Nocturne is my favorite JRPG. If you described the grindy every-three-steps-encounter gameplay, I would expect not to like it, but the fact is, I like everything about the game, including silly Dante and the pretentious story.
All the factors extraneous to gameplay are clearly excellent – Kaneko Kazuma’s art direction, the story, the music, the mythic references, etc. etc. etc. – but there have been lots of other games with good fluff and bad gameplay I haven’t liked, so I have to conclude there is something about the gameplay I also like, despite the apparent illogic of it.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to Kaneko Kazuma? He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth, since Atlus chose a new design approach and art director for Persona 3. Does he still work for Atlus? Maybe he’s on the “secret project”… I can’t read Japanese else maybe I could find out, as all links to him in English I can find are old, including some kind of forgotten tribute site. I’ve almost bought his art books a couple of times, and that’s something I never do…
I think what makes Nocturne’s grindiness work is the depth of play. I can’t fucking stand the grind in, say, FFVI, because there’s only ever a few ways I’m going to handle a given situation, and my new options are mostly determined by story progress. But Nocturne scratches that Pokemon collecting urge, only more so with all the intricacies of the fusion system. (As do many of the other Shin Megami Tensei games, both main series and spinoff.).
Gamespy has a preview up on FES, from the preview it seems that it would be better for me to hold up finishing P3 and replay it with the new features,such as weapon fusion that sounds interesting.
That’s definitely the option I went with once I heard rumors of FES…plus the fact that you get to keep some of what you obtained during that non FES playthrough almost makes it worth it (especially since knowing the game a lot better + the more lax scheduling requirements of FES should make it a much easier proposition to get most of the S links).
The only bad news I read from the preview is that the compendium isn’t featured in the Fes scenario, which means that you can’t use it to save demon info for future use. Anyone know the reasoning for that?
I’m not sure which preview you are talking about, but according to the Atlus FAQ there is no mention of this in the FES changes (and that would be a big one. The only time the compendium comes up is in saying the limited fashion it will translate over from your old save: only the basic forms of every persona in your compendium will carry over.
Maybe you mean the extra episode FES attaches doesn’t use the compendium, or something. I’d have to see it myself. But I’m as positive as a non Japanese person without a copy of the game in hand that it’s there for the original (expanded version) storyline.
Here is the quote from the gamespy preview that mentions about the S-Link and compendium.
“Which brings up the two issues that we’ve seen so far: there is no Persona compendium, and there are no social mini-games. Unlike the straight P3, you can’t simply re-purchase any of the “Persona” creatures you kick out of your party; you have to go hunting for them and hope they drop from enemies. In addition, Aegis doesn’t go out to school; she’s pretty much a combat machine kind of girl. So, the charming social scheduling side of P3 dries up as well.”
Maybe they were playing a preview version that didn’t have the compendium or it has to be unlocked in Fes.
Ok, now I reread pfreak’s post with that preview in mind and I see he’s specifically referring to the extra FES episode. I’d have to see the game in person (after all, I’m not clear on whether you have a party with personas, a single character with personas a la nocturne, a reduced party. etc etc). I’m sure it has to do with consciously changing the emphasis of the postgame because it probably would have been easier and less risky to give more of the same, no? Judging from the high production values being described, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the concept fail myself.
Random – I was very surprised to walk by the local Gamestop in the mall here and see on the standing display outside of the door, right above the GTA IV ad, a large ad for Persona 3 FES. It had Akihiko, Yukari, Mitsuru, Junpei, and the main character’s faces on it, with the game name and release date prominently displayed. The Gamestop employee inside was shockingly knowledgeable, commenting on the sales of recent Atlus games there and his experience trying out Baroque.
In-store ads for a niche PS2 RPG are definitely not the type of thing I expect from Gamestop.
While I’m waiting for abit more funds to pick this game up, has anyone had a chance to try out the new weapon fusion option? Is it something that is there from the start, or does it have to be unlocked?
Gotta love Amazon. This morning, they inform me that my shipment has been delayed and FES will actually ship sometime next week. Then I go off to work, and when I get back there’s an e-mail saying they shipped it.
The pop quiz questions have changed in The Journey in FES – so now I’m guessing at Japanese history. I swear, if I’m Googling history questions to play an RPG, I’m well, playing an awesome game.
I do not know if the Social Link responses have changed, as I have just done the initial two sessions with Kenji and Kaz. I’ll give the word on that tonight when I play again.
Yeah, “Maou Mara” is a kind of long-running gag in the SMT series and spin-offs. I think the penis-chariot form first appeared in SMT2. I’m sure some of you ran into him in SMT3/Nocturne; he appears as the result of a failed summoning in that backroom with the two Manekata & the Baphomet.
According to Amazon, the game has shipped to me. I’m looking forward to this one. Haven’t played the original yet. 120 hours long, though? That’s more game than I’ll play, so I won’t get to see the ending :(
Argh, I’m starting to think I should have preordered FES after all. Online shops up here are refusing to acknowledge it even exists, and the EB clerk mentioned today that they’re only expecting one small shipment tomorrow.
