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Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne | 
| From: Atlus
Category: Video Games
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $24.99
as of 9/9/2010 21:52 PDT details
You Save: $5.00 (17%)
New (23) Used (21) Collectible (5) from $23.00
Seller: gchang
Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 1519
Platform: PlayStation2
Genre: Role Playing Games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Number Of Items: 1
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: PlayStation 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.8
MPN: SLUS-20911
UPC: 730865530069
EAN: 0730865530069
ASIN: B00024W1U6
Release Date: September 13, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Advanced 3D battle engine brings old-school turn-based combat to a new level | | • | Unique dark atmosphere and enthralling storyline as you try to navigate the fate of two worlds | | • | Negotiate with your enemies and work out a compromise instead of battling every time -- just like in real life | | • | The game choices you make on other side of the Vortex will determine the fate of both worlds - advance the stories of both in all-new ways |
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Product Description
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a continuation of the popular role-playing series, set in our modern world. It's an average day, as a typical Japanese high school student goes to the hospital, for a visit with his sick teacher. While on the train, he gets a mysterious vision that the Apocalypse is coming. Arriving at the hospital, the boy is sucked into a Vortex Field, into a dark mirror-image of his world. When he learns our world is ending to make room for this new one, he'll do what he can to get back home and (hopefully) stop the Apocalypse.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
 A great character collectio RPG November 4, 2004
flyingaho (Brookline, MA United States)
56 out of 60 found this review helpful
Nocturne is one of the most interesting (both plot and gameplay-wise) RPGs I have ever played. Having borrowed a successful monster collecting formula from Pokemon, and a plot line out of a horror movie, this game definitely monopolized my attention over some other recent RPGs.
Nocturne introduces the players into a strange post-apocalypse world where the hero becomes a demon after the rest of the world is destroyed. There are no princesses to save here, nor are you some do-gooder so typical of other RPGs. Basically you are trying to survive in a world full of demons, and you get to choose your own destiny. Most of the choices are pretty dark though.
Gameplay-wise Nocturne is a lot like Pokemon, but taken to the next level. The hero starts off alone and must recruit other demons as allies. The hero's party can either talk/bribe/kidnap demons to join, or to use a system called "fusion" which allows the player to fuse two or three demons together so to create a brand new demon. There are around 180 demons total in this game, seperated into multiple classes and levels. There are also around 100 (very rough guess) different attacks/skills here shared by these demons. When you fuse demons, you can randomly combine different skills of the parent demons. Of course, the gimmick here is that you can only keep up to 8 demons, and for each demon you can keep only 8 different attacks/spells.
Understanding of different attacks and spells make up bulk of the strategy here. Attacks are divided into phyical, fire/ice/lighting/wind elemental, curse/mind, and light/dark magical types. In addition you have stat buffing/debuffing spells. Since most of the enemies you fight against will have certain weaknesses, finding a weakness will not only allow the player to do more damage, but it will also allows the player to attack an extra turn. This mechanism means that even if the player's demons are leveled up high, the player can still easily lose to low level demons if the demon lineups are wrong. Having said this, it's very difficult to beat this game without dying many times, since you wouldn't know what to expect from most demons/bosses the first time.
Graphic-wise this game is Cell-shaded (reminds me of the game Breath of Fire V dragon quarters), and very stylish in terms of character designs. The overhead world is a bit blend though. Unlikely Final Fantasy you wont see 2 mintue summons or outlandish spells when you fight enemies and the attacks are mostly unspectular. Nothing too good or bad in this department.
The music for this game is very good if you can stand heavy metal/industrial. I actually like most of the pieces alot. The sound is fairly crisp. When you destroy some enemies they will moan, while others just simply disappear. Nothing too impressive here either.
My biggest complaint about this game is the naming convention used in this game. The monsters' names are mostly confusing and there are no numbers IDs assigned to each monster. This makes fusing a bit confusing/difficult for beginners. It's not too bad though if you get used to it.
Last but not the least, this game is definitely not for kids. The demons in this game do not only swear and use the F-word on a regular basis, this game also has many occult references which will certainly offend most religious fanatics. The Demons include Christian Biblical figures, far east deities, and various mythological creatures. This game's story line features alot of philosophical mumbo jumbo which will be difficult to understand to some, and possibly to be considered satanic to those who do understand.
This game will take a while to finish. Probably 50-60 hours the first time through, and alot more if you are planning to collect all of the demons in the game. Overall I recommend this to any RPG fan who are not too religious or easily offended.
Not Your Run of the Mill RPG February 18, 2005
Marc Ruby™ (Warren, MI USA)
36 out of 40 found this review helpful
This turned out to be an interesting game in a genre that can quickly become a slaughterfest. You and two friends visit hteir teacher in the hospital, and, just as you all arrive, the world (or at least Tokyo) comes to an end. In a peculiar version of the rapture, everyone dies and finds themselves in limbo. Now the various forces at play, demon, ex-human, angel, etc,, start a struggle for the power to create a new world. And right in the middle of all this is you, converted to a semi-demon, and a pawn in what could very easily be the last conflict.
You wander about a post-apocalyptic Tokyo making pacts with demons, enticing those you meet to help you, and tracking down your friends. Needless to say you do a huge amount of fighting as well. The battle system is complex because as the game progresses you gain the power to create demons of your own out of those you meet and miscellaneous accessories you can buy. Then you can develop those you like with their own special talents and spells. And you, you lucky person, get to add skills and powers by eating magatama, which bear an uncomfortable resemblance to bugs. Since the demons you meet also have a range of powers, fighting never quite becomes routine.
This is a very large game with a long story line. As you play, you will find that your friends are marching to their own drummers, and that they to are trying to win the power to create a new world. You can make major decisions about how you want to ally yourself that will effect the entore progress of the game. The bosses you fight are an imaginative selection of gods and legendary figures, many Japanese, but many others are from quite close to home. This game has a whole cosmology behind its story line.
Despite being no more violent than most RPGs and considerably less sex oriented than many, Nocturne is a very dark story. It's whether the good guys win or not, but that there really aren't any good guys. And you start out on the wrong side of the divine ledger, and pretty much stay there. The real question is how much you want to be in command of your own fate, and this is the first game I know of that addresses that as a story consideration.
Another good feature of the game is the large number of puzzles and mazes that make dungeon progress much less boring than a pure hack and slash approach. Most of the design inventiveness and eye candy awards goes into the huge number of monsters and bosses. Scenery is adequate, but not breathtaking. Animation is smooth and player control is quite natural. And just when you think you've seen everything up comes Dante from Devil May Cry. Wheee!
Demons and Jack Frosts and Dante, oh my! October 7, 2005
Joseph Rodriguez (Iowa City, IA United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'd like to start off by saying that Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is not for everyone. If you have problems with dark themes or shriek at the concept of anything remotely "demonic," you'll probably not want to play this.
Also, if you are looking for a "traditional" RPG - one with a band of likable characters going through a heroic adventure to save the world - you may find yourself disappointed in Nocturne. Characterization is small to nonexistent, and most of the time your mute hero is merely accompanied by hordes of beautifully designed but essentially characterless demons. And the story is not that of a traditional RPG either - rather than working to save the world, this game begins with it being destroyed.
You play one of the few humans left alive in this post-apocalyptic world - and indeed, no longer human, but now part-demon (and with a nifty neck spike and a set of full-body tattoos to prove it!). You make your way through this world to discover what it's like now, fighting demons and occasionally recruiting them to your side, and eventually you will choose a Reason that will remake the world in the way you want to see it remade.
Visually, the game is stunning. Kazuma Kaneko's character and demon designs are embodied beautifully in a stylish cel-shaded style. Aurally the game is not quite as outstanding, but the music is still generally quite good.
As for gameplay...Nocturne is more difficult than a lot of modern RPGs. The dungeons are long (often VERY long), the enemies are often quite tough compared to your characters, and the battle system, while easy to abuse, is also unforgiving if you make the wrong move.
(Also, for fans of Capcom's Devil May Cry series, Dante - the main character of that series - appears in Nocturne as well, and can even be recruited to join your party.)
All in all, if you're looking for an unusual and challenging RPG experience (much like the Persona games, which are a related series), you may want to give this one a try.
One of the best RPGs on the ps2 September 25, 2005
Helel
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Right up there with the classic Shadow Hearts covenant, this game is pure class from start to 150+ hour finish. It's adult and totally different to the usually childish rpgs that come out so often.
You play the main character who wakes up on a train and in a hospital is witness to the end of the world. Only one idea can shape the new world and many will try for this power. You are the favoured champion of the fallen angel Lucifer who wishes you to lead all the creatures of darkness against God and free the Universe from pre-destination and Karma.
Beautiful and unique graphics
Excellent music and memorable fights - i.e the 4 horsemen
A HUGE number of characters to meet and recruit from hindu gods to sexual succubi to angels of heaven
A very satisfying ending/s, there are many endings.
Truly superb and very interesting.
One of the best RPGs ever... June 12, 2005
P R Girl
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Graphics/Music: The graphics (both for characters and map textures) are extremely unique for an RPG or otherwise. Very dark, and very moody with lots of twisted (in some cases literally)enviroments. The same goes for the music which is a great mix of heavy rock and techno. All in all it matches the game very well.
Story: The story is one of the best parts of the game. Rather then set you off on yet another quest to save the world, you are treated to the destruction of it within the first 10 min! You are left with this question, "If you had to create a world without judgement, without the concepts of good/evil or right/wrong, what would you create?" A unique concept which pans out extremely well through the course of the game.
Gameplay: The gameplay is complex to explain as it involves a unique turnbased system which relies on weaknesses/critical hits/guards/dodges and a Pokemon style partner system. To sum it up, your stength in battle relies solely in your strategy; a level 30 character can easily be wiped out by a level 10 enemy or two if you've got the wrong weaknesses. An average gameplayer who finds Final Fantasy difficult would be crushed by their first or second boss in this game. The second 'Pokemon' style system is less complicated but just as fun as you can recruit a huge list of detailed and cool looking demons. Every single enemy and boss (except for the last ones) can be recruited or created to your team. Enemies join in a number of ways including being talked to, bribed, weakened, scared, or by fusing your demons together to make new ones.
Extra Info:
5 Endings
Dante from Devil May Cry is a playable character
Hard/Normal difficulty settings
New Game+ Mode
Overall, this is an incredible game that should not be missed by any RPG fan.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
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