Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster

A underwhelming remaster. Blurry textures, framerate capped at 30, compressed music, and new lighting that doesn't quite fit the original tone and seems to hit you like a flashbang every time you enter a brighter space... Practically the only noteworthy improvement this version brings over the original (and which might justify buying it instead of playing on an emulator) is the ability to choose skills when fusing demons. Ah, yes. Voiceovers... Which I promptly turned off because they didn't seem to match the dry tone of the writing. But for better or worse, it's an opportunity for people to reacquaint themselves with this classic. It's a PS2 game that hasn't aged particularly well, unlike titles like Final Fantasy X or Persona 4, and it has a significant number of features that were already dated back then. Most notable is the sheer number of random battles, which seem to rival the worst examples from the SNES era. At least you'll never run out of money, since you'll be grinding whether you like it or not. In-game information about systems and mechanics is quite unsatisfactory and often requires you to memorize unfamiliar terms. I recommend looking for the Double Jump guide PDF or at least for the manual for the original version to get complete information on what each skill does and what certain icons are, because in-game they won't tell you everything (and they'll only tell you once). Still, the game kinda holds up and has its own strong identity, with striking art direction and a surreal, dark tone that strays far from the cheap, cartoonish melodrama of other games of its kind. The story, though lean, is surprisingly mature and deals with some interesting philosophical themes, even if its delivery is a bit clunky, as was typical of PS2 games. The dialogue is concise and brief, and the exposition never drags on longer than necessary. The characters are a bit generic, however. It's clear that this is a plot-driven narrative rather than anything else. And like most games in the main series, the focus is more on gameplay than watching cutscenes. Interruptions are very rare, as is narrative progression. Fortunately, the game at least avoids several old pitfalls, such as widely spaced save points and surprise boss fights that you can't prepare for, and offers a handful of features to streamline the tedious process of navigating the maps (like the auto-battle). I particularly like that the dungeons aren't immensely long and feature entertaining concepts and gimmicks. Even though the layouts are still, essentially, just a bunch of identical corridors with few details. And as is typical of the games in the series, the game has a sharper difficulty curve, full of battles that truly require you to learn and explore the game's systems. The flexibility to deal with some bosses and enemies is not as high and loose as most other JRPGs, requiring you to sometimes have to see a game over screen or two before figuring out a suitable strategy. You'll rarely be overleveled and will have to learn to maximize the efficiency of your turns. The game wants and expects you to utilize all those items you're collecting and exploit all those debuffs and buffs that can often be overlooked in other franchises. Furthermore, the process of collecting demons and fusing them is always quite fun and has an inherent appeal for those with a slight tendency to enjoy collecting things. The recruitment puzzles of SMTS3 were a bit simpler, which is a plus. Overall, it's a solid experience that still has something to offer, depending on your tolerance for the shortcomings that shouldn't come with a recent release of such an old game. It's not absolutely essential, but I don't think it's a waste of time either. P.S: At least get the soundtrack mod from the community guides. It's a simple file swap and makes a huge difference. P.S.2: If you value your time and don't have a comprehensive understanding of the entire game, don't even think about playing the game on Hard.

觉得日子过得太舒坦的可以来打这个游戏

If you buy this game, you've gotta install the framerate and fixed audio mod, you're doing yourself a disservice by not. This game was awesome. It was my first SMT game and it really checked all of the boxes. I was looking for a JRPG to sink some time into and was instantly drawn to Nocturne's aesthetic. I played on normal difficulty, but the game still had its moments of challenge, and the combat was always great. The story was intriguing and encouraged me to learn more about the world. If you're looking for an excellent JRPG, you've got one here, it's on sale all the time and is an excellent $15 buy. I cannot wait to come back and play this again.

DO YOU EXPECT ME TO JOIN YOU? HAHAHAHAHA... I WILL LISTEN TO YOU FOR 1 Life Stone. STILL NOT ENOUGH. HAND OVER 1 Life Stone. ......HMM...... GRRRR... I STILL NEED MORE! HAND OVER 1 Life Stone. I HAVE NO FAITH IN YOU... HAND OVER 1 Life Stone. GRRRR!! YOU DO NOT HAVE IT!! GRRRR!! DIE PAINFULLY!! I WILL EAT YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT!

SMT3 is one of the quintessential JRPG titles available, and has been since its release. Just because a title is somewhat synonymous with its genre doesn't make it "the best" as books like Snow Crash prove for Cyberpunk, so it's important you know what you're getting into. First, the good: +Comprehensive world building with touches of deep-series lore. Anyone who played through the first 2 SMT games will understand and enjoy Hijiri's involvement and some subtle references made thereto. Beyond references to the past, SMT3 is the most consequential title for the rest of the series as well. +Lots of gameplay. Tons of gameplay. SMT3 does the best at tricking you into entering a dissociative powerleveling fugue state for a few dozen hours, this can also be a negative if you're someone who really values going outside, talking to your friends, or getting anything done. +Design galore. This title is still in a time period where Persona was not the dominant ATLUS title, so the artistic and stylistic integrity of the series is impossible to ignore. It is a visually intense and interesting game that compels you to see the depths of its levels, the breadth of its mechanics and the entirety of the demon compendium just to appreciate the stylization of the series to this point. Now onto the subjective: >SMT3 is the most "J" a JRPG can be. Shy of gacha or pachinko, you have to understand that Japanese people love little games. They like puzzles, they like mechanics, and SMT3 obliges this in spades. There are plenty of trick dungeons, plenty of odd ends that American and European audiences seem either oblivious to or too stupid to understand. A good example is the anglo insistence that dialogue for recruiting is "random." This is not true. Past the early game demons will inhabit specific places that align with their views. For Americans; think of this as people who choose to live in "blue" or "red" states. You can recruit demons by choosing the dialogue that aligns with their "politics" but because people are rather ignorant to this do not expect to find an absurd amount of help or resources like you would with Final Fantasy titles. >Certain content is locked behind longer, more tedious puzzles, though infrequently. Puzzle Boy is a great example; a magatama is locked behind the completion of Puzzle Boy, which is a spatial reasoning minigame taking about 15-30 minutes. You can find video guides on it, but people who "value their time" too much may not find it worth it. This will bother people touched by completionism, and may handicap you slightly in late stages of the game since it will also gate you out of acquiring the best of the magatama. >Keeping with the pace of being "the most 'J'" it is entirely possible to expend resources in a way that you have to grind for dozens more hours just to acquire your lost progress. This is a problem for people who play guideless, but is part of the fun to me, so your mileage may vary. And of course, the negative: -Game takes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ forever. Encounters happen almost too often without actually having a reward besides XP. I get that it came out in 2003 and people bought maybe 3-4 titles a year, but it can feel punitive. -The DLC content that would expedite your progress is free, it also does not come installed due to some Asiatic politics that bar it from being released in China and Korea. You can not access newly installed DLC from established saves, and you can not port saves into DLC compatible ones (to my knowledge, though I may be wrong). -RNG is rudimentary and as a result somewhat lacking in reward structure. Lucky Tickets become gacha-like, encounters become tedious, it's exhausting to only need 1-3 things and spend hours not getting them. You begin to think god might hate you. You may find yourself questioning what grievous sinning you undertook in a previous life to have earned this punishment. These things are not for you to understand, simply surrender to god's plan. -Certain narrative devices are underutilized in future titles, and in this one, which can be very disappointing if you're someone who finds themselves totally transfixed by the story and dialogue. -Bugs. Most notably an early encounter achieved through dialogue will almost always cause the game to hang while it transitions to the battle sequence. It's hard to assume this specific bug is so severe that it can't be fixed, but it may be a matter of spaghetti code during the port process. If you like JRPGs you should buy it and play it, if you don't care about completionism or time sunk you should buy it and play it. If you only like JRPGs that are very western, very shallow, or very forgiving this is probably not the title for you and I would recommend not wasting your time or money because you probably lack the capacity to enjoy a title like this. SMT3 is absolutely necessary for true JRPG afficionados who enjoy something other than romancing characters and finding a surrogate for human interaction.

i love this game, coming from someone who had to emulate to play the ps2 version of this game. the graphics are beautiful, gameplay is fun, and story is thoughtful. however, you're telling me that in the 22 years you had to make a remaster of this game, you couldn't update the compressed battle music??? when the high quality ost is readily available on youtube??? how curious. otherwise an amazing game

Kind of ironic to be playing it after SMT5, but it proves that this concept was unbelievably ahead of it's time. If you ignore a few boring areas (e.g. Ikebukuro tunnel), then you'll have a great time. Great music, rewarding gameplay - that is when you follow the rules of buffing and debuffing. 😛 9/10

[h1] The Gold Standard of RPGs [/h1] [hr][/hr] I’ve played many RPGs—Earthbound, Final Fantasy, Persona—but [b] NO GAME [/b] I’ve ever played comes close to being as good as this one. As a Final Fantasy lover, this game's aesthetics, setting, music, and gameplay are just perfect, this game is just on his own level. [h2] What makes it unique? (Pros) [/h2] [b] Atmospheric Dread: [/b] It’s a mix of "horror"-esque and desolation. From the very moment the game begins, you just know something is off. You feel that dread in every corner of the world and the dialogues with the NPCs or "Souls"(i still don't know what they are) makes the game 10 times more interesting. [b] Strategic Gameplay: [/b] My only issue was the limited skill set, but that’s actually what makes it unique. In most RPGs, you just spam a "Super Duper" skill once you unlock it. Here, every slot and every choice matters. [b]The Press Turn system is rewarding yet punishing; one wrong move and it's Game Over.[/b] [b] Demon Negotiation: [/b] I love how you don't just "find" teammates. You have to talk to them, bribe them, and sometimes they just take your money and run! It adds personality to the game and charm, making the encounters like rolling a dice, you either recruit that demon you desperately need or the bastard runs away with everything you gave him. [b] Masterpiece OST: [/b] I’m totally glad they kept the original soundtrack. Music is a very important part of the games i play, and I wouldn't have liked any changes to it at all. [i]The Depths of Amala theme alone is worth the price of admission, but my favorite has to be the pre-fiend battle and the fiend battle theme, the mood is just so perfect, you get the feeling that you're definetly going to face and powerful or unique enemy, and it definetly is the case with most fiends, they aren't your normal bosses or default encounters..[/i] [hr][/hr] [h2] The "Hard Pill to Swallow" (Cons) [/h2] [b] The Skill Limit: [/b] As I mentioned, you have a very limited set of skills. It’s frustrating when you have to overwrite a cool move you liked just to survive the next boss. It forces you to be strategic, but it can feel restrictive. [b] Brutal Difficulty Spikes: [/b] If you are coming from [i]Persona[/i] or [i]Final Fantasy[/i], be warned: this game doesn't hold your hand. You can be at full HP and get wiped in one turn if the RNG isn't on your side or you make 1 wrong move. [b] The Map & Navigation: [/b] Some dungeons (looking at you, Amala) can be a maze-like nightmare. If you don't have patience for back-tracking or getting lost, this might get on your nerves. [hr][/hr] This is the first "Shin Megami Tensei" game I've played aside from Persona 4, and I completely understand why it gets all the praise. It completely deserves it. [b] PLEASE, play this game. [/b] It's a total gem. (This review was written mostly by me with the help of an AI to format the text more akin to something i would like to read)