|
The Lowdown
Pros: A genuine twist on the RPG formula with excellent art design and a
clever battle system.
Cons: In the middle of the game the story takes a backseat compared to
other RPGs and the difficulty may be too intense for some.
 Purchase at Play-Asia
 Purchase
at Lik-Sang
       |
The name Shin Megami Tensei is probably unfamiliar to most gamers and even
RPG lovers out there, but it's a name that gamers in the US will learn
fast. Atlus has been making Shin Megami Tensei titles since the days of
the Famicom. Although, these games have been deemed too dark and
confusing to leave Japan. Finally, Atlus has given the series a chance
in the US and they haven't picked a better time to do so. With so many
knights in shinning armor and spiky haired heroes dominating the RPG
market Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a refreshing change.Even
before you can input the name for the main character you find out that
the world is coming to an end. A young maiden explains the Conception,
an event that will give rise to a reborn Earth. In the middle of Tokyo,
dressed in normal street clothes, you're in no condition to stop her.
The world ends, but you're sparred with a small side effect. Thanks to a
blonde lad and his gift of Magatama you've changed into a neon
tattooed demon. Being a demon does have it's advantages. One of them
being deciding the fate of the world. The choices you make throughout
the game will determine if you make a quiet world of stillness, a world
where the powerful live or cease it's existence.
While the story is generally cool, it's not as in your face as other
RPGs like Xenosaga. Instead it maintains some distance and leaves
mysteries for the player. Even with all of the plot twists, the story
does seem to disintegrate in between long dungeons. Shin Megami
Tensei goes between a couple of hours of maze walking to get to a few
minutes of actual story. Some diehard RPGers will enjoy this throwback
to the old school, but gamers weaned on plot heavy cinematic RPGs might
get frustrated. One thing that does make Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne so
long are the sheer amount of random battles. It seems like you'll be in
a fight every few steps and if you run away enemies will appear even
faster.
Combat is essential to any RPG and with so much of it in Shin Megami
Tensei: Nocturne Atlus did a good job making it interesting. The in game
system called the "press system" is a essentially turn based, but
incorporates a fair amount of tactics. You start out with four turns,
but you can gain more turns by exploiting the weaknesses of your
enemies. If an enemy is hit with a critical attack or if you utilize
it's weakness you won't use up a turn. With practice you can finish an
entire battle without even getting hit. On the other hand if you're not
paying attention and use the wrong attacks they can cost an additional
turn. At the beginning of the game you can potentially ignore how the
press system works by selecting "fight" all of the time. When you're
near the end of the game understanding and using the press system is the
only way to win. So even though the battle system may sound simplistic
compared to other RPGs, it still has a fair amount of depth to it.
Another interesting addition to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is that
you don't have a static party. All of your party, if any is made up of
demons that you recruit. By using your innate talk command you can
negotiate with a demon to come join your side. Although, these
bargaining with a demon isn't as easy as giving it some macca (the
game's currency) to join. Some demons will settle for a bit of
money and others will ask for items before joining. Yet other demons
will rob you of as many possessions as they can get then not join you.
Even later on in the game demons will ask you philosophical questions,
such as "do you believe that the weak can survive?". If you respond to
them how they would expect then they'll join, if not you still might not
get them on your side. It's a bit complex and time consuming to persuade
every demon your way so the other option is utilizing the Cathedral of
Shadows. This mysterious church allows you to meld two demons in your
party to make a potentially stronger one. This way you can avoid all of
the talking and get straight to having a new demon. Also some demons,
like the Hell Biker, can only be obtained at the Cathedral of Shadows.
So it's to your advantage to try as many combinations as possible.
On top of alternating your party, you can customize your character
through magatama. Each magatama offers bonuses to alter strength,
magic, stamina and luck. Better yet different magatama offer elemental
resistances, which can make battles much easier. As you level up
different magatama grant you different skills. You can learn spells like
hellfire, physical attacks like Javelin Rain and support abilities like
mana refill. Your character does have an eight
skill limit and with over 80 skills in the game you'll have to choose
wisely. The magatama system works so that players can play the game
however they want. If you want to have a magic user all they have to is
choose magic based abilities. Or if you want a physical fighter then you
select skills like HP up and attacks like deathbound.
Shin Megami Tensei has one of the slickest visual styles in an RPG to
date. Kazuma Kaneko, the game's lead artist, has made a robust world
full of enigmatic demons. Each demon looks great and has a personality
all of its own. Even Devil May Cry's Dante is remade with a new sense of
style in the world of SMT: Nocturne. The game is full of great
environments too with unique styles at each different location. The only
area where the in game graphics suffer is the world map. The map is a
huge overworld instead of an engaging world. On top of that the cool
looking main character is replaced with a little person icon. You won't
be spending too much time on the desolate world map, so it's not too
bad.
The music in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is another excellent
feature of the game. There are a bunch of different tracks most of which
have a rock feel to them. Best of all the game actually switches battle
themes for different areas. Other RPG designers take note, that even
though a battle theme is good having a handful of songs keep one battle
theme from being overplayed. The game's soundtrack is really immersive
and keeps with the flow of the game.
Even when you're done with Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne you can go
back and play it again to seek out one of five different endings. The
game also has two different difficulties and a new game plus feature
that registers all demons you had on your side. There are loads of
secrets in the game that will keep a single play through in the 30 hour
range, so you'll be getting plenty of playtime with this game. Something
else to note is that even though the English version of the game is in
English it has heavy Japanese influences. It's one thing that all of the
areas contain the appropriate Japanese names and its another when all of
the demons still retain their native names. To truly get everything out
of the game you will need to have some understanding of Japanese culture
and better yet an idea of Japanese folklore. The US localization isn't
exactly user friendly, but Atlus still has done a job retaining the
cultural references.
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne has been one of the best RPGs to come
out in a long time. It's an amazing game that blends shades of grey with
capable gameplay. At times it seems a bit hardcore in terms of battles
and in it's mixed localization. However, gamers looking for something in
between Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy 1000 should check this title
out.
If you're picking up the US version of the game, it's all in
English. On the other hand if you're picking up the re-release of Shin
Megami Tensei 3: Maniax you'll be in for a real language challenge.
US Bound?
Fortunately
for gamers in North America, they'll be able to try out a Shin Megami
Tensei game for the first time. On top of that, he US version includes
an extra ending, Dante from Devil May Cry and a soundtrack CD. Not a bad
package at all.
Overall
If you even remotely like the RPG genre, pick up Shin Megami Tensei:
Nocturne. It is one of the most innovative and stylish RPGs in the PS2
library.
|
|
