Square_Enix is still better...
The world Ends! So begins Nocturne. Luckily you, your teacher, and your friends are the only humans still alive after the Conception, a death/rebirth deal that was foretold by the many cultists of Japan. Essentially the world is like living inside of a giant sphere, with a Sun in the middle of it, giving off demonic energy that feeds the denizens of the new world. Before the conception happened, you died, then thanks to a little kid (actually Lucifer himself) revived you as a Fiend, or half demon with a Magatama, a demonic parasite that gives the ingester powers to fight off other demons. From there it’s about making the world whole again, by any means necessary. Heaven and Hell and the in-between all stand between you and the ultimate fate of life, the universe and everything. Will you make the world as it once was, or to your own desires?
Going for franchise rules here, the name of the game is the same: You’re the unnamed protagonist who must bond with demons to save what’s left of the world. To put it simply the game is a demonic version of Pokemon where there is no weapons or armour to find, just innate learned skills and attacks that you and your demon kind accumulate during the course of levelling up. Both you and your party members have up to 8 slots to save skills and attacks. If you learn another, and your menu is full, you’ll have to sacrifice one or just give up learning the skills you receive from Magatama, to put it in terms to understand, they’re the espers from Final Fantasy 6, Stat boosting parasites that give you voiding powers against certain elements and aliments. Being parasites ever so often in the levelling up process they may give you a curse status that can only be lifted by going to a medical terminal or if you have any curse lifting items or skills in your party.
Musically you’re treated to some haunting tracks that perfectly match the desolate surroundings while the actual fighting is accompanied by rocking metal sounds. The whole game is cel shaded, which while it isn’t that visually impressive, I thought it fit’s the game’s dark mood. If there’s one thing positive about the art design, it’s the immense (178 by last count) lineup of demons that you fight and later add to your ranks. Each has a unique look to them, with stuff like goofy looking cartoony monsters to some really disturbing designs that look like the creators were peering into H.R. Giger’s nightmares while reading H.P. Lovecraft’s best. Just about all of them are based on real and obscure myths and legends from around the world, while some are just fancy creations of the mind. (Would you believe the grim reaper in a matadors costume?) Each has their innate strengths and weaknesses that will help you in your tour of post-apocalyptic Japan. You’re not just limited to trying to talk your way into recruitment of demons to your side, there’s also the Cathedral of Shadows, a place were you can fuse two to three demons into a different one altogether. This is where the game’s complex nature comes in. Depending on what demons you intend to fuse, you could end up with a stronger demon type that has abilities left from the demons you fused or a accident could occur that leaves you with two wasted demons and one low level demon not even worth using.
Combat is as it was with the series since the beginning. All the standard RPG stuff is there, with MegaTen additions, like Talk, where half the combat takes place trying to talk demons out of fighting you or joining your party. For those that want to breeze past a battle without having to hit the X button more then once, the Auto Fight option used by the Triangle button is a time saver when a fight between lower level enemies happens and you just don’t feel like retreating from a battle. The turn based combat is heightened with the Press turn system, where you’re rewarded with extra turns to attack if you score a critical, if you prefer to pass your characters turn, it only counts for half. Once you get into the swing of things you’ll be conquering this game’s intense difficulty in no time, trust me, this is “Final Fantasy 1” difficulty here, where levelling up means something and never discount those “lower attack/defence” spells. Luckily for those that want to beat the game in a reasonable amount of time, there’s a “normal” mode. But even then it’s a hard long road to the end of this.
Getting to one of the most ballyhooed parts of this game for fans, Dante from Devil May Cry makes his appearance in numerous points in this game. It’s the first time you’ll actually get to fight the famed Demon Hunter. Later on he’ll eventually join your side, but that happens way later in the game then expected. Man, Dante may as well become THE videogame personality, he’s already appeared in the PS2 version of Viewtiful Joe, could Video Game Squares be far behind? (I’ll take Dante to block…)
I’ll be honesty with you, if this had come out five years ago, it would have been game of the year, but as tastes go in the RPG world, nobody does it better then Square Enix. What kills this game from the mainstream is the nonexistent voice acting, lack of actual CGI sequences and all the other crap that makes Final Fantasy the **** for gamers. What we’re left with is definitely rooted in it’s old school roots and as such regulated to the hardest of the hardcore RPG fans. But if you attempt to take a chance on it’s unconventional setting and techniques, I think you’ll find it one of the more interesting RPG’s not by square that raises some interesting philosophical issues as well as solid RPG gameplay. And with Six possible outcomes at the end, it has staying power like Chrono Trigger for people that wanna see it all.