[PC] Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online

So... Aeria Games is releasing an MMO for the Shin Megami Tensei Series. It's set to be released in North America and Europe.

According to information on Kotaku.com:

Quote:

Set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo somewhere between Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2, players choose one of three factions - the order preserving Law, system crashing Chaos, and mercenary Neutrals - and utilize a real-time strategic fighting system to help defeat the demons running rampant throughout the city. It features many of the mainstays of the main series, including Devil Partnership and Devil Fusing to create new breeds, my personal favorite aspect of the franchise. Best of all, it follows the free-to-play, microtransaction model, which means you won't have to shell out big bucks only to discover you hate it.

Free subscription? That's relevant to my interests.

Here's the press release from Aeria:

Quote:

Aeria Games Announces Acquisition of Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online for North American and European Release

Santa Clara, Calif. (Sept. 9, 2008) – Aeria Games’ newest acquisition from Cave Co., Ltd., Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online, also called “MegaTen,” will soon be released in the European and North American online PC gaming markets in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

Shin Megami Tensei is a major intellectual property of the well-known Japanese developer and publisher, Atlus Co., Ltd. The first of many titles in the franchise was released by Atlus in 1992 for the Japanese Super NES and has grown a large and loyal following around the world with additional game titles for consumer consoles and handheld systems. The latest installment brings the brand online.

Originally released in Japan in Q1 2007, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online was Cave’s first massive multiplayer online (MMO) title for PC. MegaTen has become a huge success with a large fan following. Aeria Games plans on bringing that success to the European and North American markets as it has done with its titles Last Chaos and Shaiya.

Set in a fictional post-apocalyptic Tokyo, survivors attempt to restore the city by defeating demons and solving puzzles. Each player acts as a “Devil Buster.” Success relies on forming an alliance with demons or slaying them.

MegaTen offers numerous unique features:

* Strategic Real-time Fighting System - Choose between attacking, parrying and defending in real time.
* Diverse Weaponry – Use a wide array of weapons from medieval swords to modern-day rifles and handguns.
* Devil Partnership – Players negotiate with devils to assist in battle and missions.
* Devil Fusing – Players can combine multiple devils to create new breeds.
* Private Dungeons – In addition to the public battle areas, players can access private dungeons to hunt and collect items with their friends.

More information is available at Aeria Games - Join the Fastest Growing Free-to-Play Gaming Community.

So who else is gonna be playing this?

It's apparently been out in Japan since last March. Can't say I think it'll be a shoe-in for the western market, but I'm looking forward to trying it out (even though I've never played a megaten game).

A friend of mine had already been playing the Japanese language version. There's a lot of content that needs to be paid for, but the combat system is different from what we normally see... but it goes off timed button presses. Paper theory nerds on your mark for that one.

Edit: I will be playing this.

Sounds interesting! SMT is a cool universe, and the fact that it's shmup-veterans Cave who developed it is crazy (and maybe awesome). Since it's free to play with a micro-transaction model means that at least it's worth giving a fair go.

Bunch of screens and videos:
Shin Megami Tensei MMORPG goes international | RPG Land

From what I've read, it's not exactly a popular game in Japan or Korea. No official confirmed reason yet as to why that is, speculation falls on it either not being grindy enough or lacking many of the traditional MMO conventions most folks associate with these games. That may not be a bad thing depending on your tastes.

Originally Posted by Rotorblade

From what I've read, it's not exactly a popular game in Japan or Korea. No official confirmed reason yet as to why that is, speculation falls on it either not being grindy enough or lacking many of the traditional MMO conventions most folks associate with these games. That may not be a bad thing depending on your tastes.

grinding and MMO conventions are stupid, so to me that's a good thing for sure. However, if it's too empty, that would be boring.

Some of the screenshots look butt-ugly, and some look fantastic, so it's a bit weird. It's to be expected that the graphical quality is inconsistent, that usually happens with MMOs, but this is pretty extreme.

That was another point of contention, as content seems to be sparse from a few observers. Source? A few posters at SomethingAwful and Nickoten from here who's actually played the game. Nick liked it, but I'm not sure how deep he went because he admitted to a language barrier interfering with things.

Originally Posted by Chaotic

So who else is gonna be playing this?

Gonna? I've been playing it.
It's a bit difficult at times since everything is in Japanese.

Originally Posted by surasshu

grinding and MMO conventions are stupid, so to me that's a good thing for sure. However, if it's too empty, that would be boring.

Some of the screenshots look butt-ugly, and some look fantastic, so it's a bit weird. It's to be expected that the graphical quality is inconsistent, that usually happens with MMOs, but this is pretty extreme.

I'm kinda glad there isn't that much grinding in the game, where it focuses more on the usage of your abilities. Took a little while to get capturing down, due to some enemies being aggressive, and others just plain kicking your ass if you mess up.

I'll give it a go since it's free and the SMT universe is always a spiffy setting. How much do you actually have to pay for with these microtransactions? Surely you can pick up decent enough equipment and items from enemies and dungeons.

Originally Posted by Tritoch

I'll give it a go since it's free and the SMT universe is always a spiffy setting. How much do you actually have to pay for with these microtransactions? Surely you can pick up decent enough equipment and items from enemies and dungeons.

You can. You actually get decent equipment just from the shopkeepers around in the towns. The combat system is like turn based/action in a way. You can combo moves, however, if you don't guard in time, the enemy can knock you back with their combos.

updating...ever...so slowly. Will get to playing the japanese server either today or tonite, there's a wonderful wiki page that helped me out :
Megami Tensei Online: IMAGINE - Scratchpad Wiki Labs - Free wikis from Wikia


Also, it seems the translation group thats working on the english version is really...iffy. If you check out the Aeria games forums it seems like its all being done by amateurs. Nothing against them of course, they are awesome, but I was hoping to see professionals working on it =\

Hey, if anyone is still interested in this, there's beta sign-ups going on for the game:

SIGN UP FOR BETA | Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online

I registered for it just a little while ago. I'm still pretty interested in this.