Easy: Dynamic. Dark setting. Philosophical and political. Esoterically accurate. Monster taming. Sci-fi. Cyberpunk. Morale decisions depending paths. Dungeon crawling. Own style. Rock and metal. Vapor and darkwave. Challenging. Bold. Mythical and symbolical. Immersive. Jack Frost. Nemissa. Ok. It's not that easy. SMT are just... the excellence. They have been my deepest adventures in gaming.
"two weaker monster made into one bigger why don't more JRPGs copy that?" Dragon Quest Monsters DID cop that but that subseries died out when they couldn't match up to the pokemon monolith.
I know this was commented somewhere else, but I'm just gonna share it here: "Megami Tensei is exactly what all the religious fanatics thought Pokemon was when it came out" (Also, I'm waiting for you to talk for an hour about the Devil Summoner games, dad)
JRPGs are a weird genre. You can find some genuinely great, charming, creative games, but you can also find some of the most cliché things you'll ever see. I guess I simply like this genre
JRPGs afford the writers the liberty to include as much random bullshit in the story as they can, sadly some of them don't take that opportunity and just release some generic fantasy story about heroes and demon kings. But then you have masterpieces like .Hack that go for a completely different theme and approach and even poke fun at RPG clichés. It's a rich genre to explore for sure
@@gregboitut3074 FF7 is a bit overrated and not that good, even at the time it was released games like suikoden 2 and Xenogears were far better in comparison.
@@ElShogoso its rich but with a lot of fat sadly, there are some good jrpgs dont get me wrong but sadly its a genre that has been struggling since the PS 2 era and for a good reason, but still there are some masterpieces in the genre that i did enjoy.
SMT 4A should be treated as a Spinoff like Devil Survivor. See it like that and its a good game. It wasn't ever meant to be a Mainline entry. Its got some shit that Outshines og SMT 4. (Final boss. Fuck that last dungeon tho)
NenJutsu Yeah I had my hang ups with SMT IV Apocalypse, but it's pretty removed as a what if story based of the neutral path the hunter characters outlook make sense in some aspects.
It's funny how I watched this video, listening to Dad's ever-enthusiastic take on why he loves MegaTen, and right when he says: "Don't fuck up this game (Referring to SMTV)" the next suggested video to pop up is his most recent, in which he explains why he sees that same game, now that is has been released, as absolutely goddamn horrendous. The YT algorithm is playing with me here-
that happens with me, I started with the first SMT from SNES then strange jorney and IV, after that Isaid mayself: what about Persona games? I mean they have to be good too right? I played Persona 3 and oh god, what the hell was that, how I hate the social link (dating simulator) and the animes cliches, that is the reason why I hate Xenobalde 2.
This me as well but with The Legend of heroes: Trails series. I still love Shin Megami tensei/Persona series but not more than my love for the Trails series.
I kinda squinted at the Trails of Cold Steel thing, because it is one of the few jrpgs I actually like. Just that series in general. Same to Tales of games, which rely on more technical things for harder difficulties. But if I have to say why I love SMT, me, the viewer? - Great Combat. - Game never waste my time. - Stat builds that make you commit to a certain play style for the Main Character. - Usually great Music. - Great Atmosphere. - Every enemy has some type of unique design and personality. - Overall, just challenging. - It has a great magic system, that I have way less criticism of than say something like FF as a series. Where in some games, magic at a point becomes useless. Never the case in SMT, everything has an application at all points in the game. - Boss fights are usually great. Even the horde ones when there is more than one enemy. - Battle Rules apply to everyone, and there are even unique strategies and synergies for some fights, and if we are technical, infinite stat build options also can help determine what you'd do build wise, or what you can situationally flex into. Just, good stuff. Great stuff even.
@@trickortriq I need to go back to play that one. But from what I seen, outside of graphics and the Arcus/Pair up mechanic, it isn't too different from what I can see. Battle wise, the Quartz/Arcus system is. "What if we took the Materia System from FF7, and made it a bit more fleshed out and interesting, or Unique?" And no disrespect to FF7, I love that game. But the Materia system is sorta bare in places. "Here is skills." But if you upgrade some quartz, you make some have additional effects and stats that can expand on the character by adding passives. Granted, I'm that weirdo who did TOCS1 on Nightmare first. Some bosses can be a fucking headache without the right set up. So anything that required exclusively magic, were sorta unfun. There is some anime bs I didn't care for, but I otherwise saw the characters as decently grounded and relatable. So TOCS has a lot of good things going for it if you can get passed the exposition heavy nature. Exposition in any setting or game isn't inherently bad, it is just how you handle or pace it that can make it feel like meandering. And I mean Golden Sun levels of it. The only thing that was WEIRD to me was. "Craft" are a character's unique moves. But "Arts", are magic. You'd think it is the other way around due to an "Art" feeling like a technique you learned or honed. And a "Craft", being the designated spell or magic effect from the Quartz. Either way, I think you'll love the series. And that is coming from someone who traditionally cannot get into anime.
For real though, putting Trails of Cold Steel there only has one justifiable response: "bruh." For real, I'd honestly argue that the Trails of Cold Steel games are better than most Final Fantasy games, and that's not an attack on FF as most FF games are pretty solid.
I agree soon as he mention he loved the tedious command system on persona 3 fes he instantly lost credibility to me I know now he just hates the persona fandom more then the games.
@Aria Khalaji your missing the point. If he didnt like the game thats fine. But the part I mention felt like a stretch just to play devil's advocate. Music is subjective that's fine. Complains about the character growth and his excuse to it was that persona 2 did it first. That was a bad critique of he felt that he didn't like the character development. In his persona 4 video. It felt like he was actually being open minded to the game and its flaws. But persona 3 vid felt like he just went in to bash on the game.
i wouldnt really have a problem with him disliking persona. but then he makes fun of people for liking it, nitpicking everything then is like "lmao stop being so butthurt". i personally really enjoy his smt vids but hes just an ass sometimes
Kazuma Kaneko: ok I made this demon in based his original source, but I give him a special touch of my, so the players can recognize that I made this art. others jrpg artist: made that deamon a sexy boy, or what about if we become this demon a sexy woman.
I hear you out... but you have to admit "Nyaruko: Crawling with Love" is such a power move regarding the Lovecraft Mythos that is pretty much is impossible to not consider that depiction of Nyarlathotep as being the most cannot depiction
Bruh I can't take this vid seriously. 1:02 diminishes the vast majority of JRPGs you haven't played, calling them boring, uninteresting, copy-paste & generic, while ignoring their differents worlds and stories, the baller-ass shit, the passion and heart, and the genuine care of everyone involved. 12:35 reveals the whole point of the video is that you want people to not do to SMT what YOU JUST DID FOR A WHOLE GENRE OF GAMES Like damn son. I agree with you that SMT is great, but I somehow still leave this video dumbfounded at how someone can be so feeble-minded and hypocritical. "What I played = good, what I didn't play = bad"
@@SimplyDad Yeah buddy, it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out you didn't play the games you showed, when multiple of the games you showed are massively well received, like Trails of Cold Steel, Tales of Vesperia and Stella Glow. I would understand not liking one or two, but all three of these, which have nearly nothing in common? Lol. To add insult to injury, you literally say you didn't grow up on JRPGs, but despite this you want me to believe you'd go out of your way to play a dozen of these games? You can stop pretending. Maybe start practicing what you preach and stop getting hung up on your preconceived notions about JRPGs.
@LAW Those games ain't good just because they are well received. They are just good cause they either have good game play, a good story, great music etc. Out of those games he mentioned Trails of cold steel is definitely the best one tho.
@@jorgekuzan2025 idk what to tell you bruh sorry i didnt like your highly rated anime rpgs, forgot that a review score means a game is objectively good and everybody who plays it has to like it.
I think I finally understand why the later persona game vibed with you and not the recent ones. After watching your p3 and 4 videos,. I went back to p2 IS and soul hackers and I do feel that many things are lacking with the recent persona games. Granted there are somethings I don't entirely agree with your reviews but that's people being people, we are not going to agree on everything.
Dope video. Your appreciation for Soul Hackers and the older Persona games is so righteous. You really can't go wrong with SMT. Even the games I don't love quite as much as others like Persona 3 and SMT4:A are still really fun and dope in their own right
Coming back to this video is already Nostalgic. I shared this video to so many friends to show how great this series is and let them Blbarrow my games lol. I just wanna say thank you for leaving an impact on me and I play many SMT Games ever since :)
The fact that Hidehito Aoki didn't score a single game between Persona 1 in 1996 and his tragic death in 2002 is an absolute tragedy. Why did he shift to only doing "sound design" and "production"? Did he lack confidence in his abilities? I guess we'll never know, but the music he left us will live on, I know that for a fact. Actually, it's something of a trend in the games industry that great composers like Koji Kondo and Nobuo Uematsu end up relegated (or relegate themselves) to the roles of "sound supervisor" or whatever, and the people who come after them struggle to recapture the same magic. VGM seriously needs to get more recognition as a "serious" art form.
It’s possible that he wanted other composers to have their time in the spotlight. The reason Kazuma Kaneko didn’t do the artwork for Persona 3 was because he wanted Soejima to gain experience. It’s incredibly disheartening though he didn’t work on anything after his work on Persona 1. I know he would’ve killed it. RIP Legend
Hhhhmm, dunno if I'd put Falcom's Trails series on the same level as the others shown with it. At the very least trying to keep a story going over, like, nine games (I think? Maybe more?) ended up making it amazing at world building and a character you'd expect to be saved by "the power of friendship" or some shit straight-up dies.
It was because of this channel and one of my friends that got me to try main SMT after I first played Persona. Now I can't stop jamming to SMT bangers and I've been really enjoying games like SMT IV, Strange Journey and Innocent Sin. So thanks
I love pretty much every JRPG I've ever played. Even the "garbage" ones. Because sometimes its fun to play trash and rip it to pieces. I love FF, DQ, Tales, MegaTen, Valkyrie Profile, list goes on and on.
To me the way how the series shows differently than other Jrpg games is compare SMT 1 intro to others at it's time. You might get a upbeat intro or something along the lines but then comes smt 1 ominous intro... Plus you punch god in the face multiple times in the series... Actually scratch that your punching every demon of any mythology!
Nocturne is one of the gnarliest games I've ever played. The music, the art style, just the general vibe and aesthetic, all come together into an absolutely brilliant game. I play it often on PCSX2. Can't wait to get the PS4 remaster.
Great video man 👍 I adore the megami series. I'm SO GLAD YOU COVERED THE SOUNDTRACKS! I always keep the ost for SMT IF, soul hackers & persona 2 on my phone for when I'm just craving some bangers. Love this vid man 🙋🏻♀️
Whenever I watch one of your videos I feel the amount of passion you put in them and how much you love the series, and that makes me genuinely happy. Happy Megaten Day ❤
Nocturne got me into SMT. But my first game on the entire persona/smt universe was Persona 3 back on 2013. I was uh 20yo internship so decided to play it on my day off and was one of my best choices. But Nocturne definitely made me play other smt games like strange journey, devil Survivor (during quarantine) and recently digital devil saga.
Feeling this video with smt 5. Having played SMT 5 and planning on playing 4 whenever I can get my hands on it, this series is a masterful work of art in player expression and what you can choose to traverse the game with.
You know what,in the past I wasn't really a fan of your stuff and i thought that it came off as really mean and stupid. I even remember leaving a comment in your P3 video. And while I still feel like you have a lot of space to improve on the way you express yourself and your opinions it was always pretty clear that it all came from a deep appreciation for Megami Tensei. I watched this video and then went back and watched your SMTIV video and I actually really like what you have to say. I love this series and having someone that makes good video essays like these is really good for the series and the community. So keep it up man.
I gave a like mostly because of the music showcase. PSX Persona 1's music especially has a sense of atmosphere to each location and moment in the game and they're just really great to listen to on their own (RIP Hidehito Aoki). Some other soundtracks that I feel similarly about are Soul Hackers, Devil Summoner 1, the P2 Duology, the DDS duology, SMT3, and SMT 4. Also, thank you for showing how great Majin Tensei's music is! I might have to listen to it afterwards. Other than that, great video.
Damn man, I gotta say people on twitter paint you like a fuckin evil war criminal. Cool to see your passion about the series and that you don't seem like a bad dude, you just.. don't really like a video game I like lmao.
Yoo deadass, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is one of the greatest games of all time no cap! All of the stuff you said about it made me realize how legendary that game was. It was one of the only games that once you beat (for me atleast) you immediately want to replay it. Like the only other game to do that for me was prob Kingdom Hearts 2 or something lol. Pmtyd so goddamn wholesome
I am currently going through Paper Mario ttyd for the first time at the moment. Hopefully when I'm done I play more SMT, especially since his passion for the series is very persuasive.
Megaten is such a special fuckin' series to me, man. This video just reminds me how damn much I adore it. Cheers, Dad. Repping SMT 4 till the day I die
Youre right about the fusion thing definitely. Really I think the only jrpg that has done something similar recently was Digimon Story, which was basically like a SMT lite-like game and definitely wasnt close to the same extent with it's fusions.
I agree with the points you made in this video and I can agree with some points you made in your persona 3 & 4 video and can respect why you’d dislike those games, it’s interesting seeing what people think about these games and trying to learn more about what people think about them even if the opinion is criticizing the game I still respect it regardless
Been meaning to try out the "Trails of" series for the longest time. No one ever shuts up about how good they are, and if Simply Dad hates it, it's probably lit. Any recommendations on where I should start?
Trails is absolutely amazing! The best starting points are either Trails in the Sky first Chapter or Trails of Cold Steel. Trails in the Sky First Chapter is considered the best starting point however it may be a bit hard to get into as it is a bit old and some people don't like the slow start, however it is still a great RPG. Trails of Cold Steel(The one shown in the video) is also a great starting point. It's a lot more modern and it's similar to persona if you happen to be a persona fan. Honestly I started with Cold Steel and had a blast. Feel free to ask me if you have more questions!
@@k.s854 Well, I'm just about done with SMT if.. and I love it despite it being pretty dated. Old or archaic mechanics definitely won't bother or stop me. So Trails in the Sky it is! One more question, is there a definitive version? Like should I play the PSP or Steam version, or does it really matter at all?
@@cornmuffin7686 The steam version is the best place to get Trails in the Sky. It has turbo mode( allows you to speed up the the animations which is amazing considering that the battle animations are slow) and is considered as the definitive edition. Also Trails in the sky isn't too archaic in terms of game play I'd say it still holds up pretty well. The story starts off kind of slow but if you give it some time if turns into a epic tale with incredible world building and well developed characters. In case you didn't know Trails in the Sky is a Trilogy but for now I'd suggest trying the first game and see if the series is for you. Have fun!
@@k.s854 Great..it sounds right up my alley. I'm definitely going to give it a go within the next day or two. Thanks for the taking the time out to help. Take care.
@Corn Muffin No problem. It makes me happy to see people give this series a chance. What I really love about this series is that since every game is connected, the series really has a chance to flesh out it's world. Events that happen in one country/arc affect the countries/arcs you visit in the next set of games. and It's really awesome to see characters from past arcs appear even in the newest games. You take care as well! (I'll also write the proper play order in case you decide to continue playing the series) 1.Trails in the Sky First Chapter 2.Trails in the Sky Second Chapter 3.Trails in the Sky The Third 4. Trails From Zero 5. Trails To Azure (Trails From Zero and Azure weren't localized however a great Fan translation by the Geofront exists. More info on how to get the games are on their website. Zero has been translated by the Geofront but Azure is still being worked on. There still is another translation for Azure it’s perfectly playable but when The Geofronts patch come out it’s expected to be better than the current translation.) 6. Trails of Cold Steel 7.Trails of Cold Steel 2 8.Trails of Cold Steel 3 9.Trails of Cold Steel 4 10. Hajimari no Kiseki ( will probably be localized soon)
I agree with everything you brought up in this video. SMT is just SO GOOD! I can't put my thoughts into words properly right now so I'll just leave it at that. SO GOOD!
He doesn't like P3's overall OST because of the unfitting hip-hop style, but he appreciated those songs as good songs but the overall P3 soundtrack sucks (Check out Larrue's MegaTen music tier list video for more information). Plus he said on the video that even on the shitty games/soundtracks they got some bangers in them.
nocturnes was the first SMT game I played. I have never once since then leveled my character in an rpg to 99 from playing it so much. That game was fucking amazing. Digital Devil Sage 1/2 were also top notch. The music hands down beats most of whats out there. Cant wait to get my hands on SMT 5 and SMT 3 Nocturnes remaster when it comes out next spring. gonna be a good time.
