I have just finished Nocturne and now I'm looking at the TV, thinking... why the fuck did I love this game?
It's like the game was developed to make you suffer and feel miserable... yet... I just loved it!
But still, the question lingers. Why did I love SMT3? There are so many bad things in its design! It's just filled with little to major flaws that prevents me from loving it even more.
For starters, the environments may seem pretty at first, but the repetition will get to you and it will feel dull. It's as if they made it on purpose. Claustrophobia is a thing in the Vortex World. Negotiating with demons is a pain the ass and the game doesn't even explain it to you. In fact, Nocturne wastes no time in explaining anything. The only reason I got through the game's mechanics without looking for a guide is because this is not my first SMT game.
And what about the dungeon maps? They're terrible! Again, was it bad design or is the humdrum on purpose? Why not include a mini-map? Why is the encounter rate so goddamn high? Did the Labyrinth of Amala need to be THAT gigantic and confusing? Was it a necessity to make the final dungeon in the game so frustating and clueless? The puzzles are good, but did EVERY dungeon need one?
And don't even get me started on the difficulty! Look, I get it, it's part of the experience and it's in the series' DNA. But SMT3's difficulty is just absurd. Even normal enemies are ruthless! Was it part of its design to make it extremely unbalanced and inaccessible? I see no necessity for it. And yes, there's that newly added Merciful difficult, but that just turns it into a joke. It makes Pokémon Let's Go Evee look difficult!
But even after pointing out a few of SMT3's many flaws, why do I still love it so much? Why did I have so much fun with it?
Maybe it was the character's design. Every single character, from demon to manikin, they're just VERY well done. Or maybe it's the press turn battle system that just refuses to be boring. Was it Nocturne's thought-provoking intricate writing and social/religious themes that kept me hooked? The minimalistic nature of the game's story and gameplay just hides away a mountain of depth, right?
It was probably the addictive mechanic of collecting and fusing demons. Maybe the oppressive and lonely atmosphere just talked to me, you know? I mean, the story is immersive and every single ending seems solid enough. Or was it the boss fights that kept me pumped? And I didn't even mention how PERFECT the soundtrack is. I could spend days listening to SMT3's ost and I wouldn't get tired of it.
In the end, I do not know why this game is so lovely. It is unnecessarily painful, but I just keep coming back to it.
I wouldn't recommend it, though. Unless you really wanna do it...
It's like the game was developed to make you suffer and feel miserable... yet... I just loved it!
But still, the question lingers. Why did I love SMT3? There are so many bad things in its design! It's just filled with little to major flaws that prevents me from loving it even more.
For starters, the environments may seem pretty at first, but the repetition will get to you and it will feel dull. It's as if they made it on purpose. Claustrophobia is a thing in the Vortex World. Negotiating with demons is a pain the ass and the game doesn't even explain it to you. In fact, Nocturne wastes no time in explaining anything. The only reason I got through the game's mechanics without looking for a guide is because this is not my first SMT game.
And what about the dungeon maps? They're terrible! Again, was it bad design or is the humdrum on purpose? Why not include a mini-map? Why is the encounter rate so goddamn high? Did the Labyrinth of Amala need to be THAT gigantic and confusing? Was it a necessity to make the final dungeon in the game so frustating and clueless? The puzzles are good, but did EVERY dungeon need one?
And don't even get me started on the difficulty! Look, I get it, it's part of the experience and it's in the series' DNA. But SMT3's difficulty is just absurd. Even normal enemies are ruthless! Was it part of its design to make it extremely unbalanced and inaccessible? I see no necessity for it. And yes, there's that newly added Merciful difficult, but that just turns it into a joke. It makes Pokémon Let's Go Evee look difficult!
But even after pointing out a few of SMT3's many flaws, why do I still love it so much? Why did I have so much fun with it?
Maybe it was the character's design. Every single character, from demon to manikin, they're just VERY well done. Or maybe it's the press turn battle system that just refuses to be boring. Was it Nocturne's thought-provoking intricate writing and social/religious themes that kept me hooked? The minimalistic nature of the game's story and gameplay just hides away a mountain of depth, right?
It was probably the addictive mechanic of collecting and fusing demons. Maybe the oppressive and lonely atmosphere just talked to me, you know? I mean, the story is immersive and every single ending seems solid enough. Or was it the boss fights that kept me pumped? And I didn't even mention how PERFECT the soundtrack is. I could spend days listening to SMT3's ost and I wouldn't get tired of it.
In the end, I do not know why this game is so lovely. It is unnecessarily painful, but I just keep coming back to it.
I wouldn't recommend it, though. Unless you really wanna do it...
2 Comments
SMT3 is just one of THOSE games, right? Every time I think back about my experience with it or when I'm listening to the OST, it just makes me really happy!
I think that this is a hard game to convince someone to actually play it, but it's such treat given how special the gameplay/story is.
I think that this is a hard game to convince someone to actually play it, but it's such treat given how special the gameplay/story is.
Nightmare_0mega
4 months ago
One time, while climbing up a big tower to go and speak to a giant demon yakuza bossman, I ended up encountering a bird demon named Babd Catha. Before the fight started, she interrupted the battle, hit on the protagonist, and shoved her way into the party (I had an empty slot due to fusing a few demons a little while ago). It was THE most random thing to happen to me at the time, and it NEVER happened to me again, even if I tried to force conditions (be around "impulsive" demons, have open party slots).
There are other moments of strange moments of RNG that seem to make it feel much more alive, again seemingly playing into how demons behave.
There's also the fact I ended my first playthrough with a party of Metatron, Beelzibub, and Dante, and it was something hilarously awesome to have such a morality spectrum party mix fighting the avatar of YHWH.