Gaming Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

[satan665]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]

I've not gotten to play this in a few days... I've played some Shadow Hearts: Coventant, which while very good, doesn't really compare to this game in my opinion (the story is okay, but all it really does with it is have lots of talking characters... little has happened in the 8 hours I've played, really). Battle systems in every other RPG seem painfully slow after this game lol.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, every RPG should steal the "Auto" idea, there's nothing like just hitting triangle and watching the battles go at super-speed, plowing through the weak enemies. I use it a lot, and I suppose its a must with the large number of encounters.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='satan665']Yeah, every RPG should steal the "Auto" idea, there's nothing like just hitting triangle and watching the battles go at super-speed, plowing through the weak enemies. I use it a lot, and I suppose its a must with the large number of encounters.[/quote]

It's funny playing this game because, in many ways, the battle and conversation systems are not as deep as in the Persona titles... and Persona is generally considered a "SMT-lite" for some reason. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. In Persona, Auto-Mode was so complex that I sometimes didn't even want to use it. In SMT:N, it's so easy to use that there's really not even any reason not to.

Anyway, I've really not gotten to play much. Each time I turn it on, I know I have to invest a lot of time, so the little time I have has been going to MP2, mostly. I've just been leveling up to kill that damn White Rider, lately.

Did you defeat the Fiend that's by the escalator outside of the Mantra HQ? I stumbled upon that one later by accident, so I was curious if you missed him or not. I can't remember which he was... I think the bell guy.

[satan665]

At this point I'va actually defeated all of the fiends. The monk fiend with the bell has been super useful as a character controlled demon, because he learns Prayer which heals all HP and status ailments and can use meditate to steal back MP.

A good way to get past White Rider is to turn to stone his demons that he summons. That way you don't have to keep killing them and he won't be able to resummon them because they're not dead. All of the bosses that summon help can be made easier if you do something like that. Another way is to suck out all their MP so they can't cast spells anymore if stone doesn't work.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='satan665']A good way to get past White Rider is to turn to stone his demons that he summons. That way you don't have to keep killing them and he won't be able to resummon them because they're not dead. All of the bosses that summon help can be made easier if you do something like that. Another way is to suck out all their MP so they can't cast spells anymore if stone doesn't work.[/quote]

I was going to use Stone Gaze before, until I realized that my only good character that had it evolved it into Evil Gaze. I'll have to get another demon summoned.

[satan665]

You can also consider using items, but I think Dis is a good choice. I had her evolved into Valkyrie at the time, but that worked out pretty well. All of the riders are pretty tough.

I've still had some time to play this game amongst all the others, and I'm in the final "dungeon" pretty close to an ending. I decided to give up on the Amala, Candlebraum path and go it myself. I saved at a good point where I can pick it up later and play through the rest of the Kalpa's though, so I have that as an option. I didn't want to end up a demon in the end, so you do what you have to do.

Some of the boss battles near the end are starting to get silly. They are of the 20 minute battle variety, but not necessarily harder than the fiends. They do take a really long time though. I think its a good idea to play through this way for me, because I know I'm missing some stuff and it will give me extra incentive to play through in a more completist fashion and get Dante and some of the trickier fusions. I don't think I will try to get all of the endings, but maybe I can go for 3.

[Semjaza]

This kind of slowed down substantially, but I'm hoping perhaps some other people have purchased this game. If you need to know more about it directly, check out some of the first posts.

I know that Satan665 finished the game. I'm not sure if Sennen has or not. I personally haven't gotten to as it's hard to invest all the thought into it that the game requires lately... Plus I spend a crapload of time just hunting out weird things and raising demons.

I was basically wondering what those who finished the game (or have played a substantial portion of it) still think of the game. If it was what they expected, how it met or fell short of expectations, etc.

I'm also wondering why those who don't have it don't have it yet because it's an excellent game.

And lastly, my main reason for bumping this is that there are actually rumblings of a release within PAL territories. The rumor is that Atlus is working with another company on the details. Whether or not this is true, I don't know, but it would be great.

[satan665]

I was pretty satisfied with the game overall, definitely one of my favorites of last year. It was hard to track down in stores when it first came out, but last weekend I saw that Toys R Us had a stack of them which is suprising since their game selection is usually really bad.

My favorite thing about the game after having finished it is the way you can progress through the game. The main character is very customizable, which this game pulls off very well. In a lot of games you can use different strategies with character development, but there really is one best way. In SMT you can be just as effective focusing on Magic or power or defense. I gained a lot of turns in battle and saved my butt a ton of times by having my character resistant to magic. You can void or absorb almost all magic attacks, which in turn made my character nearly impossible to kill. Earlier on in the game I had a lot of elemental attacks and that works pretty well too.

The game feels kind of empty in that there are very few characters to interact with besides the demons in battle, but I think the weirdness of the story makes it work. It doesn't feel like they were just lazy making the game, more like it was intentional. The storyline is pretty cool, and I like the multiple endings. The game does a good job of giving you an ending that reflects the way you played the game. Each NPC that was trying to mold the world you can choose to side with, and they all have pretty specific ideas or you can go it your own way. I didn't particularly agree with any of their views of how a new world should be created and basically went neutral. I won't spoil the ending but things actually worked out exactly as I would have wanted them to in that situation.

For an added challenge you can buck the system and go after the true source of the death/creation cycle (more and tougher bosses). I didn't do it yet but I hope to eventually get that ending. It should reveal more about whats going on.

Yeah so its a good game. The battles are very frequent, but not tedious because you really need to level up a lot and it eliminates pointless wandering around just to get encounters. It also can be challenging if you are in over your head or in an area with no save points.

[Semjaza]

There were a few people interested in a PAL release of this game. It turns out the rumors were true and Ubisoft and Midas Interactive published the title under the new "Ghostlight" label in Germany, France, England and Australia.

I strongly recommend getting this title. In my opinion it's the best RPG on the system hands down. Of course, you're best off reading my old impressions before picking it up.

[Mitch]

I've got the game. About 4 or so hours into it. So far, I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

When I battled those specters, in the network, I at first got my *** kicked and then read a FAQ and realized that when the specters combine, the resulting big specter's power is made by how many of the specters were still alive. So then I redid the battle, killing 2 of the specters, and using War Cry as well as a spell that lowered the big specter's defense, and then I kicked its ***.

I also did my first fusion before calling it quits for the night. I got one of those snake-like, even dragon-like white demons. I don't know the name off my head. I know it's fire-based. It's a pretty strong demon. The fusion was also a sacrifical one, so that boosted its level a bit more.

[Magus]

[font=comic sans ms]So, I finally got my copy of the game. (FINALLY) I had to sell the majority of my games (and a few animes) to get it too. Only thing though is that I'm missing the bonus disc. (which brought the price down to $50, so it was either a take it, or leave it deal.) What's on that disc by the way?

In any case, I've only played like a good 10-20 minutes of it. From what I've played it is interesting to say the least. That auto function is a nice thing for it especially if I ever get to lazy for some things, but I probably won't rely on it too heavily. I haven't had the chance to fuse any demons yet.

I'm going to start over though because I was just toying around with things, and I probably missed something already. I did have a chance to get a Fairy, Shikigami, and a Kodoma (sp?) to join my side though, and I did get pass the 1st boss. So it is a fairly decent game so far.

Graphically speaking, I'm still getting use to this whole cell shaded graphics in a RPG. I mean I was just playing FF8 yesterday, and in comparison, they don't really stack up too well, but like I said, it's just a matter of adapting.

Music. Meh, I'm not much of a fan of it, but like DMC3, it seems to fit, so I can brush that aside.

I look forward to seeing how this game will turn out.[/font]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=Phenom][font=comic sans ms]So, I finally got my copy of the game. (FINALLY) I had to sell the majority of my games (and a few animes) to get it too. Only thing though is that I'm missing the bonus disc. (which brought the price down to $50, so it was either a take it, or leave it deal.) What's on that disc by the way?

In any case, I've only played like a good 10-20 minutes of it. From what I've played it is interesting to say the least. That auto function is a nice thing for it especially if I ever get to lazy for some things, but I probably won't rely on it too heavily. I haven't had the chance to fuse any demons yet.

I'm going to start over though because I was just toying around with things, and I probably missed something already. I did have a chance to get a Fairy, Shikigami, and a Kodoma (sp?) to join my side though, and I did get pass the 1st boss. So it is a fairly decent game so far.

Graphically speaking, I'm still getting use to this whole cell shaded graphics in a RPG. I mean I was just playing FF8 yesterday, and in comparison, they don't really stack up too well, but like I said, it's just a matter of adapting.

Music. Meh, I'm not much of a fan of it, but like DMC3, it seems to fit, so I can brush that aside.

I look forward to seeing how this game will turn out.[/font][/QUOTE]

[font=tahoma]The music will grow on you, when you get further into it the different types of boss musics get really cool and some of the city musics. Least that how it worked with me, Meguro is no Uematsu but still pretty good.

At this point, your variety of demons won't be too extensive so take what you can get. Later on, the real fun part will be which demons you choose to recruit. Gotta admit though i grew pretty attached to my [spoiler]first fairy, i kept her long enough until her transformation.[/spoiler]
[/font]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=arial][size=1]The bonus disc is the soundtrack to the game. As cool as it is to have a giant pentagram cd, you can just download it from somewhere, too.

My one friend who has the game moved away, and most of the time, eBay prices are too expensive for me. So yeah, I haven't been able to get very far, but I have the saved game just in case.[/font][/size]

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE=BKstyles][font=tahoma]At this point, your variety of demons won't be too extensive so take what you can get. Later on, the real fun part will be which demons you choose to recruit. Gotta admit though i grew pretty attached to my [spoiler]first fairy, i kept her long enough until her transformation.[/spoiler]
[/font][/QUOTE]

[spoiler]Also worth noting is that you definitely should hold on to your first Pixie (or one of her direct descendants) because at the very end of the game she allows you into an area you can't otherwise get to.[/spoiler]

For the record, I think Meguro is infinitely more versatile, which goes a long way.
:D

[Magus]

[font=comic sans ms]I was thinking about my 1st 10-20 minute playthrough, and it got me wondering.

When catching demons, can you catch more than one of the same type? Every time I went to talk to a, let's say a fairy, it would say something about her comrade (or something) and leave. Does that mean I have to get a specific item to get multiples of the same demons?[/font]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=Phenom][font=comic sans ms]I was thinking about my 1st 10-20 minute playthrough, and it got me wondering.

When catching demons, can you catch more than one of the same type? Every time I went to talk to a, let's say a fairy, it would say something about her comrade (or something) and leave. Does that mean I have to get a specific item to get multiples of the same demons?[/font][/QUOTE]

[font=tahoma]You can hold more of the same type of class of demon, for instance two yomas or two divines, but not two of the same exact type of that class. I forget if fairy is the class or if pixie is the class (I believe it's fairy), but whichever the class is is the one you can have more than one of, but a demon will comment on you already having a [insert his or her type of demon here] and not join, for instance having two of Forneus or two of Orthros will not happen. They'll tell you things like "Take care of him" or "I won't travel with you".

Same goes for fusions, you will simply not be able to create the same exact type of demon with the same or different formula once you've obtained one.[/font]

[Semjaza]

BKStyles covered all of it, but I had something to add... I'm glad to see people are playing this still :).

To clarify for you, in that case, the actual name of the demon is "Pixie". It's class, for lack of a better word, is Fairy. Essentially, the Pixie is a [I]type [/I]of Fairy by the game's rules.

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]Heh, I actually started playing it again from my save before I unlocked the [spoiler]Fifth Kalpa of the labyrinth[/spoiler] so I could fill up my demon compendium to 100%. Still on the quest to do so, right now i'm trying to [spoiler]go through the steps I need to get Metatron when I am of level to do so, and I still need Kin-Ki so I can get myself an Ongyo-Ki.[/spoiler] I do have a question though GNPC, is it possible to get a [spoiler]Mitama?[/spoiler] I've only seen them during full kagatsuchis and inside the labryinth so it seems like I can't.[/FONT]

[Semjaza]

It's been a while since I popped it in, but as far as I remember (and if I'm not getting demon names confused) [spoiler]you can only buy Mitamas at the store... I think it's called Rag's Goods or something like that? More and more are available at his shop over the course of the game.

They're mostly good for increasing demon strength through fusion.[/spoiler]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]It's been a while since I popped it in, but as far as I remember (and if I'm not getting demon names confused) [spoiler]you can only buy Mitamas at the store... I think it's called Rag's Goods or something like that? More and more are available at his shop over the course of the game.

They're mostly good for increasing demon strength through fusion.[/spoiler][/QUOTE]


[font=tahoma]Yep, that seems to be the only way. I completely forgot about Rag's jewelry shop, I never really spent much time in that shop lol. I just hit level 80 and am currently preparing for the fusing of my [spoiler]Ongyo-Ki in one more level. Right now i'm keeping Uriel, Dante, and Trumpeteer as my primary party, Ongyo-Ki will more than likely replace my Trumpeteer, as attached as i've gotten to him ;_ ;.[/spoiler] Compendium is at 85% so it seems as if I still have quite a ways to go. There's still a few strays who I still need to nab because I either never wanted one or missed the chance to do so the first time around (such as missing my chance to get a [spoiler]Matador[/spoiler] back when he within my level range). I still need to find the fusing formula and proper Kagatsutchi phase for [spoiler]The Harlot[/spoiler].[/font]