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In a surprising move, Aeria Games acquired Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine awhile ago. At least, it surprised me! I never expect these series based online games to get translated. The closed beta ended yesterday, so I'll post my impressions about the game! I only got to play for a short four days, but I enjoyed what I was able to see.
 Here 's a look at character creation. Not a whole lot going on there. I guess I'm spoiled by Phantasy Star Universe's crazy amount of options. Megaten only has 3 height options, and no different body types or skin tones to choose from. I also wish there were more face styles.  The game starts you off meeting a fellow demon buster named Kuroe. She gives you some simple tasks so you can learn movement and camera control. You can walk with the WASD keys, or point and click style with your mouse. I prefer using the WASD keys, personally. So many click to move MMOs have taken their toll on me, haha. Anyways, there's a few enemies to practice combat on in the starting areas. Most don't fight back so there's no need to worry about dieing.  I gotta say, I enjoy the story delivery in this game. The cutscenes are short and to the point, so they don't interrupt your gameplay. You also don't have to had played any past Megami Tensei games to understand the story.  The next NPC you meet is Snakeman, who gives you more detailed information on combat. The guard, counter, and rush skills definitely remind me of Mabinogi's combat. Basically, guard lets you defend against most incoming attacks. Counter lets you avoid an incoming attack, and retaliate automatically. Rush lets you break through an enemy's guard. It can't get through a counter though. There's also another skill called dodge, that lets you duck and avoid long range attacks.  As with most online games, there's a variety of elemental magic to choose from. Magic is a good supplement to have whether your focus is melee or firearms. You can even make magic your main focus when it comes to learning skills. And yet another similarity to Mabinogi... There's no classes to choose from in this game! You simply learn the skills you want to, without having to worry about any job restrictions. You can also allocate your stats as you level up, and build your character accordingly. Still, it's good to focus your skills into what combat type is your favorite, and not go overboard trying to learn everything there is. I decided to go for a gunner type character, with some magic on the side.  Hee-ho! Because it isn't a Megaten game without Jack Frost... :V He's one of the many demons you can become allies with in this game. It's definitely cool seeing, fighting, and being able to use the various demons from the console games. If you see a demon out on the field, you can either fight it for EXP, or negotiate. There's three different demon negotiation skills: saying hello, taunting, or threatening. You can also mix them with combat, like lowering the demon's HP and then threatening it. If you're lucky, the demon will join you, and you can make use of its skills in battle.  Here I am with a friend leaving Home III to go on some quests. Home III has the usual stuff to check out, like item, weapon, and clothes shops. Snakeman also issues quests after you finish the tutorial areas, which move the story forward. The item, EXP and money rewards you get are very good too, so it never feels like a chore. At least, in my opinion. I've played many a game with terrible and tedious quests, but I always looked forward to the next one in Imagine.  Oh boy, my first death! Thankfully the penalties for death aren't too bad. Revival items are plentiful, and if one is used on you, the EXP loss you suffer is very small. Reviving at your home point or on the spot costs a considerable amount of EXP though. There's no negative EXP to worry about, but still, be careful when you're playing solo!   Boss fights have a little intro and ending cutscene. I fought two bosses during the closed beta. I only took screens of the first one though. My friend ended up wasting him pretty fast... XD By the way, you can skip the boss cutscenes with the Esc key, which comes in handy after you've seen em a billion times.  Here I am trying on some clothes. All the nice stuff is expensive, of course.  I did not leave empty handed however. Ended up getting a cute pair of glasses. Posed with the first demon I acquired, Leader Pixie. Ain't she a cutie?  I tried out demon fusion for a quest, to make this guy called Erthys. He was kind of... totally lame, lol. He was just so slow to act in battle. Maybe it's because his friendship with me was low..?   Karma swooped in... I hilariously ended up losing Erthys to this quest. He got lost in the mines and never came back. XD I used a Cu Sith to complete it instead. There were a few quests that involved sacrificing demons, so don't get too attached.  As adorable as Pixie is, it was time to move on up. I decided to try another demon fusion. If you do a demon fusion, don't fret too much over the success rate. All you lose from failing a fusion is the macca it costs, not any of the demons involved..  Thankfully it succeeded in the first go, and I was now the proud owner of Angel. Woo! Demons born of fusions can also inherit skills that the demons used to create it had, so it's worth using a demon for awhile instead of immediately fusing it before it learns some new skills.  My friend Neeko ended up deleting her first character and making a new one, Suika. We had a lot of fun playing together. Infact... it was her who I played Mabinogi with too. XD  TRAESTO!!! And so ends my time in the closed beta. As with all of Aeria Game's offerings, SMT: Imagine is free to play. They make money with optional cash items like extra storage or clothing. While SMT: Imagine doesn't really do much new, I found it to be very enjoyable. It has a style of its own that sets it apart from the glut of fantasy MMOs. The demons are also interesting, especially if you try controlling them instead of letting them auto-battle. I've already recreated ilana to play again in the open beta, which just started. So go check it out if you're interested, and give me a holler if you see me online! |
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OH!!!!!!!
I want to play it!! >w< I'll go right away! thank you so much ♥ |
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