PS1/2 How are the SMT titles?

[InuYasha]

I did enjoy the DS ones,so how do the PS2 games stack up? are they enjoyable?

 

[kevan]

The Persona series is awesome

 

[DeltaBladeX]

I only own Lucifer's Call / Nocturne and Persona 4 myself for PS2. Persona 4 was okay, but if you just want a dungeon crawler like I did, dealing with the story sections can get annoying at times. Nocturne was more fun, and you can better customize your teams.

 

[emigre]

I own Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 and the Persona 3 FES and Persona 4.

I've only gotten around to playing Nocturne and the Persona games and I've enjoyed them. I liked the minimalist feeling of Nocturne and the variables they placed on the battle system. My only issue was the encounter rate was fucking irritating at times. DDS has the same game engine as Nocturne.

Persona 3 and 4 are Persona 3 and 4. you make social links and grind.

 

[xist]

Nocturne (or Lucifers Call) feels immensely empty and whilst it's enjoyable it lacks a real level of player connection that most amazing RPG's possess. Digital Devil Saga is ok (i enjoyed it more than Nocturne) although it changes the established template SMT demon template and introduces something akin to FFX's sphere grid....the story is also a lot more fleshed out than the somewhat lacking Nocturne. Digital Devil Saga 2 takes everything that was good about the first and breaks it....i can't tell you how much of a let down it is when directly compared to the first. Plus the ending stands out as being AWFUL.


Persona 3 FES is (arguably) by far the best on the PS2. It has a great story, good characters (best of the games mentioned) and a nice power up system in the form of social links, and of course it re-introduces the good old fashioned demon system. Some people complained about the combat AI (you don't control your comrades) but on the whole they're good and rarely will you lose a battle because of them. The other issue people had was the slightly grind nature of the dungeon system but given that there are no random encounters and enemies will even flee from you if you're powerful, it has by far the best encounter system of just about any RPG i've played.The bonus dungeon The Answer (in FES) is also a superb way to round off the story and very fun in a slightly different way.

P4......well it's good, and probably my second favourite on the PS2, but enjoying P4 more than 3 depends on how much you like Scooby Doo and stupid characters. P4 has a much more restrictive dungeon exploring regime, less endearing characters (opinion) a poorer story and a slightly less efficient encounter system. It is nice and colourful though and you do manually control all your characters in combat, plus the Social Link system makes a return. By no means are these points major (i'm just emphasising how i marked it down) but overall it feels like a bit of a side step rather than an evolution from 3. Additionally where P3's non-human character was awesome, P4's is cack and makes an annoying noise when he talks (his voice!) and walks (squeak squeak).

In short P3 FES > P4 > DDS just > Nocturne > DDS2

 

[InuYasha]

I was considering P4 for awhile,I should of grabbed it off amazon when was 20 bucks brand new,it's up to 27.88 last I checked,are the sound tracks for P3/P4 any good?

 

[xist]

Depends on your taste in music. In game i really liked them, especially 3's, but even though i pre-ordered both and have the Soundtracks i've never managed to sit through them as pure listening experiences.

 

[exangel]

I own DDS1&2, but I've only played a good deal through DDS1 (wanting to beat it before starting DDS2). I think I was about 7/10 of the way through the game, seeing a conceivable end, when I got stuck in a labyrinth type puzzle that, though I'm sure I could've solved it without external help, I was first driven to using a FAQ to speed up progress, and later, actually bought two different cheat devices TRYING TO TURN OFF RANDOM ENCOUNTERS. The excessive nature of them drove me batshit insane to the point that I gave up, even with infinite uses of the "lower your random encounters temporarily item," I still couldn't regain my patience with the game. I wanted to see the end, but I had spent so much time trying to resolve my irritation with a game mechanic that just broke the Solving-the-Labyrinth experience for me that I couldn't inflict that game upon myself any more.

Persona 3 FES looks very good, but role-playing a teenage boy is terribly boring to me as an adult woman.

/Opinion

P.S. I loved all of the music, especially in DDS1 - I got the original release special boxed version which came with the soundtrack, and my favorite theme song is for the temple area called Sahasrara.

 

[InuYasha]

Ok I picked up P3fes and P4 in the past few months loved them both,now i'm turning my attention to poss. picking up both DDS titles,I watched like 90 videos of part 1 and stopped cause I didn't want to spoil anything else incase I decided to buy it,anyway are there any differences between part 1 and part 2?

 

[machomuu]

P4......well it's good, and probably my second favourite on the PS2, but enjoying P4 more than 3 depends on how much you like Scooby Doo and stupid characters. P4 has a much more restrictive dungeon exploring regime, less endearing characters (opinion) a poorer story and a slightly less efficient encounter system. It is nice and colourful though and you do manually control all your characters in combat, plus the Social Link system makes a return. By no means are these points major (i'm just emphasising how i marked it down) but overall it feels like a bit of a side step rather than an evolution from 3. Additionally where P3's non-human character was awesome, P4's is cack and makes an annoying noise when he talks (his voice!) and walks (squeak squeak).

...Have you actually played Persona 4, or are you just underrating it to the best of your ability so he won't play it.

Anyway, I recommend P3 and 4, as well as Devil Summoner (a very unique ARPG). Strange Journey is also a great entry into the series, even if you don't like dungeon crawlers you should give this one a shot. Also, one from when I was younger that for years I didn't even know was an SMT title, DemiKids. The games are pretty good (though, looking back, the kid's obsession with demons is a little...) but the difficulty can be punishing (likely because I didn't facilitate the Compendium and Fusion system, I was 5-7, so I didn't really use stuff like that). Of course, DDS is great and DDS2 is even better (it just does so many things right, can't recommend it enough), but above all I recommend P4 (though you already have it, so I have no need to elaborate).

 

[Qtis]

DDS 1+2 and Nocturne here. I'd recommend them with same types of opinions as a few others have mentioned so I'll not say them again. Worth the $$, especially since they're about $10 new, possibly less.

 

[InuYasha]

DDS 1+2 and Nocturne here. I'd recommend them with same types of opinions as a few others have mentioned so I'll not say them again. Worth the $$, especially since they're about $10 new, possibly less.

Hell I wish I could find them for 10 bucks a piece new...

 

[machomuu]

Ok I picked up P3fes and P4 in the past few months loved them both,now i'm turning my attention to poss. picking up both DDS titles,I watched like 90 videos of part 1 and stopped cause I didn't want to spoil anything else incase I decided to buy it,anyway are there any differences between part 1 and part 2?

You really won't notice most of the differences between 1 and two unless you play 1 first, and then 2 later. That said, in my opinion 2 improves on 1 quite a bit, it's definitely worth a buy.

 

[exangel]

Maybe i'll just start up DDS2 when I get hookups for my PS2

(Update to my previous comment): I got Persona 3 Portable because Devin told me that you can play through it as a girl in that version and I love it. Got it on my Vita & played it more than my Vita games so far! Looking forward to the P4 re-release even if I do have to play as a dude. I didn't think I'd like the "pet/monster/demon collecting RPG" style but the theme and the fact I started out on DDS1 as my first SMT game, made it far more palatable.

 

[xist]

...Have you actually played Persona 4, or are you just underrating it to the best of your ability so he won't play it.

Anyway, I recommend P3 and 4, as well as Devil Summoner (a very unique ARPG). Strange Journey is also a great entry into the series, even if you don't like dungeon crawlers you should give this one a shot. Also, one from when I was younger that for years I didn't even know was an SMT title, DemiKids. The games are pretty good (though, looking back, the kid's obsession with demons is a little...) but the difficulty can be punishing (likely because I didn't facilitate the Compendium and Fusion system, I was 5-7, so I didn't really use stuff like that). Of course, DDS is great and DDS2 is even better (it just does so many things right, can't recommend it enough), but above all I recommend P4 (though you already have it, so I have no need to elaborate).

Given that you're rating DDS2 as a great game, and better than the first one we're never going to agree (DDS2 was downright awful..and since the storylines are contiguous how can you recommend someone skip the first one?). Plus you're not actually pointing out any flaws in my argument that P4 is inferior in many ways to P3, which kind of undermines you point. (oh and re-reading my post and then your questioning whether i've actually played it just seems like you spoiling for an argument as it seems pretty damn obvious i've played it....)

I OWN P4, in fact i pre-ordered it, which if anything commits me to having a real opinion as i paid actual money for it (same goes for P3 FES). Primarily the characters in P4 are worse, the storyline is poorer and the dungeon mechanic is inferior....plus the social links tended to be a bit hit and miss. Don't get me wrong, P4 is good, better than the DDS games, Devil Summoner and Nocturne/Lucifers Call, but it's not so much an improvement on 3 as a sidestep, which is good for some and bad for others.

 

[machomuu]

I could go on about why I like Persona 4 more, but I won't because this thread isn't about that, and since the OP already said that he has them both. Maybe someday I'll do an in-depth comparison, but if I just talked about why I like one over the other an argument would ensu, something I really don't feel like doing right now. Also, regarding DDS, I can't I never said which one I liked more, I just said that DDS1 is improved on in DDS2, and is worth the buy.

Also, since we're still talking SMT, Devil Survivor 2 is a great game, and probably one of the most punishing SMT games there is. The story is great; it's very different from the first one while still holding onto the base concept. This title does not have music by Shoji Meguro, but the music is still very well done, better than I was expecting. The battles are difficult, the characters are likable...just give the game a shot.

 

[InuYasha]

Seems most of the SMT titles are 20 bucks again,which is weird cause amazon had the same sale not to long ago then a few days later they were back to the normal 24-25$ range...

 

[relminator]

I was considering P4 for awhile,I should of grabbed it off amazon when was 20 bucks brand new,it's up to 27.88 last I checked,are the sound tracks for P3/P4 any good?

While most people liked P3FES more than P4, the same could not be said of me. I really enjoyed P4 (2nd only to FFXII). of course, they had not had good characters but I liked its story and pace more than P3FES. That is not to say I didn't like P3FES. I own P3FES and P3 Portable and I enjoyed them immensely.

As for the music, all you need to do is listen to the techno version of one of the songs in the CD and you'll get hooked.

 

[machomuu]

I was considering P4 for awhile,I should of grabbed it off amazon when was 20 bucks brand new,it's up to 27.88 last I checked,are the sound tracks for P3/P4 any good?

While most people liked P3FES more than P4, the same could not be said of me. I really enjoyed P4 (2nd only to FFXII). of course, they had not had good characters but I liked its story and pace more than P3FES. That is not to say I didn't like P3FES. I own P3FES and P3 Portable and I enjoyed them immensely.

As for the music, all you need to do is listen to the techno version of one of the songs in the CD and you'll get hooked.

I dunno about that, ever since Atlus started overcapitalizing on P4 with Arena, The Animation, Nevermore Reincarnation, and The Golden, far more people have become interested in P4 over the year and a half period, so I wouldn't say "most", but I can't say how many, either.