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That's right. Shin Megami Tensei IV will be the first SMT game I ever play. I have to admit, I honestly never thought this day would come. I've played and beat Catherine, and didn't think it was good. I started Persona 4 Golden, and didn't like it. I've started this game, and wasn't really feeling it. I played Persona 4 Arena, and loved it, but I guess that doesn't really count. Even still, I've always had a curiosity for the franchise, even if a lot of it is a little morbid.

Persona is my best friend's favorite franchise, so I've been exposed to a lot of these games through him. Whenever he tries to get me into Persona mostly, he likens it to Pokemon, with demons. I. Love. Pokemon. But I just can't do the japanese high school setting. That's why the core SMT games always piqued my intrest more than Persona. Specifically SMT 3. It feels like those games are more for my demographic than Persona is.

I've also always noticed how extremely generous Atlus has been with their sales on the eshop. It feels like almost every time I check, all there games are on sale, and that has given me sort of a fondness for them as a company. Like it feels like they care more about people playing and enjoying their games than they do about making this huge profit off of everything, and I like that.

I've always had this philosophy that if a lot of people like something, there has to be something good about it. That's why I always try to play games I'm sure I won't like, if only to broaden my pallet. That philosophy, combined with a swarm of perfect conditions alluded to above, has led me to finally purchase Shin Megami Tensei IV, and I plan to finish it to completion.

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With that all out of the way, do any veterans have suggestions for a beginner? My plan is to play through on the hardest available difficulty, and maybe if the game breaks my spirit hard enough, bring it down to normal. Knowing that, any and all tips, from basic to advanced, would be very much appreciated. I've done a little research on the battle system, so I'm a little familiar to the importance of "super effective" elemental attacks, as well as stat buff and debuffs, as well as grinding and fusing demons. Even still, I'm obviously still a novice when it comes to everything, so clarifications and especially notes on what not to do will probably help me a lot!