Impressions/gameplay thread

[Pibbman]

This post should be pretty much spoiler free, as it talks more about the game mechanics.

Been playing the game for the past 2 hours, so far my impression is very positive. If you liked the first one, you should definitely like this. I feel like everything as a whole has been streamlined.

The camera system, which was my biggest beef with the first one isn't static anymore as expected. To me it makes the battle feel more dynamic and exciting. It takes a bit of getting used to commanding two demons now, but you pick up on it pretty quickly. Raidou's new battle system is very sweet, I especially like the new moves.

I used my save from the first game for the bonus, which is pretty nice and I think it'll help out a lot (won't say what it is, you'll find out soon enough). Another thing, the original had it where there were certain menu functions you could only do at the office, but a lot can be done on the fly now anywhere, with the exception of saving.

So the game has definitely been improved, and it's a much better. I can ACTUALLY explore the city now! :O I absolutely love how the random encounters have been removed from it.

[aylien]

Hey Pibbman,

I've never played an SMT game before, though I've become somewhat familiar with Persona 4 through Giantbomb.com's Endurance Run. RKv.KA seems to approach battles differently, and I was wondering if you could describe the battle system for a first-timer?
Is it similar to Devil May Cry's combat system? One concern I've had from looking at the videos is that the combat appears slightly repetitive and rewards button mashing. Or I am jumping to conclusions?

[Pibbman]

Hey Pibbman,

I've never played an SMT game before, though I've become somewhat familiar with Persona 4 through Giantbomb.com's Endurance Run. RKv.KA seems to approach battles differently, and I was wondering if you could describe the battle system for a first-timer?
Is it similar to Devil May Cry's combat system? One concern I've had from looking at the videos is that the combat appears slightly repetitive and rewards button mashing. Or I am jumping to conclusions?

Ok.

First off, the biggest difference is that it's real time battle. Here is an idea of how it would go down.

When you're running around, you'll get hit with a random encounter. There are a few things that can happen here, and its random.

You'll get to the new screen and see the demons appear before you. The first thing that pops up is a list that says stuff like "Begin Battle, Analyze, Negotiation, etc". Basically right at the start of the fight, it's not gonna be like "BAM, start fighting". You can take as much time as you want to see what is before you.

I usually do "analyze" or "negotiation" for the new demons I come across, here I can see what their strengths/weaknesses/etc are (however you cant find that out until you fought them at least once for analyze). Negotiation you can pick a demon, and try to talk to them. You'll be given choices as what to say to them, and your demon allies can help if needed.

If you don't wanna do that, you can also take your time and summon up to two demons to fight alongside you, choosing ones that will be elementally stronger against what you're facing.

Eventually when you're set, you just do "begin battle". Here you can choose what attacks that your demon allies will do, and to which enemy demon. You also choose if its gonna auto-repeat or not. Meaning do you want it to keep attacking with that spell/move or do you wanna have it do it once and then just fight physically.

In the battle, you use your demon allies to "stun" the enemie, when this happens you inflict much higher damage, as well as drain them of MAG, which is basically "mana" needed for spells. You also have access anytime during the fight to summon a different demon, use an item, change commands as well. This will pause the battle while you choose what to do/

Getting allies is done through negotiation, generally you have to win their favor to assist you. Sometimes they'll ask for a one time money fee, item etc. There is also of course a fusion system in place too, as well as a "compendium" or as its called in this game, a Devil Chart. Which you can summon them for a fee, but you gotta register them first.

You can guard, dodge, normal attack, strong attack (strong uses MAG tho), Shoot them with a gun. You also use L2 to turn your demons invisible, or rather invincible, however they can't attack or do anything during this time. Just tapping L2 will summon them immediately to your side, this is useful to get them to dodge out of powerful attacks.

I could write a book on it, but coming from me who generally hates action rpgs....actually I hate them all...Devil Summoner is the ONLY exception for me. That says a lot right there.

[blammo]

Thats good to hear.
I was wondering how I would like a non-turn based game. Sounds dandy.

[Pibbman]

O.O I'm assuming some mod took my post from review thread and made it there. lol, I thought I was going nuts for a bit there.

blammo - If you ask me, it's actually a bit more like a funky mix of turn-based and action. You'll often find yourself accessing the "battle" menu to change commands to your demons, summon a different one, use an item, etc. During that time it pauses the battle entirely. Maybe all action rpgs are like that, I wouldn't know since I generally hate it.

I'm about 10 hours into the game right now, and according to the percentage, it's listing the game as 5% done. The chapters are definitely longer than the first game too. In any case, if you're a huge action rpg fan, and love SMT you'll pretty much LURVE this game.

One more thing, THANK GOD the demon AI was improved. In the first one, your demons would just keep repeating an attack/healing even if it wasn't needed, thus wasting MAG. Here they are smart enough to know when you need to be healed (if set to heal), and will only do it when needed. I was curious about spells/fighting moves and if they would repeat those, they do but ONLY when it's needed. For example if I stun an enemy, they'll stop whatever they did to stun them, flash and appear before them and start duking out physical attacks on them. Once the enemy is back on their feet, your demon will try and stun them again.

Basically the demons know how to conserve MAG, which is a big deal because MAG management is a much bigger deal this time around.

[cj iwakura]

So far I love the new conversation system the most.

It's like they took the randomness aspects of Nocturne's system and made it beneficial. Demons running away then joining later? Sold.

[Ark]

You can also stun the enemy by shooting them. Granted it may take a few shots, but the MAG payoff is worth it.

[aylien]

Thanks for the extensive detail in your reply, Pibbman!
One more question, for Pibbman or anyone else, how is the save system?
Is it convenient to save, ie a global save system so that you can save anytime you want, or are there only fixed locations?
If it's only fixed locations, how far are they apart, like a couple of minutes or a couple of hours?

[Pibbman]

Thanks for the extensive detail in your reply, Pibbman!
One more question, for Pibbman or anyone else, how is the save system?
Is it convenient to save, ie a global save system so that you can save anytime you want, or are there only fixed locations?
If it's only fixed locations, how far are they apart, like a couple of minutes or a couple of hours?

Fixed locations. You have one that is always at the office, as well as a "Rest" option, which is new in DS2 as well, which is basically a free healing deal. In the normal world, that is really the only save spot. However, there are some saves placed in select spots in the normal world as well, however that is mostly for spots that are far from the office.

As for where you'll be fighting often, there is usually multiple save spots set around the area. You pretty much ALWAYS have one right before a boss fight as well, which is also a good indicator that you might be facing a boss soon.

I wouldn't say they are close either, more like 10-20 minutes apart, but it should be noted that the dark realm isn't exactly like a huge overworld/battlefield either like FF or whatever. Saving really shouldn't be an issue if you ask me.

If you're in town somewhere and you gotta save quick to leave or whatever, you can hit the square button and choose headquarter, which will "Warp" you there right away, however you'll still have to pay a fee depending on how far you are. (if you gotta use the streetcars or not).

[Saburo Hikari]

First impressions are pretty good for me. Battle system is pretty fun.

But that's all I can say for now because I'm already stuck on the first part of the game where you have to get some food for the guy in the bathhouse. How pathetic of me.

[Akarshi]

First impressions is good. I'm loving the negotiation system. =D (well, not that I didn't love it before...more like, I still like it now and...uh...nevermind.)

As for the guy in the bathhouse, you have to go back to Tsukudo-cho or whatever that place is called (it's where the Detective Agency is) and wander around that long main road until you see a maid asking for help to the detective agency...after you tell here where it is, you'll get a case file to meet Dr. Victor in the Dark World...and as a reward you get smoked salmon for that guy.

[Elizabeth]

I'm on Chapter 2 of Cycle 3 in the first game. In regards to the bonuses will I get them all since I've completed the game twice or will it only reward you based on where you're currently at?



As for the guy in the bathhouse, you have to go back to Tsukudo-cho or whatever that place is called (it's where the Detective Agency is) and wander around that long main road until you see a maid asking for help to the detective agency...after you tell here where it is, you'll get a case file to meet Dr. Victor in the Dark World...and as a reward you get smoked salmon for that guy.

...???? I thought in the first game Victor said he couldn't enter the Dark Realm? Figures he'd find a way.

[Pibbman]

First impressions is good. I'm loving the negotiation system. =D (well, not that I didn't love it before...more like, I still like it now and...uh...nevermind.)

As for the guy in the bathhouse, you have to go back to Tsukudo-cho or whatever that place is called (it's where the Detective Agency is) and wander around that long main road until you see a maid asking for help to the detective agency...after you tell here where it is, you'll get a case file to meet Dr. Victor in the Dark World...and as a reward you get smoked salmon for that guy.

You should REALLY be putting spoiler tags around that.

[aylien]

Thanks again for the answers about saving.

One more question, and this might be a bit weird, but how often and arbitrarily can you die in this game? One criticism I've heard leveled at Personas 3 and 4 is that boss battles can be very tough, and that the knock down battle mechanic can really screw you over if you're fighting an enemy that can exploit your elemental weaknesses.
Is there a similar mechanic at play in this game, or are the battles less punishing?

[cj iwakura]

If you underestimate your enemies, you can take a lot of damage very fast. If you get hit with certain status effects, you're especially screwed.

Dodge quickly, dodge often.

[Pibbman]

If you underestimate your enemies, you can take a lot of damage very fast. If you get hit with certain status effects, you're especially screwed.

Dodge quickly, dodge often.

That is true. I almost had extremely near-death experiences because of status ailments a couple times. There was one time that I had confusion inflicted, on myself and one of my demons, and it was getting bad avoiding everyone and my own demon from getting killed. The part was that you can't use items or give out orders during this time, and for some reason the status ailment was lasting a LONG time, and I barely got away with 5 HP left.

In any case, I'm glad it's like that. I personally love it when games take advantage of status ailments like Persona 3, and this does so far, because you really do feel helpless. I don't think I haven't seen a boss yet that doesn't at least have one status ailment attack.

[Inzaghi]

I got SMT'd pretty bad last night. Didn't get my guard up in time to block a Dormina, so I got put to sleep... which wouldn't have been so bad if the boss didn't immediately follow up with a screen-wide attack that insta-killed anything sleeping.

[Pibbman]

I got SMT'd pretty bad last night. Didn't get my guard up in time to block a Dormina, so I got put to sleep... which wouldn't have been so bad if the boss didn't immediately follow up with a screen-wide attack that insta-killed anything sleeping.

Trying to create a new verb huh? SMT'd lol.

[HalfShadow]

Who is the immense retard who told Canada they weren't getting the game until the 19th and then released it yesterday?

I tried to pre-order a copy only to find out it not only came out yesterday but that all copies were sold as well. And now that it's out, I can't reserve a copy, which means I know have to check the store daily to see if any more come in.

Is this some sort of godddamn joke to you?

[Pibbman]

Who is the immense retard who told Canada they weren't getting the game until the 19th and then released it yesterday?

I tried to pre-order a copy only to find out it not only came out yesterday but that all copies were sold as well. And now that it's out, I can't reserve a copy, which means I know have to check the store daily to see if any more come in.

Is this some sort of godddamn joke to you?

Huh? Who is that suppose to be geared towards? Atlus? They don't have any control over that. If you ask me, it seems that whoever you pre-ordered from doesn't understand the concept of "pre-order"

[thealchemistoftime]

backfliping is fun i do it all the time i kind of wished you can backflip outside of the dark realm

[Enzeru]

Who is the immense retard who told Canada they weren't getting the game until the 19th and then released it yesterday?
Someone on GameFAQs. They started a whole thread about it, and proceeded to say that Canadians won't get the Plush, IIRC.

Anyway, on topic, I like this game a lot. I love A-RPGs, and this is definitely great. I love love love the negotiations and the battles are pretty fast-paced.

Maybe all action rpgs are like that, I wouldn't know since I generally hate it.Pretty much. The only one I can think of that doesn't is Phantasy Star Portable, but was based off of PSU, so...

[HalfShadow]

Except the store told me this, which means their computer had the 19th as the release date which means Atlus told the supplier this was the release date.

I've been waiting for this game for months and you pull this #### on me?