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In Nocturne: I am in the Mantra Headquarters. I am afraid to go into the Amala Labyrinth, but I remember feeling like this before. I don't even know if I'm going to look at it/do the True Demon Ending at this time.

In P2: In Carcarol, failing badly at the first boss fight in there. Also running out of healing items, but that is par for the course for me. Of course, there is no way out of this dungeon past a certain point, I don't think, so I may have to go back to a previous save so I can get items and return *sighs*

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Also hey did you know: I learnt the other day that the reason the Persona games exist and are, to some degree, easier than main SMT games, is because they're aimed at younger players? Like I think SMT exists for everyone who grew up on Nintendo Hard stuff, and they certainly started as such (and continued, lol), and then Persona is for those who maybe started playing stuff later on. Maybe.

But I found that interesting (and I suppose it explains, maybe, why the Persona games are more popular? That's the feeling I get within what fandom stuff I see. I mean I like all the Megaten games I've experienced (though DDS is my favourite), but Persona seems to be the part that gets the most coverage fan-wise (also because, I guess, it's had more translations - all the games have been published in English, whereas SMT only recently had the first game translated for a port to the iPhone, and II hasn't been translated at all*. III/Nocturne/Lucifer's Call was the first to be translated into English, by which time we'd already had two Persona games. So, essentially, the SMT games are trying to catch up, and it's not quite happening. At least, that's my feeling on things).

*Apart from a fan translation.

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There's a new show on TV called River, about a Swedish policeman living in London, and he can see dead people. This is totally not a spoiler, though I think from the way the show framed it that it was meant to be, but Trailers Always Spoil, so.

I think it's interesting but: it feels very Hellblazer-like in inspiration (esp if the way the dead people thing is going to work the way I think it is), and very like Felix Castor (because that's Felix's Thing - he is an exorcist - but also he is 100% John Constantine, just with the serial numbers filed off).

Also I was convinced the actor was doing a very good accent for whatever reason, only for me to see in the cast at the end that it was Stellan Skarsgård, so he wasn't "doing an accent" at all. That's just how he talks. Head, meet desk. In my defence, I didn't recognise him, because I've seen him in approximately two things, and the most recent was, like, three years ago.

I think I'm going to keep watching, because I want to see where it goes (hopefully it'll pan out better than the last thing I watched).

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The idea that the Persona games are for a younger audience is... terrifying, given the content of some of them. That isn't to say that teens and young adults can't handle the things that are in P3 or P4, for instance, and the pure SMT games definitely have a darker feel to them than the Persona games, but it's weird to think that they're meant for a younger audience.

Then again, I've always done things a bit backwards, since my first SMT game (at least, the first one I knew was in that series) was Nocturne, and I adored the crap out of it, looked up stuff about the rest of the series, discovered the Persona stuff, and it all just went downhill from there.

I'd love to dispute that the SMT games are playing catch-up, though. Nocturne may have been the first official English translations where we'd already had 2 Persona games, but those 2 Persona games were pretty obscure. Well-received by those who played them, but they didn't hit the mainstream or get the coverage that P3 seemed to. So for many people (such as myself), Nocturne and P3 may by the games that got them into the series from the get-go, without the context of the previous 2 Persona games. Much like how Final Fantasy VII was the first Final Fantasy game for a lot of people at the time.

I feel sometimes like the SMT and Persona series are trying to catch up to themselves, if that makes sense. Most people got their intro to the series partway through. Sometimes it was due to other games not selling well in North America, sometimes because the games never got an English release at all. So they feel like they have to rerelease a whole load of older games to give fans context and access to the stuff that made the series so popular to begin with. Only a lot of the rerelease games don't quite have the feel that most of the more recent fans are looking for, so they fall a bit flat.

And that's my long comment for the day. Fandrogyne out!

I know! I don't think the age gap is meant to be as obvious as like, adults to young kids but even so. I can't even remember where I saw it now (as this entry was sitting around for a few days before I posted it) but yeahhh.

There's some fans would tell you Nocturne's the only SMT game you've played, but we don't have fandom elitism on my journal. Anyway, I don't think it matters how you come at the series? Technically I came via Persona, since 3 and 4 were my first, but I was introduced to it via LPs of SMT I and II. Which basically means I'm confused ;)

Yeah, you're right. I've been really tired recently, and I'm not sure where I was going with what I said (rereading it makes it feel incomplete to me).

*nods* I get that.

"There's some fans would tell you Nocturne's the only SMT game you've played"

Pfft, my copy of SMT 4 proves them wrong anyway. :p

Now I want to watch LPs of other games in the series! That might be how I spend my weekend!

Ha, sorry. (I wish I had IV, but I don't have a 2/3DS :( ) But there are seriously people who get annoyed when you include Persona in SMT, even though they are in the series (I ought to find the thread - the elitism was staggering).

The two I read are on the Let's Play Archive (by Luisfe), though I'm sure by now there's video LPs.

That's so weird... I mean, I get that they're a spinoff series, but a spinoff series is still connected to the main series. (Plus there's this, which goes into the fun of alternate universes to connect all the games. And who doesn't love a good alternate universe?) And meh, even if they're not canonically connected, well, neither are most of the Final Fantasy games, but even the spinoffs are still considered Final Fantasies.

Fandom elitism is so strange...

I love alternate universes :D

even if they're not canonically connected, well, neither are most of the Final Fantasy games, but even the spinoffs are still considered Final Fantasies.

EXACTLY! I've never heard an FF fan say, "Oh well, you can't call THIS an FF game because X, Y, Z!" and yet Western fans (it seems to me) are so snitty about what is and isn't an SMT game. SMH. (I honestly think some of it is to do with how much more popular the Persona games are, because those are the ones I hear it about the most. And people seem to say this even if they like them? I don't understand fans sometimes...)

Isn't it just?

Alternate universes are so awesome! I love playing with multiverse theory in fiction!

Admittedly, I did hear a lot of people talk about how Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within shouldn't have been called part of the FF series, but very rarely did any of them actually say why. I figure they were expecting moogles and chocobos and other long-running series favourites, and what they got was a decent CG sci-fi movie with a plot of its own (much like each of the games), that actually kinda tangentially ties back to a couple of other games (much like each of the games!).

Yessss. I need to get an devise my own at some point, because the sheer amount of playing you can do!

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that! And I do remember people saying that, too. And I watched it, and went, "Pffft! It's TOTALLY the same thing!"

Oooh I'll have to check out "River"! It sounds interesting and Stellan Skarsgård is no bad actor either. I hope it's not boring, I've had that a lot that TV shows sounded great judging by their individual concept but then the execution was so lackluster and by-the-numbers.

Sometimes I almost regret giving all my PS2 games away, because of Persona & SMT. They were so pretty and had interesting designs & stories! But then I remember that I never finished them and didn't even play them as often as I'd have liked, so I think in the end it was the more sensible decision. *sighs*

The first episode was ok, though obviously it's setting up what's coming later - the writing seems to be good, I was surprised where I was meant to be, and didn't see it as being heavily telegraphed (though I'd figured one thing out from the trailer). The main character (River, because it's an eponymous series) is interesting, I think, because while he's got all the hallmarks of a Grumpy Cop, he's not grumpy, he's just existentially sad, and I like that (it's a nice change). I'll keep posting about the series, though, because I really want to like it.

The designs and the stories are what I like about SMT! (as, uh, you probably know by now *g*). But yeah, if you don't play them so often, then they're just taking up space. I was going to say, "it's not like there's not LPs of them!" but that's really not the same as playing it yourself, I know.

Existential sadness is ok in my book! And I agree, it makes for a welcome change from the gruff 'n' grumpy main protagonists. I hope I can catch the pilot this weekend, I don't have any plans besides grocery-shopping and housework. Looking forward to your entries, too!

I don't know why SMT LPs never grabbed me. It does for other games! Maybe because a lot of it is fiddly management and grinding? Hm.

I hope you enjoy it when you do get to see it :)

I think it could well be that it's down to those things. It's boring to watch someone doing that grinding and it's pretty boring to read "well then I killed demons till I reached level 32 and I could take on this boss with ease!" I mean I liked the first two I read, but I'd never encountered the games before then, so I didn't know what I was getting into (heh).

You know, I can actually see why they think Persona is for a younger audience/has a wider appeal. Pretty much every SMT game involves some form of deicide, so everything else seems light and fluffy in comparison! ;)

Ooh, based on that description, I'm going to have to check River out! It should still be on iplayer, right? (Felix Castor is totally Constantine - I think Mike Carey must have become a little too attached to him while he was writing Hellblazer and didn't want to move on? XD I'm still a little sad we never got the sixth book in the series though. *pouts*)

LOL! There's also the Demikids/Devil children games which are supposed to be even lighter and fluffier (and for young kids), but in the end Atlus gave up trying to make it not scary because they're way too attached to apocalyptic god-killing scenarios.

Yup, it's here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06jkmtf/river-episode-1

Oh man, I am SO GLAD you agree about that. It's hard not to get attached to John, let's be honest ;) but not so much so your original character is actually him. I thought there was supposed to be a sixth book! I was thinking about it recently, but then thinking I must have been mistaken, and was thinking of The Naming of the Beasts (I'm glad I wasn't, though). I wonder why he never got around to writing/publishing it.

Edited (forgot a bit) 2015-10-15 09:44 (UTC)

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