Wow I was sort of worried this is full of western RPG bias
this thread proved me wrong

Nah we all love good games no matter where are they from.

Eh I'm leaning towards Shin Megami Tensei.

The only final fantasy games that I really liked were 5, 6, and 13 (big guilty pleasure). The other games I've managed to play I didn't care for or was bored with (1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 12). I'm just hoping 13 Versus and Type-0 will come to the states.

Started Persona 3 FES and it got me into the series. The story is really deep and I like the characters. The persona system I like (hell I like pokemon to so there's that), but it feels somewhat limited (only 7 hours in).

So Game Freak copied Atlus...interesting.

They dropped so many games like it beside sequels its crazy.
All of them are good games La Pucelle Tactics, Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom chronicles

More accurately, this is the kid version of MegaTen. =D

It annoys me that they include "Shin" in the title of all the localisations when SMT is more of a specific sub-series.

i know :)
we all know SMT started the "mon" genre in JRPG

There are and were only two Megaten games on the PC: the Japanese-only Giten Megami Tensei: Mokushiroku, and the Free-to-Play MMO called IMAGINE that is in English but is set between SMT 1 and 2... even though SMT 1 and 2 aren't in English. Shine on, you crazy localizing diamonds.

I love Persona and I *really* love monster collecting but I can't say they or any game will ever really beat out FF7 for me. I absolutely adored that game and it was awesome, especially for it's time. It might have helped because it came at a time I could poor loads of time into it. As a result, I can easily say I 'lived' that game for a long time :)

I wish I could say any other game pulled me in like that but they just haven't ^^ I'd love for it to happen again though. But as it stands, I'll have to fall in with the dull opinion that FF7 was one of the best gaming moments in my life :)

Oh I am the same way, I am a big fan of the MegaTen universe dating back to the original (oddly enough not owned by Atlus) Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 1 and 2 (not to be confused with Digital Devil Saga) games.

To be fair Digital Devil Saga, Persona, Devil Survivor, etc... are not part of the Shin Megami Tensei story per se, but are still considered part of the MegaTen universe. DDSaga for example is Avatar Tuner. The prefix of SMT/Shin Megami Tensei, is more or less for brand recognition in North America (to those who may not know this).

I loved Megami Tensei 1 and 2, Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2, and Persona 1 for having a very nice first person view design. I liked the doom of humanity feel provided by MT1+2 and SMT1-3. Nocturne/Lucifer's Call was a game I enjoyed greatly and sadly is the only English release of the core SMT story (unless if you consider Strange Journey to be part of the core series).

I liked Persona 1, but with Persona 2: Innocent Sin (thanks to the fan patch) and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment was and is my favourite entries into the Persona sub-series/spin-off.

Persona 3 (despite how much backlash I get for this) I really cannot stand, I don't mind the game, but it quickly gets very dull and repetitive for me. The whole "apathy syndrome" plot just seemed like a joke to me and I really found it quite laughable, like they were scared to kill anyone off.

Persona 4 though I really got into, it had a fairly dark plot, the stakes seemed higher (people could actually die from this threat), and I found that the atmosphere was more foreboding. I also give them much respect for the introduction of a gay character who was played up not as a stereotype; which was something not done since Innocent Sin and which cost it a localization among other plot devices used. Though the latter got released on PSP with some rather silly changes. Though back to Persona 4, I did enjoy it and found it a rather well made game.

As for someone mentioning SMT: Imagine, I did have high hopes for that one, and it is a shame it went down the proverbial crapper. It did have potential and could have been a really good MMO. Keep in mind I said COULD have.

While I do have a love for Final Fantasy, that only really extends to the first 6, and 12. MegaTen really has probably taken more of both my money and interest over the years. I really recommend anyone who can find fan patches of the non-localized games or a script give the original titles a play through they are really worth it.

I realize there are other MegaTen games in the series like ...If and Devil Children I didn't mention, but I don't have the time to type out opinions on them, and I doubt anyone really has the interest to read my ramblings this is long enough.

TL;DR - I like both but MegaTen is my favoured

SMT easily. As a huge fan of JRPGs, I have yet to get into any of the main numbered Final Fantasy games. They are supremely overrated or dated. I like the early ones enough but I haven't gotten into any of them.

SMT has Persona 3, 4, Nocturne, Devil Summoner, Digital Devil, and a crap ton of original and fantastic games. So much better, and deserving of more attention than compared to what FF gets.

Damn this thread got necro'ed hard.

But yes Shin Megami Tensei is awesome, Final Fantasy no so much.

Considering that the jrpg series I like the most is SMT, and that I've done LPs of all the main series SMT games and am a bit less than halfway done with a Strange Journey LP at somethingawful, I'd say that I prefer SMT vastly. Then again, I did not like FF13 at all, and have very little interest on getting FF13-2, or 14, or the MMOs and whatnot. I would be lying if I said I did not like some FFs more than SMT titles, though, since I vastly preferred FF12 to both Raidou games, and FFT is preferable to Devil Survivor (that being said, I DID finish Devil Survivor with all endings and the secret boss. Will not ever again play it, though).

So, where the hell does Dragon Quest fit in all this? Because that is also a damn fun series.

holy shit!

2 year necro ....

Just wanted to say thanks for the Bump on this thread. Because of it I now have Demi Kids Dark and Light. Interesting - I found them at Gamestop Online in stores far, far, away. They shipped them to my store and I got them for $1.13 (Light) and 0.90 (Dark). Sadly just the games no box / docs but I am guessing it cost them more to ship than what I paid ;-)

Yeah, that two-year gap in the thread is scary mostly for how seamless it is....

Anyway, as a series I'd have to go with the MegaTen line, though individual games in the FF franchise might be better (to me, personally) than some games in the MegaTen franchise.

As an example, FFIX and FFXII (aka Final StarWarsasy) I enjoyed playing more than, say, Persona 1 and Soulless Army. However, P3 (all flavours) and P4 are two of the greatest experiences in gaming histoy (YMMV but whatever, RPG of the decade according to RPGamer).

Also, quick note of controversy to inject into this thread - I didn't enjoy SMTIII Nocturne/Lucifer's Call all that much. Maybe it's coz I didn't get round to playing it until way later (after Strange Journey). It felt like Digital Devil Saga but with more annoying battles between brief moments of plot.