SMT: Nocturne

[Puukko]

I can't agree with SMT4 being ahead of Apocalypse or even SMT2.

Guyz, why so many of you have problems with IV? Dungeon are dumbed down thanks to 3DS limitations but rest is top notch.

Don't have experience with KMT

KMT2 is basically proto-version of SMT2, to the point you can even call SMT2 a remake.

I wouldn't call fluctutating difficulty, dumb characters and an unmemorable story or hellish (literally) overworld navigation "top notch". What SMTIV has going for it is the soundtrack and atmosphere... which usually aren't what you play an RPG for.

Oh, and the inconsistent sprite quality coupled with weak/unfitting guest artist designs.

Or the fiend grind... I never bothered.

 

[Jasede]

What do you like about Strange Journey? Maybe I was too young at the time, but I thought it was a little repetitive and while it was written well, perhaps there was too much of it that felt disconnected to me.
Not that I dislike it, I rate it highly. But I didn't play past the 'garbage dump' area.

 

[Puukko]

SJ is the SNES style improved for a great balance of old school dungeon crawling with some modern sensibilities. It has one of the more believable representations of the law/chaos hero (especially when compared to SMTIV, who make the jump to extremism very suddenly) though to my understanding the vanilla endings are stupid and the new SJR ones are better. It's just a very solidly designed game, though I am not sure where I would rank it in comparison to Nocturne, personally. I can understand it feeling repetitive but at the same time it doesn't have any slumps - WYSIWYG. I saw an apt comparison recently where it was compared to The Thing. Stranded, running down on resources and you really can't fully trust your fellow humans.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

But I didn't play past the 'garbage dump' area.

Rule no.1:
Don't judge Strange Journey before completing mighty Eridanus.

 

[Silva]

The skills, bro.
The fusion chart may or may not be ingame. Think you are meant to learn it by doing.

Nah no way. Its not just the opaqueness of the process but also the random element that makes savescumming obligatory.

It's shit design. Period.

Persona 5 nailed this aspect and they should follow the example (assuming they can modify this for the Remaster, of course).

 

[Puukko]

Sure, that was one of the good aspects of Persona 5 but SMTIV/A already had robust search tools to aid with fusion.

 

[Nathir]

SJ is the SNES style improved for a great balance of old school dungeon crawling with some modern sensibilities. It has one of the more believable representations of the law/chaos hero (especially when compared to SMTIV, who make the jump to extremism very suddenly) though to my understanding the vanilla endings are stupid and the new SJR ones are better. It's just a very solidly designed game, though I am not sure where I would rank it in comparison to Nocturne, personally. I can understand it feeling repetitive but at the same time it doesn't have any slumps - WYSIWYG. I saw an apt comparison recently where it was compared to The Thing. Stranded, running down on resources and you really can't fully trust your fellow humans.

There was nothing story-related in SJR that was a worthwile addition or made the game any better.

 

[Latro]

SJR story changes were all retarded and nu-endings ruined the dystopic and oppressive theme of the original.

 

[d1r]

 

[Puukko]

SJR story changes were all retarded and nu-endings ruined the dystopic and oppressive theme of the original.

Most comments I've read said that the originals were too extreme, but I haven't looked up the new law/chaos endings and I only roughly know what happens in the originals. Depends on what you're looking for I guess - hopeless dystopias no matter what you choose, or flawed but livable futures. I liked the new neutral ending at least.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

I can understand most people's positions, but I would personally give the nod to Nocturne over SJ.

Granted my first playthrough has been SJR, and the ability to save-scum through dungeons probably took some of the punch out of combat. But there have definitely been a few dungeons that I've yawned my way through, and turned on random encounter lessening sub-apps just because encounters got formulaic to a point. Although, on the whole I wouldn't disagree that the game is tuned pretty well.

Nocturne does one thing exceptionally right, though, and that's the pace and snappiness of its combat. You can transition in and out of combat faster than most games, and trivial encounters are over and done with quickly. It feels like you can be in and out of 3 combat encounters in the time you'd be complete 1 in a normal JRPG. I love how there's no victory fanfare, it being present in DDS kept me from playing it for a little bit.

Nocturne also can also throw several waves of enemies at you in a single encounter without warning. I think my personal record was 6, and my party was exhausted by the time that encounter was over. I really cannot express how much I appreciate this feature. I think it makes the game and it's one thing I wish SJ had. Nocturne delights in throwing curveballs at you. I think most people who decry JRPGs and their random encounters would feel differently if this was a more common feature. Not knowing when a simple encounter could snowball into something more substantial and threatening keeps the player on their toes and I wish this was something more RPGs would adopt.

 

[Deflowerer]

Some keypoints.
> You can turn off the voicing actor

> Director talks about the massive negative reception at first.

> Merciful mode let you mash thought the game.


https://www.siliconera.com/shin-meg...lks-about-the-original-games-harsh-reception/

Yeah, I think III flopping was one of the main reasons why Okada left.

 

[Vorark]

If you trouble with the fusions and don't mind consulting external sources, Gamefaqs has a very comprehensive chart.

Spoiler

 

[GhostCow]

The heretic mansion fusion calculator is much better than using a chart

http://www.phpsimplicity.com/heretic/

 

[The Decline]

Here's a site that has demon lists and fusion charts for all the games.

https://aqiu384.github.io/megaten-fusion-tool/smtdsj/chart

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Honestly, unless you are planning to clear Amala and fight the super bosses you can just finish Nocturne without half knowing the demon chart or skill acquisition rule. It is much easier nowadays with the internet and everything.

 

[Silva]

 

[Ataraxia]

SMT Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SMT Nocturne

 

[Ialda]

Yeah, I think III flopping was one of the main reasons why Okada left.

Okada would probably have left three years earlier without Devil Children succesfully bringing in some of that sweet pokemon money. I love SMT3, but it was obvious that it was out of place in 2003 - both the 2000s apocalyptic fad in pop fiction and the Japanese occult maniacs/Kujakuoh/Jojo/Teito Monogatari/Hideyuki Kikuchi subculture had already faded in Japan by that time; the SMT games didn't have a substantial core audience anymore (in Japan - hence the push to market the franchise outside Japan becoming serious rising by the mid-2000s...).

Okada is an important figure of 90s Atlus history, but failing to realize that the market has shifted since the last SMT games was a critical failure on his side.

 

[Abu Antar]

https://www.gematsu.com/2020/08/shi...-remaster-demonic-compendium-trailer-part-one

 

[GhostCow]

https://www.gematsu.com/2020/08/shi...-remaster-demonic-compendium-trailer-part-one

Looks just like the original. They could have at least imported the updated models from the newer games or something

 

[Abu Antar]

Part 2:

 

[Average Manatee]

Looks just like the original. They could have at least imported the updated models from the newer games or something

Yeah, looks the same as PCSX2 upscaled to me.

Spoiler

 

[flyingjohn]

It actually looks worse then the original(colors look washed out) and without any mod support or any additional features the ps2 version is still the best.

 

[d1r]

Also, are they keeping the heavily compressed soundtrack?