The end is nigh
I like how the story asks you moral questions such as ''is the end of the world going to be better for humanity in the long-run'' (I can't explain why this is a good question without giving away spoilers,but I'll say it does make you think deeply about the evil side of humanity).The story has such chilling elements and can seem quite morbid but like I said they do ask interesting moral questions.
After the apocalyptic events,your character will find himself alone but he will meet other humans occasionally but they're not always willing to help him and he can also acquire the services of demons whom can join his party after he defeats them in battle
The characters in the game are interesting because they're quite different to characters in just about every other game I've played.They may have normal occupations or might be a regular high school student but they have unique and interesting although sometimes morbid ways of thinking.However,Dante from Devil May Cry is in the story and he's definitely an interesting,although not so normal character.
The story may not be the most deepest story you'll ever experience in a JRPG,but it's quite interesting and well presented.
The game will make you grind your way though it because you'll need to do lots of leveling up.The bosses become very tough later on and even if you're highly leveled and use attacks a boss is vulnerable to or use the correct strategy,you can still lose.Also,to defeat some of the bosses you'll need to have certain demons in your party because different demons have different abilities.
Recruiting demons is easy enough even though sometimes they'll ask for a material bribe or will ask you a philosophical question before they join you.However,later in the game you'll need to fuse demons and you'll have to do it carefully because fusing demons means they'll have to sacrifise certain abilities and you don't want to lose your healing spells or buffs.
The combat system is turn-based but your party members have what's refered to as 'press turns' which are needed to perform certain attacks or abilities.As you'd expect every time you perform an action such as a basic attack,skill(such as a spell,buff/debuff,special attack or summon)it will use one or more press turns.However,if you land a critical hit it will use half a press turn which is why it's important to use attacks bosses are weak against during boss battles.
SMT Nocturne is not an easy game but it suits the dark and morbid nature of the game.If Demon's Souls or Dark Sousl(which are well-known dark and morbid RPGs known for punishing difficulty were made as turn-based RPGs,their difficulty levels would probably be similar to what Nocturne's is.
The visuals have a nice-cel shaded and often dreary style to them.I like the style of the characters appearance,they have a serious look to them but it's not too serious/dull like characters in WRPGs are while still having a nice Japanese artstyle to them.
The post apocalyptic version of Tokyo has a unique atmosphere that uses shades of yellow and white very nicely.But it doesn't mean you won't be exploring school buildings or dungeon style environments that can mix the use of colors whilst still having a morbid feel to them.
Like I've mentioned above,your character is covered with green and black strips,the green stripes have a nice glowing affect and they look like tattoos and make him look badass.
The music has a decent mix of gothic,heavy and Japanese-style electro music.
Overall I found this game addictive but it was hard to find enough free time to beat this game because of the amount of level grinding you need to do.