Shin Megami Tensei: A glimpse

Arm-thingy makes me cool

Anytime you hear a MMORPG is free to play, you are almost guaranteed for it to be from average to utter crap. However I must say Aeria Games has made a pretty decent game here. For one I've yet to play a MMORPG with combat this active and just plain old fun. With it behaving more like an action game then a RPG, you constantly have to pay attention to what enemy your facing and what attacks you've been using. If the enemy is about to rush you, instead of hoping your 20% dodge kicks in you can activate a defensive mode. This lets you block the attack and then counter if your quick enough. This is me preparing the counter in the Virtual Training Room. The pink tells me it's working!

Watch as I defend...with my sword..over here...wait...what?!

I guess pictures of me fighting a strange turkey with an onion on its head is a good point to actually talk about Shin Megami Tensei, or MegaTen for short. The MegaTen series is about what happened when some goofy scientists started playing with teleportation. As any game fan knows this is a TERRIBLE idea! Surprisingly, demons suddenly turned up. Of course there is a number of people that can fight the demons, they’re called Demon Busters. What would have been an epic struggle between demons and humans goes to the sidelines as nuclear war breaks out. Most of the planet is eradicated with the few human survivors fighting against themselves AND the demons.

All is not lost however. A huge flood comes to kill the majority of the demons in Tokyo. Humanity finally decides to stop fighting each other and band together. Things are looking hopeful. Then that’s when the plot line of this game occurs. Yes, a plot line. Be shocked and stunned.

Help also comes along in the ability to make contracts with demons. You make a contract with a demon and they help you. Think Warlock pets from World of Warcraft except you can pick almost any demon you come across, as long as you’re at a high enough level. Once you find the perfect demon for you, all you do is start up a conversation with them. Some respond well to simple greetings others to threats or taunts. The whole concept to me is very entertaining. Here is a picture of someone I came across with an “Angel” demon..

Uhhhhh...Hey...

While the graphics are actually pretty decent, music exactly what you expect from a JRPG, not all is perfect in this little world just riddled with demon goodness. For one your character moves ungodly slow. With each area being pretty large it takes quite a while to get to places. If there is some type of movement increase later in the game that would just be swell. Also if your playing full screen and you alt+tab out expect the game to crash on you when you attempt to get back to playing.

The UI itself is cluttered, even though the tutorial explains where everything is at I wish there was faster access without having to make new key binds. I would love to see a better mini-map system as well. The current one is just an empty radar with a few dots on it. While it's functional I just would like a more detailed one like the one World of Warcraft uses.

For some reason I wager this guy is tough as nails...probably the eye patch

So far Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine is looking to be solid MMO. As a fan of the series this game spawns from I'm pleased as a fan of both the story and the game play. I can only hope it escapes from the drudgery that most MMORPGs serve as you progress through the game. I'll keep you posted. I'll also give you toast...buttery...delicious...toast...

Your own personal Leeroy Jenkins

Occasionally I get afflicted with gargantuan amounts of laziness and rather you write than myself. That or I'm curious of your opinions on certain subject matters and leave the floor up to you. Either way, I propose if you dare to share some of the moments when you've "Noob'ed" it up. Some error that while hilarious was also disastrous! To get the ball going I'll share one of my MANY adventures that dubbed me Barney Fife at one point.

I was on my rogue one day playing World of Warcraft. My guild had got together to kill Onyxia, who was at the time a pretty big thing. So we're all lined up, talking over Ventrillo and preparing to rip her a new one. I was on the Even side, so I'm suppose to go left while half the raid goes right, and the main tank charges straight through.

I however "slipped" a finger while talked to someone next to me explaining what was about to happen * I was showing off...but soon I would be failing at showing off =(*. So as my fingers betrayed me I ran right into the whelps and didn't stop. So the eggs pop, whelps pop all around me....

And the raid wiped. Big time. No one was ready for whelps or even expecting it at a very easy part of the fight. Needless to say my friend was laughing quite a bit at my mistake. Anyway *cough* we proceeded to recover from the wipe and killed her. Though the guild is now fully disbanded now, we still chat together on our old forums. I'm still dubbed "Barney Fife" for this and many other incidents.

There! I shared! Your turn!

An EverQuest Experience: My hatred toward huts..

"You got the wrong guy, I didn't kill anyone.."

This is my Beastlord, Ahrimin. As you may have gathered from my previous posts I'm hunting in Blackfeather Roost. Despite my Iskar heritage, my worship of the God of Fear Cazic-Thule, and the sharp pointy thing in my hand...I'm a nice guy. However my sunny disposition didn't sway the Harpies from attacking me for no reason. After defending myself, I was told by a local satyr I should probably destroy all the harpy huts I come across. If I do, he'll somehow give me experience points. Since I do everything other people tell me....I found I suddenly hate huts. Passionately.

"I'm insane with anger!"

So as I reach higher up the cliffs, I find the huts that weird satyr was speaking of. The sight of them drove me apparently into a bloodthirsty madness. I suddenly rushed up to the hut and started bashing it in with my fists. Aside from hurting my hands it had no real effect. These huts must have been made out of...something harder then fists! I had no choice but to use my natural powers of ice. So I prepared to send icy coldness and...cold the hut into dust!

"Why are my feet melting in the glowie?!?!"

It did the trick! My Ice shard ripped the hut apart, revealing more evil harpies! I wondered how they got in there and how they planned on getting out as we battled. It's as if they were as stupid as me. The fight didn't last long, possibly due to the atrophy the harpies have undergone due to being locked in a hut for so long. I spent the rest of the day ripping open the homes of individuals that had sealed themselves in.

In short, it was fun. I'm hoping to get up to 65 soon. However it's a huge pain to get my 63-65 spells as no one really hunts in those areas anymore. Oh well, I'll cope with it somehow. Tomorrow is my first impressions of Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. So far I can say the game is a blast. Until then!