Yesterday, I finished Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse. This is the fourth game in the series that I finished this year. I really, really enjoyed it up until the final dungeon. I'll get to that in a minute.
This feels like the most polished SMT experience. While Nocturne is still my favorite, Apocalypse is a close second. The Partner system was a good idea because it made you think about the risk vs. reward of prolonging a battle, plus it let you use a character that worked for your personal taste. If you want a healer, go with Asahi. If you want power, go with Gaston. If you want magic, go with Isabeau. If you want something completely unique, go with Toki or Hal. The only one I didn't care for was Nozomi. Just like SMTIV, gun skills were close to useless near the end of the game.
I built my character to be a magical powerhouse. I pumped 90% of his stats with magic. Once again, magic was the only way to really deal solid damage. I didn't mind, though. I usually play with characters that are balanced or have more of a powerful build. So, this was a nice change.
The story was great. There were some shocking moments that warranted that M rating. I'm guessing there were multiple endings, but the route I took seemed like the best one. A very, "they all lived happily ever after" sort of ending. I was fine with that since the setting in SMTIV:A was so grim.
I really had no complaints about the game until the final dungeon. It was too big. Seriously, the "bigger is better" mentality seems to be plaguing this genre lately. Final dungeons don't need to be massive, empty spaces with ridiculous warp points and one way entries. The final boss fights were also really disappointing. It was just an HP sponge that required you to buff, damage and heal. Other bosses had some sort of strategy you could use.
That complaint aside, it was a great game. It had more user-friendly features when compared to SMT:IV and it had a great cast. Choices didn't feel forced, and seeing everything through to the end was worth it. And, as usual, recruiting/fusing/creating demons was as addictive and fun as always. I only got 62% of the compendium completed after 53 hours of game time.