Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Posted April 7, 2005
A long standing role playing series in Japan, MegaTen has finally seen some light here in the States. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the first release this side of the seas of the occult demonism RPG. With more pentagrams and signs of the occult than your local Hot Topic, SMT is a fresh twist on classic gaming.
Set in Tokyo and evolving around the life of teenage boy, Nocturne will quickly confound you with its bizarre plot, environments and inhabitance. Some cult wants to bring about the birth of a new world, but in order for that to happen, the old one has to die. To speed that process along is the Conception, with is basically an apocalyptic event that envelops the world (Tokyo) and brings about the death of humanity.
You and a couple of your buddies find yourself in a mysterious hospital that is the base of the mysterious cult. After a few things take place the Conception occurs and ushers in a new era. It would appear that the lone human survivors are those who were in the hospital at the time of the event. As the young boy you are awoken only to be turned into a demon thanks to a worm like critter (Magatama) that is shoved down your throat.
You are told that it is up to you to reshape the world and your newly found demonic powers will be put to the test. Only by talking with everyone you meet, convincing demons to join your cause and ingesting a lot of Magatama will your journey be complete.
Gameplay:
While the demonic atmosphere and occult rich mythology is in your face from the very moment of the game, the gameplay is a throw back to role playing games of yore. Random encounters, turn based combat and experience points with money found after every battle are the staples of the genre, and they are all here in force. Sure the game has a “been there, done that feeling” to it, but there are a few subtle nuances that SMT can call its own.
For instance you don’t recruit party members like in other RPGs. Instead of meeting up with characters through plotlines and having scripted allies you actually negotiate with the enemy to get them to join your side. By talking with the demons you are facing and offering them a small amount of money or items you can get in their good graces. From that point all you have to do is answer a question that they ask you correctly and presto, instant party member.
It almost has a Pokemon feel to it and you’ll want to experiment with every demon you come across to see who suits your combat needs the best. Each character has unique weaknesses and strengths, as well as maneuvers to bring to the table and you’ll spend a great deal of time learning and exploiting them. Once you become adept at capturing demons to your cause you can visit a lovely place called The Cathedral of Shadows that can actually fuse two demons together to create a new one.
Once you start delving into talking to demons and fusing, you’ll quickly realize the huge amount of party customization you can pull together. It’s daunting once you start playing around with it, but hitting the Cathedral when you get new allies to see what you can make is truly addicting. Keep an eye out for changes in your buddy’s body too, if you’re lucky they’ll turn into a higher being and gain some better abilities.
Another side step from traditional RPGs is the fact that you really don’t carry or equip accessories. While you do have a stock of items at your disposal, characters do not attach weapons or armor and fight only by their attributes and skills. This doesn’t mean that you can’t upgrade characters though. The aforementioned fusion of demons is a form of upgrading and ingesting the Magatama yields new magic as well as different attribute effects. This lessens the amount of stuff you have to buy so you can put your hard earned money towards bribing enemies or picking up some new Magatama to eat.
You’ll also want to keep an eye out in the upper left hand corner of the HUD for the Kagutsuchi moon. There is a little icon that shows you how bright the moon is and it has subtle affects on the gameplay. There are some items and powers that utilize the moon’s phases to your benefit, so keeping an eye on the Kagutsuchi meter may help sway the outcome of a conflict. The moon can also affect the likelihood of a demon joining you and if you try a fusion during a full moon cycle you’ll be able to sacrifice an addition demon to make the creature you are making more powerful.
As I mentioned previously, the combat in SMT is turn based so you can expect to have all your characters attack and then all of your opponents attack. Atlus spiced things up a bit with a little penalty and reward system for hit or missed attacks. Say you hit a Critical Hit or catch an opponent’s elemental weakness, the game rewards you with an extra chance to attack and it’s possible to get a pretty good chain going. On the flip side if your foe dodges your strike or you use a magic they are resistant to you’ll loose an attack. There are two sides to the same coin though and thankfully your enemies play by the same rules.
Once in a while you may come across a being that will heal your party, but if you are hurting it’s time to hit the Fountain of Life. At the Fountain you can bring back your dead demons, remove curses or revive some health, but it’s not free so expect to pay for the services. Located near the Fountain is usually a Terminal that you can save your progress with. Terminals are also good for allowing you to travel to and from any location you have visited, which needless to say comes in quite handy.
Graphics:
While the gameplay may essentially be like RPGs from the dawn of the genre, the visuals on the other hand certainly are not. With cel-shaded characters, gloomy gothic environments and some truly fantastic character design, SMT is very fresh looking and pleasing on the eyes.
Sure cel-shading may be over done these days, but man does it work well for the overall look of SMT. Each individual person and demon look amazing and they obviously had a lot of time and thought put into their creation. While there is a lack of facial expressions and emotion, you can tell just by looking at them what their personality is. From towering demons to the smallest fairy there is a great variety of enemies here that puts other RPGs to shame.
It truly is just the overall look of this game that impresses, but there are a few issues that keep it from making a larger impact. Outdoor locals paint a disastrous picture of the fate that has befallen Tokyo, while indoor environments are sparsely detailed and generic looking. Each character only has a few attack animations too, but given the buffet of demons in this game a great variety of attacks for each one is out of the question.
What baffles the most though is the choice in design for the over world map. Instead of seeing your character walk the path and interact with other people on the map, it’s basically set up to look like a board game. You see an overhead shot of the city and a blue peg represents you, a green peg is a person to talk to and a blue sphere is a wandering soul. Given the ultra slick visuals the rest of the game has I don’t understand why these steps were taken for the world map.
Audio:
Another throw back to the old RPG days is the fact that SMT features practically no voice work. Meaning you’ll just be listening to sound effects and the incredible soundtrack. While some may argue that this shows the game is behind the times, I would say it was the direction the developers wanted to go given the old-school factor of the gameplay. The way I look at it is that most games that have vocal work are hit or miss in terms of quality, so if reading dialogue means I can still enjoy the experience this game offers then I am all for it.
With a blend of classical, jazz and hard rock, SMT has a vast soundtrack that always seems to fit the mood of the game at that moment. All of the sound effects are great too and while there aren’t really voices, the demons you meet will grunt, scream and make noise so it’s not like the game is mute by any means.
Conclusion:
With a good amount of play time, nearly 200 demons to collect and fuse, side quests, bonus dungeons, different difficulty levels and multiple endings you’ll be spending a lot of time with the game. It may be fairly linear, challenging and often times it can be difficult to ascertain what your next objective is, but this is an experience that RPG fans should not miss. SMT: Nocturne has so much style, atmosphere and unique things going for it that you will over look the fact that at its core it’s like RPGs from the dawn of the genre.
Set in Tokyo and evolving around the life of teenage boy, Nocturne will quickly confound you with its bizarre plot, environments and inhabitance. Some cult wants to bring about the birth of a new world, but in order for that to happen, the old one has to die. To speed that process along is the Conception, with is basically an apocalyptic event that envelops the world (Tokyo) and brings about the death of humanity.
You and a couple of your buddies find yourself in a mysterious hospital that is the base of the mysterious cult. After a few things take place the Conception occurs and ushers in a new era. It would appear that the lone human survivors are those who were in the hospital at the time of the event. As the young boy you are awoken only to be turned into a demon thanks to a worm like critter (Magatama) that is shoved down your throat.
You are told that it is up to you to reshape the world and your newly found demonic powers will be put to the test. Only by talking with everyone you meet, convincing demons to join your cause and ingesting a lot of Magatama will your journey be complete.
Gameplay:
While the demonic atmosphere and occult rich mythology is in your face from the very moment of the game, the gameplay is a throw back to role playing games of yore. Random encounters, turn based combat and experience points with money found after every battle are the staples of the genre, and they are all here in force. Sure the game has a “been there, done that feeling” to it, but there are a few subtle nuances that SMT can call its own.
For instance you don’t recruit party members like in other RPGs. Instead of meeting up with characters through plotlines and having scripted allies you actually negotiate with the enemy to get them to join your side. By talking with the demons you are facing and offering them a small amount of money or items you can get in their good graces. From that point all you have to do is answer a question that they ask you correctly and presto, instant party member.
It almost has a Pokemon feel to it and you’ll want to experiment with every demon you come across to see who suits your combat needs the best. Each character has unique weaknesses and strengths, as well as maneuvers to bring to the table and you’ll spend a great deal of time learning and exploiting them. Once you become adept at capturing demons to your cause you can visit a lovely place called The Cathedral of Shadows that can actually fuse two demons together to create a new one.
Once you start delving into talking to demons and fusing, you’ll quickly realize the huge amount of party customization you can pull together. It’s daunting once you start playing around with it, but hitting the Cathedral when you get new allies to see what you can make is truly addicting. Keep an eye out for changes in your buddy’s body too, if you’re lucky they’ll turn into a higher being and gain some better abilities.
Another side step from traditional RPGs is the fact that you really don’t carry or equip accessories. While you do have a stock of items at your disposal, characters do not attach weapons or armor and fight only by their attributes and skills. This doesn’t mean that you can’t upgrade characters though. The aforementioned fusion of demons is a form of upgrading and ingesting the Magatama yields new magic as well as different attribute effects. This lessens the amount of stuff you have to buy so you can put your hard earned money towards bribing enemies or picking up some new Magatama to eat.
You’ll also want to keep an eye out in the upper left hand corner of the HUD for the Kagutsuchi moon. There is a little icon that shows you how bright the moon is and it has subtle affects on the gameplay. There are some items and powers that utilize the moon’s phases to your benefit, so keeping an eye on the Kagutsuchi meter may help sway the outcome of a conflict. The moon can also affect the likelihood of a demon joining you and if you try a fusion during a full moon cycle you’ll be able to sacrifice an addition demon to make the creature you are making more powerful.
As I mentioned previously, the combat in SMT is turn based so you can expect to have all your characters attack and then all of your opponents attack. Atlus spiced things up a bit with a little penalty and reward system for hit or missed attacks. Say you hit a Critical Hit or catch an opponent’s elemental weakness, the game rewards you with an extra chance to attack and it’s possible to get a pretty good chain going. On the flip side if your foe dodges your strike or you use a magic they are resistant to you’ll loose an attack. There are two sides to the same coin though and thankfully your enemies play by the same rules.
Once in a while you may come across a being that will heal your party, but if you are hurting it’s time to hit the Fountain of Life. At the Fountain you can bring back your dead demons, remove curses or revive some health, but it’s not free so expect to pay for the services. Located near the Fountain is usually a Terminal that you can save your progress with. Terminals are also good for allowing you to travel to and from any location you have visited, which needless to say comes in quite handy.
Graphics:
While the gameplay may essentially be like RPGs from the dawn of the genre, the visuals on the other hand certainly are not. With cel-shaded characters, gloomy gothic environments and some truly fantastic character design, SMT is very fresh looking and pleasing on the eyes.
Sure cel-shading may be over done these days, but man does it work well for the overall look of SMT. Each individual person and demon look amazing and they obviously had a lot of time and thought put into their creation. While there is a lack of facial expressions and emotion, you can tell just by looking at them what their personality is. From towering demons to the smallest fairy there is a great variety of enemies here that puts other RPGs to shame.
It truly is just the overall look of this game that impresses, but there are a few issues that keep it from making a larger impact. Outdoor locals paint a disastrous picture of the fate that has befallen Tokyo, while indoor environments are sparsely detailed and generic looking. Each character only has a few attack animations too, but given the buffet of demons in this game a great variety of attacks for each one is out of the question.
What baffles the most though is the choice in design for the over world map. Instead of seeing your character walk the path and interact with other people on the map, it’s basically set up to look like a board game. You see an overhead shot of the city and a blue peg represents you, a green peg is a person to talk to and a blue sphere is a wandering soul. Given the ultra slick visuals the rest of the game has I don’t understand why these steps were taken for the world map.
Audio:
Another throw back to the old RPG days is the fact that SMT features practically no voice work. Meaning you’ll just be listening to sound effects and the incredible soundtrack. While some may argue that this shows the game is behind the times, I would say it was the direction the developers wanted to go given the old-school factor of the gameplay. The way I look at it is that most games that have vocal work are hit or miss in terms of quality, so if reading dialogue means I can still enjoy the experience this game offers then I am all for it.
With a blend of classical, jazz and hard rock, SMT has a vast soundtrack that always seems to fit the mood of the game at that moment. All of the sound effects are great too and while there aren’t really voices, the demons you meet will grunt, scream and make noise so it’s not like the game is mute by any means.
Conclusion:
With a good amount of play time, nearly 200 demons to collect and fuse, side quests, bonus dungeons, different difficulty levels and multiple endings you’ll be spending a lot of time with the game. It may be fairly linear, challenging and often times it can be difficult to ascertain what your next objective is, but this is an experience that RPG fans should not miss. SMT: Nocturne has so much style, atmosphere and unique things going for it that you will over look the fact that at its core it’s like RPGs from the dawn of the genre.