Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

A few minutes ago, I beat SMT: Nocturne, one of the most interesting games I have ever played.

I will start by saying I got what I can only think to be the most anticlimactic ending. Not necessarily a "bad" ending, really, like where everything turned out to be a dream or I died or something. Just... there. Regardless, I don't feel too bad about it, besides the fact that I didn't get to fight the actual last boss.

Anyway! I definitely beat it - a 48 hour game clock tells no lies (it also gave me a clear save to use if I want to start a New Game +). It certainly wasn't easy, either - the game pulls absolutely no punches. It says to the player, "Here are some tools and a few clues. Good luck..." and then sets you loose in what is probably the most oppressive environment I have ever seen in a game.

You play as the demi-fiend, a half-human, half-demon silent protagonist who, in order to survive, must join up with demons and use them to help create the world he wants. This is done by meeting up with the very few humans left, who come up with their ideal worlds and fight amongst themselves in order to win and create their own "utopia." Since you're a demon, you can't come up with what's called a Reason (the aforementioned possible "utopias"), and must instead back one of the humans and help them create their world.

The reason everybody is trying to create the world they want is because about fifteen minutes into the game, the world as we know it ends. What's left is called the Vortex World, a sort of fetal recreation of parts of Tokyo, which is infested with demons and monsters and is very dangerous. This world is only temporary; eventually, a new world will be created in it's place via one of the Reasons.

Anyway, this environment is interesting because it is the only time I can think of in which the near constant threat of random battles (yes, even in almost every town, save for a very few temporary ones) is justified. There are demons everywhere, who are trying to gather power! So, they try to kill other demons to gain their power. This is interesting because usually I cannot stand random battles, but they make sense here (it helps that the game wastes no time in getting them loaded and started, so it doesn't feel too slow paced).

The game is also pretty creepy. Other than the very few humans left, everyone else are scattered around as ghosts who the player can talk to. They usually give clues as to where to go next. The player can also talk to the various demons who wander about, but must be careful because some of them will attack.

Other than some story specifics, that's all I'll really say about the world of Nocturne. It's very bleak. Most places are decrepit versions of the pre-apocalypse and are grim reminders of the end you just witnessed. All these reasons are why I think Nocturne is such an oppressive feeling game.

But the mechanics! They are absolutely solid. Nocturne is the first game in the SMT series to use what is called the "Press Turn" battle system. During battle, each side gets one action for each party member on their side. They can use an attack or item, skip a turn, or return to the player's stock or escape. If they skip a turn, they only use "half" of their turn, meaning that the next demon in line gets to go and complete that full turn for them. It's a little difficult to explain, but basically, you can pass your turn to the next demon in line if you like.

The twist, though, comes with enemy weaknesses and strengths. If, say, you use a spell type that the enemy is weak to, you get a bonus turn. If you use a spell that they are strong against (as in, they take zero damage), you lose two turns. If they are able to absorb your attack or reflect it back on you, you lose all your turns. This applies to the enemies as well - if I have a stable of demons who reflect fire attacks, demons who use fire attacks will be absolutely steamrolled by me because they won't be able to touch me and won't get any turns.

This allows the game to have a very good back and forth during battles. If I have a good team setup, I won't have a particular element that will destroy my team. I may have a demon that is weak to electricity, but I'll also have one that will absorb it, so if the enemy uses an attack that hits the whole party with electricity, they'll lose the rest of their turns since that one demon I have absorbs it.

Neat, eh? My beloved Persona 3 and 4 use a modified version of this system where you do bonus damage to the enemy if you hit their weakness and "knock them down." If all the enemies get knocked down, you do a bonus unblockable attack for a huge amount of damage.

Demon fusion is probably at its most important in Nocturne, moreso than in Persona or even Devil Survivor. Your only means of survival is the demons you have, and you better fuse them smartly or you will be outclassed fast. In Persona, you can pretty much use whatever demon you want so long as they are near to your level and aren't weak to whatever element the boss you're fighting uses. In Devil Survivor, you gain access to new demons through fusion, but you can easily buy demons through the demon auction and usually start rolling in macca pretty quickly, unlike in Nocturne.

It's nice to see the fully animated demons in Nocturne as well, unlike the few frames you get in Persona 3 and 4 (which were probably ripped right out of Nocturne, it's hard to tell). There is also demon negotiation in this game, and while it is not as obtuse as in Persona 1 or 2, it's also pretty weird and I never really got the hang of it, besides just generally trying to please the demons I talk to (basically by giving them whatever item they're asking for, so long as it's not something precious like a Chakra Drop or something). Certainly an interesting mechanic, and one that really makes battles even weirder.

I don't like Nocturne as much as Persona 3 and 4, despite really having enjoyed myself. I feel like P3 and 4 have a much better narrative and I feel like they got the story/battle balance just right, and as a result created a much more interesting (and less oppressive) world to take part in. I also really identified with the characters, which is something I can't say for Nocturne since, you know, I haven't survived an apocalypse. To be honest, though, I kind of enjoyed the difficulty of the Nocturne battle system a little more than what Persona has, which surprises me. I still like Persona! But I feel like it's too easy and Nocturne hit that balance of difficulty and breakable systems just right. You either get demolished because you are unprepared, or you win the battle pretty handily, but usually when you win in Nocturne you get by by the scrape of your teeth. It's pretty rare to absolutely dominate a boss in Nocturne (I did it a few times - there was a boss late in the game who only used fire attacks, which was lucky for me since I had several demons who were immune to it). Although I remember when I first played Persona, I felt the same way about that game's difficulty. Who knows! Maybe I'm just getting better at SMT.

Regardless, I'm glad I played through this game. I'm definitely a MegaTen fan, so I need to be able to say I've beaten it. Next, I'm going to play the Digital Devil Saga series, which, I'm told, use the exact same "Press Turn" battle system from Nocturne. I figure it will be an easy transition.

On a related note, I'd like to make this year the Year of the Hardcore Backlog, with only a few exceptions. I will play Etrian Odyssey IV as soon as it comes out, and probably SMT Soul Hackers in April. Other than that, I'm going to try to beat some of the games I've owned for a while. I'm just starting with the SMT games (hence the "Hardcore" above).

Hopefully I don't burn myself out of RPGs.