(Original image source: Atlus.)

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne completed!

Or at least I’ve completed one of the endings, the only one that resonated with me. There are six altogether but I very much doubt I’ll try to get the others. The game isn’t especially hard, but it can be incredibly vexing, and the prospect of going through it all over again simply to get an unsatisfying ending leaves me cold.

The game is certainly beatable without guides, hints and tips, but I can understand why the Nocturne guide is such a popular item. Going it on your own, as I did, was an aggravating experience. The second half of this game has some poor level designs with the Red Temple, White Temple and upper half of the final tower being especially horrible. These wretched designs required no skill or thought to complete; the player simply needed to try a few dozen possibilities one after another to find the one correct path that allowed progress.

To be fair, there are a few dungeon levels in the game with clever little logic puzzles that are quite satisfying to complete, but my overwhelming impression is the developers were padding the game with large amounts of random encounters along with design elements which require investments of time instead of skill.

If you’re ever faced with a choice between Nocturne and Persona 3 FES, I would recommend going with the latter every single time. P3F’s mundane high school setting may have less appeal compared to Nocturne’s dark and edgy vibe, but P3F, a newer Atlus game, is a much more refined design.

Clearly, Atlus managed to learn something from Nocturne’s critical weaknesses.
Continued…

Even in the post-apocalyptic Tokyo of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, healthcare is a pressing issue. When your lifestyle requires battling demons on a regular basis, you will quickly feel the need for dependable health services since the cumulative effect of multiple encounters within a short period of time will wear the party down.

The Vortex World’s primary healthcare provider is the Lady of the Fount, an underdressed medical professional with franchises in major cities and dungeons. These visits to recover HP and MP, revive the dead and remove curses require payment. Yes, even in a demon-infested world awaiting imminent rebirth there are enterprising profiteers. What she plans to do with all that money is an unexplained mystery. Clothes, perhaps?

(Original image source: Atlus.)

As far as the player is concerned, money will not be a problem by mid-game and the main healthcare concern is less about cost and more about convenience. With no rest mechanic in the game to allow the party to recuperate between visits to Dr. Half-Nekkid, the party must be self-sufficient to prevent attrition prematurely curtailing excursions into Nocturne’s many labyrinthine dungeons. The unpleasant alternative is backtracking to the Lady of the Fount (fighting demons all the way), healing the party then fighting all the way back towards the original destination only to find you need healing once again.
Continued…

(Original image source: Atlus.)

Like most RPGs, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne can be frustrating in the beginning. The player has yet to learn the nuances of the game mechanics, the player character is initially fragile, and combat encounters are dicey affairs due to the unknown threat level of every strange new foe.

In Nocturne’s case, this is compounded by the way the game handles random encounters. Precious few areas in the game are free of them and the player will rarely be able to take more than a few steps in any direction before being set upon. What might otherwise be a 50-hour gaming experience is dragged out to twice that amount of time because of this. These constant interruptions are merely irritating when trying to get somewhere but are downright aggravating when faced with one of the many puzzles in the game. It’s hard to concentrate on solving a logic puzzle when you’re constantly being harassed by Succubi.

The main problem here is the random mobs in this game are invisible on the main game screen with the only indicator of an impending attack being the glow of the enemy radar. It starts off blue to indicate a safe area, slowly changes colours before finally blinking red to indicate an imminent and entirely unavoidable battle. You may attempt to escape battles once they’ve begun but there’s no way of avoiding them altogether.

(Persona 3, a 2006 design from Atlus, handled this better. Mobs in Tartarus, the main dungeon of the game, are visually represented as shadowy blobs which players could choose to hunt or sneak past.)

While players may come to loathe Nocturne’s approach to encounters, there are some advantages.

From a developer’s standpoint, the benefit is it requires fewer resources. Atlus’s games may have a certain style to them but they are clearly not on the same budgetary level of Square Enix titles. While the latter’s franchises are wont to overwhelm the player’s senses with a Sturm und Drang flash and bombast mode of presentation, Atlus games have had to make do with less. It’s telling that even the newer Persona games represent mobile mobs on the main game screen as mere blobs with minimal animation.

The advantage for players is they have the option of raising or lowering the encounter rates through the use of specific items and skills. Players may want to raise the encounter rate when levelling up the player character and his retinue of demons, and lower it to get to destinations as quickly as possible.

To further reduce the drudgery of these encounters, battles can be automated. However, given that even grunts in this game may possess insta-kill skills, it’s probably best not to go full Auto unless the party is equipped to handle worst case scenarios. There’s nothing quite like losing an entire session’s worth of progress because of an unexpected Expel or Death skill.