Shin Megami Tensei 1 on iOS (img heavy)

Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

This thread will be my screenshot dump to entice people to play the English translated version of Shin Megami Tensei 1 on iOS, officially released by Atlus USA. ~~Sorry but you'll have to deal with seeing the touch controller for all the screenshots because I can't be bothered to crop and resave them all.~~ Finally cropped them!

Please make your browser wide enough so that two screenshots can line up side-by-side to have optimal viewing of this thread.

This game is based on the GBA port of the PS1 port of the original SNES game. The PS1 version had 3d environments and a new soundtrack, meanwhile the GBA port had to de-res the 3d assets or redraw them to fit, so they're kinda crummy looking in comparison. The GBA music was also terrible, but this iPhone version thankfully uses the PS1 version's music.

PS1 gameplay example:

Sorry, no videos of the GBA version outside of Nico vids that aren't all battles.

For more information about the various versions, read the HG-101 article about it: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten2.htm

Also this translation was handled by the dudes at Atlus who handle the SMT series, so the spell names and demon families names are consistent with the rest of the franchise as we've experienced it. There's a good interview with Mai Namba (project lead and translator) and Nich Maragos (editor) up on Siliconera to read more about those details: http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/21/atlus-usa-like-localize-first-shin-megami-tensei/

Also also, it's unfortunate you can't hear the music because the first two games had FUCKING AMAZING soundtracks. Please listen to them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n52_MTASVDU&list=PLB-py7ylAoF9SbPuLXo5G54n8QO79l2tI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNf7FmS1ZZI&list=PLBCFFCFB062501BBD (can't seem to find the SNES version's playlist :/)

So one of the factors that make the original SNES game so hard to play, especially now, is the game's first person dungeon crawling. The map scrolling is choppy and jarring, with animation that's way worse than Phantasy Star 1 despite being made 5 years after it. This would normally be okay to deal with, but random encounters can sometimes spin the player around, making you forget where you were heading towards after the battle is over, making you horribly lost.

The original game's map didn't help this sense of getting lost either because the map would auto-orient with what direction you were facing, leaving no sense of direction to where you were supposed to go or where you just came from. Add to that all the maps are just giant square mazes, so there's no real layout for you to get a sense of when it's rotated in right angles constantly.

This version, and most games after the first I think, give you an option to lock the map to always face north. This is by far the most significant addition that makes this game playable.

Also the map is always displayable by pressing the L button instead of having to go through 3 submenus to open it.

199X... a most auspicious year.
Also this kid gets a ridiculous $100 allowance a month. I wish my parents were this rich. Also, you never see your father once, but that's not surprising in a JRPG.
Your mother and dog are both wear lots of blue, meanwhile you're green. Actually I don't think you ever see yourself ingame at all and would never know what you look like outside of package and illustration art.

Why does an arcade have a cafe and why does Mom buy their beans? Also here is Pascal, my lovely blue dog, who's named after the programming language. I haven't seen the dialogue about it, but Mom apparently drops an in-canon ref that you received the dog as a puppy from Nakajima, the hero of the previous games and light novel series Megami Tensei, from which this game is a successor of.

Funny thing about DDS-NET is that back in the early 00s, there used to be a big community around DDS-NET.net or something along those lines. Various sites still exist but they're not much to look at anymore: http://dds-net.net/ http://www.smt-dds.net/ http://dds-net.proboards.com/ This one is the webring I remember the most: http://dds.megaten.net/

Saved these to post in the Galaxy Oddity thread about women storekeepers.

Survival gear guy (left)'s room exiting dialogue is pretty slick. Meanwhile, Knife Guy is very accommodating in his own ways.
It's funny to see the pre-rendered/compressed background images mashed together with the much-closer-to-the-original sprites of the NPCs.

Left shot is spooooky foreshadowing. Also there's some butthurt SMT fans that are upset that the left translation and other dialogue is different from the Aeon Genesis version. It's ridiculous.

The Expanse mentioned above was originally called the "Demon World" or something generic in the JP version. There's an interesting note related to that in the Siliconera interview I linked above:

Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

No No non no no non on ono n NON NO NON O NO NO NO NON ONOO NO
Be glad you didn't play Imagine. It was the biggest waste of time ever.

I played both the Japanese beta, regular release, the US Beta, then the US regular and each time I thought, "maybe it'll be better this time" and each time afterwards I thought, "fucking hell, why did I think it'd be any better?"

It was basically mouse clicker 3000 grindathon skinned in SMT. Actually, Cookie Clicker is by far in every way a better game. Honestly could not find anything enjoyable about the game at all.

That said, the SMT skinning was nice but my god was it a fucking waste of time to play. Not anything enjoyable about clicking to move anywhere, clicking to attack, clicking to grind, clicking to this to do that to do this to do nothing at all.

I think i dropped $25 to get P2 uniforms and Raidou outfit for my friend and myself and thought that was cool and then I regret it especially since I was a poor student at the time. Ughhhh ughghghhghhhh

Here's photos from my time playing the game: http://persona.mechafetus.com/megatenonline/

Also yeah, these screenshots are straight from my phone. A good benefit of the game being on iOS!
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Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

LOL that chart is amazing! Conveniently, I can just take screenshots of stats and compare it on my phone which is nice. I didn't know about seeing a quick preview though! I'll try it out.

I'm just a little past the "Hurry... cut... the.... power..." myself. I was curious what he would say if I saved and wanted to stop playing and got the screenshots of it too.

I wonder if the game balance will be better in the iOS version for that last part. I'm going Neutral though so I'll have to fight everyone. How long was your game time?

And man, I wish I knew about the map hack and spell/demon name hack, though I think I was playing them way before those existed.
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Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

---- REBOOT ----

"Let that guy alone..."

The left screenshot is after you go back home and discover your mom acting kinda strange. Then, she rips her skin off and reveals herself to be a demon. After defeating it, the Law Hero tries to console you and the Chaos Hero admonishes him for even trying.

There's people online who are upset at how different Atlus's translation is of this scene versus the Aeon Genesis version. I agree that "Let that guy alone" is kinda awkward sounding, and AG's version is more passionate but might be a little less accurate to the original intention. Either way, let that guy alone.

Yap Yap! Technology Yap yap!

The Undead Bodyconians drop so much money for dancing zombie disco girls.

Even in the year 199X, missionaries are trying to convert godless Japanese students in Shinjuku's underground malls.

Old enough to shoot guns and swing swords to kill demons spawned from the internet, too young to get a drink. Also that lack of space from obj ids!

The rude bartender with the info about the Resistance is the Resistance's bartender. Meanwhile, all the nice bartenders work for bars serving the Japanese militia or the US army.

Like this lady. She also leaves a proper space after her orange juice.

Tough times even for the Yakuza, here in Shinjuku 199X.

Interesting to note that each alignment has their own respective healers that can restore status/revive/cure/and vend items. Depending on your alignment, their prices can be higher or lower. If you don't know what your alignment is, this is a pretty clear way to find out. Though an easier way is to just go on the world map and see what direction your player cursor spins: clockwise for Law, counter for Chaos, back and forth for Neutral, I believe.

Also Gaeans have their own missionaries too, preaching the gorgeousness of Lucifer.

Sure are a lot of BLACK girls.

Law Hero is looking for BLACK, my next door neighbor, by the way. Previously known as CERISE.

Suddenly...

"Where is my BLACK!?"

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT...??
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Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

COOL I LOVE IT WHEN SB LOGS ME OUT AND MY MESSAGE GETS LOST

something something parallel worlds, neutral route reincarnation masakado yadda yadda barrier of tokyo is actually masakado's physical body spoiler spoiler i don't remember
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Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

This lady is really jealous of BLACK. Meanwhile, see how she's flanked by ladies (?) in dom outfits and torches.

After sending 4 waves of enemies after me, they let me escape with BLACK, completely fine with me walking past their guarded checkpoint and everything. If I try walking back into the building, they won't let me enter though. Some lines have to be drawn.

At this point, my party splits up. Chaos Hero to hunt for Ozawa to presumably kick his ass/kill him, and Law Hero to find his girlfriend BLACK. Heroine BLACK feels sorry for me and joins me with this way superior equipment:

It's interesting to note that she's equipped with High Cut Armor. It's a staple special armor *for girls only in the recent Persona games:

Welcome to the BLACK women's prison.

As mentioned earlier, Gotou is based on Yukio Mishima:

Ambassador Thorman speaks with a broken accent in the AG translation. Seems like they're trying to pull a similar thing here but it comes across more like typos than anything.

After meeting Thorman and Gotou in buildings all the way across the city from each other, you have to return to Gotou and give him your decision. It's an early alignment choice, though other things can change your alignment, such as demon and NPC conversations. In this game, you can only summon demons of your alignment into battle, so alignment makes a tactical difference compared to the recent games.

Mishima Fact: his upper body was really built but his legs were infamously not so. That's why nearly all photographs of him (minus the one I posted earlier) are from waist up.

Seems like Gotou also reflects this trait. Or they were lazy about rendering his thighs.

WHAT A TWIST! THORMAN -> THOR?!
This version of Thor skews closer to his Norse roots. I can dig it but I like the Nocturne version more:

I'm aiming for Neutral so I rejected both of their ideals. If you accept one side or the other, I think you don't have to fight them?

Aw man, I was really hoping this line was a ref to:

But looking it up, the line is different. Oh well.

GLORY TO THE MILLENIUM KINGDOM!!
And so the legacy of SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI was born.

In a great moment of JRPG design, immediately following Thor's announcement a counter is perpetually displayed onscreen, counting down from 30 seconds. As I rush out of the building to try and somehow beat it (which I've never been able to, though I doubt it changes anything), the countdown turns red when it hits below 10, ultimately ending in:

And a galaxy comes spiraling in, all MODE-7, into the screen. Fade into:

I think En no Ozuno is referred to as Abe no Seimei in the AG translation? Or maybe I'm making this up?

En no Ozuno is:

Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

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Persona mobile · Joined: 11 Aug 2012

---- > CONTINUE ----

Haunted by visions of the past

Dudes are mad intolerant

I found out these key items I get, like the Light Sword from earlier (I think?), allow you to see mini cutscenes if you view them in an option from the title screen. From the cutscene involving these two, I found out they're onis without masters and also husband and wife. I think the one on the right is the wife, though it's hard to tell from just their names alone.

The world has really changed. Welcome to post-apocalypse Tokyo.

"Dude, no."

He's pretty helpful for such a rude guy.
Also it's pretty amusing to see my yen counter go from Y 15380 to zero after this scene.

I actually take damage after that moment on the left.

"Dude, no."

Revealing information through show, don't tell! Well, as "don't tell" as a text-based game can. Also the reveal of the wasteland after the build-up of having to trudge through a crystal prison is pretty great.

Here's two dudes I remember from Nocturne:

Rag actually appears in several of the SMT and Megami Tensei titles! in SMT 1, he trades rare stones for items or demons. I just recently traded a Diamond to get Balm of Life for a story purpose. I never used him otherwise. In Nocturne, I would trade stuff all the time to get Mitama that were useful for fusions.

Discos exist even in the post-apocalypse. Also The Count fears the pot.

The drinks of the future!
The fashion of the future!

The future cops have a cool uniform. The guy on the right is talking about Roppongi, I believe.

Child labor is not uncommon in the world of the future.
Also the Enforcer on the right totally sounds like he's singing his dialogue there.

Ozawa has aged quite a bit in the 30 years. My headcanon is that if you could zoom into his face, he'd look like former Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi.

Yamauchi summons Kishin Minakata after talking to him and I get immediately beaten. We run away and Chaos Hero starts complaining about being weak.

"Dude, no."
After this point, you're supposed to go to the Cathedral of Shadows, but I forgot about that and went ahead with the rest of the plot until I couldn't go any further and then realized I forgot to do this.

Gaean Death Riders are some sweet cyberpunk Akira bike gang in allegiance with Chaos. If your alignment bends that way, I think they're more willing to let you go if you talk to them. But they drop a bunch of cash and are easy to mow down so it's more fun to just slaughter them all.

This kept happening for a while and I didn't realize until later that this event would trigger if I was on the world map and it was a Full Moon.

Death.
Also MORE POWER, RGGH RGHH RGHHH

At this point, he automatically scrolls down to your last demon and force-fuses with it, gaining about 10 levels. I wonder what would happen if you only have a Pixie there? Would he still have the same stats??

Also, tee hee, he fused with a Nekomata, hee hee. I wonder what kind of power he obtained?

NEGOTIATION FAILED

NEGOTIATION FAILED

I love the phrase "devil buster." It immediately registers as a portmanteau of "ghostbuster" and devil.

Also the demon on the right was in this house in the west that was full of demons wayyyy higher level than me. I could take down a single demon with a full party, but I'd just get slaughtered if there were 3 or more. I stuck around here for a bit to level up.

NEGOTIATION FAILED

The future world is a difficult place.

Really want to slap this bratty child.
This is Shibuya, formerly fashion capital of Tokyo, now a single building that's home to a thriving Messian community. Though they are strangely tolerant and allow a neutral faction to rent a room and offer healing services.

Bodyconians upgrade to Man-Eater, giving more money and having the same conversation patterns. Whenever I run into them, I would choose Aggressive > Ignore > Detain and ask for Mag and get 880 M.

Let us cling together

NEGOTIATION FAILED

Hot

The Count fears the pot.

There's no healing place for Law alignment in Shibuya unless you pay to have this one built. I imagine paying for it will turn your alignment more towards Law as well.

We ran outta there, Scooby Doo-style.
After this, I went back to Psycho Diver and tried to get him to join me and PsychoDive(c) into BLACK's mind, but he wouldn't leave his cell. Then I remembered I had some unfinished business.

Chaos Hero is such a loveable idiot. "Yo dudes, I got this, I'm half Nekomata now, I can totally take this legendary Japanese god!"

I can't kill Yamauchi!
Besides, it'd affect my alignment!

"Dude, no."

Chaos Hero, the archetypical scumbag bro.

Gameplay-wise, it's tough losing him here because he's so strong. It actually worked in my favor that I got the events wrong and leveled the party up while he was around. I imagine it would be really difficult to go to Shibuya from Shinjuku for the first time without him; there's a battle every 5 centimeters on the world map!