Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster Reviews

They added skill selection thank God, if they only added some of the hardtype fixes like magic scaling and tweaked the balancing in some places this would be a near perfect game.

This may not just be among the best of mainline MegaTen, it may not just be one of the best games Atlus has ever made, but it may genuinely be one of the best games of all time. Sure it, has flaws: The story and the characters themselves being chief among them, but they're really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. That being said I do feel that maybe I do need to focus on the small stuff I have issues with rather than praising the game as a whole (Cause I already think it's great in terms of gameplay design, music, dungeons, art style and even the ideas it wants to convey through the story) The story and characters then, they're fine enough, I've never really thought of this game having the most memorable or incredible party members like SMT IV does. They're not necessarily terribly written, but they're mostly there as vessels (both literally and figuratively) of the ideas they are trying to convey, and they do a mostly fine job with that. I think the big issue that comes in for a lot of people is their characterization. Hikawa is portrayed as this guy who is supposedly obsessed with bringing his supposedly ideal world of stillness to life, driven by his desire of this one perfect world (ironic cause according to him, emotions are weakness and are not allowed in his ideal world) but he never feels like a threat, not directly to the player anyways, until the very end at least. Isamu is just whiny, selfish and a massive hypocrite who says he wants a world where everyone has to be alone and fend for themselves but he never would've actually reached the point where he's at at the end of the story if he hadn't gotten help from other people bailing him out of shitty situations (be it directly or indirectly) and literally gaining his power from a literal network of information. Chiaki is kind of annoying and... not necessarily bitchy, but she is kind of a pain in the neck. Claiming that she wants a world where the strong rule over everything and deem the weak not strong to survive, thus they eliminate them; but she would've been amongst the first people to get killed in that new world had someone stronger than her not taken pity/seen opportunity within her. Now, not to sound like a snarky, artsy film student with his head stuck so far up his own ass that he can tongue kiss himself, but I feel the Reason reps' hypocrisy is intentional. Mainline SMT has always been all about how humans are complex creatures that shouldn't just blindly follow ideals as the be-all, end-all of their lives; ideological principles can be good as a guide through life, but dedicating the entirety of your life to it can be detrimental, same if you believe in nothing. And I feel that's the point the story is trying to convey, that even if humans are supposedly guided by one, unique principle (not necessarily good or bad), they will inevitably do things that go against it (whether they realize it or not) and making that one principle the center piece of their lives will eventually destroy them and strip them away of who they once were. And the plot itself, while proposing interesting ideological ideas, does feel a little disjointed and all over the place. But I think I like it that way? You jump around from dungeon to dungeon, at first looking for Hikawa and then chasing down the different Reason reps across the world, and while it can feel a bit jarring and like it's jerking you around, I think that it all comes together pretty well by the end once you see the grander picture of what it was all about. Overall, it's not a perfect game, no game really is. But I think the small stuff that I have personal issues with or didn't like are not overall deal breakers. They're annoying sure, but this is still one of my favorite games of all time and the reason I fell in love with this wonderful series in the first place.

Incredible. This is the first SMT I've played, and I loved it. What I found most interesting is that, as you progress through the game, you'll have to make difficult decisions regarding your party: your main character and the enemies you fight against will scale up at a speedier pace than demons you've recruited, so you're constantly forced to recruit new higher-level demons by persuading them, and discard under-leveled demons OR fuse them to get a different one which can inherit some skills from the fused ones, so even if you fuse the same demons twice, they can result in quite different outcomes depending on what skills you want them to inherit. I've found myself beating a few boss fights thanks to under-leveled demons I kept because I was fond of them, since they had quite a useful skillset for that specific scenario (which I couldn't have known but was super satisfying), so you don't want to take these decisions lightly. If some demon or skill seem particularly important or useful to you, then they probably are or will be at some point. It is also possible to recover a discarded demon if you've registered them -for a large amount of money, so you shouldn't rely on that too much. There are certain skills, types of damage and resistances that are a must depending on the area or the bosses you're facing at the moment, but you're not funneled into the "right" choices so evidently. You're lent plenty of freedom to realize for yourself what is best for each situation and figure out how to reach the desired compositions. I've found the battles pretty engaging and rewarding, especially once I really knew what I was doing. Interacting with the enemies and figuring out the way to earn their favor was really fun. The downsides: the encounter rate is preeetty high. There are items and skills that avoid low-level encounters, but these cost precious stones (a valuable and scarce currency) or a skill slot (also valuable). There are occasional puzzles and a lot of mazes. Those ranged from very satisfying to really annoying. There was a time I was caught in the middle of a puzzle without "repulse bells", and I ended up looking for a guide because I couldn't focus with the constant interruptions. Also, there's the occasional puzzle/maze that relies on trial and error and seems to be there just to punish you with these constant encounters. And the rare puzzle that's straight up a chore, even without encounters. Though I didn't let them ruin my experience and just used a guide when I started to get frustrated or bored. Another point that some may consider a downside, although I didn't, is that if your character dies, you're sent to the game over screen and have to load your latest save, losing all unsaved progress. However, the save point placements seemed reasonable to me. Last but not least: the atmosphere and story. Not a single complaint about them. From what I've read, I don't think I'd like Persona games very much because of the setting, so I'm here to confirm that at least SMT3's tone and setting are somewhat philosophical and dark. I think it's best not to go into details, but I found the post-apocalyptic setting and the overall vibe very compelling and I'm pretty invested in the story at the moment. I'm reaching the end of the game and there's quite a build-up. There are several endings that I have no idea how to attain, I'll just reach the ending I'm destined for. Sooooo yeah, absolutely recommended.

I didnt know i was going to play one of my favorite games of all time Pros: Punishing game, hard even on normal Amazing music and sound design Crazy history with in my opinion sometimes deep dialogue The moment i realize your demons can evolve and fuse between themselves it blew my mind Cool locations or views with real japanese towns and good art even for a ps2 game one of the best game over screens ever Cons: - Almost imposible without a guide sometimes they tell you were to go next sometimes they dont - Horrible puzzles or ways to finish a dungeon, you have to backtrack a lot or use guides - For the steam deck you always have to put it on ''borderless or windowed because at the start its always on 'Fullscreen'' but it looks smaller so always have to change that. that settings dont get saved for some reason

Dark themes, challenge dungeon, good music. But random encounter is very outdate and many annoy feature. Need a new standard gameplay remake version. 1 of best JRPG must play!

An absolute blast from the past and Classic IMO. SMT3 is the game that Elevated the Series to God-Tier, although I may have been a bit biased having played the English translations of SMT 1 and 2 that were floating around back then. iirc this is also the 1st appearance of the Press Turn Battle system that became a series staple afterward. I won't spoil the story, but it goes HARD, especially once you get going at a good pace. Absolutely stoked that this game got a steam release. Now, just bring back Digital Devil Saga. Please Atlus..

after buying this game on the PS5 two years ago (and failing horribly in the first dungeon) the hard drive got corrupted, so after a good two years of forgetting about this games existance I saw a recommended video about it and remembred the things that happened to me, after fully finishing my first playthrough I will say this was my the best megaten expirince (in my opinion) from what I played thus far (tbf I only played persona games up untill this point but still!) I would recommened this game for anyone who likes an uphill battle, an intresting story, and really really hates himself (A really good 9/10)

I love it, I played the Online MMO from this series ages ago. I will be replaying it again with all dlcs once im done with the first Playthrough. Ahhh Nostalgia

this game is sooo good but you gotta be some kinda masochist to enjoy it sometimes this gets SO tedious but ohhhhh is it fgood

What if Pokémon but everyone’s depressed and Tokyo exploded Jokes aside this game is awesome. good/10