Hot damn!

It is more that it is difficult because there is an entry level grind in addition to getting used to the press-turn system (think of Pokemon's combat, except enemies gain an extra turn if you use the wrong element.) You need to grind demons and keep merging them. The first 4-5 hours are a huge grind for this reason, and the story itself is very slow. After you beat the first boss  though (about 3-5 hours in) the game becomes a lot of open and fun. The atmosphere is great and you feel an element of adventure and exploration. This starts to wear off half-way through the game, but then an event happens where you get that exploration element again. The game can be anywhere between 40-70 hours depending on the number of side-quests you do. For the completionist it can take up to 200-300 hours with DLC. 

I didn't even like what I played of Persona 4, but I minded less what I've played of SMT IV. Even still, I didn't really like it, but I didn't hate it either. I definitely liked it enough to take a $15 leap of faith on it. The tone is actually what I didn't like about P4 and what I liked about SMT IV, so I don't mind the serious tone at all.

I thrive on difficult games, so I don't mind there. The only thing I know I'll hate about it is the grinding, but I hate that about all JRPGs, and for $15, it's something I can bare with. My best friend owns a copy and has played through it on hard (though I don't think he beat it) and I've been considering playing it on that difficulty, so trust me when I say that I'm prepared for the worst.

Playing difficult games only makes you a better gamer, and I've played more than enough tough games to be ready for this.

What's up with people in this thread? There's no news at all XD

In that case you might be like me where you are dissapointed that the game gets easier, almost to the point where you feel overpowered. It is still harder than the average, but after the first few hours there is a slow decline of difficulty (even on hard.) It is a fun game though, and I'm sure you'll at least find some value from it by what you've told me. $15 is definitely worth it (I paid $20 for it used.) 

Still skeptical... hopefully it will be good :)

Ugh, yeah. That grind is really going to annoy me, but I'm going into this open minded, do I'll bare with that. I hate the artificial difficulty that grinding creates because it's not fun. That being said, that's a problem with most JRPGs, not just this game. I've played enough JRPGs to expect it.

The only real reason I'm going into this is because of how avid the fanbase is around the franchise as a whole. I have this phylosophy that if a lot of people love something, there has to be something of quality about it, and that alone warrents curiosity. I'm willing to spend the $15 to indulge in that curiosity.

It is definitely tedious, but I only just recently got into the SMT franchise and I'm absolutely in love with it. It's definitely worth the couple hours of grinding.

cool looks awesome!

Lol, I sort of have this problem with JRPGs though. I hate grinding so much that I'll do everything not to grind, resulting in me being underleveled throughout pretty much every game I play. To give you an example, I just beat Earthbound with Ness at Lvl 70, Paula at Lvl 60, Jeff at Lvl 57, and Poo at Lvl 57.

I consider EB to be a pretty grindy game. If SMT IV is anything on that, and I'm sure it's much harder, trust me when I say that I'll be plenty challenge by virtue of being severely underleveled through the duration of the game lol.