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IGN Review of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
That kind of success is rather significant. As it's highly unlikely that without the audience that Atlus built with Disgaea, we probably never would have seen the company's latest RPG epic, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne -- much less two MegaTen games released in the same year (Digital Devil Saga, which is a side story of sorts, is due out this November). Had that not happened it truly would have been a shame, because RPG fans and PlayStation 2 owners are much better off with Shin Megami Tensei over here than not.
The Beginning of the End
For the uninitiated, MegaTen (as the franchise is affectionately referred to by fans) is a wildly popular Japanese role-playing series that has seen few offshoots in America. Originally based on the book Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, the series has given birth to an incredible amount of popularity since first rising to prominence in the 8-Bit Nintendo era. Unfortunately for us, that popularity has never seemed to make it beyond a mild curiosity over here -- with spin-offs like the aforementioned Persona getting butchered by censors and occasional watchdog groups when they do make it. But with the proof that quirkier, less traditional games can find PS2 audiences thanks to Disgaea's big success, one of Japan's worst kept secrets may finally be getting its day in the western sun.
Luckily for American players, we're getting one hell of a nice coming out party. Because, much like Square Enix did with its U.S. release of Star Ocean: Director's Cut, Atlus is bringing its own special version of Megaten to our shores as well. Released as Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniacs in Japan, this enhanced interpretation of Tensei III boasts quite a deal more than what was first presented. The most talked about new feature, which is a strange trend in recent PS2 games, is the inclusion of Devil May Cry's demon hero Dante as an extra character. But truthfully that's only scratching the surface of what players can really look forward to: brand new cutscenes, a hard mode that's no longer hidden, bonus optional dungeons, additional power-ups, and an extra ending have all been incorporated into the game as well. Not that an extra ending was really needed in the first place, however, as there were already five of them to begin with -- but hey, who's complaining about a little extra story?
Catastrophic Conception
Speaking of the story, the plotline in Shin Megami Tensei is absolutely bizarre and one of the primary reasons to keep playing the game. Set during an undisclosed modern time period in Tokyo, the adventure begins with a strange dream sequence that informs players that they'll have to take some kind of important role in a forthcoming catastrophic event. Known as "The Conception," this horror is described as an incident that must first require the world to completely die out before it can be reborn again -- and to say that the whole thing is creepy is a bit of an understatement. Out of focus and told from the first person perspective, the dream is highly prophetic, a bit interactive, and relatively imageless except for the visage of a beautiful unknown woman. And sure enough, not too long after awaking from his dream, your user-named character finds himself right in the middle of an acid-induced apocalypse: complete with huge flashes of light, demonic shop owners, strange freaks in supernatural wheelchairs, and a ton of hot chicks with mysterious cloaks covering almost nothing. Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?
Surreal is really more like it. A bit of a cross between Wicked City, Akira, and a William Burroughs novel, this strange collection of dream sequences, mind-bending theological discussions, and occasional dark humor are more Silent Hill than Final Fantasy. Unique to just about every other RPG out there, almost the entire game is made up of characters that are as far away from human as you can get. But in a nice variation on the typical Knights of the Old Republic morality play, your replies to various NPC conversations don't dictate the outcome as much as your general philosophy does. Just as it is in life, there is no simple black and white -- just a million shades of gray.
So while titles like KOTOR offer up good and bad endings based on how your character is played, it's not that simple in Nocturne. Eventually, your alter ego will need to adopt an idealism to help shape his view of the world: and more importantly, how his story ends. Does he support the idea of becoming one with the universe by removing all individual desire? Or should he embrace personal satisfaction completely and fight for a world that's all about getting what he wants? Perhaps he should just battle for an existence that sees only the strong survive and the weak completely eliminated? Or maybe he'll go another direction, one that hasn't been considered yet, and change the world even more differently. Regardless of what kind of game users want to partake in, however, the way that players swing is dictated by an alignment system not unlike the relationship points used in other RPGs for romantic outcomes (re: Final Fantasy VII). It's a big part of the game and one that adds a subtle but important "choose your own adventure" kind of element to the experience, and I like it a lot.
Evil Wears Armani
Shin Megami Tensei's powerful plot devices are further strengthened by a unique presentation that helps to set it apart from the rest. Using the sometimes overused technique known as cel-shading, the game may first come across the way that TRON would have had been a horror film. Gritty and colorful, the anime-inspired visuals are difficult to describe without doing them injustice, but are striking nonetheless. This strong artistic style and interesting background design helps build an appropriately eerie-looking universe, and it unquestionably has the best "Evil Mall" environment that I've seen since Zombies Ate My Neighbors. No really, it is.
Animation fiends will probably be displeased to know, however, that Nocturne's movements are definitely on the stiff side and aren't as fluid as they should be. In fact, the overall camera work is pretty stiff too, with several jarring 'quick turns' and spastic auto-center adjustments that may get some of you a bit queasy. Controlled via the shoulder buttons ala Kingdom Hearts, the camera could have definitely benefited from the use of the analog controller for positioning -- but instead just uses the stick for a faux pas first-person 'look' view that serves as a nearly useless temporary diversion from the standard over the shoulder cam. Musically, however, the game definitely makes up for this, as Shoji Meguro, Kenichi Tsuchiya, and Toshiko Tasaki's hard metal soundtrack kick major ass all over the place. The battle themes in particular, are really good and the latter dungeon themes are both spine chilling and appropriate. Strangely enough, there are a few occasional J-Pop and Lounge music tracks that appear here and there -- but I'll pretend that I never heard them (and I suggest you do too).
Taming the Wild
Of course, the most appealing aspect of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the gameplay. Completely revamped in the generation it's been since the last installment of the series, Nocturne offers a number of changes from its predecessor in terms of mechanics (namely the elimination of the first-person perspective, a lack of human allies, monsters that can now level up, and so on), but the chances that anybody on this continent actually played the last game are so slim, that it's not even worth mentioning. What is worth mentioning, however, is that Shin Megami Tensei's upgrade and party system is strong -- very strong, and provides continual proof that 2004 is one of the best years RPGs in a very long time.
At first, Nocturne may appear to be similar everything else. Like most other Japanese RPGs, MegaTen is completely turn-based and pretty straightforward when it comes to selecting your commands, running away from battle, and performing special attacks. Where the strategy comes in, however, is two fold: using what's called 'press turns' and what your character does besides fight. Press Turns are pretty simple -- every round, you get one attack for every character in your party. But if you perform certain kinds of attacks, you can get extra turns. It's not revolutionary, but it adds some nice tactical fun to the pacing.
Negotiating with enemies, however, is an even bigger deal. But instead of simply bribing a foe and watching him run off like what happens in so many other role-players, Nocturne makes an entire mini-game out of talking with the foes in front of you. Greedy bastards that they are, your demon enemies can actually be persuaded to join your combat party -- or even approach you themselves to become a member. Sometimes the price to get them to join you in minimal: only a few items or so, and sometimes it takes nothing at all (just answer their question correctly, and you're set); but in other instances, it can be a real chore to get these guys to join your cause, with alignments, additional party members, and several other influences all dictating what happens.
As your team of monsters continues to develop and earn experience, they can also eventually change their form and abilities too. One of the earliest such examples of this is your Fairy ally from the first dungeon known as Pixie. Once she's been pumped up to level 8 or 9 or so, she'll evolve into her next form -- a darker form -- and inherit the powers and benefits that go along with it. Almost all of the creatures you can recruit have this ability to evolve too, and it adds an addictive Monster Rancher-like quality to the experience. A little later on, you can even fuse together two different creatures to create an all-new one: and it's by this method how you can attain the most powerful demon helpers. But there is a flaw in this fusion system: because the resulting fused creature is usually imbued with skills that are seemingly random (though they are determined by the pool of abilities taken from its parents) and typically weaker than I would have liked. Luckily, you can choose to cancel and regenerate your experiments an unlimited number of times before selecting the exact one you want, but it can eat up a whole mess of your time and this weighted system can grow extremely tedious.
Nocturne does run into some other tedious moments as well -- like the simplistic combat system that doesn't get much more complicated than waiting your Press Turn, picking an attack, and going with it. There's a hunt of strategy here, but not a lot. Veteran RPG fans will probably not mind this at all, though -- as they're definitely used to it by now. But with new and interesting gameplay mechanics like those found in X-Men Legends, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and Shadow Hearts: Covenant all offering unique battle-oriented experiences, it may feel like a backwards step in this regard. Some of the demons you recruit may seem a little to similar to one another as well, and it can become somewhat of a chore to have to manage which critters you want to keep and drop as your army of baby eaters continues to grow.
Devouring and Exploration
To help keep things interesting, Nocturne also incorporates another combat support tool known as Magatama. Best described as internal power-up armor, Magatama are the mystical embodiments of various entities, demons, elements, and so forth. They're equipped by consuming them, and doing so imbues your character with specific statistical bonuses and penalties unique to that Magatama type. Physical enhancements, resistance to Ice, the ability to use fire, and various other such powers are unlocked using this upgrade -- and they can be found in shops, by defeating enemies, and even in a few surprise locations.
But there are more important things than just the temporary benefit of Magatama, as there are also permanent enhancements. The ultimate in character customizability, the type of Magatama you have equipped when leveling up dictates what kind of abilities and powers your character can earn next. Mixing it up between the 25 different types of consumables is the best way to round out your alter ego and you can switch between your power-ups at any time. But building a powerful character just doesn't happen -- you'll have to be smart when making your warrior and you'll also have to remember that you can't be equipped with everything.
Perhaps the most surprising element of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is how well designed its dungeons are. Labyrinthine in construction, they're extremely linear (as is much of the game), but done so in a fashion that it doesn't really seem like they are. In any given exploration, your character will literally travel the entire length of the environment -- meeting up with various NPCs, demon enemies, and treasure boxes that can be pillaged for future bartering. But once the first few areas have been cleared, the majority of your future destinations take on very distinct puzzle characteristic -- with mirrored environments, floor switching, pattern memorization, and several other factors need to be taken into account. It's very reminiscent of the older 16-bit glory RPG glory days when ever genre entry always seemed to throw such conundrums at you whenever you entered a dungeon -- and in Nocturne's respectful antiquity, it somehow ends up refreshing.
It's just too bad that Nocturne isn't as solid in the overworld as it is in specific dungeons. Shown in a primitive RISK-like manner, the map screen requires players to navigate its face with a stick-like icon that's supposed to represent your character -- which does take away a bit from the otherwise strong presentation. It's also hard to distinguish what points on the map can be accessed and which ones cannot because of the barely-blinking indicator that point out the explorable areas. The whole city is shown in miniature form after all, and trying to locate specific areas you can check out amidst a sea of diminutive buildings isn't exactly easy. But at least the journey is worth it when you get there!
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