With the recent release, and subsequent blowing up on social

>>376589898

>Are the series games linear?
You mean do they follow a set order? Like you have to play SMT III before SMT IV? If so, then not much. SMT II is a direct sequel to SMT I, and Persona 2 is a direct sequel to Persona 1. Oh, and SMT IV Apocalypse is a sort of sequel to IV. It helps to play IV before it, but some people say it's not necessary. I think you should, but that's up to you.

>If not, which should I start with?
I'm not the best person to answer that, I like starting from the first game in a series. Still, I think SMT III is a good starting point for SMT. As for Persona, my favorite are 1 and 2. 3-5 are "Eh" for me. 5's the best out of 3-5 though.

>What kind of RPGs are the SMT games? What's the battle system like? What's the story like?
Expect dungeon crawling, talking to demons to get them on your side, and fusing demons together to make stronger demons. There's a good amount of customization your party in SMT games.

>How do these games compare/contrast with the FF games?
That'd take more time than I'm willing to spend writing.

4chan doesn't like this post, so I'm splitting it up.

>>376591034

>What are the main games that should/must be played from the series?
For Megami Tensei, I've only played SMT I-IV Apocalypse and Persona 1-5. I've yet to play most of the others, but I can personally recommend SMT III-IV Apocalypse. I and II if you like old JRPGs (SMT I is good, but felt like it went through a dry spell in the middle for me before getting interesting again at the end). SMT II is better, but the quarter of the game spent backtracking is awful.

For Persona, I always recommend Persona 1 (Japanese PSX version if you can read Nip, PSP version otherwise) and Persona 2. Try 3-5 and see if they're to your taste. Others I always hear recommend but have yet to play myself are Strange Journey and Digital Devil Saga.

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Here you go dude. Curated by /vg/.

>>376591165

That guide is in desperate need of an update.

>>376589898
Oh, hey, I just stopped playing P4.

>Void Quest, hour since last save point
>open chest
>ambushed by group of shadows including the fairy faggot and the box faggot
>fairy faggot casts attack buff on box faggot
>box faggot casts Megido
>team wiped from 2/3rds-3/4ths HP
>only thing I could've done was somehow know that that specific chest was going to fuck me over despite appearing no different from other chests

You should probably find some better games to play.

Play Nocturne, persona 3, devil summoner, devil saga, persona 4, smt 4, dancing all night, In that order the rest is shit.

>>376591225
Indeed. I still find it a good starting point, though.

>>376591240

At least you can just restart from the floor you died on in Golden.

>>376591313
Only if you play on easy mode.

>>376589898
Dont start with IV it's the dark souls of persona

>>376591382

In Golden? That's for Normal mode and below. I should know since I played on Golden, got killed, and restarted on that floor.

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>>376591165
old af

>>376591643

since I played on normal*

>Are the series games linear?
In terms of series continuity they are non-linear.
>If not, which should I start with?
It's best to start with Nocturne. It's a big, high production values game with good balance in gameplay. It's the best example of what's good about the series. If you start with something easier then you might never be able to appreciate the more difficult games because they'll seem unfair. This way you will learn to accept the style of the game as something unique and special and not just unnecessarily punishing.
>Also if not, will I miss any key events/information from older titles while playing a new one?
No, but there are a lot of shared themes and characters. It doesn't matter which order though. They're not related to any overarching story.
>What kind of RPGs are the SMT games? What's the battle system like? What's the story like?
SMT games are traditional dungeon crawlers with a heavy emphasis on story. The stories are about reshaping the world after it has been destroyed and invaded by demons. You go on an adventure to be the one to decide how the world is reshaped. The battle systems are turn-based, but they require more strategy than usual turn-based systems because of a heavy emphasis on exploiting weaknesses, using buffs and using status effects to your advantage, which makes gameplay more satisfying and less boring.
>How do these games compare/contrast with the FF games?
They're more punishing, so random enemies and bosses are stronger. You have more choices in the story, so you can pick a route, although the progress of the story usually just changes in terms of detail rather than overall direction. The themes are a bit darker so it's about morality and death and so forth. The games are usually designed with a more traditional type of design ethic based around making the player struggle to get through it rather than handing them a win.
>What are the main games that should/must be played from the series?
SMT3
P4
Strange Journey

>>376591165
>>376591225
>>376591303
>>>/vg/smtg/
The updated guide is literally in the OP

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what is steven doing?

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>>376589898
I'm playing right now SMT IV, #FE and Nocturne.
And I'm already feel.. fatigue? Same skills, same demons, same demons/weapons fusion to get more advanced skills. Setting is kinda different each time, so the atmosphere too, but still I can't say that I'm into this series.
OST is badass in each game though.

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>>376594431
>decarabia is still there

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Is there any point to increase Ma, Vi and Ag?
I'm always use points on St and Lu.

>>376595229
Luck does nothing for you on a Strength build. You want Vit for more HP (which translates into both more suitability and more damage on a couple skills that scale with your max HP) and Agility for better hit/evade rates and crit chance. Magic gives you a bit better magic defense so that could have "some" uses too.

There's so much to sift through. SMT and DDS and Persona. At least FF and DQ games aren't this confusing.

>>376594685
Best romance in smt

Anyone else here remember SMT:Online ?

That game was the best MMO EVER.

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>>376595391
>Luck does nothing for you on a Strength build
Oh, I'm fucked up.

>>376595391
>suitability
Survivability obviously. Fucking autocorrect.

>>376594431
I think this is a real problem with the series if we're talking about marathoning. At least something like pokemon has a semioverhaul each generation with different low level and high level mons during the whole story (one of the big issues with sun and moon is how much gen 1 is forced into the game). SMT doesn't really do that, they try a little so something like legion which is usually an early mid game demon is encountered right at the start of smt IVA but fundamentally these small changes are not enough to make it interesting (and to be honest it feels kinda stupid having these mini shit tier legions). Your top tier demons in smt are always going to be the same as they have the canonical status: Metatron, Beelzebub, Shiva et al. Similarly a random pixie is not gona be an end game encounter (although on that point smtiva again uses angel both as a lower level and then a white wing angel as highest level for the family).

Anyway, the familiarity of demons (combined with the few subversions) is part of the joy of shin megami tensei, however, it does mean that marathoning the games one after another makes fatigue set in very quickly. I'd recomend playing only one smt game at a time and possibly leaving as much as 3 months between playing the next one (unless you're playing games with pretty divergant gameplay, say going from devil survivor to devil summoner raidou)

>>376595436
Part of the "problem" is that the SMT spinoffs are frequently of high quality and have their series (persona, devil survivor, devil summoner et al). SMT itself is quite straight forward I-II-Nocturne (III) - StrangeJourney - IV - IVA.

Final fantasy and dragon quest also have spinoffs but not nearly as many and rarely of such high quality, for the former there is Crystal Chronicles and Tactics, which was a one off anyway, while the latter has the Dragon Quest Monsters spin off, slime series (which has only partially come west) and, if you're into mousou, dragon quest heroes. Fundamentally most of the spinoffs for FF and DQ are one offs and frequently of lower quality (in my opinion) than the SMT spinoffs.

>>376594685
Of course he is. He knows lots about stones.

>>376595229
Luck does basically nothing in Nocturne.

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>failed random encounter in Nocturne
>lose half an hour of progression
Jesus. SMT IV is the only one comfortable entry in the series?