[Holli Dillon]

The Unofficial Atlus Thread

Thought we had one of these, but a quick search says otherwise. Discuss all things Atlus! Or don't, whatever floats your boat.

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Anywho, I picked up Radiant Historia over the weekend and I'm only about 5 hours in so far, but it's really good. It feels like a combination of the best aspects from a 90s JRPG, and then improved on. Good story and characters so far, and a time traveling mechanic that's reminiscent of Chrono Trigger. It's one of few games that I feel implements choice well, compared to most that give you a number of choices that all push the game forward with a very slight change in dialogue.

Also has an amazing soundtrack courtesy of Yoko Shimomura. Her work in the Kingdom Hearts series isn't bad, and I loved Legend of Mana's score, but this is by far her best work in my eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En1E4y3Zjd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpuAPMs0FQs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw3e-TGMqY0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhkHqTTYUVM&feature=related

[trisha punch]

Radiant Historia looks like a good game and I might check it out. I still have other games to play through first right now though. I got Knights in the Nightmare for DS when it came out but still haven't started that, and I also got Odin Sphere when it was new but haven't played much yet. I think I'm going to play through that one next even though I still have some others to finish, like Nocturne and Devil Summoner 2. (haven't played the first Devil Summoner but it's not needed for the second)

games I played through
- Persona 3 FES
- Eternal Poison (still more stories left to play in it)
- Persona 4
- Digital Devil Saga 2 (played most of it till near the end, also was my first game by Atlus - the only SMT I could find at the time)

[Jerry Jr. Ortiz]

Odin Sphere is great, but the slowdown during certain bosses is insanely frustrating. It's one of few games I'd pay for an HD PS3 release, as I imagine they'd be able to get it running at a solid 30 FPS at least. Aside from that it can get somewhat repetitive having to play through the same areas/bosses with each character, but the story is pretty good. My biggest complaint is, like Vanillaware's later game Muramasa, that there's no jump button. It's up on the D-Pad/anolog stick. It makes jumping with any precision sort of annoying.

Actually, I still have to go back and finish it one of these days. Maybe after Radiant Historia.

[Milagros Osorio]

Finally got my imported copy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_Historia earlier this week (as it seems it won't be released in Europe), and I'm very pleased ^_^ It's the best JRPG I've played in the past ~5 years or so. Freaking awesome B)

Odin Sphere is great, but the slowdown during certain bosses is insanely frustrating. It's one of few games I'd pay for an HD PS3 release, as I imagine they'd be able to get it running at a solid 30 FPS at least. Aside from that it can get somewhat repetitive having to play through the same areas/bosses with each character, but the story is pretty good. My biggest complaint is, like Vanillaware's later game Muramasa, that there's no jump button. It's up on the D-Pad/anolog stick. It makes jumping with any precision sort of annoying.

I really want http://www.1up.com/news/report-muramasa-odin-sphere-high-definition.

[Ladymorphine]

I really want http://www.1up.com/news/report-muramasa-odin-sphere-high-definition.

Oh hell yes, me too. I'd really rather have access to both of them on my PS3, rather than have to plug in my PS2 for Sphere and my Wii for Muramasa.

[gemma]

I still have a game of Persona 3 in progress, and I still think - with the exception of some bosses and enemies that were clearly designed to make you hurl your controller across the room in frustration - it's one of the better games I've ever played.

You have to say one thing about Atlus games though. If Atlus were a more well-known game developer, the classic phrase for really difficult games might have been not Nintendo Hard, but Atlus Hard.

[Catharine Krupinski]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartia:_The_Word_of_Fate :yes:

Haven't played many of their new ones.

[WTW]

Reads Wikipedia article on Radiant Historia. Ye nuts, know wonder I hate this generation so much. Just about all of the good JRPGs are on portables. Especially Atlus, who I fell in love with thanks to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

Least Atlus is still treeating their published titles well, such as extending the life of Demon's Souls' servers for another year (just in time for Dark Souls). And though it's not a JRPG, Catherine looks interesting. Though I'm not http://www.thetanooki.com/2010/12/31/atlus-to-release-catherine-demo-to-help-explain-game/. I know I'm gonna' get some strange looks in the store buying it, and I can't even put it on my Amazon wish list. :unsure:

You have to say one thing about Atlus games though. If Atlus were a more well-known game developer, the classic phrase for really difficult games might have been not Nintendo Hard, but Atlus Hard.

They're http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ThatOneBoss/Atlus!

[Elea Rossi]

I still have a game of Persona 3 in progress, and I still think - with the exception of some bosses and enemies that were clearly designed to make you hurl your controller across the room in frustration - it's one of the better games I've ever played.

Persona 3 is indeed a solid challenge. It's one game that I'd strongly recommend against playing on its Hard setting on a new file to anybody but the most hardcoe, masochistic bastards I know. I'm talking willing to spend several hours on even the early boss fights repeatedly dying and retrying.

Not even Nocturne on Hard is as frustrating as Persona 3 on the same setting. However, Persona 3's Hard is a bit too cheap, IMHO (Triple the cost of Personas in the Compendium combined with the ability for nearly every boss in the game to one-shot your entire party, even going in fully prepared), while Nocturne's Hard still leaves battle outcomes to player skill.

[Miranda Taylor]

I still have a game of Persona 3 in progress, and I still think - with the exception of some bosses and enemies that were clearly designed to make you hurl your controller across the room in frustration - it's one of the better games I've ever played.

If you have the FES version, just wait till you play "Answer." It makes the original game look like a Mario level that's completely flat, with no enemies, no environmental hazards, and time is unlimited. Seriously, you'll know hard when you play "Answer." You do not have a summons book to draw used summons from (so once you kill a card, it's gone till you find another wild card and as you may know, wild card svck), difficulty is set automatically at hard, money is hard to collect, and much more fun conditions that are made to make your life that much harder.

In fact, use a a guide, or you will hate yourself for "The Answer." Not to mention the bosses can just plain cheat at times, on top of the other handicaps. I did beat it, but I have to power up Aegis and her sister to ridiculous levels. The ending also pissed me off...

[Stryke Force]

I've never played an atlus game. I do have Persona 3 and 4 in my shelf I just haven't played them yet. Also I really want Catherine but there is no release date for it here yet .

[Ally Chimienti]

If you have the FES version, just wait till you play "Answer." It makes the original game look like a Mario level that's completely flat, with no enemies, no environmental hazards, and time is unlimited. Seriously, you'll know hard when you play "Answer." You do not have a summons book to draw used summons from (so once you kill a card, it's gone till you find another wild card and as you may know, wild card svck), difficulty is set automatically at hard, money is hard to collect, and much more fun conditions that are made to make your life that much harder.

In fact, use a a guide, or you will hate yourself for "The Answer." Not to mention the bosses can just plain cheat at times, on top of the other handicaps. I did beat it, but I have to power up Aegis and her sister to ridiculous levels. The ending also pissed me off...

See, something like that just doesn't sound fun to me. A reasonable challenge is fine, but that sounds like living hell.

[Chris Guerin]

See, something like that just doesn't sound fun to me. A reasonable challenge is fine, but that sounds like living hell.

There is 1 redeeming factor; you get to kick the [censored] out of your teammates late in the game (not that this is a spoiler, it's the cinematic that starts it shows this). Nothing more satisfying that kicking the [censored] crap out of Yukari.

[Kill Bill]

There is 1 redeeming factor; you get to kick the [censored] out of your teammates late in the game (not that this is a spoiler, it's the cinematic that starts it shows this). Nothing more satisfying that kicking the [censored] crap out of Yukari.

In typical RPG fashion, where a character is 100x stronger when you're not controlling them?

[Tracey Duncan]

more like x10

If you want to know what happens, I suggest YouTube, unless you want to push how well you can play P3. Personally, I found it to be crap. Answer pretty much almost eliminates everything that happened in Journey, and Yukari turns the pissy meter to 11.

[Cccurly]

The only Atlus game I've ever played was 3D DOT GAME HEROES and it was AWESOME. :rock:

[krystal sowten]

more like x10

If you want to know what happens, I suggest YouTube, unless you want to push how well you can play P3. Personally, I found it to be crap. Answer pretty much almost eliminates everything that happened in Journey, and Yukari turns the pissy meter to 11.

I never played The Answer yet, and only played through The Journey on normal. I was planning to play again on hard, but I don't think I will now if it is like how you said. The Answer doesn't sound great either, but The Journey was still a great game. I might try The Answer to see what's it like though.

There was also something I didn't like with Persona 4 either, near the end.

Spoiler

When your team thinks they caught the killer, and are deciding what they want to do with him, it's like you have to stop some of your members from doing something really stupid, and also convince them to want to continue the investigation. Why they wouldn't want to continue I don't understand. It makes it seem like you have to force everyone to do things how they should already, and I thought they were going overboard with how emotional they were. Yosuke was acting really stupid, and in my game it was just after I got him to the max social link, but I know that doesn't affect how they behave during events, though it would be nice if it did. I had to do that part at least 3 times before I could get it to go right, because I wouldn't settle for a bad ending just for not being able to convince my team. I didn't like how that was implemented. Also near the real end of the game, it seems like you should try your best to get the culprit as fast as you can for your sister, but after you do, that's it and the game skips time all the way to the ending. It would be nice if it let you spend some more time to get your social links maxed, because the only alternative is to avoid getting to the culprit too quickly, just so you can max your links. Doesn't seem like how you should want to play.

Other than that it was a good game, but not as much as Persona 3. I still liked it and felt accomplished when I beat it.


Edit - Was thinking of Sub_Tonic's post about hard difficulty.

Not even Nocturne on Hard is as frustrating as Persona 3 on the same setting. However, Persona 3's Hard is a bit too cheap, IMHO (Triple the cost of Personas in the Compendium combined with the ability for nearly every boss in the game to one-shot your entire party, even going in fully prepared), while Nocturne's Hard still leaves battle outcomes to player skill.

I wouldn't want that. Nocturne's hard difficulty was enough.

[Rachel Tyson]

The problem with The Answer, is that it saddles additional "fun" features in addition to monsters being faster out of combat and more intelligent in combat. Hard Mode on The Journey should be much more pleasant, as the restrictions from The Answer are not there. Seriously, if anyone here wants to know how the Answer goes and ends, PM me or ask to post a spoiler summary. I find its best purpose is to see how well you can actually play/prepare/grind.

Also, the reason why the P4 ending wasn't so great was due to the creators being rushed at the very end. Because of this, the part you refer to ends up lacking from the previous days. However, personally, I like P4 more than P3, as it's a helluva lot less of a downer game. Not to mention it feels less angst ridden, and the character from P4 doesn't look like he's constantly emotionally dead. Seriously, the guy from P3 looks like he could win an emo off against Sasuke from the abridged abridge naruto series. Yet, I will say P3 was presented better and I liked how melee was divided up.

[Crystal Clear]

Looking into picking up a new game and I figure you can't really go wrong with Atlus, so whatcha got?

Own:

Persona 3 FES
Persona 4
Radiant Historia
Odin Sphere

Pretty much looking for a good story and perhaps a little more exploration than Persona 3 and 4. Platform doesn't really matter, I think I have everything covered.

[flora]

Looking into picking up a new game and I figure you can't really go wrong with Atlus, so whatcha got?

Own:

Persona 3 FES
Persona 4
Radiant Historia
Odin Sphere

Pretty much looking for a good story and perhaps a little more exploration than Persona 3 and 4. Platform doesn't really matter, I think I have everything covered.

Heh...one problem with Atlus games is how limited in quantity they are. So good luck finding any of the below recommendations. Anyway...

-Steambot Chronicles: Think Grand Theft Auto without, uh, all the violence. It's basically a sandbox game where you have your own customizable mech, and can do a whole bunch of various tasks, like play music in the streets, dig for fossils, fight in tournaments. There's also a story that has a few branching paths in it.

-Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne: By far one of my favorite JRPGs ever. It has a deep and complex story with multiple endings, though it's not really character-based. The plot goes more akin to, say, a Final Fantasy game, in that you'll progress from area to area via an overworld map, though it's not very exploration-heavy. Dungeons, however, are pretty big, and the number of ways you can customize your fighting team are staggering.

-Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. Pretty much borrows many of its mechanics from Nocturne, except that it inserts a far more character-driven story.

-Demon's Souls: Don't know if you have a PS3, but this is, in my opinion, THE game to get on it. Very challenging action-RPG with superb level design, combat, and some unique online features (once PSN gets back up, anyway ). Oh, and the story's surprisingly good, using its atmospheric environments and use of minimalism to get its points across.

There's also Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for DS, Persona 2: Innocent Sin for PSP, and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment for PS1 (it'll probably see a release on PSP, though). Haven't played any of them, though, don't have a portable.

EDIT--

And, then there's Nippon Ichi's various games, like the Disgaea series, Phantom Brave, and Makai Kingdom, all of which are assorted quirky strategy RPGs. Atlus no longer publishes their games, so they don't really belong in this topic...but they used to, and their style has remained relatively unchanged :shrug:. You can usually just get one of these and be set for a while. I'm personally looking forward to Disgaea 4 this September.

[Chloe Yarnall]

-snip-

Thanks. Nocturne sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, and I'll probably check out Demon's Souls as well. I heard something about online support being pulled though?

[Tarka]

Thanks. Nocturne sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, and I'll probably check out Demon's Souls as well. I heard something about online support being pulled though?

The online support's probably going to be pulled this October. Keep in mind, this was after it got several extensions due to unexpectedly great sales. In any case, it'll be in time for when it's Namco-published spiritual successor, Dark Souls, comes out. Eh, your choice.

[pinar]

The online support's probably going to be pulled this October. Keep in mind, this was after it got several extensions due to unexpectedly great sales. In any case, it'll be in time for when it's Namco-published spiritual successor, Dark Souls, comes out. Eh, your choice.

Ah ok. Not much of an online person anyway, but I'd like to see what all the fuss is about regardless. Thanks again.

[Devin Sluis]

-Steambot Chronicles: Think Grand Theft Auto without, uh, all the violence. It's basically a sandbox game where you have your own customizable mech, and can do a whole bunch of various tasks, like play music in the streets, dig for fossils, fight in tournaments. There's also a story that has a few branching paths in it.

This game was the big PS2 surprise for me. I had no expectations on it at all, and just bought it on a whim when it was 2+ years old and cheap, but I really enjoyed it, and it delivered much more than I expected it to. One of my favorite PS2 games, and I'm not a fan of GTA at all

Eurogamer had a http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/steambot-chronicles-retrospective.

The branching paths are neat, and I also like the fact that the game doesn't end when the main quest is done, just like the TES games.

EDIT: Now I just read that http://www.1up.com/news/steambot-chronicles-2-officially-cancelled after years of silence

[darnell waddington]

They're http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ThatOneBoss/Atlus!

Anyone who's ever had to fight Sleeping Table or Natural Dancer can attest to that

Persona 3's Hard is a bit too cheap, IMHO

Well, sometimes P3's Normaru modo is way too cheap as well. A boss that can spam an attack to charm your entire party for several turns, or getting a party wipe because you got ambushed by monsters that are strong against your characters' elements, and before you've even touched your controller, they simply One More! you all to death. And that's not to mention "Minato dies = Game Over" and all the cheap Hama/Mudo attacks enemies target you with.

If you have the FES version, just wait till you play "Answer."

Nope, sorry, I've got the good old regular version.

There is 1 redeeming factor; you get to kick the [censored] out of your teammates late in the game (not that this is a spoiler, it's the cinematic that starts it shows this). Nothing more satisfying that kicking the [censored] crap out of Yukari.

What about Fuuka? Can I beat the snot out of Fuuka? Please tell me I can beat the snot out of Fuuka!