What are you playing?

[Kugelfisch]

Played a bit of Huntdown. Seems pretty good so far.



It's Epic Store exclusive but has no DRM so torrent that shit.

I thought it seemed familiar.

[rabidtictac]

I play everything late but I play everything eventually.

[rabidtictac]

Doubleposting for unrelated:

I played some SMT V today. First impressions are, it's pretty much what I expected. The new direction for the art and designs, which began in SMT IV, is continuing. The result are cutscenes that resemble shit from one of Voice's super sentai irl animes more than an apocalyptic hellscape.

One of the elements that makes SMT III Nocturne work so well is the game uses minimal dialogue. Very minimal. There are only a few recurring npcs. Most of the conversations you have in SMT 3 are between yourself and random demons. They usually say something about the area you are in, maybe give you a clue about where to go. But they're all concerned with their own interests and not part of your story. Cutscenes are rare. Tutorials are almost nonexistent.

SMT V, in the first few hours, is stuffed chock-full of tutorials, helpful hints, warnings about dangerous areas and excessive dialogue/cutscenes. The demon you have inside of you is just an excuse for the developers to constantly tell you what to do and where to go. SMT IV had less handholding by far. The map system used here is the same as the fucking horrible one used in SMT 4: Apocalypse. Everything is marked, you can warp freely between save points. Every treasure chest is marked. Every quest is marked. Main quest is marked. It's a fucking map marker game, like Skyrim. Someone tell me why the FUCK a treasure chest I've never even seen before should be marked on my map for an area I haven't explored? Fuck off!

The new demon designs look like sentaishit, as I said. They reworked a lot of the old designs for demons (like Angel) to make them more generic/in line with the art style.

https://www.siliconera.com/smt-v-angel- ... e-angelic/

SpoilerShow

That said, the battles aren't super easy. You do have a defense stat, which already puts the gameplay above SMT IV. Demon fusing is fun. This is the best an SMT game has ever looked visually (in terms of graphical fidelity, although Nocturne had a better overall aesthetic while still using 3d models.)

The music so far has been generic. I actually started to get sick of the tunes because they repeat so much. That would never happen in Nocturne, for me. SMT and Strange Journey both had great soundtracks as well.

The story is kind of.... Well it's a bit super sentai, isn't it? I enjoyed the hard science fiction of Strange Journey, the hacker-cyberspunk of Soul Jackers, and the desolate apocalypse of Nocturne (which smt v has tried to copy monkey, but failed) more than this. Oh wow, satan and angels had a big fight 20 years ago? And nobody remembers even though demons live forever and it was only 20 years ago? And everyone is dead despite it only being 20 years? But everything is covered with sand despite 20 years, etc? I know what they did here. They wanted the game to look like Nocturne but they couldn't use the exact same story excuse.

Edit: Turns out the story is even dumber than I thought and the plot so far amounts to "remember The Matrix? Wasn't that a cool movie?" Also they remove your fucking demon powers and send you BACK TO SCHOOL to talk to shitheads about SCHOOL BULLYING. Holy shit that's dumb.

To give you an idea of how different nocturne and smt v are in design, despite one clearly ripping off the look from the other, it takes about half an hour from the start of the game until you come across a "Navi" character in SMT V. There is no such person in Nocturne.

Now, I will give SMT V credit for not being as excessively shounen animu as SMT IV Apocalypse. The story in that game was just awful. But this game feels like a downgrade in atmosphere from vanilla SMT IV, which itself was a downgrade from Nocturne. The main character having super special protagonist powers is dumb as well. An excuse to give you a lightsaber arm. Demifiend was cool because he neveraskedforthis.jpg. He wasn't larping as a power ranger with a babbling computer-demon in his ear, telling him where to go. "Turn right at the next hellscape." The protagonist in SMT IV was some random fuck for most of the game. MC in older SMT games tended to be generic shitters too.

But hey, at least the demon fusing girl in SMT V has big naked mommy milkers.

[Guest]

Sounds like a lame "edgy" Persona.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

It was obvious this was gonna blow once they got rid of the last traces of bondage in the SMT Angel design.

"ACTUAL LEE", I hear a Strawperson say, "Angels didn't have that bondage gear in the old games, either."

To which I say "Shu up, there is no point in going back after the design has been perfected."

Does this game's Navi also do annoying shit like calling you "hot stuff" if you level up? That made me stop playing SMT4 faster than either the story or gameplay ever could.

I played some SMT V today. First impressions are, it's pretty much what I expected. The new direction for the art and designs, which began in SMT IV, is continuing. The result are cutscenes that resemble shit from one of Voice's super sentai irl animes more than an apocalyptic hellscape.

Oh, they wish they could be even half as gay and awesome as real tokushit. Remember those early teasers featuring some bloke in blue/golden armor (which I assume was the protag's Super Form)? That's was like a lamer ripoff of Garo, aka the proper way to make IRL MegaTenShit.

[Complicity]

One of the elements that makes SMT III Nocturne work so well is the game uses minimal dialogue. Very minimal. There are only a few recurring npcs. Most of the conversations you have in SMT 3 are between yourself and random demons. They usually say something about the area you are in, maybe give you a clue about where to go. But they're all concerned with their own interests and not part of your story. Cutscenes are rare. Tutorials are almost nonexistent.

If you want that, grab an emulator and play SMT 1 and 2 in order.
The first time i played Nocturne i remember thinking that they were playing it safer with the themes and story compared to one's, and complaining because some NPCs had comedic dialogues (it was a thing in 2 as well, and that's why i don't like it as much as 1).

The closest thing to SMT 1 may be this game:



But unless i learn Japanese or i wait for a troon to translate it, i will never know for sure.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

You do know that a troon translation would be full of quotes and references from the likes of Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty?

>Evil twin whose name is yours spelled backwards

I'd rather go back to Michael Jackson's cameo in SMT2, thank you very much.

[Complicity]

>Evil twin whose name is yours spelled backwards

I'd rather go back to Michael Jackson's cameo in SMT2, thank you very much.

i didn't mind that.
My problem with SMT 2 is Daleth turning into 80s Shredder at some point, with his scheme to get rid of his good twin Aleph which involved a fairy casting a love spell on him.

[rabidtictac]

Sounds like a lame "edgy" Persona.

Because that's exactly what nu-SMT is. SMT IV Apocalypse is just that. It's Persona with blood and demons who talk about eating people.

Also, it's a minor complaint, but it really pisses me off to hear demons and angels openly talking about "forces of chaos" or "forces of order." Especially when referring to themselves.

Bad people don't see themselves as bad. Demons aren't even bad. Strange Journey made this really clear. Demons are a mirror that reflect the depravity of humanity. They're not even demons. They're gods. Yahweh is just one more god. He demoted the various gods to the status of "demon" when he became one of the most powerful demons and took over molding the human race to suit his tastes. They even say this shit in SMT V (well, most of it.) But they still have this sophomoric framing where they openly talk about "order and chaos."

Really good Order/Chaos writing doesn't have to invoke those words at all. Order isn't a fucking class alignment. It's a worldview. Jimenez isn't "chaos." He's a hard-shooting, hard-talking Top Gun who has been royally fucked over by life, but would still rather fight and die on his own terms than be anyone's pawn. Zelenin isn't "order." She's a scared young woman who was given shelter by a powerful, benevolent figure and transformed into an instrument of what she believes is God's Word.

SpoilerShow

And hey, when talking about Chaos and Law, what about the primordial figures themselves?

Most SMT games have characters who "tempt" towards either Chaos or Law. They represent the greatest heights of their proposed philosophies and the highest rewards attainable for those who follow their creed. Mastema is a good example. A highly complex character, he is neither obviously good or evil. He is "lawful" but not moral. Lucifer from SMT 3 is another one. He's the agent of your rebirth and, from a certain point of view, benevolent. He saves you for his benefit, but also for yours. Chaos and Law representatives should never be mindless automatons or cardboard cutouts. These are supposed to be complex worldviews. One embraces conflict (as a stepping stone to progress) and the other peace (and endless stagnation) through enforced conformity.

The representatives of law and chaos in SMT V? A bleached blond gyaru bimbo who babbles about smiting evil. Maybe shit will become more interesting later, I dunno. Your classmates are all fucking horrible characters too. Persona-ass ripoffs.

It's not a fucking super sentai show.





Fuck my life.

SpoilerShow

I'm also mad about not being able to make my own initial choices regarding Bethel Japan. This is the super sekret demon hunting club you are forced into. With nary a single text option, you are told you will be joining this dumb gay club of demon summoners and must fight demons to protect matrix-tokyo. I'm sure I'll be given the choice later, but it's stupid that I have to side with these asshats even temporarily. SMT IV was similar. SMT IV A was even worse.

Strange Journey never made you decide about siding with anyone until later in the game because there was nobody to side with. You were just meat, fighting to survive in a hostile world. A lobster can't pick sides at the seafood restaurant. Once you became stronger, then characters in the game would begin to approach you. But I especially like how Zelenin and Jimenez were shaped by their individual traumas to transcend humanity. In many ways, they are the real main characters of Strange Journey. Both are far more developed than your MC. Strange Journey MC is a redshirt who manages to stay alive against all challenges. His story is your story. The game is fucking hard, so staying alive long enough to become strong is your personal achievement.

Nocturne was so bleak and empty that you barely spoke to anyone until later in the game. Factions were invariably obstacles to your progress in the story because you were, again, too weak to be of interest to them.

SMT V makes you a power ranger in the first five minutes and everyone thinks you're awesome and cool with a sick lightsaber hand.

[rabidtictac]

It was obvious this was gonna blow once they got rid of the last traces of bondage in the SMT Angel design.

"ACTUAL LEE", I hear a Strawperson say, "Angels didn't have that bondage gear in the old games, either."

To which I say "Shu up, there is no point in going back after the design has been perfected."

Does this game's Navi also do annoying shit like calling you "hot stuff" if you level up? That made me stop playing SMT4 faster than either the story or gameplay ever could.

Okay, so there are actually at least 2 annoying navigators.

There's the gay tokushit computer demon armor thing.

Then there's an annoying demon that looks like Navi, flies around your face and constantly screams "NEH NEH NEH" whenever you're near a randomly-generated item she wants you to dig up while traveling the overworld. No, I'm not kidding.



This cunt. There's no way to stop her from screaming in your ear and flying around your face whenever you're walking near an item she wants you to collect.