Gamewhether on Nintendo Switch

The main series, Shin Megami Tensei, is hardly a popular hit. It has always been niche, too dark and incomprehensible for a mass audience. Among the eminent jRPGs, “megaten” are a hardcore mansion – if Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or Tales of joyfully run forward, telling the next stories of the struggle between light and evil, then SMT sits on the sidelines and eagerly devours unlucky players who decided to get to know her. The third part, subtitled Nocturne (some might know it as Lucifer’s Call), did not become a cult hit because it turned out to be the last numbered issue for a home console. This is one of the most powerful Atlus games, the quintessence of what you can wholeheartedly love or hate Shin Megami Tensei. In addition, for almost two decades since its release, it has not aged at all. Fortunately, thanks to the remaster, “Nocturne” is now available not only to owners of PS2 and PS3, where the digital version is sold. And I really hope that thanks to the wider choice of platforms (which now includes PCs), the game will be able to find a new audience.

The series has never been able to boast of graphics budgets, but it can surprise with stylish locations

⇡ #Death is just a new beginning

I will hardly be mistaken if I say that not so many people are familiar with the “megatenas” now. The main games of the series and its various offshoots (be sure to try the Devil Survivor tactical dilogy!) Were mainly released either several generations ago, or on Nintendo portable consoles, which were not very popular in Russia before the Switch was released. And Atlus itself has in recent years focused on its most successful sub-series, Persona. Only the lazy one has never heard of her. True, the “persona” departed so far from the philosophy of Shin Megami Tensei that at some point it dropped this phrase from the title as unnecessary. And for a reason.

Starting with the third part, the “personas” more and more tilted towards the social component, a simulator of the life of a schoolchild and dating beautiful girls. Teams of brave guys were revealing rather dark secrets, but on the whole it all fell into the simple and popular for jRPG concept “we are for all good against all bad”. The changes became especially noticeable in the pop, sunny fourth movement, and then finally consolidated in the fifth. Don’t think I like these games, but their straightforwardness left the feeling that something was still missing from them.

The merchant is a very strange guy, albeit friendly

And after returning to Shin Megami Tensei III, it became clear what exactly. The feeling is as if he switched from the fashionable mainstream to the harsh, bloodthirsty arthouse. In the third part, there is no division into light and dark, just as there are no decisions that make everyone feel good. All the characters in the game pursue their own, extremely ambiguous goals in an equally strange setting. The old world has already been destroyed, the creation of a new one is at stake. The order in it will be established by the one who can prove in the struggle that his Motive is stronger. However, is the ideology really that good, according to which the strong take all power for themselves simply because they are strong? How cool is it to sculpt the world purely for the selfish self? Is it acceptable to deprive all the inhabitants of their feelings, otherwise they are supposedly the root of all problems? SMT III constantly asks difficult questions, delays the need to understand the point of view of each candidate and crushes the viscous atmosphere of ruined Tokyo, frozen in uncertainty after the apocalypse. Choosing between evil and even greater evil is not about cute schoolgirls driving on dates after school.

At the same time, Nocturne does not spread for an insane hundred hours with a gigantic number of scenes or intros. The characters are laconic, but each of their phrases is important, each short conversation perfectly reveals the interlocutor. The game generally tells for the most part not about the main character, half-man-half-demon, but about the life of different societies after the end of the world. And the more curious you are, the more you learn – souls, demons and other inhabitants share their views on events. Two-three-four sentences – and you already know how one group relates to another, where to get the necessary information. Or you get a hint on what to do next. Laconicism does not spoil the story in the least, nor does it slip into cryptography. On the contrary, if you need to find someone or get somewhere, then the further action plan is made up of hints. SMT IV in this regard was more confusing and made you often poke your nose in all corners in the hope of finding the right path – the third one was verified almost perfectly.

Matador, the first serious boss, blows up fifths since 2003

⇡ #Subdue them all

Due to the lack of chatter for tens of hours, the third part brings to the fore the fun gameplay. Although this “fun” depends on your attitude towards the dungeon crawler subgenre. Almost every location is a labyrinth with its own conditions. Somewhere you will suddenly fall through the floor to a level lower, somewhere you will be teleported to random places, somewhere you will have to solve puzzles. And the further, the more perverse and more difficult the tests will be. This has long been the hallmark of Shin Megami Tensei – it becomes especially fun when God knows where, resources and mana are running out, and there is still no save point. By the way, they are scattered exactly so as to make you a little nervous, but no more. They will not be allowed to run for several hours without recording progress, nor will they be offered to re-“cut” 50 floors to the boss after Game Over.

The exploration process is assisted by a gorgeous combat unit – one of the most successful elements of the game. What is there, the whole series. I love how “megaten”, unlike many other games in the genre, are forced to constantly adapt to new conditions and carefully think over the composition of the party for each dungeon. I also like that the role of buffs / debuffs is given serious attention – many enemies like to increase any parameters for themselves, and you need to do something about it, otherwise it will hurt.

On the other hand, the combat system is a major stumbling block, especially for beginners who are accustomed to the much more benign conditions of other jRPGs. Many copies have already been broken in the debate about her, especially when it comes to whether it is fair to kill a player with one hit. Perhaps a separate article is needed for this, but in short, it is quite fair. Yes, the game does not forgive mistakes at all, but, firstly, you can do exactly the same with your opponents, and secondly, death can be easily avoided – it is enough to understand what spells are thrown by certain monsters living on the level. If everyone in the team is vulnerable to fire, and the enemies are constantly pouring them on the party, then, of course, everyone will die without having time to do anything. After all, a blow to a weak point is a plus to the opponent’s move. You can get hit on the head eight times in a row, and then go to the forums to cry about the difficulty. Or, you can quickly rebuild your team and avoid this development of events.

Fairies perfectly know how to turn off the main character

Two tools help you adapt to a variety of situations and bosses. The first is to change the strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist with the help of special parasites. This is perhaps the most important, because the death of the protagonist equals the end of the adventure. The second is collecting demons. Unlike the latest Persona editions, where they are facelessly molded to the main characters, in SMT III and many other games in the series you command monsters directly, which makes the creatures feel more alive, and the squad itself turns out to be much more diverse. After all, each of the wards has its own characteristics, vulnerabilities and skills – the latter, moreover, can be transferred if you create a new one from two existing creatures. Convenient if you plan to assemble a really deadly squad. If it seems to you that it looks like Pokemon, then everything is correct – there are enough common features. Only the first “megaten” came out a few years earlier and even then they offered a much more interesting and complex process of hunting for all sorts of mythical creatures, where they need to be persuaded to join you.

As for the quality of the remaster itself, there is no revelation. Atlus pulled up the graphics component to modern resolutions, for some reason added an easy level of complexity and the ability to save anywhere, and at the same time offered an updated localization along with Japanese and English voiceovers. Initially a re-release in Japan, it was rife with technical problems, but by the Western release the company had practically gotten rid of them – although drops in frame rates during especially powerful spells are still observed. The main thing is that SMT III can finally be officially bought on modern platforms (Switch, as usual, wins due to portability), and not to butt with a clumsy software emulator of the second Sonya on PS3 or try to find a disc of the desired region for PS2. 

Just please don’t expect Shin Megami Tensei III to do what Persona is doing right now. At least so as not to be disappointed in anticipation of the next funny anime adventures. These are completely different games for completely different audiences. However, this does not mean that there is no need to approach the “megaten”. They are definitely worth a try, since one of the most powerful and exciting installments in the series has made it to us in an updated version. As mentioned above, everything that you can love SMT for is mixed here in almost ideal proportions. Well, or hate it, if someone is too lazy to understand the features of the combat system. The remaster was probably started as a preparation for SMT V – I hope Atlus will not spoil it with elements from the “persona”. And I would really like the company to remember the Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga dilogy with the same PS2. If it is inferior to “Nocturne”, it is only a tiny bit. 

Advantages: 

• A chic combat system and entertaining dungeon exploration are two main elements of SMT III;
• a dark story with a host of controversial characters.

Disadvantages:

• rare performance issues. 

  Rating: 9,0/10

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