Aeria Games never had me sign a NDA for Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine (or in fact, ever, for any of the games I’ve beta’d), so, given that I’m just barely out of the tutorial, here’s some screen shots. Remember, this is from closed beta and what it looks like now may be 100% different by the time it ships. At least there will likely be less Japanese in the cut scenes… (Who or what is Nizero?)
Character creation — what you see is what you get. Three body sizes, six clothing options, three weapon types. Around 5% of people polled on the Megaten site said they were going to go with blunt weapons, as opposed to slicy or stabby weapons. So I went with the big old two handed hammer.
Like all SMT/Persona games, you start out in a Tokyo that has been destroyed by demons. The remaining residents of Tokyo keep falling back more fortified positions, and at the start of the game, have been forced to abandon Home II for Home III. Only DBs — Demon Busters — can possibly take back Tokyo from the demonic onslaught. And that’s where we come in.
Here, I’m preparing to cook a plucked turkey with an onion head with a fire spell, as kind of a late Thanksgiving. It looks all Tron-y because this is a Virtual Battle simulator used as a tutorial.
Finally out in the grim, post-apocalyptic real world, just outside the gates of Home III. My task here is to find the lair of a bunch of pixies and convince their leader to accompany me back to the refuge.
The world of Shin Megami Tensei is one where technology and magic mix — like the old RPG Shadowrun, magic has returned to the world. Unlike Shadowrun, you aren’t forced into specific roles. SMT uses a skill-based system, so you can learn virtually any skill you like, though there is a limit on the number of skills you can learn, though not the type of skill. The more you do something, the better you get at it.
Combat is very fast paced, and requires you to choose attacks based on how things are going, second-by-second. You might open with three quick attacks, which knock back your opponent, then get into a counter stance if it looks like they are coming right back at you, which will knock them back AGAIN, or a guard stance so you can set up more attacks while blocking their attack, or charge up a rush attack and follow it up with a quick attack if they are taking their time, or instead charge up a fire spell to keep them interested… the sorts of attacks they prefer will greatly affect what attacks you choose. They are shooting or casting spells? Maybe a dodge would be a better idea right at the moment…
With a demon ally, you can switch between both your own character and the demon, coordinating attacks at high speed. I have no idea how that will go, because, I haven’t figured out how to capture a demon yet ><.
(I was going to write about EQ2 today, too... curse these late night beta invites...)
The combat sounds interesting, and (so far) I like the story line you’ve been given.
The uh… late thanksgiving I’ll pass on though, hehe.
Liked the shot of the UI you sent me too, very uncluttered, which is important to me.
There’s probably no NDA ’cause I believe it’s already out in Japan. Or Aeria Games thinks NDA’s are for sissies.
Yeah, it HAS been out for awhile overseas… hence why I decided to post about it today 🙂 That and the low barrier to entry — be an Aeria Games player and answer three questions — kinda make me think they don’t mind if word gets out about the game.
I signed up today myself. Wonder if their beta invites work better than Acclaim’s? (lol)
Shadowrun was my all time favorite PnP RPG, and Shin Megami on the PS2 was a blast (good ole standard turn based, which I know this is not, and even actually sounds better.), so I cannot see me not liking this (I bet we do not have to fight Bears or Boars!!!)
But, visually the world’s dark look lends to a neat ambiance…and the pic above of the city fits perfectly with my vision of the game..
Hooray!
So no shooting yourself i the head to release your personas?
I have to admit that was a bit disturbing in Persona 3.
Looking forward to hearing more…one of these days I’ll finish #3 on the PS2, but I guess #4 is out now…
Sorry to double post, but I saw this link on Massively. Let’s you snag a key and the client from filefront, or so I’m told:
http://files.filefront.com/Shin+Megami+Tensei+Imagine+Online+Client/;12521810;/fileinfo.html
Cool! Thanks!
Yeh I been playing it today!
It looks cool, but we’ll see what happens. These free games are getting crazy! I really like the low system specs for most of these…they can look amazing and run great.
Anyway, I’m downloading it on my old pc now.
Ok…loaded up the client, and to my disappointment, the standard 1280×1024 max screen size is noted. I hope this can be changed in game, as that will be a major issue. All screens in my house (4 of them) are Widescreen and Hi-Def.
No HD, no play…and I woulda thought the Asian countries would catch up to this tech (I like the way Archlord looked for example, but it also has no widescreen support…neither does Shaiya, etc…)
Bummer…
Now, just need a key to be positive (or if anyone here can share if it has HD support…thanks)
It does, go to the Megaten forums and they will tell you how. It is running fullscreen 1680×1050 on my computer, and at nearly 60 fps.
Basically, you have to edit a configuration file. They will certainly add more choices by the time this goes live — closed beta, remember.
Just got the invite for beta =) Hope to see ya there Tipa, I’ll post my own lil review on my website.
Weee this thing can’t download fast enough.
Cool! Looking forward to reading it!
Found it, and the game looks awesome at 1080p…now suffering teeny font syndrome, but, hey, don’t need to read too much stuff…
Breaking out the glasses…
So far, I am loving the combat, and the biggest factor…
STORY.
Hooray.
Thanks to Pete S. for the heads up on the keys (even though after I did this, I got an invite from Aeira, so I may set up the other key for the wife…who loved Shin Megami 3 on PS2)