Nocturne is such an immersive experience, I always feel a strong sense of isolation and danger at every moment and like I'm really fending for myself in that treacherous ruined world. It has my favorite turn based combat system of all time, which has so many possibilties that it makes every other JRPG I play feel slightly disappointing. With the way buffs work there's rarely ever a need to truly grind, if you bring a good strategy you can win, at least when doing the normal endings. There are countless memorable and epic boss battles with easily the most consistent lineup in the Megatens I've played. Everything about the game from aesthetics to concepts to soundtrack is just so metal and brutal and raw. Even when it's really putting me through my paces or beating me down again and again, I'm never too frustrated for long because another idea occurs to me and something awesome happens again. I first completed it on the remaster on TDE, and it probably goes without saying that this PS2 version has better moodier lighting. This run I skipped the Amala Labyrinth entirely and felt the vanilla content had a much better flow and variety to it, but TDE has some of the best boss fights and extreme difficulty too so it's worth trying it once. I just adore this game :)

played the remaster, reviewing the original, sue me

i originally wrote a lengthy screed here but i really wasnt satisfied with it. anyways, something about this game really clicked with me. the kind of vague storytelling and the way the themes are presented worked a lot for me personally, and theres a lot of subtle moments of humanity (for a game with very few human characters) that are really great.

extra off the cuff points: the magatama system is really fun and give the player a lot of room to experiment, the art style and presentation still holds up great, the soundtracks fantastic (less so on the botched HD remaster which compresses it way too much)... its just a great and unique game

edit: something i forgot to mention which is my favorite part of the game is how it NAILS the tone. its so dour that it straight up feels like a horror game at points

Quite possibly the most important JRPG title to be released by ATLUS, it played a huge part in their identity standing out in the western market which lead to the major successes of SMT:Persona 3 and the following ATLUS games.
It's extremely difficult combat and luck based outcomes make this game unplayable by many, but learning how to make the perfect Demi-Fiend and team is extremely fun to me and I'm not a huge fan of overly difficult games.
The atmosphere, art style, and music is largely unmatched by anything other than it's sequels, it is an artist's paradise to pick through it all. It's small but great story is also fantastic, every ending was a blast to go through even 20 years later.

Amazing game, and a good challenge. I wouldn't call it infamously hard, as I actually had a fairly straightforward time with it once I got the hang of the press turn system (Matador only took 2 tries, and Mot also). The music is superb, which is no surprise considering Meguro was the one behind it. Sadly, I went for the True Demon Ending which brought my to the Lucifer final boss which, try as I might, could not beat. In a similar fashion to my failure with Paper Mario TTYD, I never got Debilitate on any of my demons, and thus could not debuff Lucifer fast enough, spelling death each and every try. But I still consider the game beaten anyway by that point. Getting back on track, this game is really great, and has that old PS2 game feel to it that gives a real sense of nostalgia and of course, fun.

A atmosfera desse jogo é outro nível, sério, o bagulho aqui te leva até uma Tokyo pós-apocalíptica de um jeito inesquecível.

Os random encounters adoidados podem atrapalhar um pouco a experiência, mas vale muito a pena.

Ikebukuro Tunnel é uma das minhas áreas favoritas do jogo, a música lá é 10/10

Although it’s gameplay is archaic by modern standards, I think this has my favourite combat in any rpg ever. Every fight is like a puzzle that the player has to figure out. The reward isn’t just to scrape by, but to build the party and strategy that completely crushes whatever you’re fighting.

It also can’t be ignored that, despite being an incredibly slow burn, the story is very special for it’s minimalist approach by having the player consider various philosophies internally and let their own opinions determine how they feel about the events that occur.