Can somebody give me a crash course on Shin Megami Tensei?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

This series is overwhelming me. I hear nothing but praise for pretty much every single game and spin-off that has spawned from it. I heard nice things about Persona 4 Golden and got a simplified explanation but I'm still not 100% sure what's going on with that. Then I read a bit about Soul Hackers' re-release on 3DS and that seemed pretty cool too. The only things I really grasp about the series is that it tends to be in cyberpunk settings and a lot of them involve demons.

Really, I just don't know where to start. What would some of you more learned fans recommend? I'm totally open to emulate for consoles I don't have so really it's just a matter of what would be best for a newbie to the series.

[Opa Opa]

I got some nice responses here: http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=41980

[Dylan]

SMT comes in a few different flavors, and I would hold off on most spin-offs at first. Here are some good places to start:

SMT 1/2 for the SFC: Plays like a hardcore dungeon crawler. Pretty fun as far as JRPGs go, but frustrating because spells have weird names without descriptions and navigating dungeons with limited wall textures in first person can get really difficult and annoying. Good if you want to experience the "old" SMT first.

SMT III for the PS2: Very similar at its core to the SFC games, but expanded and polished. Great as a JRPG, but has a pretty high level of difficulty. Potentially my personal favorite SMT game and overall a great way to experience the series.

SMT Strange Journey for DS: Good for the same reasons as SMT III, but has a lower level of difficulty which might make it the best suited to newcomers.

Persona 3/4: By far the biggest spinoff of SMT. Much lighter on dungeon crawling and combat complexity, but also with a new emphasis on social simulation. Even if you don't like social sims this element is very well done in these games and quite enjoyable, the characters are well written and interesting. The demon recruiting system is absent in these titles, replaced with the persona system. This system allows you to freely switch between personas (which govern your unique abilities and attributes in battle), but does keep the fusion system by letting you fuse those personas. 4 is more polished than 3, but both are pretty great.


About the series as a whole:
Most all SMT games play like a classic JRPG with turn-based combat, dungeons, and random encounters. If you don't like those, you may not really like the series. The main SMT series is all about recruiting enemy demons to join your party. You do this by talking to them and bargaining with them for their loyalty. At first this mechanic may seem awkward (it'll seem like you just keep messing up negotiations for no reason), but you'll get the hang of it. Demon fusion is the other big mechanic, it allows you to take several of your minions and fuse them into a stronger one. Demons don't level up that much, so recruiting and fusion are crucial to keeping up with the difficulty curve.

Persona is also not a bad place to start with the series because of its ubiquity and relatively easy combat system compared to standard SMT games.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I got some nice responses here: http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=41980

D'oh! Can't believe I missed that thread.

@Dylan

Great write-up! By the looks of things, I should probably start with Strange Journey from the things I've read so far. The last time I played a dungeon crawler was a significantly long time ago. I have a feeling I played a more recent one, but the only one that comes to mind that I ever sunk time into was Shining in the Darkness.

Also Strange Journey is (relatively) cheap. That's always a plus.

[BoneSnapDeez]

They're part of the a larger series called Megami Tensei. Great HG 101 article:

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten.htm

[Frerix]

SMT Devil Survivor series is also a fun spin-off series.

Strategy RPG games set in modern day urban setting.
Devil Survivor 1 and 2 for DS
And Devil Survivor Overclocked for 3DS (enhanced port of DS1)

[CavZee]

They're part of the a larger series called Megami Tensei. Great HG 101 article:

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten.htm

Was going to post this but you beat me to it.

I'm still a bit of a noob to the series. Started with Persona 3 and 4 as a lot of people have. Playing Strange Journey right now. On to Soul Hackers, Nocturne, and IV after that I guess.

[ninjainspandex]

shin megami tensei = pokemon with demons.

[MrPopo]

shin megami tensei = pokemon with demons.

And game first, by a lot.

[AppleQueso]

Also Strange Journey is (relatively) cheap. That's always a plus.

Right now you can get pretty much all the Ps2 games new for ~$20 each.