Paul RobertsJune 03, 2021Maxi Geek Review, Shin Megami Tensei, Atlus, Switch, PS4, PCComment

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster - Review

Paul RobertsJune 03, 2021Maxi Geek Review, Shin Megami Tensei, Atlus, Switch, PS4, PCComment

Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) is a series you might know more for the DS/3DS games, or its also beloved spin-off, Persona. For those who were around in the day, Shin Megami Tensei III was the first game of the series to be released out of Japan onto the PlayStation 2. While waiting for SMTV for the Switch, the third main game has been remastered with a bunch of voice acting added to get us all hyped. In a world where Persona has been very popular, does SMTIII still succeed with its retro ways?

While you’re off investigating some mysteriously empty hospital with your friends, the end of the world happens - abruptly and without fanfare. But the show must go on! Post-apocalypse Tokyo exists in an inverted sphere, as part of ‘the conception’. To add to your woes a creepy little kid turns you into a Demi-fiend, still following me? No? I don’t blame you. The majority of humanity is dead, some existing as souls amongst a world that now belongs to the demons. Even without humans there is drama and struggles, as two demon factions battle to remake the world. There are powerful philosophies called Reasons, held by beings who want to shape what happens next from the conception. Wandering across the new world now known as the Vortex World, you’ll learn more about the Reasons and build up a party of demons to accompany you on your journey to decide the fate of the world and the future left behind.

Like other games within the series and its spin offs, SMTIII has personality and style. Fitting with the early 2000s it also has “attitude”. While Persona games are currently more notable for their memorable stories, SMT3 was doing this a long time ago. With multiple endings with ‘reasons’ and thoughtful philosophies helping you to bring the story to a close.

If you’ve played more recent games like Persona 5, you’ll be very familiar with the turn-based combat system. You’ll also see how far we’ve come, and what SMT3 helped to introduce. To build up your party for combat you’ll need to recruit allies by winning them over, and there are several different ways to do it. You can win them over with might, bribing them with cash and items they ask for, and sometimes they just want to tag along. It’s not a sure thing either, you can give them a heap of cash and valuable items and they’ll change their mind and take off. One of several lessons is that life in the ruins of Tokyo is harsh and demons don’t always play by the rules.

Combat is often a balance of attacking or buffing/debuffing through using your HP or your MP, trying to land a critical hit so you get an extra attack before the enemy gets a shot. Worse is if you whiff the attack and wind up losing precious turns before the enemy gets stuck into you. Having had nearly 20 years of games since SMT3 came out, the combat still holds up. But given how much of the mechanics still exist within the series now, it’s almost like a history lesson for newcomers. Although I don’t miss every fight potentially ending in a sudden wipe out when some average demon gets lucky with a one-hit kill. There’s no autosave, so it’s back to getting in the habit of saving every chance you can get. A suspend feature has been added so you can at least drop out of the game and return to that spot, an ability to save anywhere still would help a lot.

It took me some time to remember just how empty PS2 era RPGs could feel, even when the room has one thing to interact with, I would still check out the whole room just in case there was more than meets the eye. More often than not there wasn’t, dungeons are easy to get a little lost in even with a map. While every room could look the same the map would show me I am in fact in a new area, but it felt like the same layout was duplicated. You have to remember SMT3 is a remaster, not a remake, it’s making an RPG classic available warts and all. Coming back to older games I’m always quickly reminded how frustrating regular random battles can be, especially when you get lost and just want to move on. It’s hard to direct this gripe at SMT3 though, given most RPGs before then and even now are guilty of doing the same thing.

One last holdover of older RPGs is there is no such thing as a quest log to help guide you where you need to go. It’s easy to get lost because you didn’t pick up on one NPCs hint of where to go next. A walkthrough/guide is recommended if you don’t want to get stuck wandering around trying to work out what the game is hinting at.

In the original English release players had Dante of Devil May Cry fame join their game, while the Japanese release had Raidou, a protagonist from the Devil Summoner games. If you start the default game you will have Raidou in your game, but there is free DLC that allows you to also play the version with Dante if you wish.

Another addition to the remaster is the addition of “Merciful Mode”, a difficulty level for those who want to enjoy the story. Most of the time it makes the game a little too easy, although it really takes the edge off the excessive grinding needed. You can also switch between the difficulties if you want to increase or decrease the challenge. I will always applaud games for including different difficulty modes, giving a bigger audience a chance to play this game and see the 50+ hour story through.

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster will help scratch your Shin Megami Tensei itch while the long-awaited SMTV is on the way. I played it on the Switch, an even better way to enjoy this game. These long RPGs benefit from the portability and SMT3 is no exception. While SMT3 shows its age as a game, from the very beginning you’ll discover it still has the story and personality which are completely out there to keep you drawn in.