Good Megami Tensei game to start with?

[Lanlan]

So the announcement of SMT x FE has piqued my interest in the Megami Tensei franchise. But what game should I start with? I have absolutely no knowledge of these games, other than the fact that it's an RPG.

 

[The Catboy]

ALL OF THEM!
In all seriousness, the first one I played was Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner, but I suggest you start out with Devil Survivor on the DS. It's rather basic and rather different from the other SMT games, but it's extremely fun and a great game to start out with.
In fact Devil Survivor was the first SMT game my boyfriend started out with and now he is a huge fan of the games.

 

[weavile001]

Well, most of the characters shown on the trailler are from SMT imagine, the original SMT,Digital devil saga,SMT3 nocturne,AND SMT4,but i´m sure that there will be more.
but if you would like to play the entire series here´s the complete list : http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Games
i think that you should start by the ds ones:devil survior/devil survivor 2 / strange journey.

 

[Lanlan]

I just wanna try out a game to see if I like it. Guess I'll try Devil Survivor.

 

[weavile001]

I just wanna try out a game to see if I like it. Guess I'll try Devil Survivor.

if you have a 3ds, you should get the remake, it has more demons,full voice acting and more skills.

 

[Lanlan]

if you have a 3ds, you should get the remake, it has more demons,full voice acting and more skills.

Wow, it's like $50 bucks. I think I'll stick to the DS one for now, I can get it for much cheaper.

 

[Dedale]

If you have a PSP, go with Persona 3 Portable.
Damn thing has got me for 100+ hours!

 

[Lanlan]

If you have a PSP, go with Persona 3 Portable.
Damn thing has got me for 100+ hours!

Nope. I have Nintendo consoles and a gaming PC. Which obviously means emulators.

 

[emigre]

Get a PS2 or at least make sure your computer is capable of emulating the PS2. And a PSP. Below is a list of MegaTen (and spin offs) games that are available in english.

Standard MegaTen​

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Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II (SNES) Aeon Genesis made translation patches for these two. I've only partially played SMT. Apparently SMT II is better. There's also Shin Megami Tensei If which if I remember correctly is presently being translated. Both are played in the First person perspective.

SMT III Nocturne or SMT Lucifer's Call if you live in Europe (PS2). IT got translated and is a very good game. IT gives you a good challenge and visuals are very nice. The story is typical MegaTen awesome. It is rather minimalist as you don't buy armour and that type of shit or use a contemporary party system. You can also get Dante off DMC in your party as well which is pretty cool.

SMT Strange Journey (DS). Spiritually it is SMTIV and but the gameplay fits with the other MegaTen titles. First person dungeon crawler, no traditional party system. Fucking awesome game.

Persona​

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Persona (PS1/PSP). Personally I love Persona. I like the story, the characters and the setting. The game is flawed as fuck. Yet I still love it. The battle system is the greatest but its still more than playable. There's a conventional party system. Though play the PSP version. The PS1 version is pretty fucked up regarding game balance, has the Snow Queen quest, translation and the fact they changed a character's ethnicity.​

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Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PS1/PSP). Good game. I liked it. The PS1 version you can emulate it but you have to apply a translation patch by Gemini. The PSP version was translated by Atlus. It has a better menu interface which it makes better than the original in my opinion.​

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Persona 2 Eternal Punishment (PS1/PSP). The PSP version isn't in english so your stuck with the PS1 version which is.​

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Persona and the Persona 2 duology feel similar to the nominal MEgaTen titles. Persona 3 onwards, shit changes into the life simulator/ dungeon crawler.​

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Persona 3 (PS2/PSP/PSN) Persona 3 FES is the best version imo. As it contains an epilogue which concludes the story of the game. P3P is a good version particularly as you can play as a girl and have complete control of you party. Whilst in the PS2 version, you give out broad order i.e. you tell a party member she has to heal and the AI plays on that.​

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Persona 4 (PS2/PSV) AWESOME. Essentially the same structure to P3 but with an improved battle system.​

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Spin Offs​

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Devil Summoner games (PS2) Can't get my hands on them so no comment. They cost a few dabloons. More action orientated than previous MegaTen titles.​

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Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 (PS2). I've only played DDS1 and I rather like it. It uses the same engine as SMT Noctune. Quite a few people absolutely love it.​

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Devil Survivor 1 and 2 (DS/3DS). Good games but completely different as its a SRPG. Story is good MegaTen WTFs.​

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Personally I suggest Noctune, Strange Journey or P3/P4 as a better way to get into MegaTen. The former two are quintessential MegaTen in terms of gameplay mechanics (dungeon crawling). Whilst Persona 3 and 4 are really accessible in comparison to other titles. Personally I don't think the Devil Survivor games is the best way to start as the gameplay and story structure is different though it has the accessibility of Person 3 and 4 as you a (relatively)conventional party system.​

 

[Sterling]

Get Persona 4.

/emigre

Anyway P3 is pretty cool, but P4 improved upon almost everything.

 

[Hells Malice]

Each section of the SMT series is good for different reasons.

Devil Survivor is probably my all time favorite. Incredibly fun, though Devil Survivor 2 is really easy (whereas the first made me want to rip off my face in frustration at times).

But really anything with a SMT title, i've enjoyed.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

I would start with Devil Survivor 1 and 2.

My advice with Persona even though its not actually part of the SMT series is to start with P2 Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment cause they're the best and highlight of the Persona series so far and then Persona 3 Portable and FES cause they're the best of P3 and with P3P you can play as a girl MC which is new. I wouldn't bother with P4 unless you want P3P's battle system in a game with a horrible story and characters.

Apart from that I would start with the original SMT games on SNES or was it PS1, i'm not sure but I would check them out as well and if you can emulate PS2 then I would get Noctune and the games in Degital Devil Saga.