Top 3 BEST and WORST Megami Tensei Endings

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I'm back to making SMT content, and in this video we're going to be looking at my top 3 favorite and least favorite endings in the series. Just know that this video will (obviously) be containing spoilers, and I'm only looking at games where you get a choice of multiple endings that are not early "bad" endings.
Intro by Lyric: / @lyric3595
Footage recorded by Buffmaister: / @buffmaister
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[@Nyarly]

💥 Unleash chaos in Wanted: Dead with up to 50% off NOW: bit.ly/wanteddead-nyarly

[@Cheesefist]

As long as you don’t mind some AWFUL voice acting.

[@ruleofoz2207]

@@Cheesefist This wouldn't be an SMT channel if he minded that.

[@juxtapositionchicken2514]

did you play the game?

[@ruleofoz2207]

@@juxtapositionchicken2514 Beat every difficulty (Except the secret baby mode) Only reason I didn't platinum it is because of the mini games, a hard as nails old school shoot em up and a ramen eating rythme game. I will not give any context on the latter.

[@Jimmylikehalo]

I've wanted to play this game for awhile idk why it's suddently being promoted but im all for it because it looks like a lotta fun

[@mindmaster323]

I love every ending where the characters go "Fuck all this demon shit, I just want to live a normal life" and then proceed to banish all the demons. Like, no, I don't want to war with God. No, I don't want to spend my life fighting for survival in an never ending power struggle. I want to live a life devoid of any supernatural influence whatsoever and if I gotta fight to achieve that, so be it I guess.

[@nr2676]

Seems like Musubi Ending (Isolation Ending) from SMT III Nocturne :)

[@amirgarcia547]

That’s probably why the True Neutral Ending in SMTV is goated, since the protag basically erases the entire demon realm and becomes essentially a god who watches over humanity.

[@felipebisi4145]

A pity the great will/YHVH doesnt care about that

[@Zerobasssoul]

I just wanna go to starbucks

[@TheWonkster]

It's also ignoring the very real possibility that every time you do decide to go to war with God and the game ends, you aren't just instantly slapped sideways and winked out of existence for everything to be recreated for the next SMT

[@realkingofantarctica]

The Redux neutral ending is metal as hell. Dude chills on the moon for eternity only to occasionally return so he can speedrun the game that you just played through, possibly by himself and without any demon assistance.

[@vla1ne]

He's on new game plusx7

[@BloodfelX]

Its like he became the Doomslayer and than transcended it to the point where I imagine demons and angels see the portal opening and start having a panic attack.

[@willbland981]

It would make for a killer superboss in a sequel

[@BloodfelX]

@@willbland981 Maybe even a lore-based unbeatable one, the only other game I can think of that has such a boss is one of the Megaman Battle Network games - the superboss there just goes "Wow, this is actually pathetic" and leaves mid-fight. (And they are right, from what I recall they take 1 damage from all attacks while their attacks take something like a quarter of your max possible health)

[@matthewpopow6647]

​@@BloodfelXdude, that's freaking awesome. The idea of angels and demons beginning to fear him... no words, no mercy, faceless and driven.

[@user-by5jq3dk4z]

Personally I like Nocturne’s freedom ending. Mostly because of Yuko. How before the conception she thought the word was rotten to its core, but after learned to appreciate it for what it was. Kind of like its’s a wonderful life in a way.

[@starmaker75]

Yeah that how I view it. Granted demi fiend would probably hang out with his friends less and find new one, but still

[@isenokami7810]

That, and I think I relate to Yuko most in terms of Reasons. As much as the world needs to get better, I don’t really think the radical changes of the main Reasons are good directions for a world (I can relate to Musubi, but realistically I would not choose it). Outside of TDE breaking the cycle and going against God for forcing it upon humanity (or including it depending on how you see things), Freedom just seems to me like the best course for the new world. Better than the humans available for the Conception can grant it at least; who knows, maybe when it comes again we’ll have people who can make something better.

[@marcosdheleno]

@@isenokami7810 the way i see, the freedom ending feels like the "true ending" in the sense that it sets the stage for another smt game to take place in the future.

[@TARINunit9]

Nocturne was all about breaking series trends. The Reason Endings all LOOK like reversals of the previous Law/Chaos/Neutral endings. The angels want to rule with an iron fist, the demons want to assimilate everyone into a hive mind. In previous games Neutral was about rejecting both sides and embracing humanity, but Isamu's reason is the opposite, embracing demons to reject humanity. On top of this, True Demon is basically an ultra-Chaos ending that, supposedly, rejects the conflict entirely. Freedom, ironically, is a Classic Neutral ending. It looks at the Reasons, who have simply put on superficial trappings of evolving, and calls them out for what they are: the same old tired bullshit in a shiny coat of paint. It would theoretically be calling out Lucifer for the same thing, being a classic Chaos ending with a good PR spin, but True Demon didn't exist in the first version of Nocturne so I can't tell if that was intentional or not. If it is intentional, it's rejecting both Ultra-Law (the Reasons collectively) and Ultra-Chaos (True Demon) and embracing humanity once more

[@parkouremaster]

Ok Eren i see you

[@ApexGale]

I disagree on the freedom ending. I think that ending, amusingly enough, understands freedom better than the TDE. At the start of the game you're told you have no Reason at all, and are told to seek one. But then you're turned into a Demifiend and told you can no longer create your own Reason - only support someone else's. Yuko is also unable to conceive a Reason. So what do you do? You flip Kagutsuchi off, you tell Lucifer to get bent, and you make your own choice not influenced by any higher power. The future is ours to shape. Not God's, not Lucifer's. All the stuff you say about Naoya betraying you could easily be applied to Lucifer and the Demifiend. Who's to say Lucifer won't toss you aside once you've served his purpose? You say that Chiaki and Isamu aren't your friends, but you barely get to know them in the real world before the Conception occurs and warps their mindset. If their Reasons represented who they always were, then they wouldn't have been your friends from the get go.

[@marcosdheleno]

not only that, you cant judge someone at their worst moment. many people would do atrocious acts to survive when push comes to shove, but, if not pushed, they can also be the best of people. that's like pointing to those guys who had the plane crash in the andies and had to canibalize their dead colleagues, and say they are terrible people because they eate human flesh to survive! also, in moments of desperation, people will flip, but they also might not. not everyone can handle the pressure, and sometimes, they will do terrible things beliving that they are their best option. and it can slowly warp their mentality. and at worst, and if they are indeed terrible people, you can always just... stop hanging out with them. its not like the mc is tied to those friends by an umbreakable chain or something like that. just stop and move on to meet other people.

[@nitro5247]

I agree entirely. It’s not just a total reset that undoes everything, it’s a profoundly hopeful ending that I feel is the only adequate response to the situation the Demi Fiend is put into. “The world has ended and you must choose how to recreate it. Also you can’t decide yourself what it will be like, you have to choose between the ideologies of your friends and the guy who ended the world, also all their ideologies suck.” Fuck that shit, I’m giving humanity the chance we were robbed of.

[@demi-femme4821]

If you think Nocturne Lucifer is anywhere NEAR as sketchy as Naoya, you're on something. Lucifer is pretty honest about his goals if you pursue the TDE even if there's some deception on the purpose of the Menorah quest and will give you a chance to turn back even when Metatron considered you as good as fallen. Plus, Lucifer does promise you the whole truth and deliver the whole truth. Meanwhile, Naoya doesn't even tell you who he really is until after it's too late to back out.

[@ApexGale]

@@demi-femme4821 Literally the moment Lucifer sees Naoki, he decides to forcefully implant a magatama in him against his will. The Lady in Black outright says "I'm afraid you have no choice." From the very start you are a tool in Lucifer's game, a pawn he intends to try and shape into a suitable general. For someone who preaches free will, he very clearly has an agenda and tries to force you down that path. Granted, all but one of the fiends are optional, but Lucifer gives you the Candelabra without telling you it is painting a target on your back and is your ticket to a Fiend battle royale. Never mind the fact that he hires Dante and gives him one sole request: kill you. If he really wanted to be truthful with you, he would have told you about the Candelabra's purpose and his goal to turn you into a powerful fiend to command his armies. He doesn't tell you this until you've "proven" yourself - in other words, until you do everything needed to complete the TDE, Lucifer doesn't truly consider you worthy of knowing the truth. Metal as hell route - but ultimately all you are doing is being controlled by a different higher power.

[@Axoldrew]

I highly disagree the true demon is the best ending in the game

[@jerichtandoc7789]

Ayo, finally, some SJR New Neutral love. My favorite ending in all of SMT. The fact that it's so bittersweet with the player character forced to protect all of humanity, yet ends with Arthur asking the now vastly empowered player "do you still feel human?" is just absolutely amazing.

[@NerevarineKing]

I don't really think the new endings fit with the original SJ at all. I just consider Redux a different game and pretend it doesn't exist.

[@johnqb4871]

Ah yes, the Space Doomguy ending, soo metal

[@simonO712]

Same, I _love_ that ending!

[@liamkennedy8768]

i would like to argue that with the 150 years between the 6th and 7th humanity may be improving in that ending, which I feel is impressive, after all the world looks rather verdant and perhaps it is my optimism towards humanity but, I don't feel like the game necessarily contradicts me.

[@oscarcastillo9818]

Becoming the doomslayer is always the best ending

[@The4thSnake]

I think it's called the "Freedom" ending because it's the one you choose for yourself. You're not going along with Lucifer or the Reason-holders, nor lacking the conviction to make a choice.

[@ashyflame]

Hey snake

[@philzh7973]

My heart belongs to Nocturne's Freedom ending. I viewed it as choosing your own path when everyone else says you have no choice. It's also about not being motivated by power or fear of consequences that can only be described as fates worse than death. You don’t sacrifice your humanity, you undo the apocalypse, and you still have the power to punch out anyone or anything that tries to fuck with you. The fact that Lucifer even views you as an equal rather than his greatest subordinate is some of the highest praise you could get from him. Because while the Demi-fiend doesn't go off to kill God like a total badass Antichrist, he'll still be ready to when that time comes.

[@Edski10]

To add to why Lucifer sees the Demi-Fiend as equal. Yes, he doesn't go out to kill God, but he acts out against the order of things, forging his own path. Safe to say that the Fallen one sees a bit of himself in our little half human

[@FatalKitsune]

"Maybe humanity kind of sucks" is the most SMT thing ever.

[@catsarecool9773]

Naoya was actually totally content with the Gin ending, though. He just wasn't personally involved with it. His reaction in the epilogue is literally "oh neat, didn't see that coming!" And honestly I think you're kind of missing a lot of the thematic significance of his character in regards to the inherent unfairness of God's Ordeal (which I do maintain was still there in vanilla, but not expounded on as heavily as it would be in the 8th days), though I totally understand feeling unsatisfied with his vanilla ending.

[@Enrikuh]

Many Westerners seem to purposely ignore the horrible aspects of the Law side, not to mention that it is a Japanese view of that side. And people insist on seeing it as if it were a Western view.

[@Enrikuh]

And the revolt that Naoya feels towards God is valid. He was just used as a moral example and thrown away. Not to mention that what Naoya points out about the lockdown forced by God is very valid. Every time a human individual makes a mistake and invokes demons, does the whole of humanity have to pay for it? And all of humanity pays, as seen in SMT4 and 1. Where God drops nuclear bombs on the entire world.

[@TenStallionsDaoLord]

​@@Enrikuh A lot of people arguing that he's focused on revenge are forgetting that he was tortured for literally thousands of years over a scenario God set up. You would have to be genuinely insane to be able to let that go when the same being responsible starts judging all of mankind based on one cults actions and threatens to murder them all. Naoya already has 100% confirmation that even if you just go along with what God wants it won't be saving all the people who died in the meantime, and that in the end someone has to be the example made and will definitely suffer disproportionately for it.

[@thisisntevenmyfinalform2025]

i see devil survivor in the thumbnail i click 🗣

[@juancastillozonga3764]

I see Strange Journey in the thumbnail i click 🗣

[@AngRyGohan]

Atlus truly being Atlus not delivering the only franchise that practically no one dislikes in the megaten universe. Worst still its a mix of Persona and Smt so they even have less reason not to do more DeSu games.

[@thisisntevenmyfinalform2025]

@@AngRyGohan i might be on copium but i still have hope for DeSu3

[@runawaysparklers622]

I do actually like SMTIV's neutral ending a lot, but I'm painfully aware of how corny and stupid it is.

[@jjmara01]

Many people love it, but different opinions for different endings.

[@ness77777]

Im not even joking. I got the neutral ending in IV on my first playthrough. I have absolutely no idea how i managed this.

[@jjmara01]

It actually isn't that hard tbh.

[@simonO712]

Same

[@leixalkvinay2729]

It isn't that hard, also got it without a guide, just the 3 ways to check the aligment.

[@Chrisgonal]

Same. I knew I wanted it but never followed a guide, just chose “law” and “chaos” options in more less equal measure.

[@TheExFatal]

Same, and I loved my time with it because I don't have this cinemasins-ass outlook on things

[@gabrielelias3333]

You were really unfair with SMT IV neutral route. By the end of the game Isabeau and the other team mates were celebrities in the easter kingdom of Mikado, especially among the samurai. The dialog with other NPC in the city during the evacuation show that people are trusting the samurai in general and that's how they manage to evacuate. SMT Apocalypse shows that both the Asura kai and the Ring of Gaea loose a lot of power after the acrivation of the Yamato reactor, which makes the Hunter the main faction among humans With the death of Merkbah, Lucifer and their greatests generals, the conflinct between angenls and demons end and humans can start to rebuild the city (even with demons still there). Isabeau doesn"t just "meet some nice people", she discovers the truth about Mikado's creation and what the angels and demons did to them, while also conecting herself to the people of tokyo. The cringy dialog is reallly bad and trying to lift the ceiling before evacuation makes no sense, but the rest of it is completely in line with everuthing shown in the game

[@Textrosity]

I got neutral ending in SMT4 on my first blind run, which in retrospect was very impressive. It's a cathartic ending, or meant to be at least.

[@PokemonaMoni]

Honestly I don't agree at all with your list, but the beauty of SMT is that each person has their own ideals and opinions. I'd say this works better as a "favorite" and "least favorite" ending list

[@sock312]

Yeah it’s interesting to hear the reasons why but this list is dogshit

[@caaltaes732]

True if something from any scenario of the SMT games occurred in real life most likely the comment section would divide in factions and kill each other all of us believing we're the ones on the right side.

[@PokemonaMoni]

@@caaltaes732 Yeah, for better or for worse people have different ideals and there's nothing that can be universally accepted as "the best" or "the worst"

[@egoalter1276]

Its a quiet excellent illustration of how the false choice of a meaningless binary distracts from meaningful analasys, and leads to thoughtless factionalism. The only way to win in such a game is not to play. I do appreciate the inclusion of an option that isnt a neutral choice, but rather a refusal to engage with the choice at all.

[@Mariesun]

In my opinion, Law is often the most misunderstood alignment in the series and while I like how its portrayed in Strange Journey, its hard to really find another game in the series that actually encapsulates it well. I'd say II and IV are the biggest offenders, while I can forgive II as it does portray YHVH as the villian of that game and does it well, IV going from Johnathon being a very likeable character who has the best hopes for everyone to Merkabah going to the absolute extreme and being in favour of annihilation is too big of a bait and switch for newcomers of the game. Narrative wise, I could see what they were trying to do but the execution just feels messy and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, not to mention that the way you get Law in gameplay also heavily contradicts the narrative. Sparing lives in the Hunter Showdowns counts towards the complete removal of the residents of Tokyo? Plain stupid, doesn't make the game worse but it doesn't really add anything good to the game either

[@effluxi9587]

SMTIV is weird because it does a lot of worldbuilding and character writing well... until immediately after Jonathan and Walter become host to their respective alignment head... in every route. A problem that they seem to have realised by IVa... where they nail the actual endings but fuck up the character writing leading up to it and waste the entire concept of the polytheistic alliance/divine powers which is a huge shame because we'll probably never see it again.

[@The_Meev]

Yeah, the biggest problem with SMT IV's alignment mechanic is that it's mostly just a morality meter ranging from good to evil, but the story treats it as a range of Law to Chaos which just doesn't make any sense. You can pick all of the general good person answers but not pick any of the actual Law ideology answers, but the game will still stick you into the Law route which ends with you committing a genocide, which is straight up evil. Morality and Ideology are not the same and do not necessarily correlate, which is a major part of why SMT IV's alignment mechanic sucks so much.

[@Dac2003]

I kinda like II's law due Zayin's character, and apparently his dialogues in YHVH's boss are badly translated meaning an entire diferent thing in japanese

[@catcat-ny5qr]

Something a lot of people miss about IV's Law ending is that the angels already tried saving people from Tokyo before, and they were betrayed for it (this is expanded on more in Apoc to be fair but still). The Tokyo humans actively made Mikado a worse place to live in by implementing the caste system. The same generation of hunters that perpetrated the betrayal are still alive as well, since it's only been 18 years underneath the dome. Because of that they're way less willing to make any compromise this time around because they've been snubbed for it in the past, except this time there's like 3x the amount of demons in Tokyo.

[@BigKlingy]

@@The_Meev From what I've read, SMTII has that problem as well. I've seen many blind playthroughs end up locked into Law just by being nice to people, and in that game Law is the ONLY route with genocide.

[@isenokami7810]

I always liked the Freedom Ending, always felt like what I would pick in the Demi-Fiend’s place: I don’t actually want to end the world with either demon ending, and none of the reasons sound like good courses for the new world (I relate to Musubi somewhat, but I wouldn’t impose it as a new world order). Notably, seeing it as merely a reset button or delaying the inevitable has an optimistic spin, actually. Let me put it this way: I think Freedom is the best ending for the world because none of the main Reasons sound like good ideas, their flaws and drawbacks all outweigh the good. But if the Conception is delayed, we won’t have these humans with these Reasons next time around; one can hope that those caught up in the next Conception think of something better.

[@kenkaneki3873]

Freedom also comes with the implication that Demi Fiend retains his powers even if just in a dormant state until the next Conception.

[@GaeaRage0798]

And also hopefully the next "Conception" will come out naturally when it's meant to happen, instead of being artificially caused by a delusional maniac (Hikawa).

[@Chrisgonal]

I always thought that the freedom ending in Nocturne was supposed to make you feel like that. I mean, you basically decided that the world is better off exactly as it was when given the oportunity to explore 4/5 other ways of shaping it. And to be honest it kinda makes a strong point. The world can’t be perfect for everyone. We are bound to experience both joy and suffering and not everyone will share each other’s views. So the chaos in the world we live today is kinda the best version of what a universe can offer: Full of posibilities, both good and bad, for eternity.

[@voicelessjackson6736]

I love the freedom ending in nocturne, idk I feel like my goal from the jump was to bring the world to how it was and I felt satisfied

[@sulianperinet2947]

Yes but I chose ONE MORE TEACHER REJECTED. Luci-sama or nothing

[@fafaaf61]

Don't quite agree with your opinions of Freedom but I love that New Neutral is getting some solid respect. It's one of my favorite SMT endings if not my favorite. In my opinion, the somber bittersweet tone of the ending encapsulates the bleak themes of Strange Journey the best out of all the endings, including the original game. I also love it's unique form of sacrifice that really hasn't been replicated in other SMT titles: the protagonist sacrifices his own humanity to ensure that others don't have to sacrifice theirs, becoming a being not unlike the Gods and Demons he fights so that the rest of humanity can be free. The ambiguous moral nature of the ending is just the cherry on top.

[@andrewmanchiraju8005]

I’m gonna be honest, Naoya is one of my favorite characters in Devil Survivor. I always kinda read him blaming God for Abel as a coping mechanism, like he’s not twisting facts but he actually does believe what he’s saying. It always made the moment before facing Babel a little more meaningful when he stated how he is proud. Also my first experience with the game was overclocked and I just love Naoya’s VA. I think he does a great job with the character.

[@andrewmanchiraju8005]

Also Yuzu’s ending is worst in Devil Survivor and Gin’s is the best. Edit: I’d actually like to correct this. Gin’s is the best from a story perspective, but from a gameplay perspective Naoya’s and Amane’s beat him out. The refacing of all the Bels in a final boss gauntlet is just too cool and it made finally getting to the end so satisfying.

[@thisisntevenmyfinalform2025]

Naoya being voiced by Aizen is great

[@blearghu]

@@andrewmanchiraju8005 Personally, I feel that the 8th Day storyline continuing from Yuzu's ending makes up for it fairly well.

[@anglosaxiphone8246]

​@@blearghuSmt needs more Yuzu endings. I love endings based on ideology and philosophy but we need need more bad ends for abandoning your responsibility. I was so hype playing a scenario where you fucked up and see what your consequences are and try to fix it.

[@shawnheatherly]

Naoya was one of my favorite characters in the original released, and Overclocked made him the best overall. At the end of the day, no matter how much he hates God and whether or not you agree with his logic at all, he cares about Abel. He is snarky, manipulative and selfish, but he still cares.

[@Eliwoodfan10]

Before you start, all of Devil Survivor 1 routes are the best in the series. Now let's watch

[@simonO712]

Agreed!

[@ShinyDiscoBomb]

Except Yuzu's. The game goes out of its way to let you know you f'd up.

[@Eliwoodfan10]

@@ShinyDiscoBomb Good thing Overclocked put a good bandage on that route.

[@ihyjacc]

P3 will forever have one of my fav endings in gaming

[@edwardsuou]

Honestly I think the ending of the answer is much better. P3 is a little too abrupt in its ending like they had to cut because the money was over. The whole section from the great seal to the very last scene is very bare bones in terms of presentation. The last three persona games all have amazing prologues so to me you need an epilogue just as well put together. I’m not much talking about concept and writing but instead about presentation. Which is extremely important because P3’s ending is a lot ambiguous to the point you need external information to really understand what’s going on. The answer is much clearer especially in the message which is almost the same as the original message, only this time around Aigis gets a proper ending to her arc.

[@ihyjacc]

@@edwardsuou this a very fair take and I also like the ending for the answer. Clarified a lot of things in p3 + brand new days one of my fav persona songs across the franchise

[@kiri3567]

​​@@edwardsuouI disagree. Not everything needs to be explained for a story to be perfect. Leaving room for imagination and open interpretation is a staple in good stories, and although it's canonical that p3's protagonist dies, implying it with the rooftop scene was the perfect way to end the game. It's kinda like cooking a nice dish and then adding some final flourishes to make it better. Example being perhaps baking a cake and adding some fruits or whatever on top of it once it's done baking. The cake itself would be the game and the fruits would be the answer, they're not necesarry but it makes the presentation better. Also the great seal and the rooftop is not barebones at all, the game is just old. The remake coming out would hopefully make it look a lot better. There's a reason people look at the ending and cry, and that's because it's built so perfectly to release a constantly building well of emotions, bursting right when memories of you begins playing. If it were barebones, the rooftop wouldn't be so iconic and easily referenced by fans.

[@ExpandDong420]

​@@edwardsuouI don't agree, it leaves it at a good point and doesn't feel the need to spell everything out.

[@pokedude720]

​@@kiri3567I'll be honest, I actually didn't understand it at 1st when I played it and my friend had to explain it. I thought the epilouge was just showing that defeating Nyx wiped everyone's memories of the Dark Hour and thought the roof was literally just Makoto/Kotone taking a nap while waiting for the rest. Call me slow to the uptake if you want, I can take it.

[@rokia360]

Interesting to not with Alcor's route is that it's of the protagonist's route because you're the one who put that idea to Alcor and you also have to go out of your way to get this route as you can't make any mistake with the choices even once.

[@wicked7582]

The nocturne freedom ending is really missunderstood. it's more about the characters than the aligment. all of the characters want a perfect world where there is no suffering, where they do not change, beceause is way easier, to blame everyone else, than it is to blame yourself. Thats why the character are so stuck to themselves, and most of the time break their reasons, they think the world is the problem and changing would make it better. but every reason ending would lead to more stagnation, that´s why people who chose to walk the path of thorns learn and move foward, it´s harder painful and most of the time we don´t know why we do it, but it makes us better. I don´t know why most of the people dislike it

[@egoalter1276]

Because people as a whole tend to be idealistic.

[@polyman6859]

Somethings of worth to note about Naoya. The game calls Naoya out for being a hypocrite by needing Abel to execute his plan while he values individual strength highly. Naoya acknowledges you as a brother on the 7th day of his route, signifying a comradery reestablished so I don't really get your suspicion of betrayal. Naoya's most unfaithful moment is not aligning with the Shomonkai after he gave them access to the demon summoning program, but it was just commissioned work. Naoya gave Yuzu, the mc, and Atsuro comps before the lockdown. Naoya has no motivation to betray the mc now that his opinion of god has soured and he's generally fine with alt routes his brother chooses unless it's Amane. DeSu also presents the risk of God's hold and how there is a possibility of the lockdown happening again in the future depending on how they view humanity that week. To sum it up Naoya is intentionally written as a hypocrite, but has a legitimate point on combating the angels that prevents him from betraying his brother provided he doesn't side with Amane.

[@polyman6859]

Correct me if I misremembered or got stuff wrong lol

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

facts nyarly is simping for amane too hard to clearly see reason.

[@seta1346]

Bro also says "this ending doesn't really feel like you're supporting a noble cause" like bro.. it's chaos ending bro.. naoya doesnt give a fuck about noble cause. he wants revenge, he wants to punch god in the face, have his back against the wall. you allign with him because you want to punch god in the face too, thats all there is to it.

[@polyman6859]

@@seta1346 Chaos is a power fantasy at the end of the day, that's the appeal. Now you do have the option of killing or not killing humans on the bonus 8th day but still, if you valued having a good looking morality above all else you'd choose Jin/Haru's ending.

[@catsarecool9773]

Naoya is a deeply flawed and complicated character for sure, but I think he also represents a significant thematic argument against the justice of "God's Ordeal." It is touched on more in 8th day, but frankly I think the game straight up makes an excellent point about Cain having kinda been put in an inherently unfair situation and manipulated into being God's scapegoat. That's kind of an inherent flaw in the standard Christian line of thinking wrt "it's all part of God's plan." At the very least, I think it's understandable that he feels that way. I don't think this necessarily makes him *right,* but I do think you seriously need to understand his perspective to fully understand the game's core thematic conflict. IMHO Desu1 is the single most morally complex game in the franchise.

[@urameshitrev1851]

While I don't feel as harsh towards SMT4's Nuetral Ending, I do feel the amount of grinding you have to do just to unlock the last dungeons you face in the Law/Chaos routes back to back, really squanders it's potential imo (I know SMT1 & 2 does the same thing but that was on the SNES) Also Hell Yeah, Alcor has my Favorite Endings in Devil Survivor 2 in the Septentrionne and the Triangulum Routes.

[@TheGameDomeGuy]

I honestly think that you kinda have a bit of a doomer outlook this one since... I think on everything since I lived the freedom ending since it's the best way to insult lucifer you used the power he gave you to foil him and I loved it Also I think how the time flow feels in game is way different how the characters feel it I mean the demi fiend literally walks on foot on large stretches of wasteland what feels to the players like minutes could be months for the characters

[@starmaker75]

Yeah the freedom ending is demi fiend is going "I am so sick of this demon and Lucifer bullshit, I just wanted to go back to being a human and deal with this in a later time".

[@Axoldrew]

​The freedom ending sucks it feels like running away from change and as it is I would rather pick the reasons or the tde rather than freedom

[@TheGameDomeGuy]

@@Axoldrew I mean your options are being the pawn of human assholes or the demon asshole who robbed you of the ability to inflict change into the new world or the third option that is telling them your ideas are fucking shit and robbing them of their ability to create or destroy

[@savagej4y241]

@@Axoldrew Choosing a reason makes you play God and going TDE makes you Lucifer's pawn. They all suck, Freedom FTW

[@BigKlingy]

I have to give credit to Devil Survivor 1's Law Ending, as I feel it's it's the only time the writing has ever come close to having Law be an okay option. Like you said, the angels kinda had a point with the lockdown, and YHVH's actions and motives are treated ambiguously outside of Naoya's 8th Day, with Naoya himself being a very biased source and also the cause of a lot of the story's problems. (And I kinda like that, because Naoya is basically the one reason Chaos isn't perfect in that game) And there's also Amane, easily not just the best Law rep in the series but one of the best alignment reps in general. She outright tells you she'll respect your decision and won't force you to pick her side, and will directly help you on Neutral and even the good branch of Naoya's 8th day. The only issue I had was I tried a bit of the 8th Day and it's... still pretty awkward. I like that, unlike most SMT endings, you get to SEE the effort to make humanity do better, but it boils down to "be nice or angels will murder you". But speaking of Devil Survivor 1, Atsuro's Ending is absolutely up there on my "worst" list. In a game that shows the police got drunk with power the moment they got demon summoning apps, and that the government had a secret microchip conspiracy so they could kill everyone in Tokyo if they needed to, let's give EXCLUSIVE access of the Demon Summoning App to the Japanese government! That's not a horrible idea at all! Atsuro himself is a good character... but he joins on every single other route, so his route doesn't even offer anything gameplay-wise!

[@dragowolfraven3806]

I agree with you that Asturo's ending is the worst one in Devil Survivor.

[@BigKlingy]

@@dragowolfraven3806 "Use the power of Demons to advance science" is an interesting idea and I appreciate them coming up with more spins on Neutral, it's the way it was done that doesn't fit with the themes of the story. (Which really shows that humans, especially those in power, can't be trusted with Demons)

[@littlekuribohimposte]

@@dragowolfraven3806 I mean, Yuzu’s is kind of worse.

[@loren5432]

​@@littlekuribohimposteNot really. Yuzu's ending is the most realistic one since that'a how a normal teenager would act in that scenario. Yes, you're told multiple times that escaping is bad, but what would you do if you were forced to survive for 7 days straight against bad people and demons, on top of being forced into fighting a battle royale against some really strong ones, all of this while having barely any food to get by at all? Atsuro's ending is just straight up nonsensical. He's the guy who learned about the UEM field, he's the guy who literally saw, throught many instances, how the police and SDF members could abuse their power, and his first thought is "let's give all this power to the goverment, I'm sure they wouldn't abuse it at all!" Like dude, come on.

[@littlekuribohimposte]

@@loren5432 It us, but Yuzu's ending is also the worst. You and other people can fight temons and tame them. The breakout means that demons run free, and millions of people without their own demons or the Harmonizer will be slaughtered. And short of wiping things clean, there's no real way to control it. And I feel it's a bit nonsensicalthat it opens to you if, on Day 6, you stop Honda and others from running awaythen (I think it's an optional mission, since the Laplace Mail is totally broken by then) If I recall right, Gin's ending is framed as the best in the game?

[@CarlosSilva-bh4bi]

Yeah... No The SMT4 Neutral is not bad because its not perfect as well as Law and Chaos and all are valid, because you get stuck on one of two you are forced to see their ending and thats norrmally where you see their point cuz it depends on who you liked the most, like, the game is decided so you get on one of two and the third being only if you get all the context and are truly balanced, pretty much made so you get to 0 and then you choose an alignment or get stuck on one Yet All endings are valid because - Law is pretty much Flyyn trying to save whats left of Mikado after the angels discard the Luxurors - Chaos is Fynn being tired of being nuked and deciding to take extreme measures - Nothing is neutral Flynn discovering that everything is useless and he has to choose but hates both sides - Neutral gives a posibility of change and blocks God from getting back because the goddess is resurrected and becomes the main god of the Human councious thanks to Flynn yet, he still has to fix civilization, but he already has beated the 4 archangels fused on perfect harmony and lucifer with a physical form, so convincing the _WEAK_ ring of gaea and the genocided mikado is going to be easy but long Like, the neutral here is like your secret ending only posible if you truly go to the right path

[@naoki-kashima2635]

That bit with Masakado destroying the ceiling with the people of Mikado falling down had me in TEARS 😭💀

[@ninenineninenine407]

New Neutral definitely deserves the spot as the only one that really keeps the spirit of the original endings. I honestly like them more though. Old Law is unironically the best traditional Law ending in the series, because it is legitimately the only guarantee that humanity won't be wiped out, as the other alternatives give them maybe another century or two at best. In the rest of the series, it's viewed as unecessary and extreme for no reason. Old Neutral has the ambiguity and slim hope of humanity not screwing up again going for it, and Old Chaos actually makes you feel for the demons, even though the MC would have to be insane to pick it.

[@marcosdheleno]

but are they even human at that point? no free will, no nothing, just existing. by that point you could argue that they are no longer humanity, just homunculus.

[@lionofash7700]

All the Day 8 Endings for Overclocked are amazing imo. Surprisingly I liked Yuzu's the most, it may nto be the most bombastic of them in any way and isn't difficult at all, it felt NARRATIVELY consistent and believable considering what was going on. Point A lead to Point B into Point C and felt NATURAL for all the characters and the circumstances they were subjected too. Teenagers in this scenario doing this MAKES TOTAL SENSE, and then maturing and trying to be responsible for their actions and consequences and striving to fight the thing they were avoiding because they HAVE TO, is great.

[@dongodongo12]

The worst one is the one that atlus had for the franchise... Happy 35th anniversary everybody!

[@agcz789]

After Soul Hackers 2 i just gave up expecting a good new game, in the slim chance that they port/remake the older games they're 100% going to butcher them in some way as well

[@firstnamelastname7244]

​@@agcz789Eh, I feel like it takes more than one mid spin off to ruin a franchise.

[@felipebisi4145]

It is hilarious that he complains about freedom while devil survivor neutral is exactly the same we have friends that desert you and you simply banished the demons and comps while YHVH may randomly decide to do another doomsday week for fun. Comedy gold

[@lionofash7700]

I actually think SMT IV doing that, I mean, at least within its own universe, including IV A, it's clear that within that narrative there's this idea that the powers that be are actually doing a futile thing. The pattern of Law into Chaos into Law into Chaos, with occasional patches of Neutral, is something the forces have gotten sick of and in the case of Merkhabah and Lucifer they haven't quite realised yet. All the choices are "false" including Neutral when it comes to giving Finality and Closure but that was the intended message, that DESPITE that, MAKING A CHOICE of your own volition is the most important thing - giving up and destroying everything because you feel your actions have no long term consequences to the state of the world is agreeing with the true Antinatalist White faction. An ending where they go "well no matter what choice we make, it just perpetuates the cycle, so let's die on our own terms to END the cycle." I think 4 has to be considered in a vacuum in this regard for these reasons.

[@starmaker75]

For my favorite ending for smt is nocturne's true demon and freedom. Their good parallel to each other. True demon is you fully embracing that your a demon and wanting to destroy the cycle. It awesome, triumphing and cool. The freedom ending is you holding on to your humanity and being sick of all this higher power stuff. The fact you tell Lucifer and Kagutsuchi to piss off with both respecting you(mainly Lucifer) is quite impressive(he can respect it when someone tell their high up to piss off). Also it nice for the demi fiend to have peace and quiet. Sure he may never look at his friend the same way and he has to deal with the demons later. However it good to enjoyed the moments of peace and it implied he still has those powers. Again both the freedom and true demon ending do well for they accomplish(which is something I can't for a lot of the other ending smt).

[@marcosdheleno]

12:17 yeah... so you would move away from them, and find NEW friends you could trust instead. you said it yourself, you do remember it. meaning, you are now able to judge them with that knowledge. its no diferent from finding out your girlfriend cheated on you and you dump her, or discovering a friend of yours stole something from your room and you stop associating with them. resetting the world doesnt mean going back to the exact same place it was before. on the contrary, it means being able to know things and act acordingly.

[@CiowaDyer]

I know you said in the beginning that you didn't feel strongly about any other endings aside from these three, but I would love to see more videos like this where you discuss endings of games that you think are bad or good based on your own thoughts. This was really interesting and I would love to see more like this.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

I liked Alcors ending because it’s open to going any way you may think it goes or if you’re playing record breaker leading into the Triangulum story (which I haven’t played yet and probably should) I just wish Polaris wasn’t an insultingly easy final boss.

[@LuminousArc92]

the Triangulum story follows what's basically a fusion of the true Daichi reset and Alcor's ending since he's taking over as administrator but Yamato and Ronaldo are alive and teamed up with you. That said it's final boss was also quite easy. But it does have the optional Tico fight which was a challenge

[@dutczar5436]

I'd still take Polaris over most final bosses, only the fact you can ignore phase 3's gimmick and 1HKO it is bad. I hated DeSu1's "I can randomly double Megidolaon" more. Only IVA and SJR (though it's debatable, and not vanilla) had good hard final bosses, of the ones I played.

[@ArchonZach]

Ah dude has my favorite ending as second worst 😭

[@RyuuKishiTheSeventh]

I don't like how you get to it, I don't like that you don't get to fight a unique boss, but I like the conclusion for it I wouldn't say the neutral ending for smt iv is bad. From a game play stand point, it's not good, at all. From a story stand point though, you get rid of the idiot who wants to commit genocide on a people who did nothing wrong, and an idiot who thinks might makes right is the best way to move forward

[@NerevarineKing]

I actually like how the endings of SJ (DS) reflect the idea that mankind will always make the same mistakes.

[@marcosdheleno]

i get the point, i just veehmently disagree that humanity is completely unable to learn. i mean, the MC is proof that's not the case, as he was someone who sacrificed himself to give humanity another chance. and everytime it happens he descends to save them again and again. now i asked this in a diferent post but, maybe i missed something, why cant he do anything beyond wait until shit hits the fan?

[@menosay1912]

Because then he would just be another higher being telling humanity what to do. Humans are gonna human unless you put them under a boot. There are too many people with too many differing personalities to ever truly change humanity without force.

[@marcosdheleno]

@@menosay1912 its not a 8 or 80. there are alot of numbers in between. and he can just nudge it a bit from time to time. less like a ruler, and more like a teacher. the main problem with most SMT endings is that they are too one dimensional. its either, they all get eaten by demons, or they become mindless puppets. there's no nuance. which is why all endings feel so... pointless.

[@menosay1912]

@@marcosdheleno That still wouldn't help. He can offer teaching, but humanity will still be humanity no matter what wisdom he offers whether subtle or overt. Humanity is still too vast and varied for him to do anything to really change them.

[@marcosdheleno]

@@menosay1912 " He can offer teaching" have you ever heard the expression "on the shoulder of giants"? its a famous saying that means, every scientific discovery was only possible because someone came before and paved the road for them to go foward. so yeah, its the whole point is this, if humanity is to move foward, it need someone to help them get there. if a child makes a mistake, you teach them. you dont let them keep sticking a fork into an outlet thinking "i hope the next one wont do the same mistake..."

[@darkspin3000]

Honestly smt iv neutral ending isn’t hard to get. It’s literally •press the first option in each dialogue box for everything except for the tournaments. That one just kill everyone in one and spare everyone in the other •always go left in the maze question area •avoid the room with the woman who ask which are you human or demon, •choose Jonathan •destroy status quo •Also make sure to do all side quest while playing through.

[@TheOmniBlade]

SMT V endings have no reason to be as undercooked as they are. The true neutral ending having you fight a superboss as a requirement that's much harder than Trucifer and spitting all over Fionn's goals in joining you are so mind baffling. Also the neutral ending just cheating you out of fighting the final boss was especially lame.

[@espurrseyes42]

Don't get me started on the V endings. They're shit.

[@bearberserker]

My favorite ending from the series would be Gin's ending from Devil Survivor where your effort led to something great while there was uncertainty due to the final message from Metatron.

[@alexmorpheus6762]

Same here. I also prefer Daichi's triumphant ending from Devil Survivor 2.

[@StrykerMagnum]

I'm kind of surprised the True Ending of Last Bible 3 didn't make the list. The Great Will is no friend to any other being, and so few protagonists get to struggle against it so directly, even insofar as you fighting the fingernail of it's full form.

[@SageofStars]

I have to admit, it's more about tone, but I DO like the Law Ending of SMTV. Sure, visually it's pretty, but unremarkable beyond that, but it is the first ending in the series as a whole(The numbered series anyway), that says your lead is HAPPY with what happened. Plus, it's the only one where you end up in control. No Lucifer above you as you lead HIS armies, no Great Will waiting to stab you in the back. This will be a world as YOU decide it to be best, with the hosts of heaven backing your play. Meanwhile the Chaos ending in that one is pretty much the Neutral ending from SMTIV, with all the same problems, and the Neutral ending is probably the best flip the bird moment in the series, whether it be the Destroy or New World versions.

[@issacthompson330]

In Devil Survivor 2, both the New World endings can't be messed with by the Admins directly which feeds more into it being a form of true freedom. Alcor quite literally can't influence the world anymore. I don't know if that detail is in the base game but it is a key part of Record Breakers version of the ending in the Triangulum route.

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

It is in the original too, don't worry

[@wowwar2]

Disagree hard on Nocturne's freedom ending. The meaning of is that you have chosen to believe in humanity's potential to grow and choose for themselves instead of having their fated decided by some single entity, which i believe has always been SMT's guiding principle

[@christianm7250]

The freedom ending is one of my favorites because it does feel like you accomplished something. You brought the world back to the way it was which brings freedom and order. I feel the true adversary part means that you are going to face challenges in life and you should be ready for that. I much prefer it to being Lucifer's bitch because "Chaos is edgy and I'm a redditor" which is a big problem with SMT as a whole. They make you feel worse about believing in god rather than making you feel bad for helping Lucifer. Only 2 main line games don't have a anti law bias. Which are 1 and Strange Journey. which out of 6 games kinda sucks.

[@Kent_D_Nur]

Agree

[@christianm7250]

@@Kent_D_Nur thanks

[@AbstractTraitorHero]

Unironically Japan does not like Christanity, I don't either. But, honestly they go way too hard. Strange Journey makes God actually somewhat appealing in its original ending which I actually like.

[@christianm7250]

@@AbstractTraitorHero I think SMT 1 is the only one to portray god in a realistic and understanding light. Even in Strange Journey it felt like "We give you no freedom so neutral is the clear answer" SMT 1 is just "If you have faith in me meet me here so I can rid the world of those who dont" Which feels like the one time Japan respected God.

[@photonguro]

someone got naoya mogged

[@4wheal]

Dont really agree with the take on Naoya as the game dose make it clear through the different routes that he dose love Able and even hints at God setting up him killing Able. He also is happy with god just getting fed up with humanity and leaving in Yuza 8th day shlwing that his main goal was always that.

[@PokemonaMoni]

Yeah, he cares a lot about his little bro and he let the protagonist make his choices. I think he's a very human character as he has his flaws but you can see why he's doing this

[@marcosdheleno]

you know what would be more interesting? if he plan was for able to kill him instead. giving him the right to die, as well as tainting able as the kinslayer in his place. which would be a massive middle finger to God.

[@kyoyama2811]

Thank you for delivery interesting content to watch before i'm going to bed, Nyarly !

[@PotatoBrotato]

I personally don't agree with Naoya's ending being one of the worsts, in fact, I think it's the best ending in Devil Survivor. I feel like Naoya does have a bond with you at the end that doesn't feel manipulative, as you make your own decisions and also save humanity by your own choice since you can kill or let live everyone you come across on the 7th and 8th day. Also, I think you forgot that the Shomonkai asked Naoya to make the Demon Summoning program. Another thing is that even though the lockdown was justified, the punishment of everyone including innocents was not.

[@Demi-Fiend76]

Nyarly i just want to say thank you for the amazing content you produce. Dont ever change.❤

[@Jack-lo5me]

Personally for the DS1 Naoya ending, I LOVE it. We see that Naoya is a schemer, but he sticks to the background most of the time, only during the final act does he actually do anything. He is even content with whatever you choose, though, siding with YHVH in any way tends to get him a bit miffed. He may be Machiavellian, but on the other hand, he is literally giving you the keys to the castle. He wants to play advisor. Though I do agree, most of the good parts of Naoya’s ending comes from Overclocked… but still, he is your advisor, your mastermind, your “guy in the chair”. Idk, I just- I can’t really see how “manipulated into being the most powerful demon ever and killing a tyrannical god” is overall THAT evil. Yes, you were manipulated, buuut… what ya gonna do, eh?

[@luigirb4022]

Man I love New Neutral, I'm glad you included it. Great video as always!

[@Deahtoolness]

SMT 4 defender here. There is a similar thing to strange journey that you seem to like that is the fatalism idea, There is no good outcome, so the neutral one where we imagine everything is gonna be alright even though we are sure are not it's in the core of the game. It's genocide, vs genocide, vs genocide vs well, this is the best we can do to not full blown genocide people, like the neutral ending on strange journey, you know that it's a suicide mission that will probably go wrong, but it's what it feels more moral to do. You treat Mikado like it's not a privilleged chosen by god that still mantains fake hierarchies based on birth even tough they did not need this , they choose too with god aprroval, so the natural thing that would be Flynn joiniing walter and isabeau joining jonathan seein how fucked up everything is and trying something different is as beautifull as Cain helping Abel in Desu. The one who chooses to not let his resent of being a casualty turn him into walter and the one who did not wanter to keep her status quo after seeing people of tokyo suffering, even tough their fight is not definitive, the beauty is in they rejecting what they should be naturally and try something, But the hope cringe is real. The thing is Walter and Flynn were discriminated and bullied form being casualties since day 1, one breeds hate , Jionathan and Isabeau were the status quo, but one doesn't care how his privilliege destroys lifes of people and he still chooses to be the one on the top.. Anyway, it's an end that I like because it's like soldiers knowing that their solution is not perfect, but chosse too not his bitterness for discovering he was always an unclean one in Mikado, and the other see the unclean ones as equals, having all the reasons to not do this,

[@amaeo5170]

Alcor's ending was the first ending I got in Devil Survivor 2, though iirc that ending came at the cost of Io dying at the part where she uses Lugh's power.

[@terrarose4708]

That happens if you don't talk to her before getting the lugh cells

[@jeezycreezy4220]

With Nocturne's freedom ending, one thing that always struck me was the similarities between Demifiend's bedroom and the SMT 1 Protag's bedroom. In my headcanon, choosing the freedom ending in Nocturne makes it the prequel to SMT1, with the SMT 1 protag being Demifeind.

[@tomo8940]

He really called the Nocturne freedom ending garbage. As if TDE is any better and you end up as Lucifer's dog.

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

FACTS. and SMT4 neutral leads into SMT4-A which is either wholesome or turbo-edge. L take nyarly!

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

@@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw i havent played smt 4/apocalypse i hope attlus remasteres them both

[@marcosdheleno]

the worst part is, his logic can be said about pretty much most endings in the franchise. as he criticizes the friends for doing things for power in the end of the world. and yet, by not picking it, isnt the demifiend doing that exact same with with humanity? saying "F U, im the demifiend"?

[@kyokkyuu]

@@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw I will defend 4-A's plot forever, even if Nozomi and Asahi are cartoonishly goofy. I only wish the Divine Powers had a representative you could side with; tying the MC to Dagda really limited where the story could go.

[@Ike_of_pyke]

​@@marcosdhelenodifference ....its YOUR choice at that point and the result to you being attacked several times over

[@kenggens]

I always watch your videos, i really love smt series. Keep up the great work nyarly!

[@SciontheDark]

I feel like there's a lot of negative projection when it comes to your view of the neutral endings. It's supposed to be about humanity's inherent right to exist, despite all odds, or the whims of otherworldly beings.

[@Zanodia]

I'm my opinion, having an opinion is invalid, therefore; this comment has wasted your time.

[@faultyvideos2215]

SMT V's chaos ending COULD'VE been good if they actually did anything with it. Hell, all of V's endings couldve been good if they actuallt did anything with them, since all of them (save for the normal neutral ending) are all interesting new takes on their respective alignments. Like sure, demons running rampant or whatever is cool, but the idea of GODS being free to do whatever the hell they want with humanity, battling it out with one another because of their conflicting ideals, that shit sounds awesome! And the law ending posing the question of how far is too far with abdiel becoming a fallen angel by the end, all just to impose god's will. Man SMT V was so fucking close to being amazing

[@francescomoretti934]

I hope Vengeance fixes the issues with smt v’s story

[@ruleofoz2207]

I am a Wanted:Dead defender, but it's hilarious to see someone sell it in a spensorship and having to leave out that most... "intresting" things about the game. Which to me, are a selling point.

[@SciontheDark]

20:57 Yeah. It would be weird if the main character did everything. Nevermind the fact that she's the second most famous samurai in Tokyo and Mikado because she's one of your supporters.

[@codyfranczak4493]

ah man the anguished one's ending is so fucking good.

[@iamtheshim]

The final fight against the Tower of Babel with no demons was genuinely cool and I'm happy to see other people appreciated it too. I love that whole final day. Really need to replay DS1 again now.

[@Pixel_Rocket23]

Honestly I love Daichi's endings. They're all good imo.

[@ZorotheGallade]

I like the idea that in Strange Journey's Neutral+ ending Doomguy is actually planning to give mankind another chance no matter if he has to destroy seven, 100 or a million Schwartzwelten because he's hanging on to his own promise to keep them safe until they can get their shit together.

[@littlekuribohimposte]

One of my favourite endings is in Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker. It's not the "best" ending, but I do like it. It's the one where you sacrifice yourself to become the Admistrator, and Alcor chooses tobecome your Sword. It's kind of a reset ending, but when Daichi and Io are talking, it's clear they notice something missing, though they don't know what. And with you filling Polaris's chair, you prevent the ascenscion of another administrator like what set Record Breaker in motion. Also I think using Skill Crack to steal, Heat, Space Time and Gravity, the four elements that make up the universe, to match the Great Will is hype as fuck. Plus Miyako's a cutie and she gets to stay around.

[@notdwaddler2013]

Honestly, I don't agree with the statement on Redux's endings being retcon-y. It's kinda obvious WHAT happens at the end of each and Alex is there to represent that last smidge of humanity that got fucked over by it. Y'know, to help drive home the already existing negative aspects of those OG endings and convince their representatives to dial down the extremism behind em. The new law/chaos endings feel like ones genuinely brought by the player's efforts instead of just tossing over full control to the obviously ill-intentioned, extremist factions behind em. Which is honestly refreshing after seeing most other SMT games' endings.

[@gspandem1204]

Tbh New-Chaos feels like if you introduced the indomitable human spirit to the usual cold, harsh reality of Chaos.

[@nerdicusdorkum2923]

I still find it so funny that my first blind playthrough of smt 4, my first ever smt game... I stumbled into the neutral ending. Conveniently, I was also going for a crit gun build, and I ended up picking up one of the best guns in the game that is locked behind the neutral ending. I think what happened is I was picking law actions, because I wanted to be a good dude, a hero. But towards the end, lilith asked me a whole questionnaire of stuff, and I was like 'ya, freedom is a good thing bro!' Either way, was glad I got that laser gun, and two final bosses to slay. ;p

[@livingdoubt54]

hey its that video you said you were gonna make in that one podcast a long time ago

[@quizlaire]

I do get what you're saying about SMTIV but personally, I never touched the sidequests. When the neutral ending made them mandatory it really opened my eyes and I got to see everything there was in Tokyo. I didn't even know there was a vessel you can use to fly over the overworld until I discovered that one dock area, because I had to do the sidequests. The actual story ending does kinda suck, but I'm glad that the neutral path got me to fight all those bosses and explore Tokyo like I never had before.

[@Alcor98]

I was so happy you picked the ending for the best ending you did. I always felt it was underappreciated.

[@georgemeyers7172]

I noticed the 2 Best ending Picks were from Devil Survivor and it's Sequel. You really like those games huh Nyarly?

[@BaoZakeruga]

Naoya's ending in Devil Survivor is my favorite ending in the series. All of SMT V's endings are my least favorite.

[@tivvy2vs21]

Started my second playthrough of vtmb, and now that i think of it, theres some similarities to smt, especially the ending system, id love to see you cover that game

[@marcosdheleno]

12:07 that's were we disagree. people arent saints, they arent beings of pure justice. you dont know desperation until you are faced with it. and at those moments it becomes a coin toss. the same way someone can decide to stick with you, they can also betray you on the first opportunity. compare it to picking the reset ending compared to the true demon ending or any other where you become overpowered. isnt that basically you screwing up the rest of humanity for more power? sure, the reset doesnt fix everything. but it allow you to give other people another chance. and maybe next time they wont. it reminds me ALOT of the ending of kamen rider blade, hands down the best ending to any tokusatsu. and the main character is given a choice. and he picks one that is basically the same as this, he chooses to postpone the inevitable to after humanity has fallen. and basically condemn himself to a future of suffering and loneliness when that time comes.

[@M4urMoM]

Strange Journey is soooo underrated.

[@marcosdheleno]

how can it be underrated if its in the top 3 of pretty much every "best smt game" list? if anything, you could argue its actually overrated, as everyone and their mother talks as if its the best game in the franchise.

[@nr2676]

It sold worst in mainline games, aside of NINE and IF. Changing game name in last moment from SMT IV into Strange Journey had negative impact into sales.@@marcosdheleno

[@hafidhadib1062]

Dude that the best 3 of shin megami tensei all of time, wth it become underated

[@ThomBaws]

The only ending in SMTV that I like is the Law ending. Normally, I tend to enjoy the Neutral endings the most, followed by Chaos. But in SMTV, the Law ending gives the most hope, the most positive outlook. That personally surprised me a lot, in a good way

[@nr2676]

SMT V Law Ending it's the only one OK ending in this game, still not great (basically standard Law Ending from SMT 1 but without YHVH and brainwashing / genocide), but not that terrible like Neutral, True Neutral, and Chaos.

[@paperluigi6132]

@@nr2676without going too deep into spoilers, how does one get the Law ending in V?

[@nr2676]

you sit on the Empyrean Throne and it is up to you whether you follow YHVH's order or not@@paperluigi6132

[@nr2676]

You sit on the Empyrean Throne and it is up to you whether you follow YHVH's order or not. Basically you are replacement of YHVH.@@paperluigi6132

[@nataliecoronado4206]

I thought the Chaos ending was the most natural route when I first played SMT5. It's the only ending that focused on saving the people in Tokyo, rather than letting the idea of ascending the throne get to their heads and believing the whole world needs a reset. I also just like the idea of putting things back to the way they were before YHVH took over, when the gods weren't split apart and humans didn't have the heavens breathing down their necks. If the Law ending is better like people say, I might have to replay it to see it for myself.

[@baronagony4767]

I have to say I liked Digital Devil Saga 2s ending best. I know it's a set ending but I feel it also is a good example of a neutral alignment done right. I kind of liked the upgraded chaos ending in strange journey but then again I ship the hero with Jimenez so that may be why...

[@blearghu]

... Kinda funny how half of this video is Devil Survivor endings, lol.

[@CrowScareify]

Dude being sponsored by Wanted Dead is sick. That game is awesome.

[@limechips4289]

Devil Survivor 2 is a pretty close game to me. I played it during school using a phone emulator I had and I can honestly say I loved it. Even with its corny story at points, it was a genuinely fun game from start to finish. I did every ending except Law, because I didn't have much of an idea of what to do on a fourth playthrough. (I made things interesting by doing a "Solo" run for Chaos, and I spent New Game+ doing the Freedom ending. I love playing that ending, it totally deserved to be on the top.) I think there's definitely better things to play, and I only played the DS version, not the 3DS. But I'm happy to see that a game that was just so close to me during high school get on the top of this list, instead of something like the True Demon ending. Thanks.

[@ibt2811]

Hey Nyarly, I just wanted to say I love your videos, they help me go to sleep when I have trouble some nights Edit: NOT saying your content is boring btw, keep it up!

[@salsamonkey65]

I'm just thinking about how much SMT5 wasted its potential with its endings...

[@aimi4s1]

Naoya is having his best revenge by letting you, the Bel, rebel against the law. As having your loved one rebel against you is the a damn experience to have.

[@nachonacho4636]

The new neutral ending from redux reminds me a phrase of Mitsuru in the answer "we stopped the Fall, but we can't change society"

[@joshrivet4011]

Nocturne feels like a Groundhog Day situation. Like either Lucifer or The Greater Will trapped you in a loop either for fun or because you are a threat worth trapping.

[@Vohaul86]

I have to say I did love the escape ending (Yuzu's route) in Devil Survivor, as that gave something I really wasn't expecting. (The reveal with "the gigolo" was also great fun.) Probably the bad ending of Silent Hill 1 was the last time I was so speechless...

[@YunaTuna01]

the goat is back again

[@Fadsy]

Hearing the neutral ending in SMT4 get brought up reminded me that I was extremely lucky that I could remember all my alignment answers and just barely pulled it off

[@RpgBlasterRpg]

7:10 Law Ending is the worst, dead brain people praying 24/7 while doing nothing but standing there for eternity

[@DragonKingX78]

It's nice to actually see stuff for SMT...especially during it's 30th anniversary.

[@gsuaveyt]

I actually chose naoyas path because out of the three endings i had available (him, amane, and yuzu) i decided it was the best option