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LTTP: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Q

QuantumBro

Banned
Seda said:
There is a bonus dungeon called The Labyrinth of Amala (or sometimes the Kalpas, same thing). It's optional but necessary to complete if you want a special ending - called the True Demon Ending. You have to finish it by a certain point in the game.
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Is the point I have to beat the Labyrinth by obvious or should I look it up?
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Pinko Marx said:
Maybe its cause I was already familiar with SMT but the Matador only took me about 3 tries. He was hard, sure but not the hardest boss battle.
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That's the deal: people coming from "Press X to Win" turn-based battles either get it up, or get destroyed by him, cuz the kid gloves are OFF.

wanders said:
Your avatar is one of Kaneko's best designs
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Thanks. I'm glad it's in SMT4 in some form or other. Lots of lore-accurate design too!

a8w11Yn.jpg
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
cj_iwakura said:
You missed half the game. And all the fun.
Click to expand...

Hmm, based on what criteria? I hated what parts of Amala I played. Not a fan of mind-numbing grinding. The non-Amala parts of Nocturne I did play were great fun; I don't feel I missed anything worth spending that many hours on.

I think Nocturne is amazing in terms of style, atmosphere, character design, and music, but it definitely has its flaws. The story elements especially, which was too light to carry the number of hours between plot points. It could've been a great story if fleshed out more. It was also kind of a depressing gameworld; everything just felt like an empty husk with statuesque NPCs, as compared to the Persona series for instance which did a great job of making you feel like you were in a somewhat alive and changing city.

But despite its flaws, it is simply a game no RPG fan unafraid of a challenge should miss.
 
A

Aeana

Member
eyeball_kid said:
Hmm, based on what criteria? I hated what parts of Amala I played. Not a fan of mind-numbing grinding. The non-Amala parts of Nocturne I did play were great fun; I don't feel I missed anything worth spending that many hours on.

I think Nocturne is amazing in terms of style, atmosphere, character design, and music, but it definitely has its flaws. The story elements especially, which was too light to carry the number of hours between plot points. It could've been a great story if fleshed out more. It was also kind of a depressing gameworld; everything just felt like an empty husk with statuesque NPCs, as compared to the Persona series for instance which did a great job of making you feel like you were in a somewhat alive and changing city.

But despite its flaws, it is simply a game no RPG fan unafraid of a challenge should miss.
Click to expand...
That's kind of the point. The world was destroyed. You are in a world of demons, with only a handful of humans who are trying to rebuild the world as they want to.

As for "grinding" in the Amala Labyrinth, if you were grinding, that was something you chose to do. Unless you are using that word to refer to dungeon crawling, which doesn't make much sense. The Amala Labyrinth is designed to hearken back to classic SMT, and it is so, so very successful at that. Simply wonderful.
 
G

george_us

Member
Nocturne probably has the most haunting atmosphere I've ever experienced in a RPG, surpassing even both Souls games.

Atlus needs to hurry up and put this on PSN.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
Aeana said:
That's kind of the point. The world was destroyed. You are in a world of demons, with only a handful of humans who are trying to rebuild the world as they want to.
Click to expand...

A world of demons, but you never see very many even in the demon cities. But I know, Nocturne isn't about heavy RPG elements.

Aeana said:
As for "grinding" in the Amala Labyrinth, if you were grinding, that was something you chose to do. Unless you are using that word to refer to dungeon crawling, which doesn't make much sense. The Amala Labyrinth is designed to hearken back to classic SMT, and it is so, so very successful at that. Simply wonderful.
Click to expand...

Yes, dungeon crawling is mostly interchangeable with grinding to me. I find the strategic combat interesting, but not fighting the same enemies over and over. The real draw of Nocturne to me was the style, the fusion system, the humor and narrative themes, and to a lesser extent the combat. I know you and others may have different opinions on this matter.
 
F

Fimbulvetr

Member
SatelliteOfLove said:
That's the deal: people coming from "Press X to Win" turn-based battles either get it up, or get destroyed by him, cuz the kid gloves are OFF.



Thanks. I'm glad it's in SMT4 in some form or other. Lots of lore-accurate design too!

a8w11Yn.jpg
Click to expand...

And that's one of the more recent Kaneko designs too. *sigh*
 
R

randomkid

Member
Again, this is the game I most want to replay. I am so ready to go through Amala again fresh off SMT1&2, even though I'll probably still stick with third person.

Also, I'm avoiding SMT4's thread like a plague so someone please tell me that its hilarious new title is based on a real quote.
 
Y

Young Magus

Junior Member
randomkid said:
Again, this is the game I most want to replay. I am so ready to go through Amala again fresh off SMT1&2, even though I'll probably still stick with third person.

Also, I'm avoiding SMT4's thread like a plague so someone please tell me that its hilarious new title is based on a real quote.
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A 4chan quote I guess
 
F

Forkball

Member
I'm impressed that you found your way out of the maze-like dungeons to come and post this.

It's a good game, but I felt it was unnecessarily brutal at times. Especially the costly sum to heal up your party. You gotta grind just to heal!
 
S

Sonix90

Neo Member
Nocturne aka Lucifer's Call for me was pretty much the PS2's darker version of Pokemon with gods and demons. I played it last year and if I remember correctly at the end I thought something along the lines of "it was fun, but never again", since I got tired of the maze bullshit and felt that 60h playthrough is around my limits. Sold it soon after finishing and yet... today, after reading this thread I've ordered a new copy.

I want to play it again, and more thoroughly this time, I barely scratched the Labirynth of Amala the last time, actually the last 10 hours was just me pushing towards the ending with a guide, but nevertheless I have fond memories of this game. I wish it got a PSP version like Persona 3 since handheld is a much better place for long turn-based RPGs. Speaking of P3, I'm playing it right now and just can't help thinking how much I've preferred the Nocturne's battle system, with a party of one protagonist and 3 demons of your choice.

My favourite bits of music were the Fierce Battle and Heretic Mansion themes.

Good thing it got a reprint so nowadays it's still easy and cheap to find. I should try the Digital Devil Saga games one day too.
 
Y

Young Magus

Junior Member
Forkball said:
I'm impressed that you found your way out of the maze-like dungeons to come and post this.

It's a good game, but I felt it was unnecessarily brutal at times. Especially the costly sum to heal up your party. You gotta grind just to heal!
Click to expand...

Weird.....healing cost was never a problem for me. I just used a lot of spells to heal out of battle. Also, the game can be too brutal at times, the encounter rate is no joke at times.
 
R

RMI

Banned
I missed out on this game back in the PS2 days and now my PS2 is across the country and maybe not in working condition anymore. I hope this gets a PSN release or some kind of Vita version or something.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
I never really got all that far...I got to the area where you fight in an arena IIRC and you have to decide your allegiance...something to that extent. Although I love the style of the game and the gameplay, I find playing Nocturne incredibly exhausting. It's the relentless nature of the game that pushes me away eventually.
 
S

Shauni

Member
I actually started playing this for the first real time (the first fake time was a 2-day rental). It's great, really sucks you in, got an amazing style and presentation. I was prepared for the hardness, but I wasn't expecting the succession of bosses I've had to fight. That's the only thing that's really wearing me down. I don't even mind the grind as much as I thought I would. I'm on the second optional boss right now after Mantra HQ. Fucker killed my main guy with a death spell twice! Otherwise, I'd have his ass in a bag.
 
B

birdchili

Member
Seda said:
Before you enter the Tower of Kagutsuchi, which is the final dungeon.
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wasn't obvious enough to me that this was some sort of cut-off to finish the labyrinth.

great dungeons, great combat/use of random encounters, great party-building/tweaking (notwithstanding too much retry-randomness in demon-fusion) and great atmosphere.
 
H

Hela

Member
I finished Nocturne for the first time just few weeks ago.
And by finished I mean I got to the last boss, who because I defeated all the fiends was impossible to beat without another 20 hours of grinding which would bore me to death.
Am I alone in that?
 
Y

yarrmateys

Member
Too bad there's something about the DDS PS2 Classics that Ghostlight can't make work. Save import perhaps? Could've paved the way for Nocturne.

Although that route means no HD remaster.
 
F

fertygo

Member
Unfortunately, I never got far in this game.. something always distract me, last case.. my cousin takeover my playthrough so I'm just lost interest. meh.. But DDS compell me more in my experience so far.
 
M

mrpeabody

Member
Gameplay and monster design aside, let's be clear about one thing. The environments in this game are maybe the worst of any PS2 JRPG.
 
S

SweetTeddie

Member
This game took me a forever to finish, but I ended up loving it. Some of the dungeons with teleporting/trap puzzles and the like just made the game drag on. The atmosphere, battle mechanics, music and fusion system kept me coming back though. Amazing game.
 
Bardiche

Bardiche

Member
This game along with DDS and SMT IV are some of the best games in existence.
This masterpiece along with DDS needs to be available on the PSN. The mood and the atmosphere in this game is unmatched.
 
B

Berordn

Member
fertygo said:
Unfortunately, I never got far in this game.. something always distract me, last case.. my cousin takeover my playthrough so I'm just lost interest. meh.. But DDS compell me more in my experience so far.
Click to expand...

DDS is a lot easier to get into and has a more prevalent story where SMT3 throws you into a world to figure things out on your own. As far as party building and tactics go mainline SMT is hard to beat in that aspect, so it really just depends on what your priorities for RPGs are.
 
semiconscious

semiconscious

Member
randomkid said:
Again, this is the game I most want to replay. I am so ready to go through Amala again fresh off SMT1&2, even though I'll probably still stick with third person...
Click to expand...

do it! did it about a year ago, & it was a lotta fun (&, imo, a much better overall experience than smt iv, which i just finished). nocturne has 'aged' very well :) ...
 
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