Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - Nintendo 3DS

SMT IV: Apocalypse is fantastic. If you liked the earlier SMT games like Soul Hackers you'll feel right at home with this one. It fixes a lot of things about SMT IV that were turn-offs to long time fans of the series and is a sequel to the game, not a remix or re-imagining of SMT IV. The music is top-notch, especially because Shoji Meguro isn't involved (finally!) and Persona veteran Kenichi Tsuchiya is amongst the composers. It's a different sound from the original Persona games, but it's still great and lacks all of the repetitive musical tropes and tired J-Pop appeal Meguro relies on too heavily in his later work. The voice acting is also superb, not a single character has a unexceptional delivery. Battles are fast-paced which offsets the high encounter rate, though you can see enemies and outrun them when needed. The plot is interesting and has a lot of twists and turns, and the character development is pretty good. There's a lot of new faces in the game, but they are all unique and interesting. It's a moderately long game and you definitely will put some serious time into it. The graphics are a mixed bag; the backgrounds and 3D chacter/demon models are very well made. The demon portraits were made by several different artists and one of them is absolutely terrible, so it's jarring to cycle through your demon roster and see very impressive illustrations and then some amateur ones. Some of the background objects like trees and bushes have a bizarrely low polygon count and look like something from an original Playstation game. On the whole it's all above average, however, just a few things stick out. Like all modern Atlus games the translation is well done but rife with spelling and grammatical errors. For some reason both Atlus and Aksys Games steadfastly refuse to proof-read their work. I'd highly recommend this game to any SMT fans, especially those of you enjoyed Strange Journey and Soul Hackers. It's fine return to form and shows that Atlus can still make good games for hardcore fans even if they also have to churn out garbage like Persona 3 and 4 for casual gamers to make money.

What we have here is a product of trial, error, and redemption. And though some may not see it as such, keeping in mind that this is in fact the FIRST direct sequel in the mainline series of Shin Megami Tensei- I'm certain that like the game that preceded it, there will be contention about whether or not it is a "true" SMT. Let me just say that I have played this series since the first in the "Shin" series on Super Famicom (as I was too young to appreciate the two Famicom titles that preceded it) and have even sought out the novels that inspired this series. This is a very solid game, even if it does have a "newcomer friendly" feel and reduced difficulty. The quality of life improvements, as well as the characters and story, still elevate this game well above the modern drivel that is churned out. For those desperate for a hardcore RPG experience (even though the game is not as difficult as others in the series) I feel it meets expectations and gives you the tools to play the way you desire, which is much more attractive than simply forcing you to pick a specific play style to maximise your efficiency. Truly a stellar experience. Great soundtrack, classic feel, modern amenities. If this is indicative of where the series is headed, then I feel as though the series is once again in good hands. It is not for everyone, and though some may pine for what they perceive to be "lost" from the series, I can say with no hesitation that this is a fine example of what SMT represents. The only negative I can levy are the designs. As a fan of Kamen Rider I don't dislike the designs, I just feel they are occasionally misplaced or miss the point of Kaneko's art. Doi's redraws definitely help them fit in (they were jarring before), but I desperately wish to see more Kaneko artwork. Character design has improved massively as well. Nanashi, Toki, and Hallelujah all look appropriate. All in all, a great game, great localisation that stays true to the feel of the original game, and an experience that shouldn't be missed by fans.

As can be expected from the MegaTen franchise, this game is just superb. The gameplay is so much fun, and the story is really unique and has multiple endings, which means you can play through it several times and still see new dialogue and events take place towards the end of the game. The battle system is turn-based, where you can control yourself plus 3 demons at a time within your party during battle. The whole demon summoning system revolves around fusion, as is standard in the MegaTen franchise, and through recruiting demons via dialogue. The story takes place within the broader story of the SMT 4 game, so you will need to play that first if you have not, preferably having beaten it with the neutral ending. This game introduces a few new demons that were not in SMT 4, which is also really cool. If you buy this game expecting mindblowing graphics you will be a bit disappointed, but super realistic graphics is not really the point of this game or SMT 4. I think the classic vintage RPG look gives it a really nice feel, which is the whole point. One (somewhat) downside is that I found this game to be way easier than a lot of other MegaTen games out there. If SMT Nocturne is a 9/10 difficulty, and Persona 4 is a 2/10 difficulty this is probably like a 4.5/10 difficulty on normal. However, this does not mean that the game is not extremely fun and addictive, regardless of the simplicity of most of the missions and battles. If you're an RPG fanatic like myself this game is a MUST PLAY.

¿Qué esperar del empaque o contenido en la caja? A diferencia de la entrega anterior o precuela donde se incluia un disco con tracks seleccionados del OST y una guía a color de más de 50 páginas y el cartucho, esta versión solo incluye tres broches representando las rutas del juego y el cartucho del juego. No hubiese estado mal una versión con un disco incluyendo los nuevos tracks incluidos en el juego o un pequeño libro que incluyera nuevos conceptos de arte o bocetos. Si bien no son elementos necesarios o requeridos hacen ver esta entrega con un poco menor de importancia que la entrega anterior u otros titulos de megaten que por lo menos han incluido un CD como valor de compra adicional. ¿Qué nos vende Atlus en este nuevo titulo? Lo esperado: Atlus a través de sus diferentes entregas en cada uno de los titulos se ha caracterizado por incluir nuevos diseños de demonios, así como la inclusión de otros nuevos, cambio de niveles de demonios (un pixie que en otras entregas era level 2, puede aparecer como level 8-10), sistema de fusiones de demonios, compedium competente, nuevos personajes principales, dificultad más que aceptable, no el megaten más dificil que he jugado ni en su maxima dificultad pero cumple con lo esperado. Lo reciclado: Siendo una secuela directa de la ruta neutral del SMT IV, lo raro sería iniciar la aventura en otra epoca, ciudad o region, así que de nueva cuenta nos encontramos en Tokyo; con la mayor parte de lugares iguales al anterior titulo y los menus casi sin cambio alguno mas que lo estetico. Para los que jugaron el anterior titulo se sentiran como en casa al iniciar esta nueva aventura. Lo que lo hace diferente y realmente disfrutable: Los nuevos personajes y la mayor cantidad de interacción que hay entre ellos es sin duda uno de los puntos fuertes en este nuevo titulo, si bien en el titulo anterior esto ya existia en esta nueva entrega la interacción entre los nuevos protagonistas es más remarcable, se incluyeron nuevas áreas en el mapa como el reino de las hadas; si bien no son muchos los lugares nuevos lo malo seria no haberlos incluidos, los enemigos principales tienen mayor relevancia en la historia y vaya que los veremos varias veces en lo que dura el juego, aunque muchos tracks son reciclados del anterior titulo y algunos sufrieron unos retoques, los nuevos tracks son sin duda parte indispensable en este juego; ya sea como complemento en los momentos de historia o en las nuevas áreas del juego; remarco el nuevo OST es caracteristica de este nuevo titulo, La ambientación esta exepcional; al controlar a un nuevo personaje ya no un samurai sino un chaval de tokyo la ambientación cambia y esto es palpaple desde el primer momento que iniciamos el juego si bien la ciudad es la misma las circuntancias y lo que nos motiva de ir de un lugar a otro son otros motivos; antes era descubrir las nuevas zonas ahora creo que la trama tiene mayor relevancia lo que hace que realmente quiera regresar y continuar. Lo malo: No cuento con datos precisos pero tengo la noción de que la cantidad de quest por hacer es menor que en el anterior juego, esto no es un punto negativo del todo ya que las quest estan muy relacionadas con la trama del juego y nos evitara hacer las tipicas tareas de "ve y trae". olvidandonos del punto principal de la historia. y sin duda son las suficientes para poder subir de nivel sin tener que grindear como en otros titulos. EN RESUMEN ¿VALE LA PENA? Allá en 2013 cuando Atlus lanzó el SMT IV, en una entrevista mencionarón que estaban tomando en cuenta toda la retroalimentación que recibian de los fans para sus próximos titulos, y vaya que lo hicieron y quedó más que comprobado con esta nueva entrega. Atlus tomo el SMT IV que ya era para mi el mejor RPG que existia en 3DS ( y vaya que en 3DS hay mucho de donde elegir) y lo mejorarón a niveles inimaginables, salvo el mapa (que todos odiamos) no pensé que SMT IV podría ser mejor. ¿Qué obtuvimos? mejor historia, más importacia de trama, personajes y enemigos, nuevos tracks al OST, reediseño de demonios, enemigos en modelado 3D (unos pocos), flynn puede hablar!!!! y vaya que es un idolo justo como era al final de la ruta neutral, regreso de pesonajes un poco olvidados y todo lo que ya hacia SMT IV un gran titulo. Me quedo corto al hablar de este titulo pero para finalizar. solo queda ua pregunta. Así que... ¿Recomiendo SMT IV: Apocalypse o Final (en japon)? Sin duda alguna ya seas un nuevo jugador en la serie, o todo un veterano este juego mejora un titulo que ya era perfecto y eso es algo que muy pocos han podido lograr. Si tienen la oportunidad de comprarlo no lo duden, mas que una compra obligada es un favor que se hacen al descubrir y poder disfrutar uno de lo mejores JRPGs que hay ahí afuera.

I was having so much fun with it I had to buy it twice - my girlfriend would watch me playing it and wanted to play it for herself. Refusing to share save files paid off, we ended up playing it side-by-side in bed many a nights. Comparing our demon party loadouts at various points was really neat, and we each took different stat progression paths on the protagonist, so we got to see how different parts were easier or harder for the other. The demon fusion system and whispers are so well done, loads of content. Combat is pretty good, not my favorite in the series, but pretty good. What more than makes up for it not being the best Shin Megami's ever offered is that death is a supported mechanic in the game, none of that "game over, load your save" nonsense. Serious story: We had to stop playing (I stopped too, didn't want her feeling left out) when my girlfriend's wrist started hurting. She popped into the doctors to see what was up. Apparently holding a 3DS for 7 hours straight can cause some repeated-strain injuries (I was ahead, she wanted to catch up while I was at work). She still loves it, even after having to take a forced break from it breaking her.

Este juego supero mis expectativas con creces, excelente historia, y personajes carismáticos e inolvidables, no pensé tener ese sentimiento de felicidad al jugar un juego desde Devil survivor 2, sin embargo... porque no todo puede ser perfecto, mi única queja es su dificultad,, tengo algo de experiencia jugando varios juegos de la franquicia SMT y lo que me encanta es que aun en la dificultad más baja el juego sigue sin tener piedad del jugador,donde no importa si tienes mejor equipo o demonios,si no piensas una buena estrategia no puedes pasarlo. lo cual no sucede aquí, es demasiado fácil,se me hace ridiculo que tenga que subirle demasiado la dificultad para sentirlo "adecuado" lo cual es un insulto una vez más, a todo lo bueno que tiene esta entrega, tristemente se siente como un juego para casuales. En otra historia, me encantaron los broches, aunque debieron de haberle hecho una caja especial al juego como la edición especial de Devil Survivor 2, como estaban adentro de la caja del juego, maltrataron la portada, pareciera que alguien bailo encima de la caja contra un piso lleno de grava.

I haven't been able to put this game down. This game is amazing. collecting demons, raising them, merging them to make stronger ones with better moves, then defeating gods and angels and other demons, this is one of the best games I ever played. it can be difficult, almost annoying since you can't collect as many demons or angels as you want, yet that's what makes it fun, and oh what fun it is. If you have any love or interest in myths and religions of other countries, this game is great, as you collect the demons and gods, you get little snippets of information about them, and if you know a bit about them, you know how to entice them to join you as an ally. The best part though is everything you do is through a phone, so once you get a cell phone, and enough "app points" you can work on your skill tree and it is a great mechanic. the whole game is just so different from what I have been used to, the graphics are interesting, art is great. and I have to warn you, it's definitely for Adults Only. as some gods are definitely taken from classic forms. For instance a fertility goddess with a giant belly as if pregnant, and 6 breasts. (believe me, don't laugh, she's a tough goddess at first unless you know what you are doing) the whole game is so interesting with the interesting side quests and RPG elements. This game makes me wish I had gotten into them earlier.

I haven't had a chance to play much of it, since my copy arrived earlier today. So far, I would say that it's a very interesting take on SMT IV's world, with plenty of charming characters (including some returning ones), with just enough combat system changes to keep the game fresh. Literally the only reason I did not give this game 5/5 is because I was expecting the launch version (with the pin set) instead of the standard one without it. I'm a fan of the series and trying to get some friends into it, so I don't mind purchasing a second - esp. since I think that's a really bratty reason to take a good game down a peg! However, I think expectations and reality should factor into a subjective review, too.