Good old school JRPG. No real time movement or any other more modern JRPG mechanics, just a quality turn based system with an addictive demon collecting focus.

This would be a perfect game if it weren’t for the poorly compressed music. The difficulty is nice on the normal level but it seems like a lot of the challenge comes from ramping up the costs of items in the higher difficulty. The first patch fixed some of the frame rate stutter but it’s still noticeable. It’s not a big issue though. It’s an RPG so it really only affects a few animations there’s no noticeable input lag. The themes are dark and may be somewhat unsettling to folks unfamiliar with the series. If you played SMT IV you’ll enjoy the press turn system in this game as it’s the basis for it without the SMIRK mechanic that upset some folks. THE BOSSES ARE NOT IMPOSSIBLE. SMT III will punish you for not constantly updating your team and stats, it’s not Final Fantasy. You aren’t given any space in battles, your only hope is to diversify your team and understand which skills you go into an encounter with. When you get one shotted and die, you will be required to fix your strategy. It’s only difficult if you insist on trying the same tactics all the time. This is among the most rewarding games out there in terms of the curves it throws you and the preparation that goes into it. The random encounters are frequent and will occasionally one shot you as well. For a game that came out so long ago in the PS2 era it hold up well for the most part you’re not here for the graphics and the quality of life, you’re here for the challenge and for something completely different in terms of tone and story. The other old school design choice that may mess with some folks are the repetitive dungeons that seem intentionally designed to frustrate, I didn’t mind it on the PS2 when the game originally came out but after years of changes in design philosophy I can see why they don’t do it this way anymore. Nocturne is an overall a decent remaster of one of the most challenging RPGs I’ve ever played and worth the stress as you get to the end.

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster on Switch is not the best version of Shin Megami Tensei 3, with occasional frame drops, and dodgy voice acting draining a lot of the atmosphere of the original, but it's perfectly playable, and it's the only version I can play on the bus, so, y'know, it's pretty good.

Great game, enjoyed every second of my 60 hour run.

It's always good to see these older games with a new look and to see the light of day again. I'm definitely sinking some time into this. If your into the Persona series the Shin Megami Tensei series is a darker grittier world of Persona. I would recommend this to anyone into classic rpgs as a must play.