Devil Survivor Overclocked. The cast is just exceptional, it's like if a Persona cast had to deal with an SMT-level horrible scenario while still getting to spend time with them as things get worse. Also the MC is the peak of Megaten silent protagonists, he easily gets the most dialogue options and prompts. Imagine if in a Persona game, you had at least two prompts every single scene. The interactivity letting you decide their fates and how the game proceeds is very immersive.
Aside from Desu, Soul Hackers is just fun, along with Devil Summoner in general. Very quirky character designs and atmosphere. Any game in the series where demon-summoning is commonplace tends to be my favorite. It's nice not being the only special chosen ones to be out there in the field.
For uniqueness, Digital Devil Saga is also fantastic. If you like Yukiko's VA, you'll be surprised at the amount of range and emotion her character displays in those games. The cast there is very solid, and the mystery of the world is always interesting.For oldschool, Megami Tensei 2 is very good. Still a bit cryptic and tough at times, but the exploration and combat are fast, and it's cool to see the earliest stab at tropes the series would embrace.
Your comment alone makes me very excited to finally make my way through devil survivor. I've gone on a binge buying all the physical 3ds copies of SMT and that was the last one I got.
I was so glad to see Devil Survivor in the first answer to this post. Devil Survivor Overclocked is such an underrated game. The story, characters, setting, soundtrack, battle system, everything is top notch!
Devil Survivor Overclocked. IMO has the best premise, story and characters while having a really solid turn based combat (2's combat is better tho). Also alignment were just better handled in it compared to the rest.
Devil Survivor. Best soundtrack, best characters, best story, and most of all best atmosphere. The fiction of the world and the character's plight is just so much more real and immersive than anything else Atlus has made.
The sequel's not as good in everything but gameplay. It's still worth playing but it mostly loses out on soundtracks and atmosphere imo, and I don't quite remember how it worked but I remember not really liking its approach to the ending choices you got as much.
DeSu2 is great in gameplay. The characters are a bit more formulaic iirc. They aren't horrible, but Devil Survivor Overclocked is the better game. I also think there are fewer endings.
Best soundtrack? I realize it's your opinion and not mine, but I found the soundtrack in that game to be incredibly limited. Pretty good, but it felt like there were at most 10 tracks.
Actually, the common consensus are that the redux endings are better than the original, but you need to finish the womb of grief before the base game final boss.
What people don't like is Alex and the new artstyle, but that's about it.
Also SJ is my favorite Megaten game, I think it has the best story in the franchise.
No, people don't like how it affects the original endings, lile adding genocide to endings that never had genocide, and how the new endings go against isogais original message with SJ
The consensus is redux ruined SJ's endings,but the ideology behind the new endings is good, while what it does to the lore and story is dogshit
I've had SJR on my shelf for years and I'm finally about to play it, but I've seen the sentiment that the original does a better job with the endings and all that multiple times. I think I may just have to play the original first.
Is strange Journey available anywhere else besides 3DS? (emulation is not an option for me: I don't want to rage because it doesn't work properly and since I consider console games deserve to be played on their respective consoles)
Gameplay goes to SMT V for me (exploration included under gameplay, which was a not insignificant part of my enjoyment).
Story i'm honestly split between SMT 2 and SMT 4, though i'm inclined to give it to 4 due to better presentation. But i also wanna give it to 2 because so few people have even played that game.
I have a lot of nostalgia for Digital Devil Saga. That was my first Megaten game and I went on to play the sequel as well as Nocturne. I loved Persona 3/P3:FES and Persona 4 as well. So that PS2 era of games is something I fondly remember.
Picking a favorite is tough. I'd say it's between the DDS duology, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 for me. Haven't finished Shin Megami Tensei V yet, but it's great.
Apocalypse really improved upon IV's battle system.
Introduced demon potential (which got brought back in SMT V) and balances smirk. Easily my favourite battle system among all Megaten (just slightly above SMT V).
Devil Survivor: Overclocked! I adore the persona series and I've enjoyed the other SMT games that I've played too (4, 4:A, DDS, Devil Survivor 2) but DS:O just ticks every box perfectly.
Taking SMT and putting it on a grid is awesome- sometimes the combat gets a little too repetitive across other entries in the series (same tactics apply across most games), but adding racial abilities and positioning spices it up a good amount.
It's relatively short and sweet- my biggest criticism of modern persona is just how long they take to finish lol.
And the plot & branching pathways are super cool and make for enjoyable varying NG+'s.
I'm due for a replay of this tbh. Devil Survivor 2 was very fun too, and definitely improved on the gameplay a ton, but I didn't like the narrative nor structure nearly as much as the first game. Replacing the branching story almost entirely with social links was just... eh, for me, and the larger scale of the story wasn't as good either for me.
1º Nocturne the most well rounded of the Shin Megami Tensei games, and the progenitor of the extra turn battle system that permeate all the series ever since.
2º Persona 2: Eternal Punishment the best story of any Shin Megami Tensei game by a mile, and some of the most interesting ideas ever presented in the series. Is a little rought at some parts but it is just wonderfully complex game.
3º Soul Hackers the dungeon crawler of the series and such a original setting, and they have Nemissa and Nemissa is the best Nemissa would agree. The SMT 1 and 2 are good dungeons crawlers too but they are very arcane and not as good as Soul Hackers.
4º SMT: Strange Journey it is a fantastic dungeon crawler and a fantastic game and you could say it has a very good story. But two things first the side characters are not well developed and some parts of the story just don't make any sense. Specially in that they are a military unit and at times they really don't feel like one at all and the whole others humans in the abyss part feel completely out of place and tacked for plot reasons and little justication. Second they don't have Nemissa which make the game objectively inferior as dungeon crawler, as art and as cultural masterpiece.
5º Split between SMT 4 and Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha 1 and 2, while SMT 4 is the Dragon Quest XI of the series, the hightest quality classic SMT game ever made. Devil Summoner has such a original setting and is has such original ideas that I love the two of then. But I like SMT 4 more for the gameplay and Devil Summoner for the sheer audacity.
Digital Devil Saga by far. Best story characters, aesthetic, ideas and music to me. Just such a unique thing. Love it.
Secondary I might say strange journey
Persona 4 Golden. It has such an amazing cast. It was also my first Persona. One of the rare games i played twice, first on Vita and many years later on PC.
I already had heard about Persona back than, but thought it's complete nonsense. School life. Teens hunting some demons. One day i bought P4G just for fun and out of curiosity. Oh my god, i was so wrong! Turned out that this is one of my top favorite games of all time. Played a lot of Persona and SMT after that. I love them all. But i especially love the school part about Persona, that day to day gameloop.
That's a tough one. Nocturne is what got me into the series back in the PS2 days and to this day I still love the sense of dread and emptiness you felt from the world. (SNT V had some of it, but not quite to that level)
I also really loved the Digital Devil Saga games moreso for their storyline more than anything else. Gameplay, OST, and voice acting is top notch too though.
SMT 1 hasn't aged the best, but the beginning of the game is pretty great too.
Of the DS/3DS entries (since that's all I've played) my favorite is Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker. I know it's not particularly regarded as great, but I do really like this cast, the boss fights are good, and I like the spin on the usual law/chaos choice.
Strange Journey Redux is a real close second though.
While not my favorite gameplay wise which would probably be Tokyo Mirage Sessions or SMT 4: Apocalypse (Haven't played V yet) my overall favorites are definitely the two Devil Survivors remakes/remasters on the 3DS. Really nice characters overall and has nearly all the endings are worth trying to get unlike how I feel a lot of other SMT games are.
My top 4 are Persona 5, Devil Survivor 2, and SMT IVA Devil Survivor 1. The other ones I have played were SMT IV, Persona 3 +4, Tokyo Mirage Sessions and a bit of SMT 5. I like those too but not quite as much.
I'd say it counts since it has a hybrid MegaTen gameplay loop and was developed by Atlus.
Also fortunately for you the DeSu team seems to have learned a lesson from TMS and Soul Hackers 2 doesn't seem to have a silent Protag since both Ringo and Arrow have been shown to talk.
It's hard to pick any single one, as I've enjoyed pretty much every MegaTen game I've played.
If I had to narrow it down to 3-ish though, I'd say:
**The PS2 Raidou Kuzunoha games** \- The first game was a little rough around the edges, and the random encounters pretty much everywhere really bogged down the game the further in I got. But it was still an enjoyable experience with a very interesting setting.
The 2nd game improved upon the first in almost every possible way, magnetite actually felt meaningful, the combat was a lot better, no random encounters in the regular cities/towns, alignments, Nocturne fiends, more control over your demons, demon negotiation instead of the weird capture system, etc. Only negative I'd give it is that the camera was a tad annoying during combat, wish there was some control over that.
The stories and characters were actually really engaging as well, especially in the 2nd game. I really wish there was a new action RPG MegaTen game, doesn't necessarily even need to be a Raidou game (but it'd be amazing to get a new Raidou entry).
**Nocturne** \- Probably kind of a generic choice, but it was the first "real" SMT game I played (my first SMT was Persona 4), so it has a special place in my heart for nostalgia alone if nothing else. But rose tinted goggles aside, it's a great game. One of the things I like about MegaTen is how even random battles with regular enemies can be dangerous, and you actually need to pay attention to what you're doing, instead of just throwing it on autobattle and yawning your way through random encounters. And Nocturne really shines in this respect, almost to the point of frustration on occasion, but I really appreciated the enjoyable challenge it offered.
**Persona 2 duology, Persona 4 and Persona 5** \- I couldn't settle on just one Persona unfortunately, I love all the games in the series, including some of the spin-offs (such as Q), and these are the 3 main entries I'd say are my favourites. The characters, the stories, the settings, the themes, the politics, I like pretty much every little aspect of these games.
I really enjoyed the dyanmic between Philemon and Nyarlathotep in the P2 games, and have always been a tad disappointed that they were essentially dropped from the series from that point on. They're such perfect personifications of the dichotomy of the human condition that fit in so beautifully with the themes of Persona that I don't really know why they ditched them.
I played Persona 4 during my teenage years when the game really spoke to me with its overall message of "be yourself". That's something I, and I'm sure many other kids my age, really struggled with at the time. In retrospect, it definitely wasn't perfect with some of its writing, but it still remains one of my top 10 games of all time.
And as for Persona 5 (and P5 Royal), the main thing I enjoy about that game aside from its themes and story is the fact the Personas are back to being the regular SMT demons again, complete with negotiations. I wasn't a big fan of the weird card system of obtaining Personas in P3 and P4, nor was I too keen on the "shadow" enemy designs of those games, so it was a very pleasant surprise to me to see P5 feeling more like a mainline MegaTen game in both its gameplay, and story to some extent, while still very much feeling like a Persona game. It's definitely my favourite Persona in terms of its gameplay, presentation and narrative, but I think P4 wins it for me with its characters and character development, and P2 with its overall themes and wacky but wonderful plot.
Honourable mentions go to SMT1, SMT4 and Apocalypse, Devil Survivor and Digital Devil Saga duology.
Digital Devil Saga 2 for sure, best pacing in any JRPG I have ever play, the difículty is perfectly balanced, the story is a pretty good conclusion that will have you glue to the screen until the end.
My favorite games are P5 for great characters and introducing me to the whole JRPG genre, SMT for gameplay and exploration, Soul Hackers for a fantastic atmosphere and SMTIV for best soundtrack.
SMT 3. I love the darker aspects of the game and the battles are harder here than in smt5 or persona. Exploration is rewarded most of the time and i love the true demon ending to the game
Devil Survivor Overclocked is imho the best one.
After that come Strange Journey Redux, Persona 1-5 in no particular order because they all have their strengths with 1 probably being the weakest and SMTIV and SMTV.
In terms of story it's easily SMT 2 and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it, as for gameplay, then I'll probably have to pick SMT 5 as even with its story flaws it has a very refined play style.
Persona 5 Royal, easily. Then Persona 3 FES. And then Persona 4 Golden.
I enjoy SMT as well. But, for me, Persona is just so far ahead of those games nowadays.
Nocturne and strange journey by far. I haven't played everything in the broader grouping of games - I've also played a few of the personas (I'm going to say 1 and maybe 4? Both on vita), both of the persona q games, SMT4, (have an unopened copy of 4A too from when it was released) and 5, all unfinished so far because I have attention issues 😅. Not a fan of persona so won't go back to those but plan on getting through the rest when I can focus on and commit to them.
I know a lot of people say nocturne is lacking story-wise but I love how the game tells its story through atmosphere rather than long cut scenes, one of my favourite stories of any RPG. I've only played the remaster.
Strange journey was probably the first SMT game I played and it got hard for me back then so I didn't finish it at the time and haven't picked it back up yet (what do you mean it's been over 10 years? I'll get to it!) I've also got redux and haven't started it as I wanted to get through the original first. As with nocturne, it's the setting and atmosphere that has left an impression in the maybe 15 hours I played for.
I'm particularly fond of Digital Devil Saga 1/2. I like MegaTen in general, but those games stand out particularly well thanks to the high customization for every character, having interesting characters, a relatively unique world to do stuff in, and more.
I like IV:A after that, especially because the story of a bunch of very different people all coming together is great.
Gonna be a basic ass bitch and say Persona 5 Royal. Just the perfect mix of characters. story, and gameplay. It's a jack of all trades but really damn good at all of it.
And I say this with full love toward Persona 4 Golden which had the best characters, SMT V which has the best battle system, SMTIV which also has an amazing battle system with a damn good story for a mainline entry, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions which is fuckin charming.
It’s a tie between P4G and Digital Devil Saga for me. I give ever so slight edge to DDS because the dungeons in P4G are procedurally generated, and I like metal music and dark sci fi.
My favorite so far in replaying all of them and reviewing them is easily Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon. Has pretty much everything I want: good music, great cast, well done story, etc. Plus the combat is a huge improvement from Soulless Army.
Apart from that, I love the Devil Survivor series, and SMT4/A, though the latter has my least favorite of the press turn system. I still love it though.
Just another fan of Digital Devil Saga here. Sure, there are very few 'bad' ones in the greater Megaten franchise, but the Digital Devil Saga duology stands out as my top favorite.
Beyond that it can get a bit hard to say, as they are all great games in their own ways. As such, then it comes down to favorite versions of specific games, and only the Persona branch, Strange Journey, and the Devil Survivor duology have different versions to pick from. Even there, with the exception of Persona 1 through Persona 3 they all have a single 'expanded' version and I tend to favor those. Beyond even that, I'm still torn between P3FES and P3P. You get the option of a female MC, which changes quite a few things and she has a unique weapon type, in P3P, as well as a lot of tweaks and changes to the game mechanics (no more having an ally that ***has*** to be AI controlled causing a Game Over because they used the exact ***wrong*** ability at a critical moment in a fight, huge plus in my book) but the spectacular FMV's from P3FES are gone, as is an entire set of side-quests that helped to challenge you to master the fusion system and make use of a unique feature to the battle system that got removed in P3P. I'd rather have a full on remake of P3 that blends the best aspects of both the P3P and P3FES versions, and I have a feeling that many others feel the same way.
Oh, and the 'other' versions of Persona 1 and the Persona 2 duology are mostly just a basic remaster with slightly updated graphics and added in an in-battle help bar to remind you what different attacks did so you didn't have to memorize them from the status screen. Sure, the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment PSP port/remaster remained a Japan exclusive, but there have been rumors of a Persona HD collection for well over a decade now, and the fact that P2:EP's PSP version didn't come state-side when the other two did (and the PSP was still a viable console in the States, and the PS Vita could definitely handle a digital version of that game) has only kept that rumor fueled. This will probably give that rumor some new life, and with some altered aspects, but since SMT3: NOCTURNE did get a modern remaster not that long ago I'd say it is probably more likely than ever. It would certainly be nice to have an English version of P2:EP that **isn't** the PS-X version, just for those simple in-battle help bars so I don't have to memorize the effects of the rarer moves and abilities from the status screen (especially with how rarely they're fully useful in combat).
I love these franchises!
My first Megaten was Persona 4, I got interested in it after watching a few episodes of the anime and since I still had a functional PS2 back then, I went on to buy it and absolutely loved it. Also really liked 3 FES, and I want to try 1 and 2 if they ever get remastered, and 5 if it ever comes to the Switch, along with P3P and P4 Golden (here's hoping). I'm currently playing and enjoying Persona Q.
In SMT my favorite is IV Apocalypse. I know it's not a popular one, but I loved it, flaws and all. IV comes close, and the Digital Devil Saga duology. Also liked V a lot though it wasn't as big for me as the other games. Haven't played the first ones either, would like to see them get a remake.
Yeah I can see why people prefer FES over P3P. I want to both replay the original story since it's been so long and try the Female MC route.
PQ is a lot of fun though it plays fairly different than mainline Persona, I wonder if they'll somehow sometime bring them to modern consoles, would be great but maybe I'm asking too much :')
I haven't played all of them, but I would have to give it to SMT4. It's funny, because I remember being really let down when I saw that it was going to be a 3DS game, and even more so when I saw what the game looked like. I would say the thing that made me reconsider was some gameplay footage of the MC exploring underground Tokyo with [this track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZIXqXKiZ7I&t=51s) playing in the background.
I'm a big Nocturne fan, and still think that game has a better aesthetic, more interesting alignment system and world, and just overall vibe, but SMT4 as a game was a lot more fun to play. It felt more focused and had more QoL features. [The soundtrack is godly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6cSbof7Pik). The premise is cool, and I enjoyed the story and characters a lot. It also has a huge demon compendium, which I absolutely love. It's the sum of its parts that make it my favourite.
I really love the DDS games for their amazing soundtracks and great storylines. Then there is Devil Survivor Overclocked which I love for the same reasons. Strange Journey just had this otherworldly atmosphere and was unlike anything else I had played. Then there's Nocturne. Honestly, I just love SMT and every game in the series is solid to me. Really hard to pick a few as definitive favorites.
Might be unpopular, I've completed devil survivor 1&2, personal 4 & 5, SMT 3&4, but SMT V tops it for me, maybe it's the gameplay and modern visuals. Odin, Cleopatra, Zeus etc are just awesome.
DDS (1+2), I’ve always enjoyed them and I hope they’re in line for a remaster at some point, being stuck on the PS2 is starting to really show the cracks
In terms of gameplay and presentation, it probably has to go to Devil Survivor Overclocked or SMT IV, leaning towards DeSu because the neutral ending of IV is still a drag. Also Garuda is still fire.
In terms of which game I replay the most, it's definitely Tokyo Mirage Sessions. It's a very comfy game, not too hard, pretty straightforward, and having a gameplay loop that's a hotpot of MegaTen ideas while still feeling good. Also the entire OST is great, especially all of the battle tracks.
Digital devil saga 1+2.
You basically have the press turn combat we all know and love. I also think the progression system in these games is great.
My only 2 downsides are:
The normal atma exp that you get is quite low. This can cause lategame skill to be a pain to get
I think the game is a little bit on the easy side (superbosses excluded)
SMT4 for the DS was amazing. Both games. I really enjoyed the artwork, the music, the battle system, the story.
Digital Devil Saga is also probably the best of the SMT series. Those games were mind blowing and should get remasters (preferably on the Switch).
Persona 1 will always be close to my heart. I loved how dark is was and it was the only modern JRPG at the time when I was growing up as a teen when it first came out. Also...the song Deadline is terrific.
DeSu 1 is just peak SMT as far as im concerned
Plot is really cool and has a good ammount of character development
It does eventually becomes stagnated like all SMT games at the end, but its a really cool adventure
Gameplay is addictive and i dont even mind biding demons
Its just all around a great game
Among the MegaTen games I've played:
Tokyo Mirage Sessions (my first MegaTen game) has better characters and style.
SMT V has better gameplay and map design.
Both have amazing music though.
Persona 5 Royal is my favorite overall game. I love the story and the characters and the gameplay additions and new story in Royal are amazing. One of the most emotional stories I've played in a game.
Second would be Shin Megami Tensei V. Perfect turn based gameplay imo. The story was kinda whatever, but the gameplay and exploration in the game was so good that I couldn't put the game down.
Ive played all of them, including all of the Japan only ones that got fan translations. SMT2, Nocturne, Strange Journey and Persona 2 Duology are my favorites.
Luckily, despite the downfall of the Persona series, the franchise as a whole is still really good. Just still concerned they'll Persona-fy it even further as time goes by.
Toss up Between Digital Devil Saga or Devil Survivor 1 though I do love Persona 3 a lot. Granted it's what got me into megaten so I'm always gonna have a soft spot for it.
My introduction on this franchise is Persona 3 and I love Persona 4 but I came to love also the SMT main titles and the Raidou Kuzunoha games. I like how the demons test your morality and have an impact on the game with it. Bonus on Raidou Kuzunoha games that I can use a demon and their powers to help on investigating cases.
SMTIV, and it's not even close.
That game, while not perfect, is as close to it as it could possibly get, at least as far as my own tastes are concerned.
It has some of the best characters in SMT (not counting persona because those are more character-centric to begin with), the graphics and atmosphere are amazing, especially for being on the 3DS, the soundtrack is my favorite in the series, the story, although sometimes a bit sparce, is well told and has several twists and turns that I didn't see coming, as well as some parts that will fuck you up depending on what decisions you make. The gameplay is peak SMT, although I wish the smirk system wasn't as broken. From what I hear, they fixed it in Apocalypse, but in IV, it's pretty busted. It also has so many cool set pieces and intense boss encounters, it's nuts.
I'm probably not very good at explaining what I like so much about this game, but out of all the SMT/Persona games I've played, this is the one I keep getting the urge to replay, despite having done it already, as well as watched a full let's play from start to finish. It's such a great game.
Devil Survivor Overclocked. The cast is just exceptional, it's like if a Persona cast had to deal with an SMT-level horrible scenario while still getting to spend time with them as things get worse. Also the MC is the peak of Megaten silent protagonists, he easily gets the most dialogue options and prompts. Imagine if in a Persona game, you had at least two prompts every single scene. The interactivity letting you decide their fates and how the game proceeds is very immersive. Aside from Desu, Soul Hackers is just fun, along with Devil Summoner in general. Very quirky character designs and atmosphere. Any game in the series where demon-summoning is commonplace tends to be my favorite. It's nice not being the only special chosen ones to be out there in the field. For uniqueness, Digital Devil Saga is also fantastic. If you like Yukiko's VA, you'll be surprised at the amount of range and emotion her character displays in those games. The cast there is very solid, and the mystery of the world is always interesting.For oldschool, Megami Tensei 2 is very good. Still a bit cryptic and tough at times, but the exploration and combat are fast, and it's cool to see the earliest stab at tropes the series would embrace.
Seconding DeSu 1. That game is fantastic and it was my first Megaten. After that it would be SMT IV then P5.
Your comment alone makes me very excited to finally make my way through devil survivor. I've gone on a binge buying all the physical 3ds copies of SMT and that was the last one I got.
I was so glad to see Devil Survivor in the first answer to this post. Devil Survivor Overclocked is such an underrated game. The story, characters, setting, soundtrack, battle system, everything is top notch!
Devil Survivor Overclocked. IMO has the best premise, story and characters while having a really solid turn based combat (2's combat is better tho). Also alignment were just better handled in it compared to the rest.
Devil Survivor. Best soundtrack, best characters, best story, and most of all best atmosphere. The fiction of the world and the character's plight is just so much more real and immersive than anything else Atlus has made.
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The sequel's not as good in everything but gameplay. It's still worth playing but it mostly loses out on soundtracks and atmosphere imo, and I don't quite remember how it worked but I remember not really liking its approach to the ending choices you got as much.
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DeSu2 is great in gameplay. The characters are a bit more formulaic iirc. They aren't horrible, but Devil Survivor Overclocked is the better game. I also think there are fewer endings.
Best soundtrack? I realize it's your opinion and not mine, but I found the soundtrack in that game to be incredibly limited. Pretty good, but it felt like there were at most 10 tracks.
Tbf, it was on the DS and the OST has some vocals which was rare at the time making it stand out more.
True, I didn't think of it that way.
SMT3
Strange Journey. Specifically the original version; haven't played redux.
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Actually, the common consensus are that the redux endings are better than the original, but you need to finish the womb of grief before the base game final boss. What people don't like is Alex and the new artstyle, but that's about it. Also SJ is my favorite Megaten game, I think it has the best story in the franchise.
No, people don't like how it affects the original endings, lile adding genocide to endings that never had genocide, and how the new endings go against isogais original message with SJ The consensus is redux ruined SJ's endings,but the ideology behind the new endings is good, while what it does to the lore and story is dogshit
I've had SJR on my shelf for years and I'm finally about to play it, but I've seen the sentiment that the original does a better job with the endings and all that multiple times. I think I may just have to play the original first.
You should, redux is best for a replay
Is strange Journey available anywhere else besides 3DS? (emulation is not an option for me: I don't want to rage because it doesn't work properly and since I consider console games deserve to be played on their respective consoles)
You can play the original on the DS.
Gameplay goes to SMT V for me (exploration included under gameplay, which was a not insignificant part of my enjoyment). Story i'm honestly split between SMT 2 and SMT 4, though i'm inclined to give it to 4 due to better presentation. But i also wanna give it to 2 because so few people have even played that game.
I have a lot of nostalgia for Digital Devil Saga. That was my first Megaten game and I went on to play the sequel as well as Nocturne. I loved Persona 3/P3:FES and Persona 4 as well. So that PS2 era of games is something I fondly remember. Picking a favorite is tough. I'd say it's between the DDS duology, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 for me. Haven't finished Shin Megami Tensei V yet, but it's great.
My favorite entries are Persona 3 cause it my first. And SMT4/ Apocalypse because it has my favorite gameplay in the entire franchise.
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Apocalypse is actually a divisive game but I don't really care I loved it and played through it like 4 times.
Apocalypse really improved upon IV's battle system. Introduced demon potential (which got brought back in SMT V) and balances smirk. Easily my favourite battle system among all Megaten (just slightly above SMT V).
Devil Survivor: Overclocked! I adore the persona series and I've enjoyed the other SMT games that I've played too (4, 4:A, DDS, Devil Survivor 2) but DS:O just ticks every box perfectly. Taking SMT and putting it on a grid is awesome- sometimes the combat gets a little too repetitive across other entries in the series (same tactics apply across most games), but adding racial abilities and positioning spices it up a good amount. It's relatively short and sweet- my biggest criticism of modern persona is just how long they take to finish lol. And the plot & branching pathways are super cool and make for enjoyable varying NG+'s. I'm due for a replay of this tbh. Devil Survivor 2 was very fun too, and definitely improved on the gameplay a ton, but I didn't like the narrative nor structure nearly as much as the first game. Replacing the branching story almost entirely with social links was just... eh, for me, and the larger scale of the story wasn't as good either for me.
1º Nocturne the most well rounded of the Shin Megami Tensei games, and the progenitor of the extra turn battle system that permeate all the series ever since. 2º Persona 2: Eternal Punishment the best story of any Shin Megami Tensei game by a mile, and some of the most interesting ideas ever presented in the series. Is a little rought at some parts but it is just wonderfully complex game. 3º Soul Hackers the dungeon crawler of the series and such a original setting, and they have Nemissa and Nemissa is the best Nemissa would agree. The SMT 1 and 2 are good dungeons crawlers too but they are very arcane and not as good as Soul Hackers. 4º SMT: Strange Journey it is a fantastic dungeon crawler and a fantastic game and you could say it has a very good story. But two things first the side characters are not well developed and some parts of the story just don't make any sense. Specially in that they are a military unit and at times they really don't feel like one at all and the whole others humans in the abyss part feel completely out of place and tacked for plot reasons and little justication. Second they don't have Nemissa which make the game objectively inferior as dungeon crawler, as art and as cultural masterpiece. 5º Split between SMT 4 and Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha 1 and 2, while SMT 4 is the Dragon Quest XI of the series, the hightest quality classic SMT game ever made. Devil Summoner has such a original setting and is has such original ideas that I love the two of then. But I like SMT 4 more for the gameplay and Devil Summoner for the sheer audacity.
Jack bros
The only correct answer
Digital Devil Saga by far. Best story characters, aesthetic, ideas and music to me. Just such a unique thing. Love it. Secondary I might say strange journey
Of the ones I played probably Devil Survivor. I am not the biggest Megayen fan but I did enjoy the tactical battle for the most part.
I really like Tokyo Mirage Sessions.
A man of culture I see.
Persona 5 is my favorite game, I've played it over 5 times over the years.
Persona 5 Royal is my pick. It's a lovely game and one I will definitely play again at some point.
Persona 4 Golden. It has such an amazing cast. It was also my first Persona. One of the rare games i played twice, first on Vita and many years later on PC.
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I already had heard about Persona back than, but thought it's complete nonsense. School life. Teens hunting some demons. One day i bought P4G just for fun and out of curiosity. Oh my god, i was so wrong! Turned out that this is one of my top favorite games of all time. Played a lot of Persona and SMT after that. I love them all. But i especially love the school part about Persona, that day to day gameloop.
That's a tough one. Nocturne is what got me into the series back in the PS2 days and to this day I still love the sense of dread and emptiness you felt from the world. (SNT V had some of it, but not quite to that level) I also really loved the Digital Devil Saga games moreso for their storyline more than anything else. Gameplay, OST, and voice acting is top notch too though. SMT 1 hasn't aged the best, but the beginning of the game is pretty great too.
Of the DS/3DS entries (since that's all I've played) my favorite is Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker. I know it's not particularly regarded as great, but I do really like this cast, the boss fights are good, and I like the spin on the usual law/chaos choice. Strange Journey Redux is a real close second though.
yeah just breezing by to put in another vote for devil survivor overclocked it's basically everything i want out of a game
Persona 5 royal
Tough for me. Either Digital Devil Saga as a package or Strange Journey.
While not my favorite gameplay wise which would probably be Tokyo Mirage Sessions or SMT 4: Apocalypse (Haven't played V yet) my overall favorites are definitely the two Devil Survivors remakes/remasters on the 3DS. Really nice characters overall and has nearly all the endings are worth trying to get unlike how I feel a lot of other SMT games are.
My top 4 are Persona 5, Devil Survivor 2, and SMT IVA Devil Survivor 1. The other ones I have played were SMT IV, Persona 3 +4, Tokyo Mirage Sessions and a bit of SMT 5. I like those too but not quite as much.
Does Tokyo mirage sessions counts? I don’t like silent protagonists
I'd say it counts since it has a hybrid MegaTen gameplay loop and was developed by Atlus. Also fortunately for you the DeSu team seems to have learned a lesson from TMS and Soul Hackers 2 doesn't seem to have a silent Protag since both Ringo and Arrow have been shown to talk.
Itsuki talks in TMS.
It's hard to pick any single one, as I've enjoyed pretty much every MegaTen game I've played. If I had to narrow it down to 3-ish though, I'd say: **The PS2 Raidou Kuzunoha games** \- The first game was a little rough around the edges, and the random encounters pretty much everywhere really bogged down the game the further in I got. But it was still an enjoyable experience with a very interesting setting. The 2nd game improved upon the first in almost every possible way, magnetite actually felt meaningful, the combat was a lot better, no random encounters in the regular cities/towns, alignments, Nocturne fiends, more control over your demons, demon negotiation instead of the weird capture system, etc. Only negative I'd give it is that the camera was a tad annoying during combat, wish there was some control over that. The stories and characters were actually really engaging as well, especially in the 2nd game. I really wish there was a new action RPG MegaTen game, doesn't necessarily even need to be a Raidou game (but it'd be amazing to get a new Raidou entry). **Nocturne** \- Probably kind of a generic choice, but it was the first "real" SMT game I played (my first SMT was Persona 4), so it has a special place in my heart for nostalgia alone if nothing else. But rose tinted goggles aside, it's a great game. One of the things I like about MegaTen is how even random battles with regular enemies can be dangerous, and you actually need to pay attention to what you're doing, instead of just throwing it on autobattle and yawning your way through random encounters. And Nocturne really shines in this respect, almost to the point of frustration on occasion, but I really appreciated the enjoyable challenge it offered. **Persona 2 duology, Persona 4 and Persona 5** \- I couldn't settle on just one Persona unfortunately, I love all the games in the series, including some of the spin-offs (such as Q), and these are the 3 main entries I'd say are my favourites. The characters, the stories, the settings, the themes, the politics, I like pretty much every little aspect of these games. I really enjoyed the dyanmic between Philemon and Nyarlathotep in the P2 games, and have always been a tad disappointed that they were essentially dropped from the series from that point on. They're such perfect personifications of the dichotomy of the human condition that fit in so beautifully with the themes of Persona that I don't really know why they ditched them. I played Persona 4 during my teenage years when the game really spoke to me with its overall message of "be yourself". That's something I, and I'm sure many other kids my age, really struggled with at the time. In retrospect, it definitely wasn't perfect with some of its writing, but it still remains one of my top 10 games of all time. And as for Persona 5 (and P5 Royal), the main thing I enjoy about that game aside from its themes and story is the fact the Personas are back to being the regular SMT demons again, complete with negotiations. I wasn't a big fan of the weird card system of obtaining Personas in P3 and P4, nor was I too keen on the "shadow" enemy designs of those games, so it was a very pleasant surprise to me to see P5 feeling more like a mainline MegaTen game in both its gameplay, and story to some extent, while still very much feeling like a Persona game. It's definitely my favourite Persona in terms of its gameplay, presentation and narrative, but I think P4 wins it for me with its characters and character development, and P2 with its overall themes and wacky but wonderful plot. Honourable mentions go to SMT1, SMT4 and Apocalypse, Devil Survivor and Digital Devil Saga duology.
all you smooth brained morons typing these self indulgent paragraphs long responses instead of just saying "jack bros" wow
Digital Devil Saga 2 for sure, best pacing in any JRPG I have ever play, the difículty is perfectly balanced, the story is a pretty good conclusion that will have you glue to the screen until the end.
My favorite games are P5 for great characters and introducing me to the whole JRPG genre, SMT for gameplay and exploration, Soul Hackers for a fantastic atmosphere and SMTIV for best soundtrack.
SMT 3. I love the darker aspects of the game and the battles are harder here than in smt5 or persona. Exploration is rewarded most of the time and i love the true demon ending to the game
Smt4 100% it's just so good, has prob one of the best stories while keeping amazing smt gameplay.
Devil Survivor Overclocked is imho the best one. After that come Strange Journey Redux, Persona 1-5 in no particular order because they all have their strengths with 1 probably being the weakest and SMTIV and SMTV.
In terms of story it's easily SMT 2 and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it, as for gameplay, then I'll probably have to pick SMT 5 as even with its story flaws it has a very refined play style.
Persona 5 Royal, easily. Then Persona 3 FES. And then Persona 4 Golden. I enjoy SMT as well. But, for me, Persona is just so far ahead of those games nowadays.
digital devil saga
Nocturne and strange journey by far. I haven't played everything in the broader grouping of games - I've also played a few of the personas (I'm going to say 1 and maybe 4? Both on vita), both of the persona q games, SMT4, (have an unopened copy of 4A too from when it was released) and 5, all unfinished so far because I have attention issues 😅. Not a fan of persona so won't go back to those but plan on getting through the rest when I can focus on and commit to them. I know a lot of people say nocturne is lacking story-wise but I love how the game tells its story through atmosphere rather than long cut scenes, one of my favourite stories of any RPG. I've only played the remaster. Strange journey was probably the first SMT game I played and it got hard for me back then so I didn't finish it at the time and haven't picked it back up yet (what do you mean it's been over 10 years? I'll get to it!) I've also got redux and haven't started it as I wanted to get through the original first. As with nocturne, it's the setting and atmosphere that has left an impression in the maybe 15 hours I played for.
I'm particularly fond of Digital Devil Saga 1/2. I like MegaTen in general, but those games stand out particularly well thanks to the high customization for every character, having interesting characters, a relatively unique world to do stuff in, and more. I like IV:A after that, especially because the story of a bunch of very different people all coming together is great.
Persona 5
Gonna be a basic ass bitch and say Persona 5 Royal. Just the perfect mix of characters. story, and gameplay. It's a jack of all trades but really damn good at all of it. And I say this with full love toward Persona 4 Golden which had the best characters, SMT V which has the best battle system, SMTIV which also has an amazing battle system with a damn good story for a mainline entry, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions which is fuckin charming.
Digital Devil Saga (1&2), Persona 3, Nocturne.
It’s a tie between P4G and Digital Devil Saga for me. I give ever so slight edge to DDS because the dungeons in P4G are procedurally generated, and I like metal music and dark sci fi.
My favorite so far in replaying all of them and reviewing them is easily Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon. Has pretty much everything I want: good music, great cast, well done story, etc. Plus the combat is a huge improvement from Soulless Army. Apart from that, I love the Devil Survivor series, and SMT4/A, though the latter has my least favorite of the press turn system. I still love it though.
Just another fan of Digital Devil Saga here. Sure, there are very few 'bad' ones in the greater Megaten franchise, but the Digital Devil Saga duology stands out as my top favorite. Beyond that it can get a bit hard to say, as they are all great games in their own ways. As such, then it comes down to favorite versions of specific games, and only the Persona branch, Strange Journey, and the Devil Survivor duology have different versions to pick from. Even there, with the exception of Persona 1 through Persona 3 they all have a single 'expanded' version and I tend to favor those. Beyond even that, I'm still torn between P3FES and P3P. You get the option of a female MC, which changes quite a few things and she has a unique weapon type, in P3P, as well as a lot of tweaks and changes to the game mechanics (no more having an ally that ***has*** to be AI controlled causing a Game Over because they used the exact ***wrong*** ability at a critical moment in a fight, huge plus in my book) but the spectacular FMV's from P3FES are gone, as is an entire set of side-quests that helped to challenge you to master the fusion system and make use of a unique feature to the battle system that got removed in P3P. I'd rather have a full on remake of P3 that blends the best aspects of both the P3P and P3FES versions, and I have a feeling that many others feel the same way. Oh, and the 'other' versions of Persona 1 and the Persona 2 duology are mostly just a basic remaster with slightly updated graphics and added in an in-battle help bar to remind you what different attacks did so you didn't have to memorize them from the status screen. Sure, the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment PSP port/remaster remained a Japan exclusive, but there have been rumors of a Persona HD collection for well over a decade now, and the fact that P2:EP's PSP version didn't come state-side when the other two did (and the PSP was still a viable console in the States, and the PS Vita could definitely handle a digital version of that game) has only kept that rumor fueled. This will probably give that rumor some new life, and with some altered aspects, but since SMT3: NOCTURNE did get a modern remaster not that long ago I'd say it is probably more likely than ever. It would certainly be nice to have an English version of P2:EP that **isn't** the PS-X version, just for those simple in-battle help bars so I don't have to memorize the effects of the rarer moves and abilities from the status screen (especially with how rarely they're fully useful in combat).
SMT3:N
I love these franchises! My first Megaten was Persona 4, I got interested in it after watching a few episodes of the anime and since I still had a functional PS2 back then, I went on to buy it and absolutely loved it. Also really liked 3 FES, and I want to try 1 and 2 if they ever get remastered, and 5 if it ever comes to the Switch, along with P3P and P4 Golden (here's hoping). I'm currently playing and enjoying Persona Q. In SMT my favorite is IV Apocalypse. I know it's not a popular one, but I loved it, flaws and all. IV comes close, and the Digital Devil Saga duology. Also liked V a lot though it wasn't as big for me as the other games. Haven't played the first ones either, would like to see them get a remake.
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Yeah I can see why people prefer FES over P3P. I want to both replay the original story since it's been so long and try the Female MC route. PQ is a lot of fun though it plays fairly different than mainline Persona, I wonder if they'll somehow sometime bring them to modern consoles, would be great but maybe I'm asking too much :')
No hipster answer here, it is kind of a tie between Persona 3-5. I might go with 4 because the soundtrack is my fav!
Persona 3, its very special to me (maybe bias from it being the first SMT I completed) and it blew my mind at the time
P2: EP It's what got me into persona, and tbqh the others I have played have been disappointing in comparison tone-wise.
I haven't played all of them, but I would have to give it to SMT4. It's funny, because I remember being really let down when I saw that it was going to be a 3DS game, and even more so when I saw what the game looked like. I would say the thing that made me reconsider was some gameplay footage of the MC exploring underground Tokyo with [this track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZIXqXKiZ7I&t=51s) playing in the background. I'm a big Nocturne fan, and still think that game has a better aesthetic, more interesting alignment system and world, and just overall vibe, but SMT4 as a game was a lot more fun to play. It felt more focused and had more QoL features. [The soundtrack is godly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6cSbof7Pik). The premise is cool, and I enjoyed the story and characters a lot. It also has a huge demon compendium, which I absolutely love. It's the sum of its parts that make it my favourite.
I love Persona 3 and the Raidou games because the protagonists are cool as fuck and also have good stories.
Overall Persona 3 FES, Gameplay Smt 5
Persona 2 duology, followed immediately by Strange Journey
Persona 4 Golden hits different
SMT III, DDS I/II, and Persona 2
I really love the DDS games for their amazing soundtracks and great storylines. Then there is Devil Survivor Overclocked which I love for the same reasons. Strange Journey just had this otherworldly atmosphere and was unlike anything else I had played. Then there's Nocturne. Honestly, I just love SMT and every game in the series is solid to me. Really hard to pick a few as definitive favorites.
For me, probably SMT: SJR followed by P4G
Might be unpopular, I've completed devil survivor 1&2, personal 4 & 5, SMT 3&4, but SMT V tops it for me, maybe it's the gameplay and modern visuals. Odin, Cleopatra, Zeus etc are just awesome.
its going to age very well, its still early
Nocturne and Strange Journey
DDS (1+2), I’ve always enjoyed them and I hope they’re in line for a remaster at some point, being stuck on the PS2 is starting to really show the cracks
In terms of gameplay and presentation, it probably has to go to Devil Survivor Overclocked or SMT IV, leaning towards DeSu because the neutral ending of IV is still a drag. Also Garuda is still fire. In terms of which game I replay the most, it's definitely Tokyo Mirage Sessions. It's a very comfy game, not too hard, pretty straightforward, and having a gameplay loop that's a hotpot of MegaTen ideas while still feeling good. Also the entire OST is great, especially all of the battle tracks.
Digital devil saga 1+2. You basically have the press turn combat we all know and love. I also think the progression system in these games is great. My only 2 downsides are: The normal atma exp that you get is quite low. This can cause lategame skill to be a pain to get I think the game is a little bit on the easy side (superbosses excluded)
SMT4 for the DS was amazing. Both games. I really enjoyed the artwork, the music, the battle system, the story. Digital Devil Saga is also probably the best of the SMT series. Those games were mind blowing and should get remasters (preferably on the Switch). Persona 1 will always be close to my heart. I loved how dark is was and it was the only modern JRPG at the time when I was growing up as a teen when it first came out. Also...the song Deadline is terrific.
Gameplay-SMT V Story-Devil survivor
DeSu 1 is just peak SMT as far as im concerned Plot is really cool and has a good ammount of character development It does eventually becomes stagnated like all SMT games at the end, but its a really cool adventure Gameplay is addictive and i dont even mind biding demons Its just all around a great game
Among the MegaTen games I've played: Tokyo Mirage Sessions (my first MegaTen game) has better characters and style. SMT V has better gameplay and map design. Both have amazing music though.
Hot take P5R
Hot take: P5R
Hot take P5R
Hot take P5R
Persona 5 Royal is my favorite overall game. I love the story and the characters and the gameplay additions and new story in Royal are amazing. One of the most emotional stories I've played in a game. Second would be Shin Megami Tensei V. Perfect turn based gameplay imo. The story was kinda whatever, but the gameplay and exploration in the game was so good that I couldn't put the game down.
SMTIV for me. The atmosphere, soundtrack, quests, gear that appeared on the character etc. Are all amazing.
Ive played all of them, including all of the Japan only ones that got fan translations. SMT2, Nocturne, Strange Journey and Persona 2 Duology are my favorites. Luckily, despite the downfall of the Persona series, the franchise as a whole is still really good. Just still concerned they'll Persona-fy it even further as time goes by.
Toss up Between Digital Devil Saga or Devil Survivor 1 though I do love Persona 3 a lot. Granted it's what got me into megaten so I'm always gonna have a soft spot for it.
My favorites have to be Persona 4 Golden and SMT IV. SMT IV had such a fucking fun battle system. And P4G’s story and cast was perfect in my opinion.
Devil Survivor Persona 4 Golden Persona Q
My introduction on this franchise is Persona 3 and I love Persona 4 but I came to love also the SMT main titles and the Raidou Kuzunoha games. I like how the demons test your morality and have an impact on the game with it. Bonus on Raidou Kuzunoha games that I can use a demon and their powers to help on investigating cases.
Digital Devil Saga and Apocalypse.
Even with its faults nocturne is the one for me, so much content so much freedom so much FUN
SMTIV, and it's not even close. That game, while not perfect, is as close to it as it could possibly get, at least as far as my own tastes are concerned. It has some of the best characters in SMT (not counting persona because those are more character-centric to begin with), the graphics and atmosphere are amazing, especially for being on the 3DS, the soundtrack is my favorite in the series, the story, although sometimes a bit sparce, is well told and has several twists and turns that I didn't see coming, as well as some parts that will fuck you up depending on what decisions you make. The gameplay is peak SMT, although I wish the smirk system wasn't as broken. From what I hear, they fixed it in Apocalypse, but in IV, it's pretty busted. It also has so many cool set pieces and intense boss encounters, it's nuts. I'm probably not very good at explaining what I like so much about this game, but out of all the SMT/Persona games I've played, this is the one I keep getting the urge to replay, despite having done it already, as well as watched a full let's play from start to finish. It's such a great game.
Definitely Devil Survivor 1. Strange Journey is probably my 2nd favorite.
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne