Strange Journey Redux is Disrespectful

I'd rather just play the original, thanks.
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Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey is one of the greatest video games ever made. It had some fantastic turn-based gameplay, fun and complex dungeon crawling, and a thought-provoking story with themes that can serve as the basis for hours worth of discussion. Truly a one of a kind experience and one that is worthy of being called a masterpiece. While not the most popular JRPG in the genre, Strange Journey is a game well respected by critics and fans alike. Hell, I even just made a video going in depth with everything the game has to offer and came out very satisfied. However, there was something that I decided not to talk about in that video. Not out of neglect or anything, but because I feel as though this topic is worthy of its own video.
Strange Journey was initially released back in 2009 exclusively for the nintendo ds, but just like every other atlus game from that era, it would eventually be given new life in the form of an enhanced port. Strange Journey redux was released in 2018 for the nintendo 3ds to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the shin megami tensei series. I always found it kind of odd that they chose this title of all things to be their big celebration of that event. You’d assume that they’d capitalize on the hype and release a new game but, they didn’t. It kind of makes sense in retrospect since smt v didn’t release until like 3 years later so in the meantime they probably just said, screw it it and squirted this one out. Funny that this wouldn’t be the last time an Atlus celebration would end with a remaster rather than a new game but in a way it’s worse since those versions of the games were just raw ports without any extra features. And in P5’s case, they actually took stuff away can you believe that? Anyway, Redux is marketed as the definitive way to experience strange journey and when looking at it on the surface, it seems to be no different than other atlus rereleases at the time. Updated visuals, rebalanced gameplay, additional content, the works. If you’re new to the smt series and are looking to get into strange journey, then this might sound like a great deal on paper. Get this cult classic game with even more content on top of that, sign me up. But the thing is, the devil is in the details.
Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey is a great game. Strange Journey Redux isn't and in this Strang Journey Redux Review I will be analyzing and critiquing Strange Journey Redux. If you were to ask me, Strange Journey Redux is Disrespectful to the original Strange Journey for a myriad of reasons. Strange Journey Redux changes the story and gameplay in so many ways that comparing it to the original Strange Journey. In a way, this Strange Journey Redux Critique, Strange Journey Redux Analysis, and Strange Journey Redux Review could be seen as a Strange Journey vs Strange Journey Redux video. Strange Journey Redux is Disrespectful is one of the greatest videos made by Nam's Compendium and is a part of Nam's Compendium's ongoing Shin Megami Tensei Retrospective.

[@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

[@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.

[@TsukiZer0]

Still, you should never put essentials (stats, for example) in the secondary screen, it should be in the PRIMARY screen. Here's an example: Metroid Prime Hunters puts the health and ammo on the primary screen (since it's the player's visor, it makes sense!), but Samus Returns puts it on the secondary screen. In Prime Hunters, you are less likely to fail to notice your ammo and health running low, since it's within the action view, but in Samus Returns you are more likely to fail to see your missiles running low or ignore your health until the buzzer bugs you.

[@Jeanology14]

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

[@TsukiZer0]

@@Jeanology14 No, for anything really. During a tense situation you are more likely to focus on the main screen than on the sub screen. Sometimes, not even tense situations. I had many deaths in SMT Strange Journey because I neglected the bottom screen during a battle, and didn't see the demon I was dealing had the ability to reflect some elements.

[@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

[@TsukiZer0]

@@meowmeow1010 No, that's a design problem that is much real. Also, there's a reason Nintendo went back to one screen and pronto...

[@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👌

[@bubbletea_]

this truly was a _strange journey redux_

[@peronafanman]

Perhaps you could even say it was a persona 5 royal?

[@nr2676]

Featuring Yukiko from Persona 4 series

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

“Goddamn, my Journey is Stranging the f*ck out!!!” - hemenez

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

Strange Journey Redicks

[@nr2676]

@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas Strange Journey RIDDICK :D

[@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.

[@derrosenkavalier8890]

A couple things: - Something which Nam didn't really touch on in this video is the voice acting. As the game's presentation was completely changed, ATLUS went all-out and hired a "Japanese Hollywood"-grade cast to provide this game's voice talents. *Every* actor perfectly matched their character and brought life to them, it was magnificent. It's a compelling reason to return to this one despite everything else. - He should do the Radiant Historia games at some point. Their development history is virtually identical to SJ and SJR.

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

Too bad they didn't consider the English side one bit

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

@@user-ro7xr8ro9w None of these characters are supposed to speak Japanese

[@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis]

@x literally the only game in the entire megaten franchise where it would make sense for the characters to speak english.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Radiant historia release fucking sucks

[@PopfulFrost]

@@user-ro7xr8ro9w Thing is, usually these games have great English dubs. Persona 4 and 5 especially have really iconic English VA, and the voice acting for IV and Soul Hackers tends to be pretty decent, too!

[@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

[@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

[@phypesmash6154]

You lost me at your critique on the usage of the bottom screen for information; I get not liking it because it clashes on how it looks when having to stream it, but I doubt developers think or should think of that. It's a DS (double screen) game. That said, all your points are valid. I wish commander skills were implemented better because it's honestly my favorite mechanic and distincts the MC from any other one from the series

[@chrisrez1526]

I personally like the changes they did with Redux. The Art and UI changes are just visual changes that are up to preference, I personally enjoy them. Commander Skills are weird I agree with that and can be unbalanced at times, but I prefer this over permeant dead weight and at least give the protag more identity The App system in this game is easier than in the original, but honestly in the original I had like 7-8 app points used on the same apps all the time and most apps just became useless / not appealing to me. So with the Redux, I can now use the apps without it feeling like I'm nerfing myself for using some of them. The Endings are bad, and I agree with our take on them, but at least the OG endings still exist and were not removed. Overall Great Video and even when I do not agree myself with some of your takes I still feel like you did a great job explaining yourself

[@kevinalfaro7150]

Leader skills are really that powerful? For me they are pretty useless, I almost never used them, they are very situational.

[@cantrip7]

@@kevinalfaro7150 Think about it this way: if they're on cooldown, it's a waste NOT to use them, especially during exploration. It makes a third (or so; I don't wanna do the math) of your turns more efficient. That adds up! You've got extra levels from the new dungeon... A bevy of new, more powerful apps you equip freely... And a costless cooldown rotation that lessens the impact of resource drain and keeps you safer longer. It protracts the rhythm of tension and relief between soldiering on and returning to base without significant opportunity cost or long-term resource expenditure, weakening the risk/reward of dungeon crawling.

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

@@kevinalfaro7150 Free Luster Candies and no MP costs!? Who wouldn't pass that up?

[@kevinalfaro7150]

@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas I mean, those are random. "No MP" isn't that powerful in explorations if you have equiped reduced encounter and MP regen walking, and with bosses it hardly makes a difference, if this was SMTV where all spells cost a ton of MP maybe. And free luster candy is the same, you have to be buffed if you don't want to die to bosses on hard, so when it happens you are already on max or make a boss trigger dispel on all, wasting it.

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

@@kevinalfaro7150 well that's fair

[@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

[@dimensionalnemesis8636]

I just love hearing the Japanese voices while playing, makes me feel like im playing my favourite game juiced up with badass Gundam Dialogue.

[@dremndishot2695]

Never played the original so redux was thoroughly enjoyable to me

[@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

[@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!! 🦀🐙🦀

[@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.

[@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

[@RogueOmega]

See, the new endings, at least to me, weren't the problem. They showed how Law/Chaos can be beneficial forces when not taken to extremes. The new Neutral ending made a lot of sense as far as what happened after the OG Neutral ending (the "We beat it once, we'll beat it again, so who cares if it comes back" mentality is something I would have absolutely expected from the human governments). However, the issue, again, at least to me, comes from how they were implemented. Rather than being blended more directly into the story, they had you go through an entire side dungeon, with zero changes to the plot, before suddenly dropping a choice on you at the end of the game that, if you pick a certain one, lets you tackle the out of nowhere true final dungeon and equally out of nowhere true final boss. A final boss whom, might I add, is so stupidly difficult that even if you use an online password generator and spend stupid amounts of time grinding Macca (for Compendium summons) so you can go into the fight rocking an absolutely perfect party, AND you come stocked up on as many Dekaja Stones, Dekunda Stones, and SP restoring items as you can carry, you'll still more likely than not get wrecked if RNG is not on your side. So, to sum it all up: .) New endings aren't really tied into the plot until literally the very end of the game .) New endings, rather than require the player to do certain things or make certain choices throughout the game, just requires the player to beat the new side dungeon before progressing past a certain point in the story, make a certain choice at the end of the game, go through the new FINAL final dungeon, then beat the new true final boss. .) The final boss the player needs to beat for these new endings is stupidly difficult even by SMT standards.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Yea, that is the problem with the new endings - the side dungeon associated with it

[@QuickSilverKitsune]

Nah man, the final boss wasnt that hard, especially compared to YHYV(or however its spelled) in Apocalypse(mainly Massacre route, but still): he kept smile Charge + Nuking my team, to the point i was FORCED to buy the DLC just to have enough HP to not get wiped. Literally got to Level 100, got the stat as high as i could get it(even using Doping in the fight), and that combo still did enough damage to instantly drop my entire team

[@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

[@ige-igeogo-jeoge-geugeoda]

I like both versions of strange journey. I feel like it would have been better if you were locked into doing the main strange journey endings for the first play through (Alex not appearing at all) and making it so that all of the redux stuff didn't actually appear until the second playthrough. I feel like the Redux endings are really more of what if x ending did work out, which I feel like is nice for me, someone who has already played the original game, but I can understand how it can feel like the endings are superseding the thought provoking endings of the original.

[@gold8857]

think about people who, no matter how much they like a game, are not willing to play it all over again given its duration, which in this particular game is not exactly short

[@byronbarrientos8471]

Horrible idea. Why the fuck would anybody wanna chore thru an entire playthrough just to experience the new content that the game is marketed with...... hey wanna try out the new great/ultra balls this new Pokémon has instead of the normal ones? To bad you have to play to completion and then start over new playthrough to do so.

[@Painocus]

@@byronbarrientos8471 Yeah.... better to mess up the balance of the base game content with the new dungeons making you overleveled and ruin the original ethical dillema of the endings? Also how many people actually bought both? Most people I know of got ether one or the other. So why not give Redux players the chance to experience the original intent? And god forbid you have to work extra for the "the same outcome, but better in every way" endings. And if it such a problem they could have given you the option to play or not play the new-game-plus from the start with a "for people who have already beaten the game" note, so those people who had both could jump straight in, while new players didn't have to compromise. Or make it all endgame stuff that unlocked on your old save after you got any of the old endings and then reloaded that save. Really the way it was integrated was the worst way they could have done so.

[@taigaaisaka6305]

@@Painocus My dude, I don't know what kind, but you definitely need to be a crazy mofo to try to argue that: Humanity becomes slaves with no will, Humanity is forced to live in a living hell on which they need to kill humans and demons alike to survive daily and You wasted your time and accomplished nothing because in a few years everyone will die anyway, are "hard ethical dilemmas". They are not. Ethical and Moral dilemmas are that, dilemmas, because they have equal amounts of good and bad in them, hence the dilemma "I am doing something bad, but by doing it I will help or be able to help X or Y and thus do good". The original endings are all literally: "How do you want to destroy humanity?". There's no nuance to them, no pros and cons to make you doubt, think and question yourself about about which one is the better choice. Humanity is destroyed in all 3. That's why the original endings are so bad. It makes the player choice completely and utterly meaningless.

[@loren5432]

​@@PainocusOverleveled? The New Dungeon fixes the problem of the sudden level spikes throught the campaign, in fact you're supposed to go there whenever you feel like underleveled in the main story. I completed the game and fully did the new dungeon, and even I struggled with the "base" dungeons because even if I got stronger in the new dungeon, bosses like Ouroboros would still kick my ass so much, I'd spend like a week just trying to overcome them. If you don't like being "overleveled" and don't like the new endings (because you feel like they ruin the original ethical dilemma of the old ones), you can literally just play throught the main story and forget about most of the new additions. Some of us don't have a lot of time to play an already long game twice, much less 6 times if you want to see every ending. Maybe instead of trying to gatekeep people with lives and whine about "muh original experience is tainted!" like a purist, why not just ignore the new additions (since Alex only bothers you few times, most of it being towards the ending) and play it as you feel like it should be played? Or better, why not just stick to the original version of the game if you like it so much?

[@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.

[@MegamiShin]

I watched both of your videos on SJ. I partially agree with some of your criticisms. Maybe give the hero quests to increase the Sub Apps memory or something like that instead of letting them equip all the Apps. I see the appeal. It's the closest thing to letting you customize your hero since stat gain is randomish. However, the Commander skills and use all the Sub Apps get at a mechanic you liked in vanilla, but most people saw as a flaw. The dungeons were difficult and a slog, especially that infamous Sector that you sigh at when people ask for a map for. The majority didn't like them. You're in the minority of Strange Journey fans when you did like those annoying difficulties and slogging. The changes curb that, too much without fixing the dungeons to begin with; however, that came from a place of most folks thinking these were the worst dungeons in the modern SMT series. Very few thought they were great. I played both versions and the second Sector is annoying. I dread to see that infamous Sector. I like the series of SMT, but that stuff sucks. You liked it. Great, but those old mazes seemed to be a limit of the technology back then. The developers can move past that now. I doubt we'll see a lot more of these annoying, flow breaking mazes anymore in the future games. As for the story, the whole point of the journey is to prevent an upcoming apocalypse event. Naturally, someone is gonna respond to your least awful choice. As for the New Neutral ending, it doesn't sound that hopeful. You take care of the new Demon Netherworld every time that pops up. Doesn't sound like humanity learned their lesson. You're now stuck cleaning up after them each time. That sounds like a stagnant and awful event, similar to Promenthus. That sucks. The other endings do smooth out the sharp edges and I agree with your problems that come from that. These are SMT Demons after all, not Disgaea ones. Most new fans will gravitate towards the Redux to enjoy the game as opposed to the very bothersome elements few people enjoyed in vanilla. Or just emulate since Nintendo enables scalpers and does little to preserve their history.

[@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.

[@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.

[@lxagamer3380]

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.

[@fafaaf61]

So funnily enough I literally just finished Redux yesterday on the New Neutral ending. I also watched the original endings for all three routes since I finished the Womb of Grief and don't really plan on doing any of the original endings. While I won't speak on the gameplay changes since I haven't played the original so I can't really judge them, I gotta say I really disagree with you assessment of the endings especially in regards to the ending that I got: New Neutral. When I watched over the original neutral ending I ended up being...unimpressed to say the least. It ends on such an anticlimactic note with so many dangling plot threads and the Red Sprite just...going home after Mem Aleph. It's not that there's no consequence as Arthur still has to stay behind and you had to kill your friends but none of the "bite" you mentioned ever really manifested. The crew just heads home. Sure the possibility of humanity never changing is brought up but there's no expansion on that fact and the fact that Gore is so openly pro-humanity and that he can literally see the future just makes the whole ambiguity come off as more of an afterthought than an actual consequence of the ending. By contrast the New Neutral route feels exactly like what you described the original endings as: forced to make a choice for the greater good but at a major cost. Here, the protag is forced to sacrifice himself alongside Arthur to ensure that the Schwarzwelt never returns. The idea of humanity never changing which felt more like an afterthought in the original is here given full focus as not only is it confirmed that in one possible future humanity will fail but there's a question if the protag's actions really saved humanity, giving them opportunity to change or if it just doomed them to never suffer the consequences of their actions. It's an ambiguous ending that came at the cost of the protag's own life but it's not wholly pessimistic as the optimistic message of hope: that humanity always deserves a second chance and the belief the given enough time, humanity can become a better species and that the chance to prove ourselves is always worth fighting for is at the core of this ending far more than the original. In particular, the ending scene I think will always stick in my mind: The protagonist alone save for Arthur looking at a home he can no longer return to. The ring: the symbol of a promise he made hundreds of years ago and the hope that his species can overcome their own flaws, a hope that he fights an endless battle for. Arthur poses the question: Has the protagonist lost his own humanity so that everyone else can maintain theirs. Without answering, he goes to fight again in a possibly fruitless battle but maintaining the determination that he promised Gore he'd hold onto: that eventually, the Schwarzwelt will stop appearing. The whole thing comes off as bittersweet and tragic, maintaining both the ambiguity and optimism of the original Neutral ending but expanding upon them and giving a unique form of cost for this "happy ending" the protagonist's own humanity. While I need more time to fully decide, I really think this ending is one of my favorite if not absolute favorite ending in the entire SMT franchise. I want to play the New Law and New Chaos endings in the future so I really can't speak to their quality but I do think the original law and chaos also leave much to be desired. I get wanting consequences for your actions but both the Law and Chaos factions come off as so hypocritical and so monstrous that the ending seems less "you made a philosophical choice that came with consequences" and more "this is a bad ending, you should've gone neutral suckers". The chaos ending is particularly baffling as having the Schwarzwelt and the demons take over the earth is literally what happens in a game over. There's no difference between getting the chaos ending and dying to a pixie in Antlia which just makes the whole story feel utterly pointless. Indeed the endings seem to favor neutral so heavily in the original (which again I already found to be a subpar ending) that it doesn't really feel like an actual philosophical choice was made and the "consequences" feel less like necessary sacrifices and more like mistakes. Also I know I said I wouldn't be talking about gameplay but I found the Womb of Grief to be really fun. Sure it's just a worse Labyrinth of Amala but the Labyrinth of Amala is REALLY good so even a watered down version comes off as a great dungeon. I also appreciated how the Womb seemed to be more puzzle focused than Amala. Also despite the complaints about balancing I found the bosses to be decently challenging and fun even at standard difficulty (Ishtar is a more difficult and more rewarding boss than Matador in Nocturne and I will die on this hill). Also I never found the commander skills to be too game-breaking as I rarely used the activated commander skills near the end game and the random commander skills were balanced by their lack of consistency.

[@Recon868]

I disagree. See, SJ was intended to be a dark game about the consequences of the actions of humanity. It wasn't meant to be a happy story where humanity solves everything. It wasn't neutral biased at all, the entire game shits on humanity and the idea of "human potential" that IVA so lovingly embraced. Humanity were the true villains of SJ. Redux then comes along and utterly disrespects this theme. It makes the original endings(which had their defenders) look worse, especially chaos where Alex says humanity gets wiped out(contrary to everything original chaos was about). This is disrespectful of the new writers to shit on the endings of the old writers. Instead, the new writers gave us 3 new endings that all feel like neutral endings, but with chaos and law-ish flavors of neutral. Redux is the true neutral biased version. Frankly, I found it hard to believe that Angel Zelenin and Demon Jimenez would suddenly abandon their beliefs and allies just because Alex, Lucifers daughter(lol) from the future, gave them a unverifiable sob story while after trying to kill them the entire game. The only thing I disagree with in this video is the new endings aren't flawless. Take New Law for example. Humanity gets turned into sheep with little to no protection, and given that Zelenin made enemies of both demons and angels, almost certainly mean that the peace that's attained in New Law is at best temporary, unlike classic Law where humanity was protected by the armies of God, ensuring a much longer if not eternal peace. Both Redux and SMT IV Apocalypse feel like dumb down SMT made for the Persona crowd.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@Recon868 Sometimes, I do feel like that the demons do have a point to deny human potential, considering what they have done and how they are the reason for the Schwarzwelt

[@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

[@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.

[@serPomiz]

redux is a mixed bag. QoL is infinetivelly superior, the new interface is less cluttered and more streamlined, if inferior in design. the binary of the app is somewhat annoying, but I'm for the flawed position of "once you are at max level you get more points than what you need to have everything going at once", so I'm not impartial; the main story is more balanced in this version, where in the base the grinding sessions feels absolutely imperative, often even during a buildup in the story, here it feels like you can just farm during the descending phases and when you reach the new areas and still get things done. this is NOT the case with the womb, due to it's design. the thing is supposed to be tackled reaching the halfway point on any floor, get back to the story, get back in the womb to complete the flor and start the next part, and that messes up the flow with my horrible luck, I can go many, many fights without see any of the auto team abilities activating, and I agree that a separate bar would have worked better for the manual ones I must say, the silver-a the hedge story was not too intrusive, if not for the very final extra boss fight. the orginal ending made pivot of not working completely if at all, and while it's disillusioned in their course corrected new version, the whole thing it's the literal application of "hindsight is 20/20", as the whole thing is that we got a full review of how thing did not work the first time and why, and it's a more solid fight back against the trio in white the additional monsters, bosses and little things are all positives in my book. a few favourites of mine did not get a chance, but that's a given with how wide is the raw number of monsters in the serie. still believe they should drop the older thanatos and just redesign him. I'm gonna argue on one thing there, a good friend of my grandpa was pretty much a carbon copy of redux cap jack (I actually went on a hunt to see if someone in the graphic team was from the same city. hell, even most of the expression are the same), and was one of the most affable old men you'd ever seen.

[@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.

[@Luna-pk7gz]

The new neutral ending has consequences tho, it's still stagnation, your protagonist, is stuck on a moon for eternity, as humans refuse to learn. The consequence is the MC going through a cycle of closing up the Schwartzelt because humans refuse to learn.

[@kingbaboon1145]

I liked being able to save anywhere in Redux 😅

[@0Backslash7344]

As someone who prefers the redux over the OG one, because of all the Quality of life stuff + the gameplay felt more customizable and the womb bosses / dungeons, I still gotta say the UI from the OG was so much cooler than what the redux version got, whoever thought "just make it blue lol" for redux should be in jail

[@sbfh014]

While I definitely respect the fact that the original was better, unfortunately I'm a baby gamer, so whatever rerelease makes a game easier I'll probably lean towards, lol, but even though I played and enjoyed redux, nams vid on the original does tempt me a bit to go out of my way and buy the original

[@toooydoeur]

You should it's awesome. It's not really that hard either

[@n2badsam420]

I mean hey, if you're a "baby gamer," that doesn't matter to me there's always a time to improve your skills if you want to

[@sbfh014]

@@n2badsam420 it's also more that I have a massive backlog and I just want to play on the easiest difficulty to experience it, though I do go for harder difficulties on games I replay, JRPGS id rather not have be difficult if I can, since they're such a time sink, lol

[@DogginsFroggins]

Redux is still pretty damn hard, but it seems to attract masochists so I'm not surprised.

[@toooydoeur]

@@DogginsFroggins are you really calling people masochists just because you find a game hard? (Which it isnt)

[@myron1231234]

I hope you can make a video on how much Atlus fucked up Catherine with Full Body, no one comments on what the hell they were thinking with that re release.

[@claire6452]

As long as it doesn't boil down to "Rin bad" sure. There's a lot more issues with this shit. Awful gameplay change, remix mode is ass BUT the new redo/no life system even manage to ruin the original game mode too. Katherine being made nicer, having flashback, sending you pics etc, ruin so much of the grey morality the original tried to go for. And randomly throwing Rin in the middle ruined the pacing of the original. And .. yeah there's just way too much more than "me no likey Rin because Rin is an alien with a Penis 😢"

[@DiscordSuxPP]

@@claire6452 Rin is pretty bad though as well. For a "one more Waifu" Atlus add-in, they're not great by any means lol But I can't say that, they have a penis, so 'obviously' Rin was needed in the plot.

[@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.

[@sarkastikartist7044]

I respectfully disagree, Redux is probably one of the best remasters of a game I've seen in a long time. The Game is gorgeous inside and out and it alongside its original, are two of the best games of all time.

[@Fenriswolfer77]

I do share your opinion except that I hate the womb of grief and like the new neutral ending. The OG Neutral ending has stagnation and the threat of the Schwarzwelt coming back as a possibility, but the newer ending is so much worse. We know that Humanity will never learn it's lesson and that you are now more or less cursed to save them over and over again knowing that you could have elevated humanity into a new era instead.

[@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.

[@omarmansuri7099]

One thing that definitely annoyed me was the lack of an English dub. Like ya, the 3DS was a dying system but it couldn't have cost that much to commission an English dub.

[@CatManThree]

Love it when my multiracial, multinational cast all speak japanese

[@EDK-San51912]

I hate it when in the Japanese game they all speak Japanese… you all sound stupid. They have English subtitles read the text box it’s been a thing since megami tensei 1

[@toooydoeur]

@@EDK-San51912 my dude they ain't all Japanese so that's not a very good argument

[@instantramen4588]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@alfred.hitchcock]

Anahita alone makes this version superior

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@Zerorenren4761]

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.

[@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

[@SearchmanDS]

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

[@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.

[@304Blaise]

Redux is good bro. I don’t get this whole “disrespect” angle some people try to take on it. It’s just a nicely updated version with some optional added story stuff you can pretty much ignore if you don’t care about it

[@Recon868]

It's disrespectful because it shits on the older endings.

[@304Blaise]

@@Recon868 y’all act like the game forces you to do the new endings lol

[@RinaShinomiyaVal]

​@@Recon868you can still do old endings and kill the Mary Sue aka Alex by doing so. TBH shes the only major flaw Redux has art bar some artstyle compliants overall

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

@@RinaShinomiyaVal Hell, I am pretty sure you can just ignore Womb of Grief entirely and never encounter Alex after the forced Bootes encounter

[@EDK-San51912]

@@Recon868the older endings were trash and didn’t have any nuance

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@StonyAtlas]

So...there's nothing really wrong with it? LOL

[@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 😂

[@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.

[@Fomortiis100]

Wasn't this game built in the 3DS Etrian Odyssey engine just like the original used the DS games' engine? How hard could it have been to have the Alex chase work like an FOE?

[@nr2676]

SMT IV and 3DS EO is same engine.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@HumanB312]

The re release games give new content and better endings I don't hate the new characters since they fit in well enough not the worst thing and better graphics are good. I rather have new content rather than no content and just better graphics

[@edoardopalmer2379]

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

[@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.

[@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 🔥

[@Cool750Boy]

I would really like a video that talks about what games you would recommend to get people into the Shin Megami Tensei.

[@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

[@SuperDarksword]

Thanks for this video, both versions of this game has been sitting on my shelf fow a while now. Since the 3ds one came out I think, I put off playing them cuz I new there was a debate on which version is the better one but never looked into it before. I think once I'm done with Digital Devil Saga, which has been sitting on my shelf for longer, I'm going to give the ds version the old college try.

[@invertebrado]

First I looked to the thumbnail and after that I read the title, but the shock of you saying that SMT SJ sucks was so big that I audibly gasped irl

[@killerqueen4001]

Atrocious take

[@evildougthevillainousassistant]

i disagree.

[@dt8795]

10:23 Very good video but...was the dds 2 spoiler really necessary?

[@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.

[@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

[@mechashadow]

1:30 what did they take away?

[@DanteCrowlley]

I have no bond to it besides reviews, but I don't like how ATLUS keep releasing games with poor development, I'm not against having a femc etc, but they don't put much effort into it

[@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.

[@MaloTheBabyMaster]

You know there's a problem when your first comparison to Terminator time travel stuff is Silver the hedgehog

[@cosmicaler]

Redux good

[@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.

[@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

[@justapickedminfan]

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

[@TheMaxi125]

Strange Journey is one of my favourite games, and I finished it at least 4 times, so I probably will still prefer the original, but I would play redux maybe just to experience the same amazing story omce again with a slightly different and easier gameplay.

[@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.

[@unboxxinggames]

what did they take away in persona 5 switch port?

[@jasonblundelldobebussing]

Ah yes, the Odd Walkthrough: Redoing Harder

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

Peculiar Voyage: I focken did it again

[@jasonblundelldobebussing]

@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas, Mama Mia: Here I Go Again

[@ashura9699]

Wacky Trip On Repeat

[@demityrant1784]

Funny enough, I started on Redux, and was enjoying myself until Alex tried to half-ass my ending at the end. I was truly enjoying me and Jimenez putting in work, and wanted to see things through to the end, then she said some shit about Bugaboo not deserving to die. We made our bed, and we fucking lie in it. Jimenez asked and I said no, we kill this bitch, and return this world to simpler times. Looking through things, I seem like an odd one out here, so I ain't even about to get into the philosphy of my take, but I hated these pseudo-neutral endings that barely constitute as an alignment and I didn't know it was a Redux feature. I hate remakes for their streamlining and casualization, but fucking with my ENDINGS? That's twisted on another level, only to appease stagnant neutral players, that should have no business on the extremist routes anyhow. As a Redux player that got an original ending on his inital playthrough (despite completing WoG) that then went back to OG SJ and enjoyed it more, I'm in full agreement, man. I like your takes on shit, and you got another subscriber.

[@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.

[@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?"

[@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.

[@TsukiZer0]

People complaining about the Hero's uselessness never really strategized well. I used to believe that, until Sector Bootes and Mithras wiped my ass very hard. Then on top of learning to diversify my party, I had to learn to change my protag's loadout so that HE would have a fighting chance.

[@manulele24]

Nam how would you have felt about SJR if instead of being marketed as the "ultimate" way to play SJ into being a different way to experience the game?

[@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".

[@micahlindley7515]

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

[@markhovscrch4050]

First I play R4 Clone the Vanilla finished the Chaos ending now, I enjoy it because of brutality of difficulty and insane amount of strategy (well equip even so) also the Limit of Sub-apps compare to Redux I will do the Old ending again. No English Dub?

[@toryficarola]

But ....but....but I actually love the new Neutral ending, Alex be damned!!