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A great character collectio RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 43
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Nocturne is one of the most interesting (both plot and gameplay-wise) RPGs I have ever played. Having borrowed a successful monster collecting formula from Pokemon, and a plot line out of a horror movie, this game definitely monopolized my attention over some other recent RPGs.

Nocturne introduces the players into a strange post-apocalypse world where the hero becomes a demon after the rest of the world is destroyed. There are no princesses to save here, nor are you some do-gooder so typical of other RPGs. Basically you are trying to survive in a world full of demons, and you get to choose your own destiny. Most of the choices are pretty dark though.

Gameplay-wise Nocturne is a lot like Pokemon, but taken to the next level. The hero starts off alone and must recruit other demons as allies. The hero's party can either talk/bribe/kidnap demons to join, or to use a system called "fusion" which allows the player to fuse two or three demons together so to create a brand new demon. There are around 180 demons total in this game, seperated into multiple classes and levels. There are also around 100 (very rough guess) different attacks/skills here shared by these demons. When you fuse demons, you can randomly combine different skills of the parent demons. Of course, the gimmick here is that you can only keep up to 8 demons, and for each demon you can keep only 8 different attacks/spells.

Understanding of different attacks and spells make up bulk of the strategy here. Attacks are divided into phyical, fire/ice/lighting/wind elemental, curse/mind, and light/dark magical types. In addition you have stat buffing/debuffing spells. Since most of the enemies you fight against will have certain weaknesses, finding a weakness will not only allow the player to do more damage, but it will also allows the player to attack an extra turn. This mechanism means that even if the player's demons are leveled up high, the player can still easily lose to low level demons if the demon lineups are wrong. Having said this, it's very difficult to beat this game without dying many times, since you wouldn't know what to expect from most demons/bosses the first time.

Graphic-wise this game is Cell-shaded (reminds me of the game Breath of Fire V dragon quarters), and very stylish in terms of character designs. The overhead world is a bit blend though. Unlikely Final Fantasy you wont see 2 mintue summons or outlandish spells when you fight enemies and the attacks are mostly unspectular. Nothing too good or bad in this department.

The music for this game is very good if you can stand heavy metal/industrial. I actually like most of the pieces alot. The sound is fairly crisp. When you destroy some enemies they will moan, while others just simply disappear. Nothing too impressive here either.

My biggest complaint about this game is the naming convention used in this game. The monsters' names are mostly confusing and there are no numbers IDs assigned to each monster. This makes fusing a bit confusing/difficult for beginners. It's not too bad though if you get used to it.

Last but not the least, this game is definitely not for kids. The demons in this game do not only swear and use the F-word on a regular basis, this game also has many occult references which will certainly offend most religious fanatics. The Demons include Christian Biblical figures, far east deities, and various mythological creatures. This game's story line features alot of philosophical mumbo jumbo which will be difficult to understand to some, and possibly to be considered satanic to those who do understand.

This game will take a while to finish. Probably 50-60 hours the first time through, and alot more if you are planning to collect all of the demons in the game. Overall I recommend this to any RPG fan who are not too religious or easily offended.

Not Your Run of the Mill RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 39
Date: February 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This turned out to be an interesting game in a genre that can quickly become a slaughterfest. You and two friends visit hteir teacher in the hospital, and, just as you all arrive, the world (or at least Tokyo) comes to an end. In a peculiar version of the rapture, everyone dies and finds themselves in limbo. Now the various forces at play, demon, ex-human, angel, etc,, start a struggle for the power to create a new world. And right in the middle of all this is you, converted to a semi-demon, and a pawn in what could very easily be the last conflict.

You wander about a post-apocalyptic Tokyo making pacts with demons, enticing those you meet to help you, and tracking down your friends. Needless to say you do a huge amount of fighting as well. The battle system is complex because as the game progresses you gain the power to create demons of your own out of those you meet and miscellaneous accessories you can buy. Then you can develop those you like with their own special talents and spells. And you, you lucky person, get to add skills and powers by eating magatama, which bear an uncomfortable resemblance to bugs. Since the demons you meet also have a range of powers, fighting never quite becomes routine.

This is a very large game with a long story line. As you play, you will find that your friends are marching to their own drummers, and that they to are trying to win the power to create a new world. You can make major decisions about how you want to ally yourself that will effect the entore progress of the game. The bosses you fight are an imaginative selection of gods and legendary figures, many Japanese, but many others are from quite close to home. This game has a whole cosmology behind its story line.

Despite being no more violent than most RPGs and considerably less sex oriented than many, Nocturne is a very dark story. It's whether the good guys win or not, but that there really aren't any good guys. And you start out on the wrong side of the divine ledger, and pretty much stay there. The real question is how much you want to be in command of your own fate, and this is the first game I know of that addresses that as a story consideration.

Another good feature of the game is the large number of puzzles and mazes that make dungeon progress much less boring than a pure hack and slash approach. Most of the design inventiveness and eye candy awards goes into the huge number of monsters and bosses. Scenery is adequate, but not breathtaking. Animation is smooth and player control is quite natural. And just when you think you've seen everything up comes Dante from Devil May Cry. Wheee!

One of the best RPGs on the ps2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: September 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Right up there with the classic Shadow Hearts covenant, this game is pure class from start to 150+ hour finish. It's adult and totally different to the usually childish rpgs that come out so often.

You play the main character who wakes up on a train and in a hospital is witness to the end of the world. Only one idea can shape the new world and many will try for this power. You are the favoured champion of the fallen angel Lucifer who wishes you to lead all the creatures of darkness against God and free the Universe from pre-destination and Karma.

Beautiful and unique graphics
Excellent music and memorable fights - i.e the 4 horsemen
A HUGE number of characters to meet and recruit from hindu gods to sexual succubi to angels of heaven
A very satisfying ending/s, there are many endings.

Truly superb and very interesting.

Excellent old-school action RPG!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: June 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While SMT:N has a storyline that is a tad controversial due to it's strange take on Christianity and other-worldly religions, it takes a stealar apparoach on old RPG principles and builds on them! The game features an interesting turn based combat system with "button press icons", which diminish as you take a turn. If you manage to score a critical hit or use an enemey's weakness though, you only use up one half of a turn press icon, so in theory you can end up going twice as many turns per round in combat (and possibly never let your oppoenent take a turn if you manage to kill them before your turns are used up!) The press turn system works for your opponent in the same way though, so look out. A down side to this revamped 'old fashioned' combat system though is that if your main character dies, you lose. This is an old rpg rule that many can probably recall in games from the past.

The heart of the game though is the monster/demon creation/recruitment system. Throughout the game, you will encounter tons of different monsters, of all shapes and sizes. Each of them have different combonations of strengths, weaknesses, skills and abilities. To obtain them, you will have to either recruit them in combat via negotiation, purchase them from vendors, or fuse your old monsters to create new ones in the Cathedral of Shadows (which is what you will probably end up doing most of the time in the end.)

The game states that it has over 55 hours of gameplay, but you could easily go into the 100's if you end up looking for all of the extra content in the game. In order to obtain the added ending in this 'director's cut' version of the game, you will have to embark on some rather lengthy side quests and also will have to create a tremendously powerful party if you are to ever have a hope of battling the awsome final boss that the game has hidden away. Definently a fun challange for those who have patience.

This game features a wonderful soundtrack, which eminates techno, rock, metal, and ambient tunes. It is mostly upbeat, and it's sound effects are also very well placed in. Sadly, there is no voice acting, but it helps out in the end with the 'old school' feel that the game has. The graphics are also wonderful, as they are done in a unique and un-childish cell-shaded manner the likes of which I have never seen until now.

Another positive is that the game features Dante from the Devil May Cry series, whom many gamers will probably be familiar with (as was I. In fact, he was the main reason I bought the game!)

SMT:Nocturne is a rare game, and it will be hard to come by at a price under $50 dollars, but believe me, it is very well worth the price of admission if you are looking for a GOOD RPG.

This game ROCKS! (unlike some guy (in jeans))

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 20
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most compelling RPG's I've played since Shining Force III on the Saturn. At first blush, the graphics might throw you off (they are definitely styelized) and they certainly lend themselves to the atmosphere of the game. It's part Monster rancher, part finanl fantasy, and part phantasy star I. The dungeons are BRUTAL and long and the monsters have a tendancy to kick you in the tail. But the game is truly addictive and the battles (although frequent) are quick.
I would highly reccomend this game to any fan of the genre (watch out for it's adult themes though).
And if some guy (in jeans) manages to review this game...just remember he doesn't own it. He's only seen me play it and he was upset because he bought Metal Gear Solid 3 snake eater instead and felt gyped because the game was so much worse then Nocturne. Just remember, he's a guy in jeans...and you know guys in jeans are only out for one thing...MORE JEANS!!!!

One of the best RPGs ever...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: June 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Graphics/Music: The graphics (both for characters and map textures) are extremely unique for an RPG or otherwise. Very dark, and very moody with lots of twisted (in some cases literally)enviroments. The same goes for the music which is a great mix of heavy rock and techno. All in all it matches the game very well.

Story: The story is one of the best parts of the game. Rather then set you off on yet another quest to save the world, you are treated to the destruction of it within the first 10 min! You are left with this question, "If you had to create a world without judgement, without the concepts of good/evil or right/wrong, what would you create?" A unique concept which pans out extremely well through the course of the game.

Gameplay: The gameplay is complex to explain as it involves a unique turnbased system which relies on weaknesses/critical hits/guards/dodges and a Pokemon style partner system. To sum it up, your stength in battle relies solely in your strategy; a level 30 character can easily be wiped out by a level 10 enemy or two if you've got the wrong weaknesses. An average gameplayer who finds Final Fantasy difficult would be crushed by their first or second boss in this game. The second 'Pokemon' style system is less complicated but just as fun as you can recruit a huge list of detailed and cool looking demons. Every single enemy and boss (except for the last ones) can be recruited or created to your team. Enemies join in a number of ways including being talked to, bribed, weakened, scared, or by fusing your demons together to make new ones.

Extra Info:
5 Endings
Dante from Devil May Cry is a playable character
Hard/Normal difficulty settings
New Game+ Mode

Overall, this is an incredible game that should not be missed by any RPG fan.

Great system and story but pretty long

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This new title of the SMT series features pretty much the same old themes: chaos, gore, demons, gods, greed, ambition, blood, darkness with better graphics and enhanced player-friendliness. This US version is actually the "maniac" remake version of the Japanese title so it comes with all the extra features, including an extra quest of regaining the order in the Amala Network; 16 extra special demons (also featuring the main character of Devil May Cry); an extra insect that grants the main player outrageous power; 28 more new skills; and a "hard" mode for insane level gamers etc.

One of the biggest selling points of this game would be the demon summoning system. The player can negotiate with demons for joining the party and create a new demon with a funcion called "fusing". You can carry at most 8 demons but the capacity will increase to 12 as the game goes on. There are about 190 demons and 263 skills. In this title, the player can also view the demons' background and recruit them again with the "Demon Compendium" function. There is also a 3-monster fusion, which requires a sacrifice. Some high-rank demons can only be created with 3-monster fusion with three specific demons, the fun of exploration is guaranteed. Unlike Pokemons, which get considerably stronger just by leveling up; demons in SMT cannot strive very long by just leveling up, you have to merge them with some special monsters call "midama" in order to get a better boost of stats. In addition, there could be fusion accident leading to an unexpected demon. The process is completely addictive and you may find yourself spending more time in figuring out the system.

The fighting system is above average, the graphics is cool and smooth; and it's really fun to watch the action of the demons (I recommand Jack Frost, my favorite!). However, lack of real-time feature may make it a bit dry after 40 hours (40 hours of playing would bring you to about the middle to 60% of the story); and you may also end up with having no skills that are effective against a boss character or your/your demons weakpoints are exactly the skills used by a boss character, be prepared to save and config your party frequently.

Though the fighting and demon system is good, I do have some resentment with the main character development system. The main character (a Tokyo high-school boy who later got a very cool, glow-in-the-dark tatoo all over his body after being transformed into demon) learns his skills and strengthens his stats by swallowing different parasites. Those parasites impart some strengths/resistances and weaknesses to the character, and would grant the character some skills upon leveling up. However, there are only 8 skill slots and once you gave up a skill, you will not regain it. Careful planning (and probably some internet search/game guide drilling) is needed.

Pros: Great graphics, great monster system, very cool but dark story, extra "hard" mood if you're into some challenges/frustration, tons of mythological trivia
Cons: Story somewhat seems neverending, no weapon/armor/shield equipment system (sorry weaponry fans)

If you have never tried SMT, this is the one to get. If you have played the NES/SNES versions of SMT (like 15 years ago) and didn't have a good impression, this title may change your opinion. There would also be some similar and probably better titles coming out: in Spring 05 the same manufacturer will launch "Digital Devil Saga: Avatar", which feature a demi-devil SWAT team with similar gore themes and better style; or if you can wait, Dragon Quest 8 in Winter 05 would also be another choice.

Demons and Jack Frosts and Dante, oh my!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'd like to start off by saying that Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is not for everyone. If you have problems with dark themes or shriek at the concept of anything remotely "demonic," you'll probably not want to play this.

Also, if you are looking for a "traditional" RPG - one with a band of likable characters going through a heroic adventure to save the world - you may find yourself disappointed in Nocturne. Characterization is small to nonexistent, and most of the time your mute hero is merely accompanied by hordes of beautifully designed but essentially characterless demons. And the story is not that of a traditional RPG either - rather than working to save the world, this game begins with it being destroyed.

You play one of the few humans left alive in this post-apocalyptic world - and indeed, no longer human, but now part-demon (and with a nifty neck spike and a set of full-body tattoos to prove it!). You make your way through this world to discover what it's like now, fighting demons and occasionally recruiting them to your side, and eventually you will choose a Reason that will remake the world in the way you want to see it remade.

Visually, the game is stunning. Kazuma Kaneko's character and demon designs are embodied beautifully in a stylish cel-shaded style. Aurally the game is not quite as outstanding, but the music is still generally quite good.

As for gameplay...Nocturne is more difficult than a lot of modern RPGs. The dungeons are long (often VERY long), the enemies are often quite tough compared to your characters, and the battle system, while easy to abuse, is also unforgiving if you make the wrong move.

(Also, for fans of Capcom's Devil May Cry series, Dante - the main character of that series - appears in Nocturne as well, and can even be recruited to join your party.)

All in all, if you're looking for an unusual and challenging RPG experience (much like the Persona games, which are a related series), you may want to give this one a try.

Dark and Scary!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is dark and scary, unlike any RPG's that I've ever played before. Its also hard. A change to what I'm used to but nevertheless addictive. I actually had nightmares. But the quest continues. Very engaging storyline, keeps you on the edge to know the answer.

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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