#smt 4a

[vinnigami]

( ; ;) Can Aogami please take in Nanashi please? He needs a better role model than a rebellious Irish God.

he’s giving nanashi unrestricted internet access

[thornart]

Art for @gothamcityneedsme. Flynn and Nanashi from Shin Megami Tensei IV

[cake-apostate]

An idea I think would be fun is that centuries after the events of SMT4, Blasted and Infernal Tokyo both become evil empires. They idolized their version of King Akira, and took their stated ideologies to the limits with neither nuance nor restraint.

That's not to say that either Akira did a bad job; they did what was necessary at the time to save their people from disaster. It's just that if you took their actions without knowing that context, they would look incredibly evil.

So I think that their kingdoms would become evil empires if their future rulers continued their policies well beyond the states of emergency that spawned them.

Infernal Tokyo

Infernal Akira would seem like a cartoonishly evil overlord if you didn't know where he was coming from. Under his rule, humans are cattle to be eaten and bred, demons run a kind of protection racket, and he calls this equality. He even killed the previous king! And given that he's a coward and a weakling at the top of a society that values strength above all else, he'd seem a massive hypocrite.

Except most of the problems with Infernal Tokyo aren't his fault. Kenji was the one to start the demonoid/neurisher system; the worst you can say about Akira is that he didn't abolish it. And he couldn't. The obviously good step of freeing the neurishers would be disastrous; either the demonoids comply and starve, or they'd rebel openly, which would leave Akira powerless and the neurishers right where they started.

Akira found and enforced the minimum level of cruelty required for his current society to function. To many outsiders, that level is shockingly evil, but he's loved in his time because it's so much lighter than before.

Future generations would idolize King Akira, not unjustly, but it's easy for them to miss the point. He didn't draft a blueprint for some ideal society; he wrote laws and regulations to deal with the current disasters plaguing his city. Let's look at the specific orders he gave, and how future generations can screw them up.

Every district takes a census, and if they need Neurishers, more are sent there. That is how he ended both famine and war; districts fought over and hoarded Neurishers until he distributed them equally. It also sets up precedent for future kings to arbitrarily separate families or rip people from their homes.

Neurishers are mandated to be drank from every other day. In his time, that's a huge load off because they were drained every day, all day. But in the future, there might be so many Neurishers that forcing all of them to work half the time is seen as gluttonous, or maybe there's a future where Neurishers are required to work on top of providing Magnetite ever other day.

Some Neurishers are assigned to breed and make as many babies as possible. It's to ensure the survival of humanity, but even Akira's sorry about it. If the population stabilizes within his lifetime, I can see him easing back on this, but if he doesn't...

This isn't necessarily an order, but Akira's subordinates from Kasumigaseki wound up killing Demonoids who refused to follow him. That can easily turn into death squads killing those suspected to be disloyal.

Blasted Tokyo

Blasted Akira doesn't do anything evil. It wouldn't help his situation. But he does give Flynn and co. a speech about how he's going to use the demons from the Expanse to rebuild the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado; judging by the DLC, he did a good job building cities before the Ancient of Days blasted it back into desert.

Enslaving demons to build your city isn't any more morally objectionable than what your average SMT protagonist gets up to. What might get spicy is if future generations start seeing that anyone who comes through the portal is a 'demon' to be enslaved, even if they're human.

So this hypothetical evil empire would be, well, an empire. It rules over vassal states that are forced to give tribute, regards noncitizens as nonhuman, and the central state contributes nothing of value.

In King Akira's time, there was nothing they could produce. They lived in a desert and burned Pluto corpses for fuel. If they didn't steal, they'd have nothing. By the time the land is arable once more, agriculture might not be as easy or profitable as piracy, so the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado continues as an interdimensional demon summoning pirate state well beyond its need to be one.

On a semirelated note, Blasted Akira only gets a speech about his ideals and how he's going to reform the city, while Infernal Akira gets a whole bunch of NPCs saying what he already did and how. I think it's because we need a lot more assurance that Infernal Akira is doing the right thing, considering both his personality and the whole 'demonoid and neurisher' thing.

King Aquila of Mikado

Now let's reverse it with King Aquila. We know how Mikado turned out after 1500 years after he created the country, and we see his orders, but why did he make them? What context was lost to time?

Let's start with the part of the Samurai Code that forbids them from entering Tokyo, and how Aquila assigned the Minotaur as gatekeeper. From Nanashi's flashbacks, we know Aquila always intended for Mikado to unite with Tokyo, so why stop them?

Look at the plaque in front of the Hall of the Minotaur. It says, "Those who serve God Almighty: Thou shalt not proceed beyond this door." It sounds like Aquila isn't necessarily trying to stop the Samurai, but those who would follow the Monastery's orders. My guess is that he suspected that some fanatics would try to purge Naraku of the Unclean Ones, and the sign is for them.

I've heard a theory that the stark Luxuror/Casualry split was deliberately created to foster dissatisfaction, so that the Casualries would eventually rebel.

I also think that Aquila tried to amp up Mikado's food production to be much greater than their current population, to feed the future Tokyo emigres.

On a semirelated note, for fanfic purposes, I like the idea that Aquila was basically so terrifying that nobody wanted to speak ill of him after his death. He's honored as the ideal king because everyone's scared to write down his less than savory moments.

[sndplusbeinghot]

replayed smt 4 for a bit and felt inspired to draw the og sin character

Isabeau from smt 4!!

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

Isabeau but Kaneko

_

Or… this semester, in my free time, I really started studying my Kaneko art books and wanted to try my hand a translating a Doi design to a Kaneko design

[jaccsonhyde]

[eirikrjs]

One of the benefits of SMTVV is all the mods allow us to have Dx2 only demons in the game(Along with Persona Protags but that’s not important). It’s wild seeing a boss fight of Satan and he summons Krishna or Mahakala or the Godlys instead of the usual. Some even bs innates that if you make the wrong move can undo everything in said battle.

The SMT mod community honestly seems like it's getting robust and more dynamic.

^Like this is more than just YHVH 2 in Nocturne, it's got the 4A/5 style skill affinities, amongst other things. This effort is a world away from the Demeter Huge boobs/Less clothes mods on Game Banana.

[bobinguschungusgaming]

Shin Megami Tensei 5 Classic Run

this is probably going to be the most frustrating classic run out of all the "modern" smt games.

smt3 had normal attacks infused with might. smt4 and 4A has guns with elemental bullets and the luck stat dealing crits. smt5…. is a pain in the ass and is a grindfest.

just like the last classic runs, this one has the protag only using the normal attack, items, and summoning. magatsuhi skills are not allowed to be used. it's that simple.

however, smt5 apparently dropped the ball and made normal attacks suck ass and not deal as much damage even with a high str stat. HOWEVER, with items, and a high luck stat. i think i can get through this with a protag with an classic protag build.

the tutorial is literally impossible to do a classic run on due to daemon dealing more damage than you and the tutorial forcing you to cast zio so that segment doesn't count for this run.

wish me luck… it's probably going to end horribly once i reach demi-fiend.

[expousingwombat]

Comparing Metaphor to my SMT expectations: Job system and tone

Metaphor Demo thoughts: I can see people missing the creature collection/fusion over the long-term job system. I, however, prefer the job system. I like my teams to have people in them and not feeder fish. I will say that I think Persona 5 hit a nice middle ground by giving you full party members and demon negotiation. I prefer Digital Devil Saga's teammate flexibility, though. Metaphor feels closer to SMT Spin-off crew than the typical fanatical alignment reps in mainline Shin Megami Tensei. I'm not saying Metaphor has the same afterschool time management system as Persona. (Metaphor does have Persona's Social Links, sorry, the *Followers* system.) What I mean is that SMT is more religious parable than peers vibes. While there are always exceptions (SMT4/4A), mainline SMT NPCs exist to be radicalized towards one extreme. I mean, they literally merge with a demon, usually Satan or a similar Famously Evil Guy, or an angel, usually a high tier Famously Human Angel. In the spin-off games, like Digital Devil Saga, Raidou Kuzunoha, or Persona, the characters are quirky individuals trying to work together. There's significantly less tension between party members, and any rifts are eventually mended. NPCs are usually more social and part of your team if not your battle party. Either the writing team will later reveal there's a lot more polar thinking amid party members or you have a friendlier cast. That being said, it seems the creators drew from both SMT4's "literacy is a scourge that divides the rich from the poor" and Persona 5's "Rebel against those higher on the ladder that are scumbags" to make the main character functionally an Untouchable. Peak underdog who looks like a little cherub.

[1driedpersimmon]

I love all of your smt and dds drawings so much!!! I’m curious what’s some of your favorite things about each of the games you’ve played. Oh, and fav characters from each game too!

Heh ty!! Hmm soo let’s see…

Well smt (minus vengeance so far I’m not done with that yet) I’ve played 3, 4 (not 4a yet tho I have it), and 5 I mostly like cuz of the vibes and gameplay heh and im not too particular on any characters specifically so I like all the protags (which imo has the coolest designs in their respective games 🤔)

Mmm dds I think is one of my fav games ever and my only gripe about it was some grinds spots (as is most older jrpg) but the story the music the characters… *chefs kiss* uhhh I do love me Serph and Heat but I’ve a soft spot for Gale… and Cielo, and Sera, and Argilla, and- (everyone)

I’ve also played only the first Raidou game (love him btw) but otherwise I haven’t played any other smt games :3

[vinnigami]

May I request Dagda in an argument with Aogami please?

I don’t think Aogami likes him very much

[cake-apostate]

I think it's kind of hilarious how SMT Apocalypse's beach episode ended with a custody battle for the MC's soul.

[katribou]

Seeing your recent SMT art is great bc I have finally learned the Lore and Gameplay around SMT courtesy of CrystAHHHL Streams and I am living for your tags they are Correct

HAHAHA my beef with the 4a cast is everlasting. will never not take a chance to throw them under the bus. or into krishna's dog's mouth

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

Gotta be one of my favorite dubious forces 🖤

[starpros-sunshine]

proper description of smt:

shin megami tensei is one of ATLUS' best-selling franchises. notoriously difficult, sometimes unfair, but overall very creative and fun. all SMT games (to my knowledge) take place after some sort of calamity has struck Tokyo. SMT 3 has you exploring a ruined tokyo. SMT 5 has you exploring a ruined tokyo. SMT 4 has you... on top of a ruined tokyo (it makes sense in context.) SMT 4 Apocalypse, you guessed it, has you exploring a ruined tokyo. underneath the setting of SMT 4. i promise it makes sense in context.

it's also what persona is a spin-off of! SMT lacks the like, social sim elements of the persona series though, and is pretty much entirely focused on combat and following the story. very fun games tho. even if they can be mega unfair

but yeah if you ever wanna play, SMT V is on the switch. SMT 3 has a remake on modern consoles. SMT 4 + 4A are on the 3DS. idk abt smt1+2 i never played them. lol. but they are good games. even if occasionally the battle system will make you want to chew ur controller in half bc u made ONE mistake and suddenly the enemies are downing ur entire party

I have the feeling that whoever wrote these games had a bone to pick with Tokyo.... (Jesting jesting)

But I am nodding along!! I am listening!! I think I know the name of that series I never knew what it was about though.... Does that mean Persona and SMT play in the same universe? Actually no let's take one step back. Do all of the SMT games take place in the same universe? Because if so then I'd just give up on Tokyo. Unluckiest city worldwide you can't live there lest you be struck by calamity and die.