Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online Related content
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PreviousShin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online Preview
MMO PC Preview by Rob Fahey
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The world isn't exactly short of bizarre, free-to-play Asian online PC RPGs. What seemed like a curio when Ragnarok Online appeared on these shores all those years ago has turned into a flood of free oddities - often of dubious quality and rarely of anything but passing interest.
If we were going to reach into those murky waters and pick out a potential gem, though, then Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online is exactly where we'd start. Why? Because the series' latest console releases - Persona 3 and 4 on the PS2 - are among the best console RPGs of the past four or five years, that's why. We're not saying that the online version of MegaTen comes loaded with expectation, as such - just that we approach it with a degree of optimism which most free MMOs don't warrant.
Fans will be happy to note that, thematically at least, MegaTen Online fits in very neatly with the rest of the series. The executive summary is that you play a survivor in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, a cyberpunk nightmare where the surface is overrun by demons, humans live in underground tunnel complexes called Homes, and the landscape is dominated by a sinister new tower called Shinjuku Babel.
(Some comments we've read from those working on the game - which has been out in Japan for about a year now, but is in open beta in the US and Europe at present - suggest that it actually fits between the first two Shin Megami Tensei games in story terms. We're not sure if that's actually true, but it certainly doesn't require any in-depth knowledge of the console games to get to grips with what's going on.)
The cowgirl with the mace is fetching, but we can't keep our eyes off that sword.
Every player takes the role of a demon hunter, and MegaTen doesn't force you to make any hard and fast class decisions. Combat skills are broadly divided between melee, ranged and magical abilities, and while a degree of focus on one of those areas seems to be advisable, there's nothing to stop you from picking up talents from all three areas as you progress through the game.
Moreover, no matter which type of character you start developing, there's one key skill you'll have regardless - the ability to summon demons to fight alongside you. Not every demon you encounter will be instantly hostile. Some can be convinced to join you, either by talking to them or threatening them. Create a contract with such a demon, and he becomes available for you to summon (at a price which is paid in magnetite, one of the game's two core currencies).
You can only have one demon fighting with you at a time, but can bring several along with you into each dungeon and store many more back in the town. Moreover, every demon which you own has its own set of talents to learn and levels up independently of you - and if you think that's fun to keep track of, wait until you start trying to get your head around "combining" demons to create more powerful breeds. For fans of earlier MegaTen games, this will all be familiar stuff - for everyone else, we suspect, it'll seem like rather a dark art at first.
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Comments: 1-9 of 9 in total
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I've played a little of this. I'm level 5 I think. Only played it on my own, the combat system is pretty cool, as someone coming from playing WoW. Takes a bit of getting used to and after the initial tutorial the game doesn't really help you much, I've only just started the demon capturing part, the idea of it is certainly pretty appealing. I'll probably play it a couple more times and decide wether it's something I keep going back to.
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Obiwanshinobi
30/01/09 @ 23:08
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Why don't they make one for the PS3????????
The answer would be: "because they don't need to", I presume. Yeah, I think that's the case we're dealing with here. Come to think of it, MMOs are doing just fine on PCs. From what I remember, I've never heard MMO player complaing about his or her favourite MMO not being on console.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 30/01/09 @ 23:08
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NegativeZero
02/02/09 @ 01:13
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I've tried a lot of free MMOs over the years - I periodically like to remind myself exactly what it is about WoW that makes it worth paying for - and they're generally all the same. Areas clogged with piles and piles of monsters, all identical, all the same level. Once you level up, you move to grinding the level+1 enemies. Ad infinitum. They generally have no concept of theme or anything either, you never feel like you're doing anything but grinding. And there's no variation to the grind either. No interesting quests, no lore, not even any attempts at story, nothing.
Not to mention that the gameplay is generally very simple, having been made in Korea with Koreans in mind. You only need one hand to play, because you need the other hand to hold the cigarettes you're going to be smoking during your 18-hour stint at the internet cafe. One day one of these companies are going to make a free-to-play MMO that actually deviates from the boring Korean grindfest convention and really nail it. Until that happens we're just going to see the same damn game being remade over and over with a new skin stretched over the bones. |
Comments: 1-9 of 9 in total
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