If you're at all a fan of JRPG's, you've probably at least heard of Shin Megami Tensei and I'm going to assume most of you know at least a little about its more popular spin off Persona. Nocturne (Also known as Lucifer's Call in PAL regions) is the third mainline game in the SMT series (although far away from being the third game released, this series is a spin off factory), and it bucks several conventions of the SMT series thus far. While it's still very much a post-apocalyptic setting, gameplay has changed wildly from the classic dungeon crawling conventions the series had used thus far. The team size has been pared down from 6 to 4, your protagonist is a demon themselves and can learn skills much like the demons can, the concept of equipement has almost completely been removed, and the environments are fully 3D in a third person perspective in contrast from the first person view of the original games. The ideological nature of the story has shifted from strict alignment categorization and instead follows various characters supporting a central Reason, and the your decision on who's reason to back determines your ending as opposed to shifting your alignment based on many choices over the course of the game. Nocturne has had a bit of a slow burn in recognition, in the west it's one of the earliest MegaTen games we got and languished in obscurity for a long while, and in it's native Japan the major settings and mechanics changes made it a bit of a turn off for the built in fanbase. Time has been very kind to it though, as people have recognized just what a collection of cool concepts it has for an RPG and it executes them very well. I've played this game many times over the years and I can easily list it as a personal favorite, and I hope to show it off to you in a comprehensive way that demonstrates just how great it is!
The Let's Play
This will be a playthrough of the original North American PS2 version, played on Hard Mode in what I believe to be the most effective way to approach the game. I plan collecting all Magatama, completing the Labyrinth of Amala Sidequest as well as the time trial sidequest contained therein, and getting two endings for the game as well as showing off the complete Demon Compendium. I doubt I'll show off absolutely everything but this can be considered a 100% run as far as meaningful content goes. We'll also take some quick looks at the game's recent HD remaster when I feel the time is good to do so. Do note, this is a let's play I started and abandoned many years ago due to persistent tech issues corrupting the recordings. I don't feel my original videos are all that bad, so I just recently decided to pick up where I left off with a new file. I've learned much about the game over the years, so some of my comments in the earlier videos may be incorrect about certain mechanics or mixing them up with how things worked in the spiritual successor series Digital Devil Saga. Starting from Part 14, the video quality and my game plan will be much more consistent going forward. I hope you check this out and I'm able to inform you of some new things about this awesome game!
Part 17 is up! Very straightforward run-through of the Second Kalpa, we'll get most of the treasure next time. (It's also an excuse to build some extra levels before traveling deeper into Kabukicho Prison)
Part 19 is up! Not a terribly eventful part, we touch base with Hijiri and get our directions to move forward with the game and complete a portion of the Ikebukuro Tunnels.
Didn't have the time or energy to make a proper update today, but I did get a video of clearing the Puzzle Boy mini game. This is far from the fastest anyone has done this, but I did want to get this in video just for the sake of having it demonstrated in the LP in some capacity.
Part 26 is up! A more plot centered episode this time, with more Reasons being established. Afterwards, we get into another skeleton scuffle and then get one of the most important Magatama in the game.
Part 32 is up! Finishing up the Amala Temple in this video, and afterwards the first God descends to support a Reason. I always get a kick out of how the pettiest Reason managed to pull this off first.
Part 34 is up! Tackling the 4th Kalpa, this one is pretty involved so only about half of it is done this video. We're getting very close to being completely done with this place!
Part 35 is out! Rounding out the business in the 4th Kalpa, which involves entering and leaving it repeatedly. Joy. I left a pinned comment on the video about this, but we are able to enter the fifth Kalpa at this point, I've just never bothered to pick the no option for the Matron's questions so I didn't realize it isn't a "But Thou Must" prompt. The discussion about the Afterlife Bell takes priority over her asking if you'd like to continue, and I didn't think to use the peephole a third time while recording. We'll be entering the fifth Kalpa at the start of the next video as there is a cool bonus for us right at the entrance.
Part 37 is up! After delaying the Diet Building for a couple videos, it gets utterly smashed in a half hour. Just gotta go to the top and see what awaits us there.
Part 42 is up, and another God rejected! We're close to the end now, just one more thing to do and it'll be ending time. I'll likely do the Bandou Shrine and the final boss in the next video. Bandou is pretty repetitive so I can easily edit chunks out and we'll have a video that's only slightly longer than usual. Ideally anyway.
Part 43 is out! In this video, we complete the bonus dungeon Bandou, and defeat the final boss to get an ending. This is not the end of the let's play though, we have one major sidequest left to tackle, a few odds and ends, and a bonus final boss to take on. Should be two more videos left to go.
Part 44 is up! This video is just for the Burial Chamber sidequest. Not terribly interesting video, but it gives a good idea of what you want to have in order to complete it. Next video will be the last!
The finale! The game's ultimate boss awaits, and because I tend to under prepare there's some genuine tension for the battle. Thanks to all who watched!
