Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster

Genre: Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is a Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG originally released on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, itself an enhanced director’s cut of the earlier Japan-only Shin Megami Tensei III. While this series has been largely eclipsed by the more trendy Persona spin-off series, Nocturne was nevertheless celebrated upon its release as a truly inspired and original JRPG, bringing an occult vibe in a post-apocalyptic demon-infested Japanese setting unlike anything else on the market. In 2021, this game was released in a remastered form on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.

In some ways, the presentation of this game has aged well, and in others it has not. On the one hand, the visual presentation is still very striking, with a post-apocalyptic world that doesn’t look anything like any other post-apocalyptic world I’ve seen, a protagonist whose neon-bordered tattoo design is really fantastic, and monsters and DLC characters that are similarly great looking. In addition, the voice acting here is solid too, with the game’s major cutscenes all voiced. On the other hand, the game has a somewhat “washed-out” look, the environments all seem oddly sparse, and some of the environmental textures are somewhat lacking. Overall, it still looks good, but even with the remastered treatment, you can still see signs of this game’s age. I should note that I do recall seeing some people complain about performance issues in this game, but I wasn’t able to notice anything of the sort during the time I was playing it.

As for the gameplay, this game has a pretty original approach to the Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG genre (at least, if you’re not familiar with the Shin Megami Tensei franchise) that encourages players to talk to monsters to try to lure them over to your side, and then has you keeping a small stable of monsters and gradually combining them to make tougher monsters, rather than collecting as many as you can. It all works fairly well, and makes for a fun and unique experience.

Having said that, this isn’t exactly a user-friendly experience, and it can take some trial and error (or consulting a wiki) to fully understand how all of this game’s mechanics work. In addition, the combination of random encounters and maze-like level design may have been the norm in JRPGs when this game was first released, but these elements can be a bit frustrating now, especially when every time you enter a new room the game still takes a brief moment to load the new area.

However, while some elements of Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne may have aged better than others, overall this is still a solid, original JRPG with a fairly unique approach both to its monster-collecting gameplay and to its depiction of a post-apocalyptic world. Fans of the genre who don’t mind something a bit out of the ordinary would do well to seek this game out.

tl;dr – Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is a Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG set in a post-apocalyptic demon-infested Japan. This game’s setting and mechanics are still fun and original after all these years, even if some of the elements of the presentation and old-school game design haven’t aged as gracefully. Still, if you’re a fan of the genre looking for something out of the ordinary, you’d do well to try this game out.

Grade: B-

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