Before I say anything, Shin Megami Tensei is a bit of a weird series, so let me explain it.
Technically, there are only 6 games in the series.
There's a series of spin offs however, most of which only have two entries, that bring the total to well above 20 (Too lazy to count), however most aren't translated into english. I could get into spinoffs but I'll do that later (Devil Survivor 2 is my favorite of those)
One of the third entries (There's two, it goes smt 1 2 (Strange Journey/Nocturne) 4 5) is absolutely amazing. One of the biggest problems I have with Shin Megami Tensei is addressed with it, but I'll get on that soon. Here's the core features!
- Talking to demons to make them your allies, in a system that is less rng based then most of the games (Still kinda rng based but there are definitively "right" answers unlike 4)
- Unique and interesting characters + design (if the original)
- Fucking awesome OST
- Great dungeon design all around, and in Redux there's even more dungeons!
- An alignment system that you can manipulate. This is HUGE in this game, as it affects how your entire party works and functions. You get a quest with a goblin that lets you change it at any point. I don't use it, but I've always hated the way SMT forces you down a certain narrative path with it's decisions. It's based on what you say, sure, but it feels jarring because it's a self insert character and not any other character when they make a decision I wouldn't at the end. Strange Journey lets you change that.
- Fusing demons for builds and making interesting combinations with existing demons. There's limits so you can't make every demon the same but no limits that prevent you from doing basically anything you want.
If any of these interest you, I'd reccomend checking it out! It's also very difficult in general, and I've loved playing it. I don't know if it's blackpilled or not but I think it is too? It's also about why society fucking sucks. that's dope
Technically, there are only 6 games in the series.
There's a series of spin offs however, most of which only have two entries, that bring the total to well above 20 (Too lazy to count), however most aren't translated into english. I could get into spinoffs but I'll do that later (Devil Survivor 2 is my favorite of those)
One of the third entries (There's two, it goes smt 1 2 (Strange Journey/Nocturne) 4 5) is absolutely amazing. One of the biggest problems I have with Shin Megami Tensei is addressed with it, but I'll get on that soon. Here's the core features!
- Talking to demons to make them your allies, in a system that is less rng based then most of the games (Still kinda rng based but there are definitively "right" answers unlike 4)
- Unique and interesting characters + design (if the original)
- Fucking awesome OST
- Great dungeon design all around, and in Redux there's even more dungeons!
- An alignment system that you can manipulate. This is HUGE in this game, as it affects how your entire party works and functions. You get a quest with a goblin that lets you change it at any point. I don't use it, but I've always hated the way SMT forces you down a certain narrative path with it's decisions. It's based on what you say, sure, but it feels jarring because it's a self insert character and not any other character when they make a decision I wouldn't at the end. Strange Journey lets you change that.
- Fusing demons for builds and making interesting combinations with existing demons. There's limits so you can't make every demon the same but no limits that prevent you from doing basically anything you want.
If any of these interest you, I'd reccomend checking it out! It's also very difficult in general, and I've loved playing it. I don't know if it's blackpilled or not but I think it is too? It's also about why society fucking sucks. that's dope
