Megaten dx2 is a gooner game now

...still waiting for Demifiend

She has always been like that

I smile every time I see him. Bro filled me with so much morale to save humanity for a fictional war.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

photo version for drawing of flynn

a.k.a. Things I Wish I Knew Before Attempting a RetroAchievements Mastery for Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (NES)

This is just a collection of various pieces of information I found useful whilst playing through Megami Tensei for the first time. It's neither a full guide nor a walkthrough. If you're looking for something more in-depth (e.g. a guide, a walkthrough, maps) then check the links at the bottom of the post.

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Patch Information

You can probably skip this section if you aren't doing Hardcore RetroAchievements and are free to use save states.

• The RetroAchievements-compatible English patches can be found here.
• The MMC3 patch can be found here.

Playing the 1.0 translation patch on RetroArch (Mesen core) with fast-forward feels like a bit of lottery because of the constant threat of a.) a possible crash, and b.) graphical corruption resulting in broken passwords (the orange/brown text, if you've seen it).

The newer MMC3 patch by invertigo is supposed to be more stable, and you can patch it over the 1.0 patch. You can do some of your grinding on the MMC3 patch and then password over to the 1.0 patch whenever you're ready to get achievements.

I also set a (medium) game overclock and it seems like it was more stable. Might just be placebo though as I've no idea if an overclock would actually help with the memory issues that lead to the bugginess.

I will say that I actually spent the entirety of my Second Quest run on the 1.0 patch, but by then I'd already switched to using on-demand fast-forward (i.e. hold instead of toggle), and I only used it during battles. That also seemed help.

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Character Stats

• Strength (STR) - Value affects attack power and HP. Also affects the amount of recovery from healing spells. Additionally, certain events depend on having met a STR threshold (e.g. rescuing Rick, getting the Hinokagutsuchi).
• Wisdom (WIS) - For Nakajima, this value affects demon negotiation. For Yumiko, MP and magic defense. Also affects the amount of recovery from Medi and Medica. Yumiko learns spells based on hers and Nakajima's combined WIS and level, which I'll touch on later.
• Attack (ATT) - Value affects attack power.
• Agility (AGI) - Value affects action priority and evasion.
• Luck (LUK) - Value affects both the chances of escaping from battle and launching preemptive attacks. Also has minor effects on other stats (e.g. an additional HP increase).

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Character Stat Allocation and Stat Progression

Both characters start with 15 bonus points that you can freely allocate before you even start playing the game. Taking into account that Yumiko learns Medi at a WIS+LVL value of 20, and that the enemies in Daedalus cap out at 8 points in Agility, you can use the following stat distribution for both characters to ensure you have early healing and that you outspeed:

• STR - 12
• WIS - 9
• ATT - 5
• AGI - 9
• LUK - 5

Generally speaking, you can get away with just mirroring the stats between the two. Prioritise raising STR and WIS, ideally maxing out the former before any of the other stats.

AGI is mostly dependent on how fast the enemies are in whatever dungeon it is you're exploring. I like having it at 12-15 by the time you get to Mazurka.

LUK can be raised in tandem with AGI to ensure that you can actually run away from enemies you don't want to fight, which is all the more important if you'd rather not fight the enemies with Level Drain, for example. Also helps if you want to run away from the enemies on the way to the Hinokagutsuchi, should you want to get the sword early.

ATT you can honestly save for last. The demons are more reliable sources of damage, and you get good damage bumps as you upgrade your equipment. Add a point every now and then if you must, but I would place it as the lowest priority.

Basically, STR > WIS > AGI / LUK > ATT

It's important to note two stat-based events:

• You need at least 15 STR in order to rescue Rick (more on Rick later).
• You need a combined value of at least 48 STR+WIS+LUK in order to get the Hinokagutsuchi.

More on stat allocation and stat progression here.

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Agility Bug

This bug comes in two parts:

• The effective AGI rating of a demon in battle changes to the AGI rating of the demon right above it in the status screen.
• The effective AGI of a demon at the bottom of the status screen is over 20.

In this example, Ganesha will always act first, regardless of where it's at in the battle line-up. Sphynx also inherits Krishna's 20 AGI whilst in battle.

This means that you can manipulate action priority in such a way that a demon who, for example, casts Hyper or Tetraja (more on spells in the next section) always acts first. You can change the order of demons in the status screen via calling and binding them, with binding a demon always placing it at the bottom of the list.

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Spells

Megami Tensei has, IMO, nine important spells: five recovery spells, one buff spell, one barrier spell, and two utility spells.

• Medi (Dia)
• Medica (Media)
• Medical (Diarahan)
• Clink (Petradi/Paraladi/Posumudi)
• Rekarm (Recarm - chance to revive target at 1HP, but with a chance to make target demon vanish instead)
• Hyper (Tarukaja)
• Tetraja (prevent level drain)
• Swadona (generate a save password on-demand)
• Staruto (warp to the start of the game)

Yumiko can learn six (Medi, Medical, Clink, Rekarm, Swadona, Staruto) of these, with the two utility spells being exclusive to her kit. The rest (Medica, Hyper, Tetraja) you'll have to get through demons. It's important to note that only Yumiko can use magic outside of battle.

There's technically another recovery spell, Patch (Patra - cures volatile status), but it isn't as important IMO.

Rekarm is always safe to use on Nakajima or Yumiko. I would, however, hesitate to use it on a demon unless you're playing with save states.

Re: ailment spells, they can be useful, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get demons that have them. Yumiko already naturally learns two (Etna, Marin Karin) anyway. Also, I think I only really used ailment spells in the second quest, mostly because it made dealing with groups of stronger demons easier before I got better weapons.

I rarely, if at all, used offensive magic, so I have no notes for those spells.

More on magic here.

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Yumiko's Spells

Yumiko learns magic based on the following formula:

[ (Nakajima's WIS + Yumiko's WIS) + (Nakajima's Level + Yumiko's Level) ]

Because Nakajima and Yumiko will always be the same level, and assuming we mirror the stat growth between the two, we can simplify the formula as:

[ WIS(2) + LVL(2) ]

You can find Yumiko's complete spell table at the bottom of this page.

For the purposes of this guide, I'd like to highlight seven specific spells.

Yumiko always starts with Mappa, regardless of how many points you choose to allocate to WIS at the beginning, because both characters start with 5 points in WIS.

[ 5(2) + 1(2) ] = 12

If they both start the game with 9 points in WIS as per the recommendation above, Yumiko also starts with Medi.

[ 9(2) + 1(2) ] = 20

You get the gist.

Assuming you spend the next 8 level-ups maxing out STR and then spend the next 7 level-ups putting points into WIS, you can get Swadona at as early as level 16. Getting the password spell as early as possible is very helpful if you aren't playing with save states as it makes "saving" immensely less tedious.

I'll once again point out that Yumiko doesn't learn Medica (Media), and I'll address that in the next section.

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Demons and Fusion

You can fuse demons up to 7 levels higher than Nakajima (e.g at Lvl. 20, Nakajima can fuse the Lvl. 27 demon, Alraune). I assume the same is true for recruiting demons. You can use this page as a reference for demon locations.

While there isn't a fusion calculator for DDS Megami Tensei on the Megami Tensei Fusion Tools website, you can use the fusion calculator for Kyūyaku as a reference for the demon levels and the recipes. The movesets, however, aren't a one-to-one match.

I'll specifically only highlight the demons that can learn the following skills:

• Medica (Media)
• Medical (Diarahan)
• Clink (Petradi/Paraladi/Posumudi)
• Hyper (Tarukaja)
• Tetraja

I'll also use their names as written in the Kyūyaku fusion calculator to make it easier.

*It's easier to just recruit Werecat outright than to try and fuse it, Pooka is only available through recruitment. Both are found in Valhalla Corridor.

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Rick's Demonic Transformation

The demon that Rick transforms into when he joins your party (if he even decides to join your party) is neither fixed nor random—it's determined by the demon with the highest internal ID that you currently have in your stock. You can view a table of the internal IDs here.

Key points to consider:

• Rick will only join your party if your stock isn't full (i.e. you have six demons or less).
• If you do have six demons in your stock, the game will not check against the demon in the sixth slot on the status screen. Keep this in mind if you're trying to get a specific result.
• Rick will not join your party if you have any of the following demons in your stock: Ganesha, Odin, Wong Long, Krishna.
• While Wong Long is technically a higher-level demon than Ganesha, it has the lowest internal ID of the four aforementioned late-game demons.

Because rescuing Rick isn't needed for progression until very late in the game, you can delay doing so until you can fuse Barong (at least Lvl. 47 for Nakajima), and you'll probably want to fuse Barong anyway as it's one of the ingredients you can use to get Krishna. If you rescue Rick with Barong in your party, he'll join you as Wong Long. Free high-level demon, one less demon to fuse.

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Differences in the Second Quest

• Enemies have about double their HP, but their other stats remain the same.
• Locations of NPCs, key items, and treasure chests have been shuffled around, but are mostly still in the same dungeons/maps.
• There are less amethysts, so I'd suggest immediately going to Rag's when you get one so you won't risk accidentally using it. You can get two of them and subsequently exchange them for the Ares Necklace and the Heavenly Magatama whilst exploring Mazurka.
• The Hinokagutsuchi has been moved to the Red Tower. While you technically still can get it "early", it'll likely involve more running away from encounters. And you'll probably just want to teleport out of the area or password out of the game to save you the hassle of backtracking out.
• The Mist Armor and the Daphne Crown have both been removed. Nakajima and Yumiko will have to settle for the Aura Armor and the Aura Helmet respectively.

The start of the game can be fairly difficult because the 500-Macca chest has been moved to the 6th floor and the Weapons Shop has been moved to the 7th. Pray for good RNG (or use save states if you can) and just run away from encounters as you make a beeline for the chest and then back up to the Weapons Shop. Fwiw, the starting money trick still works in the second quest, so you can still start properly exploring Daedalus Tower fully kitted-out.

If you've never played the second quest and want to try it, you can use the password below. This is a fresh game, as I got it immediately after starting.

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Miscellaneous

• The solution for Izanami's puzzle is:
  • Top: Crude Gem
  • Right: Calm Gem
  • Left: Surge Gem
• If you have Ganesha, Wong Long, and Krishna all summoned, your Magnetite won't deplete.
• You can easily start with ~998 macca by opening the 500-macca chest twice. Basically, you open the chest once, pay to get healed at the Recovery Spring (usually for only 2 macca if you use Mappa to consume 2 MP), and then open the chest a second time. This is the starting money trick I mentioned in the above section.
• The max amount of money you can hold is, iirc, a little over 61K. Keep this in mind if you decide to grind for money before having the Bien Elder double it when you get the Sky City Pass.
• When the game opens up after you beat Medusa in Bien, you don't actually have to get the Sky City Pass before you progress. This could lead to you getting locked out of Bien if you take the back exit, as the guard won't let you through without the pass. This is especially annoying if you end up accidentally doing it after flying the city to Mazurka or Afini. If you do get locked out, you can either a.) use one of the goddess statues to warp back into the city, or b.) save your game and then load back in to reset Bien's location.
• The best late-game weapons for Nakajima and Yumiko are the Hinokagutsuchi and the Aura Blade respectively, and both weapons can hit multiple targets. Before you acquire those though, you'll have to purchase weapons in the various shops. I found that a slightly weaker multi-target weapon was be more useful than a slightly stronger singe-target weapon, especially during the Second Quest. You can view a list of weapons here.
• The passwords don't store information about event-based flags, so you'd have to complete whatever sequence of events you're currently working on all in the same play session.
  • For example, you have to talk to the NPC in Afini Palace about the Holy Jar AND get the White Dragon Gem in the same session. You can't explore Afini and talk to the NPC, save your game, reload, and then head straight to the Holy Pot.

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References

• FC Version Megami Tensei 1 (Namco Version Megami Tensei) Complete Walkthrough/Game Strategy Notes
• List of Demons - Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei I Fusion Calculator

i used IBISPAINT to try and make Shesha-flynn in smt IV in this poster lol but i stinked at this lol. If i should alter walter and jonathan tell me on what they should look like with photo reference if possible. Video of drawing coming soon!!

I love the prints and textures, my only gripe is that the character print is on the back 🥲.

He was up to 1,300+ posts, but now he's at around 900 posts by the time of this message.

SJ Redux was my first SMT game ever and it has a special place in my heart. Both do, and it is easily one of my all-time favorite games despite its flaws. It’s a wonderful experience and the New Neutral Ending is one of my all-time favorite endings period. Putting aside that it’s literally the Doom 64 ending which is great, the idea that a normal soldier ascended while maintaining his humanity to be a guardian of humanity is wonderful. Next time we see him he’s on the 7th iteration of the Schwarweltz and still going. Alex is probably long dead and he’s still doing it for her. So I’m curious, what are all of your favorite endings and why do you like them?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Curi para los Ñ

Chinese goddess Nuwa and her chud boyfriend: https://x.com/wanderjegson/status/2079240375777017951?t=hHBaWh7ppg7cJaaCaziPow&s=19

Yoko Yapping about Angels: https://x.com/wanderjegson/status/2079217264960635187?t=w0MWfZ2QW4BsjUEV7p7qGw&s=19

Great song though. Feels like it would fit SMTIV better. Especially if we could drive a car. Yoko would hate it though.

Scanned by one Random Hoo Haas and then the rest of the things done by me.

This chapter was only released in a very specific issue of a magazine and was never seen again. I only learnt about it from reading through the Japanese wiki page for Ronde. So this is spooky lost media, or was, I doubt any of those channels will cover it because it's not a kid's show, sadge.

Does this count as studying for my medical exam question mark.

Song I stole the lyric from:

Technique of Relief by Susumu Hirasawa

"Michael what do you mean by skills of cells, how would that fit to the Demifiend?" His magatama is fused to his central nervous system, it's directly responsible for handling his every mutated cell, his every gained skill, his every command to pursue further power. The magatama overtook a huge responsibility to be able to uplift it's host.

(Commissioned by @appple.tart on Tiktok)

I just finished SMT2 in Chaos ending, will do the Neutral one since it seems more "complete" gameplay-wise. Normally, I just do the neutral ending since it allows me to do all bosses (except for Strange Journey so far, so I did all 3 in one playthrough) and it's the one that I agree the most in every game I played, then check the other endings on YouTube. But in SMT2 I actually felt like going for the Chaos one because it was the alignment I felt more attached to. I don't mind doing more than one ending per playthrough, but sometimes it does get kind of exhausting, and I feel like I'm doing it more because of the full experience rather than pure fun. I intend to start If... soon and I heard it got 4 routes which actually show changes throughout the entire playthrough rather than the late game. Which ones should I do? Also, do you recommend actually going for more than one ending in one playthrough in the franchise or is it just kinda exhausting for anyone else sometimes?

After my second playthrough I’ve finally got them all 😁😁😁…
What is your favourite Magatama? And how long did you guys need to get them all?

"It's a shame you won't ever find out how your manga ends."

This is one of the best scenes in megaten.