Hi, friend! The SMT main series does have connections, but fortunately those connections are explained in the third game, which is Nocturne! So Nocturne is actually the best game to start with, and it’s a self-contained narrative!
There are so many things I could say about Nocturne (I’ve already deleted two and a half full paragraphs), but I’ll try to be brief.
The game has two modes- normal and hard. Normal is hard. Hard is r̤͎͎u̠͇̬̝̲ṱ͖̮̪͍͎ͅh̝͉l̞͞e͏̫s̶̭͍s̸̺̗͎̝͖͚̖. Play on normal. Hard is for after you’ve already won once.
Save often, heal between fights, load if something stupid happens (like a demon just replaced Debilitate with Bufu).
Status effects will become useless eventually. They’re super good for like half of the game, even against some bosses (just not Fiends).
Once your Demi-Fiend removes a skill, you can’t get it back. Be careful what you replace. To that end (and this is kinda build specific), if you want your Demi-Fiend to be a mage, hold on to Tornado/Force Boost. If you lose those, your magic damage will be a lot less all the way until you can get Almighty spells.
Mana Drain is super strong. All enemies have Mp, and their skills cost Mp. If they run out, they can’t cast. Only two notable bosses can ignore this mechanic, and one of them is the final boss of the True Demon ending.
You’ll always get the best result from opening a Mythical Chest on a FULL phase. Highly recommend walking around to force the passage of time. Same goes for Ticket turn-ins.
Buffs and debuffs are super good, but some bosses can remove one or the other. Make sure your team has both!
If you want the True Demon Ending, you have to complete the Fifth Kalpa before you enter the end-of-the-game tower (you’ll know when you get there, the world map music changes). If you want any of the other endings, skip the Fifth Kalpa entirely (it’s… not fun).
If you want Dante, you have to reach the Forth Kalpa before you enter the tower. Once you enter the tower, no new Kalpas will open.
All of the regular battle tracks are like 10 minutes long. Multiple looping sections, but with variation. Take a moment and dig those crazy solos, yo!
