Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne

SMT: Nocturne is one of a very rare breed of RPGs that makes some very different assumptions about what you might consider 'fun'. To play with any real competence requires a deep understanding of the game engine, and Nocturne rarely bothers to tell you how that game engine actually works or even the existence of many features. Players new to SMT (especially Western players) will immediately be bombarded with the alien: skills with strange, foreign names, a host of bizarre demons, and a plot-line with nothing of the familiar. Even graphically, Nocturne is alien: although minimalistic, the odd use of color at times is reminiscent of Tron (if you can imagine.) Certainly Nocturne will require that RPG'ers forget a lot of the standard conventions (there are no weapons or armor in the game, no princess to save, and it is hard to say if you are even the 'good guy'), but the sacrifice is worth it because the new conventions you'll need to learn are deeply rewarding.If you are up for the challenge, you probably won't want to come to the game unarmed. For other games, reading an FAQ might be considered cheating, but if only to grasp all the ins and outs, you will need to read. And you'll need to think. I'm glad there aren't many games like this (thinking too hard can be a lot of work!), but I think we're blessed to have a few. Nocturne at first is deceptive: turn-based dungeons crawlers can't be that hard, right? You've probably forgotten your Wizardry, but even then, Nocturne flips all those conventions on their head; such that we're using a stone-age interface to do rocket science. You can get away with blundering through the game, treating it like a standard dungeon crawler up to a point, but by the time you get to the first FIEND (Matador), you'll realize you've made some terrible mistake. Then you'll start reading outside sources and for the first time get a glimpse of just how deep the game goes.Obviously, Nocturne like most SMT games is about demon fusion, and that alone will require some well-planned decisions on your part. The amount of freedom allowed through this is unparalleled in other RPGs and is part of the reason SMT games are highly revered. In general, you are limited by your own creativity and your own lack of knowledge. Armed with the latter, you might, for instance fuse a demon who can continue to replenish their magic just by walking, then share it with the rest of the party (makatara), or you might cleverly infuse a demon with the ability to resist many types of magic (a sort of walking tank.) The main character can similarly be customized, though through a different process. In this way, the idea of 'class' has become obsolete. You can make your main character and demons into whatever sort of class you want, or your own unique hybrid (currently I'm working on a 'paladin' sort of main character who casts spells to protect the party and occasionally does damage.)In a sense, Nocturne brings us full circle in the life-cycle of RPGs, where once again you'll need a notebook (though thank the heavens, no graph paper!) You'll need to track the many attributes of your party and plan wisely. Holes in your defense WILL be found and exploited by the enemy. I do wish they could have implemented the same 'analyze' system (allows you to see enemy strengths and weaknesses) we see in Persona and Devil Summoner, but one could argue that's just a crutch. You see, the reason I keep returning to this game is that it belongs to a very rare breed of games. Not a lot of people are willing to 'play' like this anymore, where every battle must be thought out, notes consulted, etc. The closest comparison (outside of SMT) would be Wizardry 6/7, where that series jumped way beyond just the standard dungeon crawler and started exploring new territory, even perverting the game engine they themselves had created. And of course, SMT has its roots deeply sunk into what Sir-Tech had started. For a few people anyway, Nocturne is a very special sort of thing that doesn't come around that often.

SMT Nocturne is definitely among one of the best SMT games to date and in my opinion contains most of Kazuma Kaneko's and Shoji Meguro's best works. What makes this game stand out in the SMT series the most is its dark atmosphere and story ( featuring Dante from Devil May Cry doesn't hurt either). Even though this is a turn-based JRPG, Nocturne will pose a challenge and requires the player to strategize and be prepared for the worst of situations. It's not challenging to the point of controller throwing, but you will die a few times and may get stuck at a certain point. If you are someone who does not play JRPGs that much but want to get into the SMT series, I would recommend either the Persona, Digital Devil Saga, or the Devil Survivor games since they are spin-offs and are more accessible (Digital Devil Saga moreso because it has the same combat system as this game).The main character is free to customize by pouring points into different stats that suits the player's playstyle and can learn various skills through the acquisition of items called Magatama. Each Magatama has its own properties that can give additional stat boosts as well as resistances and weaknesses to different attacks to the player. Combat in the game uses the Press Turn system meaning that whenever an opponent or the player are hit with an attack they are weak to, the attacker's turn is extended. The same applies to critical hits as well. If the attacker misses their target, they lose 2 turns and if the attacker uses a skill their target can nullify or reflect, they lose all their turns.A main feature this game has along with the other SMT games is the ability to negotiate and fuse demons. Negotiations can be used to recruit demons, obtain items and money, and end battles. You can also fail with negotiations which end up with your opponents attacking your party. Fusing demons is vital since the result often leads to a stronger demon with new abilities with some previous skills inherited.To make this clear due to the confusion that SMT IV had after its launch, this game does not have Social Links like Persona 3 and 4. There are no support characters that will tell you what an enemies' weakness is. If your character dies, it's game over and you have to reload your last save. There is no easy mode if you want to breeze through the game for the story, only normal and hard (difficulty also cannot be changed mid-game).Being a game made back in 2002, it has some things that are no longer used and lacks some things that are standard in modern JRPGs. This game does not have full voice acting. Battles have voice acting but it mainly consists of grunting. This game also has random battles with a pretty high encounter rate. There are almost no safe spots in this game, meaning even places that have shops will have random battles. If you are willing to forgive this game for using old RPG mechanics, this game can be fun and keep you interested in its setting and characters (who all dress so stylishly I might add).