly difficult and it's all too easy to miss out on Confidant abilities simply by not having boosted your stats.

All that said though, the Confidants that I missed 1st go around were Futaba, Sojiro, Ohya, Yoshida, and Iwai, so not many, and 2 of those I didn't bother starting. Granted my first go around I only managed to complete a handful of Confidants which gave me skills that I considered useful and some I just stopped caring about after I got the skill I needed. Overall having to boost your stats is easily the worst aspect of the game, which is overall a small complaint.

That being said let me move on to talking about "Shin Megami Tensei V". This game is...well, it takes a while to get cookin' but I did thoroughly enjoy it, so much so that after completing it I immediately restarted it to play it again. Unlike "Persona" all of the "demons" (as they're called in the game) are readily available, granted you still have to be of a certain level to fuse them but there isn't any Confidant you must complete to unlock them. Now granted the story is paper-thin but there's enough of a story to justify the game's existence. The worst aspect of this is that the stages are sometimes winding labyrinths where it's hard to figure out where you're going or get to a certain place. I ADORE the combat system in this game, not only that but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the augment system of using the Essence of characters to add to your own arsenal of attacks. Both "Persona 5" and "Shin Megami Tensei" have this feature where you can adjust the attacks of your "demons" and I hope that feature remains. Had the story had more weight to it I imagine I'd be saying much more but overall the combat system completely won me over as this is exactly what I was looking for in a JRPG. "SMTV" isn't as flashy and colorful as "Persona" and it's a lot more...not necessarily bleak but drab but that's what makes the game almost charming in a sense.

Moving right along, I wanna talk about "Persona 4", "Soul Hackers 2", and "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocture". Right outta the gate, I LOVED "Persona 4" HOWEVER, the Shuffle Time is absolute CRAP and I'd prefer the method of either negotiating with Shadows or acquiring them through fusion. Getting random Shadows through a Tarot card mini-game SOUNDS like fun on paper but is a hassle when you wind up drawing the same Shadow 3 times because the other options are trash. Maybe I'm spoiled by having played "Persona 5" first, but I like the idea of going to The Velvet Room and transmitting Shadows into either Skill Cards or using them to strengthen other Shadows (it's why I have an Angel that can lay the smackdown on every boss in the game). So aside from that aspect, "Persona 4" is good but a lot could have been done with the stage design. And this complaint isn't a case of modernity wins, "Xenosaga" had great and elaborate stage designs and those were PS2 games so I won't take the fact that it's an old game as a valid criticism (I've seen what PS2 games are capable of).

"Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocture" although the flagship game of the series and what pushed the SMT series into mainstream popularity is kind of a mixed bag for me (granted I didn't finish the game) BUT , don't see exactly why this game enjoys such a cult following. The Demi Fiend has a VERY cool design, no doubt, but I still don't feel as though there's much of a story present for me to invest in. That being said once again, stage design and the fact that enemies aren't visibly present makes the game feel hollow. Now granted that may or may not have been a designer's choice considering the world is called "The Vortex World", but if it is supposed to be this post-apocalyptic world where "demons" roam free it'd be nice to see those "demons" roaming around as opposed to watching your area map flash red when you're about to be attacked...just saying... And again this isn't a case of modernity wins, "Xenosaga" is a PS2 game as well and all enemies were present and visible on the screen to either dodge or engage. So overall that's the most frustrating thing about "SMT3".

Now let's talk about "Soul Hackers 2" and OH BOY do I have some words. For characters that are very cool and a premise that in my mind is pretty unique to the SMT series (I never played "Soul Hackers 1" and from my understanding, most of the SMT series deals primarily with fighting gods) so having a nearly god-like supercomputer attempting to prevent the end of the world by creating 2 AIs to save humanity amidst warring factions of Summoners all in a cyberpunk backdrop is PRETTY dang awesome...but oh LORDY does this manage to drop the ball. The most I can all this game is unfinished (as I have yet to finish it myself) but there is nothing in this game that feel inspired or polished and the stage design is AWFUL. You're either running around in a train station or a shipping container facility or a generic office building. The enemies appear as generic-looking pixelated dinosaur blobs, and the combat system barely saves this thing. Maybe it'd be better in a New Game Plus situation but I barely care to finish the game to get to that point. The only things that save this game are the characters and the soundtrack, and that's VERY sad. The characters are ultimately wasted on this game. Even sadder still is that when the game finally gets cooking you realize that it's almost over. There's a major revelation that happens but once it does it doesn't lead anywhere all that interesting.

Anyways that's my experience ridding The MegaTen Train, the winners of this are "Persona 5 Royal" and "Shin Megami Tensei V". I'd play "Persona 4 Golden" as well and I'm currently working on "Persona 3 Portable" but DEFINITELY check out "Persona 5 Royal", you won't regret it. That'll do it for me I am not officially a MegaTen fanboy and I'll be very interested in what else they have to offer. Here's me looking forward to the future installments, catch you guys on the flip-flop.