A very bizarre game that I very much like. As the game was supposed to be an MMO, everything is in real time, there are some spaces that are just empty that you can tell were meant to be meeting spots, the end-game demons have so much room left in their stats bars for higher numbers, it's a very strange and unique atmosphere.
The gameplay is your standard MegaTen fare despite being in real-time. It's basically if SMT1 ran on a Final Fantasy style ATB, though teams still act all at once rather individually. Negotiation is also real-time but it is very generous and even as a non-native speaker of Japanese I was given plenty of time to read over what the demons were saying. It is actually one of the better written demon negotiation systems from what I have played/remember.
There is also a very strange "RTS" battle system for certain events in the game. It is node based and has surprising depth. With that depth, I get the feeling more was planned for it past the difficulty of the battles appearing in this version of the game. Sadly whatever they had in mind did not come to be.
While the pre-rendered backgrounds of the virtual Tokyo are very fantastic to look at, the dungeons are the exact opposite. All of them are drab-square hallways with literally nothing in them except random encounters, not even chests. Definitely the most disappointing aspect.
The story is actually one of the highlights for me. Taking place in a virtual recreation of Tokyo after a nuclear apocalypse forces the last of humanity underground into bunkers. You play as a debugger/hacker working for the government, essentially taking the role of police in the virtual Tokyo. It is presented very flatly, which while it is not great, does lend to a sort of eerie vibe the game has. It does bring up some interesting concepts near the end and I will say the variance possible in the final dungeon legitimately impressed me. I do not think any other MegaTen game has that many possible ways the final dungeon can play out.
Overall, just an odd experience and it had some dull moments but I am absolutely glad I played it because it was very unique.
The gameplay is your standard MegaTen fare despite being in real-time. It's basically if SMT1 ran on a Final Fantasy style ATB, though teams still act all at once rather individually. Negotiation is also real-time but it is very generous and even as a non-native speaker of Japanese I was given plenty of time to read over what the demons were saying. It is actually one of the better written demon negotiation systems from what I have played/remember.
There is also a very strange "RTS" battle system for certain events in the game. It is node based and has surprising depth. With that depth, I get the feeling more was planned for it past the difficulty of the battles appearing in this version of the game. Sadly whatever they had in mind did not come to be.
While the pre-rendered backgrounds of the virtual Tokyo are very fantastic to look at, the dungeons are the exact opposite. All of them are drab-square hallways with literally nothing in them except random encounters, not even chests. Definitely the most disappointing aspect.
The story is actually one of the highlights for me. Taking place in a virtual recreation of Tokyo after a nuclear apocalypse forces the last of humanity underground into bunkers. You play as a debugger/hacker working for the government, essentially taking the role of police in the virtual Tokyo. It is presented very flatly, which while it is not great, does lend to a sort of eerie vibe the game has. It does bring up some interesting concepts near the end and I will say the variance possible in the final dungeon legitimately impressed me. I do not think any other MegaTen game has that many possible ways the final dungeon can play out.
Overall, just an odd experience and it had some dull moments but I am absolutely glad I played it because it was very unique.