I don't think the universe wanted me to publish this - the editing software crashed numerous times, I ran into audio issues, and it killed my headset. In fact, it had its last breath like ten minutes ago, so this game effectively was the last thing it heard. Hope it was worth the effort, sorry it took so long. As promised, Soul Hackers is next, and I have an idea for a shorter review coming up in the near future.
I'm playing the fan translation and there is an NPC in the Princess Hotel there's an NPC that says, "You're planning to kill the witch in Tokyo Tower, yeah? As long as she remains on her magic seal, her power is amplified exponentially." So there is actually an explanation for why she's so much less powerful when she's in your party.
Yes, because Rossana (The name confirmed by Atlus of the female protagonist) in her magic seal is level 100 (Reason why it kills you and your party in one attack) but when she is your new partner, she is at the level just as you left her in the Devil Busters game (and to top it off, with nothing of the equipment she had in Devil Busters itself)
@anthonykarnes6804 play the fan translation.... there won't be a link saying word for word what OP wrote, and if there is then you'll find it by using this amazing new website....... called Google.
>Walk into store >Think it's some kinda women's clothing store >Buy a shitton of stuff while having no idea what your buying >Told to pick between you and your friend >Get kicked out of store severely injured and paralyzed >Realise the sign said "Drug" and not "Drag" >Realise it was a hard drug store and that you overdosed on mystery needles >Proceed to get your demon dog killed in an underground fight club 11/10 would Marsh again
here's a quick fact, since i am unfamiliar with megaten 2; "drug" and "drag" can be put into romaji the exact same way, so it's entirely natural to make the mistake shown in the video if you're not very fluent in japanese
I mean, aside from questions of why you'd expect a store selling women's clothes to be called a drag store and not...a clothing store. (Actually, _are_ there stores catered to men who want to buy women's clothes? That doesn't _sound_ like a thing, it seems like a plain ol' women's clothing store would make more sense, but...)
Despite already reading up on the entire plot of Shin Megami Tensei II, it took me a disturbingly long 40 minutes to realize this wasn't that game, and that, in fact, Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei are two entirely different series. I really did just sit there for 40 minutes thinking "man that whole thing about the Center, Zayin, Beth, and the Millennium Kingdom is taking a pretty long time to start up"
@@dream_state Essentially, the 2 Megami Tensei games came first and take heavy inspiration from the Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei light novel, Shin Megami Tensei came out after those games and takes hardly any inspiration from the light novel. iirc Marsh's going to review SMT2 after he's done with Majin Tensei which I'm really looking forward to, from what I remember the plot of SMT 2 is absolutely bonkers
@@dream_stateFirst there was a book by Aya Nishitani called Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, then Atlus turned it into a video game for the Famicom, then they started telling their own stories with Megami Tensei II, then they made Shin Megami Tensei, then Shin Megami Tensei II, which are original stories unrelated to the previous games. There is a Super Famicom game called Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei, which is an SNES remake of Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II.
@@dream_state Megami Tensei 2 is the prototype for Shin Megami Tensei 1. Megami Tensei 1 was based on the novels and Megami Tensei 2 was when Atlus used the name to draw attention to their own original work but eventually they realized they didn’t need the name anymore and decided to redo Megami Tensei 2 with a whole new name and a bigger scale in terms of the story so SMT was born.
Undine = water Gnome = earth Slyph = air In Paracelsus's alchemical system, I'm sure there a part of the game were you would need Salamander (fire) to proceed.
Actually, there is a Salamander, I was playing right now trying to figure out what to fuse and one of the fusion recipes was Coin Knight X Jack Frost = Salamander
"What the hell is this supposed to be, Disneyland!?" Hmm yeah actually, based on the design and rough location, I am pretty sure that is supposed to be a demon-infested parody of Disneyland Tokyo. I don’t know the FC version much but, in the SFC remake, it is located in a place called Yume no Shima (Island of Dreams). Disneyland Tokyo was also present in SMT1 as the Destiny Land dungeon (I guess the reference was more obvious there). Nice series of videos, thanks!
I wasn't even thinking that it actually could be Disneyland, it was more just a jab at how the castle sprite looks - someone else commented this too and I think you're right
And let’s not forget when he was afflicted with PIG and _committed suicide_ to free himself from his macabre fate of spending eternity as a chubby suid on a little island in Hell. While Lucifer sat there twiddling his thumbs.
Never seen that Baal sprite before, ty Marshall for the epic video this game is pretty neat if you cut out every single random battle ever, and how many of these concepts were brought into SMTIV.
I don't mean any offence by this, but your videos are perfect for putting on repeat many times in the background while studying after the first time watch - I probably have the script to your Devil Summoner video memorised by now!
You're a champion for doing all this hard work! I'm glad to see another MegaTen content creator growing and I've really enjoyed your reviews since I discovered the "SMT If Experience". As long as it doesn't kill you, keep it up!
There was a weird amount demonic anime in the 80s, stuff like Devilman, Demon City Shinjuku and Doomed Megalopolis for example. So no wonder there is an NES game with a naked goat demon. Nice video, I really appreciate your effort.
This is some of the best Megaten content out there. It's great to get a real in-depth look into what these older/more obscure(in the West) MT games are like.
By far the best NES game, I love Zelda and Fire emblem but man this game is just a whole step above. I think if this game got a modern remake it could be as good as any mainline game.
@@zachb4148Zelda 1 and 2 are just too good and with less of the unfair bs this game can throw at you. This is easily the best NES JRPG, and it’s actually super ambitious, but Zelda 1 is great and isn’t super dated aside from graphics and sometimes cryptic directions
Zelda 1? Nah. I think ever in 80s it is a 3rate copy of xanadu-like games from PC's. How can anyone can compare it to Megami Tensei, not II, just at least I?
Okay here's the bigger comment I promised! it's a great, fantastic video. And definitely taught me a lot of stuff about the NES version. There's a couple of differences between this and the Kyuuyaku version, namely being that you don't actually get Checkmate the totem pole guy. No, he's replaced with the terminals from smt 1 onwards. So that's certainly something. Also some neater stuff includes the art style being shifted more towards how smt 1 and co. were presented. But the real gravitas of megami tensei II, imo, is lost until you've played the rest of the megaten franchise. The first being that this was the debut game of Kazuma Kaneko. A lot of these artworks were some of the basis for demon designs in the future and just the general look of the world. And how good and evil were handled were to inspire how the mainline franchise handled law and chaos, especially with how Lucifer and YHVH would be represented from then on, and how they'd represent their respective ideals. Hell, even tokyo played a bigger part here. It's genuinely great to go back and play megaten 2 since I love mainline. Also, this game is the first appearance of our beloved Jack Frost(albeit with a different design; but still!) This game is so influential and its effects are still felt in the series to this day. Even with SMT V on the horizon.
It'd be awesome if someone makes a rom hack for kyuuyaku megami tensei that adds checkman back into the game. He's too weird and cool to replace like that.
@@CrashWeezerman I think it'd be hard considering the hardware between NES and SNES are so different and how they'd have to write dialogue and make sprites. But it's definitely possible. Maybe one dya
Everything he said is the YHVH honest truth and the greatest post of them all in this comments section. Sadly I only played the Kyuuyaku version of this game so I missed out on Checkman.
The Kyuuyaku version is way more bearable, Marsh, trust me. I'm playing it at the moment and (aside from the usual grinding) it improves quite a lot from the original version
@@thomasffrench3639 Yep. The NES version has really good art for the NES, while Kyuuyaku has pretty mediocre art for the SNES (just compare it to SMT 1 and 2)
Another instant classic by someone simply called “The Man”. Marsh, you’ve done it again. Looking forward to Soul Hackers, though I hope to finish it before you finish the video on it.
Losing your arm in Megami Tensei 2 is such a memorable moment and I'd love to see a throwback to it in a future Megaten game but given more significance.
Can't believe this finally got an english translation! I've been interested in playing since I saw your video, and I think it's finally pleb-accessible 👍
Fact that you need Gnome may seems weird at first, but you use it because it's an earth spirit. Previously you had to use water spirit Undine to progress, so it kinda makes sense that you would need another one again. The only weird thing is that wind spirit Sylph is only used to free Sword Knight, that you don't need to progress and the fire spirit Salamander don't have any special events.
Interesting to see how many of the series' staples started with this one. Another thing I appreciate is that this is where Atlus started taking inspiration from Devilman (the original manga). Apocalypse setting aside, it must be where they took Satan encased in ice from, which in turn was taken from the Divine Comedy. It's amazing how many demon-related japanese media can be traced back to Devilman and then to the Divine Comedy.
This channel made me interested in smt and now I have completed strange journey redux, p4g, soul hackers, persona 2 innocent sin and smt 2 Thanks for introducing me to my now favourite game series ever
Regarding the controversy over your character losing an arm - as I understand it, dismemberment is considered a very different thing in japanese (pop) culture than it is in the west. Can't exactly remember the historical/sociological reasons, but yeah, for the purposes of storytelling it's more extreme for a character to lose a limb than for them to die over there. Especially back in the 90s it would have to have been extremely provocative to have such a scene in a videogame.
@@Ryu1ify I'd assume the emotional impact of that scene would just be more intense and would make Darth Vader seem even more evil/intimidating to the average viewer. Sociological connotations are weird in general - it's kinda like how when an American film wants an antagonist to look _truly_ despicable or irredeemable, it'll specifically show them hurting dogs in some way. Even outright murder of another human being isn't quite as evil in film language in that sense.
Coming back to this video, it's kinda funny how the game that started so many Megaten traditions also started a lot of Marsh's traditions. Charlie and Rei becoming mainstays, being regularly assaulted by a Minotaur, somehow managing to get something killed (usually Orthrus or his partner) within the first 20 minutes of the video, and just all the minor, weird goofy little things that became sort of running gags. Thank you Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei II. Who knows where we'd be right now without you.
I have no idea why, but it was really just SMT IV that had that problem in the modern SMT series. Strange journey had a few weird paths forward, but I have never been as confused as in IV, so dont worry about feeling lost in that game, _everyone gets lost in IV_
As Akihiko usually say every battle: "IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS" xD I love the fact you covered the original megaten 2 as most people who cover the first two megaten games cover the kyuuyaku remakes on the SNES
The main character lost his arm, fight with his best friend, drug himself to the point of almost kill himself, a get into a satanic orgy, duude, that is indeed one hell of a trip!
I really wish you got more recognition for the work you put in these videos man, you go the extra mile instead of doing the minimum, plus these videos are charming and pretty humorous
I am overjoyed, ill never get sick of seeing the really weird obscure megatens, i just beat soul hackers myself a few days ago and im excited for your review, thanks for being very cool man
Holy shit I've been waiting so eagerly for this you don't know. Loved Megaten II when I played it. I'll probably write something more comprehensive once I finish
My trip to Ariake was great! I played some slots, did some drugs, almost died and got my dog killed in some weird demon fight club! 10/10, would partake in weird debauchery and dog fights again
I enjoy your commentary on these so much, the audio quality got better and some jokes like the upside cross one made me laugh a lot Seriously, thank you so much for doing these! It's so great to have more lovely content on Megami Tensei --- 28:35 Holy shit there's Makai in this game? 36:41 I swear, your comedic time is on point here 45:32 lmaooo ''the classic red dungeon that looks like a colon inside'' 54:10 What a cool looking sprite What a lovely review, thank you so much for your efforts!
Yooo, thanks so much for doing this! I know it's a cliche to say, but you really deserve more subs for doing this series. As niche as the series is, our community really is just small as a result, but I want you to know that your content is truly appreciated! Your series actually got me trying the old games, and although I'm not at all averse to "older" games (I remember beating DQ I-IV, and how that really shaped my patience for RPGs in general, even to this day), I unfortunately just can't appreciate the older MegaTen games, which makes your videos on the older games that much more valuable to me. However, it did get me to play Soul Hackers on the 3DS, a game I've been putting off for a long time since the first few hours just didn't at all jive with me and get me interested. Once I saw your Devil Summoner vid, it got me in the "right" state of mind to actually appreciate it now, to the point that I'm commenting this when I know I'm gonna face the final boss in a few hours (I will NG+ for the new content, though). It also makes me bummed that there are no more Devil Summoner games, aside from the Raidou games (which I've already finished). Anyway, thanks again for everything you do! And I hope your sanity is well...
I love watching your videos it makes me feel like your a friend who's just telling me about a game I never thought would be interesting but some how you pull it off
In the words of a world famous boxer: "I've been waiting gor this!"Edit: Oo h just noticed! The demons they ask you to have in hell are the elementals! Thats pretty rad!
Yesterday I was wondering about you, if you had uploaded without me getting a notification or something. This was a really nice surprise to wake up to. Thanks for the content
Mr. Marshall, you truly have inspired me. You've shown me that you don't need hyper-editing and an amazing setup to be a good youtuber, but just good and straight to the point content. I love your videos. I will always support you. Good day to you, sir, and have a great week.
I love how, in the thumbnail, Pazuzu looks like hes trying to subtly wave to a long forgotten lover, wondering how life would be if they were still in Pazuzus life.
Just beat the Kyuuyaku version about 30 minutes ago and I really loved it. It manages to be much more accessible without being too easy (stuff like the Traesto spell for teleporting to the dungeon's entrance and access to the Mappara spell and automapping from early on).
This is 10/10 content for any SMT fan. For those who want to know how things started, your channel is the best, since there is little content translated from the first games (at least here on TH-cam). It was difficult to hear your voice in some parts, but nothing serious if using headphones. Thank you very much for your work!
canon names, courtesy of SMT wiki. Multiple sources for a given character may exist (manga, drama CDs, etc): hero: Hideto or Takuma friend: Senda or Ryu girl: Rosanna or Asuka (which, since you named her Rei, is hilarious)
Man you're videos are fantastic i'm so happy someone plays classic Megami Tensei games and you are super interesting i must have seen this one start to finish at least 15 times already, keep it up you rock!
Man, as I keep saying in all your videos man, thanks for making them. It's literally just you playing through the game and talking about it, but it's chill. Can't wait for the next review, as I was fucking lucky to even see this one pop up. Keep it up Marsh~
After finding your content thanks to the SMT If... Experience video, I can only say thank you for making this kind of content with good narration, good explanations and good footage from a game that doesn't really have a lot of it. You're making a service to the entire Megaten community when you talk about these more "obscure"/classic games in the series. Already waiting for the Soul Hackers review!!
I love how TH-cam recommended me this today while I am trying to find a way to get into the Megami Tensei series(I only played Persona 3 and 5)and I have already watched all your reviews of these old games.Great videos man!I ll be definitively waiting for the next video.
Thanks so much Marsh for going through this! Tomorrow I will watch this while drawing and I will write something for relevant to the vid, but for now I just wanna thank your huge effort and for finishing this daunting endeavor!!!🙏💖
I love seeing Marsh use humor to mask his decent into madness. Ps I hope I live long enough to see any madman badass buster do a video about shin megami tensei Nine.
Amazing video bro, I really like the old Megaten titles, like the pre-2000 ones, they have a great charm to me, but I can't deal with them all, the original Megami Tensei games being some of them. Bless your soul for going through it.
Bloody amazing video, really captured the Experience. Not a lot to say, except that the robo-arm is a COMP capacity upgrade and the Kyuuyaku manual’s art of the protagonist with it is actually pretty cool. Plus, hey, it _is_ bite-proof! Also... 1:33 ...yeah, I always noticed that the Japanese megaten community can’t stop calling all the protags Nakajima and Yumiko. That goes for any retro megaten, and Gangerdoppel even pulls out Nakajima on other RPGs sometimes for the lulz. From what I’ve heard it seems like just a meme but I might ask his chat about it next time he does that.
Dude I love your videos! As a big fan of SMT games it's always amazing to hear someone and their experiences with the franchise. Plus your videos are fun to watch with some amazing commentary!
This game looks great for an NES and all these options that can make or break adds the weight to this atmosphere. Thank you for your time to play and show us your experience.
I don't think the universe wanted me to publish this - the editing software crashed numerous times, I ran into audio issues, and it killed my headset. In fact, it had its last breath like ten minutes ago, so this game effectively was the last thing it heard. Hope it was worth the effort, sorry it took so long. As promised, Soul Hackers is next, and I have an idea for a shorter review coming up in the near future.
That sucks
your sacrifices are appreciated cause these reviews are gold
Exactly. The sacrifice was well worth the review. Also, good luck on finding a new mic!
Lmk if you want another headset. I'd love to send some support your way.
What's the editing software you use?
I'm playing the fan translation and there is an NPC in the Princess Hotel there's an NPC that says, "You're planning to kill the witch in Tokyo Tower, yeah? As long as she remains on her magic seal, her power is amplified exponentially." So there is actually an explanation for why she's so much less powerful when she's in your party.
Yes, because Rossana (The name confirmed by Atlus of the female protagonist) in her magic seal is level 100 (Reason why it kills you and your party in one attack) but when she is your new partner, she is at the level just as you left her in the Devil Busters game (and to top it off, with nothing of the equipment she had in Devil Busters itself)
Link?
@anthonykarnes6804 play the fan translation.... there won't be a link saying word for word what OP wrote, and if there is then you'll find it by using this amazing new website....... called Google.
>Walk into store
>Think it's some kinda women's clothing store
>Buy a shitton of stuff while having no idea what your buying
>Told to pick between you and your friend
>Get kicked out of store severely injured and paralyzed
>Realise the sign said "Drug" and not "Drag"
>Realise it was a hard drug store and that you overdosed on mystery needles
>Proceed to get your demon dog killed in an underground fight club
11/10 would Marsh again
Isn't that what the song Walk on the Wild Side is all about?
based and marshpilled
@@matheusmoreira9951 🤣 I mean, close enough
@@matheusmoreira9951 everything except the demon dog fighting - although that is heavily implied by the songs lyrics.
59:29 Friendship ENDED with Lucifer, now god is my best friend.
SMTV in a comment
YHWHgaming
IDK lucifer looked p chill in this one
Millennial kingdom let's go
I can see that being slapped on a bumper sticker.
here's a quick fact, since i am unfamiliar with megaten 2;
"drug" and "drag" can be put into romaji the exact same way, so it's entirely natural to make the mistake shown in the video if you're not very fluent in japanese
She also asks you right after if you want to try “Mayumi-chan’s special medicine”, so make of that what you will...
I mean, aside from questions of why you'd expect a store selling women's clothes to be called a drag store and not...a clothing store. (Actually, _are_ there stores catered to men who want to buy women's clothes? That doesn't _sound_ like a thing, it seems like a plain ol' women's clothing store would make more sense, but...)
@@timothymclean There are drag stores
@@notbaldfrostThat's just the drag queen propositioning the protag
Despite already reading up on the entire plot of Shin Megami Tensei II, it took me a disturbingly long 40 minutes to realize this wasn't that game, and that, in fact, Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei are two entirely different series. I really did just sit there for 40 minutes thinking "man that whole thing about the Center, Zayin, Beth, and the Millennium Kingdom is taking a pretty long time to start up"
Wait so they're not the same? 😂
@@dream_state Essentially, the 2 Megami Tensei games came first and take heavy inspiration from the Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei light novel, Shin Megami Tensei came out after those games and takes hardly any inspiration from the light novel. iirc Marsh's going to review SMT2 after he's done with Majin Tensei which I'm really looking forward to, from what I remember the plot of SMT 2 is absolutely bonkers
@@dream_stateFirst there was a book by Aya Nishitani called Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, then Atlus turned it into a video game for the Famicom, then they started telling their own stories with Megami Tensei II, then they made Shin Megami Tensei, then Shin Megami Tensei II, which are original stories unrelated to the previous games.
There is a Super Famicom game called Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei, which is an SNES remake of Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II.
@@dream_state
Megami Tensei 2 is the prototype for Shin Megami Tensei 1.
Megami Tensei 1 was based on the novels and Megami Tensei 2 was when Atlus used the name to draw attention to their own original work but eventually they realized they didn’t need the name anymore and decided to redo Megami Tensei 2 with a whole new name and a bigger scale in terms of the story so SMT was born.
Finally the lord and saviour is back to bestow his blessings upon us mortals.
Undine = water
Gnome = earth
Slyph = air
In Paracelsus's alchemical system, I'm sure there a part of the game were you would need Salamander (fire) to proceed.
Actually, there is a Salamander, I was playing right now trying to figure out what to fuse and one of the fusion recipes was Coin Knight X Jack Frost = Salamander
Oh my goodness!!
Where have you heard about Paracelsus’ alchemical system from?
Gets arm chopped off
"aww"
Get new robot arm
"yay!"
Doesn't do anything cool
"aww"
Didn’t it add more space for demons?
And punch yhvh with his normal arm (right arm)
@@pablotomasllodra4423 I think it's in the kyuuyaku version? I'm not sure unfortunately
No DMC5 cool devil breaker shenanigans
@@gayrozayppeli8431 It is. I'm playing it rn and it does add more space for demons
Funny fact about Checkman, he doesn't just function as a terminal. They literally just replaced him with actual terminals in the Kyuuyaku remake
"What the hell is this supposed to be, Disneyland!?"
Hmm yeah actually, based on the design and rough location, I am pretty sure that is supposed to be a demon-infested parody of Disneyland Tokyo. I don’t know the FC version much but, in the SFC remake, it is located in a place called Yume no Shima (Island of Dreams). Disneyland Tokyo was also present in SMT1 as the Destiny Land dungeon (I guess the reference was more obvious there).
Nice series of videos, thanks!
I wasn't even thinking that it actually could be Disneyland, it was more just a jab at how the castle sprite looks - someone else commented this too and I think you're right
Marsh reveals himself to be a Law sympathizer: the Movie
Now where's the Devil Survivor experience? He needs to be introduced to the Chad Remiel before the Virgin Mastema and his fangirls spoil him.
TectonicImprov ew.
@@Green-Raccoon777 that aint first person get that shit outta here
Based
@@sociallyawkard5675 lol
Within the span of 3 minutes, this man overdosed on drugs, got his dog killed in a dog fight, and divorced his gay husband.
This game is great
And later had his friend handjob a oldman, lost his arm and participated in a satanic orgy
This game is a masterpiece in terms of story writing lmao
And let’s not forget when he was afflicted with PIG and _committed suicide_ to free himself from his macabre fate of spending eternity as a chubby suid on a little island in Hell. While Lucifer sat there twiddling his thumbs.
MegaTen II is art, confirmed.
@@arashi86 There's a reason why it influenced such a big franchise
I have not played this game but WHAT?
Funny how Asmodeus's Cave is apparently this game's "red colon" dungeon in a way that Zaratan Island, the actual colon dungeon, isn't
Pretty sure Kyuuyaku fixed that.
@@arciks11 It did
"we were out there having the time of our lives"
literally just killed himself like 15 seconds ago
I don't see any coverage of old megaten titles so this content is gold to me, much appreciated marsh
Never seen that Baal sprite before, ty Marshall for the epic video this game is pretty neat if you cut out every single random battle ever, and how many of these concepts were brought into SMTIV.
I never knew that. Thanks Johne.
Oh hi Johne
Oh shit wassup johne
JIMMYAMAZING???
@@AshleyRiot i dont get your comment. you never knew what?
I don't mean any offence by this, but your videos are perfect for putting on repeat many times in the background while studying after the first time watch - I probably have the script to your Devil Summoner video memorised by now!
That’s crazy
Holy shit same but with the Digital Devil Story one
i get you man. I actually did the same for his smt if vid. Somethin about the voice and the commentary has me coming back to the vids.
I do this when I draw or animate. Marsh if you see this thanks.
Now thats pretty weird
An hour long video?
Good for entertainment
Bad for Education
(Also Marsh's sanity)
You're a champion for doing all this hard work! I'm glad to see another MegaTen content creator growing and I've really enjoyed your reviews since I discovered the "SMT If Experience". As long as it doesn't kill you, keep it up!
There was a weird amount demonic anime in the 80s, stuff like Devilman, Demon City Shinjuku and Doomed Megalopolis for example. So no wonder there is an NES game with a naked goat demon. Nice video, I really appreciate your effort.
The 80s were a time for mecha, the occult, and occult mecha
@@andrejg4136 so Evangelion is the 80s then?
@@dartoney Occult Mecha goes before Evangelion. See the Iczer metaseries, and various mecha and power armored themed OVAs, like Genocyber.
And all goodness too
For some reason Gnosticism became a fad for a while in Japan.
This is some of the best Megaten content out there. It's great to get a real in-depth look into what these older/more obscure(in the West) MT games are like.
56:53
"And we head back to Ginza for the final confrontation against Satan and God"
Idk why this is so funny to me lmao
I always thought it was funny that of all places, God is apparently beneath Ginza in some unsuspecting corporate office
@@MarshSMT He had some leftover paperwork before the fall of man.
It's pretty much comparable to, "we are heading to our local 7/11 to fight Darth Vader and Darth Maul
16:48 A real Simp Megami Tensei moment.
Just mind-boggling that this is a NES game
By far the best NES game, I love Zelda and Fire emblem but man this game is just a whole step above. I think if this game got a modern remake it could be as good as any mainline game.
@@zachb4148Zelda 1 and 2 are just too good and with less of the unfair bs this game can throw at you. This is easily the best NES JRPG, and it’s actually super ambitious, but Zelda 1 is great and isn’t super dated aside from graphics and sometimes cryptic directions
@@underscore2554I mean we also have Dragon Quest III and Sweet Home. I haven’t play this one tho.
Zelda 1? Nah. I think ever in 80s it is a 3rate copy of xanadu-like games from PC's. How can anyone can compare it to Megami Tensei, not II, just at least I?
Okay here's the bigger comment I promised!
it's a great, fantastic video. And definitely taught me a lot of stuff about the NES version. There's a couple of differences between this and the Kyuuyaku version, namely being that you don't actually get Checkmate the totem pole guy. No, he's replaced with the terminals from smt 1 onwards. So that's certainly something. Also some neater stuff includes the art style being shifted more towards how smt 1 and co. were presented. But the real gravitas of megami tensei II, imo, is lost until you've played the rest of the megaten franchise.
The first being that this was the debut game of Kazuma Kaneko. A lot of these artworks were some of the basis for demon designs in the future and just the general look of the world. And how good and evil were handled were to inspire how the mainline franchise handled law and chaos, especially with how Lucifer and YHVH would be represented from then on, and how they'd represent their respective ideals. Hell, even tokyo played a bigger part here. It's genuinely great to go back and play megaten 2 since I love mainline. Also, this game is the first appearance of our beloved Jack Frost(albeit with a different design; but still!)
This game is so influential and its effects are still felt in the series to this day. Even with SMT V on the horizon.
It'd be awesome if someone makes a rom hack for kyuuyaku megami tensei that adds checkman back into the game. He's too weird and cool to replace like that.
@@CrashWeezerman I think it'd be hard considering the hardware between NES and SNES are so different and how they'd have to write dialogue and make sprites.
But it's definitely possible. Maybe one dya
Everything he said is the YHVH honest truth and the greatest post of them all in this comments section. Sadly I only played the Kyuuyaku version of this game so I missed out on Checkman.
I just realized that SMT3 Nocturne Terminals are Checkman
The Kyuuyaku version is way more bearable, Marsh, trust me. I'm playing it at the moment and (aside from the usual grinding) it improves quite a lot from the original version
NES version still looks prettier...
@@KeyleeTamirian somehow, yes. The SNES version looks awfully dated.
@@KeyleeTamirianall of the npc interactions like shops and stuff look so much nicer than kyuuyaku, kyuuyaku’s demons look good tho
@@ZakkiousI mean music and visuals only look good because of the designers.
@@thomasffrench3639 Yep. The NES version has really good art for the NES, while Kyuuyaku has pretty mediocre art for the SNES (just compare it to SMT 1 and 2)
Another instant classic by someone simply called “The Man”. Marsh, you’ve done it again. Looking forward to Soul Hackers, though I hope to finish it before you finish the video on it.
And did you?
@@appelofdoom8211 I did! I did the secret fights as well! It was as hype as it was fucking difficult.
This was well worth the wait. You're the goat for tormenting yourself for our enlightenment and enjoyment.
Baphomet is the goat.
@@Squiddy0912 leonard*
Losing your arm in Megami Tensei 2 is such a memorable moment and I'd love to see a throwback to it in a future Megaten game but given more significance.
Can't believe this finally got an english translation! I've been interested in playing since I saw your video, and I think it's finally pleb-accessible 👍
Fact that you need Gnome may seems weird at first, but you use it because it's an earth spirit.
Previously you had to use water spirit Undine to progress, so it kinda makes sense that you would need another one again.
The only weird thing is that wind spirit Sylph is only used to free Sword Knight, that you don't need to progress and the fire spirit Salamander don't have any special events.
For the record, intelligence is used for demon negotiation in all three SNESMT games
Interesting to see how many of the series' staples started with this one.
Another thing I appreciate is that this is where Atlus started taking inspiration from Devilman (the original manga). Apocalypse setting aside, it must be where they took Satan encased in ice from, which in turn was taken from the Divine Comedy. It's amazing how many demon-related japanese media can be traced back to Devilman and then to the Divine Comedy.
Devilman is a great and a very influential manga for its time.
You are easily among my favorite content creators at the moment. The videos have all been god tier so far, keep it up!
This channel made me interested in smt and now I have completed strange journey redux, p4g, soul hackers, persona 2 innocent sin and smt 2
Thanks for introducing me to my now favourite game series ever
Your videos have such an early 2000's webseries vibe, I love it.
It's so cool to see how creative and low-key crazy these games already were back then.
Review Megami Tensei at 1:00 AM in the morning on a school night... Hell yeah!
Regarding the controversy over your character losing an arm - as I understand it, dismemberment is considered a very different thing in japanese (pop) culture than it is in the west. Can't exactly remember the historical/sociological reasons, but yeah, for the purposes of storytelling it's more extreme for a character to lose a limb than for them to die over there. Especially back in the 90s it would have to have been extremely provocative to have such a scene in a videogame.
Empire Strikes Back must be X-rated over there
@@Ryu1ify I'd assume the emotional impact of that scene would just be more intense and would make Darth Vader seem even more evil/intimidating to the average viewer.
Sociological connotations are weird in general - it's kinda like how when an American film wants an antagonist to look _truly_ despicable or irredeemable, it'll specifically show them hurting dogs in some way. Even outright murder of another human being isn't quite as evil in film language in that sense.
@@HansAlRachid Wonder how the revelation that Vader had already been maimed in much the same way was taken in Return
Coming back to this video, it's kinda funny how the game that started so many Megaten traditions also started a lot of Marsh's traditions. Charlie and Rei becoming mainstays, being regularly assaulted by a Minotaur, somehow managing to get something killed (usually Orthrus or his partner) within the first 20 minutes of the video, and just all the minor, weird goofy little things that became sort of running gags.
Thank you Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei II. Who knows where we'd be right now without you.
“In this game you don’t really know where to go”
I had the same problem in SMT IV man. At this point I think it’s a mainstay in the JRPG genre lol
I have no idea why, but it was really just SMT IV that had that problem in the modern SMT series. Strange journey had a few weird paths forward, but I have never been as confused as in IV, so dont worry about feeling lost in that game, _everyone gets lost in IV_
@@wubbawubba3396 honestly getting lost in smt iv makes the tokyo song that more impacting
@@DeadLineGame Fr tho. Thank God the Tokyo song was so soothing; if it weren't for it, I would've popped a blood vessel.
@@wubbawubba3396 I'm just glad they added tags on Apocalypse made traversing the game that much easier
@@Sigismund697 i feel like they streamlined it too much in Apocalypse, felt like a simple level select to me.
As Akihiko usually say every battle: "IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS" xD
I love the fact you covered the original megaten 2 as most people who cover the first two megaten games cover the kyuuyaku remakes on the SNES
I love that you just rolled with Charlies early death and had to make a small event out of bringing him back. Can't wait to see your next video Marsh.
The main character lost his arm, fight with his best friend, drug himself to the point of almost kill himself, a get into a satanic orgy, duude, that is indeed one hell of a trip!
Thank you for letting me vicariously live through the games I'd likely not get around to myself through your videos
I really wish you got more recognition for the work you put in these videos man, you go the extra mile instead of doing the minimum, plus these videos are charming and pretty humorous
YESSSSSS WOOOOO thank you for being one of the last good parts of this fandom
Yeah really
@@rangedfighter2663 Phan Site drama, modding scene having bad people....it is rough.
@@ThatOneLegendEmerald I knew what happened with phan site but what happened with modding.
@@ThatOneLegendEmerald The modding scene has terrible people? Well no wonder it's mismanaged
Yeah what happened wth the modding scene?
I am overjoyed, ill never get sick of seeing the really weird obscure megatens, i just beat soul hackers myself a few days ago and im excited for your review, thanks for being very cool man
I swear this man is just flexing his Japanese skills at this point
*Confuses "drug" with "drag"*
"I mistook a drug dealer for a women's clothing store" is a weird flex, but okay.
"Having murdered my dog and overdosed on drugs, there's not much left to do in Ariake." is a good quote out of context
This channel is one of the things that's been making 2020 alright
Here...here!!
Glad to see you're back at it again man
RIP Marsh's heaset, it died to help create this video
Big fan, A channel that isn't just persona. It's nice to see the origins of Smt. Inspired me to start with the first megami tensei.
Holy shit I've been waiting so eagerly for this you don't know.
Loved Megaten II when I played it. I'll probably write something more comprehensive once I finish
I'm waiting
My trip to Ariake was great! I played some slots, did some drugs, almost died and got my dog killed in some weird demon fight club!
10/10, would partake in weird debauchery and dog fights again
It's eerie to see how many things in later games from this, right down to THE FINAL DUNGEON OF IV BEING LUCIFER'S PALACE.
I enjoy your commentary on these so much, the audio quality got better and some jokes like the upside cross one made me laugh a lot
Seriously, thank you so much for doing these! It's so great to have more lovely content on Megami Tensei
---
28:35 Holy shit there's Makai in this game?
36:41 I swear, your comedic time is on point here
45:32 lmaooo ''the classic red dungeon that looks like a colon inside''
54:10 What a cool looking sprite
What a lovely review, thank you so much for your efforts!
Yooo, thanks so much for doing this! I know it's a cliche to say, but you really deserve more subs for doing this series.
As niche as the series is, our community really is just small as a result, but I want you to know that your content is truly appreciated!
Your series actually got me trying the old games, and although I'm not at all averse to "older" games (I remember beating DQ I-IV, and how that really shaped my patience for RPGs in general, even to this day), I unfortunately just can't appreciate the older MegaTen games, which makes your videos on the older games that much more valuable to me.
However, it did get me to play Soul Hackers on the 3DS, a game I've been putting off for a long time since the first few hours just didn't at all jive with me and get me interested. Once I saw your Devil Summoner vid, it got me in the "right" state of mind to actually appreciate it now, to the point that I'm commenting this when I know I'm gonna face the final boss in a few hours (I will NG+ for the new content, though).
It also makes me bummed that there are no more Devil Summoner games, aside from the Raidou games (which I've already finished).
Anyway, thanks again for everything you do! And I hope your sanity is well...
I know it sounds mean, but I can really imagine this review being made in the early 2010's.
A real nostalgic feeling.
I love watching your videos it makes me feel like your a friend who's just telling me about a game I never thought would be interesting but some how you pull it off
Trying to have Mrs. Reiho carry you through another Megaten game, Marsh?
I'd try the same.
"I never have to see a rendition of this place (Micon) again
... Until I play kyuuyaku at least"
*HAPPY KYUUYAKU MEGAMI TENSEI FAN NOISES*
I have literally been anxiously waiting in excitement for this upload, thank you Marsh!!
I think The Castle actually IS Tokyo Disneyland tho...like Tokyo "Destinyland" in SMT 1?
In the words of a world famous boxer: "I've been waiting gor this!"Edit: Oo h just noticed! The demons they ask you to have in hell are the elementals! Thats pretty rad!
Yesterday I was wondering about you, if you had uploaded without me getting a notification or something. This was a really nice surprise to wake up to. Thanks for the content
Mr. Marshall, you truly have inspired me. You've shown me that you don't need hyper-editing and an amazing setup to be a good youtuber, but just good and straight to the point content. I love your videos. I will always support you. Good day to you, sir, and have a great week.
this is true for like, a lot of youtubers, though.
Another Fantastic video. Excited for the Soul Hackers Experience, that one’s in my Top 5 favorite Megaten games.
I love how, in the thumbnail, Pazuzu looks like hes trying to subtly wave to a long forgotten lover, wondering how life would be if they were still in Pazuzus life.
Dang bro, 2 months, that’s some dedication. Thanks for the content!
Just beat the Kyuuyaku version about 30 minutes ago and I really loved it. It manages to be much more accessible without being too easy (stuff like the Traesto spell for teleporting to the dungeon's entrance and access to the Mappara spell and automapping from early on).
With how little these games are covered on TH-cam your reviews are great to watch and absorb
This is 10/10 content for any SMT fan.
For those who want to know how things started, your channel is the best, since there is little content translated from the first games (at least here on TH-cam).
It was difficult to hear your voice in some parts, but nothing serious if using headphones.
Thank you very much for your work!
Wow these videos are like the perfect LP format to experience the game without playing it. Cool game
I was not expecting this so soon! Your videos have easily become my most anticipated stuff on TH-cam, even more than RLM's Best of the Worst shows.
Absolute king
You inspired me to read the Digital Devil Story books and go back to older SMT games!
It took me multiple watches, but I finally realized that your "it'll come in handy" comment about the cybernetics lab is a pun.
Can't wait to see you talk about Soul Hackers, honestly behind Strange Journey Redux it might be one of my favorites in the series.
Same here dude
I'm addicted to your videos, you are amazing.
canon names, courtesy of SMT wiki. Multiple sources for a given character may exist (manga, drama CDs, etc):
hero: Hideto or Takuma
friend: Senda or Ryu
girl: Rosanna or Asuka (which, since you named her Rei, is hilarious)
I'm an Evangelion fan, and I laughed hard
SHINJI, GET ON THE GIANT TURTLE!!!
@@xercespriest Asuka: Uses Marin Karin on Shinji
@@mortenera2294 Shinji is now -charmed- Distressed.
apparently "Hideto" and "Rosanna" are a reference to some musical act that was popular at the time
Man you're videos are fantastic i'm so happy someone plays classic Megami Tensei games and you are super interesting i must have seen this one start to finish at least 15 times already, keep it up you rock!
Man, as I keep saying in all your videos man, thanks for making them. It's literally just you playing through the game and talking about it, but it's chill. Can't wait for the next review, as I was fucking lucky to even see this one pop up. Keep it up Marsh~
After finding your content thanks to the SMT If... Experience video, I can only say thank you for making this kind of content with good narration, good explanations and good footage from a game that doesn't really have a lot of it. You're making a service to the entire Megaten community when you talk about these more "obscure"/classic games in the series. Already waiting for the Soul Hackers review!!
I love how TH-cam recommended me this today while I am trying to find a way to get into the Megami Tensei series(I only played Persona 3 and 5)and I have already watched all your reviews of these old games.Great videos man!I ll be definitively waiting for the next video.
you should try out nocturne or IV if you wanna get into it
Marsh thanks for making the time putting my desk fun with you god like commentary, made it a lot more fun
I love this, thanks dude, you just made my night !
Thanks so much Marsh for going through this! Tomorrow I will watch this while drawing and I will write something for relevant to the vid, but for now I just wanna thank your huge effort and for finishing this daunting endeavor!!!🙏💖
Genuinely one of my favorite games in the entire Megaten series. Playing through in Japanese was a TRIP. I loved every bit of it.
You have no idea how much i love these videos
3:20 "I never thought I'd say this line again" is waaaaayy funnier rewatching these reviews
I love seeing Marsh use humor to mask his decent into madness. Ps I hope I live long enough to see any madman badass buster do a video about shin megami tensei Nine.
Amazing video bro, I really like the old Megaten titles, like the pre-2000 ones, they have a great charm to me, but I can't deal with them all, the original Megami Tensei games being some of them. Bless your soul for going through it.
You're experience videos always made me fall in love more with the MegaTen series . They always make me pretty happy
Bloody amazing video, really captured the Experience. Not a lot to say, except that the robo-arm is a COMP capacity upgrade and the Kyuuyaku manual’s art of the protagonist with it is actually pretty cool. Plus, hey, it _is_ bite-proof!
Also...
1:33 ...yeah, I always noticed that the Japanese megaten community can’t stop calling all the protags Nakajima and Yumiko. That goes for any retro megaten, and Gangerdoppel even pulls out Nakajima on other RPGs sometimes for the lulz. From what I’ve heard it seems like just a meme but I might ask his chat about it next time he does that.
Respect for the patience and diligence to finish this! Eagerly awaiting your next upload. Cheers!
Dude I love your videos! As a big fan of SMT games it's always amazing to hear someone and their experiences with the franchise. Plus your videos are fun to watch with some amazing commentary!
Fukkin' subbed dude, I'm in love with this channel now. I can't wait to see more X Megami Tensei Game experiences.
This game looks great for an NES and all these options that can make or break adds the weight to this atmosphere.
Thank you for your time to play and show us your experience.
I like watching your videos and falling asleep to them