Can You Beat Shin Megami Tensei: If... Without Demons? (Part 1 - Reiko Route)

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I go back to another classic MegaTen game; the black sheep; Shin Megami Tensei If... for another demon-less run, relying only on human allies! This game is considerably shorter than the other ones but due to the different routes this one will be divided into two parts!
Intro by Lyric: / @lyric3595
Additional voice work by Trash Queen & King: / @trashqueenandking
SMT If... Aeon Genesis Translation: www.romhacking...

[@Nobody_23w]

Here before the blindfolded SMT NINE challenge video

[@nr2676]

Ronde solo

[@kingbulbasaur9460]

Nyarly would do Akira's route demonless, blindfolded, and with the controller upside down before he makes a P3R video

[@ToppisYT]

why people want P3R video so much?

[@kira516]

​@@ToppisYT well it's nyarly we're talking about

[@PoProst-Eryk3940]

Neee bro he would beat Smt nocturn, 4,Digital Devil Saga at the same time before P3R

[@Patrick-tg6wm]

​@@ToppisYTHis review on SMT is really on point because Nyarly is a dedicated SMT Fans. Meaning He has good opinion because He is someone who already knows and plays tons of SMT.

[@PoProst-Eryk3940]

Btw it would be nice to see some Raidou games

[@KatelynS0209]

2:11 That's a change in the English patch, in the original Japanese script it asked if you owned a pager

[@Swam0811]

The voice acting though 😭

[@trollingisasport]

BAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA

[@nataliecoronado4206]

if nothing else, the quality is accurate for the time

[@crowhogan6854]

@@nataliecoronado4206 you were almost a Jill sandwich!

[@peropero2208]

SMT If... was so good, can't wait for SMT Maybe...

[@NEEDbacon]

SMT Perhaps...

[@WindHashira]

Smt possibly

[@nestorgamer9746]

SMT idk man...

[@SetSeth-yl6ke]

SMT Probably....

[@Streetcleanergaming]

SMT Mayhaps.

[@TARINunit9]

The early game questionnaire has a little easter egg. Normally there are only 10 questions, but if you are on track for the Luck build the game will ask a secret 11th question: "What kind of underwear are you wearing?" And both male and female protagonist have "commando" as an answer

[@Not_Alanius]

Intresting, I wonder if this is a joke or not.

[@MothmanEndured]

Had to check the wiki to see why there's a boss called Mary Jane, only to find it's supposed to be Melusine, which just raises further questions. What a mysterious translation.

[@greatrieck]

Welcome to Aeon Genesis translations

[@acertainbajiquanloli]

I assume they probably didn't notice the "ュ" (yu) character which is tiny, so all they saw was "メリ ジーヌ" which is "Meri Jiinu" But even then "Mary Jeen" would prob be more accurate than Mary Jane

[@AttacMage]

​@@acertainbajiquanloliJeen isn't a normal last name in the west, so at most it could've been Jean, which is a first name/middle name. Jane makes the most sense if you read Jiinu.

[@lowhp_comic]

Lmao you end up fighting some rabdom defenceless Red Haired woman whos in your school fnr

[@valletas]

​@@greatrieckIm so divided on them at one point im glad i am able to play these games in the first place but why did they have to change the script? Like smt 2 endings loses so much because of their weird changes...

[@CCYami]

The HP Penalty thing is supposedly because of recycled code, which A: Makes it that Males will always have more HP than Females and B: Partners will always have less HP than the Player. This means playing as a girl will give both you and potential partners an HP Penalty. This code was in place as both SMT 1 and SMT 2 had Male main characters.

[@mthsdcs]

Is that also present in the PS1 version?

[@CCYami]

@@mthsdcs Cant say for sure but I cant find evidence that it was fixed.

[@camendiv]

I like it when games lean into biological differences instead of trying to pretend they don't exist. When it's thought out well it can make for some unique playthroughs.

[@CCYami]

@@camendiv Actually it was put in as a balancing mechanism in SMT 1 and 2 - as the main Character in both was male and had no access to magic, they were given increased HP growths to balance things out. THey probably just forgot to change that for If...

[@camendiv]

@@CCYami That would be funny. Then again, Atlus makes you level Alephs magic to 11 to win a dance contest so they could just be trolling. Again.

[@LuizSilva-ul1ee]

World of Sloth: you can cheese the moon cycles making them go faster by going back and walking around the school

[@toryficarola]

Should have thought of that sooner in my last playthrough. Ugggh.....!!

[@urameshitrev1851]

What???? 😵‍💫

[@iseegreen5297]

Yeh, but that exp tho

[@cronoluminara6911]

Smacks forehead* no shit really I never even thought to leave lmao

[@persona3rulez]

Not quite. You have to trigger the NPC at the stairs, otherwise the game won't count all the cycles. Basically you need to trigger the dialogue 8 times - once per cycle. But you can just grind on B2, where enemies are easier and lesser and then trigger the NPC every once in a while.

[@silentnight6810]

Man's gonna complete the entire franchise before getting to P3R

[@toryficarola]

Bless his soul.

[@indecision6326]

"Can you beat Jack Bros. without special attacks?"

[@accountwontlastlong1]

Man's? Really? Are you a roadman or not?

[@dfkas30]

Can I beat Tokyo mirage sessions without falling asleep

[@ubermaster1]

Can you beat SMT NINE, on emulator, without a guide or translator, with no demons.

[@smtmonke]

>Reiko dies to a demon. >ohshit.jpg >Panic as you have a dead companion on the floor. >Glowing light suddenly appears, floats around for a bit, then turns into a demon before shooting into your dead friend's corpse. >wut.gif >Reiko then suddenly rises from the ground, no longer dead from her critical wounds >"You thought I was dead, huh?" >Doesn't explain >Leaves

[@JetblackJay]

AKIRA Leave me alone AKIRA AGHHHHHHHHHHH

[@theshadowofawizard]

Middle school project dub

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

Tru

[@extrakrispy81]

I like videos on these older games. Take as long as you want on reload.

[@luisyanez6261]

There are many words but you chose to speak the truth

[@josemarioperozofuenmayor3475]

if he's taking as long as he wants we are really just never seeing reload. in fact it would be funnier if he just covered literally everything else but reload and then went like "I fail to understand what reload is"

[@extrakrispy81]

@josemarioperozofuenmayor3475 That'd be fine by me. Im still wondering if he'll do more castlevania. Challenges in reload would be weird since its way easier than FES.

[@nestorgamer9746]

it does not even that old, it has voice acting

[@extrakrispy81]

@@nestorgamer9746 its 20 years old. What do you mean?

[@mayborneflower]

22:45 - Fun fact, in the manga adaptation of this game, Otsuki is only fought twice and his second fight is mostly based on his third boss battle. Except manga Otsuki (after the first fight, where he used shock gauntlets and got chased off by Yumi using a taser on him) fought by standing at the end of a school hallway and sniped at the heroes with a plasma rifle arm cannon. Seemed to do Almighty damage since his shots happened to free a nearby Angra Mainyu from being sealed in darkness between dimensions and shoved into the school’s walls.

[@toryficarola]

I seriously need to check out the manga if only an English translation existed.

[@mayborneflower]

@@toryficarola There’s a fan English translation out there, though it’s only four chapters long from the adaptation being super condensed. Also lots of gore and death that didn’t happen in the game proper. Anyways, Chapter 1 starts with male protag and Yumi dealing with the school stuff, Chapter 2 covers the Envy dungeon, and Chapters 3 and 4 invoke a hint of Akira’s route to skip the Expanse in favor of the school’s upper floors. And then the manga got a sequel called Shin Megami Tensei: Kahn, which basically just takes the manga versions of male protag, Yumi, Hazama, and newcomer Reiko (Charlie and Akira were never adapted) and shoves them into the plot of the original Shin Megami Tensei. They really escalated the violence, also nudity warning.

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

@@mayborneflowercan you tell me where to find it

[@mayborneflower]

@@gabrieldevoogel6225 I used Mangakakalot

[@distortedrecordz7069]

Wake up babe, A new Nyarly challenge video has dropped.

[@am_Kyro_]

Ill wake up when we get a Reload video

[@fghdkjlfkghfc]

Another challenge idea I had for SMT5 is... Beating the game... with the *slime* affinity!

[@spadesxxi]

The voicing is so funny at the end

[@shadowwwwwwwwwww]

ideo and reiko's "ahhhh" killed me lol

[@masakado]

16:40 rooms where you can't use your what now

[@gamerice2477]

"COMP" aka the mini computer some of the protagonists use to summon demons, check the map, etc.

[@travisblitz]

😂

[@ceresthestarspinner4609]

I feel like Nyarly needs a title because of all the Demonless Challenges he‘s done. Something like The Demonless Lord

[@daniela1206]

Everytime I see these videos I get excited to see SMT games Ive never heard of or seen before

[@crimsonslayer6641]

I’m saying it, the akira route battle theme in the psx version of smt if goes SO HARD!

[@toryficarola]

Hell yeah it does, BROTHER! I rock that **** out on my ipod all the time along with IV's Battle B2!!

[@lilicona5957]

I find it so funny that the day of my shcolars presentation/ final project which is on megaten narly uploads!! Hype!!

[@matthewedson6639]

New challenge! Damn this vids are such a blast to watch❤

[@AUNightmarefuel]

The voice acting is so damn bad... 10/10 would listen to it again.

[@rexdavis12]

I didn’t need to go to class today anyway

[@megaman874]

Vote for Devil Survivor Hero Only Run!

[@milesstorzillo7650]

Believe me, I'm looking forward to that Reload video, but I can wait.

[@toryficarola]

Same here

[@pauliepizzo8633]

Hope you get along well in your new place

[@edgetarian]

I'm so in love with all the content!! Thank you.

[@ThrillerAmazingRBLX]

HOLY SHIT NEW NYARLY CHALLENGE

[@MitoRequiem]

I was just thinking "Is that P3R review going to come today" lmaoooo

[@JazzyDK5000]

Yay, Nyarly Birthday video, W.

[@TheGameDomeGuy]

i mean you can get the hino kagutsuchi WAY early if you survive with no demons to a certain extent sooo yeah i think is possible

[@Octav2000]

The real persona 3 reload video was hee homies we made along the way

[@ahmaidal3nzie620]

Ok so with this challenge now its all smt main lines with the branching to persona (smt if) and persona mainline too expect for persona 1 WE NEED PERSONA 1 TO COMPLETE ALL THE LINES

[@Gefnir]

Hmm an smt if video without the main man Marsh, it’s unorthodox but I’ll allow it

[@BrenTenkage]

least we got a reference to Charlie grabbing his nuts, so some traditions remain the same

[@CarlosMW]

28:28 "And he always goes for this on Hazama" But Hazama is the enemy...

[@AntiActionFox]

Nyarly's next video is rumored to be a live action rendition of the smt nocturne plot recorded in his backyard if another person mentions p3 reload

[@goldentiramisu7935]

can't wait for the SMT Imagine Demonless playthrough

[@TitaRussellTrails]

“I love this game but f*** this dungeon” a perfect one sentence review for SMT if

[@bucket963]

Not going to lie I love ps3r and can’t wait for nyarly to drop it but been waiting on an smt v run more. Unless I missed or he lived it

[@SquareBrain2122]

Would love to see a DD 2 play through of some kind after this

[@delion4215]

Bro is on that challenge run grind lately

[@itz_cros3779]

The domain of sloth must be hell without demons 💀

[@YunaTuna01]

wake up honey new nyarly challenge run just dropped

[@victim109]

you could have titled this video " Can You Beat Shin Megami Tensei: If... You Don't Use Demons?"

[@5SpdFreek]

No matter how long I’ve been watching Nyarly, his voice still reminds me of Tim Hansen.

[@serPomiz]

I think that 'smart phone' at the start is a mistranslation. probably the original intended to be "do you own a PDA", which along with beepers were pretty notorious in japan back at that point, if costly

[@PicaTheWumpus]

putting the voice acting in these old games is a really good idea especially for people who watch these videos while doing other stuff. (I assume this game didn't have voice acting originally)

[@craigsands2567]

Fun fact:after you're gender and name have been inputted, the questions asked actually determine you're starting stats but I'm pretty sure party members are randomized regardless. If you do the Reiko route first than you want to ensure her build is a balanced one for all stats or else you have to reset. You're build depends on what you prefer but Reiko must be balanced. If you picked Yumi or Charlie than you want a magic build for Yumi and a strength build for Charlie. Yumi has weak physical attacks so magic is more important for her and Charlie has somewhat weak magic so being able to whack stuff with a weapon or just punch them in the face for massive damage is more important than him being able to cast spells. In addition, if you pick Charile as you're party member you are unable to visit a few dungeons and miss out on the strongest weapon in the game. Akira is a character you can only choose to be with on a playthrough after you're 1st and his is the hardest one to do. For his route you might want the luck build for the protagonist which is obtained by giving the 4th answer to all questions at the start of the game. Akira is a special case because his stats are...something. I never played his route but I believe you want a balanced build for him as well if possible and also some bosses in his route do not need to be fought as if you go to them on certain moon phases, they will either let you pass to the next area without a fight or offer to join you're party. Unlike other games where a boss becomes stupidly weak when playable, in Akira route they are actually vital because y'know...they be overpowered for a huge chunk of the game. But in a no demons run...just kill every demon that spawns. And when looking for demons to negotiate with do not do it with ghosts because things can get...spicy with them and you will get paralyzed from it.

[@ashyflame]

14:58 If this dungeon is supposed to represent sloth wouldn't it make more sense if the solution was to stand afk for like a minute, Pokémon did that if you don't know in order to catch regice in the gen 3 Pokémon games after unlocking the quest for the regis you need to find its cave (which is north of Dewford town), enter it and stand still for around two minutes

[@apencil5147]

God yeah i love smt if. I suffered with Akira and now id like other people to suffer like me. But to be honest i like the game and enjoy seeing more people play it.

[@Blarglesnarfe]

Hazama's voice actor channeled RE1's Richard there for a bit, impressive!

[@Patrick-tg6wm]

15:07 This is coming from someone who used to the Bullshit that is SMT. The resentment is deep with this one.

[@starmaker75]

Smt if aka both persona 0 and proto-smt nocturne

[@nr2676]

And Devil Summoner

[@RetroPixelLizard]

2:12 I Immediately think the translation Is taking some liberties, because I'm pretty sure It's meant to say cellphone.

[@greatrieck]

What's next? SMT NINE? Last Bible III? All before P3R? Also time to see Reiko's route through this because fuck playing this game again.

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

Things that will come out before the P3R review: Dr. Dre's Detox Half Life 3 One Piece being finished Hunter X Hunter being finished N1RV Ann-A Final Fantasy Versus XIII Mega Man Legends 3 Banjo Threeie M. Night Shamalyn's Avatar Sequels

[@acertainbajiquanloli]

@@TrashQueenAndKing Also Metroid Prime 4

[@juanmartinmorandocuccia7849]

Fun fact about the Hazama fight: if you're using Hi-no-kagutsuchi, Makarakarn is actually his scariest move because it reflects all elemental damge and Hi-no-Kagutsuchi is fire elemental. I'm guessing it wasn't a problem for you becuase your agility was high enough that you always went first.

[@relaxedlad821]

I wonder what the p3r video is even gonna be about like will it be a challenge run or like a meme run like "Can i beat P3R.......lets get right into it"

[@daehan8227]

Yo Nyarly just thought i should let you know, the translation of P2EP's psp remaster has been fully completed. Its runs pretty well

[@KatelynS0209]

He knows, he streamed it the day it was released

[@daehan8227]

@KatelynS0209 fair enough. I was just letting him know. Though I haven't had much time to check streams jobs at the post office hardly leave any time for recreation in my life

[@donaldtrump2728]

would honestly love to see this game get a remake

[@n64central]

we will have our hands on metaphor before we get that P3 video

[@johngleeman8347]

That is some fine voice acting. XD

[@ThebadassXIII]

When the world needed him most he came back

[@galathon]

4:21 while charlies route is shorter you do infact fight the final boss in that route and its arguably the hardest version since he has the same stats regardless of which route your on. The world of wrath is a huge difficulty spike but you will still be sevearly underleveled by the time you get to the demon emperor

[@onealjones]

16:52 Hol' Up! Reiko's doin' wut now???

[@Flutterdark_]

what lilith doesnt know is that the bat status gets a wind weakness, something she cant use (doubt thats an actual thing in if but it is in dds)

[@RomuaIdo]

Nyarly uploading P3R video 🙂 Nyarly uploading in general 😃

[@denzellzepeda4275]

Can you also do P1 or devil survivor challenge?

[@lulukomadori9651]

13:33 As an wise man/youtuber once said "The world of sloth will test your patience like no other experience you ever had" Also damn why is this game so cryptic/hard compare to smt 1/2, devil summoner and even the last bible series? Did the devs called it If....but the game is ridiculously harder Anyway can't wait for the Akira rage fights

[@chaosneo1]

The return after two hours

[@MidnightBikerHostility]

SMT IF... LET'S GO

[@OlJohnno]

I know it might be difficult to do, and I don’t even know if it would be even doable, but I’d love to see how far someone could get in SMT: imagine without demons. Probably manageable with other players? I don’t know if it would be fun enough to do though, with imagine being way more grindy than the regular games.

[@pedroalmeida2000]

Longest blueball streak, let`s make it to a new world record 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cax1175]

I got the 50th Anniversary special edition of this in Japan a couple of months ago

[@pokestar9994]

Asking if you won a smartphone in the beginning is an Aeon Genesis thing. The original japanese version asks if you own a Pager. I guess AG wanted to update it for modern audiences.

[@rthan1868]

All of the voices were recorded in a closet I swear

[@enzoforgets9456]

I beat p3r 11 times and im not knocking u for taking your time Id much rather a content creator i like play at their own pace and not be cursed with my lack of burnout and minmax nature

[@mmpsp693]

Great video. Too many Atlus games to play, not enough time

[@jvts8916]

The option to choose between boy and girl is back in Dx2.

[@brianestrada1993]

Lets see "IF" you can.

[@tonythekillab8189]

Rasta Candies = Edibles

[@cronoluminara6911]

They really should remake these older games even just reskin them

[@crawdkenny]

He's so omniscient, he pronounced omniscient wrong 33:35

[@CrusherKingZ]

Yay a new video, I don't care if it's not persona but it's still persona smh

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

The voice acting of those two are terrible

[@Not_Alanius]

I love how this is the only hearted comment, and this implies you didn't finish watching the video by then...and oh boy did this comment age like fine wine.

[@TrashQueenAndKing]

​@@Not_Alanius woosh

[@mapmakerlich]

Warped Mind Hazama is worst final boss in SMT history. One-shotting attack requires always having Tetraja up, but it falls after he cast useless Hamaon too. Don't have? Then use half of place in your stock for Final Guards. I was very satisfied when I finally beat the guy. And then Akira route was much simpler. Also, HGK sword was nerfed so hard... ouch. In SMT 1 and 2 it was phys.

[@kiragane99]

I don't know if you'll see this comment or not but I'm gonna ask anyway. Will there be a new episode of the Megidolaon Podcast coming out soon? Great new video btw!

[@OmicronX-1999]

How are you playing this in english? I'm running the PS1 version, but AFAIK there aren't any translation patches available for that version. But this doesn't look like the SNES version either.

[@indecision6326]

I always thought If... was the predecessor to Persona because the latter was inspired by the former's success.

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

He’s finally playing the BEST classic smt game ever Edit: if you think the world of sloth is bad, you probably should know the intention, the game is short, freaking grind the whole time and it’s fine, use auto like your supposed to, Cerberus if able, you’ll be fine

[@walkingglasses6264]

Good luck on Akira route with world of sloth...

[@alvarocostaalves]

lol love the voice acting

[@saloz9483]

dam seems like the devs took naming that dungeon after sloth seriously. Also hazama is basically the exact opposite of the lead of a persona game. He all alone and got no rizz. If you think about it his story is pretty depressing.

[@MattEngarding]

That's some Megaman X4 levels of voice acting for Hazama there, holy shit...though I guess they were released just a few years apart. Maybe voice actors were just bad in those days?

[@JohnBluemon]

I prefer videos based on older MegaTen.

[@No1AlastorSimp]

Please make a Serph only run for DDS2 🙏

[@DEFRaven]

It would be cool if you did a gun build. I watched a bunch of your challenges and I dont think you have done a gun build yet.