I've heard Nocturne is pretty tough. But I've always wanted to play Digital Devil Saga and I always have it in my Amazon cart. 
My Obsession with the SMT Universe.
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 On 03/24/2013 at 05:38 PM by mothman See More From This User » |
This blog is inspired by Leeradical42's writings regarding his obsession with Devi Summoner.
http://www.pixlbit.com/blog/1181/my_obsession_with_the_devil_summoner_series
It made me realize that I've been obsessed with all things SMT related for a long time.
Way back in 2004 I got wind of a new RPG coming to North America. That game was Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, the third game in the SMT series but the first to be released here in the Western world.
I knew nothing about it but my RPG obsession and the relatively underground hype surrounding the game prompted me to slap down my cash for the preorder. The preorder came with a 400 page strategy guide which is the size of a paperback novel. I was elated over the quality of the guide until I actually tried to read it. Unfortunately the book is so badly bound that pages fall out of it like the leaves from a tree in the autumn wind. For whatever reason I kept it and all the loose pages are still in there.
Once I started to play Nocturne I was hooked and my obession with the SMT Universe continues to this day. I love the demon compendium and the fusions, the lore and the supernatural stories. To SMT purists Digital Devil Saga, Persona, Devil Summoner and Devil Survivor are not considered to be "real" SMT games and Strange Journey might be. To them I give a resounding raspberry and both my middle fingers. I may not know my main SMT games but I know what I like.
Below is my copy of Nocturne (2004 NA release) with the guide, Digital Devil Saga 1 (2005) and 2 (2005) with the original Deluxe box and soundtracks for DDS 2. The soundtrack for DDS is around somewhere but I need to look for it. To the right of those is my preorder copy of Persona 3 (2007) with outer cover, soundtrack and hardcover art book. Beside that is the FES version of P3 (2008) which included an epilogue called "The Answer" Persona 3 Portable was released for the PSP in 2009 and I only have a digital copy of that one.
This next picture concludes the PS2 installments and moves on to the portable games. Persona 4 (2008) remains my favourite Persona and possibly my favourite SMT related game. I rarely feel the "post partum" depression that P4 left me with. For at least a month no other game was ever going to interest me for no other game would ever compare. I managed to get over it but I still miss all the friends I made in Persona 4.
Underneath P4 are my two Devil Summoner games (2006 and 2009) and to the right is the Raiho plushie that came with the second one. I am ashamed to say that I did not put enough time into either game to qualify as actually playing them. I must rectify that before someone buys them from me. While the other games in the series take the turn based route these are action RPGs with a totally unique flavour to them.
Handheld SMT games
I missed Persona and Persona 2 from the PSX era (1996 and 1999) so my first taste of them was through the PSP remakes (2009 and 2011). The second half of Persona 2 subtitled Eternal Punishment was never released over here as a PSP game but a couple of weeks back we were lucky enough to get it as a PSN download. Of course I had to download it even though neither of the PSP entries has grabbed me yet. Warning: Other than the high school kids the first 2 games bear little resemblance to 3 and 4. Nevertheless I have both the PSP games with soundtracks.
Strange Journey (2010) for the DS is another one I picked up at launch. It came with a soundtrack. It's a first person dungeon crawler but still keeps the trappings of the SMT universe.
Devil Survivor (2009) and Devil Survivor Overclocked (2011) are SRPG/RPG hybrids. Battles are played on a grid but once you engage an enemy it switches to a turn based RPG battle system. Overclocked for the 3DS adds an extra day to the game and features a 3D intro. Everything else is essentially the same as the original.
Devil Survivor 2 (2012) is not pictured here because some bugger just bought it from me. A 3DS version is due this year/
Well that about concludes my introduction to the SMT universe. I hope you find it useful.
- Peter
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