This game was cursed for me for the longest time. It took seven years, across multiple save files, across multiple platforms, to finally sit down and finish a playthrough. I don't know why (I do, for some reason if I take a break from a game for an extended period of time, I always feel compelled to restart) it took me this long, because what is here is an extremely unique experience. You have press turn combat here in it's purest, rawest form, and it's still fantastic. Building your protagonist is alright, I like the Magatama system but it feels very unforgiving, with how you only get once chance to learn each of the skills when you're prompted. If you plan ahead this isn't an issue, but compared to whispering/essences from 4/5, it's just not as good. Building demons here is just fine too, although I found myself getting annoyed with Fiends clogging up the fusion charts. The dungeons here are also the best compared to the JRPGs I've played so far. Granted, I haven't played many dungeon crawlers, but the dungeons in this game are great, especially the Diet Building and Tower of Kagutsuchi. Exploring the Vortex World is a blast, although it can be a bit slow at times. Also fuck Puzzle Boy.

Tied to that is a minimalistic story, which lends itself well to this games lonely atmosphere. The story here is pretty alright, although the characters do end up being a bit on the weaker side. Dante/Raidou's inclusion to the story here is basically seamless, as they only show up for one boss fight, and after they're exclusively in the Labyrinth of Amala. I much prefer this approach compared to the other rerelease characters in Atlus games.

Lastly, it isn't as much of an issue nowadays but this port is atrocious, especially on the Switch. The new lighting here is a huge downgrade, and it honestly ends up looking worse than the original release on the PS2. Even more damning though is the performance, as it also runs worse than on the PS2, at least on the Nintendo Switch. Even looking past the performance, there's basically zero effort to actually update this game to modern standards, asides from Skill Inheritance (which wasn't even in the Japanese release of the game at launch lol). If you can, get this game on sale on PC and install some mods, I'll link some below.

Graphics Configurator

HD Audio

HD Cutscenes

Display Buffs

Minimap over Compass

During the few hours I've played of the PC release, I've had zero issues with these mods. There's some other QoL mods listed there, so it's definitely worth taking a look and seeing if there's more you want to install.

This game is a masterpiece among JRPGs. If you like the genre in any capacity, you should try this game out. If you don't, still give it a shot. SMT3 doesn't fall into many of the more common trappings of JRPGs, and it's a very unique, worthwhile experience.

Jogo bom.
Tive pouco problemas aqui, o negocio mais merda são as dungeons com teleporte, grande parte delas tem isso, fica chato, principalmente lá no final.
Se repete bastante o estilo das dungeons pelo final do game, apesar de legais, uma hora cansa.
OST boa pra porra, vindo do Meguro eu ja esperava ser quente.
E o sistema de combate se pá é o mais legal que tem.

i found this game for like 14 bucks at my work and since it had been recommended to me by a friend a while ago, i decided to pick it up and finally give it a shot. i was then sucked into a rabbit hole that culminated in me getting into the SMT series as a whole and playing this game for 115 hours on my first playthrough. oops

SMT:N is probably one of the best rpgs ive ever played. of course, the story is phenomenal and is a heart wrenching tale of friends turning against each other in the wake of a colossal disaster, and the struggles of those at the bottom of the food chain vs the people who are at the top because they were just born that way. but also, nocturne has probably the most interesting system mechanics out of any rpg ive ever played. in a genre where it feels like a lot of the gameplay is just window dressing for a story, nocturne really hits it out of the park with its magatamas and press turn system, letting you customize your character to be literally anything you want, and letting you play off of your game knowledge to sweep the enemy team if you know what you're doing. the game also looks phenomenal for a 2003 PS2 game. (i did play a portion of the ps2 version to confirm this, but my main playthrough was done on the switch version, which suffered from some pretty bad frame drops at times)

of course, the thing SMT is known for (besides its younger brother, persona) is the demon summoning and negotiation, and nocturne does... an alright job with this. it gets the job done, but it feels somewhat frustrating even if you know what you're doing, and monsters can just deny you because they feel like it. there's also not THAT much interesting dialog to make up for this, and by about halfway through the game i just gave up on negotiations all together and resorted to the compendium and fusion to get all the demons i wanted. SMT3 also suffers from "i'm a 20 year old JRPG" syndrome and doesn't make it super clear where to go sometimes. i found myself wandering around feeling very lost sometimes, especially near the beginning of the game. the game is also famously REALLY fucking brutal. i recall at one point near the beginning, i spent an entire day of playing just grinding to be able to beat Matador, and that shit sucked. i ended up shelling out a couple bucks to get the shitty grinding DLC, which is really dumb, but i was struggling so much and i just wanted to start having fun again. that being said, i do eventually want to do a playthrough of hard mode (without using the DLC areas, of course) and i can respect the game's difficulty. the press turn system does somewhat make up for that as well, since if you know what you're doing you can totally sweep an enemy just by using the right combo of moves. still doesn't make up for puzzle boy though, i spent like 3 hours on that shit and then i gave up and use a guide. i admit it, im weak

one last point before we move to the conclusion, this game's soundtrack fucking owns. if you haven't listened to it, please, i beg you, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing. that shit rocks, my favorite tracks are mystery, ikebukuro, pretty much all the battle themes, the kalpa music, and puzzle boy. such a good blend of aggressive rock with synthesized voices and ominous, droning synths that really just resonates with me

alright, now for the conclusion. nocturne is a phenomenal game that i cannot recommend enough. but is the MSRP of 50 fucking dollars worth seeing the game in widescreen and a larger resolution with full voice acting and a couple other things? iiiii dunno man. i got my copy preowned for a steal, so i would say 15 dollars was no doubt worth it for me, but the full price is kind of a ripoff, especially considering the ps2 version was like 10 bucks on the ps3 as a ps2 classic. phenomenal game with a couple of minor issues, if you plan on getting the HD remaster, wait for it to go on sale or try to find it pre owned at a gamestop or something.

This playthrough was three years in the making. I played off and on for those three years, but mainly in two big chunks, with the first being during the two week period between when I got this game and when I bought SMT IV, and the second being the past few weeks. SMT IV is a game that has extreme personal significance to me, and while I don't think Nocturne will ever mean that much to me, I still absolutely love everything about it. The world, the music, the tone, the atmosphere, the gameplay. It's incredibly well crafted. I hope I get to play through it again, someday.

"ONE MORE GOD REJECTED!" - The Demi-Fiend probably after hitting a critical focus-boosted Freikugel attack.

This brutally difficult behemoth of an RPG somehow manages craft together a brilliant experience I certainly wouldn't reject. As my first proper "real SMT game", I can see why some call it the Dark Souls of JRPGs. The Press-Turn System is one of my favorites to play around with, even despite seeming so simple yet complex. The strategy element this game has really allowed me to better appreciate all the way you can bust demon ass (and vice-versa.). Yes, I assure you, there is indeed a game beyond the Matador boss fight guys. Go for the True Demon ending, you'll get to embrace the full package as well.

It even features Dante from the Devil May Cry series...

El remaster es malo, y ya así que hablaré del juego en si
Es una joya una maravilla, una genialidad del JRPG, su combate es muy bueno, algunas decisiones de juegos posteriores lo mejoran pero en general es buenísimo, usar buffs es demasiado divertido, sus dungeon me parecen un poco hit or miss, hay genialidades como Dieta Building o el Obelisk, y otros malos como el templo amala o... El laberinto, está horrible, hecho para que lo odies, no lo disfrute y se me hizo malo aunque sus boss fights son geniales y los fiends son increíbles, te muestran que el juego no se hará el pendejo y tienen una dificultad GENUINA, menos el trompetista boss fight chistosita, la historia no es para tirar cohetes, no es mala solo que es muy tipo, Demifiend ve aqui ve allá, aunque el endgame fua, increíble, ahi aprecio a los añadidos Maniax aportando mas a las razones y personajes, me gusta que te deja los finales muy ambiguos, menos el final de la libertad, que precioso, pero el TDE es otro pedo, EL final Chaos en que rechazas cualquier razón y en su lugar se te forma a ti como el ser definitivo para acabar con el ciclo, y los jefes finales son mas alla de impresionantes son toda una experiencia, el ost mejora todo a niveles CÓSMICOS jamás se me quitó todo el hype, es una joya de juego, mis únicas quejas son que la dificultad es ligeramente irregular (no me puedes comparar a Grimekhala con no se, los riders que salen unas horas antes) y qur la magia especialmente en el original apesta, al menos en el remaster con pierce esta godsita
En fin, no lo puedo llamar obra maestra pero aún así es una experiencia increíble