Your very own Shin Megami Tensei thread of choice

[Fish and Chips]

So since apparently it's okay now to like and even talk about liking Megaten games on this board, why not have a thread about it?

WHY INDEED.

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昨日の様子 by 咲原 [Link][/SIZE]

For the uninitiated, Shin Megami Tensei, abbreviated Megaten by fans and people who don't care to type out Shin Megami Tensei with much consistency, is a prominent Japanese RPG franchise, spanning several metaseries, spin-offs, and probable coke advertisements I'd imagine, and competing with such household tried-and-true names as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (usually ranking no. 3 out of that group). Whereas Dragon Quest stays firmly rooted in its classic Medieval fantasy trappings and Final Fantasy can't seem to make up it's mind, Megaten ranges flexibly from the realm of urban fantasy to science fiction existentialism, sporting customization with a healthy dose of world mythologies and collectible religions. Think Pokemon, except instead of level grinding the charmander you accidentally picked because it looked cool and now you have to fight Brock's Onyx, you teach it ice moves and beat the system. And instead of charmander it's Thor. And Brock is Lucifer. And he hits like a locomotive.

This, side-stepping the obvious cosmological difficulties of any universe where every religion on Earth ever is true, is Megaten.

For the rest of us, take this thread as an opportunity to talk about anything and everything Megaten. Discuss and recommend games past, present, and upcoming, fusion tips and tricks, boss strategies, ideological quandaries, and the recurring stigma against evil blond people wherever they may be. Feel free to share fusion builds or recipes you are particularly proud of, and, with the advent of Strange Journey arriving shortly in March, share fusion codes to help a summoner out.

Let's roll out!

[Peanut]

Feel free to share fusion builds or recipes you are particularly proud of, and, with the advent of Strange Journey arriving shortly in March, share fusion codes to help a summoner out.

I have subscribed to this thread purely for the fusion codes, which I will steal and use to beat Strange Journey after a month after all of you have put all that hard work in. And I won't share any of my fusion codes either...

I'm kidding of course...well about the not sharing fusion codes.

Anyway, Fusion builds. After playing through P4 twice and Devil Summoner 2 almost once, I've managed to come to a decent understanding of fusion theory and have come up with a few good fusion builds. Here are my favorite (mostly done from memory):

-P4: Trumpeter with Cool Breeze, Spell Master, Mind Charge, Megidoloan, Ziodyne, Elc Amp

-P4: A Beelzebub that blocks everything

-P4: A Lucifer that doesn't suck

-P4: Yoshitsune with Amrs Master...doesn't matter that its easy to make, anyone whose played this game would be proud of this build...

-DS2: Raiho...for no other reason then the fact that he is Raiho.

-DS2: My multitude of demons that have 4 elemental blade skills. I've just passed them on with each generation...

[uc pseudonym]

I played and enjoyed Devil Survivor, but this is my only foray into the series. Though I have plans to look into the others, I have yet to do so. Given that Persona 3-4 were for the PS2, that shouldn't be hard, I just have other priorities.

That having been said, if anyone has a recommendation between those two, I'll keep it in mind.

[MasterDias]

I've played through Devil Survivor and Persona 3 FES, and am currently at the end of Persona 4. I'm interested in Strange Journey, but probably won't get it at release date. What's with all these RPGs getting released in March though?

That having been said, if anyone has a recommendation between those two, I'll keep it in mind.

Well, if you only intend to to get one, I would suggest Persona 4. The core gameplay between the two is the same basically, but Persona 4 made a number of enhancements/tweaks/interface refinements that were improvements overall (ex: P4 allows full manual control of your teammates, whereas P3 does not.)
They are also longer-than-average RPGs(like 80 hours at least), so If you are pressed for time, P4 would probably be the better choice. Both are solid titles however.

Do note though, that the aforementioned enhancements would probably make their absence much more noticeable/awkward if you play P3 after P4.

[RidleyofZebes]

Ah, Shin Megami Tensei... Unfortunately, my only hands-on experience has been with Devil Survivor. Strange Journey looks like a title that I'll be picking up soon, though. That's the new one for DS, right?

[Fish and Chips]

I recently finished a New Game+ run of Persona 4 very comfortably, aided by the fact that this time around I actually understood the fusion system and was able to plan things better. Beat Margaret and everything, which was actually more difficult than the final boss (not that that's too surprising).

Most of my best fusions are in King Abaddon though, so I'll have to get back to you guys on that.

These days I'm mired deep in Devil Survivor, a game I would have told you last week I enjoyed but this week am facing the prospecting of wiping my save and starting over from square one because the difficulty curve on the last day is nigh ridiculous.

On the plus side though I've got some nice fusions, including a couple with no weaknesses who block or resist everything.