I’ve been passingly interested in the Megami Tensei series for a while.

I’ve been a little intimidated by the number of games that may or may not have been translated and all the ports.

I was hoping someone could give me a rundown of the series and where to start, if I should play with fan translations, or whatever else I should know.

I grew up with the nes and snes, so I’m OK with older RPGs and their nuances.

  • steeznson@lemmy.world
    0·
    18 days ago

    I’d say SMT4 on the 3DS is a good starting point if you wanted to dive in head-first to the mainline series. Otherwise maybe Persona 3 Reloaded for the Persona games.

    • M500@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      0·
      18 days ago

      Thanks for the recommendation. I was wondering why you recommended SMT4 on 3DS. But I now realize that it is different than persona 4. I guess it is a bit confusing for me still. I think I am more interested in the mainline series. I found an English translation of SMT 1 and 2 for snes.

      How different is Persona from SMT?

      • steeznson@lemmy.world
        0·
        17 days ago

        Persona is heavier on story, has dating sim elements and operates off a calendar system to progress the story Hard to explain the calendar system but essentially events are timeboxed and there can be dead time if you finish the main mission quickly. Persona games try to emulate an anime.

        SMT is the original series. Easier to explain: it’s like pokemon with mythological creatures and a light philosophy story. I don’t know if I’d recommend starting with SMT 1 or 2, even if they are arguably some of the best in the series

    • JayEchoRay@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      I cannot speak on the rest of the series, but I have played devil survivor 1 and 2:

      Devil Survivor 1 does have a bit of a difficulty curve that can take one by surprise with the first major boss and it is like priming the player towards what to expect but its story I personally enjoyed.

      Devil Survivor 2 is lighter in tone, well compared to the Devil Survivor 1, but I felt it was a smoother experience - doesn’t feel as tightly packaged but it does compensate with having a better presentation and provides choice in a lot clearer manner.

      I liked Devil Survivor 1 story better but enjoyed Devil Survivors 2 gameplay more