I was originally hesitant of purchasing this game because I already played the original on the DS. I have gotten about 2/3s through the original game and haven't beaten it.

I really love the shin megami tensei universe and like turn based strategy games. If you like either, you will really like this game. The fact that there is an actual story, a good story, makes this game really great.

If you haven't played this game before, it is a must buy. If you have and haven't beaten the original (the one released on the DS), then I would suggest picking it up.

There are a few striking upgrades to this game to the DS version which makes it worth buying;

• Voice Acting for most of the main dialog(quality voice acting, very well done).
• Graphical Upscale for the 3DS (Game Sprites have increased resolution, DS games look pretty terrible on the 3DS).
• Additional Chapter at the end of the game(I don't know much about it, I haven't beaten this game yet on either platforms).

There is one big con however that I see, but it doesn't really affect me.

There is no 3D beyond the intro movie. This is a bit of a miss opportunity considering that Shin Megami Tensei games are usually battled in first person view. This means that they could have capitalized on that fact and made the first person view use the 3D function and make the battles more 3D.

I can not see 3D due to eye problems so I don't even have any idea what 3D looks like, but I imagine that it is probably cool to people who can see it.

Bottomline; If you are on the fence about this game and haven't played it or beaten the original yet, get it. The story is compelling and the gameplay is fun.

If you have beaten the original and are thinking buying the game, realize the game is pretty much the same except for the increased resolution on sprites and additional voice acting(which is quite good).

Graphics don't look better at all. Throwing a Supersal filter on sprites is practically a fucking downgrade. This is a quick port for Atlus to make money off of its fans. Atlus fans are like SE fans 10 years ago, they'll buy everything 3 times and ask for more. Which is fine, its their money. But that doesn't make Atlus any less of a whore company. 
And I don't see the value in having the flat sprites jut out just a bit from the backdrop. 
Wake me up in 2 years when Atlus makes another new game, after they port Strange Journey and probably Persona 3 again.

@ryanwho said:

Graphics don't look better at all. Throwing a Supersal filter on sprites is practically a fucking downgrade. This is a quick port for Atlus to make money off of its fans. Atlus fans are like SE fans 10 years ago, they'll buy everything 3 times and ask for more. Which is fine, its their money. But that doesn't make Atlus any less of a whore company. And I don't see the value in having the flat sprites jut out just a bit from the backdrop. Wake me up in 2 years when Atlus makes another new game, after they port Strange Journey and probably Persona 3 again.

This game is in fact simply a port (or quick port as you say), and kind of a weird port considering that most ports are from previous generations of platforms years ago(N64, SNES) and not the immediate previous generation(Nintendo DS).

That said, people should know that this game IS in fact the same game. As you mentioned, people do not need to purchase this game if you have already beaten it and don't care about the additional chapter of the game added. Its really not worth it, wait until the price drops(its 39.99 USD at the moment).

IF you haven't ever played this game before, its still a must buy. The game is quite good.

Shame there's no 3D beyond the intro movie. It would've been amusing having Yuzu's chesticles coming at you (because the size of those are just ridiculous). But yeah, it's a great Turn-Based Role-Playing Strategy Game for anyone who's into that ind of gameplay. Surprisingly easy to get into too. Wouldn't pay more then 30 quid for it, at most.

3D Jack Frost saying "Hee-Ho" makes this game of the year for every year.

If I had a 3DS I would probably get it, if only to finally understand where a certain user on these forums is coming from in regards to his utter hatred for it.

@ArbitraryWater said:

If I had a 3DS I would probably get it, if only to finally understand where a certain user on these forums is coming from in regards to his utter hatred for it.

The only reason he hates it as much as he does is because he thinks it's too hard.

@Bocam said:

3D Jack Frost saying "Hee-Ho" makes this game of the year for every year.

Fuck you, now I have to buy it. And I really didn't want to.

I never played the first one and I got this one. Playing through it now really enjoying it so far like the story pretty interesting.

I missed it last time for some reason. Anyway, I'm digging it so far. If I knew you could choose the abilities as you fuse that would have been a strong selling point for me.

(quality voice acting, very well done)..

The voice acting is on par with anime in general. So, you know bad but better than reading text.

There is 3D beyond the intro movie. It's just in the most innocuous place. While fusing it's 3D! So cards are swirling about and it's hard to focus on either layer.

If it comes out in the UK I will pick it up. If no UK version happens I might import the original DS version.

A must buy if you haven't beaten the original

@Jeust said:

A must buy if you haven't beaten the original

and you're a masochist.

game is not that hard. Strange Journey is way harder anyway

I'm looking to get into this series anyway, this looks like a great game to start.

@Bocam said:

3D Jack Frost saying "Hee-Ho" makes this game of the year for every year.

I read this and decided that I have to buy this game. Goddamn you.

@The_Hiro_Abides said:

The voice acting is on par with anime in general. So, you know bad but better than reading text.

There is 3D beyond the intro movie. It's just in the most innocuous place. While fusing it's 3D! So cards are swirling about and it's hard to focus on either layer.

The fact that the voice acting is on par with anime in general is actually a compliment.

Unfortunately voice acting in video games, at least handheld games, isn't actually all that great. When a game has voice acting and it is actually tolerable, it is considered "quality".

The bar for voice acting is actually quite low.

I will never forget; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ_FSVWR6ZE

@Sphinxks said:

@The_Hiro_Abides said:

The voice acting is on par with anime in general. So, you know bad but better than reading text.

There is 3D beyond the intro movie. It's just in the most innocuous place. While fusing it's 3D! So cards are swirling about and it's hard to focus on either layer.

The fact that the voice acting is on par with anime in general is actually a compliment.

Unfortunately voice acting in video games, at least handheld games, isn't actually all that great. When a game has voice acting and it is actually tolerable, it is considered "quality".

The bar for voice acting is actually quite low.

I will never forget; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ_FSVWR6ZE

Good point. I've been watching a lot of anime recently and sometimes the choices for a voice are downright awful.

And now I won't forget Dr. Light either. The only thing I remembered from that show previously was the intro.

Now that I'm that at Day 7 I have to say the voice acting is pretty great in general. Only Midori and random civilian male and female voice annoy me.