Strange Journey Redux is Disrespectful

[@NamsCompendium]

You know what sucks? Opinions. But you know what doesn't suck? Respecting other people's opinions. Let's all try to keep it civil here.

[@niilohjerppe4076]

Based nam

[@tusharrobinbari3837]

Based

[@Kronosdoesshit]

Based

[@LemonMori]

Based

[@toooydoeur]

Chad thumbnail

[@metalhatty104]

My biggest counter point towards your critic of the new endings is that you really downplay the amount of work the player has to do to get them. You made it sound like it’s just something you can get by picking the right dialogue options in a cutscene and not by continuously going back to the hardest dungeon in the game both combat and puzzle wise. In my opinion it proves upon the Amala network because it gives a reward to all the routes in the game by giving them a more idealized ending instead being like nocturne’s true demon ending that’s basically the main character taking his ball and going home because he thinks everyone else is being dumb.

[@MINTY_FN]

I think saying SJR is "a terrible way to experience Strange Journey" is hyperbolic. It has issues but it's still a solid version of the game.

[@jamesrustle7536]

Agreed. This guy is up his own ass big time.

[@taigaaisaka6305]

The issues are "It's not ball crushingly hard as the original", "it doesn't ask you to grind on it as if it was a 2nd job" and "It adds new endings that are not a different flavor of "Grats on destroying humanity"". Non of which are bad in any way, form or shape. You can choose to nit use the MC and let it be as useless as it was in the original if you want the game to be harder. You can choose to grind as much as you want if you want and you can literally choose if you get the old or new endings. There's basically no reason to play the original aside from nostalgia or having some sort of extreme purist mindset, which Nam clearly has for SJ. Just the title of the video gives that away.

[@ZX-Gear]

@taigaaisaka6305 Alex was intrusive and felt more out of place in the campaign than P4 Golden Marie. Yeah. I said it. Plus my old passwords don't work anymore so no Ubermensch Gore and x4 regular attack for me.

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

@@taigaaisaka6305 Strange Journey is hard… until you remember how broken demon sources are and then it turns into a joke

[@sudacagamer]

Clickbait at its finest👌

[@TheFlawedPlan]

Complaining about this game making optimal use of the the 3DS's double screens because "moving eyes hard", and especially complaing about streaming being inconvenient immediately tells me you hate this game for really stupid reasons.

[@YouJGSousa]

The criticism about the two screen usage is just a result of your streamer needs. The new UI takes advantage of the extra space, it just isn’t convenient for you.

[@Jeanology14]

Tf you mean it's turn based, that only makes sense for action games

[@meowmeow1010]

That's a you problem???? One of the most charming things about the hardware is using both screens at the same time. That's what makes playing any DS/3DS game so charming and unique ​@TsukiZer0

[@vanilla8956]

@@The-Zer0th-Law Because of people like you without object permanence? lol

[@The-Zer0th-Law]

@@vanilla8956 No, because splitting the player focus is bad, but people without no brain (like you) can't focus anyway.

[@100legodude]

⁠​⁠@@The-Zer0th-Law Nintendo kept the 2-screen design for over a decade, through all the DS and 3DS iterations. Also the DS is among the best selling consoles of all time. The design can hardly be considered a failure.

[@ALEX19960609]

Counter point. Every ending in the original fucking sucks. Either stagnant death of humanity, 1984 or survival of the fittest bullshit

[@ephemeralbro]

SMT fans hate any type of positive ending because they circle jerk how "dark" the series is. The new endings could've been implemented better but they're fine thematically/narratively

[@rohandatta7111]

@@ephemeralbrothe new endings are idealized versions of law and chaos. New neutral is just bad. Ideal law is just eternal peace where everyone is equal while ideal chaos is competition where everyone competes to become the very best with demons acting as guardians

[@ArakishiTokugawa]

him saying that an ending where the MC has to be alone and fight for the eternity is "devoid of any consequences" kinda show he did not analyze them much

[@satouhikou1103]

Bad take

[@krisisgod666]

Gonna respectfully disagree. That’s all.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

You're not giving any points as to why it wouldn't be true

[@tylergamerphung]

I mean, that’s Nam’s opinion, so?

[@vandagylon2885]

Thin skinned

[@klaus.sfc01official30]

​@@vandagylon2885 anyone who cannot take opinion takes your comment and actually does it to the commenter just without the "thin" =:

[@gaminggaming.6071]

Why

[@BlackfangDragon]

To be honestly like the new endings, how we get there is….not great and could have been done better, but I do think it was needed to contrast the original endings. Law and Chaos were extremely cynical endings in the original, and Neutral was idealistic to the point of naivety in its attitude towards Neutral. The new endings meanwhile end up being on the opposite extreme. Where Law/Chaos are now idealistic and hopeful, while Neutral is, hilariously enough, very realistic in its cynicism in expecting humanity to actually heal the planet we take for granted.

[@monkeylemur]

I think I have to agree with Nams here that because the endings just kinda get rid of a crucial consequence of a grand decision, they're a bit ruined. I think in real life, you often make decisions without realizing the full extent of the consequences, or what happens is good enough for you to accept those consequences. This is a new writing staff, and they obviously fumbled it, and then fumbled it a bit further if they were in any way involved with writing SMT5.

[@lokasocba]

The problem with the new endings is they are not alternative outcomes of your path, but "fixes" over the originals. The originals had an impact that is lost in the moment you introduce a way to "fix" them.

[@jonhmata]

I think that in essence the changes they made for the endings are somewhat strange (Ha!) in the sense they are the same than the original, but with a but. Law ending is heaven order but human have autonomy, chaos is demon strong society, but they protect the humans, and neutral is all stays the same, but now you are an immortal doomslayer (Best ending right here). I don't think it did affect my overall enjoyment of the game ( And after 150 hour playing on my first playthrough i would've hated if the endings sucked).

[@ibilesfighter3.16]

The original already did this Neutral was the worst in the game world because its only temporary

[@lokasocba]

@@ibilesfighter3.16 And that was the point. Humanity can't change and will forever repeat its cycle of corruption and decay.

[@HorribleCrackdown]

Truly the worst victim of Atlus Rerelease Extra Girl syndrome

[@toooydoeur]

Perhaps, full body is pretty bad too

[@kingteddieP4]

@@toooydoeur nah Alex is worse than q Catherine.

[@toooydoeur]

@@kingteddieP4 disagree but both are pretty shit

[@nr2676]

Catherine Full Body - Rin Persona 5 Royal - Kasumi Persona 4 Golden - Marie SMT Strange Journey Redux - Alex All of them were TRASH, anime trope, waifu bait.

[@toooydoeur]

@@nr2676 dude kasumi ain't compatible to the others lmao

[@robdiquattro5590]

You’ve convinced me to play redux, thanks!

[@docphil9602]

Lmfao real

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

I actually really like the Redux Neutral ending. The fact that the Schwarzwelt keeps reappearing and how tired the protagonist looks keeps the essence of how cyclical human nature is. I dunno, maybe I just like it because it stays pretty bleak lol

[@robertvalenica8999]

I disagree about the hud, the game was design for the 3DS and uses it’s hardware for that. I don’t see that as an issue besides future porting. Which shouldn’t be an issue at all. You can’t criticize Wii gimmick montion controls when a game does end up using them at full potential 😂 than complain how there going to port said motion controls to other ports. Besides that, I agree with everything you said. Besides the HUD, SMT4 hud is slick and modern and it fits with the 3DS so freakin much and I love everything about it. It’s nice to see the second screen used and I can spam my buttons almost instantly with the stylus. With that said, I also don’t have an issue about strange journey one hud either both are great

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Admittedly, thus game has only one issue - Alex. She was not properly designed with SJ in mind, and would work better as the MC of a new SMT game, if anything

[@savagej4y241]

Agreed, Alex is very much a shoehorned in character to Strange Journey. Now, maybe if instead of making Redux, they made a side story or sequel with a new setting, her theme of trying to find new ways to correct humanity's ills in response to them seeming inevitable would have worked better.

[@valletas]

Make her older and give a proper demonica and i think she would have fitted right in She looks cool but smt 4 cool with doesnt fit strange journey militaristic look compared to the urban enviroments the games usually have Also she should have kept the helmet the entire game it honestly takes a bit from the fantasy when every character is whearing a helmet to survive the place exept for her

[@emperortoho]

@@valletas isn’t it cuz she’s half demon

[@scientistB]

Makes sense that I liked Redux; it was my second SMT game, following IV :P Maybe I've been spoiled, but when I see the original, the menus look so... "crunched up" to me. And I really like seeing the higher-res demon artwork as well. My friend was playing the original Strange Journey and was absolutely suffering at bosses like Jack and Ouroboros; fights which were made so much more manageable with the new commander skills which my friend lacked. Maybe some people prefer the challenge but I'm glad I wasn't in his shoes. But I still got plenty of challenge in the final bosses, including the one for the Redux endings. That was one of the longest and most grueling battles I've had in an RPG in a very long time. Has a pretty epic theme too. And admittedly: I also liked the new endings. Something about turning the protagonist into Doomguy is incredibly amusing to me.

[@megalowie1324]

I feel like the experiences aren't that similar but doesn't make one better than the other just different. Original Strange Journey has an older-going-new mentality, where it's not obnoxious like SMT I and II (great games but obnoxious), but still quite limiting and over-challenging like SMT III (which doesn't take away it's great traits). Strange Journey Redux takes a more SMT IV feeling where it's still challenging but gives a lot more resources to deal with things, you feel great getting progresssively stronger instead of being on your toes all the time which can get away the challenge and makes it only annoying. For people that likes this "on your toes" challenge approach, SMT IV and Redux feels lackluster, there is no dramatic challenge, but for more casual players it gives an enough amount of challenge, and the original can still be a great experience as well because it isn't all that difficult, just different. I would recommend both but not expecting them to be similar.

[@demi-femme4821]

I like Jack in the original, honestly. He's a fun challenge, and I don't agree with the severe nerfs he got in Redux. But fuck Ouroboros, that shit is just "RNG: The Boss Fight."

[@yep9462]

@@demi-femme4821 Eh, nerfing Jack is the one thing I like about Redux. It was just a stupid boss fight, as even if you go in with a strong enough party he keeps spamming Pure Blue. After going in with Doppelganger and Camazotz and just hoping his gun skill hit them instead of me I began to understand Jimenez's hatred of them.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

​@@yep9462Jack responded with Pure Blue if he was ever debuffed, but honestly, at the very least he should've kept Rain Strike

[@pichugirl6]

When I do get to play my copy of Redux, out of all the "new endings" part of me wants to try the new neural ending due to how in my eyes almost shows the beautiful pros and cons of just neutralizing the whole thing for only temporarily. The ending giving this bleak and vague hope that even after this being the 7th attempt, your still fighting for humanity. You, the soldier rookie, believes that humanity deserves a chance even if the cycle keeps repeating and we continue bringing it back. I find that beautiful and also sad that I kinda like it.

[@aye2zee485]

New neutral ending isn't very positive at all imo. The humans forced him to live alone out of fear exactly as the demons said they would, the schwartwelt comes back faster and faster implying humanity is getting worse. The lone soldier is an enabler and someone humanity has to rely on because they're too pathetic to solve their own issues. It's just like the law and chaos endings, humanity relies entirely upon the soldier. It's the most cynical neutral ending in the franchise. They simultaneously become like the brainless angels relying upon their god in Law, while also living a life of excess and no self control like the demons in Chaos.

[@aegisScale]

The three new endings seem like an inverse of the usual formula recent SMTs like 4 and 4A use; with those law and chaos make you feel like you did something wrong while the neutral endings are just you winning to various degrees. In Redux it seems like the new Law and Chaos endings exist to show how those endings can benefit humanity rather than stagnate or destroy it while the new neutral ending displays the risks of not making a choice, being an endless cycle of suffering due to a flawed status quo. Frankly I think that approach should be used a bit more often, since recent endings have conditioned people like me to turn the brain off and go neutral no matter what.

[@ignaciodelapuente2985]

It's a shame that one of my favs is looked down so badly by the fans of the original, but I appreciate how respectful you were with it. Tho I must admit that the only reason why I played Redux instead of the original was due to availability. Game stores in my country didn't know what a Shin Megami Tensei was 'til V's release... and then forgot again a week later. I loved managing apps in Soul Hackers, though, so I'm personally bummed by that change now. That and shoving Alex down my throat 40 hours before telling me who she even was, but the fights she brought to the table were compensation enough. Btw, vanilla P4 ftw!! 🦀🐙🦀

[@dremndishot2695]

Never played the original so redux was thoroughly enjoyable to me

[@krimsonkatt]

I actually really like the new endings. In the OG Neutral was the only reasonable choice because the law and chaos endings were SO BAD. And even then, Neutral in the OG was extremely unsatisfying and just felt like another bad ending. When you spend 40+ hours on a game (or in my playthrough of Redux's case, over 100) you want a satisfying ending. Redux's new endings provide that giving actually good and equal law and chaos endings that don't suck and show the positive side of those alignments, which never happens in this series. The only thing I don't like about Redux is that Floor 5 of the Womb of Grief and the true final dungeon suck so much and are so annoying. I had to use a guide for those they were SO bad when I never used a guide for Eranius or Grus. Otherwise Redux is really good and the QoL makes going back to the OG near impossible. I never once used Commander Skills in my playthrough and yes I agree they're bad and unbalanced, but they don't ruin the game. Really the only use I found for them is as a crutch to get you out of a bad situation with the auto skills but that's about it. The app system in the OG was really annoying because there were a bunch of apps that you practically NEEDED on at all times and not having them made the dungeons incredibly painful. You had almost no room to experiment because so many slots were taken up by apps that by all means should have been permanent upgrades. I agree that app points shouldn't have been removed, but instead of removing them they could make some more necessary apps permanent and other ones cost AP.

[@DharcVasquez]

The thing is that the endings were supposed to feel like Bad endings, humanity was so shity that the demons had to come and take the Earth away from them, the thing the original Game tries to tell you is that it's already too late to get a good ending, Even the new neutral ending points to this

[@fredalejandro9932]

The original endings were "flawed" on porpourse because it insentivies decision making: no matter what you do it comes with negative consecuences, the thing then becomes, with which consecuences are you willing to go through to solve the conflict. This creates an ethical dilemma. The new endings trivializes any and every dilemma, who cares about your decisions and its concecuences if at the end everything will become an utopia no matter what.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@fredalejandro9932 While true, I feel like the negativity was a tad too much for what it's worth, making everything feel rather pointless. It's a case of "damned if ya do, damned if ya don't", there was no winning here

[@fredalejandro9932]

@@kichiroumitsurugi4363 As I said, going to the other extreme just kills decision making and throws to the trash the origibal endings. SJ story is a bleak one and this disney fairytale endings just clashes with what the original story tried to convey.

[@mgbenz]

​@@kichiroumitsurugi4363 So you just want sappy happy endings and nothing else. Don't bother playing the other SMT games especially the older ones.

[@nr2676]

Pros Redux: - new endings, i like them, they are not that ,,edgy'' like in original, but still have negatives - new post game content - QoL changes - better customization - animated sprites, this is the best thing in Redux - new content / new dungeon / new apps - you can just ignore them, and play like in original - additional OST: The Great Sign, and Shekinah are bangers - animated cutscenes - new interface is fine - new demons (Anahita, Zeus, Maria, Amon) - last boss fight in Redux was challenging, but fair - you can change difficulty in any time, this helps a lot with grinding before Mem Aleph - japanese dubbing is very good Coins Redux: - new artsyle < old artstyle - Jimenez looks awful - Alex is another Atlus ,,waifu bait'' character - Demeter is loli WTF ??? - save game in every moment, Commander Skills and some apps greatly decreasing difficulty of original game - they nerfed some boss fights (Captain Jack, Mem Aleph) - Sector Eridanus was nerfed - Womb of Grief and Empyrean Ascent are worst dungeons in game - atmosphere from original gone Personally i like both versions.

[@PokemonaMoni]

I never finished the original but bought Redux and played it till the end and I thought it was amazing, on the best SMT. I understand people may not like the new content but I thought it was fine. And if you want you can ignore most of it anyway

[@redinmolator]

Honest to god I feel like you're wrong on a sub-atomic level, but hell, it's not like you're prohibiting people to play Redux, so you do you. I mean, even if the game didn't come with anything else, Redux is already better just for having The Great Sign.

[@erichzannbusoumuzan]

I really disagree on your point with new endings. In the original, neutral option is the no-brainer golden ending, no matter how you look at it. In REDUX, both Law and Chaos have finally become viable choices that offer something to strive for and to hope for, while a new neutral is essentially the affirmation of the flawed nature of a man, cursed to be saved by the suffering of a few. Hell, REDUX does a better job at making players sympathise with options other than neutral than SMT 1, 2, if, 4 and the original combined.

[@smtandearthboundsuck8400]

🤡

[@nr2676]

SMT 2 Chaos Ending was great. The only one objectively as good like in Neutral in rest of games.

[@harmless_xd4107]

Like he said in the video, it's not always about having a happy ending. The point of the original endings was that they weren't happy endings. Neutral seems like the obvious choice, but it's left up to player interpretation if humanity was able to change (implied probably not, confirmed in redux). Law and chaos would permanently rid of the schwarzvelt.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@harmless_xd4107 Yea, though the implications didn't help the situations either, so yea, it was a bit of a mess

[@digimonlover1632]

Also I personally don’t care when people say that the Smt endings are supposed to be bad and awful. So? That doesn’t mean I have to like it. I just don’t like those original endings.

[@kingbaboon1145]

I liked being able to save anywhere in Redux 😅

[@Locaneo]

I've only played Redux, not the original, and I didn't know most of the differences until now. I completely agree about the gameplay aspects you stated and i can see why the changes were made for say the sake of accessibility and quality of life in mind even if it saps the experience. I do find the changes objectively worse in Redux as you stated. I don't like the menu in Redux for instance, and knowing all the info Used to be on one screen is irritating to know haha Story wise I figure for most it's subjective, I totally understand why people would prefer the bleaker, harsher story options. However my philosophy is this, the harder and longer you have to work for something the more it should be worth. Not that it will be, but that it should be, especially for the time investment put into a long thing like an RPG. Playing this game is a long time investment, and the womb of grief by itself is as well. After going through the original, and the new game, and the extra dungeon, I see the new endings as gifts for for players investments in time and effort as well as intelligence. These new endings aren't saccharine and childish at their core like I've seen put in as "Good" endings to many games, forced and without thought. An honestly intelligent person with a heart should be able to see their faults better and not give into their first answer to solve problems especially with a character like Alex to be a reminder of asking "Why?" Why is this all happening, what am I doing, and what are the real ramifications? Seeing a glimpse of the future through Alex then being given options for a better world that I really would want to work hard for is a gift for my 200 hours I spent playing this with my friend. I want that time to mean something and yes with the old endings it would have, and the sour taste I would have gotten would be impactful, but I also know I would ask was it worth the life I spent putting into them. But that's me personally. Right after I beat Redux and got the Good Chaos ending I went and played Xenoblade 3 for 120 hours and regret every minute of it by the end in stark contrast to this game where I felt glad I sunk the time in. I don't see the new endings making the old ones a waste, I found them to be questions of "how could this be better? Can I make this world without the worst aspects that always echo on the reaches of Law and Chaos in SMT?" I got sick of the repeated neutralish Law and Chaos endings, for a game this good and well told, I thin people deserve a chance to make a good difference. Best SMT game in the series by far for me. I've played nearly all of the main titles save SMT 2 and Devil Survivor.

[@smoothieotter2084]

Well said.

[@carhighh]

That’s a really good take that I’ve never really heard before

[@Locaneo]

@@carhighh Thank you very much. It's part of a perspective I got from my fave animation director Don Bluth. "Every character deserves a good ending, but they should go through Hell for it." Paraphrasing, but that's about it.

[@carhighh]

@@Locaneo That’s a really optimistic perspective, I quite like that thank you for sharing

[@Locaneo]

@@carhighh I'm an artist in RL. I also write stories and make D&D settings while selling my art work. Bluth's philosophy is one I carry with me in most of my work along with many other positive perspective influences so I know it well and have put it to practice myself. It's beautiful to see a decent+ person (or at least a person trying to be decent) go though something horrible and get a great outcome, that isn't just sugar sweet without intelligent writing, to make the ending all the more worth it. Especially when even just nuggets of what happened before are echoed by the end because those little moments matter too. Thank you for listening.

[@lxagamer3]

I'd argue that having perfect endings isn't bad. Look at Devil Survivor Overclocked, where the Naoya and Amane ones have no real issue for humanity. How is that different here, when both stories have "edge" to them?

[@Chiakiandmikanarebest]

If i had to give a justification, most endings in devil survivor are given pretty positive spins to them. Gin/Haru's ending is just as positive after all, the original strange journey intended for all endings to be pretty bleak and redux kind of went and decided not to do that. I personally don't mind redux though it was the first version i played and I just didn't bother with the new content and because I didn't know about Alex's backstory I didn't notice those implications.

[@VincentEternal]

Because that was how they were designed originally. The desu endings were pretty positive overall but there are still some obvious drawbacks. Things like Overclocked just give us more details on what happened. With Redux it straight up replaces them. You have no reason to go after them anymore and they’re presented as the wrong choice because one leads to a good ending and the other leads to a more bleak outcome. In Overclocked you still have to do the original ending to get to the 8th day and you even have the option to choose to just make your save file there and not continue. So even if you don’t like what the 8th day does you can just stop there. But with Redux you do have to deal with Alex.

[@BlackfangDragon]

There is missing that the newest Neutral ending isn’t that positive. It’s one man, spending an eternity dealing with a problem because humanity won’t learn from it, and even the instigator of the new endings in Lucifer is more amused at what will happen first: Humanity being destroyed by the earth or Space Marine losing his humanity and destroying humanity himself. And he clings onto it through the Ring of what is implied to be his daughter.

[@smtandearthboundsuck8400]

Overclocked doesn't have an awful character like Alex and the 8th days feel like a natural progression of the story meanwhile the alex and womb bullshit is forced on the player and drags down the story even if you go for the og endings.

[@Recon868]

The new endings miss the theme and feel of Strange Journey.

[@dixel2047]

I just played through redux and accidentally ignored all of Alex's story and I just had a extra boss fight every once and a while and idk it seems like we're comparing a chocolate cake to a fancy chocolate cake like they're both good and worth eating

[@DN_123]

Tbf, it really depends on the player. Me personally, as much as I love the original I prefer playing the 3ds because of the new endings. Though I agree with the combat UI and apps part.

[@Andy.Drizzle]

I recently completed Redux and enjoyed it, but appreciate your honest take of the game compared to the original. Big ups on another solid video!

[@SearchmanDS]

Having played both the original and Redux I have to say I like them both equally.

[@thedetachedobserver5990]

I like the double screen split up of the UI, I mean I dont like having an extra screen sitting there doing nothing. The changes to look like SMT IV are great because fit the latest iteration of the franchise in the system they're in, making it jumping from one to other feel more consistent ( sort of like the updated luigi's model on the 3ds remake being consistent with current standard luigis model) The change in art style... I cant notice sorry. I like colors so more vibrancy is welcomed the bigger screens and wider aspect ratio on 3ds is it a must to me, and the fact that alex exist makes it more like a sequel/reboot of the original correcting original's ending to a more pleasent/better future and you still have the same endings while in concept are equally interesting to me. It IS more accesible although I agree is not the most intelligent balancing they could've go for. Overall for me yes, redux is the best version.

[@dutchielander2478]

Everybody has their own opinion. I love this game and urge people interested to give it a go and judge for yourself. Either way, a lotta bang for your buck which is very nice.

[@FlynnMegaTensei]

So in conclusion it may be an enhancded rerelease however it ain't a "definitive" version unlike other Megaten rereleases. So do your research and pick whichever version sounds the most appealing to you

[@HylianSevenDota]

What are you referring to when you say P5R's port last year "took away stuff"? Are you talking about the Raidou costumes and changing of the Almighty icon?

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

The Almighty icon was inconsequential, but the lack of Raidou content is painful

[@krimsonkatt]

@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas Like a lot of times, you can blame the CCP for that. They don't even know that Raido (and the rest of SMT by extension) takes place in an alternate history where the atrocities committed before and during WW2 by Japan never happened and the democracy of Japan was greatly extended instead of going facist like in our timeline.

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

@@krimsonkatt 😕

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

​@@krimsonkatt well that actually sounds worse. Saying that theym tragedies just never happened and japan is perfect .

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@thatitalianlameguy2235I don't think an AU really insinuates that, gonna be real

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

I actually like the new neutral ending better than the old one. Spoilers ahead. You become immortal and you and Arthur choose to dedicate yourselves to stopping the Schwarzwelt ever time it appears. Arthur comments on humanity having triggered the schwarzwelt's return yet again, the seventh time it's appeared and I find it fittingly bittersweet for a megaten ending. Doomguy and Arthur keep fighting for humanity, no matter how many times it comes back, no matter how futile it may seem when humanity just keeps triggering it's return.

[@RadiantMantra]

I will say that Auto-Commander skills are not a problem, at least to me. While it is a strategic game, not everything can rely on strategy, and adding randomness to a game is essential to make moments stand out. I think that, while not executed perfectly, auto-commander skills do add that extra fun randomness to battles and it can either be an extra small bonus, to a crucial luck moment where you turn the tables.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

I feel like enemies like Jack should have been able to use those as well

[@TheSpecter45]

I think the part that hurt me the most about this release is that for the 25th anniversary, they didnt bother with an english voice over and instead they gave it to 2 other titles.

[@OnDavidsBrain]

To each their own, I can see where you're coming from but I still love Strange Journey regardless of which version. The new art style of the characters took some getting used too, but it wasn't as drastic as, say going from PS2 Ratchet and Clank to their PS3 versions My only major complaint about the Womb of Grief is how going through it throws the original games difficulty and progression off balance with all the extra exp and maybe one or two of the new demons while you're exploring it. Nowhere near as bad as some of the EXP DLC for other recent Megaten games but still. I do appreciate the streamlining of the apps system but I can also appreciate the decision making that comes with the original design. I can also definitely understand why they did it considering the Franchises' reputation of difficulty to ease in people who may have issues with the game itself, micromanaging your sub apps? Nah uh just set it and forget it. And at least they're in the game itself without freaking mircotransactions. Though I do admit that praising a game for doing the bare minimum of decent game design is like congratulating a random person for not going postal. The Commander Skills, I personally never had a problem with the main character in the original Strange Journey but hey more options never hurt, though the random ones were still BS and kind of glad they got rid of them when Atlus used it again in Soul Hackers 2. Long story short Redux has its highs and lows but it's still Strange Journey at the end of the day.

[@a.dykeman1980]

Setting aside the idea of “disrespecting the original creators’ vision” (because that’s honestly neither here nor there, and isn’t relevant from a critical perspective), I think that the New Alignment Endings were the perfect direction for Redux to go, and perhaps the only responsible direction. The original Strange Journey used its endings to tie up its themes of human irresponsibility and environmental catastrophe in a way that was, if bleak, at least honest. It wallowed in the misery of the three potential outcomes, but made a salient point about how screwed we all were (again, highly relevant to the theme of climate change and environmental catastrophe). Redux is the adult version of that story. Where Strange Journey wallows in how miserable things are, the New Endings in Redux are about taking responsibility, owning up to flaws, and solving problems in a way that just isn’t possible when you’re so caught-up in how terrible things are. Do I think the New Endings were executed perfectly? No, and I’m not even sure they were executed _well._ I do think, regardless, that narratively and philosophically, they were exactly what Strange Journey needed - a stepping stone away from doomerism, toward a belief that things can actually be fixed.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Yea, I do agree on the matter. Just the way you get there could be better, but otherwise, pretty solid

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

They cannot solve problems tho

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@thatitalianlameguy2235 Without further context, your argument holds no weight

[@savagej4y241]

The context of the original Law and Chaos endings makes it seem like their Redux versions just try to delude you into thinking their respective problems are fixed. It just presents them in a more idealized fashion, which is exactly what their proponents would want. Whereas there is no such proponent for the Neutral ending, thus the Redux version expounds upon the original and reinforces that there is no true fix.

[@MinhLe19303]

I actually think the original Law and Chaos endings are way too bleak with obvious amoral actions like brainwashing, thus the new endings are actually made them more hopeful with clear benefit to humanity while still flawed like they are, even if they were fixed. Not only that, they balanced that out with the most cynical Neutral ending can be, removing the hopefulness that original Neutral has and blalantly show the unchanged nature of humanity that caused a toll on the protagonist, even if there is a solution.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Yea. You COULD argue that they overcorrected, but whatever

[@MinhLe19303]

@@kichiroumitsurugi4363 I do think it's a bad idea to flat out showed that these original endings are bad for humanity. The writing should have make the alignment characters go through different development in the new route that compell them to choose different method without know the bad outcome. There shouldn't be an option to choose original ending after know the outcome because beside Jimenez, I don't see Gore and Zelenin would choose the original endings since they did care about the betterment of humanity.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@MinhLe19303 Yea, this is mostly there to appeal to the people who'd cry foul if they couldn't do the old endings

[@Valkbg]

SJ is probably my favourite game in the series. IMO the challenge is the only major difference between the two versions. And the one thing I dislike about Redux is that its not the artwork by Kaneko. I started playing Persona 1 just because of his artwork.

[@alenezi989a3]

Ok after watching the video, you kinda convinced me to play Redux instead of the original XD, everything you said seems to make the game better, I dislike the extreme amounts of grinding SMT games require even though I thoroughly enjoyed it back when I was in middle school/high school but now I barely have time to play let alone spend that much on a single game, so it seems they made the game easier or more accessible which is great for me, the artstyle seem typical Atlus/SMT art style which I honestly love, and finally the endings ok this may be controversial but I always hated how bad endings in SMT games always seem to be, like evey ending is a bad ending and I don't agree with any of them I know some people love that in a way there's no perfectly good ending but instead there's alway a positive that's outweighed heavly by the negative so every ending is bad, and I don't like that in fact I hate it it always feels terrible to reach one of these endings and it seems they kinda fixed that in this game, so in conclusion I think I'll play Redux.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Casual

[@psycholuigiman]

I dunno about the criticism of the endings. I mean, it's been a while for me since I looked up the new endings, but isn't there a line of text in each ending explicitly stating how it isn't a perfect solution? Like how the harmony of the new law ending will only last as long as people are still affected by the peace-enhancing vibes of the law hero, or the fact that humanity is basically starting from square one in the new chaos ending, or how the Schwarzwelt will one day engulf the whole Earth when the neutral hero finally loses sight of their humanity. Even if there is no line of text and I'm just crazy, I'd hardly call the great reset of human techological and societal advancement a perfect ending. Or the fact that the Schwarzwelt keeps returning a perfect ending either.

[@digimonlover1632]

Yeah that kinda makes Nam’s criticisms fall flat to me.

[@tabris95]

These are well argued points. Unfortunately all I have is a digital copy of Redux I bought before the eShop closed in order to avoid high physical prices. I haven't played it yet but I hope I won't be missing out too much.

[@toooydoeur]

Tbf a cib copy of the original isnt too expensive rn

[@supernightslash]

You can always emulate the DS version!

[@kiraangle2823]

its still a good game, so you should still play it

[@afanofjustice]

I mean Redux is essentially Strange Journey but better in every way except art style, which isn’t even bad

[@lemonov3031]

Hack your 3ds holy shit

[@mateusgreenwood1096]

In the original game humanity's future seems bleak but with hope for change, in Redux they just tell you mankind goes extinct no matter your alignment are all the original endings feel pointless.

[@CursedShinobiClown]

They already felt pointless 😂

[@moonunit88]

tbh the original endings always felt mostly hopeless and this game only proves it, and yea I did play both

[@evildougthevillainousassistant]

i disagree.

[@micahlindley7515]

I think straight up good endings can work in SMT, but you have to work really hard for it like in 4.

[@Blarglesnarfe]

Aw :( I love Strange Journey Redux. It fixed some of the darkness-induced apathy for me. In SJ, I felt like I was stuck with Neutral, because Law and Chaos were simply too extreme and unethical. Why the hell would I pick them? They're awful plans with huge problems, and that neuters any sort of dilemma when I can just pick Neutral. This extremism also damaged my opinion on the two opposing Alignment Reps and their relatability. Like, I get why they're both like that. I do, IMO they get their time and writing to express it. But then they become zealots, and the ensuing struggle between us comes across not as tragic, but just having to stop two dangerous idiots. And Redux has a character, Alex, who... tests their ideology. Eugh. I don't especially like her, like at all, but she dies no matter what happens so I'm not as bothered. It gets them to change via voicing my thoughts and problems through her, and I vastly prefer the new endings they each get. I can actually get why each new ending could be considered "right" now, in the circumstances. They make much more compelling cases! And because, IMO, the characters and story are so paramount to what I love about Strange Journey, I do genuinely prefer Redux.

[@zosonte129]

Thank you for this. Darkness-induced apathy is a thing and I'm sick of endings being pointlessly bleak, especially in games where you can choose the endings. You can have the 'experience' in a blind first playthrough, but in hindsight, when one choice is so far and above the better pick than the other, there is only one choice. Redux at least tries to fix this, and for that I'm grateful.

[@LionMagnus8]

Never played the original but redux was fine imo, it still offered the old endings. While I get that the new Chaos/Laws ending were really bad addition compares to the originals. I actually don't mind the new neutral ending at all, or even prefer it over the original neutral ending. Alex's addition might seems extra and intrusive but I enjoy her character and her battle theme is bad ass so.

[@jordanforbes149]

I might try redux honestly. The reason is because while the original is absolutely fantastic and the endings being dark were very poignant, I have vivid memories of how ball-crushingly hard it was to the point where it may be the most difficult game I ever completed. While yes, defeating those challenges felt incredibly rewarding and have stuck with me years later, I'm not sure I have it in me to go through them again. I was stuck on Mem Aleph for literally a year. edit: I would love for a new rerelease to include options that set you back to the original's difficulty, or even if it included both versions. Unfortunately I don't think this masterpiece was a big enough hit to justify that, which is a shame.

[@GrayFoxHound9]

Mem Aleph is hell. Worst boss in the series IMO. I thought that original SJ being hard is over-exaggerated with me feeling completely comfortable with difficulty without any grind. Until Mem Aleph. I got to her while being in late 50s - early 60s levels with vitality build. She one-shotted me until i grinded for 10 more levels. Then she 2-shotted me. Resulting fight still felt not like a tactics or endurance test but like literal gambling on whether this thing decides to kill you for no reason or spares you for one more turn. And there was no saving - she had all elements, and damaged enough to hurt hard even with resistances in place. My advice for people: just don't bother with this fight, look up some reflect jack frosts and sit in defense position throughout the fight. Doesn't mean she won't oneshot you anyway, but at least you wouldn't need 10+ hours of grinding and the fight will last only 1 minute in case you are lucky enough to not get killed.

[@jordanforbes149]

@@GrayFoxHound9 actually I figured out a strategy: get a doppelgänger and train it to reflect or null literally every single attack she can throw at you. And then yeah, just like you did, just sit there and try not to die while she slowly destroys herself. I remember it took me a while to train one like that but afterwards it was not a problem. It took me a long time to figure out and implement this tactic but it worked.

[@jordanforbes149]

@@GrayFoxHound9 but also I’m glad it’s not just me, that fight was like the most difficult and painful boss I’ve ever fought in an rpg. Maybe in any video game. But what I do appreciate about SMT is that 90% of the time purposeless, blind grinding is pointless. And Mem Aleph is still an example of that even if she is a huge pain in the ass.

[@nr2676]

@@jordanforbes149 If you have demons who repel all elements, she start spaming with Algmighty atacks and Asura Roga :)

[@jordanforbes149]

@@nr2676 oh damn it’s been so long I forget how I dealt with that but I must’ve somehow

[@dumpsterbabynumber134]

Without playing the original i enjoyed redux a lot but i won't say its better without playing both, from what i've heard the original is way harder and i struggled enough with redux as is so i don't think i'll be revisiting the original any time soon but redux has become my second favorite smt game for what its worth. In a vacuum its a pretty fun game (fuck the fusion UI though i hate cycling through every single demon in my stock)

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

Redux is technically harder then OG cause OG had no hard mode

[@tiamat888100]

Anyone with Rom hacking know how should port the New demons from this and ad them to the original somehow

[@jettlucashayes8508]

Completely disagree on wmt alignments being actual choices Smt1,og nocturne and smt4 basically say everything else is shut pick netural/freedom. Can't say about smt2 because of the dodgy fan translation and 5 went through development hell.

[@nr2676]

In SMT 2 the best ending in Chaos Ending.

[@jettlucashayes8508]

@@nr2676 that could be the fan patch like I said, it completely changed a lot of law and isn't accurate to the original script

[@renren47618]

Smt 1 i think that Law and Chaos are somewhat working endings If you aren't going for neutral. I recall a great video essay that basically sums up how Smt 1's message is about extremism being bad and how neutral is good, and yeah that proves your point

[@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis]

@@jettlucashayes8508 really? me personally, my biggest complain with the smt 2 fan translation was that it was too accurate to the original script, which made a few things uncomprehensible. Japanese sentence structures doesn't work in English. Not to mention that they didn't translate the demon race names.

[@jettlucashayes8508]

@@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis nope they altered tons of things, ssatan doesn't try to say god commited genocide in the og scrip and just says you gonna die.

[@angelotorres1]

played only redux and it was fine, tho got extra lenght with extra dungeons, had to fix my "3ds" and lost my save so now its gone done and lost

[@illusive-mike]

Having once taken part in a heated discussion on just how flawed New Law (complacent and defenseless) and New Chaos (a hard reset on civilization) actually are, I can't agree with the notion that the new endings take all of the consequences away. I can however see how it may look that way when looking up from the abyss that is presented by the original endings, and the fact that you get to them by jumping off those original routes doesn't help. To me, the new endings by themselves land in the goldilocks zone of "palatable, but with big implications attached", and the player should definitely know better than to trust the ideologue at their side saying that things are good now. I can accept that the way the old endings are now treated as "bad" is disrespectful, but I don't think that the new ones erase consequences at all. Which is about everything nice I can say about the story additions because Alex's parentage is absurd, Louisa is now such a complete good guy she's actually less interesting as a result, and the integration is clumsy as all get out. I do like Redux mostly for the original SJ parts, I just think that the new endings are on their own a good thing and make the choice at the end more meaningful than "pick Neutral if you want any hope whatsoever".

[@digimonlover1632]

Late af but I personally like the new endings more. They show how good worlds of chaos and law can be and further drive home how extremist the characters that represent them are when it comes to changing the world. The revelation of Alex’s experience with the old endings and her drive to change the future of humanity was interesting to me. Those bad endings also just feel bad for the sake of it as well. There’s really no pros to any of the old endings which is unlike other Smt games that have endings with clear pros and cons.

[@CursedShinobiClown]

Old smt endings rarely had any pros and cons you could argue. The law endings in smt2 and 4 are pretty bad and smt2 is straight up the only good chaos ending in a mainline game

[@asianbronyman]

As someone who generally tends to not like most remakes/remasters I agree with most of your points. The only point I disagree on would be the new endings. Maybe I'm just too simple-minded or something but the endings in Strange Journey lacked anything interesting or worth discussing. I liked the morbid implications behind the OG endings but I think Nocturne handles this balancing act better. I recognize that the pessimism baked into the endings ties into the themes and atmosphere but I consider them so low quality compared to say Nocturne or Devil Survivor's endings that it's hard for me to be attached to them. Redux's endings are arguably too uplifting for their own good, but there are still substantial enough differences in the endings that I feel like more interesting conversations can be had about the Redux endings than the original's.

[@killerqueen4001]

Atrocious take

[@casper-tv5tx]

You know what, wii u was perfect console to port al ds and 3ds smt games to.

[@reverendcoffinsotherson5807]

True. Switch is a good choice, too.

[@manuelredgrave8348]

I ptefer the apps in redux tbh. By making the apps limited they aren't making the game mofe challenging but rather making it more tedious, sure i can't regen MP passively but i can always just go back to a terminal and heal. Same goes for the negotiation apps especially, it isn't more challenging to be limited to certain apps, because y9u can just go back to the sprite and change it depending on what demon you require. As far as the endings go i also prefer redux, imo if somebody gas the power to guarantee himself a good ending, they should get it. In Nocturne you can choose the freedom ending and flip off the great will indefinitely, if I as the Marine want to guarantee a good life for humans, and have achieved the power to do so, there is no logical reason as to why i wouldn't defend humanity forever, it is what i desire therefore it is what i do. Same goes for the other endings but unlike other smt games in SJ I've only ever like the neutral and true neutral endings, not even New law can convince me it's good because from my moral perspective humans losing their will to fight just makes them glorified puppets

[@manuelredgrave8348]

Whilst unlile the og SJ i never finished redux (I've seen the finales on KZbin cause i was burnt out) i also like the commander skills In the og game i had luck support, which was semi good since i had light resistance, but dealt borderline no damage compared to my demons, so in the final fight (in which my light resistance was useless) i just used marine for healing items and demon summoning when was KO'd

[@KatanaRikku]

I haven’t played any of these games but I love the way they look. I didn’t know Redux was so different. Great vid 🔥

[@GeaForce]

I don't know... I think my problem is that I played this version before the original one. When I went back to the original I was like: Why is X feature missing, why does X dungeon feel shorter, what happened to X boss It's like Nocturne Maniax: Whenever I play that game, I always go for the Lucifer ending. Not because it has a good story, but because that's the one with the most content.

[@ladyackerman1805]

And yet i find Redux the better version the original i found needlessly depressing or tough i like tough games but smt strange journy was needly tough st parts so im glad you enjoyed the original but for me the original doesnt even hit a 2/10

[@lulu_TheWitchBoy]

That’s how I feel about SMT nocturne… like is a fun game but hard mode takes away the fun. I don’t mind hard mode in games, persona games and SMT V do it well imo. But nocturne is entirely luck, grinding is a pain.

[@ladyackerman1805]

​@@lulu_TheWitchBoy yea same its why redux is the betrer.version if you dont like the new ending just dont go for them?? Like its thats easy

[@cantrip7]

I dislike how praise for Redux centers on "quality of life". Friction exists in games for a reason. Ideally quality of life would take out busywork, bad menuing, a lack of quick saves, etc, not fundamentally change the flow of combat and exploration. The addition of map drawing and notes would do so much for mental load & cut down on redundant exploration. But instead we get gameplay changes that trivialize combat and resource management. I fear that's the ideal RPG remake for the majority-everyone loves RPGs except for expending any thought into playing them.

[@noaaaaaaah9798]

An RPG that does let you draw the map is Entrain odyssey and they are generally need the player to use their brain so I would recommend it

[@cantrip7]

​@@noaaaaaaah9798 Yeah, I'm a big EO fan. The dungeons in those games are wonderfully designed, and even in a game with simpler dungeons like Strange Journey, it'd be great if you could make notes or mark hazard tiles without having to step on them all like a bozo, lol.

[@HorribleCrackdown]

God comment. Feels like so many people nowadays just want games that pretend to be VNs over RPGs

[@musha456]

that the most useless complaint i've ever seen. You conviced me that actually Strange redux was a better experience lol

[@toooydoeur]

youd be wrong

[@musha456]

@@toooydoeur yeah and i guess that i should play to RE1 PS1 instead of rebirth

[@toooydoeur]

@@musha456 what are you talking about, what is rebirth? I know resident evil 1

[@musha456]

@@toooydoeur Resident evil rebirth... the remake of resident evil 1... on the gamecube

[@HonestEmillHead]

I just finish the chaos route in redux so the basic difference that i see between this and the original are the original is a living hell and the redux is just hard.

[@elfrikidelascartas819]

I do agree that all the new content is very clearly added on top of what was before being not as naturally integrated as it could have been making it a worse experience to a lot of people, but I will have to say that you are wrong saying that the new neutral ending lacks consequence, for once it means that the protagonist has to basically sacrifice his life to stay as the guardian of humanity while humans keep being as horrible as they were at the beginning which is what started all the problem, to top it off the protagonist gets asked if he still feels human, implying that it could change anytime with the possibility that he stops caring and protecting humanity, I myself don't enjoy much of the new content but the new neutral ending feels good and doesnt make the original one necessarily worse, just a different option.

[@sableye126]

I played this game not knowing about the changes from the original, it was my first mainline SMT. Eventually I found out about the changes, and honestly I initially didn’t mind too much. I didn’t like either version’s artstyle, and I barely used commander skills (I did in the Asherah fight but it was still one of the hardest bosses in the game and it sounds like the original version’s fight is straight up bs). I saw there were new endings, learnt that you need to complete the Womb of Grief to unlock them, and that they’re still optional. So I went through the game, enjoyed it, got the chaos route, occasionally made progress in the Womb of Grief, and saved in 2 slots for the new endings. I temporarily dropped the game in Horologium because it became a bit much. Eventually, I blasted through the rest of the dungeon, and got to the end of the game, and decided to go for the original ending first, meaning I had to fight Alex before I could talk to SPOILERS and go on to fight the final boss. This fight is weirdly difficult, which honestly just felt annoying compared to the other tough bosses, and I ended up looking things up related to the fight to see if it could be cheesed (it couldn’t, not in the version of the fight where she has 2 demons at least), and that’s when I found out that I got lucky picking chaos, since she is literally the final boss in the old law and neutral endings. That is quite possibly the most insulting thing an atlus rerelease has done, and that says a lot.

[@mechashadow]

1:30 what did they take away?

[@goobertgum]

the raidou kuzunoha costume. youve probably found out by now though lol

[@goobertgum]

also i think they changed the almighty skill's icon. not too sure though

[@superkev5659]

Poor Terry he didn’t have to do you like that😂💯

[@wardrobewings8000]

I actually like the new Neutral ending better. OG Neutral ending was the same cop-out as Nocturne's Freedom Ending- you gave up your chance to change things, the thread will return in the not-too-far future and things will go even worse. Which in itself is a good take on a Neutral ending. New Neutral ending on the other hand is *horror story* . Imagine, you are MC who chooses that path, you are stuck fighting against Schwarzwelt again and again. Humanity doesn't change and Schwarzwelt keeps returning quicker and quicker. *How much longer can you keep up with this?* I would nod at your complaints about gameplay changes if to this day frigging 13 years later I didn't have flashbacks to Mem Aleph's fight and didn't clearly remember how annoying Subapp system was in OG SMTSJ. You had to have certain subapps on during exploration unless you wanted to make already annoying at times dungeon crawling an even worse experience.

[@Noahs_Chair]

The thing that makes ne disagree woth the app change is that so many of them were either QoL features or fusion related. So I just finish the dungeon with combat apps, go back, put the exploration apps to clear the zone, go back, put fusion apps, go back, put combat apps. Repeat every zone. So many of them were so minor I don't feel I'm making a decision and min maxing was just anoying as hell.

[@juanjovaldivieso2972]

I never played the original SMT-SJ. Even if Redux straight up alters the original experience, the expanded story and the two new dungeons have become maybe the best thing I have experienced from a videogame. It really just seems you're so biased because of nostalgia of your first experience. Both versions seem just as good.

[@edoardopalmer2379]

What are you referring to at 1.30? (stuff removed from P5)

[@DerRopson]

I haven't played both games, just finished Persona 3-5 and SMT 3. But I'd rather try redux than the original, mostly because of the endings. After a long RPG I want a satisfying conclusion. The old endings kinda made the whole game pointless. After all, you only made things worse and for the characters it would've been better if you didn't start the game to begin with. That's not very motivating to me.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

To some, that's the appeal of OG Strange Journey - all decisions are a flavor of bad, and you have to pick your poison

[@HumanB312]

@@kichiroumitsurugi4363You can play redux and still get og endings

[@TheDJman248]

I think I would have appreciated the new neutral ending more if they just injected a bit of hope into it to balance it out like they did with the new chaos and Law endings. Nothing too big...just one simple line from arthur. Something along the lines of "time since the last Scharzwelt longer by 3.7 years". Instead of the message being yet another cynical "humanity will never change" moment, they could both acknowledge humanity's core flaws (by the scharzwelt still reappearing) but also acknowledging that they CAN learn, even if very slowly and not assuredly (the scharzwelt taking longer to show up in gradually longer increments).

[@Kamenriderbuild964]

just fishing playing throught both arcs in SMT devil survivor 2 record breaker and most of the issues with the ends of this game could be said about the Daichi Shijima ending of the septentrion arc and the world creation end ending for the triangulum arc, some of the games endings don't have that ominous feeling but it doesn't mean they are bad

[@Watercrown86]

It's interesting to me how you consider P5:R a rerelease done right, but this one is terrible. P5:R also completely destroy the games balance and though the extra story content is nice. It's a bit jarring the way it's introduced and how it fundamentally changes the ending of the game.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

The new additions do make the game much better gameplay wise tho. Aside from showtimes being free nukes, the rest makes the overall mechanics more fun to use, the technicals upgrade, the guns not being so limited, the confidant perks upgrades, the easier more in depth social link grinding, not having to unlock Baton pass with every party member, mementos being less shit ...

[@RF-INF]

God, the story additions feel like teenage fanfics

[@88qwop]

I hate how you pronounce jimenez

[@KazShiro]

Ill havw to disagree with the claim of lack of nuance to the new endings. The consequences for the new law ending for example was brought up that due to their non violent tendencies being quelled they wont be able to fight back against whatever foreign adversary invades.

[@xykros]

I've been waiting for this. I'm still in decision paralysis and can't choose if I should continue my Strange Journey in the original version or play the 3DS remake.

[@toooydoeur]

You're just making the game way easier with redux and sj isnt too difficult, take a look at the art side by side and realize the game is trying to be atmospheric and choose based on that

[@kevinalfaro7150]

Why not both? That way you can make your own judgment instead of others deciding for you.

[@Bluezbreakr2]

I played Redux and just ignored virtually all new content (barring forced appearances of Alex ofc) until after killing og final memelord at least once. It was a legitimately excellent experience. Despite likely valid criticisms of new endings, the gameplay still held up extremely well--which matters to me significantly more than narrative. Hell, new final boss is also pretty great. Sure, there are some QOL changes that make the game a little easier, if you so choose to field save every 3 tiles moved, but you can use the system much more conservatively if harder is your goal. If it's more feasible for you to Redux before OG, by all means do it. It's still SJ at the end of the day

[@LunaticTrumpet]

It might be a controversial game but it was the most accessible version of the game that I could get my hands on when the 3DS Eshop was around.

[@ethanmiller631]

i disagree with all of your statements except the sprite artwork,alex chase and the new endings

[@Wolfnicshadow]

I love this game, it's new endings. Personal opinion but I actually liked Alex and didn't have much problem with her. Though yeah her inclusion feels forced as hell. Great video!

[@DiscordSuxPP]

"Though yeah her inclusion feels forces as hell" As if Atlus fan-base have ever had a problem with their silly unneeded Waifus. It's just that Alex is shoved in, and rather poorly. Doesn't help the dungeon (which was also shoved in) is rather lack-luster, and if you fight Alex over-leveled (by no fault of your own, the shoved-in dungeon scaling is poor af) the moment is almost comical.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Yea, Alex throws off pace quite a bit

[@cherryboywriter6299]

I never actually played the original but BOY did I feel the "random anime girl" syndrome along with hating the idea that we can just throw in more easily whitewashed ideas of the themes by removing consequences. I maybe a year late but the validation is nice.

[@SnarkyTattertots-su2xt]

Bring it to the switch

[@costelinha1867]

As far as the protraits go, it could be worse.... just look at what Atlus did when porting Radiant Historia to the 3ds, completely erasing the cool looking artstyle of the original DS version. (Well, at least if you don't get the dlc which restores the old portraits.)

[@nekogirlbeth123]

I have yet to play either Strange Journey or Redux, but I plan to try them both as I'm falling further down the MegaTen rabbit hole. However, there is one criticism of Redux I find strange... Why should a game aimed for a dual-screen console need to have a HUD that looks good on a single screen capture? It's not built for that, so naturally, it'll look clunky on a single screen. And of course, a port would have to redesign the HUD because it's not the original game's job to be futureproofed for a potential port to something it isn't aiming to be, it's kinda like criticising Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 for using analogue button inputs because the Xbox 360 will require a different control scheme.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Because the original did and the new one looks worse and less comfortable

[@Yinlock470]

i know this is clickbait but still here's the engagement you wanted: no it isn't lol it's like a straight improvement in every aspect besides some of the art

[@tsf9600]

Hum, my copy of Redux is still in its wrapping, and I intend to get around to playing it one of these days, but I've been learning some things about it in the meantime and I don't feel the additions are bad, for the most part; other than maybe the lack of real integration of the new endings into the existing plotline, at least going by what the comments are saying, tho not so much with the Neutral one in particular. I've heard a lot about the new Neutral ending and I feel like it's actually the best logical progression of the original Neutral ending (I did play the original SJ; it was in fact my second ever SMT game); we were warned upfront humanity can't change and the Scharzwelt will return. We see in the new ending that not only did that happen, but now we stick around to see it happen, and the uncertainty of this approach is haunting, in a way that echoes the original Law and Chaos endings: "Was this really the right choice?"

[@klaus.sfc01official30]

I can see both viewpoints here and am kinda torn. On one side strange journey OG is an experience for being the only game with no "good ending" or ending the devs want you to get because it features the most content. But at the same time strange journey redux is different from the whole series as in it has endings that actually resolve everything which can be great for players who feel the endings having good and bad implications turning kinda stale. I think both games have to be experienced seperately and should not be seen as one but that is only my opinion.

[@M.G.F427]

Idk I've just started playing it and I'm having a blast

[@ENZEED]

I might replay it again just to see why someone wont like it. for me its just the warping maps that brings me to previous floors.

[@TheMetalGaia]

One thing I wish SJ had was the press turn system. I can appreciate the demon co-op system in it's own right, but I love press turn so much that I missed it when playing SJ.

[@Baucie_Bauce]

I disagree with almost every point you made. But great video ^_^

[@justapickedminfan]

I hope you do a video like this, but for SMT3 Maniacs

[@fhunnyjoker]

To this day I haven't played strange journey because I still do not know which one to play

[@tomiecacique]

Just play Redux, all the complaints are kind of eh. You get the better story endings and you wont get stuck bc the game wants to be beat your ass up randomly.

[@SkiGlovesie]

If there's one problem I have with commander skills it's that Atlus made the final bosses immune to Riot Gun for a reason... But in Redux Gun immunity is merely a suggestion.

[@mariogarciaurena1104]

One year after and I still think OP is too narrow-minded with this one

[@toooydoeur]

nah he right

[@Eddman368]

Personally liked the new endings more than the originals, knocked Neutral off their high horse by turning it into something more akin to the Persona 3 ending, and law and chaos get more fleshed out as opposed to oonga bunga tire fire🔥Chaos, and Genocide or brainwash non believers Law. Especially liked calling out Jimenez and Zelenin for their extremist takes walking them back.

[@dudemaister18]

Honestly, Jimenez's new portrait art is tragic

[@sadie9728]

It's just tanned Junpei

[@BlackfangDragon]

@Sadie Tbf people were jokingly comparing him to Junpei back in the day as well. Atlus unfortunately took it to heart and made it canon.