Current Events > Shin Megami Tensei: Nine (anybody here play/beat this game?)

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Holy shit, an smt game i actually didnt know existed

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Chairoff posted...

Holy shit, an smt game i actually didnt know existed

I've been waiting for somebody to translate it for ages

But from your reaction it's possible it might have even less attention than the other non-translated smt games

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I thought I was a decent SMT buff. Know about the spin offs and the world/multiverse lore, but yeah, never head of Nine until now. Sounds interesting with the battle system. Sucks there's no translation. Was hoping I could find it and give it a try

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Chairoff posted...

I thought I was a decent SMT buff. Know about the spin offs and the world/multiverse lore, but yeah, never head of Nine until now. Sounds interesting with the battle system. Sucks there's no translation. Was hoping I could find it and give it a try

You are, SMT Nine is just coincidentally thee most swept under the rug SMT game imo.

But back when I played imagine(online engine inspired by Nine) after I got into Nocturne/DDS I was hoping it would be playable one day. By now I figured somebody would have started to but

On another note, glad to hear there's another hard-core SMT fan on CE! ~ #respect

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The only MegaTen games I've ever even played were P4/P3/SMTIV/Nocturne/some of Strange Journey in that order. Only "proper" ending I've gotten on any of them was Persona 3 despite it being my least favorite game of the five...
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P3 is the best modern persona, smh.

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Gafemage posted...

The only MegaTen games I've ever even played were P4/P3/SMTIV/Nocturne/some of Strange Journey in that order. Only "proper" ending I've gotten on any of them was Persona 3 despite it being my least favorite game of the five...

That's a pretty good selection/variety you chose to play/buy, but if P3 was your least favorite which was your favorite?

And which version of P4/P3 did you play?

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Chairoff posted...

P3 is the best modern persona, smh.

P3 is super fire!

Though, I have noticed some people gravitate to P4 as much as P3 when choosing between the two


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I find the personality of some of the p4 chars engaging but i find the themes and overall dysfunction of the p3 cast more compelling

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Chairoff posted...

I find the personality of some of the p4 chars engaging but i find the themes and overall dysfunction of the p3 cast more compelling

I agree!

The P3 aesthetic/vibe/theme/cast/etc all hit on point. If they ever combine p3 FES with p3 Portable for a P3 definitive edition I would be stoked!


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It's really bad. The worst part being it doesn't even work on my 360 so I had to find a Japanese XBox (they cost more than a 360 or even an XBox One here) just to play it. It's best left forgotten. A lot of the Japan only MegaTen games are pretty good. This isn't one of them. I want to say it's the worst MegaTen game but then I remember I have Ronde for my Sega Saturn. Somehow not worth the 100 yen I spent on it.

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ssjevot posted...

It's really bad. The worst part being it doesn't even work on my 360 so I had to find a Japanese XBox (they cost more than a 360 or even an XBox One here) just to play it. It's best left forgotten. A lot of the Japan only MegaTen games are pretty good. This isn't one of them. I want to say it's the worst MegaTen game but then I remember I have Ronde for my Sega Saturn. Somehow not worth the 100 yen I spent on it.

Lmao the fact you know about Ronde makes your post even more fire !

But yeah I have heard that it's not up to par tbh.

Also, you're able to read Japanese? Did you enjoy the story/plot of SMTNine at all though? Was the plot portion of the game at least comparable to the great plots that games like Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga had?

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Chairoff posted...

P3 is the best modern persona, smh.

The story is super good but its a chore to play

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Tappor posted...

The story is super good but its a chore to play

A chore to play in what way?

Like you mean as in the upgrades that P4 Golden & P5 provide in contrast?

Because I think that's why my friend liked P4 more

Or chore to play as in choosing between FES and Portable for different aspects each game offers?

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The quality of life changes from 3 to 4 can't be ignored. But i bet most people who complain about npc ai never bothered to change tactics.

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Chairoff posted...

The quality of life changes from 3 to 4 can't be ignored. But i bet most people who complain about npc ai never bothered to change tactics.

Lol true that too.

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I dont have any problem with the battle system. My problem is that Tartarus is ASS

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Tappor posted...

I dont have any problem with the battle system. My problem is that Tartarus is ASS

You're not a fan of Tartarus?
How come?

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Ill give you that its very samey but i mean p4 dungeons just have different backgrounds. Its more or less all the same.

Lower levels of tartarus have bomb music, too, but its not on the level of anything like Heaven from p4 ill grant

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Chairoff posted...

Lower levels of tartarus have bomb music, too

Hell yeah!

Chairoff posted...

but its not on the level of anything like Heaven from p4 ill grant

True that though!


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greatmonkeybaby posted...

P3 is super fire!

Though, I have noticed some people gravitate to P4 as much as P3 when choosing between the two

My problem with P3 is that the story is just not fun to watch unfold until you meet Aigis. The only reason I had the strength to power through to that point was because people swore it was one of the best games ever. >_>

Also, the social links are all kinda bad and unlikable. And theres a chuuni edginess to the whole game. Well, all of SMT is basically Chuuni Edge: The Game, but something about P3 just didnt sit well in that regard. <_<

and then all the interesting world building plot hooks, like apathy syndrome, are just never given more than a throwaway line until the end of the game. And the only consistent antagonists turn out to be a bunch of lame jobbers.

idk its weird. Whenever I think about the individual parts of P3 I think its lame. But I still ended up liking the game a bunch as a whole. >_>

fuck why is this post so long?

tl;dr: I enjoyed P4 more because even though it was Scooby Doo: The Harem Anime it was a more fun experience moment to moment, and I was more invested in the arcs of the cast and social links


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Persona isnt meant to be sunshine and daisies, its about the chars dealing with psychological baggage and us as the player dealing with the psychoanalytic themes of Carl Jung. 2 is depressing as hell. 4 was weird because the prospect of trying to catch a serial killer just didnt mesh at all with the saccharine tone. And even when the chars did address their issues and flaws it was just suddenly "lol im better now"

I grant you 3 could be seen as "edgy" because of the whole shooting yourself in the head as a figurative destruction of the ego to manifest your persona; but it was pointedly thematically bleak and yet ultimately more deservedly hopeful than 4. Everyone in 3 acknowledged their issues and were like "fuck i should deal with this " in 4 everyone is just basically like "lol im over it now"

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i've seen nine, game looks horrendous

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Chairoff posted...

Persona isnt meant to be sunshine and daisies, its about the chars dealing with psychological baggage and us as the player dealing with the psychoanalytic themes of Carl Jung.

yeah and I just wasnt feeling that at all in 3. The theme was death or whatever but despite that shit being right up my alley I was never invested in it.

Persona 4 worked for me because the prospect of dark internal struggles, and even evil, festering underneath the veil of a happy and exciting life is something thats relatable and compelling. The killers motivation even being so banal, like theyre just a sociopath who was bored and found themself with the opportunity to have some fun just feels *tangible*.

As for the casts character arcs, the do deal with it, in their social links. >_>. The story events are just them admitting they have a problem. You witness them coming to terms with those problems in more detail if you do their links.

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greatmonkeybaby posted...

Also, you're able to read Japanese? Did you enjoy the story/plot of SMTNine at all though? Was the plot portion of the game at least comparable to the great plots that games like Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga had?

Yes, I've played games released in Japanese largely exclusively in Japanese since the PSX/N64 era, because I started importing then (I live in Japan now), but I had some import games for SNES (first game I played in Japanese was Dragon Quest V). No, the story in most early SMT games isn't really that great to begin with. There aspects of 1 and 2 that are interesting, but they're mainly dungeon crawlers. Story heavy games like Persona and some of the other spinoffs are more modern SMT. Also I might get some hate for this, but what was the great plot Nocturne had? I thought it was extremely minimal with not a lot interesting going on, I definitely like the plots in 1 and 2 more (if... has no plot really and then dumps it all on you at the end). Digital Devil Saga though has an absolutely outstanding plot. Honestly the only thing remotely interesting about Nine is the alignment system, but then in terms of gameplay it sucks, so it's just not worth it.

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ssjevot posted...

Yes, I've played games released in Japanese largely exclusively in Japanese since the PSX/N64 era, because I started importing then (I live in Japan now), but I had some import games for SNES (first game I played in Japanese was Dragon Quest V). No, the story in most early SMT games isn't really that great to begin with. There aspects of 1 and 2 that are interesting, but they're mainly dungeon crawlers. Story heavy games like Persona and some of the other spinoffs are more modern SMT. Also I might get some hate for this, but what was the great plot Nocturne had? I thought it was extremely minimal with not a lot interesting going on, I definitely like the plots in 1 and 2 more (if... has no plot really and then dumps it all on you at the end). Digital Devil Saga though has an absolutely outstanding plot. Honestly the only thing remotely interesting about Nine is the alignment system, but then in terms of gameplay it sucks, so it's just not worth it.

That is awesome! If I could at least read Japanese that would have saved me a lot of time from waiting on English patches all the time lol.

I actually enjoyed the stories of those early SMT games a lot(SMT1/2). I enjoyed IF too but yeah it's not as plot driven as SMT1 & 2.

& I just figured since SMT Nine's release(December 5, 20002) was closer to Nocturne(February 20, 2003) and Digital Devil Saga(July 15, 2004), that Nine would at least be in trend with the PS2 era SMT games & spin offs of having great(imo) plots. (Like I was hoping that maybe XBOX's SMT game was redeemable in plot since the PS2 era of SMT had so many stories that I enjoyed)

Nocturne? It might be my personal preference or bias but I found the story interesting honestly. As for DDS 100% I agree outstanding. (I still pray for more DDS or a spin of of that spin off to this day.)

Dang that sucks to hear, true I saw Nine didn't look great; but I guess I always had hopes that it had a plot that though forgotten would be epic.
I had gone back to like 8 or so other translations (nes/snes/gba/gbc) of Megaten/spin offs and had fun with those, so SMT Nine would have to be a literal hell for me to *hate* it. I was going to try to do it myself but that in fact would not be worth it if from how it sounds lmao.

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Nightmare_Luna posted...

i've seen nine, game looks horrendous

Lol I had hoped it just *looked bad* but had a plot that was worth it but

Like a "it looks like it played bad but the story makes up for it for me" kind of thing.

AlisLandale posted...

My problem with P3 is that the story is just not fun to watch unfold until you meet Aigis. The only reason I had the strength to power through to that point was because people swore it was one of the best games ever. >_>

Also, the social links are all kinda bad and unlikable. And theres a chuuni edginess to the whole game. Well, all of SMT is basically Chuuni Edge: The Game, but something about P3 just didnt sit well in that regard. <_<

and then all the interesting world building plot hooks, like apathy syndrome, are just never given more than a throwaway line until the end of the game. And the only consistent antagonists turn out to be a bunch of lame jobbers.

idk its weird. Whenever I think about the individual parts of P3 I think its lame. But I still ended up liking the game a bunch as a whole. >_>

fuck why is this post so long?

tl;dr: I enjoyed P4 more because even though it was Scooby Doo: The Harem Anime it was a more fun experience moment to moment, and I was more invested in the arcs of the cast and social links

Yeah my friend made me realize P4 & P3 are like two sides of a coin and in some ways I see it P3 would be like the night to P4's day for the different aspects people may gravitate to in each game. That's why I can't choose a absolute favorite modern Persona game(between 3/4/5) but I absolutely understand a person's choice picking favorites.

I was kind of early to P3 so I just played it on interests alone but I enjoyed it from the beginning. As for the comparison on social links in 3 & 4 idk.

Also, you didn't like Strega?lol.

AlisLandale posted...
Chairoff posted...

Persona isnt meant to be sunshine and daisies, its about the chars dealing with psychological baggage and us as the player dealing with the psychoanalytic themes of Carl Jung. 2 is depressing as hell. 4 was weird because the prospect of trying to catch a serial killer just didnt mesh at all with the saccharine tone. And even when the chars did address their issues and flaws it was just suddenly "lol im better now"

I grant you 3 could be seen as "edgy" because of the whole shooting yourself in the head as a figurative destruction of the ego to manifest your persona; but it was pointedly thematically bleak and yet ultimately more deservedly hopeful than 4. Everyone in 3 acknowledged their issues and were like "fuck i should deal with this " in 4 everyone is just basically like "lol im over it now"

Yeah I did like that after P1 & 2IS & 2EP that P3 was like the modern take on Carl Jung's darker perspective on his philosophical themes in a line of previously dark games.

AlisLandale posted...

Persona 4 worked for me because the prospect of dark internal struggles, and even evil, festering underneath the veil of a happy and exciting life is something thats relatable and compelling. The killers motivation even being so banal, like theyre just a sociopath who was bored and found themself with the opportunity to have some fun just feels *tangible*.

When you put it that way P4 is somewhat spot on being twisted in having the darkness spill out into the bright theme that way.

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I enjoyed both P3F and P4G well enough. I'd give P4G the edge, for the QoL improvements and I like the soundtrack a bit more. And the characters were largely more entertaining. They're both "Spooky Anime Highschool: The Game"

However, I will say that both became very tiresome to play because the actual dungeon crawling just kinda sucks for both. Its a bit worse in 3F, but the dungeon floors are just never very interesting. P4G's Golden ending twist felt kinda dumb. I mean the part where Izanami was secretly the gas station attendant you meet for one scene at the beginning of the game and then never interact with again.

I heard it's legit terrible and some of the gameplay videos I've seen of it validate that >_>

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greatmonkeybaby posted...

That's a pretty good selection/variety you chose to play/buy, but if P3 was your least favorite which was your favorite?

P4 + Nocturne, SJ felt like it could be up there too but I didnt play enough of it...

And which version of P4/P3 did you play?

Golden + FES.

Really regret not buying P3P (along with the other PSP Personas) when it was cheap. Also super interested in Persona 2 & the OG SMT games.
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Esrac posted...

I enjoyed both P3F and P4G well enough. I'd give P4G the edge, for the QoL improvements and I like the soundtrack a bit more. And the characters were largely more entertaining. They're both "Spooky Anime Highschool: The Game"

However, I will say that both became very tiresome to play because the actual dungeon crawling just kinda sucks for both. Its a bit worse in 3F, but the dungeon floors are just never very interesting. P4G's Golden ending twist felt kinda dumb. I mean the part where Izanami was secretly the gas station attendant you meet for one scene at the beginning of the game and then never interact with again.

Ahh I see.

And lmao I wouldn't consider myself I skeptic but I was waiting for that encounter to have meaning the entire game. When it eventually turned into that I was like "".

NeonOctopus posted...

I heard it's legit terrible and some of the gameplay videos I've seen of it validate that >_>

*sad react*

Gafemage posted...

P4 + Nocturne, SJ felt like it could be up there too but I didnt play enough of it...

Golden + FES.

Really regret not buying P3P (along with the other PSP Personas) when it was cheap. Also super interested in Persona 2 & the OG SMT games.

Strange Journey is so fire you should beat it &/or check out SMTIV(& Apocalypse) too if you get the chance, you might like it(/them alot).

That's awesome that you're a fan of Nocturne too tbh

Ahh yeah you would probably have liked P3P a lot. And the Persona 2 plots are really good(imo) I know the discs are expensive but maybe the downloads are cheap if they're still available

But with P4 & Nocturne being your top two you might like the Devil Survivor games(unless you don't like strategy rpg's)


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Here is the main issue with the story in NINE (spoilers for SMT2 and obviously NINE):
Remember that side story in 2 about making the perfect world and they got sick of waiting for God to do it so they make a virtual reality version of it? You get the choice to either become the new God there or basically destroy it and kill everyone in the virtual world or simply leave it. Okay that's literally the entire plot to NINE. Literally just that small side story, that's the plot. But it takes place between 1 and 2 and therefore makes it confusing that they apparently just did the same shit again later on. I guess it becomes like different versions of the Matrix, but it sucks and if you played 2 it isn't anything new or interesting.

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ssjevot posted...

I guess it becomes like different versions of the Matrix

Well SMT has a huge multiverse full of split and broken timelines.
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harley2280 posted...

Well SMT has a huge multiverse full of split and broken timelines.

No, this is the same timeline of 1 and 2. It's just a poorly done shoehorn. This is also well before the multiverse stuff was established.

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ssjevot posted...

harley2280 posted...

Well SMT has a huge multiverse full of split and broken timelines.

No, this is the same timeline of 1 and 2. It's just a poorly done shoehorn. This is also well before the multiverse stuff was established.

Nine definitely wasn't released before the multiverse stuff.

Also considering SMT 1 isn't even the actual first game in the franchise I'd argue that it was the game that started the actual multiverse.
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harley2280 posted...

Nine definitely wasn't released before the multiverse stuff.

Also considering SMT 1 isn't even the actual first game in the franchise I'd argue that it was the game that started the actual multiverse.

There was not established multiverse in any of the games to that point. It has retroactive continuity yes, but regardless of how you want to consider it Nine is explicitly set between SMT 1 and 2 and it wasn't meant to be an alternate timeline nor is it considered one now.

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ssjevot posted...

harley2280 posted...

Nine definitely wasn't released before the multiverse stuff.

Also considering SMT 1 isn't even the actual first game in the franchise I'd argue that it was the game that started the actual multiverse.

There was not established multiverse in any of the games to that point. It has retroactive continuity yes, but regardless of how you want to consider it Nine is explicitly set between SMT 1 and 2 and it wasn't meant to be an alternate timeline nor is it considered one now.

I'm not arguing when nine takes place in the timeline. I'm saying that the idea of things being repeated and "multiple versions of the matrix" are fairly common things for SMT series as a whole.
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harley2280 posted...

I'm not arguing when nine takes place in the timeline. I'm saying that the idea of things being repeated and "multiple versions of the matrix" are fairly common things for SMT series as a whole.

I kinda dig the plot for Nine *now* honestly but since the gameplay is so bad

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https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54XHb4DGjNCZTtgyRdIN9QNCdl_VP58R



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https://youtu.be/FwyHiDpwd2k

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https://youtu.be/R8cElY4uIEI

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https://youtu.be/YM2eBDzb-Cs

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https://youtu.be/YM2eBDzb-Cs

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final boss *spoiler*

https://youtu.be/4xmH2-tD32A

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