Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (Famicom) - How Well Does It Hold Up Today? (Retro Review)

#JDOmnislash #RetroGaming #MegamiTensei
I'm VERY excited to finally bring you this video, as it took a lot of work to complete, and I really think this will teach others about just what we were missing in the States, back in 1987!
-- You can download the English translation patch, here: www.romhacking...
-- Watch live at / jdomnislash
-- And if you're feeling generous, please consider supporting me on Patreon at / jdomnislash

[@CelestialHunter-]

Instead of playing the remake on the SFC, you went with the original game, which needs some SERIOUS dedication to finish! Hats off to you man. You rock!

[@JDOmnislash]

Thank you! This is easily one of the most difficult times I ever had making a video in general, so that means a lot.

[@Rudolphhhhhh]

Thank you very much for this video! I just finished the game, on Switch (in Japanese, bought on the Japanese eShop). 75 HOURS (according to my Switch), that is INSANE, for a Famicom RPG!!!!!!! Before that, it took me somewhat 25 or 30 hours to finish the first Dragon Quest on Famicom, and almost 50 hours to finish Dragon Quest II on Famicom, but that Megami Tensei is something else! But I was drawing myself all maps of all dungeons, playing without faq. By doing that, it was very, very, VERY long, that is astounding. I had never thought that an 8bit RPG could be THAT LONG! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed that game, as a fan of Megaten series. Great atmosphere (Infini's Palace music!!! Flames' floors of Mazurka!), good dungeons in first view, the demons (and Lucifer), Moon phases, MACCA, Magnetite... many things of the Megaten series were already there (except for the alignment system). And Bien's moving air castle was an excellent idea, to reach advances dungeons and create very useful shortcuts (when I reached Mazurka's lower flame floors, first I move to Infini's palace in order to fight and increase my levels very quickly). Some issues though, like this fucking enigma with Izanami of course! But I was "lucky" for the White Dragon artefact (because I visited absolutely everything in that game, I already found the Rick's thing before). I also read entirely the Japanese manual, giving some hints to me. The dark rooms were not a problem to me (even if we have no map, we have still the North/South/East/West indications, and my drawn map, so I knew where I was). By the way, did you found the best sword in the game? After defeating the first 5 boss, a new pathway is opened in the 4F of Bien's castle... leading to a fucking nightmare with a lot of pits to avoid (everytime, I fell in 3F, so that I had to go back to 4F), and a lot of teleportations to avoid in B1 (or else, I had to take the elevator and go back to 4F). At the end, I reached the maximum level (level 61, all stats 20) and found the best equipments, so that my team was overpowered (the last boss was not a big deal, just a long fight without never being in danger). By playing that game, I could not help to think to the first Phantasy Star, which was released in Japan 3 months later. The comparison between the two games is very interesting. In my case, I think that Megami Tensei is better for its level-design, the included mini-map whereas we are walking in the dungeons, the North/South/East/West indications, the fact that the rooms are not "one square large", and the fact that the walls' textures are much more varied in Megami Tensei. Phantasy Star had better graphics and smoothness though... but the walking speed is faster in Megami Tensei (and we have AUTO fight, which is very cool). In spirte of that, Phantasy Star was also very cool, with other qualities. Someday, I would like to play the Telenet version... and Megami Tensei II of course! But before that, I want to play other 8 bits RPG like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest III on Famicom (I already finished recently Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest II on Japanese Famicom version), and perhaps other 8 bits RPG on Japanese computers (as I can understand Japanese).

[@JDOmnislash]

Thanks for the story! I actually did manage to get that sword, but I remember it taking me almost an entire day, dedicated to nothing but that in order to figure it out. Holy hell, was that something. I'd also love to play the sequel! Hopefully, if someone can get a full translation patch completed someday, though that may take forever. I could also see the Phantasy Star comparison. Wizardry really did change the way we'd look at RPGs for many years.

[@Rudolphhhhhh]

@@JDOmnislash Speaking of it, I would like to play Wizardry as well. Compared to other Famicom RPG, Megami Tensei was much more based on Wizardry than Dragon Quest (that Enix game was also based on Wizardry, and a little Ultima). Just one or two things that seems to come from Dragon Quest: the save system in just a single place located in the very beginning of the game, the absence of real game over (we keep xp and items, we just lose some money and the cure spheres) and some magic of teleportation to the beginning (very convenient). But else, Megami Tensei's main inspiration was Wizardry, I think. Yes, getting the best sword in the game was also a nightmare to me: a large part of an afternoon! And everytime I encountered Azura in 4F, I ran away, because that fight took so long for so few xp. XD Compared to the first entry, I fear that understanding the language is much more important in Megami Tensei II (although the NPC were very important in the first game by giving us hints, like all 8bit RPG).

[@Natreg44]

@@Rudolphhhhhh you really enjoy old games :D. If you haven't tried it yet, you should check Might and Magic. The first game is great. I recommend the PC version over the nes one though. I have recently played the FM7 version of Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei and it was a very good experience. It can be seen as a prequel to the famicom game. It doesn't have many RPG elements though, it's mostly a gauntlet game.

[@WaverBoy]

This looks really cool, I’ll hafta patch it and check it out! Great review!

[@a-youtube-rat]

I was looking for a review to the anime but I guess this will do.

[@JDOmnislash]

Still haven't seen that yet, myself, haha. I should really get to that.

[@outerspaceman7534]

I think it still plays great. I was playing it the other day and it seemed just like the Might and Magic games.

[@JDOmnislash]

Yeah, you can definitely feel the way it evolved from games like that and Wizardry, the more you play it.

[@outerspaceman7534]

@@JDOmnislash the only thing that sucks about it is those damn white rooms. It’s not helping the game at all. But the atmosphere and the gameplay is still great to this day. I really think that Atlus needs to remake this and the second one with graphics on par with the Soul Hackers 3DS port. The retro graphics are fine, but it would help make it feel fresh on modern systems.

[@JDOmnislash]

That would be great! The SNES/Super Famicom remakes did improve a lot of things, but a modern day update could really work wonders for it.

[@KarnovJr]

This game has what i call "Kid Icarus syndrome". Brutal at the start. Becomes easier once you have a badass army of monsters.

[@JDOmnislash]

Agreed. It still finds ways to trick you after that, but that initial grind is easily the hardest part.

[@monkeydjimmy5169]

I had no idea about this what's so ever But it looks promising

[@JDOmnislash]

Yeah, it's a surprisingly hard game to find good information on.

[@dimitriosgladio059]

Appreciate your content!

[@JDOmnislash]

Appreciate your viewership!

[@monkeydjimmy5169]

Man are you Greek ? Το όνομα σε προδίδει λίγο λολ

[@dimitriosgladio059]

MonkeyD Jimmy I am of Greek heritage yes, but I don’t read or speak it.

[@monkeydjimmy5169]

@@dimitriosgladio059 ooo 😮😮😮 That's fine mate Good to see another Greek though 😜

[@dimitriosgladio059]

MonkeyD Jimmy same here!

[@Alianger]

Does this game quality for these aspects? -Predefined characters and story -Linear overarching progression

[@JDOmnislash]

Let's see... I don't think I'd say there's a lot to the story. The manual actually gives a decent backstory, but the story in the game itself is pretty barebones and straightforward. The progression is pretty open-ended, where you're given extremely large maps to explore. There are specific places you need to go to in order to progress, but there's all kinds of ways to get there.

[@The8bitFighter]

Do you know if there's anywhere to find a repro for this game? Would like to play this on hardware rather than through emulation! Found a (remake?) SNES version on OCDreproductions, but would prefer the NES original (with translation patch).

[@JDOmnislash]

Unfortunately, no. I think most translators tried to work on the SNES remakes, instead. I ended up getting a translation patch for my Japanese cart, in order to play it. Good luck with your search!

[@Rudolphhhhhh]

In my case, I am playing this game on Switch, after buying the DLC "Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei" of the (free) "Namcot Collection" on the Japanese eShop. By doing that, I can play legally to the game, with the original manual included (scanned), and some save or rewind features... but everything is in Japanese (which is not a problem to me because I can understand Japanese). Besides of that, I do not know any other way to play the Famicom version legally than playing on a real Famicom with the original cartridge.

[@AncientElectronics]

Im currently slogging my way through the Super Famicom remake and even as an RPG veteran its a bit of a slog. Not super hard just....a slog. I cant imagine pushing through the original with the lack of quality of life improvements and extra backtracking, Impressive. The Famicom version certainly seems to have a greater charm in the visual department over the remake.

[@JDOmnislash]

Thanks! Yes, I definitely wish there was a way to somehow combine the og visuals and soundtrack with the quality of life improvements of the Super Famicom remakes, but such is life.

[@AncientElectronics]

@@JDOmnislash did you use a walk-through or maps or did you get through it without having to refer to anything online?

[@JDOmnislash]

I admit I had to use maps and needed help with one of the bosses, because I didn't know you needed a certain item for it at the time.

[@LoboEye]

Play something simple next and not skull crushing hard.

[@JDOmnislash]

Gladly, lol.

[@protoman6824]

Would still rather play this than Persona 5, which is incredibly overrated, not to mention takes too long to finish.

[@JDOmnislash]

That game WAS super long too, albeit for different reasons, lol.

[@protoman6824]

@@JDOmnislash Yeah, too fucking long. To the point where it started pissing me off. And the cutscenes started getting ridiculous in length too like the sequence after Sae's palace which took at least 15-20 minutes before I was able to regain control again and save the fucking game. Compare that to another SMT game like SMT Nocturne, where a typical cutscene is only 3-5 minutes in length, and only takes about 50 or so hours of total playtime to complete depending on if you decide to be a completionist (eg do the Amala Labyrinth and/or get all the magatama). And plus almost all the characters in P5 are annoying idiots and/or douchebags, including the heroes, like Ann and Ryuji, whom I hate both of with a burning passion. Meanwhile the few characters in the game who are actually decent like Morgana are always shat on just because he tells you to go to sleep (Oh no! He told me to go to sleep! The horror!). Yet they praise and make excuses for Ryuji always jeopardizing the PT's operations with his stupidity and even getting them in trouble at least once by pointing out that he is just a child when he isn't. High school students are old enough to drive cars. Children can't drive cars.

[@Ceielo]

Dude, this game is actually way better, AND way worse than I was expecting. Still, fffffflip off that game! Like I said before, this is your initiation into sainthood.

[@JDOmnislash]

LOL, thank you sir!