Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster Rated in US, Western Release Date Could Be Incoming

Hope they fixed all the bugs and performance issues. The Japanese release was disastrous from what I heard.

@Leon_93 Oh really? Well that's a bit worrying. I wonder if it got fixed up.

@Leon_93 AfaIk the JP Version has received multiple patches to fix the problems

Everyone here who liked Persona 5 but wished there was less talking and anime tropes and more challenging gameplay should get this. This series is legendary, and a large part of that comes back to the titanic influence of SMT III.

@Leon_93 They've been patching it, and even added the option to choose which skills your demon inherit, which makes the remaster the best way to play Nocturne. Presumably the Western release will come with the fixes on disc.

Wow, when I saw that artwork, I thought I was on the wrong website.

@IonMagus From what I heard the patches didn't address everything

Namely both versions of the game still have severe framerate issues, especially the Switch version, and the music is still compressed as hell like it was on PS2

@Ralizah

Thank you for that. The things you listed are exactly what I didn't like about Persona 5. Just looking at the screenshot above, the colors seem to be more muted, also a plus in my book. Is it turn-based, do you know?

@LordSteev I can reply to that and yes, SMT games are turn-based.
I haven't played Nocturne yet (will rectify when this comes out), but IV is one of my favorite games ever, and features the best turn-based combat I've ever tried.
I don't know if this remaster will retroactively introduce the features IV and IV Apocalypse added, but I sure hope so cause that battle system is just fire.
Oh and these games are tough as nails, be prepared to be wiped out whenever by lowly grunts lol
Boy do I love this series, can't wait for V 😍

@LordSteev Yep. The combat system in it deeply influenced the combat in every Persona/SMT game that released afterward. But it's... much more balanced than the combat in Persona 5. You know how P5 has a bunch of intricate mechanics, buffing, etc. that you don't really need to engage with because, even on the highest difficulty, you can waste almost every set of enemies with all out attacks after a few seconds? You can't do that in Nocturne. You HAVE to understand the mechanics. You won't get through the bosses without buffing and debuffing. And random enemies can and will frequently kill you.

More importantly, you'll be able to explore large, intricate dungeons at your own pace. Collect demons at your own pace. There's no calendar system. In place of Persona's high school dramatics, the game explores interesting philosophical themes. Tonally, the game is dark and mystical, although still with flashes of humor here and there. And there really isn't too much in the way of intrusive cutscenes.

@LordSteev Yes Shin Megami Tensei and Persona's battle systems share a lot of similiarities, including similar spells and a traditional turn based system

Nocturne in particular however eschews the 1 More mechanic from Persona in favor of the Press Turn system which is similar in concept but also has different requirements for extending the amount of turns you have to issue commands unlike the 1 More mechanic due to how they're consumed over the corse of a battle

@clvr Thanks!

Wow, now you've made a great case for me to waste more money on the PS store! I love turn-based combat that really makes you think and strategize. I think I've never played these only because I don't even know what the names mean.

@TheFrenchiestFry Wouldnt suprise me if they lost the original OST recording lol

@Ralizah Hey, thanks for going into detail! Really appreciate it.

This actually sounds like just the sort of game I love. The more unusual and esoteric powers you have, the better, especially when you situationally have to use them! Which previous game would you recommend if, say, one were to want to try this out now?

@TheFrenchiestFry Thank you as well! I really appreciate it when people take the time to answer questions on here. If I ever have any knowledge and see any questions from you guys, I will return the favor.

@LordSteev you're welcome, I love selling people on stuff I like ahahahahah
If it sounds appealing, by all means get it as it's a really unique series with very nunaced and mature storytelling and themes (apart from IV Apocalypse, it's good gameplay wise but it's anime boy shenanigans can burn in hell lol).

Btw from what I gather Shin Megami Tensei means True/New Reincarnation of the Goddess, or something along those lines (I can't speak Japanese, I've just seen it translated on the internet).
Originally the series was Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei on Famicom (IIRC), and after DDS:MTII they made SMT on Super Famicom and kept the new moniker.

@clvr

Thank you once more! I really do appreciate the translations. And, importantly, the warning about 'anime boy shenanigans', lol!

If you could only get one for the PS4, do you have a favorite?

@clvr Yes SMT's Japanese name does translate to "True Reincarnation of the Goddess" in reference to the fact that the Heroine character in the first game who accompanies you (the protagonist) is a reincarnation of the goddess Izanami

The series was initially based on a series of Japanese light novels about a computer prodigy who summoned demons into the world due to exhibiting sociopathic behaviour as a result of being under the influence of the trickster god Loki

@clvr I wouldn't want the style of IV: Apocalypse to become the series standard, but, for one game, I thought it was interesting to get an absolutely mechanically sublime SMT with characters who felt like they stepped out of a Persona game.

It's one of the funnest games I've ever played, if I'm being honest. If V can marry the mystical/dark tone of IV/Nocturne with the ultra-polished gameplay of Apocalypse, it'll be an almost perfect experience.

@LordSteev SMT IV, probably, if the mature storytelling aspect appeals to you. It's a great entry in the series. One of the best games on the 3DS. Just be prepared for that first dungeon to really kick your teeth in.

SMT IV: Apocalypse, as mentioned, lacks the mature storytelling, but it's the peak of the series on a mechanical/QoL level, and still well worth experiencing. It's also ideally played after SMT IV.

If you fall in love with the series, you should know that Shin Megami Tensei V is releasing on the Nintendo Switch this year (unless it gets delayed).

If you own a PS2, you could also check out the Digital Devil Saga games, which marry Nocturne's combat system with story-heavy linear JRPG design. You don't collect demons in those games, though.

@TheFrenchiestFry That's discouraging to hear about the fps issues on Switch. Not sure why a Japanese release of a Japanese classic on the only console the Japanese actually buy would have been allowed out the door in a CDPR state.

I still plan on getting it on Switch....a turn based RPG is just best on a handheld, and since Nintendo's the current official home of the mainline series anyway, playing it on PS would be like playing P4G on a 3DS. But I'm somewhat worried about the bugs and performance. Sounds like a really rough port for a PS2 game.

@Ralizah Thank you again! Are any of these on PS4? It's the only console I've got at the moment, besides a crusty old xbox that is lost in storage somewhere. If I can get these on PlayStation, I will, and thanks for turning me on to them.

@LordSteev that's a tricky question, as there isn't much SMT on PS4 😅
I haven't played Nocturne yet as I got into the series with IV, but @TheFrenchiestFry and @Ralizah, who are both way more knowledgeable than me regarding the series, say that it's absolutely worth it and I'll probably get it day one 😄

Unfortunately IV and Apocalypse are stuck on 3DS at the moment, and V is gonna be Switch-exclusive.
If you happen to find a cheap 3DS somewhere, though, I cannot recommend playing IV as blind as possible enough!

@Ralizah I absolutely agree, I hope they bring back Apocalypse's additions like spell type affinity and "stacking" identical spells for bonus damage, those for example made it that much deeper than IV and I absolutely agree that Apocalypse is better gameplay wise.
I sure hope they do exactly that in V and marry the best of those two games. Also, if they remastered IV with Apocalypse's additions patched in, it would be a basically perfect game!

@TheFrenchiestFry ah I thought I read somewhere that it came from a novel, thanks for the confirmation!

@LordSteev Everyone on NL has been screaming "port Persona to Switch" for years. Now everyone on Push Square is screaming "port SMT to Playstation!"

The first few were all NES/SNES, and later ported to PSX (and later, mobile!) There was an odd OG XB spinoff called "Nine". Nocturne was PS2 until now, but of course no BC for PS2... and then it went back to Nintendo only on DS, then 3DS, now Switch, except for the Nocturne port.

The Devil Summoner spinoff had PS2 and a PSP entry...but that's about it. It has some PS history (and one OG XB entry, and one Sega Saturn entry) in the day, but it's been really locked on Nintendo much of its history. Meanwhile the Persona spinoff has been locked on PS.

You'd think they'd start porting more of this stuff. Every year Atlus does the poll of what everyone wants ported, and then everyone votes, and then nothing happens...

@NEStalgia I find it funny people are screaming "port SMT to PlayStation" when there was an entire era for the series where most of the notable games were PlayStation exclusives like Nocturne, Persona 3 & 4, the Digital Devil Saga duology and the Raidou series

It was only when the DS rolled around that the series slowly started coming back to Nintendo and then Strange Journey was the first main entry since I think SMT If to debut exclusively on Nintendo consoles

I've personally always preferred mainline and several MegaTen series like Devil Survivor to Persona so I'd definitely double dip if those came to more platforms

@NEStalgia You'll be fine. Framerate isn't 100% in either version, but that's true of most games. It's not an unplayable mess or anything.

Honestly, the compressed battle music bothers me more than anything else.

@LordSteev Only Nocturne HD, unfortunately. Mainline SMT games are generally Nintendo releases, with Nocturne being the primary exception (also, the SNES games were ported to PS1, I believe).

It's a big exception, though. Fantastic game.

@clvr I've wanted a remaster of SMT IV for years now. With Apocalypse's improvements, it'd probably be the best game in the series.

@clvr Aww, that's too bad. I'll keep in mind a potential 3DS, but right now I'm more focused on finding a PS5. And thanks to Microsoft buying Bethesda, I'm also going to need a new xbox it looks like. Also, maybe a new entertainment center to hold all the new consoles as well, lol.

@NEStalgia

Thanks for the info! Maybe I'll try to find that Atlus poll so I can have my voice not be heard, too.

@LordSteev yeah it's a bummer, I know.

I think the biggest hurdle that's keeping SMT from exploding like P5 did is its erratic release history.
As @NEStalgia rightly pointed out, it's a major headache to keep track of all the mainline games scattered around different generations and hardware manufacturers, and if you add all the spin-off series it's a complete mess lol

I hope having III and V on popular consoles makes SMT more widely known, I'd love it to be Persona big although I don't think it'll ever get that big.

@Ralizah Thanks again, promise I'm through pestering you with questions. I guess I'll wait for this one, then. It's already received its ESRB rating, so probably not too much longer. BTW, read your review on that old puzzle game, you write well!

@LordSteev If you want to get more into SMT a 3DS is perfect for sure

Atlus put some of their best content on that platform and a lot of the games on there like SMT IV, Devil Survivor and Soul Hackers are some of my favorite RPGs ever made, in addition to Persona Q2 which is one of my favorite Persona spinoffs

@clvr That, and maybe it's name. If in my own ignorance I can't make sense of what's on the Box, I'm not likely to buy the game if I know nothing else about it. Or maybe that's just a personal shortcoming on my part.

@TheFrenchiestFry Maybe I'll look into getting one then. I really like turn-based games, and feel like there's somewhat of a shortage of modern ones on PS4. Personally, I'm just not a huge fan of anime (I know, shoot me) which limits the possibilities even more. I'm just seriously considering the space I have available for gaming, and how huge both new consoles are reported to be. As far as problems go, though, It's a nice one to have!

There are plenty of bad HD Remasters out there.... and sadly Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is one of them.

If I ever get this it will be when its dirt cheap...

@Ralizah yeah the music compression bugs me. Thankfully on Switch I'll play it almost exclusively handheld using system speakers and probably won't even notice SMT games are nice that way.

Soul Hackers actually remains my favorite in the series I think. IDK why, but the whole mood and environment in that game just feels perfect.

@LordSteev Well, at least you don't need the entertainment cabinet.....Just put the PS5 on the floor, and stack the TV and Series X on top of it

@clvr I think Persona also has the right mix of being an engaging story-driven experience with the anime flair that PS has a large audience for (even if Sony itself doesn't seem to recognize that anymore.) SMT is a lot harder to explode in popularity given it's sort of old-skool games for old-skool gamers sensibilities. Depending on how V turns out, of course. Yeah, Soulsborne did it but that's still an action game at the end of the day. This is a harder sell, I think. Hard as nails, all menus and turn based, serious tone, and not very story driven. I'm not sure the mainline series could break from niche without breaking what makes it what it is.

3DS was a pretty popular console and I think it did more for EO than SMT (somehow....)

And as @LordSteev said, a game with a name most easily written in kanji probably isn't going to hit mainstream appeal. Everyone can say "Persona" - but "Shin Megami Tensei" isn't going to roll off the tongue unless you're already neck-deep in Japanese everything SMT: Super Monster Team might be a break out hit in the west?

Heck the title doesn't even make sense in Japan, it's a reference to one character from one game....

@Ralizah Thanks for writing out all of this, you've really peaked my interest! Do you think this entry would be a good way to get into the SMT series, or should I play IV instead considering I still have a perfectly usable 3DS? I don't have much time for JRPGs, I tend to play one every couple of years, so I want to make sure I make a good decision!

@LordSteev XSX is tiny. The body volume may be large, but next to PS4 Pro it feels tiny. P5 OTOH....is a ginormous monolith that needs fountains and floodlights around it. I have the two next to each other. The XSX horizontal (I don't like the vent facing up to get things falling it in where I have it out in the open), and PS5 vertical (it literally could not fit horizontal anyway....).... You can't see the XSX, it looks like an accessory shelf for the PS5. I keep my controllers on it. They barely fit.

Yeah if you love turn based games, 3DS is probably the best system ever. At least since PSP maybe (but that had more anime...) Switch might become that now that Atlus is finally waking from slumber. PS used to be great for it but....after they dropped the handhelds, they've taken a hard turn away from anything Japanese. Yakuza Like a Dragon is a must play if you haven't though!

@NEStalgia @LordSteev yeah, you're both right about the name!
I'm so used to mentioning anime and games witht heir Japanes titles but yeah, that's not something a lot of people are used to!
If they had changed it with III, it probably could've garnered more attention from more "casual" fans.
But yeah, the series is incredibly niche in every aspect by design, so it's hard to imagine it going big anytime soon.
Doesn't matter though, as long as they keep making them and the quality stays high! There really isn't anything like SMT 😃

@NEStalgia
Had a good chuckle picturing the PS5 as the whole foundation of a new entertainment set up! I haven't updated my entertainment center for years, it might be the oldest piece of furniture left in the house. In fact, I already sawed off the shelves and removed the swinging glass doors just to fit the current tv! I need something huge, maybe like a PS5, to put everything I want on it. Now, after listening to all of you, I'll probably have to fit a 3DS in there somewhere. It's long overdue, but I think I'll have to rent a truck just to get it home.

@clvr I'm a huge fan of niche in general. I was more of a computer gamer 20 years ago, but have really learned to appreciate the comfort of couch gaming. One of the most irritating things to me in gaming across all fields has been the simplifying and dumbing down of games in almost every category for more mass-market appeal. I really like what I'm hearing from all of you about SMT. It sounds like the series has resisted the 'keep it simple stupid' trend.

@NEStalgia Forgot to add, I'm really looking forward to Yakuza 7. Just want to wait till I have a PS5. It'll probably be one of the first games I play once I get one.

@LordSteev that's very good to know, I'll make sure to hit you up with more recommendations in the future as I'm a lifelong niche dweller as well 😄 it's always cool finding likeminded people!

Btw I absolutely agree with your take!
I for one really like putting in the "work" in my hobbies and experience them as a form of artistic expression, trying to analyze the ins and outs in order to understand both the thing at hand (be it game, song, movie, book, whatever) and myself a little better.
That's one of the big reasons I stick to my niches and rarely play big, mindless tentpole releases.

So many big games nowadays go all-in on the spectacle and power fantasy, and conversely show an ineptitude in the gameplay department that leaves me stunned every time.
But yeah, games are still in their infancy and I fear it won't be until a few decades in the future that people will start treating them like movies and paintings, and having academic debates on them.

@LordSteev Haha, yeah, I come from the same place. I was NES & Atari back in the day. Then around the mid-90's jumped to PC and thought I'd never look back. Then by the late 00's I started migrating back to consoles. PC was fun, and there's a lot of stuff there you can't get on console, but.....so much hassle. But I also lament the dumbing down for mass appeal (and my reaction to Sony closing Japan Studio in favor of more Naughty Dog Camera(TM) games has been grating on everyone here, I'm sure...and will continue for some time.... )

There's a ton of niche-appeal games on 3DS. For me, SNES was the sweet spot, and my favorite console of all-time. Then 3DS came along and easily replaced it. I thought Vita might be that but...no, it wasn't meant to be. 3DS was the king. Then came Switch and I thought that would be poised to overtake 3DS as my favorite, but so far, after 2 years of momentum it just kind of stopped. I'm still optimistic if the rumors of a new OLED variant are true it can be fully realized as the Vita that never was. Two SMT games and a new MonHun might be the start of that.

And yeah, SMT is very very opposite the dumbing down trend. IV does have an "easy" difficulty mode......"easy" is a relative term, even in "easy" the game is still relatively brutal and requires you to know what you're doing. And you have to die a lot before it even allows you to choose it. And then Apocalypse added more complexity. Hopefully V is shaping up to keep the series true to itself and not "streamline" much. You probably really do need a 3DS! (though they stopped manufacturing them a while ago, so I don't know what the availability is these days.)

@LordSteev Thanks. Pester me with questions all you like, btw. I love turning people on to this series. I feel like a lot of people who would really enjoy mainline get put off by the talky, slice-of-life excesses of the Persona games, without realizing how radically different the two series are.

@NEStalgia I'll say this: I don't love Soul Hackers, but it has aged FAR more gracefully than any pre-PS2 MegaTen game I've played to date. The first two Persona and SMT games are clunky as hell, but Soul Hackers only needed relatively minor enhancements to work well on a modern handheld.

With that said, Atlus is like the reverse of Square-Enix. Their games keep continually improving over time. I'm struggling to think of an Atlus property where the best entry to date wasn't a relatively modern one.

@BranJ0 So, SMT IV and Nocturne HD are probably both decent places to start. IV is easier overall, but the first dungeon is brutal. IV is also more user-friendly overall than Nocturne, although it has its own set of annoying niggles that Apocalypse exhaustively addresses.

In terms of pure gameplay, Apocalypse is probably the best place to start. It spoils a few early twists from IV, but it has the best difficulty balancing and QOL improvements in the series, which makes it VERY approachable for new players. It's really unfortunate that it was developed as a companion work to IV, because otherwise I'd recommend it as the ideal way for Persona players and people unused to SMT in general to branch out to mainline.

I guess I'd recommend SMT IV if you're willing to tough it out through the first dungeon. It really is superb in most respects, and is on the easier end of the spectrum overall.

@Ralizah IDK, I'm an old Wizardry nerd, so Soul Hackers felt right at home, and the whole 90's hacker punk aesthetic just clicked for me

I think the problem with Square-Enix is they have too many new people and not enough vets that really understand their own designs. The merger was not kind to them. Take 2 RPG giants with opposing ideas and try to make them one team, bad things happen. They're coming back to a good focus on FF I think (though I'm worried about FFxDMC) but so many of their other RPGs feel so hollow. Bravely stands front and center. it put all the burdensome mechanics in without any of the substance that binds it. It feels like doing the grind for the sake of the grind, while SMT retains the sense of purpose. (Or we presume it does and the U4 budget doesn't go to their heads with V....)

About time.

Honestly, if this kind of project is taking so long to release worldwide compared to Japan, I have no hopes for SMTV getting a global release as promised.

@clvr

Please do! I'll do the same if I run across anything interesting.

Remember when you used to buy a game, and the box was actually heavy? Because when you opened it up there was a phone-book sized manual, loaded with charts, tables, graphs, and indexes? And if you wanted to actually get any real enjoyment out of the game, you had better read it cover to cover? I miss those days. I'm a glutton for punishment, though.

Gamewise, I like the occasional AAA blockbuster, but I like to mix it up and have variety. For example, I really enjoyed TLOU2 way more than I thought I was going to. It wasn't hard, it just drew me in to it's world. But I'd hate it if every single game was just like it.

In some games, I've seen so much beauty and artwork on display, I think games as art is already here, it's just not taken seriously enough, yet. Just like Rock and Roll and Jazz when they were new. I agree with you, in time more recognition will come.

@NEStalgia You know what finally did it for me with PC Gaming? At the time I had dual voodoo cards running in tandem, um, slc? Is that what they called it? Don't remember. I was having overheating problems with them, had the whole case of my tower opened up and just left it that way. The fans would start up and it sounded like a 747 taking off. But with 2 running in tandem, there was a fat cable that connected them to each other on the side away from where they were both joined to the motherboard. That melted and then one of the cards stopped working. I bought a replacement card, and it wouldn't sync right with the other one anymore, no matter what drivers I tried or how many articles I read about it. I was disgusted, and started thinking about all the time and money I was pouring into these boxes. One day, I just snapped and threw the whole thing in a closet.

Now I just let Sony worry about what's inside, and it's been like meditation. I don't ever see myself going back.

I should probably be able to find a 3DO used on Amazon, but I'll probably look around locally first. I've never been a fan of buying someone's leftovers, especially electronically, so if I find one local, at least I can check it out before buying. I'm going to buy this new version of Nocturne probably at release now, too.

It's weird, I don't mind dying in a turn based game nearly as much as I do in an action game. I'm not sure why. I like even more when it was something stupid I did, rather than just a random critical hit, but don't mind either way.

@Ralizah Oh, you're going to regret saying that..

That is exactly what I felt like when Playing Persona 5. I'm in a cool dungeon, getting a good handle on the combat system, really starting to enjoy myself and then, POOF! I'm in High School. Again. Didn't particularly care for it the first time irl, still not a huge fan. I don't consider myself a dour person, but I am always captivated more by a game that is dark, moody, mystical, etc.

@LordSteev haha, finally I've found someone with the same miserable luck with pc gaming that I have! Nobody ever believes me! It's plug and play now, they all tell me, it's not like it used to be, they say... That's what they said back then, too! Did you hear this, @Ralizah?! Did you hear??? (Voice trails of with hysterical cackling)

My last rig set me back over 3k. It was combination gaming and work. Spared no expense, workstation grade everything. I was tied of problems and overheating in the very same way. Video card 1 was DOA but took a month of troubleshooting blue screens to sort out. Bought a replacement. That worked. Then lost a WD Raptor. Then the NEXT video card failed. Replaced that. That was the first six months.......

Then the machine kept spontaneously shutting down. That happened randomly for a year or two. Then the PSU, a corsair platinum rated $400 one, failed. I bought a PS3 and 360 and that was the end of that.

And then there was the migration from IDE to SATA.... As an early adopter....... Then there was the graphics bus changes. ICA to PCI to AGP to AGP Pro to AGP2, Then PCIE, then PCIEx16..... Which meant new mobos every new direct X version....ugh. i know it's not AS bad now, but after that you get PCSD, and can only handle consoles....

I enjoy both dark and upbeat gaming though. Add time goes on I find myself leaving more towards the bubbly upbeat stuff. Nice escape from the dismal real world to a happy place (facing certain doom from colorful monsters rather than desaturated monsters). But then again, I just binged on Deus Ex again, Hitman, and SMT ranks about 20 notches higher on my list than SIEs latest Michael Bay thriller.

@NEStalgia You should do stand up, man, I'm dying here!

It's been 20 years and I'm still suffering from chronic PCSD! THIS game only works with THESE drivers, but if you install them, THAT game won't work anymore, you'll have to revert to THOSE drivers. Not to mention the blazing speed with which the dial-up internet would download those ever too frequent driver updates! I don't have enough fingers to count how many early 3dfx cards I burned through (through no fault of my own, at least as far as I could tell) in those days, but I'm fairly sure I have enough to count motherboards and power supplies, barely.

Over the course of my addiction, I think I had a total of 4 rigs, and counting monitors, video cards, 'upgrades', etc., I'm sure I went through over 20 grand in maybe a decade, decade in a half. Back then, that was a pretty nice car. Color me finished!

I love Deus Ex, the first one (on that very pc, I might add) was one of my best gaming experiences ever. Love the colorful vs. desaturated monsters. Pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

If ageing has taught me anything, it's life is too short to put up with needless frustrations. I'm a console man for life!

Edit: P.S. I still have nightmares hearing those three fateful words....Welcome to Gamespy....

Yes i can't wait for this. I just hope it isn't super close to Nier replicants release date because Nier gets my priority

@LordSteev I still have my parts graveyard! I shouldn't. I should dump it all before they make that illegal. But in my head, i paid so much money for all that, it has to have permanent value! Maybe I'll make yard ornaments out of it. It's not trash, officer. It's modern industrial art critiquing the disposablity of innovation in the late 20th century. You can't fine fine art!!

I still remember when gamespy was good. Then it became really really not good.... Then it became the Wii's backend. Or backside.

But yeah, people around here tempt me with PC from time to time, and between MS and Sony dropping everything on PC for less money, maybe someday it'll entice me again, but at the moment no matter how I run the numbers, console will wins, even if you buy all of them. Even the revisions. And the VR. And the WiiU. And even the launch day Vita with the AT&T modem, hardshell case and Little Deviants. Err, I mean, so I've heard....

And yet, 3DS still holds favorite console status.... And half of that is those darned Atlus games... And most of the best of that golden age of PC is now on the modern consoles anyway!

If you can tolerate anime styling if it's well written, you may want to consider the Trials of Cold Steel series as well. It's very anime, yes. It's colorful, but it's a heck of an epic. And it's core turn based battle and pretty challenging. Not SMT-challenging which is the Sekiro of turn based games. But fairly deep and a single narrative that spans from the 2 PSP games through the 2 PS4 games (and technically from before then with the Legend of Heroes main series.). I haven't played it all yet myself, but if you can endure the anime, it's worth it and may be in your sweet spot, gameplay wise. And it's all available on PS4, even the PSP remasters

(It does have a lot of waking, talking school sections though.....)

(And yeah, Deus Ex 1 was amazing.... Gameplay and design REALLY didn't age well..... But what an experience in its day. The new trilogy does a pretty good job though carrying the torch. Mostly. )

@NEStalgia I'm not sure if "plug and play" is the right way to describe it, but PC gaming is pretty easy in this day and age if you stick to known brands and don't try odd set-ups. Not as easy as console gaming, honestly, but the bar of entry is far, far lower than it was in the past.

I guess some people have bad luck? I know individuals who deal with hardware issues every time they buy consoles as well, and have sworn them off entirely as a result. Hardware fails sometimes. It's nothing endemic to PC gaming.

@LordSteev I think you'll definitely get on with Nocturne, then. Arguably the biggest difference between SMT and Persona is that the latter is a life-sim crossed with a JRPG where the focus in building relationships between various characters, whereas SMT games are hardcore dungeon crawlers with unique religious/philosophical themes, and the closest thing you get to cultivating relationships in those games is making moral choices that alter your alignment, which will lead to wildly different endings (Nocturne is actually the best of the bunch in this respect: while the others fall along a very D&D'ish law <----> chaos spectrum, the way alignments work in Nocturne is... different. The few ideologies you'll encounter are pretty fascinating).

@Ralizah Hey, Bad F. Luck is my real name!

There's bad luck, and then there's funneling thousands over about 10+ years into failure after failure, with not a single stable setup. across 4 + machines. Including going "pre-built" just in case one is the magic butterfingers....but no....all failure there too. I mean I've had console hardware issues. No RROD (only because I wated to buy and bought an Arcade model with the HDD seperately for more money just to guarantee a Jasper unit), no YLOD (amazingly) but I had 2 PS3 Slims that the disc drive failed. I had a 3DS XL (red) that just never worked right (it would lose battery contact or something, and then It got worse...screen died or something like that?) And knock wood on the new current hardware. But somehow it's just different. If it breaks, it just breaks....rather than consuming 4 hours a day for 3 weeks trying to figure out what actually broke and paying as much, or more than a new console to fix it, all the while stressing out and spending all your time working on it.

@NEStalgia

I moved my graveyard twice, and endured heated protestations from the hired help. To the tune of 'you didn't buy enough beer for us to move all this s**t!

Finally, before my last move, I had a tough 1 on 1 with myself about the actual re-sale value of most computer hardware years after it's 'best by' date. No doubt what once fueled my dreams is buried deep and refusing to de-compose in a landfill somewhere.

Just thinking about it dredges up foul memories of squinting into the dark cavity of my case, sweat burning my eyes and making me fumble my grip on the accursed jewelers screwdriver I used to strip out the phillips heads of absurdly small screws never designed for use by man.

I value that time, though. It taught me creative swearing. Much better than any abject lesson could have. Like a good song, your heart has to be in it for it to really shine.

In regards to Computer Gaming:

DO NOT FALL PREY TO THE TEMPTATION! All of their sweet words are LIES! You must be strong! Heed your memories! You can resist, I have faith in you!

As far as Trail of Cold Steel, I think I have 4, physical, the box sounded interesting, but for me, the junior highschoolish nature of the characters just made it unbelievable. I couldn't sink myself into it, try as I might.

Did you ever play XCOM or XCOM2? Those were a couple of strategy games I loved, but they seem to have Bethesdaitus, in the lack of frequency of releases.

I, too, have liked all of the Deus Ex games, but something was so speical about the first one for me. Did you ever play System Shock 2? That was another of the oldies but goodies that stands out to me. Deus Ex, SS2, and the first time I set foot in a Dwemer ruin in Morrowind stand out as some of the moments I've been awestruck by gaming.

I'm convinced my body gives off some form of energy that's harmful to electronics. Like a five foot aura that radiates around me, and when confronted with long term exposure, no modern electronic device really stands a chance. I went through 4 xbox 360's (red ring of death) before I finally went Sony with the PS4. Either Sony has much better quality control, or my curse has been lifted (knock on wood), because I have truly abused the crap out of my PS4, and it's still here with me after seven years.

@LordSteev yeeeeeaaaahhhc those were the times!!!
I recall those times so fondly now, being a kid and scouring through the booklet and cover on my way back home, or even at home before actually playing the thing! It was a ritual, I would do that religiously for every game and it was such an important part of the experience I still have the habit of checking all the settings before actually starting the game lol

I play some mindless blockbuster from time to time, but as I told you I like analyzing stuff so bad I do it all the time without even noticing it, and that has severely hampered my ability to stomach mediocre, bloated games like Ubisoft's, for example 😅

Regarding moody vs colorful, I was born and raised on Nintendo consoles so I've always leaned towards the latter, but my love for SMT can attest that I like both.
What I don't like is games like COD and almost every other "mature" game nowadays, which take themselves so seriously while being targeted at 12 years old. Those are incredibly cringeworthy, the literal embodiment of what a 12 years old thinks being adult means.

As I said I have a knack for taking things artistically and abstract thinking, so I tend to prefer less grounded stuff and more conceptual stuff.
I'm basically rambling at this point 😂 I don't even know what I wanted to convey here, I'm such a motor mouth (or fingers, or whatever) lol

Btw games have shown amply that they can do just as much as any other medium, if not even more!
With time I'm sure everyone will come to accept that and not just see them as "silly bang bang boom boom" for kids, and academies and such will teach at the same capacity that they do now for music, cinema, etc..
I know that for now, if someone still thinks that games are not art, I'll simply tell them to play Nier: Automata and then get back to me 😉

@Ralizah Hi!

All the sudden, Nocturne has gone from 'I can't even read the box on this one' to a day one purchase for me. The way you've described it, it just sounds perfect! I'm not 100% anti-social, I DO like relationship building in games, but for whatever reason, call it lack of imagination, I just can't get myself to believe in any of the anime highschool stuff. Maybe it's the too big, over-innocent eyes.

I love a sense of tension while gaming. A life or death situation that I can put myself into. If it has dark satanic gods that need thwarting, all the better. If it has dark satanic gods that have somehow corrupted me with a trace of their power, better still! In real life I enjoy walks on the beach, puppies, and the sound of children laughing. (Well, mostly) In a game, i want to be a dark god's puppet forced into evil acts against my will and beyond my control. What does that say about me?

@clvr

I can remember on some of those games, I'd spend the whole first day I had it just going through the manual, trying to memorize what counters what, how much damage reduction would this armor have against slash, pierce, bludgeon, etc., and any other esoteric information I thought would arm me against the struggles to come. I was able to get so much more deeply into those games than most of the surface stuff that comes out today. It's like reading the manual was a primer to start the engine of my imagination.

I agree with you about Call of Duty. I was watching a trailer for one of these new online shooters, might even have BEEN Call of Duty multiplayer, and was struck by how dumb some of the repeated dialog is in these things. It's the same every game: 'GO GO GO!' or, 'I've got your six!', or 'Hard Copy!', or 'Bring the pain!' or whatever other mindless drivel they think soldiers yell back and forth to each other. I'm just constantly surprised some of these games still have such large player bases, surprised people haven't gotten bored and moved on.

I was trying to think back to the earliest example I could think of where I first saw games as art, and I came up with a very old and unusual game. Did you ever play MDK? I played it on computer before they even had 3d video cards (or maybe they did have them and I'd just not yet heard of them) and I remember thinking 'wow, this is amazing! What creativity! It's like art that moves!' I'm sure it would look like garbage today, but I was fully drawn in, mesmerized. Since then, I used to play a lot of multiplayer in a game called Heretic 2, which ran on the Quake 2 engine, and I learned how to use the editor to make my own maps. That really got me into the artistry of which textures to use where, and what type, color, and intensity of light to use to achieve the mood I wanted. People liked them, so many servers started including them in their map rotations. It was such a unique and rewarding experience to deathmatch with strangers on a map that I'D made. I miss those days, until I think about all the assorted hardware problems detailed above!

@LordSteev no, unfortunately I've never heard of MDK!
As I told you I was raised on Nintendo consoles and never branched out until I got a PS3, PS4 and later a PC, so I missed out on a lot of games pf the older eras.
Oh and I'm a 90's kid so I was definitely too young for Hexen etc, but I gotta say one of the best things about 2020 is that I became enamoured with so-called "boomer shooters"!
During the year I played all of the DOOM games (aside from 2016, the only one I'd played before) and also downloaded Shadow Warrior Classic, Duke Nukem 20th Anniversary, and I've kept a close eye on all the new ones coming out.
For now I've tried Project Warlock (very good), Post Void (insane), and Wrack (mediocre), but then there's Ion Fury, Prodeus, Ultrakill, Amid Evil and so many more I've yet to try out!

The culmination though was finally getting DOOM Eternal Deluxe Edition for only 40€ this December (I'm not one for day one purchases except very rare exceptions, I usually play games years after release when they're cheap), and boy is that game on another level of awesome.
Basically it's FPS perfected and redefined; it's like id peeked into a parallel dimension where all those stupid, useless mechanics like aiming down the iron sight, reloading, taking cover and regenerating health were never invented, and that basically makes it the second coming of DOOM and of the FPS in general.

I didn't like violent games when I was younger, but if FPS games played more like this and less like COD it sure would've been easier getting them!

@LordSteev LOL, OMG it's all coming back to me. Make it stop, make it stop!! The screen's so blue! What is that high pitched sound?? NOOOOO!!

Yeah, TCS definitely goes deep down the anime hole, and definitely has the high school theme, though technically the main character journeys from student to teacher by the time you get to 3, so it's a series that goes from the youth to adulthood and watching the world change around as the new kids now don't understand a thing about your world kind of environment. A rare treat from Japan. A perfect midlife crisis arc. (1 & 2' Rean & friends are the kids. 3 & 4 they're now they adults teaching the new kids amidst a backdrop of a war.) I definitely get it if you can't get into it though. And it does have tons of talking. But there's a deep RPG in there and one of the most complete beginning to end stories around (in any genre. I'm still only partway through myself, though, so I don't know how it all ends.) 4 is a total series finale not just for TCS subseries but the LoH main series as well, so there's a lot of years of games wrapped up by the end of that one, and some characters from the main series not in TCS's subseries until then...if you own it and play it first, be warned!

X-Com was great! The original creator has been long detached from the series, which is part of why it's kind of become rough with releases. The classic games were special though. There's one rare gem....on the 3DS no less (!) you might like. It was a 3DS launch title, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars. The original X-Com creator found himself at Ubisoft for a while and made that game for 3DS. It's basically an X-Com spiritual successor. It's a criminally underrated turn based strategy game.

Deus Ex began life as a System Shock spinoff, actually. Both are Warren Spector (before the fever dream that was Epic Mickey ) So there's definitely a lot those two have in common. Indeed the first game was the best of the bunch, but I don't think I could stand playing it today. Remembering hordes of grays and MiB/WiBs coming at me near the end...not exactly the best design by modern standards!

RRoD was special. It was a manufacturing problem. A change to pinless sockets for the CPU along with the change to RoHS lead-free solder, and a factory with the irons set at the old colder temp. They never flowed the solder properly. Every unit pre-Japser was guaranteed to fail. But PS3 slim had a similar but less universal problem with YLoD. My PS3 Phat is still going. My PS3 Slims, I went through 2 disc drives. No YLoD though. My PS4 Pro got kind of funky though. It would randomly cut out for no reason and start beeping like I was ejecting a disc. I wasn't using a disc. It was a flashback to the PC days!

@NEStalgia, @clvr

Hey guys, sorry I missed this. Girlfriend got a new job in a new town and I went and visited her. Just got back. Can a long distance relationship work? I'm guessing no, but she wants to try. TBH, it wasn't the best relationship when it was short distance, so this might have been my last trip. Too many miles to drive to have the same old arguments, and the make-up sex isn't what it used to be.

@LordSteev no problem mate, don't you worry at all!

Sorry to hear that, I mean it.
I don't know about distant relationships, I kinda had one in the past but we weren't that far tbf so I really can't give you my 2 cents, sorry.

Hope it gets better though! 😃

@clvr Thanks, I appreciate it. I feel like it's been going nowhere for a while now, so maybe this is just the universe saying time to move on. Cheers!

@LordSteev you're more than welcome mate!