Dante is a Sell Out
I Went into Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne with high hopes of a good RPG. Also very curious why Dante from the Devil May Cry series was in this game. I played a few Shin Megami Tensei games before. Including Persona 4, Persona 3 and whatever that MMO one was. And so I was very sad to see that it had the creepy art style that was popular in the older Shin Megami Tensei games. Characters having oddly shaped anime eyes. With eye liner and their awkward stare and dull eyes. I was fully aware that persona 4 was one of the few Shin Megami games that didn’t try to be dark and depressing. But I thought this game was going to take more of a brutal approach on it being revolved around demons. Sadly it is more bizarre and confusing. And all around awkward to play.
The game feels extremely lonely with its lack of characters and no voice acting for the characters that are even there. But luckily you can talk to demons! Yay? Right? But the only demon that I felt was worth talking to was pixie. Having some dialog that I somehow found interesting. (or should I say Dia-Log) The other demons just stood there talking to me. Staring at me with their awkward faces shaped like a broom or some other household object. Whenever you find an object that was the equivalent of a chest, the game asks you if you if you want to open it after you press X saying you want to open it. It prompts with a yes or no menu. Which I was only hesitant to say yes the first time. In which case I was afraid the object might explode on me. The camera control was rather odd making you use the L and R buttons to turn it. When the thumb stick could of easily done that. But instead they made it so the right thumb stick throws the camera across the room forcing you to stare into a wall.
The game did an overall bad job at explaining what the hell I was doing or even how to do it. Leaving me constantly wondering if I was playing it right. I felt like I was being judged by the game itself to play it better. But the game was too embarrassed of me to tell me how. Having playing Shin Megami games in the past I already understood what things like “Bufu” meant or “Dis-Poison” but I felt myself wondering how even more foreign this game must have been for people unfamiliar to the series.
In the game you have the chance to convince demons to join you in the middle of combat. By selecting the “talk” button just on the other side of the “Fight” button in the menu. I give the game makers a thumb up for their interesting look on gaining party members. But it felt odd asking a demon to join me after I had just killed all of his friends. And it wasn’t the “Join me or die” type of thing. It was more like playing a dating sim in the middle of my fight. Having to say the right thing so they liked me. Often demons would haggle you down asking for items saying they might join you if you did. But most of the time they just end up leaving after taking most of your health items and money. I was hating the game up until I saw my hero Dante on the screen. I was all cheery to meet him at some point in the game and then quickly realized the game was going to be extremely hard on me from this point on. Still not wanting to teach me how to play it. It’s like the game gets a thrill off not telling me how to beat it.
The music was oddly good though. Being mostly orchestra and guitar heavy it somehow seemed to fit the peculiar world. However fast paced music in a turn based RPG just ends up getting you hyped up to just stand around and think. Making the game feel even more awkward.
When I finally met Dante (and by finally met Dante I mean looked up the video on youtube) I was happy to see he did real combos from the game. With his attacks being titled things like E&I when he shot his pistols. Which is obviously the names of his guns Ebony and Ivory. The Dante however is the Dante from Devil May Cry 2. Aka the game that almost killed the series. When I first saw he was going to be in the game I found myself saying “why the heck is Dante in this game?” and after playing some it seemed to somehow make sense and possible. Seeming almost like from his perspective of the game it could have just been a bonus level in Devil May Cry 2. But then again Dante could be in any game that has demons in it and it would make sense.
