Shin Megami Tensei

I have recently started playing the series and I would like to hear any recommendations any of you have or anything else you have to say about the series.

Welcome to the fold. Gotta ask, which one are you starting with and how're you liking it so far? I've played most of the mainline games and the spinoffs, so feel free to pick my brain if you want a suggestion for a good place to start. My own personal recommendation? Digital Devil Saga if you want to dip your toe into the SMT battle system, but want to enjoy a story that isn't heavily dependent on your choices like most SMT games. Go for SMT Strange Journey if you feel comfortable with games like Etrian Odyssey, but want something with a unique narrative. And despite what a lot of people say, I don't recommend going with Nocturne as your starter. As great as the game is story wise, the fusion and stat system are the most unruly here to the point of being painfully unfair; You don't get far in that game without batman levels of prep time. Now of course, if that's your thing, then go for it. Me? I eat that up.

@Melonraid I disagree about Nocturne needing such prep time. I found it to be a lot easier than IV and very forgiving. The rule of thumb is to always debuff the enemy and buff yourself, especially for the games that use the press turn system. The best thing to do is to make your enemy miss as much as possible and make it that much closer to your turn again. Matador teaches you that all in one fight. Digital Devil Saga is pretty great but I just didn't feel that omph that Nocturne and IV gave me. But Strange Journey is pretty cozy. I guess it just depends on what systems you currently own. A PS3 can get you Nocturne, Raidou games and Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, if I remember correctly. A 3DS can get you Strange Journey, IV (and Apocalypse later this year), and Soul Hackers. You'll have to play around with emulation for the original SMT and second game.

@VeZeal You know funny enough, Strange Journey is the one that gave me the most fits out of all of them. I ran through Nocturne as my first mainline, and you are absolutely right about using turn wasters; I played Nocturne blind in my teens, and I'll totally admit to being too stupid at the time to pay attention to things like the moon phases and other stuff that would've made things way easier. I didn't start getting super meticulous till late game Noah curbstomped me for hours on end. To me IV's early game was the hardest thing about it, and once I started good dex whispers, I wound up steamrolling through it after the whole ring of gaea bit. The fusion system in IV is so dang streamlined that it's so hard to go back to anything before that in my eyes. Man, I can't wait for Apocalypse~ @Final King I know we're talking mainlines, but I do think you should totally check out the Devil Survivor games too if you like SRPG's and you like the vibe you're getting from whatever SMT game your on right now. And certainly check out Persona too, there's a reason those games are as popular as they are.

I've already played Devil Survivor and up to Persona 3, so I have some experience, though I have yet to complete any of them. Thanks for all the recommendations.

I just started the original SMT. It is so eerie. I had no idea the SNES was even capable of that.

SMT : Nocturne (I mean who DOESN'T wanna own there own Dante?) SMT 4 for 3DS this was a pretty fun game i gotta say. (Though getting lost is a real thing.) Persona 4 But watch out it's sorta VN like (Not a terrible thing) but the opening can be like an hour long.)