Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.3 Update + All DLCs

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. It was published by Atlus in Japan and North America and by Ghostlight in Europe. It is the third numbered entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series in the Megami Tensei franchise. Multiple versions of the game have been published: the original version was published in Japan by Atlus in 2003, while a director’s cut was released in 2004 in Japan. The director’s cut was localized and released in North America in 2004 as Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and in PAL regions in 2005 as Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call. A high-definition remaster was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan in 2020, and was internationally released in 2021 on those consoles and Windows.

GAMEPLAY

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is set in a post-apocalyptic version of modern-day Tokyo: aside from the opening segment, post-apocalyptic Tokyo, also known as the Vortex World, is the main setting. From the outset, the player can select two difficulty settings: Normal and Hard. The player controls a silent protagonist who is given a name during the opening. The player navigates the Vortex World through both a 2D world map and to-scale 3D environments used in dungeons. While navigating the world map, the Protagonist’s party and other non-player characters (NPCs), interactive objects, and landmarks are represented by symbols: these objects and NPCs include containers holding items, spirits that will heal the party, and a globe in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen showing the party’s approximate location on the world map. During dungeon navigation, the Protagonist navigates grid-based, multi-leveled areas. Different areas are accessed via doors, and as the Protagonist progresses the area is automatically mapped. While exploring dungeons, the in-game camera can be freely rotated, and a “Look” action allows the player to see environments in first-person.

The game world can be navigated either on foot or by using a fast travel system unlocked at a certain point in the game. Multiple important locations are located within the world: these include Terminals that give access to a fast travel system; the Junk Shop, which acts as a vendor for buying and selling items; Rag’s Jewelry, where gems collected during gameplay can be traded for rare items and unique demons; and the Fountain of Life, where the Protagonist and other party members can receive treatment for ailments, heal them of damage, or revive characters knocked out in battle. An optional location separate from the Vortex World is the Amala Labyrinth, accessed after the Protagonist has reached a certain point in the story. The Labyrinth is a dungeon divided into multiple floors or Kalpa, each housing both demon enemies and brokers who sell demons to the Protagonist. Each Kalpa is connected by a Warp Zone, in which the Protagonist can collect currency and items while avoiding or destroying obstacles. Proceeding through the levels of the Labyrinth requires the protagonist to find and fight Fiends carrying Candelabra, which unlock barriers. The Candelabra also acts as a means of locating and either engaging or avoiding Fiends.

BATTLE SYSTEM

During navigation, an indicator in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen indicates the presence of enemies and the likelihood of a battle being triggered. An indicator in the top left-hand corner also shows the current “phase” of Kagutsuchi, a moon-like object hovering in the sky of the Vortex World which shifts its phase as the Protagonist explores. Standard battles are initiated through random encounters, which trigger a transition into a dedicated battle arena. The player party is composed of the Protagonist and three demons: only eight demons can be carried by the Protagonist at the game’s opening, but more can be added as the game progresses. At the end of battles, the party gains experience points and Macca, the in-game currency. Party members will level up when enough experience points have been gathered. Upon leveling up, the statistics of allied demons are randomly raised, while the Protagonist’s stats can be customized by the player. The Protagonist’s abilities and resistances are also influenced by equipping one of 24 different Magatama found in-game. The Protagonist can learn new skills from equipped Magatama when he levels up and is also granted passive buffs and debuffs which take effect in battle. Magatama will sometimes act violently within the Protagonist, creating different effects depending on the Magatama equipped. Battles are governed by a turn-based mechanic called the “Press Turn” system.

Each character participating in combat, friend, and foe alike, provides one or more Press Turns represented in the upper right-hand corner of the screen as icons. The rule behind this system is that any action (attacking, using skills, items, contacting demons, summoning commands) will normally cost one full turn. If a combatant scores a critical hit, exploits their opponent’s weakness or passes on making an action, they gain an additional turn marked by a pulsating icon. These added turns allow characters to perform all actions available within normal turns. If the player chooses to pass on an additional turn, that turn is lost. If an attack fails through missing or blocking, then multiple turns are lost: how many depends on how many combatants avoided or blocked it. If an attack heals an enemy, all remaining turns are lost. An auto-attack option is available, where party members can use standard physical attacks or repeat their actions from the previous turn. Characters can escape from normal battles, with failure forfeiting a player’s turn. If the main character loses all health, the game ends, regardless of the status of his demons.

DEMON NEGOTIATION AND FUSION

A key element related to battles is demon negotiation, the process by which new demons are invited to join the Protagonist and fight alongside them. The majority of demons can be talked to in battle by the Protagonist, and some allied demons. After selecting the option to talk, the player selects a demon, which initiates a negotiation. For those demons who can talk, the responses vary by both situation and a demon’s temperament: some demons can be bribed with Macca and items, some will ask questions related to subjects like philosophy, while others can be influenced by the Protagonist’s skills of flattery or eloquence. A negotiation can fail if the wrong responses are chosen, if the Protagonist’s demon roster is full, or if another enemy demon interrupts. When in the party, demons can be summoned or dismissed from battle. The level of assigned Magatama can also affect how the negotiation goes.

In addition to recruiting in battle, new demons are acquired through fusion at a location called the Cathedral of Shadows. Normally only two demons can be fused at once, but under certain conditions, more demons can be fused. Fusions can produce a variety of results based on various circumstances, such as the current phase of Kagutsuchi and the addition of items called Deathstones. When in the Cathedral of Shadows, the Protagonist can select two demons, view a preview of the resultant demon, and then initiate a fusion. The resultant demon will both possess its skills and inherit skills from both parents: skill inheritance is randomized. Higher-level demons produce more powerful fusions. Demons gained through negotiation or fusion are automatically stored in the Demon Compendium, a record kept within the Cathedral of Shadows. The Protagonist can also pay to summon a demon from the Compendium, returning it to his ranks.

SETTING AND CHARACTERS

The setting and events of Nocturne take place in a separate continuity from the rest of the Megami Tensei series. Nocturne is set in modern-day Tokyo before and after an event called the Conception, in which the normal world is destroyed through the actions of a cult to prevent the world’s stagnation and ultimate demise, as dictated by the Great Will governing existence. Tokyo is transformed into a wasteland on the inside of a sphere inhabited by the spirits of humans who died in the Conception; demons who wage war with each other; and Reasons, deity-like beings formed from the gathering of Magatsuhi energy by people with a deity or demon sponsor. Those who possess Reasons seek to remake the world in their image by presenting themselves to Kagutsuchi, a semi-sentient manifestation of the Great Will’s power which exists to perpetuate the destruction and rebirth of worlds through Conception, and proving their worth. Another realm mentioned in the story is the Shadow Vortex, a limbo where dead worlds and the beings who created them linger.

The nameless main Protagonist is the player character: generally dubbed the Demi-fiend, he is an “everyday man” who represents the player. Several other characters survive the opening events of the game alongside him, many of them representing the various routes the player can choose to take. They are Yuko Takao, his teacher and a key figure in future events; his classmates Chiaki Hayasaka and Isamu Nitta; and Hikawa, leader of the Cult of Gaea and later the Assembly of Nihilo. Other characters include Jyoji Hijiri, a journalist the Protagonist meets with before the Conception; and Futomimi, a powerful Manikin seeking to create his Reason. All the game’s events are watched over by Lucifer, ruler of the demons and the Great Will’s sworn enemy, who takes on multiple forms during the story. Two characters from other games are included in later versions. These are demon hunter Dante from the Devil May Cry franchise; and Raidou Kuzunoha, a lead character from the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner subseries.

PLOT

The game begins with the Protagonist arriving in Tokyo to meet up with Chiaki and Isamu to visit Takao in a hospital. While in the city, the player learns of a confrontation between two cults which resulted in several deaths, and learns details of it from Hijiri when he meets them in the park where the event took place. Finding the hospital deserted apart from Chiaki and Isamu, the Protagonist searches it, is briefly accosted by Lucifer in his child form, and is almost killed by Hikawa. Saved from Hikawa by Takao, the Protagonist is taken by her to the hospital roof and witnesses the Conception, with Takao saying the resulting Vortex World will remain until the next creation is triggered.

In the immediate aftermath, Lucifer contacts the Protagonist again and infuses him with a Magatama, wishing to see whether he can lead his armies against the Great Will. This turns the Protagonist into a Demi-fiend, a being with the powers of a demon and the heart of a human. After escaping from the hospital, the Demi-fiend begins exploring the Vortex World with help from Hijiri. He learns of two cults who seek to remake the world in their image: Hikawa’s Assembly of Nihilo, and a separate organization called the Mantra Army. Hikawa manages to destroy the Mantra Army, with Takao acting as his assistant.

The Demi-fiend goes in search of his friends and faces these groups. Both Chiaki and Isamu are distraught by the Vortex World and decide to move on their own rather than relying on their friend’s power, while Takao realizes she is being used by Hikawa and decides to go on her quest to create her desired world. To do this, she allies with Aradia, a former deity from the Shadow Vortex. After this point, all the supporting characters seek to ally with a powerful entity from the Shadow Vortex and create their Reason, a powerful inner philosophy of life that can be used to mold the new world. To do this, a large quantity of energy called Magatsuhi is needed, which each character begins hoarding.

Hikawa’s Shijima Reason wants a world of stillness and conformity in the service of a peaceful world; Chiaki’s Yosuga Reason seeks a world where the strong rule supreme and destroy the weak; and Isamu’s Musubi Reason wishes for a world where everyone is an individual who can live without reliance on others. Others also attempt to form a Reason, including Futomimi, who wishes to free the world’s Manikins from their servitude, and Takao, who wants a world where people value life and have freedom. Both die before they can realize their wishes, and Takao gives the Demi-fiend an artifact that will enable him to remake the world. Hijiri, revealed to be a manikin doomed to be reborn and suffer repeatedly for an unspecified “sin” against the Great Will, also attempts to gather enough Magatsuhi to remake the world but is thwarted and sacrificed by Isamu to create his Reason. Additionally, the Demi-fiend can fulfill a request from Lucifer to collect eight Candelabra from Fiends.