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LTTP: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Z

Zekes!

Member
Almost 10 years late, sheesh. SMT: Nocturne is game I've always been meaning to play, from the moment of it's release. But one thing lead to another, I ended up putting it off for years and years. So with the announcement of SMT4, I decided I needed to go back and play this game, especially since I've come to experience various other games in the Megaten franchise over the last 10 years.

I think my first Megaten game was the original SMT on Super Famicom, though maybe my real interest in the series started, like many people, with Persona 3. From there I've gone to experience many other Megaten games, but Nocturne has always eluded me. Playing it now, I have to admit I'm glad I'm experienced with other Megaten games, making most of the game quite familiar to me, instead of going in it cluelessly back when it was released.

My initial impressions were that aesthetically, this game has held up extremely well, largely due to the stylized cel-shaded graphics, not to mention the excellent music. The game still oozes atmosphere. I found myself drawn in to the creepiness of it's world when outside it was the middle of bright, sunny day.

When I finally got to battling, it felt like returning to an old friend, everything falling in to place right away. I started getting antsy, wanting to start fusing demons immediately. The various battle music is great; and the snappiness of battles is still appreciated.

I'm not too far in the game so far; I'm just about to go to Ginza, but from the get go I've been super impressed by this game. I've never heard anything but constant praise for this game, and just with the tiny bit I've experienced so far, it's not hard to understand why.

Digital Devil Saga is something I still need to play as well, though I'm not quite sure if I have it in me in this day and age to play through both games. How long would both of them be?
 
S

Souther

Banned
Go for that "True Demon" ending.

Also...DDS games have an amazing soundtrack...But then again the majority of the SMT games do. I should really get back into playing DDS1 again.
 
C

CSX

Member
Souther said:
Go for that "True Demon" ending.

Also...DDS games have an amazing soundtrack...But then again the majority of the SMT games do. I should really get back into playing DDS1 again.
Click to expand...

Dont know about that. Going through DDS1 right now and not feeling the music so far (just made it to lv 20).

However, i youtubed DDS2's battle theme and by the gods, its glorious

Anyways OP, tell us when you battle matador ;)
 
7

7threst

Member
I just started a new playthrough as well and am already hooked. Again. Such a great game and one of my favourite RPG's of all time.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
Frost_Ace said:
Both the DDS games are 25-30 hours long methinks.

Have you battled the matador yet?
Click to expand...

That's shorter than I expected, so maybe I will go ahead and pic those up.

The Matador is something I always hear about, so I'll make sure I'm on the top of my game
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Zekes! said:
That's shorter than I expected, so maybe I will go ahead and pic those up.

The Matador is something I always hear about, so I'll make sure I'm on the top of my game
Click to expand...


I wish we had a 'Welcome to Nocturne' macro ready for when people meet The Matador.
 
M

Manmademan

Member
Zekes! said:
I'm hoping I don't get butt fucked; I just spent a decent amount of time recruiting and fusing demons.
Click to expand...

you'll be fine as long as you remember that matador constantly uses a heavy wind based attack.

you can find a magatama that nulls out wind for sale in the tunnels, and theres a few demons (nozuchi is one, i think and it can be recruited RIGHT before you hit him) that you should have that absorb or are immune to wind before you run into that fight.

if anyone on your team absorbs an attack he wastes all of his turns, so wind absorb is invaluable.
 
7

7threst

Member
Zekes! said:
I'm hoping I don't get butt fucked; I just spent a decent amount of time recruiting and fusing demons.
Click to expand...

Just remember, that matador is all about
Force attacks, so it's something you can aesily prepare for
. Also, there is a big terminal pretty close nearby so no big deal of you lose. It's not that you lose enormous amounts of progress.
 
P

Pupsicles

Member
I'm playing this game again too! I love how free form this game is in shaping your character and demons. The music is superb, I'm determined to beat this before P4G comes out.
 
A

Aeana

Member
The only reason Matador is considered hard is because people go into it not having taken advantage of fusion and covering/exploiting weaknesses up to that point. If you're already doing well in the game, you'll pass it fine. It's really overblown in my mind, but I know lots of people weren't familiar with the mechanics when they first got there, so they were forced to do so.
 
7

7threst

Member
Aeana said:
The only reason Matador is considered hard is because people go into it not having taken advantage of fusion and covering/exploiting weaknesses up to that point. If you're already doing well in the game, you'll pass it fine. It's really overblown in my mind, but I know lots of people weren't familiar with the mechanics when they first got there, so they were forced to do so.
Click to expand...

True, but I think that's alo the reason Matador is the enemy that he is: to really stress the importance of fusion and exploiting weaknesses.
 
A

Aeana

Member
7threst said:
True, but I think that's alo the reason Matador is the enemy that he is: to really stress the importance of fusion and exploiting weaknesses.
Click to expand...
I don't know if that's what they were thinking or not, since he wasn't in the original version of the game at all.
 
7

7threst

Member
Aeana said:
I don't know if that's what they were thinking or not, since he wasn't in the original version of the game at all.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that's right of course.. nevermind what I said then :)
It's just that I only played the Maniax edition and it just seems a fitting enemy at the time that you encounter him in the game. But eventually, Matador or not, you just have to learn to take advantage of the mechanics like exploiting weaknesses otherwise you won't last very long.
 
M

Manmademan

Member
7threst said:
Oh yeah, that's right of course.. nevermind what I said then :)
It's just that I only played the Maniax edition and it just seems a fitting enemy at the time that you encounter him in the game. But eventually, Matador or not, you just have to learn to take advantage of the mechanics like exploiting weaknesses otherwise you won't last very long.
Click to expand...

let's be honest- most JRPGs are a cakewalk. it's a miracle if i see the "game over" screen in any FF that isn't XIII.

That particular boss is kind of going against the grain. He requires preparation and strategy to pass, and more or less comes out of nowhere. If you skipped tutorials or didn't pay attention to fusing, affinities and buffs and are hoping to mash X and get enough lucky shots in to win it's not going to work. even grinding for levels is really only going to get you put down that much faster.

as far as the genre goes he's highly unusual, especially for that early in the game.

If that's all the Matador is about then I'm not too worried.
Click to expand...

oh, we gave you some tips but its still fairly likely he'll kill you once or twice. he's not even the hardest of those particular bosses- some of them are just nonsense
 
7

7threst

Member
Manmademan said:
let's be honest- most JRPGs are a cakewalk. it's a miracle if i see the "game over" screen in any FF that isn't XIII.

That particular boss is kind of going against the grain. He requires preparation and strategy to pass, and more or less comes out of nowhere. If you skipped tutorials or didn't pay attention to fusing, affinities and buffs and are hoping to mash X and get enough lucky shots in to win it's not going to work. even grinding for levels is really only going to get you put down that much faster.

as far as the genre goes he's highly unusual, especially for that early in the game.



oh, we gave you some tips but its still fairly likely he'll kill you once or twice. he's not even the hardest of those particular bosses- some of them are just nonsense
Click to expand...

True, but I must admit, I am always, ALWAYS overlevelling and grinding in JRPG's. For example, when I play a Dragon Quest game, I'm not moving on when I have not bought all the equipment in a new town I come across. If I have to grind to get enough gold for that, I will.
Nocturne is a little bit different, that when enemies exploit your weakness and take away your turn icons it's still possible for you to lose a fight, no matter how strong you are. That is of course easily fixed when you take advantage of the fusion and exploiting weaknesses. But, if you never played a Megaten game I can really understand that it takes a while to get used to it, to have the system work for you.
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Just started a playthough of my own recently. Nocturne is one of those games where I got decently far my first time playing it, but ended up shelving it and never got back around to it.

In the Ikebukuro Tunnels right now. I have a pretty physical heavy team and yah... Forgot about the Oni in there that has like 90% physical resistance. Took like 20 mins to beat him with basic level spells. If it wasn't for my
Matador
knowing Dekunda I probably would have been completely fucked.
 
H

hampig

Member
CSX said:
Dont know about that. Going through DDS1 right now and not feeling the music so far (just made it to lv 20).

However, i youtubed DDS2's battle theme and by the gods, its glorious

Anyways OP, tell us when you battle matador ;)
Click to expand...

I'm around the same area and I seriously am loving the soundtrack. Does a good job setting the right atmosphere for the game.
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Question for the people who've played it before, just to clarify:

I can fight the White Rider and crew at any time in the game, but they won't appear until after I've completed the second Kalpa correct? Is there a point in the game where I *wont* be able to face them if I dont feel like going into the second Kalpa quite yet?

Just making sure, since I'm about to get to where I'd be triggering the White Rider *if* I had completed the second Kalpa already.
 
Danny Dudekisser

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Zerokku said:
Question for the people who've played it before, just to clarify:

I can fight the White Rider and crew at any time in the game, but they won't appear until after I've completed the second Kalpa correct? Is there a point in the game where I *wont* be able to face them if I dont feel like going into the second Kalpa quite yet?

Just making sure, since I'm about to get to where I'd be triggering the White Rider *if* I had completed the second Kalpa already.
Click to expand...

I didn't bother with the Labyrinth of Amala until like... the very end of the game. Said I wasn't gonna do it at all, but then, I realized it's awesome. So I don't think you should have a problem.
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Chacranajxy said:
I didn't bother with the Labyrinth of Amala until like... the very end of the game. Said I wasn't gonna do it at all, but then, I realized it's awesome. So I don't think you should have a problem.
Click to expand...

Okay because I want to go for
The True-Demon ending
And want to make sure I don't lock myself out of it somehow.
 
F

Finalow

Member
Aeana said:
The only reason Matador is considered hard is because people go into it not having taken advantage of fusion and covering/exploiting weaknesses up to that point. If you're already doing well in the game, you'll pass it fine. It's really overblown in my mind, but I know lots of people weren't familiar with the mechanics when they first got there, so they were forced to do so.
Click to expand...
not 'cause "people are not familiar with mechanics or covering/exploiting weaknesses", just because before him you proceede without a single problem, fusion? Pff, no need. Grind? No need. then you arrive against him and you realize that you need some preparation.
also I'm seeing that every boos of his kind are pretty hard/decent, I killed Hell Biker or whatever like 2 hours ago, he wasn't easy at all especially 'cause he got Dekunda and Dekaja + Force spell in the same skill. the boss after him was a joke. (Dekaja?LOLWHAT'STHAT)

btw I'm level 29 at the Ikebukuro Tunnels, am I underleveled or what? It takes forever to level up in this game, especially when you can't really grind in a dungeon without a fucking healing point, I usually escape so I save mp for the boss.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
I ended up getting killed by the Matador *sigh*

...but it was due to his multiple-hit physical attack that ended up killing my MC. I have the force Magatama, as well as Uzume and Nekomata, so his Mazan is useless.
 
F

Frost_Ace

Member
Zekes! said:
I ended up getting killed by the Matador *sigh*

...but it was due to his multiple-hit physical attack that ended up killing my MC. I have the force Magatama, as well as Uzume and Nekomata, so his Mazan is useless.
Click to expand...

Tip: use sukukaja/sukunda a lot.
 
S

Sallokin

Member
I bought this when it came out, have yet to play it. It keeps getting pushed to the bottom of my backlog. I really need to remedy this.
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
finalozzo said:
btw I'm level 29 at the Ikebukuro Tunnels, am I underleveled or what? It takes forever to level up in this game, especially when you can't really grind in a dungeon without a fucking healing point, I usually escape so I save mp for the boss.
Click to expand...

I'm like 37 or 38 at the exact same spot. I've never just sat and grinded, just made sure to explore every inch of the map. Have you jumped into the First Kalpa yet? Some good stuff in there, and you'll likely gain a few levels.
 
7

7threst

Member
Zekes! said:
I ended up getting killed by the Matador *sigh*

...but it was due to his multiple-hit physical attack that ended up killing my MC. I have the force Magatama, as well as Uzume and Nekomata, so his Mazan is useless.
Click to expand...

i31NjvNX6mjCP.gif


:)
 
F

Finalow

Member
Zerokku said:
I'm like 37 or 38 at the exact same spot. I've never just sat and grinded, just made sure to explore every inch of the map. Have you jumped into the First Kalpa yet? Some good stuff in there, and you'll likely gain a few levels.
Click to expand...
oh well, I don't really explore much and like I said without healing points in the dungeon I prefer to run from battles.
yes already done into the First Kalpa, it doesn't seem a good place to grind since not only there isn't an healing point but not even a save point. I mean I have to go all the way back (and do that mini-game) everytime I need to save/heal.

@matador: focus + taunt + andulawhatever = game over, if he doesn't use focus you should be fine.
oh, nice gif!
 
Z

Zerokku

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
finalozzo said:
oh well, I don't really explore much and like I said without healing points in the dungeon I prefer to run from battles.
yes already done into the First Kalpa, it doesn't seem a good place to grind since not only there isn't an healing point but not even a save point. I mean I have to go all the way back (and do that mini-game) everytime I need to save/heal.
Click to expand...

Do you not have a demon with Media or anything like that? Thats all I had till recently and its been more than enough. I mostly physical attack outside of bosses to conserve MP, but yah.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
I beat Matador on my third try. On my second I fucked up and forgot to change over to the null force magatama, but almost beat him.
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
7threst said:
True, but I must admit, I am always, ALWAYS overlevelling and grinding in JRPG's. For example, when I play a Dragon Quest game, I'm not moving on when I have not bought all the equipment in a new town I come across. If I have to grind to get enough gold for that, I will.
Nocturne is a little bit different, that when enemies exploit your weakness and take away your turn icons it's still possible for you to lose a fight, no matter how strong you are. That is of course easily fixed when you take advantage of the fusion and exploiting weaknesses. But, if you never played a Megaten game I can really understand that it takes a while to get used to it, to have the system work for you.
Click to expand...

It's what I warn people about in reguards to Megaten: you have to observe why you WON and also that everything is useful, but that also makes everything dangerous. This is beyond most of the "short-term memory" of most RPGs where things a few levels below you are a goddamn joke and can be ignored and things a few levels above you are nigh-unkillable "and the devs should hide you from them".
 
V

Varna

Member
Zekes! said:
This game is making me miss last gen hard
Click to expand...

It's a real shame that Atlus has no interest in making this kind of game anymore.

Interesting enough I had a dream about this game last night. It was an enhanced remake/port. It mostly looked the same with much better resolution, AA and frame-rate. It also had a much enhanced intro that took place before the conception. It was very similar to SMT1 were you got plenty of time to roam around pre apocalypses Tokyo and even participate in that certain events that happens before the game begins. I woke up thinking, "Fuck... I want to play that game."
 
T

Tabris

Member
Once you get the right demons / Hero attack setup, it isn't as challenging for bosses as it's all just debuff/buff/cure for a long time then attack with the hero. I think the only time I was fucked was against the physical immune enemies near the end, and I don't remember what I did against them. I may have just run away. But I think there was some ability that allowed you to get past that.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
Varna said:
It's a real shame that Atlus has no interest in making this kind of game anymore.

Interesting enough I had a dream about this game last night. It was an enhanced remake/port. It mostly looked the same with much better resolution, AA and frame-rate. It also had a much enhanced intro that took place before the conception. It was very similar to SMT1 were you got plenty of time to roam around pre apocalypses Tokyo and even participate in that certain events that happens before the game begins. I woke up thinking, "Fuck... I want to play that game."
Click to expand...

One of the first things I noticed, was the game doesn't begin this way, and I really like that fact, so I'm not sure how much I'd appreciate that idea.
 
7

7threst

Member
finalozzo said:
oh well, I don't really explore much and like I said without healing points in the dungeon I prefer to run from battles.
yes already done into the First Kalpa, it doesn't seem a good place to grind since not only there isn't an healing point but not even a save point. I mean I have to go all the way back (and do that mini-game) everytime I need to save/heal.
Click to expand...

There are enough spots in your demon inventory to have a few demons with a media-spell or two. I always make sure to have at least one demon with that spell. Even if you have it on stand-by and not using it in your active party, you can still use that skill. So in a way, if done right, you can always heal yourself.
Saving can be tough, but I always felt that the labyrinth needs to be explored in phases, and not everything in one go. In fact, ther first time you can enter the labyrinth it's probably too hard to clear the first kalpa in one go.
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Varna said:
It's a real shame that Atlus has no interest in making this kind of game anymore.

Interesting enough I had a dream about this game last night. It was an enhanced remake/port. It mostly looked the same with much better resolution, AA and frame-rate. It also had a much enhanced intro that took place before the conception. It was very similar to SMT1 were you got plenty of time to roam around pre apocalypses Tokyo and even participate in that certain events that happens before the game begins. I woke up thinking, "Fuck... I want to play that game."
Click to expand...

I'll keep saying this as it keeps going unseen: "No Japanese developer WANTED to abandon consoles and retreat to handhelds"
 
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