Games: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Developer: Atlus
Platform: Playstation 2
Genre: RPG

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the first of the SMT series that made it to North America. If you have played Persona, or Digital Devil Saga, then you shouldn't be unfamiliar with this game. The most unique thing about the game would be the recuitment system, which allows you to hire almost any enemy in the game through negotiation. And that is including most of the bosses you will encounter.

You might be thinking, "Hey, isn't that pokemon?" NO. Read on.

Story
Like other SMTs, you are an ordinary high school student. Well, not-so-ordinary because you are chosen. You are told by your teacher that she is with an occult group who plan on destroying the world. You might now be thinking, "Yeah, save the world and all the good stuff, right?" Wrong. To save you some time, they went on and destroyed the world. You somehow survive, and now have this demon power - Magatama - implanted to you by a blonde boy and his maid. "Your suffering will entertain my little master. Don't disappoint him," she said, and then they both disappeared.

You are no longer human, but rather, a Demi-Fiend, human who possesses demonic power. The story has six (I think?) endings depend on how you handle certain situations in your journey. To create or to destroy, it is all up to you.

Gameplay
There is no equipment in the game. Instead, you ingest different Magatamas that give you different power and abilities. The battle system is the normal turn-based, random encounter battle. The game ends when your hero dies, though. (Not the entire party, just your hero) So if you make a wrong move, it can very easily be game over. In the battle, you have access to several negotiation commands throughout the game. For instance:

Talk
You can recruit your foe to fight along your side. The demon will ask for currency, and sometimes item, before they join up with you.

Trade/Beg/Pester
Most of the demons are not very intelligent, and you certainly should take advantage of that. You can get valueable gemstones with a low level items, but sometimes you will be the one who get ripped off. (The hero does not have this skill)

Rob
Tired of fighting low level enemies? Why not rob them? You will be surprised how much macca those little demons are carrying... (The hero does not have this skill)

What really makes the game interesting is the Demon Fusion. You can take two demons to the altar and fuse them together in order to create a different demon. The outcome depends on the race of your demons, and the "child" can inherit skills (that you normally cannot get) from its "parents," creating a more powerful demon. This includes most of the bosses you'll encounter, too.

Sound
There is no voice acting in the game. Personally I'm neutral about this, because I feel that no voice acting is at least better than bad voice acting... the in-battle voicework and sound effect are fine, though. In general, the music is above average, but nothing really to scream about.

Special
We have a little guest in this game... This demon hunter who is rumored to have the blood of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda. He now wonders in this Vortex World because he is hired for a job. To eliminate you. Yes, Dante made an appearance in the game, and it is based off his Devil May Cry 2 design. Wielding his Ebony and Ivory, with the Rebellion on his back... As a half-demon, is it your destiny to face the demon hunter's justice? Or can you convince him to fight along your side?

Overall
The main reason why I love this game is because it gives me challenges. It doesn't matter if you are stronger then your foe... one wrong move, one wrong strategy, and you can be easily toasted. If you don't know your enemies well, you will be seeing the Game Over screen very often. There are bosses who can wipe the party in one hit, there are bosses who have instance-kill spells that will not miss, even if you are immune to death/expel, Also, you can actually select difficulty level for this RPG. If you purely want to play a RPG and level, then this is definitely your game, for you can get beyond level 99. If you are looking for something difficult, and a unique RPG experience, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is something you do not want to miss.

Score: 9.5