Where do I start with both the Shin Megami Tensei series and the Persona series?

[Yousef]

Persona 5 Royal to get the full story love that story its so good but so goofy at the same time

Persona 5 is goofy indeed. Which is why I’d recommend 4 in irs place sometimes.

 

[vitad00d]

My favorite entries available in English are Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei (SFC/SNES) and OG Shin Megami Tensei (PS1 version).

As far as best entry point, I would recommend starting with the original SMT; if that doesn't take (it's a pretty claustrophobic first person dungeon crawler), jump to SMT 3 Nocturne, SMT V (probably Vengeance, which I haven't played, but I loved vanilla), or 3DS SMT Strange Journey. All are amazing!

Persona 3: FES or Persona 4 Vita are the best Persona games imo. Probably start with 3. Not a fan of the original at all, and the 2 duology failed to hook me.

 

[Ravl]

Start with Shin Megami Tensei for the super famicom, I'd also recommend you play the famicom version of Megami Tensei 2.
As for the Persona series, you absolutely should play the psp port of Persona 1. emulate it on PSSPPP and install the HD UI mod and the Music Restoration Patch

HD UI for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona [Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)] [Mods]

Updates the UI and textures for Persona (PSP)... A Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) (SMT P1 PSP) Mod in the GUIs category, submitted by Karasu

gamebanana.com

Persona Music Restoration [Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)] [Works In Progress]

PMR Persona 1 PSX ost patch... A Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) (SMT P1 PSP) Work In Progress in the Other/Misc category, submitted by Quantum_Dog

gamebanana.com

Also I suggest you modify the ini of the texture pack to set linear filtering to all the custom textures while enabling nearest texture filtering in PSSPP. This will give you a "pixel perfect" scaling for the game's sprites while also not affecting the hd textures in a bad way.
Honestly, Persona 1, IS and EP are the best ones and It's all downhill from there.

Persona 5 Royal to get the full story love that story its so good but so goofy at the same time

While Royal has arguably a better story than the base game, it completely fucks up with the game balance, making an already easy game absolutely brain-dead. I'd rather replay the original honestly.
It's probably the best of the "improved" re-releases Atlus made but considering their track record It's not that great of an achievement

 

[Inkingsama]

Go with SMT1 like the two posts above me said. If you played Megami Tensei 1, it's imposible that you won't be able to stomach SMT1.

 

[AceOfAces]

imho because of the way IV is balanced, literally the first dungeon is the hardest part of the game. That alone makes it hard to recommend as a first. And IV:A builds upon IV and is better experienced having played IV first...

Yeah that is the one downside to 4, but I think it's overall a useful experience to have because it really teaches you about not overextending and how important learning about enemies and negotiating with them is. On the other hand, death is very much a slap on the wrist in 4, since you pay either a trivial amount of macca or use Play Coins to revive right before the fight, and you can save anywhere too, so it being brutally difficult at the start is massaged by that a bit. I think in terms of overall quality of life and 'learning experience' it's the best starting point.

However, as others in the thread have said, if you've played MegaTen 1 then the lack of QOL in SMT1 is unlikely to faze you, so I'd definitely start there and appreciate how the series evolved over time.

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

I only played the snes version of Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei 1 and I also played Devil Survivor

Literally any entry, they rarely connect, so it is purely a matter of preference to how they look or play.

 

[Raidou Kuzunoha]

Finally, a thread just for me.

From a general standpoint, IV and V are good places to start. They're the best in terms of mainline mechanics, though story might feel a bit lacking. I adore both with all my heart, but even I'd have to admit the plot is kind of rushed. For Persona, I'd say the 2 duology and maybe 4. I was never the biggest fan of the calendar system, and 5 in particular drags on longer than it should imo.

But from my personal standpoint - I'd recommend Devil Survivor 1 and 2. It's a strategy RPG, and it can be really difficult, especially if you're just starting out. But in terms of writing, plot, character development, overall atmosphere, etc. I feel like it perfectly bridges the gap between SMT and Persona.

Oh, and I can't forget about my namesake! The Raidou duology! They're more akin to an action RPG, and they were a blast to play through. The plot is a perfect mix of lightness and heavyness; it also could act as a nice gateway from Persona into SMT. The music in both games is Meguro's best work imo, also. You can play them in whatever order, but you get extra goodies from transfering your save file from 1 to 2. 1 is admiteddly a bit clunky, but I don't think it's bad. 2 is a huge step up, and a lot of fun.


I could honestly talk about this topic for hours, but I'll spare you from my further yapping lol

 

[_Atom_]

The sweet spot might be P4 Golden or SMTV Vengeance, IMO. Persona 5 really overstayed its welcome for me personally and Royal is even longer...

I loved Nocturne. Persona 3 and even DDS back in the day but the QOL updates in the modern games make it tough to go back to the PS2 era sometimes.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I feel like people often confuse fundamental changes in the series gameplay with QoL or are simply too quick to call then improvements- Nocturne was never meant to have the kind of complex near perfect fusions the newer games let you have and wasn't balanced thinking as such. Nor does it make sense for a game that is a dungeon crawler first and foremost to let you save and resupply every few steps. And don't even get started on these win-more mechanics like smirk. Or absolute dumb stuff like grinding rooms DLC.

 

[Raidou Kuzunoha]

I feel like people often confuse fundamental changes in the series gameplay with QoL or are simply too quick to call then improvements- Nocturne was never meant to have the kind of complex near perfect fusions the newer games let you have and wasn't balanced thinking as such. Nor does it make sense for a game that is a dungeon crawler first and foremost to let you save and resupply every few steps. And don't even get started on these win-more mechanics like smirk. Or absolute dumb stuff like grinding rooms DLC.

I wouldn't entirely write off the newer entries - at its core, V's demon fusion is more or less the same as Nocturne's. Using essences, sutras and such is optional; their addition, however, makes the game more flexible, and basically makes every demon viable. So if you wanna bring a Jack frost and Pixie to fight Shiva, you can.


As for being able to save and resupply anywhere anytime, I attribute that to V not being a dungeon crawler in the traditional sense. I'll personally never fault a game for allowing you to save everywhere - IRL stuff can be unpredictable, and you won't always have the time to rush back to a save point. And in IV's case, the beginning of the game is so nightmarishly difficult you basically have to save every two steps. Resupplying anywhere isn't a thing there either, you still gotta jog to the nearest town.


Smirk as a mechanic is stupid broken but stupid fun. Giving the enemy the ability to use it too kinda balances it out, even if it often means losing your entire team on a single turn lol. IV:A balanced it out much better imo: it's not random anymore, and it rewards you for playing well and punishes you for not covering your weaknesses.


Grinding DLC can be pretty dumb, but I'm inclined to give it a pass because it compliments V's any demon can be a winner. It's optional too, so it's not pushed onto you. If you wanna grind the more traditional way, you can.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I wouldn't entirely write off the newer entries - at its core, V's demon fusion is more or less the same as Nocturne's. Using essences, sutras and such is optional; their addition, however, makes the game more flexible, and basically makes every demon viable. So if you wanna bring a Jack frost and Pixie to fight Shiva, you can.

When you make everything viable there is no longer any unique party and all playthroughs end up relatively the same. In nocturne(and older games) when upgrading your demons you would never be able to fully replace a previous demon, you had to adapt to different parties and all my playthroughs ended up fairly different. This doesn't mean SMT V system doesn't have its good points, principally if you are mostly fan of the monster catching/fusing aspect of the game.

As for being able to save and resupply anywhere anytime, I attribute that to V not being a dungeon crawler in the traditional sense. I'll personally never fault a game for allowing you to save everywhere - IRL stuff can be unpredictable, and you won't always have the time to rush back to a save point. And in IV's case, the beginning of the game is so nightmarishly difficult you basically have to save every two steps. Resupplying anywhere isn't a thing there either, you still gotta jog to the nearest town.

Other than the beginning dungeon, most areas of IV are relatively small and IV:A which has a few bigger dungeons adds teleporters every few rooms completely trivializing the dungeon crawler aspects like resource management. IV:A final dungeon is literally a test of patience that exists solely because older games had big dungeons, without understanding basic dungeon crawler design.

Smirk as a mechanic is stupid broken but stupid fun. Giving the enemy the ability to use it too kinda balances it out, even if it often means losing your entire team on a single turn lol. IV:A balanced it out much better imo: it's not random anymore, and it rewards you for playing well and punishes you for not covering your weaknesses.

Yes, but at the end of the day it makes the battles less interesting, most battles are decided right at the start as you either fuse the optimal party or don't and get nuked. Its very different from ps2 atlus in which bosses are still doable with sub-optimal parties. It simply incentivates to lose and solve everything by fusing element resistant demons, ending up in really repetitive game. Probably if it was only IV:A smirk system without the press turn it would have been more balanced.

Grinding DLC can be pretty dumb, but I'm inclined to give it a pass because it compliments V's any demon can be a winner. It's optional too, so it's not pushed onto you. If you wanna grind the more traditional way, you can.

It honestly feels like atlus admitting their design is mediocre so hey guys here is a way to skip it instead, works in hard mode too. It's even worse with how V scales damage with levels, making it easy to get overpowered.

 

[moonbits]

You play Persona 1 on PSP and scream "Save me from that bloody destiny" and that's it. You move on.