SMT Nocturne is probably one of the higher peaks and best example that the old guard/staff of the Shin Megami Tensei series is capable of. Minimalist writing, dark brooding atmosphere, hard unrelenting JRPG combat, great dungeon design, absurd humor, and great replay value. Those coming to this game expecting a typical JRPG should be in for a surprise. How it handles the story and development in the game is probably my favorite part. Its usage of biblical/eastern symbols, mythologies, and cryptic writing is somewhat compelling and unique in its own way. Play this game if you want to punch god and have a mystical, occult experience.

Writing: 4/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Art Design & Visuals: 4/5
Voices & Sounds: 4/5
Atmosphere & Immersion: 4/5

Still the gold standard for a JRPG many years on.

It's often punishingly cruel (looking at you, Matador), but the cruelty always comes with a point — Matador is a tough lesson about (de)buffing and Focus, both of which are necessary skills for the entire rest of the game — and nothing's quite as satisfying as a tough Nocturne fight. There aren't a lot of other RPGs — to this day, even — that require much in the way of thought to random encounters, but Nocturne makes tactics a necessity for nearly all of the game — it does drop off in difficulty late-game but that's true of most every SMT.

The game's characters are still fantastic as well — pretty much everyone save some of the Manikins is enjoyably mercurial at best and deeply cruel at the worst — very much appropriate for one of the best-designed apocalypses from any media. Yuko's failures of ambition, Chiaki's descent into abject cruelty, and Futomimi's arc — all of it is incredible stuff and striking to this day.

Aside from all that it's clear proof that a good sense of aesthetics can prevent a game from feeling dated — the game is stunning to look at despite being over 15 years old. Kazuma Kaneko's work on demon design is fantastic, and the environmental design is stellar across the board — even the caves (a traditional RPG design stumbling point) are well-designed — no small feat. Good stuff all around!

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a tough-as-nails JRPG where strategy and party composition matters way more than raw power or grinding.

The gameplay is quick and satisfying, using the Press Turn system to let you exploit the turn order by hitting the enemies' weaknesses and quickly turn the tides of battle in your favor - the thing is, those same enemies can do the same to you.
That's not to say that the gameplay is the only strong positive about this game. The story, albeit minimalistic, is interesting and deep. The lonely atmosphere that permeates throughout the entire playthrough is immersive, and, for a PS2 game, graphics and aesthetics are at a high - like a true videogame critic would say, "they aged like a fine wine".

However, even incredible games can have negatives. Nocturne has random encounters that, in many dungeons, are way too frequent and annoying. Many of the endings are also very lackluster, which in comparison to the actual really good endings, just end up making the developers look lazy. Lastly, and this is just my own opinion, some of the later dungeons are very masochistic, and I ended up using a guide to traverse through them just to avoid a huge headache.

At the end of the day, Nocturne is still a must-play for anyone who's bored of the typical easy, "just nuke the enemies" JRPGs and want to immerse themselves in a, albeit post-apocalyptic, very beautiful world.