Shin Megami Tensei IV is a legendary RPG for the 3DS bestowed upon the earth by God, and today we're going to worship it. Outro remix: • Battle B2 - Shin Megam... 0:00 Intro 2:41 Setup 7:51 Combat 16:09 Issues
Whenever people talk about the strengths of Atlus games amongst many things “atmosphere” is commonly brought up. I’d argue the IV duology are some the best games ever at invoking the emotions of the player through its soundtracks, art direction and battle system. Anyone interested should 100% play them
It's still amazing how much the developers did with just the 3DS technology. The monster designs are phenomenal, I liked them being 2D, there's hundreds of them and many of them come from untranslated games like the original Devil Summoner all the way back on the Sega Saturn. Gameplay is so much fun too, they put a high level boss in a domain early on on purpose and you get rewarded for exploiting its weakness. 15:55 Yep that's the one!
SMT IV is on the top of the top tower of my S Tier list of favorite games. With no doubt in my heart, I can declare this game has the greatest video game soundtrack ever. That Ikebukuro theme (legendary), Roppongi, my god, Shibuya, and the Satan boss battle theme that evolves with the fight.... man, this game TRANSFORMED my perception of videogames... and It's a handheld game! I've been playing since the 90s and to this day (2024) nothing has come closer to the immersion and catharsis this game gave me. Not even my nostalgia for older games, can compete with this game. And that first Tokyo skyline revelation, I will keep it in my heart forever. Thanks for making this video. Edit: I got the Neutral ending on my first playthrough by sheer accident.
It's one of the best JRPG stories of all time to me. Easily top 10, maybe 5. I put it up there with Xenogears, Chrono Cross etc. And yes the OST is amazing, i'm usually not into these grungy sounding OSTs but this is something else. Lucifer's Palace goes hard as well as Ikebukuro
I like how the neutral ending is the most convoluted one. If you want to remain in the middle of it all, you have to know both sides well and consider every single option in order to find a way to not damage nor benefit excesively neither side. So having to do certain challenge quests and pick the option that gives you no battle modifiers is very fitting.
I was already a SMT 4 stan but MAN,the release of SMTV really showed me that we had it good in the 3DS era. Good story,very good gameplay and okay visuals just beat ASS story,great gameplay and good visuals out of the water imo.
the feeling i got playing through this for the first time is unmatched man. this games an absolute masterpiece in ever sense of the word and I hope more people get to play it for themselves
They're my comfort games too, ngl. I used to replay them all the time notably I'd regularly not finish either because I hate post alignment lock IV despite thinking pre-lock is peak fiction and skipping Apoc's last dungeon because... you know why, youve played it. ...but otherwise I loved them to bits
Shin Megami Tensei IV is special , I'm an "old gamer" , My first Jrpg was Final Fantasy 1 for the nes and I can Say that just a few modern jrpgs really surprised me in the last 15 years , and SMT IV Is one of them. The story , the music(Ryota Kozuka), the Gameplay , the setting , the world building , everything Is very well designed. This post apocalyptic/cyberpunk Tokyo It really captures you once you left Mikado, and It Is something impressive what the developers achieved taking into consideration that this was released on a 3DS.
14 year old me looked at this game with such intrigue, but unfortunately I never picked it up until a few years into the Switch's lifespan. It easily became one of my favorite RPGs ever, and my first SMT game after years of simply looking at the series from afar. One of my favorite OSTs as well!
Honestly, as a whole the IV duology are my two favorite games in the series. And for the sake of my 3DS that I don't know how long it's gonna last (L button doesn't work on mine anymore, for example) every single Direct I hope and pray they'd announce switch port of these... I don't even care if it would be the most optimized port, I just... I just want to have the game "safe"on my switch, not to mention play it on bigger screen, rather than live in the fear of waking up to a day my 3DS decides to stop working. On the positive side, seeing past DS AND 3DS games remade/ported to switch now keeps this hope of mine alive, no matter how actually realistic it would actually be.
Currently in the middle of playing this for the first time and I’m loving it. It took a decade and 4 false starts (could never get past the tutorial battles). Once you’re past that, it’s pretty smooth sailing!
yeah i like how you covered that the neutral route is difficult to attain. I also really wish this game got a port or a remake i think this would be the best megaten game ever if it did.
SMT IV has in my opinion one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game. It’s pure agi. Great video! Btw what’s the song that plays @ 4:32?
I recently got interested in the game because of your videos using its OST. Will watch the video after I played it. Thanks for showing me this, the Layton series, Yellow Magic Orchestra and many incredible songs of many games ♡
I will say, always be fusing new demons, and save old ones to the compendium. He probably covers it later in the video but demon whispering is so fucking good. Whenever fusing always consider skills what you want to upgrade for yourself. Maybe you don't really want agi on your new demon, but Flynn does have agi, so put it on the new demon because when it whispers skills to you Agi will be upgraded. Or tarukaja, rakunda, basically any buff move it over to a demon that hasn't whispered to you yet if Flynn has it. Agi does weak fire damage but through this upgrading you can get it to actuqally deal as much damage as Agilao, med fire damage. Then of course swap it out for Agilao and upgrade that skill when you get it, or of course whatever elemental skill you want to focus on.
The fact that the only thing that felt rushed were the Chaos and Law endings at the very tail end is a testimate to how good this game is. On the easier side, yeah. But its hella well written and fun
It really is crazy how much more positively received 4 is now these days. I don’t even get it, it’s not like it’s more accessible these days. I always loved it so it’s nice to see more people enjoying it. Not my favourite megaten but close to the top!
Dude hear me out! Bethesda/Obsidian X Atlus. A collaboration! Fallout X Shin Megami Tensei It's fucking perfect. A post-apocalyptic Tokyo, Japan with the World of SMT as its settings, gameplay/gunplay hybrid from ATLUS/Bethesda and the storytelling from both ATLUS/Obsidian. That would be my dream game. This is an idea I had in mind for a long time.
Me and my buddy are working on a remaster that transcends all the currently available HD texture packs. Includes reworked sprites and animations. Cell shaded looks for 3d models to match the sprite designs and a remixed higher quality soundtrack.
SMT IV não é apenas meu jogo favorito da franquia, mas o meu jogo da vida! Acho incrível a mistura dos estilos de Nocturne e dos jogos clássicos da franquia misturados, num plot ambicioso e bem construído ao ponto que chegar a Tokyo ser um puta plot Twist! Adorei o vídeo.
I don't think the story of SMT IV is talked about enough. It's definitely my favorite story of any game I've ever played. Won't say it's necessarily the best, but man if it's not it's close. Great characterization, a deep af world and lore that has you digging in long after finishing the game for the first part, and a very mature plot with definitely the most incredible climax I've experienced in any game (you know the one). It's not surprising to learn it had like six novels worth of content prepared by Kazuya for its plot. Wish I could say the same about V
With the game's (god tier) soundtrack trending on TikTok and videos like this I'm happy that the game is FINALLY getting it's recognition. One of my favorite RPGs and games of all-time.
While I think the game was heavily flawed, it was also what I would consider the final game of the series golden age, the final game in the series that understood somewhat what the series is truly about and having some of that distinct spirit that made the series so distinct. And I guess it was also the last game that had any involvement from the franchises original crew. The games that came after just felt like they had no idea of how the series actually worked.
Man, i have a neck injury because of this game. Not because i looked down the 3ds screen too long, but because the music got me in a state where i was continuesly headbobbing during the playthrough. AND I DID 5 PLAYTHROUGHS!
You are wrong on one thing, if you want the true neutral ending you need to SKIP some quests or you will be locked out of it. Not complete all of them.
I still remember how this game blew my mind. Was the first mainline smt game and i played through the first hours really enjoying it. Didn't knew a thing about it because i bought it on whim on the store. With the dungeon crawling and the world menu in Mikado i thought it will be like persona 3 portable altering between the dungeon that will open up during the story with buying stuff in the world menu and all that. Just in a medieval setting, which i thought must be the mainline setting or something. Then you start getting further and further down the dungeon and suddenly you see modern aspects, steel walkways, modern lockers and all that even modern weapons. You go further and suddenly you stand in front of a huge window overlooking modern day Tokio. I was like "WHAAAAAT? Where is this going?" And you learn that you are actually in the post apocalyptic modern day, the world map and the whole setting changes, you don't use iron armor anymore but like Kevlar west's or just casual jeans and shirts. It was the biggest twist ever for me personally and pretty much at the start of the game.
14:05 isnt that track from Conception 2? Also, how is SMT V different/worse in combat than all the others? (In relation to what you said about strategy and affinity) I just started it a while ago
fusion in V can feel very restrictive compared to IV. affinities can make it nigh-impossible to fuse away weaknesses or to teach a demon a spell it is weak to
The vid comedically paints the fact that Sega bought Atlus in a negative light but realistically it's been the best outcome for both companies. Atlus properties have made Sega a ton of money and Sega has extensively foot the bill for everything Atlus needs while completely respecting their competence by not interfering at all in the planning or development of Atlus games unless Atlus specifically asks for assistance. The partnership has led to both companies being much better than they were before.
My journey with this series started with part 3 and i love it,most other versions i dont care for but part 5 coming up june 14 looks great i wil likely get it
While i started with nocturne, SMT IV really got me into the SMT franchise. I do agree that the first few hours of the game did bend flynn's twink ass over and pounded him rough and unlubed. But after i say, medusa everything becomes much easier when you get a good amount of demons and a move set from the via learning spells from them. A magic centric build for flynn will never not be the meta for that game as you can just 1-3 tap everything with high enough Mag.
I bought this game on a whim, literally because I read the back cover. No other game in my entire gaming history compelled me to find all of the endings. K's Tavern theme is my fucking ringtone, and I have Burroughs as my phone wallpaper. When the original SMTIV art book was translated into English, I bought it, alongside the SMTIV:A artbook, which is in Japanese that I cannot read. SMTIV:A was excellent, SMTV was awesome, and GameStop is shipping my SMTV:V Launch Edition as I type this. The original SMTIV? That was an experience I'll never forget. Godlike.
The best decision I ever did after playing persona was picking up SMT4 and Apocalypse. Can’t wait for SMTVV, the game looks very promising. Great video.
I remember playing this at launch when i was like 14, knowing full well i really didn’t like turn based RPGs that much, but was intrigued by the game’s atmosphere, then like 3 hours I realized it was one of my favorite games of all time. I still don’t really like turn based games. But I just got a modded 3ds xl and have been. replaying it. It holds up
I never realised people hated the 2d sprites. I always loved smt 4 for the sprites. It was absolutely for the 3ds weak power, but i always felt like smt 4 was the bridge between old megaten, and the step intor the new. Ripping nocturne graphics for snes battles
I am also hoping that SMT4 and Apocalypse get modern ports. They are both great games that deserve it. Like you said, 4 has some issues that could be easily addressed and 4A is still my personal favorite.
I remember trying to get the neutral ending, and after defeating Kenji and geting the final choice in the game, the law one would send me to the law ending and the chaos one sent me to the chaos ending, i was on the perfect sweet spot that made neutral impossible So i went with the white ending
I literally just started watching your videos and i noticed “Hey this guy has SMT4 music in his videos hell yea!” and then immeadiatly you post a video about one of my favorite games ever. A really well edited and good retrospective on SMT4 that speaks on the game and its uniqueness compared to other rpgs. Well done!!
This is just my opinion, what I'm looking forward to is when Atlus remasters SMT 4? both PS5 and Nintendo Switch.Please Atlus allow choices and endings where we can save Isabeau, the Gaia Girl, Jonathan and Walter.There was nothing to lose, we saved them all and they followed Flynn towards a better ending.
15:40 Hes right, levels dont matter as much as you would think. I ran a quest where I realized halfway through that this Erlkonig was Lv.72 and heres my team at Lv.32-37 holding our own and WON the fight......Motherfucker gave out some EXP that pissed me off, only had like 2 members level up off that Whole game you and everyone else are just glass cannons, I love it
19:59 “not to tight so much lore behind the DLC” HOT TAKE OF THE DAY: The DLC plot points of both games-especially 4 Apocalypse- are non canon.. this is truly how I feel because if i tried to connect them with the main plot I will end up with contradictions. Their sole purposes are to sell you exclusive demons or to supplement other Megaten medias such as manga. Same thing happened with Fire Emblem Fates. Feel free to wage a holy war at me.
@@nitro5247 I remember the NPCs who talked about the event mentioned a young man sacrificed himself to protect Tokyo. Then in 4A we shown a cutscene of that event of him summoning Masakado and made the dome right away. The whole “he went berserk until someone else bonked his head” was never mentioned anywhere outside of that one DLC. That’s why I concluded this plot point was the DLC writer was having fun. The OST was badass though.
Turn-based combat is awesome man! I hope it was as quick as Final Fantasy X at times, but I really like the style. I can't for the life of me, try to learn all the nuances of an action style of game. I work 60h a week so it's better to relax rather than stress.
Great video and really enjoyed it but the only thing that threw me off is you implying turn based battles are outdated. I understand it’s your opinion but for me it’s like peak gaming. The strategy and options and different styles (strategy, press turn, tactical, job system, ect ect) are super unique and I would hate if all games just opted to hack and slash or just action games in general. Obviously I’m biased cause it’s my fav genre but I mean, a turn based game won game of the year last year. It does have a place in the industry IMO
16:00 Uh ACKSHULLY 🤓👆 flynn being a higher level lets you fuse and recruit high level demons that have more powerful abilities and stats. Love you buddy.
