I feel like in order to truly appreciate what this game is going for, you need to be a very specific person. I hate to say it, but I think that specific person is me.

This game can be really esoteric at times. From a plot that fails at being truly meaningful, to ragequitting game design, to the way everything looks and sounds so comically terrible it's astounding how this is considered a remaster. There's so many things that should make this a bad game, and there were so many times where I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits.

But I couldn't. There were so many other things it had going for it that prevented me from walking away.

The atmosphere created by the level design and the soundscape quality of the ambient tracks is one that truly feels lonely and barren. The combat system is addicting, with a sense of fulfillment stemming from you planning a well thought out battle strategy. It makes a very grind-heavy game not feel as tedious as it easily could've been. The game embraces the absurdity of the human condition through its not-always-so-human characters, which isn't fully the point of the narrative but I love it when its sprinkled in in anything I'm experiencing.

SMT III is the kind of game that sucks you in. Once you've taken the bait, you don't really want to leave. It's a game that you can play and have your fill of it, but after a while you start to crave for it again, and then you play some more until you're satisfied, and the cycle starts all over again. You get warped into this hypnotic loop of floating demons and glowing terminals and scorched wastelands that you kinda forget your whole purpose is to help forge a new society.

There's so much more I could say, but I'd be rehashing what I've already touched on. I have grown a strange attachment to this, and I do hope that one day, I will muster the energy to revisit this complex creature of a video game again.

El juego hace muy bien su trabajo de ser un JRPG completamente hijo de puta siendo un juego muy bueno. Me encanta el estilo, los gráficos, la historia y la estética en general, es de lejos lo mejor del juego; el gameplay, pues bueno, está algo viejuno a ratos, tiene muchas cosas que alargan el juego un poco de más, como el concepto en sí de las terminales pequeñas, básicamente cosas que en su época tenían sentido tanto como limitaciones como para alargar el juego, pero hoy en día solo se sienten una molestia. El juego es largo de más, sobre todo si te quieres hacer el 'true ending' porque tiene mucho jefe que te obliga a prácticamente reestructurar tu equipo por completo y quieras que no te quema muchas horas, por no hablar de que yo he jugado en difícil y me arrepiento un montón, porque he acabado con 47h de partida y 87h en steam, casi tanto tiempo repitiendo como jugando. Es un absoluto clásico que lo hace todo demasiado bien para su época, pero hoy en día está un poco viejete para el género, aún así, lo recomiendo, por supuesto, jugándolo en normal.

This is a game that is definitely an acquired taste. It took me quite a bit of persistently coming back to it before I finally got past the "filter" and enjoyed myself once I unlocked the compendium. I did okay past here.

The story has little dialogue compared to most JRPGs I feel, the main story suffices in getting the point across but if you want a bit of a bigger picture you should talk to NPCs a lot (Why are you playing a JRPG and not doing this anyways?). DEFINITELY use a guide if you get stuck in some dungeons though, though your patience level may be better than mine.

I went for the Musubi ending and was very satisfied with the ending I got and I'm already looking forward to my eventual replay so I can do True Demon Ending or something. That means a lot considering I am VERY flippant about watching and playing stuff, so the fact I'm so eager to replay it despite this should speak volumes.

Fantastic game overall, though my personal recommendation? Play whatever difficulty you want, and go for whatever Reason you want for the ending. A lot of the appeal of SMT is seeing where your choices take you ending wise, at least imo. This game sold me more on the MegaTen franchise than any video essay ever has, I see the light now.

After beating this game for the first time, can I recommend it.
HOLY HELL YES.

The Story is amazing. Though so far I only saw one ending (the hardest one to get) which was
...well interesting. (I don't want to spoiler so I keep the name out of it)
On my path of glory I killed major 50 Bosses, a lot of them optional, and 8 Mini-Bosses.

On the story: If you expect something nice and friendly like in Persona, forget it.
This game is dark and gritty to the core. It has 6 possible endings which can be influnenced by
how you answer specific questions in the game. Well at least 5 of them. The 6th one requires you to basically beat every boss and solve an optional dungeon that will test your abilities to the maximum.

Gamplay: I love the press turn system. For people who don't know it. If you or the enemy hit a weakness or land a crit you (or them) get an extra turn. For every missed, Blocked, Absorbed or repelled attack you (or them) loose an additional turn. (on top of the turn you just used) It makes the game certainly harder than most modern JRPG's but is also very rewarding and enganging.
Also to draw the line between Persona and mainline SMT its much more exploration and dungeon crawling
focused. You barely interact with other humans just occasionally souls or demons standing around.
The recruit system might be a little random but I never had major problems recruiting most demons to my party. The fusion system is magnificent but also much more unforgiving and expensive compared to Persona.

Music: A dark rock/industrial soundtrack (with occasionally some lighthearted) creates a fitting atmosphere.
Note: The soundtrack in the game is still heavily compressed but there are mods changing that.
But even in compressed form (I listened to both so I have a reference) the soundtrack still slaps hard.

The demon and level design, while limited, is still interesting.
The atmosphere is constantly dreadful because you need to reach save points and aside from a few rooms and areas its not safe anywhere. Wuick travel between save points is nice.
The game can be pretty grindy (at least without using center of conception and where the demi-fiend was born dlc's) and frustrating for new players. (I recommend using at least a guide for enemy weaknesses)

Note: The time steams shows is not the actual time I beat the game in. I took a little over 50 hours because the game goes on full pause when you alt-tab. And I talked a lot on discord while playing.

Summary: If you like pokemon-esque gameplay with more depth and interesting demon design I would give this a shot. The story keeps one going and makes you want to see it through to the end.
I recommend against the Merciful difficult except you only want to enjoy the story because it makes the game extreme easy. (I played on normal and maybe will replay it on hard at some point)

Verdict: 8.5/10

Well, i used to hate this game. I mean, a lot. This game was such a pain in the ass when i played it on my PS2. But i always thought that i was missing something, there has to be a reason people like this game. Andddddd, yeah HD remaster made me like this game. Producers probably knew this game was hard, so they added 2 new differrent dungeons for grinding. And without dying a lot, i liked this game. This port has some issues though, if you are living outside of USA there is a chance that characters won't show up in the cutscenes. You have to change the region of your pc to some any European country or USA in order to fix this stupid bug. Other than that.... good game.

This was my first genuine SMT game after first playing a majority of Persona series, and I can say that I'm a fan. SMT Nocturne was definitely not what I was expecting, but I ended up really enjoying it. First off the "Press Turn" combat system is very addictive and fun, it feels great to chain together extra turns and absolutely destroy any demon in your path. The combat is most certainly difficult, but I really enjoyed the challenge. The overworld traversal and dungeon design can either be really cool, or really bland; it's kind of a mixed bag sometimes. The story is what surprised me the most, and not necessarily in the best way. Nocturne's story isn't a normal character driven one, it more so uses the characters as catalysts for showing off different ideologies of how some people view the world. Which is super neat, but at the same time the character's motives are kinda questionable and/or non existent. Overall I enjoyed Nocturne, even if it has some weird design decisions. But I kind of figure that adds to it's charm, and now I want to play more Megaten games so I guess it did it's job.

This is one of those games where you must have the proper mindset to enjoy, as pretty much everything about it is arguably an acquired taste. In my case, I did alright through most areas, but I was NOT prepared for some difficulty spikes that came at me without any warning. The story takes a much more indirect method of telling the player what they must know, with relatively minimal dialogue compared to most JRPGs. The additional detail for the plotline is there, you just have to look for it and interact with NPCs in the very few towns there are. Gameplay was unexpectedly fun if you like dungeon crawlers, with sprawling and sometimes labyrinthian environments to systematically explore, complete with puzzles! Combat was manageable and nuanced with taking advantage of elemental weaknesses, and given that this is SMT, there's the necessary demon fusion. Art and OST are rough with this particular remaster. The OST is good but sounds like it is being played from a speaker on the other side of the room, muffled by a blanket. The demons look great with the art style, but you could totally tell this is an old game by looking at the character models. Lastly, THERE ARE ENOURMOUS DIFFICULTY SPIKES IN CERTAIN SPOTS, USE A GUIDE IF THEY PROVE TO BE TOO MUCH!!! I cannot stress this enough, going through a few bosses began to feel like Dark Souls, or RNG was not on my side 90% of the time. Still like this game though.

Shin Megami Tense III: Nocturne, the modern masterpiece that every western fan still sings great praises of to this day. While I think it is slightly too deified, it's not without great reason. The atmosphere is perfect, the gameplay thoroughly fun and engaging unlike past SMT titles, and the art direction is impeccable. I think the story is alright, though it could be brought up to the players face more often rather than having npcs stitch it together. The characters are also pretty underwhelming. If you can stomach a lack of modern QOL, high encounter rate, and fair challenge (on normal at least), Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is one of the greatest rpgs on PS2 and a favorite for many fans.

SMT: Nocturne is one of my absolute favorite gaming experiences of all time, albeit a somewhat draining one that I don't see myself revisiting anytime soon

(DRAFT)
Nocturne in that it doesn't have a whole lot of cutscenes or exposition dumps and instead lets you learn about the world and the lore through tidbits from demon interactions and exploring the map. This works well in Nocturne because it leans into the whole idea of the Vortex World and the Conception being a blank slate of sorts for the creation of a new world and each character going on their own journey to discover their Reasons and trying to survive. It focuses on making each dungeon unique and using the dialogue and story scenes it does have to showcase the progression of the world and cast every so often while not keeping you fully informed. You're drip-fed details through things like the Labyrinth of Amala but always kept somewhat in the dark on purpose: you're also lost and on your own in this mysterious new world and have to make major choices based on what few things you have experienced in the same way each Reason's representative does based on their own limited perspective.