According to Yamai, “a big highlight is the “Maniax Pack,” featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series. The demon protagonist and Dante, a Devil Hunter, encounter one another with this downloadable content. We hope you enjoy the ensuing battle between “Demon vs. Devil Hunter”! Dante’s stylish and genre-breaking action is something you don’t want to miss.”

The Shin Megami Tensei Background Music Pack is more straightforward and does exactly what it says it does: allows you to change the background music when you’re moving around the map or in combat. Mercy and Exploitation, on the other hand, “adds two new maps: “Where the Demi-Fiend Was Born” and “Center of the Conception.” Once you clear both, you’re able to earn heaps of money and experience. This will make your journey less arduous, and help with leveling up your characters.”

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is available now for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. You can watch Kazuyuki Yamai discuss the game’s DLC here:

Once demon-ified, your silent protagonist high schooler – who is known as the Demi-fiend – is tasked with remaking the world. Again, a pretty normal day for a JRPG protagonist, especially one in an Atlus RPG. Once the stakes are established and you’ve run into the other major players, several of whom have the same motivation as you and very different ideas about what a new world should be, you’re kind of turned loose to do your own thing.

"Most of the time, Nocturne feels like a very dark Pokemon game. You travel the world, collect monsters, and use them to fight."

Shin Megami Tensei may be what spawned the Persona series, but Persona it is not. Instead of a grand adventure built around a party where the overarching plot is paramount, Shin Megami Tensei is more about individual scenes. Between them, the player is more or less free to do whatever they want.

Mostly, what they’ll do is run around and get into combat, acquiring new demons to fit into their party as they do so. Unlike the Persona titles, there are no permanent party members in Nocturne who are not the Demi-fiend (with one notable exception), so recruiting demons to fight alongside you is crucial. Most can be recruited by talking to them in combat and handing over money and items, and then answering a couple questions correctly. Most of the time, Nocturne feels like a very dark Pokemon game. You travel the world, collect monsters, and use them to fight.

It’s good that the combat is the star of the show, then. Nocturne’s combat is turn-based, with each side assigned a number of Turns that generally corresponds to the turn of units on each side. Each action typically takes a single Turn. After exhausting every Turn, control switches to the other side. Hitting a monster with an attack they are weak against, landing a critical hit, or passing your Turn to another party member, however, only uses half a Turn, allowing you to chain together several more moves than normal if you play your cards right. Land enough of the right hits and you can prevent enemies from having a turn at all, but there is a catch. Using an ability an enemy can absorb or missing an attack will take two Turns from you, so the margin of error is pretty low.

"The remaster does help, adding a much-needed suspend feature that allows you to save and quit even if you’re not at save point, as well as a Merciful mode that tones down the game’s difficulty."

Naturally, learning weaknesses and exploiting status effects are important, so having a good group of demons with diverse skill sets at your command is paramount. Like Pokemon, some demons evolve, but most are more useful when they’re fused together to make a stronger demon. Fused demons can even carry over some of their old skills. The Demi-fiend is no slouch, either, consuming items called Magatama to determine what skills to learn and boost specific stats. Magatama can be changed out at any time, allowing the player a great deal of freedom to build their Demi-fiend’s skills and stats as they play.

It’s all pretty complicated, though the game’s easy enough at the outset. It’s not until the player runs into the Matador, the game’s first true boss fight, that they’ll likely understand how little they understand the game’s systems. Nocturne can be an unforgiving game, but it’s rarely an unfair one. It does, however, expect you to learn how to play it, and will treat you accordingly if you don’t.

The remaster does help, adding a much-needed suspend feature that allows you to save and quit even if you’re not at save point, as well as a Merciful mode that tones down the game’s difficulty. The rest of the remaster’s additions are more standard fare: models and textures look better, and there are both English and Japanese voice over options, subtitles in German, Italian, and Spanish.

"The remaster is extremely faithful to the original PS2 release, for better or worse. While that means preserving the original’s brilliant art, deep combat, and wonderful soundtrack, it also means that this feels very much like a PS2 game. "

The remaster is extremely faithful to the original PS2 release, for better or worse. While that means preserving the original’s brilliant art, deep combat, and wonderful soundtrack, it also means that this feels very much like a PS2 game. The world often feels empty, even for a post-apocalyptic setting, and I can’t count how many times I entered a small room to find a single NPC with one line of dialogue and nothing else. Doubtless much of this stems from its origins as a PS2 title, but it can be jarring for someone new to the game.

Still, the game holds up remarkably well if you can get over its difficulty and lack of plot. If I have one criticism of Nocturne, it’s this: the game does a very poor job of teaching you how to play it. It’s easy to breeze through everything before the Matador fight without using any of the game’s interesting systems. While Nocturne does mention things like fusion and how the combat system works, it generally doesn’t show you how to or require you how to use them until you get to the Matador fight, at which point the difficulty curve skyrockets. Matador is really where the game starts, but it’s easy to imagine players getting bored before then or quitting when they get there because they don’t understand what to do. I’ll be honest: had I not had to play the game for review, I probably would have stopped a few hours in because of how dull the opening hours are. All of that changes once you get past Matador, but you have to get there first, and that will take most players several hours. And then you have to fight him. For most players, that will likely be extremely hard, and many will probably quit there, even with the option to lower the difficulty.

So the question remains: is the HD Remaster worth it? It’s undoubtedly the best version of Nocturne, and the new additions are welcome touches. If you can get past the game’s obvious PS2-era origins, barebones plot, rather boring tutorial, and extreme difficulty curve, you’ll likely have a good time. The combat, art, music, and setting are that good. If not, Nocturne will remain little more than a curiosity, the most famous part of the series that spawned Persona, a remnant of a past world, much like the Demi-fiend himself.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Several previews have gone live for Atlus’s Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster and we’ve since learned a bit more about the game’s Factions. However, PS4 and PC players should take note – the RPG is locked to 30 frames per second on both platforms. WCCF Tech confirmed this was the case in its preview for the PS4 version (which was running on PS5).

RPG Site senior staff writer Josh Torres also revealed on Twitter that the PC version runs at 30 FPS. A small gameplay clip was attached with Steam’s frame counter in the top left counter indicating the same. On the plus side, the PS4 version seems to run at a stable frame rate on PS5. Some aliasing was noted but not to the extent of, say, Persona 5: Strikers.

It remains to be seen whether the PC version could have its frame rate unlocked via mods. In the meantime, Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is slated to release on May 25th for PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

I've touched a bit of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne's upcoming PC port on Steam. Sad to report that it is indeed capped at 30fps. I've taken a small slice of gameplay footage at the very beginning of the game with a Steam FPS counter at the top left (sorry that it's super small). pic.twitter.com/FRGrMJoF89

— HDKirin (@HD_Kirin) April 20, 2021

Atlus has released a new trailer for Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster, outlining the different factions and choices that players can make. There’s Yosuga, the reason of Strength and Power; Musubi, the reason of Isolation; and Shijima, the reason of Emotionless Balance. Depending on which you align with, the others will become your foes.

As a remaster of the 2003 PS2 classic, the story is still focused on post-apocalyptic Tokyo after the fallout of the Concept. As the Demi-Fiend, the player battles all kinds of foes and, depending on their choices, can influence whether gods or demons emerge victorious. Though the old-school difficulty is intact, the remaster adds other difficulty levels including the new “Merciful” difficulty that can be downloaded for free.

English and Japanese voiceovers are available along with the ability to suspend the game and save whenever. All of the patches added following the game’s release in Japan are also included. Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is out on May 25th for PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Atlus has released a new trailer for Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster, outlining the core story and the player’s role. The world is turned upside down when the Conception begins with gods and demons battling it out for supremacy. With demons running amuck in Tokyo, the player must make a choice and decide who wins.

As a remaster of the 2003 PS2 classic, Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster features improved models adn backgrounds. Raidou Kuzunoha is also included with an “alternate branch” available and players can choose between Japanese and English voice-overs. Additional difficulty settings have been added with the easier “Merciful” difficult added as free DLC.

Best of all, players can save their progress whenever. Though the remaster launched with a variety of issues in Japan, the Western release includes all of the patches and performance improvements made since then. It’s out on May 25th for PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC in the West.

Earlier today, there was word that Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster would be seeing release in the west, finally, sometime in May. At the time, Atlus wasn’t ready to fully commit to that it seems. Now, however, it’s become official. Not only will the game be coming in that timeframe outside Japan, it will also be adding another platform.

Originally announced for PS4 and Switch, Atlus has made it official that the game will also be coming to PC via Steam. It will come in both Standard Edition, which will cost $49.99, and Digital Deluxe Edition for $69.99. The Digital Deluxe Edition will include all DLC, including the Maniax Pack that returns Dante from the Devil May Cry series, and the Mercy and Expectation Map Pack that includes new missions and side activities. Another perk of the Deluxe Edition will be getting access to the game 4 days early on May 21st. There’s also free DLC such as Merciful Difficulty for those who find the game’s notorious difficulty a bit too much. You can also buy the mentioned DLC above separately, but no price point was given at this time.

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster will release on May 25th for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

ATLUS Director Kazuyuki Yamai has a special message for all #SMT3 fans!

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam on May 25, 2021.

Pre-order now: https://t.co/mvmrIhWslG pic.twitter.com/56l8ZXrjH9

— Official ATLUS West (@Atlus_West) March 19, 2021

Last year it was announced that the legendary Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne would be getting the HD remaster treatment. It was set to come with new features, such as full voice acting, as well as various new DLC and side activities. The game released already in Japan, and was said to come westward sometime in Spring of 2021. In classic Atlus fashion, the company has been deftly silent since then, but now we could know when to expect the RPG.

According to Persona Central, Nintendo of Europe put out a press release stating that the game will release on May 25. As of now, though, no one else has confirmed this and neither Nintendo nor Atlus has commented on this date, so we have to put that under rumor for the time being. However, it is worth noting that the game was recently rated by the ESRB, which would indicate a release date is soon. As noted by Persona Central, there is a concert scheduled around the series, “Shin Megami Tensei Online Live 2021 Reason of Music,” and Atlus has been known to drop big news at random functions like this, so it’s possible it’ll be announced then.

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is set to release for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch this year.

Last year it was announced that Shin Megami Tensei 3 would be getting the HD treatment. The game is somewhat legendary for a multitude of reasons, and was once struck in the PS2 generation of the past (also for having Dante from the Devil May Cry series randomly show up). The remaster has been available in Japan for quite some time, and it seems like it could be coming soon to other regions.

When originally announced, the game was said to only be Spring 2021 for every region outside Japan. There’s been nothing said about the release after that initial announcement, but the game has now been rated by the ESRB, which you can see through here. That’s generally a good sign that a title is planned for release relatively soon, though of course, that isn’t always the case.

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is set to release at some point this year for PlayStation 4 and Switch. The next mainline title in the franchise, Shin Megami Tensei 5, is also set to come this year, exclusively to the Nintendo Switch.

This year’s Tokyo Game Show came to a close after a new digital format, one that seemed to be pretty successful, and as usual it was filled with lots of titles from lots of publishers. We’re also close to a new generation of consoles launching, so there’s so much to pay attention to. After the show, Japanese players were polled as to what their most wanted games were after TGS ended and, while most were what you expect, a few surprises slipped in.

The polling was done via major Japanese gaming media Famitsu, Dengeki, 4Gamer, and V Jump. It was to determine what games that had released on September 24th or later the public was most excited for. While it’s no surprise that Capcom’s Monster Hunter Rise was at the top of the list, it is a bit of a shock that it was not number 1. That spot ended up going to Genshin Impact, the recently released free to play action title. Capcom, however, really was the MVP on the 15 game list having three other titles beside Rise on there: Resident Evil Village, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition and Monster Hunter Stories 2.

The rest of the list was somewhat predictable, including Final Fantasy 16, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, NeiR Replicant and Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires. Cyberpunk 2077 also managed to just make the list at 13, the sole western title. Mobile had a pretty strong presence, too, as a few slots were taken by mobile-only titles such as Sakura Revolution and Project Sekai Colorful Stage! both from Sega.

Thanks to Siliconera for translating and compiling the list. You can see it, as well as the platforms for each title, in full below.

1. Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, iOS, Android; also coming later to Switch and PS5)
2. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch)
3. Project Sekai Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku (iOS, Android)
4. Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition (PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
5. Resident Evil Village (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC; PS4 & Xbox One being considered)
6. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (Switch)
7. Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
8. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster (PS4, Switch)
9. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity  (Switch)
10. Sakura Revolution (iOS, Android)
11. R-Type Final 2 (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
12. Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa Heisei Reiwa mo Teiban! (Switch)
13. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia)
14. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
15. Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

The PS2 era was quite an amazing one when you look back at it. A wide variety of franchises and genres were created or refined there, and there’s many gems that remain stuck there, unfortunately. But one of those gems is making its grand return when it was announced that Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne would be coming to the PS4 and Switch in the form of a new remaster. The RPG is something of a legendary entry in the fabled SMT series, and it seems this remaster is getting some extra things.

As detailed from Atlus, the game will have several additions both as DLC and side activities. On the DLC side, we have some things that were known such as the new Merciful difficulty for those who want to sit back and enjoy the story as well as the Maniax pack that includes the original Dante from Devil Mary Cry guest character (in the remaster, that role is replaced by a character from another SMT subseries). There are also dedicated maps for getting new items to help you out, as well as soundtrack packs from every other mainline entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series. Side activities also include new minigames, quick save, new game+ and the ability to revisit boss fights. You can see a full list as translated and transcribed by Gematsu through here.

Keep in mind that this is referring to the Japanese release of the game, which will be October 29th for both platforms. It’s unclear if the DLC will be included with the western release, which will come sometime in 2021.