[Guest]

It sounds intriguing, and I'd like to try it out. But my question is, why did this random game get so much coverage? When so many other great games get overlooked.

Because in this day and age 2-D titles, specifically detailed 2D titles, are rare, and even rarer in the U.S. It was nice that one was the recipient of some attention for once. The fact that some media outlets raise Princess Crown up on a pedistal helps a little too. What titles are being overlooked due to OS?

Now I haven't played every SMT, not even close. But I'm assuming, and I could be wrong, but I believe I'm not. As a whole, the SMT series is better than OS.

I get what you are saying, but that is one confusing comment. Again, the concern is that the last several titles (I'm not counting P3,......yet) in the SMT line have been subpar imo. If it was an intermittent occurence I would be less concerned, but it hasn't been. I'm also I bit confused considering that you haven't even played Odin Sphere. If I am correct in my assumption that you haven't played it, don't you think it would be wise to withhold such a statement?

I just saw DDS1 at a GS brand new about a week ago.

I said most likely. I didn't say that it is. And, are you saying this for the sake of argument? Or do you truely believe that the SMT series, as a whole, is worse than Odin Sphere, a single game, from a developing company that has otherwise(1 game, which failed to gain popularity, where Odin Sphere has succeded, somewhat) never been heard of?

SB pretty much nailed it for me with this:

The most recent entries into the Megami Tensei series have been subpar by MT standards, so it's not far fetched that a game such as Odin Shere, at this point, is better.

I wouldn't say OS is better than the entire SMT series as a body of work (of course I don't think it is fair to try and compare one title to an entire series), but I do feel that OS is of much higher quality than DDS 1&2 and DS KR.

^lol. Sorry dude. You never know with some people.

Does poutine = pu-tang?

I really hope that is a joke.

Rogue Galaxy was a bad game for a number of reasons.

I agree with everything you said and more. I played RG for about 5 hours and was bored to numbness.

^I guess I wouldn't call it a half, but it isn't some piddlely tiny side quest either.

I wish EoA was still around, or Enix was a separate entity.


edit* A second employee of Atlus confirmed the issue we were discussing here regarding DS PSP being rejected due to a technical issue. It was actually discussed in an interview that was printed in Play -- for some odd reason, that portion was edited out. It was the issue with Odin Sphere on the cover.

Enix was claiming that without their help, it'd be almost impossible to work English text into the game. That was depressing lol. I don't know about either of you, but that is one of my favorite NES games. If not the favorite.

That was harsh, especially considering DQ VII had that advert on the back of the manual for DQ IV coming in 2002.

Oh, whoops. My bad.

Did he ever tell you exactly what the issue was?

He was pretty open last night and dropped some heart breaking bombs. At least to me. You might have already been aware of them.

I don't see anyone flaming anyone.

I don't think he was implying we were flaming each other. I think it was more of a rip on the mayhem at the Haven at times.

I'm not saying it's the major reason why it never came out here, but you honestly think it was never even considered as yet another reason to skip over it?

No, I don't. I actually spoke with the former Atlus employee last night and I happened to bring up DS PSP. I was told again there is a fatal technical flaw with the title. He wouldn't give me the specifics, but I know it has nothing to do with text issues or screen ratio / aspect. He said Atlus did want to localize it but it was beyond impossible. If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. Stack & Bundles has spoken, and still speaks, to the same individual, and I am sure I can have him confirm it as well.

My point was that the genre is, clearly, far less reaching than that of even just 3rd person RPGs. Given all of the other options you have of games that more people would perhaps actually bother to try, I could see them passing on it. I mean, they are around to make money. Etrian Odyssey obviously throws a wrench into that idea, but still.

With the way the industry has been moving over the past few years, there are small, but devoted segments that have been ignored. Just becasue they are small, doesn't mean that can't be profitable. EO is a good example of this. This was another topic this former employee touched on.

edit* I can see what you are saying about others and how they might view it based off of very little info, but I think the same could be applied to the newest SMT titles. Despite looking more acceptable, they still seem to get ripped by the media. What is weird to me, is how well received SMT KR was. IMO it is the ugliest of the newer titles. I mean it uses polygon builds for the static images.....yuck.

Despite there being a group of people who do enjoy games such as Devil Summoner, there's a far larger group who seem to be far more accepting of RPGs that use 3rd party viewpoints

I don't really buy this. I feel this is more of a result of various policies that prevent certain titles making it out here in the selection process. When the majority of titles are third person in the U.S., and that is all the market has had to pick from, what else can you expect to be cultivated? So we should abandon 1st person rpgs all together? I don't think that is what you are implying, but in a way, that is what it sounds like. This is what are really, really dislike about the current state of the video game industry. People want to throw away certain segments here and there because they deem them too niche or archaic. Atlus is in the market to make money, but they still make some shaky choices. You make it sound like DS was just an obscene risk compared to other titles they have released. Again, I'll reference Jewel Summoner.

Plus, what in the world can I do beyond making a large English website, forums and so forth that's dedicated to these games that would possibly show my support?

Don't make it sound so personal. Some of my comments were general observations. Just like S&B's comment.

I guess he is just saying what he think, "his opinion".

I have no problem with someone expressing their opinion, but it is not unreasonable to ask how someone formulated that opinion.

BTW Emilio, what happened to your friend that posted here and then disappeared? Kind of strange huh?

And, most likely, the SMT series are probably higher quality games than Odin Sphere is

And you are basing this off of what? I'm not sure if I would call the last Devil Summoner a quality title.

lol. True.

[I mean, just glancing at it can give you that impression]

I'm not saying that that it was the main reason, because I have no problem accepting that it was some technical issue (that's happened before with other smaller companies)... but I find it very hard to think that it wouldn't sell more poorly than pretty much any other Megaten related title they've bothered with so far. I mean, just glancing at it can give you that impression

You aren't the first person to make that comment to me in response to DS PSP. I have the Saturn version, and while it is quite a traditional rpg, it is more pleasant to look at than what screenshots may depict. In fact, one other person that had the same attitude as you regarding this title (if I recall correctly), imported the PSP version and has been quite impressed by it. Let us not forget that there is also a cool story present here as well. I would have liked to see what Atlus USA could have done with a translation.

I'm sorry but DS PSP would have been better than 90-100 percent of the rpgs released on PSP in the U.S. None of them have been that impressive graphically to this point, so you really can't use that as a reason why it shouldn't have been localized. Namco released all three of the LoH titles with completely butchered text. If Astonisha Story can be localized, DS should should have been.  I guarantee you DS would have easily sold better than, or at least on par with, Jewel Summoner. I also have a hard time believing it would have sold worse than the Devil Children titles for GBA. At least DS had a fanbase to build upon. Again, based on what I was told, it was purely a decision based on the technical issue.

It also would have been a nice way to help bridge a gap between those of us who want older Megaten titles, or at least titles that play like older SMT titles, and really haven't been too impressed with the last few releases, especially DDS 1&2 and DS KR.

As far as first person dungeon crawlers, don't dismiss them so easily. I believe Etrian Odyssey has been a mild success for Atlus despite some poor reviews. On several message boards quite a number of people have surfaced that miss that style of rpg and would like more. While a niche rpg on a system that isn't doing particularly well, at least DS offered something different from the typical medieval fantasy based crap with a cliched story.

edit*

Not to be a jerk, but the more I read that statement that I put in bold, the more irritated I get. I wonder if this is why we won't see some of the older titles here. I see the way the SRW community has come together to attempt to show Atlus their support for a localization of SRT OG PS2, and I get a little jealous.

^Nah, I was told it was due to technical issues by a former Atlus employee. As far as selling like crap, what Atlus titles burn up the charts? None of them sell that well.