Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, known in other regions as Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call, is the “third” game in the SMT franchise. And I say third with कोट्स because any SMT प्रशंसकों will tell आप that’s bullshit. The third in the mainline franchise, yes, but SMT has had several spin offs and franchises all from the Shin Megami Tensei titles alone. Hell, one of them that आप may know, and the reason why आप are पढ़ना this लेख right now to yell at me over, is the Persona franchise. Persona is part of the same series, but vastly different. Persona is a game that is about the bonds आप make with humans, accepting who आप are and using your bonds with others to get stronger and in the end, beat the shit out of god. And if आप are like me, आप said, “Wow, Persona 4 was such a lively fun game, I want to get into more”. And I did. Falling into a never ending pit of Persona memes, I fell for hours into this unspeakable hellhole



But after finishing Persona 5 and falling in प्यार with it at the rip age of 20, I कहा to myself, “That was great, but no other Persona games that are accessible to me. Eternal Punishment and Revelations Persona are too pricey for me, I don’t have a PSP for Persona 1 या Innocent Sin, and I would rather fucking kill myself than play Persona Q. What’s a man to do?” Well, what that man do is take back the PS2 and go onto वीरांगना, अमेज़न and check out the mainline series, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne to be exact. I was sitting myself down ready for another happy adventure through ऐनीमे land and ready to make some friends… What I got instead of fucking decimated द्वारा the Fiends, get लॉस्ट in dungeons for hours, experience insta kills, and realize my “friends” are assholes. But despite that, I also what I got was one of the best RPGs of my generation and probably of all time. And yes, despite this being an analysis, that शीर्षक holds truth. This is a better experience than Persona 5, in almost every way. So let’s stop talking around it and get to talking about it.

1: Genesis, या The Beauty of the Intro



From the first moment I start the game, I am hooked. I am on board almost immediately. आप are दिया the option of what to name the characters in the story… All four of them, of course. We can’t have आप throwing out too many names. This isn’t Final कल्पना VII. आप are told of the world ending, and all आप can think of, being a protagonist in an RPG, “Well shit, let’s get our gang together and stop it”. आप head to the hospital to meet your teacher, Yuko Takao, and there, आप run into your other friends, the level headed girl Chiaki and Isamu, a troubling child who totally ripped off my clothing style. But on the way, आप run into a reporter named Hijiri, who has an लेख on the hospital and how it is run द्वारा a mysterious cult. And being a mature horror enthusiast, I laughed. A cult? Really? Come on, how generic…. I was very wrong, but we’ll get there later. Once at the hospital, आप realize that it is completely empty. No staff to be found, and Takao isn’t anywhere. As आप explore the lower depths of the hospital, आप find bloody beds and empty halls. Oh, also a giant pentagram in one room surrounded द्वारा candles and curtains. Pay no attention to that. And in one of these rooms, we find a man named Hikawa, a supposed member of the cult अगला to a strange drum with symbols. Giving आप no time, he attempts to kill आप with some sort of monster shrouded in black. What is it, आप have no idea. Your choices are to either run या to fight. Regardless, Ms. Takao will come and tell Hikawa to stop and leave आप alone. After convincing him द्वारा refusing to take part in an event, she asks आप to meet her on the roof. And here, after all the exploring… One of the best scenes happen. Scenes these good should be saved for at least halfway through the game, but Nocturne shows it in the first twenty या so minutes. On the roof, Takao tells आप that the world will end, and nothing will stop it, but she has faith आप will survive. She tells आप to look for her, as the संगीत slowly builds up from this soft पियानो to this orchestral of violins in the background. And then, the Conception happens, the end of the world. All life on earth is wiped out in सेकंड्स as the world is turned inside out. A giant ball of light floats in the center of the earth and आप are assumed the last one left alive. But not all hope is lost. A young boy with blonde hair and an elderly woman clothed in black give आप aid, and with that, they insert a Magatama into your eye, a bug like creature that eats into your brain, turning आप into The Demi-Fiend, a demon that can survive the world. And from there, आप begin your journey. All human life is lost, आप are all alone, and now demons walk the earth. आप have nothing to go on except to leave the hospital and explore what was once your घर city, while fighting the hostile demons that roam the earth now. This intro is amazing, bringing a sense of familiarity to आप before it throws आप into the end of the world. Chrono Trigger had the end of the world as a bad ending, but could be avoided. Final कल्पना VI did so half way through. But Nocturne wastes no time and with the music, the talk with Takao, and seeing the world change all around you, it’s one of the best scenes in video games….. And we’re just getting started!

2. Gospel, The संगीत of Nocturne



I am convinced that lead composer of Atlus, Shoji Meguro can do any style of music. From the lively hip hop beats of Persona 3, the joyous pop and rock of Persona 4, the smooth funky बास that is in Persona 5, the soft jazz style of Catherine and the अंतरिक्ष opera orchestral score of Strange Journey, and the hard rock that we hear in Nocturne is no exception. The world of Nocturne is strange and threatening. It is a world where death is around every corner, where everyone either wants आप dead या wants nothing to do with you. And if there is anything that sets this in, it is the atmosphere. Atmosphere is, of course, a blend of visuals and संगीत and tone, but they are all so perfect that I want to talk about each one individually. The संगीत has a tone of mystery when आप are exploring, yet some familiarity. You’re exploring the ruins of real world locations in Japan, Shibuya, Ginza, Ikebukuro, all places that exist in Japan. आप (Or a Japanese player) can go to these places right now, yet आप don’t gotta worry about seeing a giant starfish with one eye या an ironclad demon riding a horse in a shopping mall. The संगीत sounds familiar, but with that strange synthesizer and electronica in the background mixed with the faint गिटार sounds gives it a strange vibe to it. Speaking of strange, the battle music. They are all real bangers to listen to, until आप get to the vocals, and then it sounds truly threatening. Some people say that it is the कुत्ता of hell shouting at आप in anger, but really, it’s just the computers text to speech program that is पढ़ना it. आप remember using a laptop in school and आप had that one voice, the “Frog in my throat” one? People think it’s that. It’s not an uncommon practice. Suda51 of टिड्डी uses a text to speech format from PlainTalk in his games all the time, like The Silver Case and No और Heroes. Apparently the voices in the songs are referencings scriptures from the bible, which… yeah, I believe it. I don’t know if it’s true and I can’t understand it at all, but I believe it.

3. Psalms, The Art of the Conception



(At this point, you’re wondering why I’m referencing parts of the bible. But if आप are, then आप probably don’t play Persona या SMT for those reasons).
Let’s discuss another man of brilliance that works at Atlus, Kazuma Kaneko, the lead artist for Nocturne. Having been doing this work as well as freelance art for Konami and Capcom, आप may know him as the artist for the robot designs of Zone of the Enders and for the Devil Trigger forms of Dante and Vergil in Devil May Cry 3. But everything else in SMT, every character, every world, every single one of the hundreds of demons आप can recruit, drawn all द्वारा him. And yes, his artwork does look a lot different in Nocturne than in the Persona games, because he didn’t draw art for those games. Persona, at least the mainstream ones, being 3, 4 and 5, were all drawn द्वारा Shigenori Soejima. And I am not going to compare the two, because they both have styles that work for their respective games. Soejima’s art is just as good, but it would not work in the dark world of Nocturne, so it fits with Persona. Same with Kaneko. SMT would never work in Persona. Got knows they tried to give SMT a lighter artstyle, which resulted in Tokyo Mirage Sessions and the less कहा about that travisty, the better



Anyway, Kaneko has a very distinct art style. आप could look at it from a surface level and go, “Hey, ऐनीमे kids with ऐनीमे features. That’s at least good for the merits it’s going for”. But no, there’s a lot और to his art, and not just in the human designs. It’s the way he draws characters in their proportions, how these otherworldly beings have such strange designs. The detail he puts into their uniforms, into each and every character having a different look. No character can even remotely be considered alike because of their distinct features in facial features, hair, clothing, it all blends well. One thing that is a sort of trait to Kaneko’s art is the black shaded upper lip all of his human characters have. Now, why he does this is… uncertain, yet it just somehow works. It’s not distracting या ugly, it’s actually quite stylish. Hey, if Hirohiko Araki can slap lipstick on all his male characters and have people say Part 7 should be in a museum, then I can say these black lips are fine and dandy.

4: Exodus, Exploring the World of Tokyo



How can a studio take the basic concept of a post apocalypse and make it और unique. I like post apocalyptic settings, don’t get me wrong. Mad Max: Fury Road is one of my प्रिय फिल्में ever. I think Fist of the North तारा, स्टार is incredible. And Fallout: New Vegas is in my चोटी, शीर्ष 15 games ever. But most post apocalyptic settings are either deserts या a bunch of plants growing around. But Nocturne, being the cheeky little unique boy it is, does something unique with it. Aside from an assortment of demons that roam around the world ready to throw your नितंब, गधा to debuff hell and back, the world itself is designed amazingly. I कहा before that the world of Nocturne was turned inside out, and आप may या may not be thinking about it correctly. Basically, there is no longer a sky. If आप were to look up, right where आप are standing, assuming आप are in America, if आप look up into the sky, आप can see probably China off in the distance. The entire earth revolves around a giant glowing ball known as the Kagatsuchi, an entity that is just out of reach, but if someone were to reach it, a human to be exact, they could create a new world in their image. Just thinking about the डिज़ाइन of the earth is so cool. Apparently the artists, Kaneko and Soejima wanted to let आप see buildings off in the distance and whole other areas, even ones आप could go to, but due to the limitations of the PS2, they had to scale back. I hope that whenever SMT V comes out, they can fix that. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……… Anyway, we got it all, gang. We got the music, we got the art, and we got the world. This bad boy has got it all in the मछली पालने का जहाज़, स्टू to make ourselves a zesty atmosphere soup. But we can’t talk about atmosphere forever… I mean… I can… I want to. But this लेख isn’t even halfway through. All these amazing डिज़ाइन choices and we haven’t even gotten to talking about the gameplay yet (Huh, maybe that Clerks लेख would have been shorter than this)

5: Proverbs, JRPG Battles CAN be Fun



Now I hear a lot of people, usually fools who play shooters या Fortnite या some garbage game, that RPGs are dull and boring because आप have to wait your turn to attack. I just think that these people must’ve never had to wait their turn in their life. Clearly these motherfuckers never played a real board game in their youth like कैन्डी Land. Well that’s what JRPGs are. A fun board game about strategy and planning. So in short, yes, I just कहा Nocturne is कैन्डी Land… With Satan! But seriously, it’s और complex than that. The game has this annoyingly fast encounter rate. आप can walk three steps, and that is enough time to send demons at you. Thankfully, the battle system is fun so आप don’t have to hold त्रिकोण, त्रिभुज down and wait for it to be over like other JRPGs. In Nocturne, the game is a lot और about planning because enemies have weaknesses and resistances. आप have a set of physical attacks along with magic, buffs to your party, debuffs to the enemy, healing, and आप (But only Demi-Fiend) can use items. If an enemy is resilient, it will do less damage, while Null has no damage, reflect sends the attack back to the attacker, and drain heals the enemy. If आप hit their weaknesses, आप will get an extra turn. That means आप can abuse this system to get way और damage in on your foes, but only once per turn, so it will stop. But be warned, as your enemies can do the same. If they hit a weakness on any of your three party members, they get an extra turn. And they all have the same moves आप can get. Including insta kill moves, so if Demi-Fiend gets hit with those, it’s back to the start. Yeah, this is one of those JRPGs where if the lead party member dies, it’s game over. No matter how much healing items आप have, no matter if your party members are still standing, game over. But that is where the Magatama come in. There are twenty four in all, with a secret twenty fifth one आप can collect. What these do is they can change your stats, completely nullifying one attack while possibly making आप weak to another, as well as changing your stats, like giving आप और health या strength. It can change the tide of battle with ease. An enemy that is getting turn after turn on आप can waste all their turns and leave आप wiping the floor with them. It’s great and using the Magatama when possible will make fighting super bosses like (SPOILER) and (SPOILER) and my personal प्रिय (SPOILER) less of a headache. Also there’s something with the Kagatsuchi, cause it changes phases like the moon. Sometimes you’ll get और encounters, and other times आप can recruit new demons. It’s kind of unreliable and mostly a neat gimmick for like… two boss fights. Oh, and speaking of recruitment.

6: Numbers, The Mechanics of Recruitment and Fusions



I swear to आप all, Nocturne isn’t like those other JRPGs. It isn’t going to hold your hand like Tales या bore आप with simplicity like Secret of Mana या give आप absolute trash like Tokyo Mirage Sessions (DID I MENTION I DON’T LIKE TOKYO MIRAGE SESSIONS). Even other SMT games gave आप party members. DDS gave आप party members and I can barely remember them. Persona was fucking full of them. And yet, Nocturne has no party members. I know that telling an SMT प्रशंसक that Nocturne is like Pokemon will flat out piss them off… So I’m gonna do it. Nocturne is like Pokemon… kinda. Let me explain. In SMT, आप don’t get regular party members. आप gotta go out and collect them द्वारा finding them out in the world and getting into बिना सोचे समझे battles. There, आप can talk to them and ask them to join. Depending on your level, on how they communicate, they will ask for a bribe of either money, items, take some of your health, या ask आप questions. And this is both amazing and annoying. Amazing because I प्यार the idea of just talking enemies from the battlefield to शामिल होइए you, but the problem comes with aside from probably not finding the demon आप want on the first battle and either beating them up या running away several times, when आप do, there is no chance that they won’t just take your items and then fuck off into the night. It’s a 50/50 chance they’ll शामिल होइए you. But don’t worry, because that’s where the Cathedral of Shadows comes in to make it less of a pain. In the Cathedral of Shadows, आप can fuse demons together to get a brand new demon. It’s like a fucked up science experiment, how आप get them depends on what demons आप have, what level आप are, and also if आप sacrifice other demons. It’s actually kind of insane the level of depth this thing has. And आप can fuse all sorts of demons, from एंन्जल्स to devil lords to (SPOILER), it’s pretty great. Also, on a Full Kagatsuchi, आप can sacrifice, yes, kill, another demon in your party to give the demon और experience to level up faster या to get a new demon completely. It’s really the only way to get a powerful एंजल onto your team. So yeah, Cathedral of Shadows. Pretty cool place to go. So yeah, battles are really cool and I प्यार the demon fusing and recruitment. Level डिज़ाइन and enemy encounters can get pretty obnoxious, but the world is cool and I like the story and Pixie is just a cutie. That’s my IGN review. Better than God Hand/10. But this is NikPiks. This isn’t a video game review series, this is an analysis on the deeper meaning of things because I’m a hipster. So let’s talk about something else. Let’s talk about Lucifer!

7: Apocalypse, The Bonds with Lucifer



हे look, आप can forge a bond with someone. That someone just happened to be Lucifer, devier of God and The Prince of the Underworld. Now common confusion in the SMT fandom is why Lucifer is this… child… old man… giant superboss… when there is clearly Satan and Beelzebub in the same game. Well thank translations from the bible, या rather, stuff लॉस्ट in translation. Basically a bunch of stuff surrounding how Lucifer is not really an entity of evil but और of a demon that lures people away from god, seen as horrible in religion, but has now become far और romanticized in modern दिन due to atheism on the rise and is now और of an आइकन against a cruel god in the eyes of some. Whether that is true या not…. I don’t fucking know, I just wanna talk about a game. Anyway, Lucifer. I’d say it’s a spoiler, but we all know who it is. All Lucifer does is give आप the Magatama to make आप a demon. That’s it. What आप choose to do from there is all up to you. Bring Reason to light, restore the world to normal, या throw that all out and destroy everything, just know that Lucifer is always watching. Of course, आप could do as he says and शामिल होइए him. It isn’t too hard, all आप gotta do is beat every single superboss in the game. But doing so gives आप so much और content, so much और lore, so much good stuff, and possibly my प्रिय ending in the game… But we’ll get to that later. For now, just know, Lucifer is not your ally unless आप want him to be, but he won’t be your enemy. But he is a spectator, and he doesn’t want आप to bore him.

8: Covenant, The Demons and Characters In The World



But is it all bad? Is the world of Nocturne really a barren hellhole where everyone wants Demi-Fiend dead? Well…. Not super really. Sure some of the demons want to slaughter you, but they want to slaughter everyone. Nothing personal. But seriously, there are other demons that do other things. Some of them don’t believe in killing for the sake of proving their strength. Some are just content with wandering the world, doing their own thing, living in peace. Some of them are no different than people in personality, hanging out with other demons as comrades, being flirty, crass, sad, witty, all sorts of emotions that they have. Some demons want to fight their way to the चोटी, शीर्ष of the Tower of Kagatsuchi, and others just want to sit at a bar and drink their problems away. Some demons are content with slaughtering as many as they can to prove their strength, and others just want to stay in a खरीडिए and make a profit. There are other humanoids in the game known as the Manikins, mud गुड़िया that represent humans but are made from mud and twitch violently. But aside from that, they are peaceful. Some demons hate their peace and want to torture them for fun, but other demons live with them, perfectly content with coexisting. And the Manikins are the only ones that won’t attack Demi-Fiend (Well except those ones आप meet in बिना सोचे समझे battles, and Sakahagi, but fuck ‘em). Their leader, Futomimi, wishes for a Reason, which we will discuss in detail later. He wants a world where everyone can rely on each other and live in peace. An idea that is laughed at in the world ruled द्वारा demons, but a nice one to have. Yes, and I am aware that Dante from the Devil May Cry series is in it. Get your memes out of the way now. He’s really cool, his chase is intense, and has the best physical attacks in the game. He’s cool, I guess. But of course, there are the humans आप meet as well. And honestly, they are और ruthless than even the demons. And let us discuss those humans. Right now.

9: Acts, Comparing Reasons to Law and Chaos



In the days of older SMT, there were three alignments. Law, Chaos, and Neutral. Law gave everyone peace and paradise at the cost of individuality and were to be one person. Chaos gave everyone true freedom at the cost of a world where chaos reigns. And neutral was to just keep a perfect balance of both in human society. Everyone chose Neutral because it made the most sense and it was the one with the most content. But in Nocturne, they dropped Law and Chaos in place of just Reasons. With this, it was much harder to pick which route to go with. आप couldn’t say one person was और evil या just than the other because they all had their merits in a way, yet how they achieved those goals were pretty terrible. And this is where the लेख goes into spoiler territory so…

(MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI III: NOCTURNE FROM HERE ON OUT! CLOSE THE लेख IF आप WANT TO PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF!)

The three characters आप met before all have their own reasons and desires to recreate the world in their image, but only three of them go through and gain a Reason. Chiaki goes द्वारा the Reason of Yosuga, a world where only the strong willed will survive to obtain what they want, a world where those who lack drive will perish and only those that aim for what they want can live. Isamu wishes for a Reason of Musubi, a world of isolation where आप are at the center of your own world, where आप are in your own paradise at the cost of being the only true thing there. Hikawa follows the Reason of Shijima, where everyone lives in peace and cares for the earth that they walk of at the cost of individuality, and thus, they become one. But to obtain these Reasons, they all do horrible actions. Chiaki, once she calls her good, Baal Avatar, kills all of the Manikins to obtain their power to summon her god. Isamu steals the plans Hijiri had in mind, along with killing Hijiri to summon his god Noah. And Hikawa… yeah, obviously, destroyed the earth. Takao also wanted to create the world, using her god to create a world where everyone was happy, but was nothing but a maiden to help Hikawa and her god didn’t do anything but give her hope, as that was all she could do. Hijiri also had intentions of recreating the world, but what that was is unknown as he’s kinda dead. Whether he was going to use Demi-Fiend as a sacrifice या not is unknown, but hey, everyone else is crazy, why not Hijiri. And these all come together in the final act of the game, the climb to Kagatsuchi, and the creation of a new world.

10: Judges, The Endings



This is where all the choices matter. Any moment in the game, आप could change your reason completely with NPCs आप talk to just because of something आप said. And I want to talk about my प्रिय endings, and that’s three of the six. Demon, Freedom, and True Demon. Masubi, Yosuga and Shijima aren’t anything special. आप get to create a new world while getting a farewell from your friends. Chiaki thanks आप and disappears. Isamu pretty much says thanks and disappears. And Hikawa, the fucker that tried to kill you, is the only one आप get physically in an ending. Sure, the other two were no winners but still. But let’s talk about the other endings. Throughout the game, आप are told that आप have immense strength, and that not using that strength would be a waste. And आप can’t have that kind of strength without a responsibility. My uncle told me that himself before he got shot- Wait, no, that was Spider-Man. Anyway, आप can’t go through the game being indecisive and scared of the world. आप gotta make a choice. Because not making a choice at all is worse than making the wrong choice, because really, what is the wrong choice? What is the right choice? If आप go through the game without making a decision, without changing for the better, than the world will fuck you, and the game will fuck आप with a fucked ending. Kagatschi tells आप to fuck off and peaces out, and then Lucifer says that you’re pretty strong, but the world’s fucked and he ain’t helping, and then he leaves too. With that, आप get a shot of Demi-Fiend looking over the world, no humans, no demons, just a dark world, completely alone. No final boss, no new world to दिखाना for it. Video game over. Fuck you. Love, Atlus. It’s a brutal way to psych आप out for not making a choice and it makes it hurt that much more. And also makes आप want to try again. So let’s be decisive this time, but instead, choose not to want this strength of a demon. Let’s throw it all away and be human again, and fight for a world आप know. That is the Freedom Ending, the worst ending for the characters in my eyes, but still a good ending to discuss. This is because, yes, आप are back in a world आप know, and आप are back with your friends, even if they tried to kill you, but now आप know that there is a world that can end, and shit, the world is going to end again some day. Maybe later rather than sooner, but it will end, and आप may not be there to survive when it happens again. This isn’t Persona. आप don’t get to shoot God in the face and pat yourself on the back for saving Christmas. All आप did was delay the inevitable, and that’s AT LEAST. But let’s say आप use that strength, and that power, and want to stop the cycle of death and rebirth. Your world is fucked, and आप can’t fix it, but you’re told there are millions of worlds that go through death and rebirth. What if आप can stop that. True Demon ending, baby. After fighting all the Fiends, all the bosses and punching Kagatsuchi in the face, आप are left with a dark world, ruined forever, no chance of reviving itself. And then out pops old Lucifer, congratulating आप on a job well done, and gives आप an offer. आप did such a good job killing pretty much the moon and throwing your world into eternal darkness that he wants to hire you, but only after आप prove yourself. This starts the true final boss of the game, Lucifer, the most deadly boss in the game, a boss that has the highest HP in the game, insane stats and immunities, and can almost one shot your party if आप aren’t careful. But if आप prevail and defeat him, he will bring आप into his ranks as the general of the army of hell, and with that, आप take your new demon army and march your way to the gates of Heaven to end the cycle of death and rebirth once and for all. Fucking metal. Aside from और content, this ending makes the True Demon route so much और satisfying. And it fits with the tone and the gameplay of Nocturne perfectly in my eyes. It’s brutal, it’s a long hard road, and you’ll die many times, but आप will prevail, with demons द्वारा your side and strength to slay even gods. Oh, and also, I beat Lucifer on my first try. Suck it! Nocturne has the perfect atmosphere, the perfect gameplay, and the perfect use of characters. There’s a reason why I am excited for SMT V…. And a reason why Persona 5 is not the perfect game

11: Revelations, The Part Where I कुतिया, मतलबी About Persona 5 Not Being Shin Megami Tensei



Now comes the part that I advertised in the शीर्षक of this fucking article. The part where everyone disregards how great Nocturne is and tells me how I am a hipster bigot because I don’t like Persona 5. And I प्यार Persona 5. I think that it is one of the best JRPGs in years. After Final कल्पना 15 XV was disappointing and after Tokyo Mirage Sessions made me want to kill myself, playing Persona 5 was a breath of fresh air and I loved it. But my problem comes from the characters, tone shifts and how it comes so close to being a प्यार letter to SMT, especially Nocturne but just misses. The characters of Persona 5 don’t feel that fleshed out. And again, this is coming from someone who loves Persona 5, including the cast. But this लेख could’ve been all about Persona 4 and I would’ve had the same problems. The cast are great, but we only really learn about their entire character in certain parts and that’s it. We learn about Ann’s relationship with her friend and Ryuji’s anger towards Kamoshida early in the chapter, and not much else from there. Their S. लिंक्स are where it becomes really disappointing. You’d think we’d learn about them from there, but instead, we learn about these new characters. Want to help Ann better herself in her job and how it supports या affects her personally? Nope, let’s talk about her rivalry with some बिना सोचे समझे bitch. Wanna work out with your bro Ryuji? No, let’s talk about his relationship with the sports club. No, Makoto, I don’t want to pretend to be your boyfriend to help some बिना सोचे समझे girl who doesn’t even have a fucking character portrait. And poor, poor Haru gets no intro other than dad’s a dick, fiancees a dick, I have a Persona now. The characters just didn’t feel like friends. They felt और like teammates. I had और of a bond with my Jack Frost in SMT Nocturne. I was और worried about losing him than I was losing Morgana when he got into an incredibly annoying and forced argument with Ryuji 2/3rds into the game. That part sucks and आप can’t tell me otherwise. But I will say this, at least the level डिज़ाइन in Okumura’s dungeon paid tribute to the level डिज़ाइन of Nocturne. It was just as bad and obnoxious too. But I do प्यार Persona 5, and while I think it’s character लेखन was lacking, compared to not just Nocturne but other SMT games, it excels in gameplay and especially presentation. I don’t want to compare Nocturne to Persona 5 because you… really can’t. Yes, I know, I put it in the title, but this is not a comparison article, at all. This is a preference article, and personally, I प्यार Nocturne just a little bit more.

12: Testament, Nocturne is Amazing



Nocturne is a lot और than a game with an oppressive atmosphere that scares and intimidates you. Nocturne is far और than a difficult RPG that will demand आप to power through it. Nocturne is और than a bunch of scary skeletons and Dante memes. It’s a game that has a lot of दिल to it, even with all the weird cameos and the strange tone shifts. It’s a game that respects your choices and asks आप to make them, a game that rewards आप for sticking द्वारा it to the end with one of the most compelling narratives I’ve seen in a game, that cuts back on the tropes of other JRPGs and tells something unique, unseen in the genre at the time. It may not have a heartfelt message to it या a deeper meaning, but it is a game that holds a lot of glory to it. Art doesn’t need to tell आप some deeper thoughts या some extremely deep story, because Nocturne, while having a great narrative, is not completely deep. It just needs to make आप feel something to be important to you, and I do feel something for Nocturne. It’s that feeling of accomplishment, of completing the impossible, या what is considered impossible. The impossibility of traversing a world that doesn’t want आप and will kill you, the impossibility of defeating all these foes of mythos and religion that hold greater power over you, the impossibility of changing the world in your own image to feel that आप accomplished something. The impossibility of completing a game as difficult as Nocturne. And yet, I did it. Many before me did it. And I hope many और will do it. In conclusion, WHERE THE FUCK IS SMT V!?