|
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey | | From: Atlus Video Games
Category: Video Games
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $21.49
as of 9/7/2010 05:18 EDT details
You Save: $13.50 (39%)
New (27) Used (3) Collectible (2) from $21.49
Seller: Quick Buys
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 1932
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 0.8
Legal Disclaimer: We do not in any way represent that any part we sell is legal to possess in your jurisdiction. Check with you local authorities to ensure it is legal for you to possess before buying!
MPN: SJ-40035-5
Model: SJ-40035-5
UPC: 730865400355
EAN: 0730865400355
ASIN: B002VA593A
Publication Date: February 28, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | Game mechanics represent a proud tradition of the all-time dungeon-crawling classic Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne | | • | Story takes players into the near future on a mission to save Earth and to understand humanity's position within the larger universe | | • | Who or what is causing the black hole that is engulfing the Earth | | • | Demons may be friends or foes depending on your ability to negotiate, bribe, and coerce them to join you | | • | With more than 300 types of demons, you'll have a huge variety of battlefield encounters and an equally large base of options on which to build your party |
|
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Shin Megami Tensei DS
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
 Amazingly time-consuming August 26, 2010
Liam M. Donovan (I need to move)
I went on a family vacation for a week the day after I got this game, and I just couldn't put it down. I clocked fifty hours just sitting in the car and at the campsite, and I wasn't even done with my first playthrough!
If you like western-style, dungeon-crawler role playing games, then you'll love SMT: Strange Journey. The dungeons start out pretty simple, but by the third zone, everything starts getting more and more complicated. There are tons of sidequests and secrets everywhere you go, and every demon you fight can be used in your party. You can negotiate with most of them, but some of them have to be created using the game's Demon Fusion system.
The story has its twists and turns, some of which are pretty predictable if you've played other SMT games. But it's well-written and has really great pacing, even if it sometimes sends you back and forth between the same two places a few times. And for a DS game, I was really surprised by the music. It did a really great job of setting the atmosphere, and it isn't as repetitive as a lot of other games.
It's a fantastic game, and if you like SMT or dungeon-crawlers, you should definitely get Strange Journey. It's one of those rare games where you look at the clock and realize the last twenty minutes took three hours.
 Redundant Execution Kills Fun Concept August 23, 2010
Chelsea Buckner (Knoxville, TN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey has many things going for it. It has a mature and involving story, great battle system, and interesting adversaries. However, despite all the positives SMT: Strange Journey manages to progressively zap the fun out of the experience as you progress through the game. Let me elaborate:
The gameplay is turn based and involves an extensive amount of dungeon crawling. The first level is easy and straight-forward. The second level introduces trap floors, which though annoying are navigable. The third level involves walking in the dark. Once you reach the third level it is nearly impossible to progress without a walkthrough. Considering this is a portable game the constant need of consulting maps on the internet prevented me from playing the game anywhere other than at home. The fourth level only increases having to navigate your way through multi-layer dark dungeons. Despite the annoyance and frustration I managed to reach the fifth level before quitting. The fifth level involves even more walking around on blank screen and teleporting! I reached the end of the map and the boss but by that time I was fed up for having already invested 30 hours into bumping into walls and consulting online maps. Due to my constant wandering and being lost my team was so highly leveled that random encounters and bosses no longer provided a challenge or entertainment.
I write this review with a sigh because it starts out amazing. The story allows you to make your own decisions which will place you in the Chaos, Law, or Neutral class. Your class alignment effects your relationship with demons and your ability to communicate to them. It also effects the storyline and your ultimate adversary at the climax of the game.
The demon aspect of the game is intriquing, but again falls flat once demons start to repeat conversations that you have had with previous demons. Conversing with demons is neccessary in order to get them to join your team, earn items, or gain currency. Each demon belongs to either the chaos, law, or neutral class and will react to you according to your alignment and conversing skill. Collecting demons will also allow you to fuse them into new demons allowing access to demon types that would usually ignore you. Again, it sounds fun and intriquing and it is ... until the repetition starts around level three of the game (about 15 hours in).
The bottom line is that this game is fun for the first ten hours but quickly falls flat afterwords. You will find yourself overly frustrated and bored. If you are not a dedicated RPG video gamer I suggest you stay away and if you are I warn you: you will get mad, confused, and depressed at what this game evolves into.
 Falls flat July 17, 2010
T. Paukune
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have to admit, when I first started this game, it was very fun. The exploration was great, the fights were fun, and the animated sprites were better than just an art book that shakes at you when attacked, like SMT: Devil Survivor. The demons at first are much better than I expected, with better designs earlier on in the game.
The second area had trap floors in various places that started my annoyance for this game. but it wasn't too bad, since you still knew what to do, the story was still progressing, and you knew where to go. The story is very interesting when it is actually there!
But the third area is when I started to think about quitting this game. The demon fusion is still cool, but every time you get a demon source to combine with the next demon you fuse, they are mostly just support features, hardly any attacks. The really bad part is that there are so many "dark spots" that you cannot see where you are going, and the bottom screen map does not record that I wandered around this area for DAYS (real time, not game time!) trying to figure out what to do and where to go!
It became so annoying! Here is a game that I DID love, and then I didn't know what the heck to do because the navigation of dark areas is completely hit and miss! I had leveled up so much by the time I got to the boss of just the third area that I killed him in under 2 minutes! WAY too easy.
The fourth area was the exact same. Dark spots everywhere. It gets so aggravating! Even when you get the ability to see cheaply rendered lines in the dark areas, it still doesn't record on the bottom screen. And in the fourth area, you have a bunch of moving ground to deal with, it's like a jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the front of the box! You don't know where you are! The boss of this area (and the demons you run into, for that matter) was incredibly easy because of all the aimless wandering and random battles. He took less time than the 3rd area boss!
By the fifth area, i was bored out of my skull with these dark areas. But did they cease to exist by now? No. and not only is there more aimless wandering, but now you have to contend with aimlessly wandering the third area again to find an "important" part of this story, even though the whole thing gets pretty corny by now. And now you have to deal with transportation areas that transport you to 50 other areas, and memorizing where each of the 50 transportation spots takes you is no piece of cake!
And once again, buy the fifth area, I had leveled so high that nothing was a challenge anymore, and it just became boring. There are things like forma search, that allow you to find forma that make more powerful weapons, healing items, and the like, but the game just isn't a challenge with all the leveling up you do wandering around. The forma search is really more of a "we want you to think it's a longer game" gimmick.
And I am still at area 5. Stuck, and unable to play from the total disillusionment of disappointment.
I actually gave SMT Devil Survivor 1 star, but now I would give it 5 stars, because the challenging gameplay and dizzying amount of endings redeemed it. But this game has little redeeming qualities.
A great game, but not for everyone May 14, 2010
C. Gage (USA)
This is another great Shin Megami Tensai game for the DS. If you bought and enjoyed the previous one, Devil Survivor, have no fear, for Strange Journey is up to par. It is different, though. In a good way.
The game is HARDCORE. I mean it. If you rush in to boss battles without a plan or go too deep into a dungeon before you should, prepare to learn the hard way not to do that again. And again. And again. The plot motivates you to go on, however. It's actually very fun to follow and you feel genuine concern for the people around you. It takes place in modern day, and don't worry if you've never played another Shin Megami Tensai game, by the way: this is a standalone gig in terms of plot.
This is a tough game with some mature themes in it (although I'm not sure about an M rating...), but the series has once again impressed me and I can easily recommend Shin Megami Tensai: Strange Journey to anyone who feels up to the challenge.
A good game April 29, 2010
mctribble
A nice, high quality RPG with many unique elements that you don't see in most games today. The M rating does make sense, but it isn't on the level of Grand Theft Auto or anything like that.
The storyline is solid. Without ruining anything, a strange black void has appeared in Antarctica and is slowly growing to engulf the entire planet. You are a soldier on one of four ships sent in to investigate, but you immediately lose contact with the other three upon entering. Worse yet, the void is filled with demons. Lots of them.
The only way to get very far is to enlist the aid of your enemy. Most of the demons are willing to talk with you before fighting, and it can be a blast to learn how best to talk to each kind of demon. If they like you enough, you can barter with them for money, items, or even get them to join you. Be willing to haggle though; they won't come for free.
The other two systems worth mentioning are the demon co-op and demon fusion features. As the game progresses, your dialogue selections change your alignment. Demons have alignments too, and you work better if your entire team is of the same alignment. When one party member strikes the enemy's weakness, each teammate of the same alignment attacks immediately, allowing you to easily double or triple the strength of an already powerful attack.
Finally, the demon fusion program allows you to combine two demons you already have into a brand new one. Doing it is the best way to learn, but it essentially allows you to get demons that are far more powerful than the ones out in the field.
A word to the wise: This game is hard. It does a good job of giving you a smooth learning curve, but the strategy can become deceptively complex. Don't give up on it if it starts to frustrate you, simply get some more allies and perhaps fuse them. You rarely need to grind for experience because you can always recruit stronger demons instead of training the ones you have. This is both quicker and easier, so don't be afraid to experiment.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
|
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Web Hosting & Domain Registration | |
