Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster Reviews
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster offers enough improvements and added content to show that a classic, turn-based RPG is still worth playing. Whether you’ve already played the original PlayStation 2 version or are a newcomer, ingest a Magatama and get ready for a wild, post-apocalyptic ride.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is dated, has technical issues and unforgiving however its also one of the most fun games I've played this year.
There is a lot to love about Nocturne. The story is relevant and timeless, the characters engaging. The Vortex World of post-apocalyptic Tokyo is eerily beautiful, the dungeons varied. The voice acting is all around pretty solid (I played using the Japanese cast, since I prefer original language to dubs). Even the game’s vaunted difficulty, for all the anguish and frustration it caused, has its own charms. Some of the game design choices feel distinctly of their era and returning to them 20 years on feels archaic and cumbersome, but despite those flaws, Nocturne stands the test of time and remains one of gaming’s best RPGs. You owe it to yourself to play it if you haven’t before, and to revisit it if you have. The HD remaster is a fantastic addition to the SMT library.
Considering how much ground the Shin Megami Tensei franchise has gained in its efforts to court fans in North America since Nocturne first released, the game, in retrospect, feels like a harbinger of things to come that went unheeded. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster pushes the game to new levels in terms of quality and accessibility, allowing fans the chance to fully appreciate its heady, post-apocalyptic, coming-of-age story on their terms. That's an opportunity they should not miss.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster may still have some rough edges for a remaster but a number of improvements as well as combat and recruitment systems that hold up strong help this classic JRPG remain just as worthwhile today as it was in 2004.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is a good step forward to introduce newcomers to the series, but there is not much incentive for fans to return to it again.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster brings back one of the most celebrated and beloved entries from the Megami Tensei franchise nearly 20 years after its original debut. The original Nocturne was a heck of a JRPG in its time, and Atlus has now upgraded it with higher-resolution widescreen visuals, richer vocal tracks, and some much-appreciated quality of life upgrades. Unfortunately, it also misses some areas of the game that equally needed touching up (such as the controls and camera), and it's hard not to feel like the game deserved a full remake rather than just a remaster.
Another change any RPG fan is sure to fall in love with is the suspend save feature, especially if you're in the group that plans to purchase the game on the Nintendo Switch. This new addition allows players to save anywhere in the game without needing to find a save point. This makes the trial-and-error parts of the game an almost non-issue, and for Switch fans, it makes the game much easier to play on the go.
An underwhelming port of a cult classic.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is an extremely influential title, but by today's standards it is also an extremely frustrating experience. The HD Remaster is recommended for those who already loved the title and needed a good excuse to replay it, but for the general public it is better to wait for the release of Shin Megami Tensei V.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
As fascinatingly unique as it always was but this former PlayStation 2 game is showing its age and while it's still one of the best JRPGs of its era, it pales when compared to more modern titles.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is less about being a satisfactory remaster and more about just bringing this fantastic JRPG onto a new generation of consoles.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is a potent mixture of cosmic horror, religious horror, JRPG action, and pitch-black comedy. As long as you’re prepared to embrace your inner monster, it’ll be a hell of a time.
Dark JRPG in its narrative but fun in its gameplay, it brought me back to this kind of games. However at the same time, the direction did not live up to the standards on today. I recommend this game to all RPG lovers only.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
It’s a love letter that will undoubtedly tug on emotions, and make those question their morals and ambitions. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne will always be, one of the greatest of all time.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster remains a singular JRPG with very good qualities, such as an effective combat system and a real choice left to the player during the game. But you have to know what you're getting into: a difficult game, one that doesn't forgive error and seems to remain in its 2000s. We would have liked this remaster to be a little bolder in terms of technique and above all ergonomic. It may again divide, but we believe that there is still a piece of choice in this JRPG collection.
Review in French | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: HD Remaster is an oddly self-aware remaster that does its best to make itself approachable for everyone by remedying most of its flaws. The new difficulty, new skill inheritance options and fully voiced dialogue all help to make the game feel modern and approachable for new audiences. It's just a shame that, for a HD remaster, it's not as visually impressive as it could be.
Though running around in circles and fighting battle after battle with samey demons can be more yawn than yay, Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is a classic that anyone who values the genre should check out, even if it’s merely to delve into the roots of this complicated, intriguing universe.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne was one of the first games I ever reviewed as a game critic, back on the PlayStation 2. I was mesmerised by it then, because I found it to be a deeply challenging, but also deeply rewarding JRPG, and its dark, genuinely adult theme wasn't so common for JRPGs back then. 18-odd years later, my interest in games has shifted slightly, and I'd like to think my capabilities and depth as a critic has matured. However, this game continues to compel me. It is thought-provoking, deeply creative, and a genuinely serious JRPG. Oddly enough, one of the qualities that drew me to the original has drawn me back to the remaster: we still don't get so many of those.