Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster Reviews
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.
In short, due to its design coherence, importance in mechanics, high artistic personality and conceptual depth, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is, of course, a must-have game for experienced dungeon crawlers or fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series who haven't played it yet. Due to its high difficulty and strenuous pace, both for combat and exploration, the title is not recommended for first-timers in the series, much less for those who have not played any RPG of the type.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Yes, I love the game! Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster does so many things right that a Japanese role-player would want. First, an exciting story that takes a bit to get going, but picks up tremendously as the game progresses. With a total of six different endings, you can dive more than a hundred hours into the game. Secondly, the combat system, despite its age, is not boring. No two battles are alike, and in the most marginal fights you have to be careful not to die. Only by cleverly using the press-turn system can you survive. But this level of difficulty has been greatly alleviated with the "Gracious Mode". This means that a wider audience can now have fun with the title. Only the annoying random battles dampen the euphoria. Last but not least, the collecting urge is more than satisfied in the title. With far more than a hundred demons and monsters, there are endless possibilities to put together your dream team. Also, many monsters can evolve as well, giving a real "Pokémon feeling". I'm confident that Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster will be a big seller. Perhaps this will see more Shin Megami classics get a re-release on the current generation of consoles. Also, this spin-off is the perfect preparation for the hopefully soon to be released fifth part!
Review in German | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster looks more like a port than a remaster, but its strengths remain evident while considering a technical sector comparable to that of the original edition.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne remains a solid JRPG even today, but the remaster could have gone a bit further at this price point
SMT III remains a great game, but an inflated price tag combined with some dated mechanics might make it a harder sell for some.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is a re-release that really does the bare minimum to justify the arrival of such an important title on high-resolution screens. Atlus has decided not to invest further time to improve and modernize the experience, forcing us to recommend the game only to those who do not own it in its original incarnation.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is a good restoration work, which is made stronger by its most solid premise: the starting game, the original Nocturne of 2004, was and remains a masterpiece in the J-RPG group to which many modern works are still inspired today.
Review in Italian | Read full review
SMT III Nocturne HD is one of the hardest games in the Shin Megami Tensei series, which is no small boast, considering how challenging the other entries can be. The remaster could have been improved with some extra QoL features to make the game less frustrating, but the core experience is still great on its own. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is difficult but rewarding, and its strategic combat system, legions of demon allies, engaging story, and its unique world make it worth coming back to after all of these years.
For fans of the series or those who are already in love with Nocturne, this won’t be a problem. But for newcomers looking to get into the series, I must warn you that there is a pretty high barrier to entry here. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is still the best of the bunch, and if you’re willing to put in the time to learn its various mechanics, you’ll get a lot out of it. The problem is, that’s a pretty big if.
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.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is a great way to experience one of the best JRPGs of the turn of the century. However, the remastering work leaves a lot to be desired.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a fantastic RPG, but its remaster does the bare minimum to get a passing grade compared to other modern remasters of classics.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is an apocalyptic blast from the past that goes beyond what we could have hoped for in celebration of the cult classic.
Nocturne was, and still is, one of the best JRPGs coming from Atlus's vault, and surely one to be played by younger gamers. This remaster is not without little faults, but a series of QOL improvements make it palatable even for complete newcomers.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Nocturne's PS2 origins are obvious, but players who can get past the intense difficulty curve and barebones plot will find a great RPG that rewards mastery of its combat systems.
Even with my gripe with this release, this is still the best version of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, and so that within itself is a recommendation to play the game.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is an average port of an exceptional title. Despite being almost 20 years old, it's still one of the best JRPGs ever made, and it still stands up favorably to the games that came after it. It's still a PS2 game at heart, but it's a rare one that has aged quite well, so it's still worth playing for the first time even without the comforting glow of nostalgia. Unfortunately, the actual HD upgrade is perfunctory and bare-bones, so what you see is largely what you get. It's basically a way to play Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne on modern systems, and it's good for that. It just could have been more.
The wildly popular Persona franchise likely wouldn't be what it is today without Nocturne's influence, and as a fan of both series I'm incredibly excited to see this classic title be rediscovered by a new generation. I can't help but feel let down by the poor audio compression for the soundtrack, but ultimately that was just as much of a problem in 2003 as it is now. This is the best way to play Nocturne, and I think any fan of classic JRPGs owes it to themself to do exactly that.