Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne – Treat me mean…

Year: 2003 |Publisher: Atlus|Developer: Atlus |Original format: PlayStation 2 | Version played: Nintendo Switch

I first encountered Shin Megami Tensei with the release of the fourth entry, on Nintendo 3DS, in 2014 and while it’s far from my favourite JRPG series, I did discover some distinct charms that seem to be ever present in the series now that I play the HD remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III. While this revered game boasts many of the standard tropes and features of the genre, it really stands out because of its cast of recruitable monsters. Or, more specifically, those monsters’ aggressive, downright abusive personalities.

The ability to fight monsters and then recruit them into your party certainly isn’t unique to the SMT series. Dragon Quest V adopted the mechanic in 1992, and Pokémon has been running with it since ’96. But as far as I’m aware it was the original Megami Tensei (no Shin) that got there first in 1987, and for all the games it has influenced over the years, none have come close to imitating its style.

I’m a big fan of the evolution system in the SMT series. In a game like Pokémon, evolution is generally quite predictable. You know that a Squirtle will evolve into a Wartortle will evolve into a Blastoise, and it will be the same every time. You probably even know this long before you’ve played your first Pokémon game, such is the all-pervading reach of the franchise across cartoons, collectible cards and toys. But in Shin Megami Tensei, the monsters don’t evolve in a linear fashion. Instead you can create an entirely new demon by taking two completely different monsters and fusing them together.

You might argue this is a subtle distinction and not worth writing home about but I reckon it’s a pretty significant strength of the series. When I walk into the “Cathedral of Shadows” and preview all the different possible results of combining one demon with any of the others in the party, I always get a giddy sense of excitement. Perhaps it’s because I’m less familiar with the series, but I’m never able to predict what new monster will be created, and there’s a palpable sense of surprise at the results.

It helps that SMT’s demons are so well designed. They range from the cute to the gruesome and span everything in between; macabre abominations, fearsome beasts or possessed historical warriors. Get the right combination and you could create something really cool and special, maybe something you’ve never even seen out in the field before. But that cool new monster comes at a price: fusing two monsters to create just one. Whether you’ve become attached to their quirky personalities, their cool designs or they just have an array of powerful attacks and abilities you might think twice about giving up, it can be a difficult decision to have to say goodbye to any of your hard earned beast buddies.

Ultimately, it’s not the way you part with your demons that makes me love Shin Megami Tensei but rather the way they’re recruited to begin with. Getting a monster on side is a little more complicated than whittling down their health before chucking a Pokéball at them. Instead, every monster needs to be wooed and coerced into joining the party.

If a rival monster is willing to talk to you during battle then a period of negotiation will begin before they’ll truly open up to you. For many you’ll need to be a certain level before they’ll give you the time of day and even then you’ll have to shower them with cash and gifts to make any real headway. So far so JRPG, but then comes the clincher… These monsters each have their own twisted sense of integrity and most won’t join you until you’ve answered a personality test-like question.

Whether you consider these questions entertaining or infuriating is a matter of personal taste because there really is no way to know what the correct answer is. There’s never an answer that is clearly the right one, and no gameplay system to divine the winning option. Instead you have to go with your intuition and take a leap of faith.

When an impish, demonic snowman sidles up to you and asks, “Is this world really all about winner-take-all?’ can you really say that you know what he wants to hear? Should you answer honestly with your personal opinion? Should you try to guess which answer will impress him most? It’s amazing how much you can find yourself deliberating these decisions when deep down you know that answering them is little more than a digital coin toss.

But such is the genius of Shin Megami Tensei’s presentation that your disbelief is so easily suspended. For every other sincere answer you give, you might find a demon overjoyed that their morals align with yours. But there’s an equal chance they might cynically disapprove of your values or, most amusingly, accuse you of trying to pander to them.

There’s just enough characterisation on display, just a pinch of sharp writing and a dash of visual design, that these cartoon monsters start to feel like real beings with their own devious thoughts and feelings. What a glorious illusion it creates!

If I delve under the surface and really think about why I love this game and these characters so much, the one thing I keep coming back to is that I secretly get a kick out of how hurtfully the monsters speak to me. Maybe I shouldn’t think too hard about what it says about me, but there’s just something about videogame monsters treating me like dirt that just leaves me wanting more. Almost every creature you speak to has the capacity to be demeaning, passive aggressive, outright insulting or outwardly hostile. Some will tease you, others will threaten you, some will even wheel out a swear word just to hammer the point home.

All of this creates an atmosphere that I believe I’ve never really felt in any other series. How many games go out of their way to hurt your feelings and then ask you to form an alliance with the very same beings that have just insulted you? Just as I’m always keen to see what new and surprising monster the fusion system will create, I also find myself talking to every demon I see out of a morbid curiosity for the new and imaginative way they’ll verbalise their disdain.

There are so many games out there whose adversaries are out to get you. It’s practically the dominant form of the medium to defend yourself from baddies trying to kill you. But Shin Megami Tensei makes it personal and tries to kill you with words. Each painful remark cuts deeper than any sword and devastates more than any bomb, but in practice each barbed insult is also strangely endearing and attractive. I’m more than happy for these monsters to step all over me. Just don’t tell them I said that. I’m not sure how they’d react!