This is a review specifically for KMT1. According to a friend KMT2 is actually good, so ill write my own review for it when i get to it. Anyway here it is:
Gameplay:
Theres no story section for this review, just gameplay, since KMT1 has as much story as a mario game, which by itself isnt bad, also means that the gameplay should be good enough hook you on the game... which I cannot say KMT1 does.
Like, KMT1 is unbalanced as all hell. Yeah this is the case for almost every ATLUS game, but unlike the usual balancing being way too much in your favor, here they balanced it in the complete opposite direction: it being balanced way too much against your favor. The MC cant use magic, so naturally you just pump the strength stat, but even maxxing it out does nothing for you. I maxed it out around the first dungeon, and still all you'll be doing is dealing pathetic double digit damage, especially against bosses, while enemies get to wreck you as hard as they can. They either made strength contribute almost nothing to the attack formula, or made enemies really tanky, which either way makes the game feel like an uphill battle.
Magic on the other hand is actually pretty powerful (in early game, felt like it fell off after midgame) but the mp pools are so small that you have to have the magic users focus exclusively on healing from the constant encounters you trudge through, burning through your mp quickly since mp caps at 99 by endgame 💀. Demons are your only saving grace here, which is a testament to how useless the human characters are in the begginning. Really wish KMT1 was in the aqui megaten fusion calculator, but whatever, eventually you figure out how to make demons with mediama and tarukaja.
After you get past the most frustrating early game in megaten, in my opinion beating even SMTIV's naraku in how frustrating and bs it is, there's light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Markuza Corridor, the dungeon that marks the midgame point of the game. There are actual good armors and weapons there, so the game becomes not as hard, though its still not enjoyable, since you then have to deal with enemies that can just randomly decrease your level, taking away all the time and progress you've made in gaining that level in the blink of an eye, and then the next dungeon is the Sea of Flames, a dungeon whose gimmick is your party takes damage every step you make no matter what. (Atlus devs in the lab concocting the worst dungeon crawler ideas known to man: ).
Ive seen the sentiment that you should just skip the bosses, since they're actually all optional aside from the final boss, but I'd argue that not fighting them is to your disadvantage if you plan on actually beating the game. For 1, if you dont do the boss in Bien, you dont gain access to the town in it that has a casino and shops to make the game easier for you, 2, killing the bosses lets you free izanami who gives you an item that completely nullifies the damage floors in the Sea of Flames, 3, this unlocks bonuses in KMT2, and finally 4, not fighting them makes you miss out on all the exp they give, which you'll need as much as you can get because even having fought the bosses it still feels like you're underleveled for the final boss (which you are, you end the game in the lvl 50s and according to gamefaqs the final boss is lvl 128 🥹).
No joke, even with the hinokagutsuchi, the most powerful sword in the game, you deal like 40 ~ 50 damage per hit (and thats only if you have a demon to cast tarukaja) while the final boss hits for like 100+ on everyone, forcing every magic user go on healing duty every round, and thats if hes not trying to land an instakill on you. Oh another thing is he can use is diarahan to fully heal himself if you dont have the white dragon orb that disables it, though i dont know if you need to beat the other bosses to unlock it. Only way I beat the game was constantly abusing save states, cuz all in all, its a bad time.
Conclusion:
I think the stories in 90s megaten games carry them pretty hard, as the gameplay is just not that well designed or engaging, but even if KMT1 had a real story i dont think it would redeem the game. Its just too frustrating and badly designed, to the point where I would only reccomend it to megaten fans really interested in seeing how the first megaten game is like, or hard core dungeon crawler fans (and as a dungeon crawler fan myself, i think it says something that I didnt like it).
In conclusion, the OVA is better.
Gameplay:
Theres no story section for this review, just gameplay, since KMT1 has as much story as a mario game, which by itself isnt bad, also means that the gameplay should be good enough hook you on the game... which I cannot say KMT1 does.
Like, KMT1 is unbalanced as all hell. Yeah this is the case for almost every ATLUS game, but unlike the usual balancing being way too much in your favor, here they balanced it in the complete opposite direction: it being balanced way too much against your favor. The MC cant use magic, so naturally you just pump the strength stat, but even maxxing it out does nothing for you. I maxed it out around the first dungeon, and still all you'll be doing is dealing pathetic double digit damage, especially against bosses, while enemies get to wreck you as hard as they can. They either made strength contribute almost nothing to the attack formula, or made enemies really tanky, which either way makes the game feel like an uphill battle.
Magic on the other hand is actually pretty powerful (in early game, felt like it fell off after midgame) but the mp pools are so small that you have to have the magic users focus exclusively on healing from the constant encounters you trudge through, burning through your mp quickly since mp caps at 99 by endgame 💀. Demons are your only saving grace here, which is a testament to how useless the human characters are in the begginning. Really wish KMT1 was in the aqui megaten fusion calculator, but whatever, eventually you figure out how to make demons with mediama and tarukaja.
After you get past the most frustrating early game in megaten, in my opinion beating even SMTIV's naraku in how frustrating and bs it is, there's light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Markuza Corridor, the dungeon that marks the midgame point of the game. There are actual good armors and weapons there, so the game becomes not as hard, though its still not enjoyable, since you then have to deal with enemies that can just randomly decrease your level, taking away all the time and progress you've made in gaining that level in the blink of an eye, and then the next dungeon is the Sea of Flames, a dungeon whose gimmick is your party takes damage every step you make no matter what. (Atlus devs in the lab concocting the worst dungeon crawler ideas known to man: ).
Ive seen the sentiment that you should just skip the bosses, since they're actually all optional aside from the final boss, but I'd argue that not fighting them is to your disadvantage if you plan on actually beating the game. For 1, if you dont do the boss in Bien, you dont gain access to the town in it that has a casino and shops to make the game easier for you, 2, killing the bosses lets you free izanami who gives you an item that completely nullifies the damage floors in the Sea of Flames, 3, this unlocks bonuses in KMT2, and finally 4, not fighting them makes you miss out on all the exp they give, which you'll need as much as you can get because even having fought the bosses it still feels like you're underleveled for the final boss (which you are, you end the game in the lvl 50s and according to gamefaqs the final boss is lvl 128 🥹).
No joke, even with the hinokagutsuchi, the most powerful sword in the game, you deal like 40 ~ 50 damage per hit (and thats only if you have a demon to cast tarukaja) while the final boss hits for like 100+ on everyone, forcing every magic user go on healing duty every round, and thats if hes not trying to land an instakill on you. Oh another thing is he can use is diarahan to fully heal himself if you dont have the white dragon orb that disables it, though i dont know if you need to beat the other bosses to unlock it. Only way I beat the game was constantly abusing save states, cuz all in all, its a bad time.
Conclusion:
I think the stories in 90s megaten games carry them pretty hard, as the gameplay is just not that well designed or engaging, but even if KMT1 had a real story i dont think it would redeem the game. Its just too frustrating and badly designed, to the point where I would only reccomend it to megaten fans really interested in seeing how the first megaten game is like, or hard core dungeon crawler fans (and as a dungeon crawler fan myself, i think it says something that I didnt like it).
In conclusion, the OVA is better.