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This game rocks :)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you're looking for a dark, fun, nostalgic RPG to play, this is it! Look no further! If you liked any of the Persona series, you will enjoy this one as well.

Only 7 reviews? WTH?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is absolutely wonderful. I bought it by word of mouth and I don't regret it at all. It has many of the gods that I have studied and those of mythos which I have not yet studied. This game has the potential of expanding the mind, while also being awfully dark and naughty. Well, not really naughty, hahaha. The game is just edgy. The game gives you that feeling like the first time you ever see the first Matrix movie and you think, "OMG, CGI can actually do that?" The creators of this game have style and creativity to think out of the box for once.

Impressive gameplay, Great Storyline

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is an excellent continuation to one of the best RPG series of all time. Though not my favorite of the series (my favorite was #2), there are numerous improvements over the previous games. Rather than having to go to an appraiser to get an item identified like in the previous games, in SMT: Nocturne the attributes of all the items are spelled out in the inventory screen. While some might find this removes some realism, I found that it improved gameplay by eliminating endless trips back to the appraiser to find out what that new item does. Also, the newly-added demonic compendium feature I found to be extremely useful, as well as providing some interesting info about the various demons.

The only area that disappointed me in the game was the removal of the equipment system, and such things as fusing demons with weapons and finding which gun/ammo combination is the best. Overall, however, this game is an excellent addition to the Shin Megami Tensei series, and shows good signs for the series future.

A game you will either love or hate, requires more effort than most.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Graphics / Design: Graphics are adequate. Characters are cell shaded nicely, environments are well shadowed and animations are fluid.

Design is not so great. Most of the dungeons are just long winding hallways and rooms with little detail. Ladders and stairs thrown in for spice. The world map dissapointed me. One, because your party is basically a blue arrow moving around, looking like a mouse cursor kind of breaks the mood. Two, becomes a sphere you walk around on the inside of, not a problem by itself, but most of it is destroyed so what you wind up with, instead of a modern urban look like Persona, is something closer to sporadic villages like most RPGs.

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Sound / Music: Is typical RPG fare with techno and industrial themes. Nothing to write home about.

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Game play: I would describe this as pokemon grown up and strung out. I say that because the encounter system is basically an exchange of money and items to acquire new demons. Occasionally a demon will beg you not to kill them or initiate conversation, but on the whole it is much less developed than that found in Persona, which I thought was much more fun to do and watch. Here neither the party nor the demons have anything interesting to say.

Battle is pretty much standard turn based, you have a number of icons corresponding to the number of party members, attacking an enemy weakness or landing a critical gets you an extra turn, missing/ being dodged loses one. Summon and recall demons at will. Only the main character can use itmes though, makes things tough.

The main character ingests magatama to alter his abilities, so a fire magatama will increase some stats and teach a fire skill at level up, while making your vulnerable to ice. This is good and bad because learning skills at level up means you can use the appropriate magatam in a dungeon and switch right before level up to get the skill you want, or you may be stuck for a while waiting on what you want.

Demon fusion is important. There isn't that much EXP from battles and you will be constantly switching out demons so fusing two weaker demons for a stronger one is the only real way to get strong party members. Of course, you can't create demons that are stronger than your main character. It's an okay system, you basically just collect who seems strong or interesting and see what you can get. Still kind of fun though.

Battle tactics are, as stated, a lot more in depth than most games. Yes, you can level up to the point where it becomes less of an issue, but you can still be taken out rather quickly. Save often.

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Story / Atmosphere: Yeah... about that, not really there. This too is dissapointing compared to Persona. The lead up is nice with you and some class mates wandering an abandoned hospital. Once the fighting starts you have to escape the hospital, but after that two hours, it's downhill. You basically run back and forth looking for you classmates and teacher, all of which seem to have ulterior motives, but it's not that interesting.

Also, presumably with all of humanity dead, towns are populated by demons and ghost like souls. This could work for the tone of the game, but half the demons are really cute, the ones that aren't don't have much to say. If there were any indication of fear, worry, entropy or any of those thigns that you would think would come along with the apocalypse, the game would feel a lot better put together.

But that would require character development and there is very little of that for any one.

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All and all, The best thing about this game is the challenge. If you like RPGs but are tired of walking through them get this. Any fight can be your last, boss fights often take multiple tries. Plus there is a very long bonus dungeon. It's also great if you want to have full control over your party development and battle style.

weak on music score and story

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 16
Date: May 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I guess I was a bit expecting too high from it, I've played persona on PS1 it was a good game, to be honest with I do like the system here better, since its very convenient the way they allow you to "manage" the devils you have summoned, I found myself having some fun on just studying each devil's strength and weakness and to create a better team. Unfortunately I couldnt go on as the story.. THERE"S NO STORY! All there is is some old guy and widow liked woman keep showing up explaining nothing at all bout what's issue there but they do know so well what they want you to do. The kid(your character) pretent he has no tonque, well thats fine as many japanese games are like that, you just feel like there wont be any answer enough clues about the game world it has made of. I finally so irritated and give up the game simply I can foresee there will be no explaination, conclusion whatsoever about whats going on but there certainly will be a nasty boss waiting... I guess my biggest complaint is there are just so few people are involved in the story, it feel so isolated/alone not in a good way. Many of the design in dungeons are too chaotic, non-interesting.. the music is simply boring, I dunno why would they think people would like to listen to the soundtrack it comes in, you can find a better one with similar style for 99cents on amazon. And the dungeons often feel unnecessary huge but pointless huge, they are so empty and I was irritated to find out later about 1/3 of the rooms are empty! And even when its not you find there only one guy to talk to and he give crappy information a little more important than saying "hello"! I wanna suggest people skip this give and forward to "digital saga" I havent played it yet, but there at least has a team of people! that its more likely you found yourself in a story. This game is about endless monster hunt or negotiation and fusing monsters.

So there IS Persona III before Persona III !!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: October 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved Persona I and II and naturally, this game, Nocturne. It seems so far there is lotsa humour, and story is not so horror based, it is more like how Japanese writers imagine version of apocalypse.

If you liked other Atlus games for PS one I mentioned, you'll like this one. BUT, fun factor here is better than in Personas that reached America.

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Ok, I must add something now, when I beat the game (without Amala Labyrinth)

This game has best boss fights after Xenogears.

The character is built by choosing skills that are rewarded to you upon leveling up. Unfortunately, you can have just a few of myriad possible skills. Bad thing is, if you discard skills, you can be stuck later in game and not be able to get back old skills as far as I got into game.

You will need anti expel skill (from Nirvana parasite) in combination w equiping Djed matagama (anti curse parasite) for Baal Avatar (sp?), sub boss OR in my case Boss of the game.

You also need different attack skills to take out more monsters in one attack during game, but as the end of story nears, concentrate on heavy hitting skills which can damage bosses. Use Almighty matagama and get Freikugel skill, I think it is good for end of the game. I beat Baal Avaatar with Laksmi (healer, expel, curse and holy resistant) , Skadi (Windcutter magic and magic attack booster spell,expel, curse and holy resistant) and Flauros, using War Cry.

Kurama is also important ally during first part of the game, since he has good spells and skills at low levels, just like Oni and later, Albion (evoluted GogMagog) and Shiki Ouji.

Ok, just few more words: you don't have to read FAQ so frequently, but try to get list of parasites and skills they provide. Whenever fighting boss, see what kinda spell he loves and then equip parasite which absorbs attack or defends it. By exploring labyrinths and fighting, you'll progress better than reading FAQs.

There was a boss in the middle of the game which clones. FIGHT HIM AT FULL KATSAGUSHI and you will see shadow below one you need to hit.

What I disliked: items can be used by main hero only. There is spell Dragon Eye which allows enemy to get more moves per turn.

To all you people who tried to rip me off!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: June 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

They had it in stock!!! Shazaam!!!! This is a nice blow to all the people trying to sell me a brand new copy for upwards of 100 bucks!!! Its on the way right now! Ha!

very VERY shoddy reprint

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: June 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

simply put, this is atlus' way of making quick bucks... reprint copies of games with cult followings.

good, right? not quite as atlus has done a shoddy job. First of all, some copies take forever to load. Second, don't be surprised to find plenty of dust and debris in your "sealed" game

Great Game, Shameful Price

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: August 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Everyone's already said the great things about the game, & it is that good, but this 'collectible' pricing needs to stop. Go to Chinatown, NY & stop this vicious cycle. If the DJ guide is included & the game is brand new, then maybe $90 would be acceptable.

Somewhere between HP Lovecraft and Pokemon . . .

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The world has ended, and that's where the game begins.

SMT:N puts you in the shoes of a Japanese student who, in short order, watches the world end. Infected with a demonic parasite, in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo where a strange moon shines down on an inside-out world, he wrangles demonic and supernatural beings to help him fight many enemies. As various factions battle, he may be the lone person to decide what will happen at the Conception - the birth of a new world from the ashes of the old.

SMT:N uses the basic Pokemon/Monster-collecting mechanic to let you build and evolve a team of supernatural creatures, as well as your protagonist. Creatures and the player gain skills, evolve, and mutate. You can even fuse your troops into new ones, and unlock special creatures. This aspect of collect/evolve/fuse alone makes the game addictive.

Combat is very strategic for the most part (though sometimes you'll meet an enemy that due to luck will completely trounce you), requiring a lot of forethought and planning. Teams, skills, and equipment really make a difference - and subtle differences can be manipulated for powerful effects.

However, there's more. There's a lot of unlockable areas, optional bosses, and how the game ends is up to your actions. What could be a simple question or a seemingly pointless fight may well decide the fate of the world. Toss on a good soundtrack and a fascinating art-deco look and you have a winner.

Is it perfect? No. There's some odd puzzles, occasional points where you have to wander to figure things out, and a few cheap kills. Flaws aside, its an impressive, ambitious, and addictive game.

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