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[Wario64]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/03/news_6106620.html

Atlus USA confirmed today what many had expected since the announcement of a US release of the RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne--a dark game with Satanic themes will carry an ESRB rating of "M" for Mature, one of only a very few RPG titles to ever do so.

"RPGs have finally grown up with the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne," said Gail Salamanca of Atlus in a press release issued today. "We’ve taken great care to keep the localization as true to the creators’ original vision with its dark and often controversial themes, as doing anything else would be a disservice to the gaming public.

"SMT: Nocturne is definitely not for people with delicate sensibilities," said Salamanca.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne will ship this fall for the PlayStation 2. At $49.99, it will include a Limited Edition Soundtrack CD that contains 30 of the game's music tracks. Also shipping this fall will be Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, also for the PlayStation 2.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Damn, 30 tracks...that sounds like an awesome soundtrack.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I posted about this in the pre-order thread (http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=12618), but mostly because it clarifies what'll be on the included soundtrack... I'm excited. I already know it'll be my GOTY lol.

 

[SolidSnakex]

RPG of the year, and probably this generation unless Atlus makes a new Persona.

It doesn't really make sense that so few RPG's have been rated M. But oh well, hopefully it doesn't hurt the games sales.

 

[Mrbob]

I'm buying this.


I hope I don't need backstory from a previous game to enjoy it.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I'm buying this.


I hope I don't need backstory from a previous game to enjoy it.

Nah, from all I've been able to gather, you'll be fine.

 

[IJoel]

Already preordered!

 

[DarienA]

Funny... I could have sworn Shadow Hearts was rated M.... there were a few graphic pieces in it IIRC. Uh.. don't get me wrong, of course I'm picking this up too.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Funny... I could have sworn Shadow Hearts was rated M.... there were a few graphic pieces in it IIRC.

Yep, the original Shadow Hearts was rated M and Covenant is rated T.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Well, it says "one of the few"... not "the only"

 

[Matlock]

The GTA series is rated M, and they were RPG's.

 

[DarienA]

Well, it says "one of the few"... not "the only"

The article says that because the writer put it in their write up... but the comment "RPGs have finally grown up with the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne" tries to pass it off as SMT: N is the first grown up RPG on the PS2... hate the Judgement Wheel all you want but I thought Shadow Hearts was pretty grown up as well.

 

[SolidSnakex]

They're just trying to hype it that's all. It's not going to get any TV ad campaigns, so you've gotta feed internet people something to build their anticipation.

Shadow Hearts will get the respect it deserves when the sequel is released and people get the original in that pack in. Ofcourse it's not exactly good for gamers that it's lauching a day before SMT.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

The article says that because the writer put it in their write up... but the comment "RPGs have finally grown up with the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne" tries to pass it off as SMT: N is the first grown up RPG on the PS2... hate the Judgement Wheel all you want but I thought Shadow Hearts was pretty grown up as well.

You win. lol

I liked Shadow Hearts, so no disagreements there.

 

[MetatronM]

For once the "Mature" will actually mean "mature," as opposed to the great paradox of video game ratings where mature = juvenile and sophomoric (see The Guy Game, BMX XXX, etc.).

 

[dark10x]

I'm a bit concerned about difficulty, though. Unless the battle system is REALLY fun, I'd hate for it to be TOO hard (which I've heard it is). Just what is the battle system like?

 

[AniHawk]

For once the "Mature" will actually mean "mature," as opposed to the great paradox of video game ratings where mature = juvenile and sophomoric (see The Guy Game, BMX XXX, etc.).

Nice.

 

[Mejilan]

Have any other games in this series made it out here in America?

 

[SolidSnakex]

I'm a bit concerned about difficulty, though. Unless the battle system is REALLY fun, I'd hate for it to be TOO hard (which I've heard it is). Just what is the battle system like?

It's basically an old school style battle system. Basically you take a turn, then they take a turn, back and forth. You can gain extra turns by hitting weaknesses (like ice attacks on fire enemies) ect. The battle system is really fast from what I hear though. But the game is hard, mainly because just as you'll exploit the enemies weakness, they take no time to exploit your characters weaknesses also, so you'll take high damage alot.

 

[FoneBone]

Have any other games in this series made it out here in America?

Someone else could probably give a better list, but none of the main games made it over here before (I think), only a few spinoffs. They included the Persona games for PS1, Revelations for GBC, and DemiKids for GBA.

 

[bloke]

I'm a bit concerned about difficulty, though. Unless the battle system is REALLY fun, I'd hate for it to be TOO hard (which I've heard it is). Just what is the battle system like?

Battle system is really fast, it's fun even when it's hard (if you like TB system) but then again game can get really hard sometimes even on normal.
And themes of the game don't feel 'juvenile', it's more serious than Persona games I think.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Someone else could probably give a better list, but none of the main games made it over here before (I think), only a few spinoffs. They included the Persona games for PS1, Revelations for GBC, and DemiKids for GBA.

That pretty much covers it heh.

 

[DDayton]

Someone else could probably give a better list, but none of the main games made it over here before (I think), only a few spinoffs. They included the Persona games for PS1, Revelations for GBC, and DemiKids for GBA.

I think I have Revelations somewhere in by crate o' Game Boy games...

Could someone give a 3-5 sentence summary of the essence of these games? "Satanic themes" sounds rather odd. My understanding was that the series dealt with angels and demons, and the controlling/dealing with both... but I haven't really played the series.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Basically the SMT games is the story about the battle between whats essentially heaven and hell. As you go along you're given reasons why each side should win the battles, so you end up choosing which side you want to fight for. So you aren't locked in with being the hero like in alot of RPG's. Neither side is completely evil, or completely good though.

The upcoming SMT: DDS game is much more straight forward. Every character already has a locked in personality, and already has a set way of what they want to defend. So it's more mainstreamed to those that enjoy that type of RPG.

Here are some new screens of SMT3 that IGN put up:

[/img]

 

[TekunoRobby]

GAF HYPE TRAIN, wooo wooo.

I'm interested.

 

[Ranger X]

Nice art. Games looking like this one are rare.
I hope the gameplay and story is good! Maybe it will change my mind for the boringness of Squaresoft stuff and too many other RPGs out there... (and if you ever wonder, it's a big RPG fan talking here).

 

[Korranator]

Basically the SMT games is the story about the battle between whats essentially heaven and hell. As you go along you're given reasons why each side should win the battles, so you end up choosing which side you want to fight for. So you aren't locked in with being the hero like in alot of RPG's. Neither side is completely evil, or completely good though.

Fucking bought!!!!

 

[NotMSRP]

ATLUS NEEDS YOUR MONEY! BUY, BUY, BUY!

 

[Buggy Loop]

SMT already has my money but, does it support 480p and 16:9?

 

[dark10x]

SMT already has my money but, does it support 480p and 16:9?

I wish...

Star Ocean 3 is pretty much the only JRPG I can think of that supports both. I have no idea why it is such a rare thing to add, but the devs just don't seem to want to do that.

 

[RevenantKioku]

More correctly, its "America is finally given a real mature RPG, but it will probably bomb and we'll never see anymore of them. And DDS will get canceled because you suck."

I'd love to see SMT do well here, but it just won't happen. But, hey, as long as Atlus keeps giving them though, I've got no issues.
I think my favorite part is just how atmospheric the game is. I mean, the original Super Famicom one scared the shit out of me when I was playing it in broad daylight.

Guy at Gamestop just couldn't believe I was trading in Halo, and wouldn't put money down on Fable or Halo 2. He just couldn't get that I'd want to put money on this "Long S-word game" he'd never heard of. I work sales too, so I know meeting requirements, but damn if this fool wasn't acting like it hurt him personally. :lol

 

[DDayton]

Hmm.. sounds almost like what I'd expect from Greek mythology. Heh...

 

[dark10x]

More correctly, its "America is finally given a real mature RPG, but it will probably bomb and we'll never see anymore of them. And DDS will get canceled because you suck."

Shadow Hearts was released here. That was possibly the first Mature JRPG released in the US, but I might be wrong...

 

[radios shipping overview]

Shadow Hearts was released here. That was possibly the first Mature JRPG released in the US, but I might be wrong...

Vandal Hearts was M, if you want to count that.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

I'm going to be the only Megami Tensei fan to keep it real. I still will recognize that people started jumping on the bandwagon by Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, before that no one gave a sh*t except me, tamahome, and a few people. Truth be told, the Megami Tensei and offshoot series is very difficult. Not too many people here can claim they beat any of the games.. I guarantee you that. Always cool, stylish, and very intelligent but also hard and frustrating.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Here are some gameplay movies for those that want to see what the battle system looks like:

http://www.atlus.co.jp/cs/game/pstation2/dds3/index.html

Click on the Movie section for hte gameplay movies, go to the "Special" section for the trailers and commercials. The load times for battles seem to be extremely quick.

 

[DarienA]

I'm going to be the only Megami Tensei fan to keep it real. I still will recognize that people started jumping on the bandwagon by Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, before that no one gave a sh*t except me, tamahome, and a few people. Truth be told, the Megami Tensei and offshoot series is very difficult. Not too many people here can claim they beat any of the games.. I guarantee you that. Always cool, stylish, and very intelligent but also hard and frustrating.

Persona on the PSOne had a merciless dungeon/maze section IIRC... made rougher by the fact that I had to do the damn thing twice because a friend's younger brother walked behind where the TV was sitting, tripped and pull the damn power plug on the PSOne out of the wall.

 

[ferricide]

I'm going to be the only Megami Tensei fan to keep it real. I still will recognize that people started jumping on the bandwagon by Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, before that no one gave a sh*t except me, tamahome, and a few people.

:rolleyes

does that even matter? is there something bad about people being interested in this game?

persona was one of my favorite PS1 games. the original, i mean.

the story of this game isn't really the heaven/hell thing, although there are definitely moral choices in it. it's more complex and interesting than that, really. 6 endings.

it's really not your average square-type RPG although it does superficially look like it might be. the better to suck the money out of casual pockets! go atlus!

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Seriously, who cares who jumped on when? Most of the people here live in Western countries, meaning their first possible exposure to the games was the original Persona. Because I played that and some other people haven't, should I suck off my ego? It's hilarious that people think they somehow discovered this stuff on their own and no one except their direct relations could have possibly known anything about it without them. I don't even know who the hell any of those mentioned people are.

rolleyes doesn't cut it. Someone post the megarolleyes.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

I'm going to be the only Megami Tensei fan to keep it real. I still will recognize that people started jumping on the bandwagon by Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, before that no one gave a sh*t except me, tamahome, and a few people. Truth be told, the Megami Tensei and offshoot series is very difficult. Not too many people here can claim they beat any of the games.. I guarantee you that. Always cool, stylish, and very intelligent but also hard and frustrating.

Wow. An obscure RPG elitist. I've seen everything now.

 

[bobbyconover]

I'm going to be the only Megami Tensei fan to keep it real. I still will recognize that people started jumping on the bandwagon by Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, before that no one gave a sh*t except me, tamahome, and a few people. Truth be told, the Megami Tensei and offshoot series is very difficult. Not too many people here can claim they beat any of the games.. I guarantee you that. Always cool, stylish, and very intelligent but also hard and frustrating.

So more people are into the games now. Be happy about it.

It's not like you were into an obscure band and enjoyed years of seeing them play in 50-person clubs only to have them blow up on MTV and suddenly gain huge, albeit brief, mainstream popularity and non-stop airplay before being tossed aside and considered a lame one-hit wonder. That's something to whine about, because it actually negatively impacts you. In this case, the games are still hugely obscure in the grand scheme of things. The only difference is that now more "hardcore gamers" enjoy them, and the developers make a little more money than usual. We all win.

 

[Tsubaki]

Wow. An obscure RPG elitist. I've seen everything now.

The Megami Tensei series is hardly obscure...

 

[Mejilan]

Thanks to those who answered my question. Haven't been back to check this thread in a timely fashion, I'm afraid.

I actually have, and have beaten, Revelations for the GBC. A not too terrible if a bit generic handheld RPG, honestly. I think I'll look into the Demikids games, the Personas, and these two PS2 games.

Yep, I think I will!

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Persona is a bit archaic, although I do like it. Persona 2 is amazingly good, however.

As for Demikids... It's basically just a Pokemon style game. It differs obviously in story and setting (it's a bit more dark). The monster designs are far more interesting, I think.

The main difference is that fighting just levels up your main character. In order to strengthen your monsters, you have to fuse them together in towns. You can create new and more powerful creatures this way.

I personally really enjoyed the games (I own Light and Dark), but I don't know if they'd interest everyone.

And if you're willing to part with Revelations, I'd be happy to trade something for it heh.

 

[Mejilan]

No sir. I'm a collector. So when I jump on a series, I do so in its entirety, whenever possible. Revelation I'll never play again, and after reading a couple of Demikids reviews, those two aren't something I'd likely play anytime soon either. But they're cheap and easy to find. The Personas are going to be tricky and expensive to acquire, methinks.

 

[Mejilan]

Alright. Both versions of Demikids and both Personas should be on their way, within the next couple of days.

 

[dark10x]

Damn, I really want to play this...but random battles + extreme frustration? Hmmm...

 

[Mrbob]

Ok, next question:

Why do I see Dante in those character art pics? Is that a mistake or is he really in the game? If it's true, it'll be interesting to see what role he plays.

Damn, I really want to play this...but random battles + extreme frustration? Hmmm...

Yeah it may be too tough for you considering you are playing Star Ocean on easy.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Yah Dante is in the game. As Atlus described it, they wanted him in so they added him into the Maniacs upgrade of SMT3, sent a copy to Capcom and they agreed to let him stay in the game.

 

[Prine]

Excuse me for being out of the loop here.

Why is Dante in a game not made by Capcom? Becuase Atlus thought he was cool?