Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster

Shin Megami Tensei, the older sister of the Persona series, is one of a number of Japanese games that have been looking for a way on new consoles in recent years – whether PlayStation or Switch, which is completely destined to play classic JRPGs. The third part of Shin Megami Tensei with the subtitle Nocturne is one of the leading representatives of the genre and now it intends to strike a nostalgic string and new devices. How did his return turn out?

Left to fend for themselves

It’s like a case from a journal (or another Japanese game). The end of the world is approaching, which is anticipated and expected only by a group of chosen ones, and by coincidence (causing fate?), The main character finds himself in the right place at the right time, except for a high school student. He will survive the end of the world and the destruction of humanity and can watch first hand the invasion of demons not unlike the people of the series of the same name. But what the hell didn’t want! One such demon enters the protagonist, our river acquires stylish tattoos and begins to unravel the events around the end of the world. And he’s not the only survivor.

There is no point in dealing with the plot in more detail, because I would deprive you of JRPG’s typical plot twists. True, they suffer from a certain pattern and due to the absence of classic partners from similar games, you will not even experience an emotional ride on a roller coaster. Shin Megami Tensei III is “enough” only with the protagonist, mysterious characters, enemies, allies, classmates and friends, who also have their roles, but do not form an active part of the player’s squadron.

In the inhospitable world after the apocalypse, you spend most of your time alone. With your own thoughts, the enemies you are fighting, with your surroundings to explore. And it is the exploration of the surroundings that really shouts loudly that this is not a modern game, but a remaster of an older piece.

Even if the game world looks familiar, don’t be fooled – it’s really not a friendly place. You will find various parts of Tokyo, the good old Shibuja and the like, but nothing looks the way we are used to. Demons roam the world freely, some of them are calculated bastards, others serve only as sources of information for the game, and in the meantime you will find the souls of the dead – they usually throw a few sentences or words at you, in rare cases they cure the whole party, but otherwise you have to glue everything honestly from small shards.

It’s not a game that takes you by the hand and shows you everything on the map in X different ways. On the contrary, in some parts, it even brazenly lets you wander and find your way by trial and error, which is extremely exhausting in the context of constant demon attacks. Progress through the game is often slower than would be healthy, and the most important pair of game mechanics – duels and demons – comes to the surface.

Tah Pazuzu

First a few words about demons. It’s a bunch of egomaniacs, manipulators and other dubious existences who can’t even trust the horns on their heads. So if they have something like a head at all. What needs to be praised and emphasized is the similarity of many demons with the already mentioned Persona series. The design of the enemies is definitely one of the best that the game has to offer in an otherwise classic corridor with lots of short loading tracks that constantly bite the experience.

And fights bite him. Turn-based battles are the mainstay of every similar Japanese game, and Shin Megami Tensei III is no exception. The original seems to be an extremely difficult game, which is why the authors decided to add a new easy difficulty to the game, but the truth remains that even on the classic difficulty you can go through the first hours with a finger in your nose, sometimes you cure a ward directly in combat and otherwise you will only spam the basic attack. This is partly because you have nothing better to do, partly because you will only be able to identify the enemies’ strengths and weaknesses, and it would be a shame to waste precious resources and rounds on completely useless attacks that God forbid the enemies.

It’s basically a classic JRPG. We have a division of moves between players and enemies, larger or smaller groups of monsters, resistance, weaknesses and also complete immunity, which the Czech political spectrum could only quietly envy. However, the age of the title is clearly reflected in the slightly impractical control and switching between actions – it took me about two hours to discover the possibility of talking to demons or using items directly in a duel. The game simply lets you try everything on its own axis, and if, for example, you want to analyze an opponent, it will cost you one round. No exploration just as much as speech as in the Fifth Persona.

I also lacked the ability to use more effective area attacks in the beginning, because there will usually be many more enemies than you. While the player’s group is limited to 3 + 1 (ie three friendly demons and a player), there are countless enemies, they have a proportionally assigned number of actions and sometimes it takes you to get the word out. It’s just a very slow game.

As a reward for victory, you will receive money, items, gems and experience. The leveling of demons and the protagonist himself is the second essential mechanics, because if you do not wander around the world and look where you are headed further, you will polish the demons.

The demon and I are one

If you know the system of creating and combining persona from Persona, you will be at home in Shin Megami Tensei. You can spend time in a special room in the intercepting places by planning the development and “mutation” of your demons. You will execute, clone, pair and execute them again in an effort to get the best possible piece.

You will then level up your favorite charges in an inexhaustible number of random encounters, which you can prepare for thanks to the radar in the lower right corner, which gradually changes color according to the impending danger. Encounters with enemies in this direction are a bit like the Pokémon series – only no one jumps on you from the grass, but from practically all conceivable and unthinkable places.

And that’s all, friends. Shin Megami Tensei III doesn’t need more, or she made it with it at the time of release. Today, however, the year is 2021, and although the game cannot be denied the cult status and general qualities associated with the combat system, RPG elements and work with demons, on today’s scale it does not seem so fascinating. Players thrilled with modern JRPGs or the fifth Persona are likely to be slightly disappointed.

It is a title suitable for demanding players and old lovers, but as a gateway to the genre, I can’t recommend it to you with a clear conscience, even if you buy it on Switch, where it clearly sits. Reach for this piece if you want to remember old times or long for a challenge within a genre of your familiar genre and, for example, because of your date of birth, you were deprived of Shin Megami Tensei III at the time of its release. Then it will undoubtedly make you very happy. It is simply a high-quality and well-thought-out title, but from today’s point of view it is already an outdated title.