Shin megami tensei III: Nocturne

Aaron1375 made some good points, so I probably shouldn't repeat them, but I will anyways, alongside adding my own. The first of which is that there is nothing bad I can say about this game, even in the face of complaints and comments like, "It's too hard!" and "You must be a masochist." (The latter may actually be true for about half of those who enjoy this game, because Nocturne is one of the most sadistic games you will ever play.)

First off, "a tad different" for a role-playing game, even a Japanese-made one, is an understatement. Shortly after the game starts and you're running around Japan, you're thrust straight into the end of the world, the Conception. With the help of an obviously demonic blonde-haired little boy, you've been turned into a half-demon and referred to in the game as Demi-fiend through the power of a bug-like parasite called the Magatama. You, by getting the assistance of a myriad of demons (that you can even fuse to create more) and kicking the cans of many more, must decide the fate of the Vortex World you're stuck in through the Reason system, a semi-hidden mechanic that develops like a real personality as you play. In the American and European versions (referred to as Nocturne Maniax in Japan out of its 4-5 versions), you'll also get to meet Dante from the Devil May Cry series, and even recruit him into your team with the right events!

The game play is downright fun and challenging, even for a turn-based RPG; probably the total opposite of Final Fantasy where you can use whatever attack you want and win nearly every fight. Through the Press Turn battle system, you can either double your Press Turn count with the right move (for a maximum of TEN across just four teammates), or forfeit the entire team's turns with the wrong one. You'll acquire up to 25 different Magatama with a variety of abilities available, and hundreds of demons to have at your command (some of which haven't seen the variety of moves available from the Magatama). However, people have complaints about difficulty. Welp, maybe this'll give you a hint: there's no Easy mode, and even Normal mode can rip you apart on the first battle. You'd have to be a total idiot to make this happen, of course, but overall you can expect to die at least 50 times. Don't get discouraged if you die so much, though! This gives winning a vital battle an even greater joy, the hardest of which (out of the SIX different endings) has actually brought me a euphoria-like experience.

The graphic design is utterly amazing. No, it's not an advancement in any way, but it's how Kazuma Kaneko, the Creative Director, made it that makes it sweet. What's notable is the Demi-fiend himself, who manages to look nearly perfect despite just having a pair of shoes and shorts, glowing all-over tattoos, and a horn growing out of the back of his neck. Yes, he has glowing tattoos that fade in and out JUST RIGHT at every angle no matter where he is. He looks pretty weak because of his lanky limbs, but the way he moves and the look in his eyes turns him into a subtle, yet total beast. Now why be a high-pitched sword-slinger like Link when you can be the most powerful half-human destined to rebirth the world? Now onto what I've actually just left my controller standing without input for: the music. There is absolutely nothing NOT impressive about the music. Paying even the slightest attention to what seems like a hundred different full battle and location themes may make you want to get up and dance, because all of them totally rock.

Sadly, IMDb limits prevent me from expanding further on an even more awesome piece of the game that was only added in Maniax and the international releases and practically makes up a good half of the game's experience (along with the 6th ending): the Labyrinth of Amala, so I'll finish it off with one more compliment: Demon Negotiation. This alone should imply that you'll be using diplomacy to work with demons. You will. They can ask you for money, items, or even to drain some of your life force, alongside even philosophical questions, but even after all of this, they may just heal you or outright LEAVE THE FIGHT WITHOUT GIVING YOU ANYTHING. They may even stop a fight to talk to you of their own volition and join your party! This one mechanic gives Nocturne a degree of realism I think no other game has done at the time, if ever, because even the exact same breed of demon can have completely different results for the same negotiating terms.

That's about it, so thanks for bearing with me here.

The game looks so stylish and still beautiful today. Simple character models and World, but the color and shading Just makes it look timeless.

And Lucky the gameplay is also so good and timeless. The turn-based gameplay where you can get a bonus action if you get a critical or weakness, is still fun and being done in the newer games.

Leveling demons up so you get the abilities you want, infusing them to make new demons , it's so fun and addictive.

I am so thankful that animations are fast and the battle encounters can be done so quickly, even if there is a high encounter way the animations are fast.

Normally, I'm not a fan of dungeons, shin megami tensei series just keep making me enjoyed them soul hack 2 made me enjoy it, and this one is a bit harder, but I really enjoyed the dungeon Labyrinth design. The map helps with its because it keeps track of everything, so you're never get lost.

I do really like this story, How we each tackle the world, We live in in very different ways, how we try to straight other people into our view.

The feeling that the game gives is loneliness and melancholy. You are in a dead world with friends who all going to different reasons to stop the hurting inside and the Trauma.

After 44 hours I am completely satisfied and think it's an amazing game, maybe it'll be one of my all-time favorite when I play it again.

SMT Nocturne is one of the greatest games you can play. This is one of the most innovative rpg's of all time and one of the greatest games on the ps2. Laying the foundation for most of Atlus' following titles, Nocturne balances a truly original premise and atmosphere with some of the best turn based combat in all of gaming. While I prefer SMT IV, V, Devil Survivor, and Persona 3-5, Nocturne is a stone cold classic that every RPG fan must play.

Recently, I had the pleasure of playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, and I must say that I am not impressed. This game has a repetitive play style that quickly becomes tedious, and the story is only interesting at the beginning and end. The dungeons are also disappointingly repetitive, making it feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again.

The demon recruiting system in the game is also quite mediocre, and it's outdone by other games in the genre. I found it annoying that the random encounters happen so frequently, even in areas where there are NPCs. It feels like you can't even take a moment to catch your breath without being interrupted by another battle.

Overall, I would not recommend Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne to anyone looking for a fresh and exciting RPG experience. While it may have been impressive when it was first released, it feels comically outdated by today's standards.

First off, if you don't already own this game, it is going to be nearly impossible to find. I actually got it when it first came out and paid the standard price of 49.95, now if you can find a used copy in a gaming store it is still that price and if you see a new copy online it is over one hundred dollars. Is it worth that much? Well if you enjoy role playing games, but would like to try something a tad different in terms of story and characters then perhaps. I enjoyed this one for the most part myself, it was very challenging and the story was quite insane and chaotic. So what is the story you ask? You and your friends go to this hospital at the request of your teacher, once there you meet a strange guy who means to kill you. Your teacher intervenes then prompts you to come to the roof where you witness the destruction of the world as you know it. You then awake to find a young boy and older woman over you, the boy takes a certain pity on you and infuses you with the power of a demon. You are no longer human, you now have great power, power enough to traverse this new warped land that spreads out before you. During your quest you must recruit demons and angels into your party as they now roam freely among the land, while humans are reduced to nothing more than souls for the most part. Your two schoolmates, the guy who tried to kill you, and a reporter being the exceptions. You must unlock the mysterious of the land, and you must customize your main character so that he may conquer all the rival demons vying for control of this twisted world. Yes, this game is a challenge, as you are attacked nearly everywhere. You do get to talk to various demons and souls too. At times though it can be to hard, which is why I did not score it higher...and it may have been a tad better had the characters talked aloud instead of the word boxes...still this one is a keeper.