Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux - Nintendo 3DS

I'm writing this review from the perspective of somebody who loved the original Strange Journey and wants to know what the quirks are in this new port to the 3DS: * The game is NOT in 3D. Hard to believe a game centered around 3D dungeon exploration isn't in 3D on a 3D system, but there you have it. * The game does NOT run at 60 FPS. It does NOT take advantage of any features of the "New 3DS" either. * ALL voice acting is in Japanese with no options for English. You can reduce the voice volume to get rid of voices but it isn't the same as being able to disable voice acting entirely. * The tone for moving the cursor and confirming a selection is extremely loud compared to the rest of the music and SFX. You can adjust the SFX volume too, but then all sound effects are lowered in addition to the cursor movement sound. It's pretty bad on headphones and the New 3DS speakers, but not so much through the 3DS speakers. * Atlus used a very large anti-aliased font for the main text display that is blurry and not very easy to read. It isn't as extreme as Dragon Quest VIII which uses a font that is actually unintelligible and causes eye strain, but it's much less readable than the crisp, appropriately-sized text in SMT IV: Apocalypse. * All character portraits were re-done by a different artist. They are intended to be in the style of the DS game, but clearly it's by somebody with less experience. * Despite the graphical overhaul it is easily one of the crudest looking games on the 3DS especially in comparison to any other Atlus game on the 3DS. The original game was pretty ugly, and in that sense nothing has changed here. The dungeon's "3D" engine still has severe pop-up and an inconsistent frame rate. * Shoji Meguro's awful soundtrack has not been remixed or enhanced in any way. Composed at the height of his "I can do nothing wrong" period, it's easily the worst soundtrack he's ever made. On the 3DS the samples are of much higher fidelity and less scratchy than on the DS, but in the end it's effectively a better recording of the same uninspired source material. * The game is rife with spelling and punctuation errors, now a common feature of nearly every game Atlus translates. They are trying to give Aksys a run for their money it seems. Some of these minor critiques are the responsibility of Atlus USA which has done their typical rushed translation and tweaking. Then again it's a niche title that won't be a money maker for them so you can see why they put in significantly less effort compared to games like SMT: IV and Persona. It really is a budget title and they treated it as such. I would have gladly paid more for a more polished product though. Everything you loved about the original game is still here so Strange Journey fans will feel right at home with this new port for the 3DS. I just wish it was enhanced for the 3DS instead of being much closer to a rehash of the original. Regardless, it's a wonderful game and fans of the old-school Atlus RPGs like Soul Hackers and everything before Persona 3 will have a blast.

Best 3DS game period. Keep in mind I never played original DS version. So I have no prior attatchment to that version. Some of the reviews I've seen seem to be disappointed for one thing or another compared to that version. They either wanted more or felt that it lost certain charm or whatever. Personally I think people will always focus on the one thing to complain about rather than focus on the hundreds of good things the product offers. I downloaded this game before the 3DS shop disappeared. But felt like I wanted a physical copy too. (It's that good.) It's quite a shame that due to it's dual screen nature a port of this game may never exist outside of the 3DS. But in a weird way I'm okay with that. Gives me another reason amoungst many to treassure my 2DS even more. The 3DS/2DS may someday be known as the SMT Console for good reason indeed.

Strange Journey is a black sheep in the megaten series, being released between III and IV in the series lifetime. I played the game then, when it was first released. Being a portable title in a somewhat niche genre, the game overcame obvious hardware limitations with a deep story and challenging gameplay. When compared to Nocturne, it's predecessor, it would be easy to say it was a dumbed down version of the megaten formula, when in truth it was simply more in line with the SMT I and II. The fairest comparison would be to Soul Hackers. World navigation is simplistic and static, depicted either by artistic backgrounds or slightly more three dimensional rendered environments. The same goes for talking to demons and repeating conversations. This game is not pretty. The graphics and environments are not what the game was designed with in mind. When compared to modern era games, it falls short in those categories. And for that reason, I don't recommend this if you haven't played many jrpgs. But if you love megaten, this is a perfect pick. The soundtrack is unique and haunting, though generally not very musical in nature. The plot is detailed and enjoyable, but presented primarily through blocks of text. There are many demons to recruit and a 8 remarkably dismal sectors to explore. Returning players will be immediately greeted with numerous quality of life updates such as saving in the field and fast forwarding in dialogue. There is a new character and a corresponding bonus area which unlocks 3 new endings. Players have more to do in subsequent playthroughs, can change difficulty any time in the mentioned, and can install as many apps at a time as you like. The game is by no means flawless, but I find myself having even more trouble putting it down than when I first played it 7 years ago.

Even in on normal difficulty, SJR will kick you in the teeth. Huge dungeon crawling adventure with that Shin Megami Tensei flair. Basically an even more difficult Etrian Odyssey game with a science fiction code of paint. Quality of life changes from the original such as unlimited Sub Apps and more save points are a welcome addition. My one complaint has to be the lack of an Englis dub. I know that Atlus games cost slightly more at launch because of budget reasons, but SMT4, SM4 Apocalypse, and both the Devil Survivor Reboots had a fully voiced English dub. Why not Strange Journey? I honestly would've paid more at launch for the features. The Japanese voice acting is serviceable, but I wish I at least had the option to turn it off. It's pretty obvious that sometimes what a character is saying, and what's written on screen are completely different. A solid game nevertheless.

Before I say anything, I'm gonna be honest -- I didn't even know they were remaking Strange Journey and became super stoked after I did my research. After playing it again, it's still one of the best SMT games on the 3DS in my opinion. The story is more or less the same with the addition of a new storyline including a new location, 3 new endings and a new character named Alex who is hunting the main protagonists (Basically You, Zelenin & Jimenez). Honestly, It really didn't take me long to figure out "why" she was hunting us (of course I'm not gonna spoil anything...). There are some new features to the gameplay, upgraded graphics and music, and even voice acting! However... if you were expecting to hear english, then you'll be disappointed. I wanted to hear some english voice acting and was surprised when it was straight up Japanese. They did english voice acting for Devil Survivor Overclocked (another original DS remake for the 3DS with extra content and features), so i'm not too sure why they didn't do the same for this game but whatever, it is what it is. it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Either way, this game was a blast to go through again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The SMT series is one of the best RPG series around and I'm not exaggerating when i say that. I've never been disappointed with this series and hopefully never will be. Keep up the good work Atlus!

A long time ago, I played the original Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and quickly gave up on it. I just couldn't get into it for some reason. I was originally going to get that game back to give it another chance, but then I found out about this game, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux and I decided to wait for that instead. It took a while, but I finally got a copy right here and Amazon and I do not regret it at all. While not as good as the Shin Megami Tensei IV games, Strange Journey Redux is still a great game. In Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux, the battle animations are improved and I don't believe the original game had animated cutscenes. And as a lot of people know, there's lots of new stuff that wasn't included in the original game. There's some great new demons like Volvo, Kali, and Zaou-Gongen. There's also new equipment, which, from what I've seen, is a big improvement. Anyone remember the Meteor Dragoon? In the original game, the Meteor Dragoon was the strongest gun in terms of Gun power, but even though its skill set included some Almighty skills, it wasn't that great overall. Now, in this game, we have even stronger guns with even better skill sets. It just so happens that there's a shotgun in this game called the Aftokratoras. While it doesn't have as much Gun power as another gun in this game, its skill get is great. All of the skills the Aftokratoras provides are heavy skills and the set as a whole is more elementally diverse than other guns' skill sets. And you don't even have to make it in the lab. You find the Aftokratoras in a treasure box. Granted, it's tough to get to, but it's worth it when you do get it. Another thing Strange Journey Redux provides are new apps for the Demonica, including a new Sub-App that lets you find out where a teleporter will take you by touching its icon on the map. I sure could have used this in my first two playthroughs of the game, I'll tell you what. But, one thing I don't get is this new Main App called Floor Search. There's a new dungeon in the game called the Womb of Grief. If you're going for any of the new endings in this game, you have to clear this dungeon. In other parts of the game, there are invisible pathways, but you can walk on those just fine. But, in certain areas like the Womb of Grief's Sixth Sphere, there are invisible paths that you can only walk on if you have the Floor Search app. Why you need this app to navigate certain invisible paths when you can walk on other invisible paths just fine is beyond me. Going back to the part about the Womb of Grief, yes, we have a new dungeon in this game. Like I said, it's optional unless you're going for the new endings. And yes, there are also new story routes and new endings in this game. Basically, these are new and improved versions of Strange Journey's original endings. I haven't seen all of them yet, but the ones I have seen are better than their predecessors. If you decide to go for these new endings, be warned. The Womb of Grief is not without its challenges. If everything goes well, though, you'll gain access to another new dungeon, the Empyrean Ascent, and you'll be on your way to fighting a new final boss. If you're going straight for this new final boss, then the only thing you need to worry about are the teleporter mazes on the Empyrean Ascent's Upper Layer. Once you figure out how those work, you shouldn't have too much trouble. But, if you happen to be on a New Game +, there's an EX mission you can get in the Empyrean Ascent's Lower Layer. Accepting this mission will allow you access to parts of the Lower Layer that you can't go in otherwise. The treasure box containing the Aftokratoras I mention earlier is somewhere in these parts. As for the new final boss, she's actually a pretty fun boss, but only if you manage to come prepared. Now, am I without gripes with this game? No. My biggest gripe with this game is the Demon Fusion. It works like other games in the series, which is fine, but there's no Fusion Search function. Or rather, there is, but it's not near as good as the one in the Shin Megami Tensei IV games. Strange Journey's Fusion Search works like this: You pick a demon in your party, then look at the list of demons it could make by fusing with one of the other demons in your party. The Fusion Search in the Shin Megami Tensei IV games had a lot more search options, including an Include Compendium option. Basically, without the Include Compendium option, you're limited to fusing demons actually in your party. This makes it more difficult to fuse demons with ideal skill sets and that's difficult already. When attempting to create a demon through fusion, it only inherits certain skills from the fusion material demons. To gain full control over what skills the fused demon will have, you need to use a Demon Source, which you get from demons that have been fully analyzed, and even then, your options are limited to the fused demon's innate skills, what it's already inheriting from the fusion material demons, and the skills the Demon Source you're using provides. Now, your options for skills to give a demon made through fusion are always limited, but it's better in other games than it is here. But, I'll admit it could be worse. At least it's not like in Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers where you have no control over your demons' skill sets at all and if a demon you're making through fusion does inherit a skill or two, I don't know what it could have been other than pure luck. Oh, and when you make a demon through fusion in Strange Journey, absolutely do not forget to register its custom information into the Compendium or you'll be stuck with that demon's base information. I had to start the game over one time because I made the mistake of not registering my demons' custom information because I thought it would be saved automatically like every other Shin Megami Tensei game I've played. Also, due to the lack of search options, if you're trying to fuse a specific demon, you'll have to look up a fusion chart online to see what demon combinations can make whatever kind of demon you're looking to make. Then, you'll need your fusion material demons' levels to be as close to the level of the demon you're trying to make as possible. This isn't that bad, but I still feel the need to point that out. And lastly, if you use a Demon Source, it'll be hard to get another one like it. Here's an example: Let's say you use a B Frost Source in a demon fusion. Once you do, you won't get another one unless you have Black Frost in your party and even then, whether he gives you a new B Frost Source or not is left entirely up to chance. The same thing applies to all other demons in this game. Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so I'll end things here. Like I said in the beginning, Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux, while not as good as the Shin Megami Tensei IV games, is still a great game. If you're thinking about giving this game a try, you definitely should.

This is a remaster oof shin megami tensei strange journey. As someone who's played the original to death let me discuss some of the changes and how it affected the user experience for me. Exploration: one of the big changes that really only make it easier for new players or those who hate Nintendo hard style restrictions. Voice acting: I think the voice actors acted very well. But it isn't for me. In the context of a multicultural special task force, it's just jarring yo hear the Hispanic character speak fluent Japanese. I actually found it distracting and it took me out of the game. New art: another distraction rather than improvement in my opinion. If this was the only art I'd ever seen and hadn't grown to love Kaneko's work, then maybe the art wouldn't be so jarring. It's just bland in most places. I prefer the npcs to be generic pixelated messes than what I could only call anime trope that try to mix Kaneko's style with a more generic style. Battle system: I like the new battle system it's easier for those who don't like how brutal the battles could be at times. Music: it's not necessarily an improvement just more songs but they don't exactly fit in my opinion. New content: Uh haven't gotten there yet. Packaging/localizing/marketing: really disappointed in this whole ordeal it really felt like Atlus USA squeezed out this game with minimal effort or care on localizing and promoting it. I've found many reworked lines that read very odd, like a quick Google translate type odd. There's also been a few new typos I've seen. No day1 dlc despite Japan getting that. No special edition or first print edition or preorder bonus. The only games I can think of from the megaten library that got that treatment weren't mainline. Even stickers or anything would be nice. There was so many Japanese deep strange journey merch that you could have done what you did in the past and include that merch as limited edition or preorder bonus stuff. I rate this five stars because it's still strange journey even if it is an augmented variation. It gives people options to play a "new era tensei" remake and it's different enough that fans could also play the old one and get a different experience unlike most Atlus remakes and maybe that was their intention.

I will make this as simple and to the point as possible. I know its now a bit older and the secondary market is greedy so I was aware I would need to pay more than MSRP for this but thats completely beside the point. Life works in mysterious/unexpected ways and despite needing/wanting a replacement PSVita, I ended up getting my first 3DS, never had or thought I really ever want one a got this expecting a NEW game. Im a MegaTen fan. Also did not like the DS. Up untill recently I wasnt aware a game I love (Soul Hackers) ever had an english release. So I have aquired Soul Hackers NEW, SMT IV LE, and learned of this and here had the most "reasonable" cost NEW, so I went for it. Well the pic is how it arrived. Thats not NEW. So I was dissapointed. Thats how games looked when I worked at Gamestop and they would themselves re-seal a game in "Like-new" condition. I have been a gamer for over 30 years now, and despite loosing my lifetime collection, as best I can have grabbed some consoles I have always been partial to or never explored and I gave up on the DS about a year-year and a half after launch. I was a big PSP fan and still am though all mine are broke/have issues(unuseable). Anyway, while I am not happy, I am not going through the whole rigamamole process of returning it. I want this review to stand for multiple reasons mostly for others. I honestly didnt reqlize as well when I saw it listed new in stock with a fair amount, it was not Amazon, but a 3rd party so that is honestly on me. I believe this is a poor attempt at a reseal that wasn't even fully sealed and even IF so, it was a poor attempt. NEW is ONLY items sealed by the factories that put them out. But also, the plastic used to seal was cheap as it was broken as well as you can see. So its a VERY MISLEADING listing one way or another and I am paying the price for others. I wanted an intact FACTORY SEALED, NEW copy of the game, not re-resealed, and certainly not with a huge area of the seal broken which will only get worse with time. 😔😮‍💨. I intended to leave it for the time being atleast sealed as I can play it already, however I like to when possible support the FEW companies I still care about/for that exist DESPITE not liking caring for the current game industry...in part for the direction they are taking, their practices, as wellnas how they treat and scam their customers/fanbase(Nintendo honestly being the least or smallest offender). My examples is selling incomplete games as new and purposely keeping/withholding content that by rights should be part of a "full game" to force people to pay more via massively "Nickle and Dimeing" their fans by 2 simple terms (they hide it behind) to make it appear sensible when its anything but...thats via "DLC', and "microtransactions". Lastly most games have no quality control and are released extremely INCOMPLETE. They then "over time using what should rightfully be(as console games are NOT PC games and cannot be treated as such)COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY as "full games" with even half-arsed quality control wouldnt pass and they require consistent wifi which not ALL CAN AFFORD to now "download consistent massively large updates" to "add content that especially should be already be in the finished "full game" and there should be no need in which to fix gameplay issues etc if its a "complete full game". I am again a longtime over 30 year gamer and I know what I am talking about. While yes console generations evolve, it doesn't mean its ok or give anyome the right to take advantage of their fanbase especially to such a degree. I am among others a big MegaTen fan and have been since before ANY games were ever brought here and especially before Devil Summoner Raidou 1, Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, Persona 3 etc. -BACK TO POINT: This game here released in 2018(2017 Japan) and none of what I listed has any relation to this and not only is this a FULL GAME(as all SHOULD BE), its extra content/dungeon(s) etc are as all contained in the game you buy as they should be part of what you're paying the MSRP for(in general). The game has IMO had great quality control, plays well, I love tge new gameplay format, as well as its Music in or out of battle...its all good, and SJR offers a ton of dungeon crawling as well as a great story thats honestly similar to that of a Movie/Film etc. This and more is why I still support Atlus, and if possible get/buy a newer released title NEW(or try to(unlike here) from them. I am most likely going to end up paying for a more costly NEW (SEALED) copy and trade this but thats basically irrellivent(my problem). -POINT: IF your looking for and want a FACTUALLY/LEGITIMATELY NEW game I would be careful here with buying this as things like this are not ever isolated. I have no idea why they are selling opened games as new JUST LIKE GAMESTOP USED TO DO/DOES, but they are. I worked at Gamestop for a short time I know what factory sealed plastic and plastic used to re-seal is like. And No, the tear was not from shipping. Beware buying from these guys. They are falsely selling "LIKE NEW" games as NEW. -To the people this comes from....Be HONEST. It aint right and shows your personal business ethics. Anyway, I never played the original, so honestly im really enjoying this anyway. Thats the 1 good thing from all this and why I gave 1 star.

que chido poder comprar el juego en fisico, llegó rapidísimo, completo, nuevo, y si te gusta los Dungeons crawler con rpg, demonios y situaciones existenciales: es tu juego.

Game is great, it arrived sooner than i expected

Jogo excelente! Chegou bem rápido e muito bem embalado!

Loving the game so far. The atmosphere is amazing, and the story is so fascinating. Decently challenging game as well. You won't be able to breeze through it without careful planning and some good ol' fashioned demon recruitment/fusion.

Great remake of a already great title. About 12 hours in so far. Very little change from the original ds version yet still feels fresh and exciting. Just enough was added to be well presented in a 3ds release. Doesn't appear to overextend what it aimed to do. would gladly recommend this to any fan of the original ds release. Another amazing Atlus SMT title to add to your collection.