If you thought Last Bible was the dusty, forgotten basement of the mansion that is the Megami Tensei franchise, then you could call these two games the skeletal remains eternally sealed beneath the floor. I think Last Bible Special is probably the least talked about game in the entire franchise that has an English patch, I see people talk about Giten or untranslated cell phone games more frequently.
you're right about that. I really haven't heard anyone really talk about it. I only found out about it when I was looking up spin offs for persona games. And last bible came up on a list
I feel like if Marsh talks shit about a game, it really has to blow. Man has an unnaturally high tolerance for the bullshit some Megaten games are very fond of.
Like... I kinda enjoy some of the more "annoying" features of MegaTen dungeons. Like, I can get behind a good teleporter maze, or dark room, or pain floor. But even I felt no desire to touch Last Bible beyond scrolling past it on a wiki.
Gives ya perspective i think If you come to a part of a game thats ass You can just think “Maaaan if Marsh can do world of gluttony and say he had fun, i can grind out a level or two easy. I can do a whack ass dungeon or hard fight”
Pyro Jack slowly judging the player for playing Another Bible is now my head canon for that game. Just staring right into your soul, like "Why are you here, bro?"
you are literally one of, if not The, most important SMT youtubers right now, the way you’re documenting these obscure side games. great work as always!
1:09:08 The mental image of 4 guys and a barely human powerhouse kicking the shit out an unconscious old man after he gave like 3 speeches on how fucked they are for going against him is a pretty funny visual.
Demon recruitment in Another Bible being so easy now makes me question how lonely the demons must be given how they just agree to be friends. Kinda makes me feel bad for them.
@@mjd11452he cheated on his girlfriend with another youtuber about two years ago , apologized about it on Twitter before they could reveal the truth about it to cover his ass, then when he realized barely anyone saw the apology he deleted it and subsequently deleted the few comments on his videos about it. He had a hiatus because of therapy due to what he did from what he said in that apology tweet. But the fact he deleted it and all subsequent mentions outs him as a scummy dude that wasn't really sorry. The joke is that he cheats in his challenge runs like he cheats irl
@@thatitalianlameguy2235 wait is that true? damn. I've never seen his content before but it seems very interesting and fun to watch. now I can't watch it without this info in the back of my head
I know this will soon get buried under a host of other comments, so in these early minutes I’d like to express that these videos truly are a joy to have. To bring new light and interest to forgotten games, to go to great lengths to communicate that so that we can enjoy it too, it’s a great way not only to entertain but to build community. I know that myself had passing interest in larger MegaTen until I found the channel, and now I get excited over every little detail I find or notice across the whole franchise, providing much more fun then I would’ve if I had just found the games rather than being pulled in by content and discussion around them like this. Thank you
He speaks like he’s not taking any of this seriously but is very informative and detailed with each game he talks about. It’s truly a one in a billion talent and he pulls it off like only a few others have.
I mean he is telling people they are shit so not that many people will play them and suffer, so most people will consume them only through his videos. Fission mailed
Dealing with the tail end of a bout of bronchitis and keeping rested while I watch this to relax down can’t wait to see yet another certified Marsh Classic
A green lion devouring a sun is actually a really ancient alchemical motif representing an acid, and "Vitriol" is an old word for sulfuric acid, so it's basically just some ancient Rosicrucian stuff.
Ah, I wondered how much “fun” you’d have with these…truly the lowest tier of Megaten. I would say the Another Bible serves as something of a prototype for the Majin Tensei series. At least the first two are very similar gameplay-wise (both have excellent stories though) and share many of the same quality of life issues. In Last Bible Special, I found a good job guide in Japanese that I managed to use with Googletranslate and it was very helpful in finding some of the more interesting job paths. Totally agree for anyone doing this game - take a Smith. And yes, when you move them to their next job, they keep skills they’ve already learned. I started with a Bard, Smith and Priest and they all have good job paths.
Your videos are no joke one of the biggest reasons I'm into MegaTen as much as I am now. All these older and obscure corners of the franchise are just so intriguing to me.
I know you didn’t mean it like that, but you said “apparently this is Heaven, it’s smaller than I imagined”, and I’m like that would be a sick start to SMT6.
The worst part is that Majin Tensei, another SRPG SMT spinoff, somehow manages to be even worse than this one. Imagine if every map in this game was 2 hours long due to extremely slow enemy turn phases 😮But I strongly recommend anyone reading this to check out Devil Survivor 1 and 2, they're actually really amazing SRPG SMT spinoffs with the best routes and alignment representatives I've ever seen.
Watched a couple of chapteres and they were like 1 hour each. It is soo slow. However the atmoshphere and music is so dark, awesome. I love thr carnage theme especially that gets you hyped immediatly.
@@tempatempo3805 Majin Tensei desperately needs a second chance. This spin-off SRPG have some great ideas (like equipment for demons), but was released 10 years to early on very weak console for those kind of games (even first Fire Emblem games have same problems like Majin Tensei, very long animation and maps). With power of modern consoles I think big maps from Majin Tensei 1 with skiping / speed up battle animation should be less annoying than on SNES.
I uh.....love Majin Tensei.......i played on fanpatch cartridges on my Snes and that shit rocked, the music,style,world and having a whole damn army of demons was so badass
I think fire emblem ruined SRPGs for me. All of the ones I've played have had characters move quickly, so any time I fire up one that has slower movement like Devil Survivor or FF Tactics I just want the game to hurry TF up.
After looking at the dungeon maps online, I realized they're ALL modeled after alchemical symbols. Ignis Fort is the three primes, Athanor Cavern is the four basic elements, Hohenheim's Lab is the seven planetary materials, and Jerusalem is the 12 signs of the zodiac--except for the 13th floor, which I think is John Dee's monad glyph as another commenter noticed. And the final dungeon is of course the six-pointed star, which I believe for alchemists represents the unification of the four elements. They really put a lot of effort into infusing this game with the imagery of alchemy. It's a shame it seems to be held back by so many other design decisions.
This is the only SMT channel I trust with opinions, reviews, and insight on each and every game. It took what was good in Let's Plays, got rid of the fluff and overacting over a period of 50 videos, and did it all in 1 video while talking about an entire game or a series of games while not skipping over the important aspects of the game and includes the most nuance parts too. It's literally the peak of how to do a game review hybrid with a let's play AND be entertaining as Marsh allows his personality come out.
I always forget that between Another Bible and Majin Tensei, there are a few tactical RPGs in the SMT series. And yet when they made SMT x FE they're like "nah man, no tactical RPG for you suckers."
I love first person dungeon crawlers like this and I wasted 2 hours trying to recruit a decent party before I said fuck it and went to play darkest dungeon
Yeah, bet you a Thief could interact with the gold statue safely. In Wizardry games, a Thief is REQUIRED in order to safely open chests after battles with the traps ruining your day.
The last dungeon seems to be based on the the principle of western alchemy with common images like the lion eating the sun for purification and ouroboros for eternity, and trismegi being a short form version of trismegistus a kinda alchemical god and giver of knowledge who’s a fusion of Thoth and Hermes .
I actually unironically kinda want to play Last Bible Special now. The number of different characters you can recruit at the start of the game gives it the impression of replay value.
Its amazingly sad. Like so many other games there's some really interesting ideas in some of these Last Bible games, but they're apart of some aggressively boring and/or painful to play games. Early RPG's had some fairly interesting ideas that I wish we'd see incorporated in today's games.
As i say on nearly all of your videos on the Megami series and spin off, you have a uncanny talent of making the most "blah" of games seems fun as hell, or at least worth giving a try. If you don't get enough props for that, i'm giving it to you. Your videos and humorous commentary never fails to make me hella interested and laugh out loud. Keep doing what you do and i'll look forward to the next one.
honestly would be insane if last bible special got some kind of fan remake addendum; many of the bosses in Last Bible Special are named for concepts in classical alchemy
so is nobody gonna bring up the fact that the Last Bible protag is just talking pretty sure him & the Majin Tensei 1 protag are amongst the earliest talking smt protags
*after hearing of the Magnes stones’ elements* Gee, an epic RPG where you have to collect 4 treasures of the elements. I never heard that one before. *shows the Final Fantasy app on the iPad*
@@Raindrop_2401 He's still creepy, shouldn't have had adult images out on the internet if he runs a channel viewed by a wide audience, and he's annoying as hell. don't care, Jared is questionable af and we'd be better off without him imo.
Great video as always Marsh, just wanted to point out that the bepenised penultimate dungeon map looks like ancient depictions of the god yaweh. (Not the big g one, mind, the one from the early, indie, pantheistic days.) Given SMTs occult obsession, I'd say this was probably intentional. Also, you probably noticed the names of the bosses were mostly references to alchemical principles, Coagula stuck out to me especially as a dualistic reference to the inscription on most depictions of Baphomet (solve et coagula. "Divide and dissolve.") But also to the early symbol for medical practice, the staff of ascepulus (the snake wrapped around a stick.) Furthermore, the bronze color of the serpent calls back to the story of the serpents in the desert in the book of Exodus, but that's probably a bridge too far as far as references go. Finally, the puzzle with the books and the "prophet" at the end are fairly direct references to Hermes Trimestigus, who is a major figure in alchemical practice and various associated myths. He is indirectly associated with the figure of Melchizedek from the bible depending on who you ask, very interesting to see the father of alchemy in a game full of references to the art. Anyways, I know nobody asked (or cares.) But I figured I would leave this in the comment section for those interested. Thanks!
Man, You released this at the perfect time of night. Thank you ahead of time for making an hour and a half of the work night to come a lot more bearable, Marsh
The turnaround on this is impressive! Also, thanks again, Marsh. But again, as someone trying this with Super Robot Wars, please be kind to yourself and learn to pace yourself
Marsh, this is the first comment I post in a video of yours, I've watched every SMT Experience video you made so far, and I just wanna say, thank you man, they're extremely informative and funny and I will never get tired of them. Looking forward to whatever you're making next, and hopefully it won't be as painful of an experience as this and Majin Tensei, you have suffered enough for our sake.
It's too bad LBS is this brutal, I really like the way it looks and the concept is quite solid, in both ways it's very similar to mainline SMT yet distinctly different (too bad the music is so thoroughly unimpressive, doubly so considering the GG port of LB1 sounded pretty good). The visuals are especially impressive for the Game Gear too, I mean, the scrolling and turning effects are smoother than they were in the SNES games. Another Bible just really makes me hope you'll cover the Majin Tensei series in the future. Great work as always, Marsh!
Even when you are being dirty on purpose, the jokes you make never sound forced, I think you are maybe one of the least cringe-inducing personalities on youtube. You just sound so chill and natural about it that the dirty humor doesn't bother me at all. Just one more thing about your reviews that I appreciate, it's really the little things that make this channel such a treasure.
'strip naked and hula hoop with barbed wire' is a phrase I never knew I needed, straight bust out laughing in the office today and had to act like nothing happened because I'm not explaining that joke at work 😂 thanks for the content man👍
Taking 1:10:51 out of context is just hilarious Loving the content. As insane as it sounds, i want to play Last Bible Special. Reminds me of Elminage (a more obscure dungeon crawler game, which Special has more similarities than Wizardry imo). Wish you covered Elminage tho
Im not even halfway through the Another Bible section and i already know this is going to be a wonderful experience Edit- LB Special seems like a rly unique game and its sadly making me want to try it Also six words “Holy f*ck, it’s the grim reaper”
Oof these spin offs are certainly stinkers and that's saying a lot. Hopefully the next game(s) you review will end up being a more enjoyable experience. Keep up doing The Greater Will's work and thank you for taking the time reviewing these games. Also hearing the words "Acid Trip Soyjack" was the last thing I was expecting to hear. What a game.
I can't help but wonder how many times this game depends on your luck stat. Like, having higher luck reduces the amount of times you have to stick your hand in a statue of poisoned needles before receiving that key you need. Actually, I swear that was a trap in a Saw movie. Fitting considering how poor Marsh really seemed to suffer through this one. Sorry Marsh. Had I known it was gonna be this bad, I woulda never suggested it in that community post all that time ago.
Some of the systems in Last Bible Special remind me a lot of some of the systems in the Etrian Odyssey series. (Though of course, EO does the whole thing significantly better.) Given they're both Atlus titles, there's probably certainly some inspiration there. A bit of a weird game to draw inspiration from, but hey, it worked.
In Wizardry, the dungeons fuck you over without a thief. Every single chest, door, and object is trapped in some way to fuck you over. Open a chest, party member gets instantly killed, or open a chest and everyone gets poisoned. Its brutal, and last bible special is basically wizardry with a coat of last bible paint. Wizardry being one of the harder dungeon crawlers due to its obtuse mechanics, its high enemy encounters, and its previously mentioned traps. Wizardry 1-3 got a fan translation for its snes release.Though, if you really want to see how similar these games are, start with one. The second and third games need you to have a party from the previous game to play them.
Thanks for subjecting yourself to God knows how many hours of Last Bible, these videos are so good, Another Bible is one of the games in the franchise I can't play more than a couple hours if because it sucks, so I was looking forward to this one.
Nigredo and Albedo are 2 of the 4 stages for creating the Philosphers stone Nigredo meaning blackness, or decomposition and Albedo meaning whiteness purification which is probably why they appear like a Grim Reaper and Angel, makes sense they'd appear in a dungeon involving Hohenheim.
@@MarshSMT it truly was a great time killer, honestly I don't remember even thinking about the difficulty while I was playing it XD 3x speed also always helps
Last Bible Special's premise could make for an extremely fun TTRPG campaign, tbh. You and your party are chosen by the Patriarch of Constantinople to retake Jerusalem! Also, he gives you the power to control Demons because, uh, don't worry about it. Just go on that Crusade. Don't worry about the blatant references to Alchemical concepts and illustrations references either. They're just for fun.
Thank you marsh for suffering for our internment. Also because of you I played smt if... and developed some weird stockholm to suffering in the world of greed word of advice to anyone who wants to that game don't max out chefei you'll be grinding forever
So the main villain of Last Bible Special uses the talk command on the party and it actually works! Does he give you any money or life stones or anything?
If you had told me a day ago that a fire emblem/ Shin megami tensei game existed, and it was the worst thing since chopped liver I would not have believed you. It just seems like a really good match, with the large number of recruitable demons in Shin Megami and a tried and true battle system in Fe. Wild shit, my man. Love the content and appreciate everything you do. Can't wait for the Roundup to this whole series
He has shown interest in trying out the Devil Children games. As most are a bit on the short side. But I really hope he covers the manga based on the Black and Red Gameboy Color games. The 2 animes based on it are not only untranslated, but the 1st anime has nothing but a non-stop Monster Of The Week format during the 2nd half. ...And the 2nd anime, not only has a huge chunk of its episodes of the 1st half missing online. But this anime also ends on a grim cliffhanger that was never picked up.
Last Bible Special seems like it could be a really good game if you took out all the bullshit RNG and horrid encounter rates. Also, I don't know why, but I found myself rooting for Andre the entire time. Glad to see he had at least one shining moment.
57:05 As someone who has played some "good old pen and paper RPGs," I can tell you: it's a reminder of *bad* old pen and paper RPGs. Go play Baldur's Gate or Divinity or something if you want to play a TTRPG in video form. And, we're far away from truly recreating that.
At this point im legit convinced Marsh slammed into the ceo of atlus' office and demanded smt v. thats the only reason we got it bc this man CARRIES this community
BOY if you thought the game stopping to show enemies even if they just stand there doing nothing, you are gonna LOVE Majin Tensei 2, where you can spend minutes on end waiting as the game does the same thing except they dont even scroll the camera, so you just sit there waiting for your turn. Great story but that is horrible, thankfully the speed up button exists.
Another Bible is probably best compared to Shining Force, minus the charm. Same turn based combat without weapons, with a limited skill set. Think about it, recruit characters in town maps/battlefield. A ninja. A robot with secret requirements? It's literally following Shining Force tropes.
