Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

“Call it what you will- a revelation from god, or a curse of the demon king. The fact remains that our world came to an end. A heretic called upon an unearthly light, and devastation ensued. Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death... Nothing but death in this barren land. Who can we pray to! There are only demons and fiends here. A voice in the dark beguiles me. "Truth is a mystery, unraveled by the candles' flames."”

— from The Journal of a Man Who Wandered into Another World.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Developer	ATLUS
Publisher	ATLUS
Genre	JRPG
Platform	PlayStation 2 Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Steam
Release dates	February 20th, 2003 October 12, 2004
Chronological Order
Previous	"Shin Megami Tensei: NINE"
Next	"Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey"
Map

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is the fifth installment in the Shin Megami Tensei series and the third numbered title. The protagonist is the Demi-Fiend and the main antagonist is Hikawa. The Nihilo serve as the villainous faction of this game.

As the third numbered entry in the series, it is the first to be totally disconnected from its predecessors, set in contemporary Tokyo before a great apocalypse occurs. It was made with Chaos in mind.

Nocturne originally released in Japan on February 20th, 2003 for the PlayStation 2. It was the first mainline Shin Megami Tensei game to be released in the West, and was renamed Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

In August 2003, the game received a novel adaptation written by Boogey Toumen titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Chaos. The Demi-Fiend is named Shin Managi in the novel.

The game received multiple versions and remasters over time. One would be the "Director's Cut" entitled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax in 2004, which featured a number of new additions and adjustments. This was the version that was localized in North America.

A later edition, called the Maniax Chronicle Edition was released with a limited "plus" version of Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon in Japan in 2008.

The game was remastered for modern consoles in 2020 titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster. It featured upgraded graphics and all of the enhancements from its previous versions.

It is preceded by Shin Megami Tensei: NINE and followed by Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

Official Description

PlayStation 2

'Tokyo Conception'

A commonplace everyday life is transformed into an otherworldly vortex after this phenomenon. A boy who has obtained Magatama, which transforms him into the form of a demon, sets off on a journey to a transformed Tokyo to find the answer to his question.

Summary

A young boy meets with his friends Isamu and Chiaki to visit their hospitalized teacher. During their visit, they notice several oddities in the hospital. Searching for his teacher, the young boy comes across a man named Hikawa, the leader of the Ring of Gaea cult. He tries to kill the young boy with his demon but the teacher, Yuko Takao saves him. After telling him to meet her at the rooftop, Yuko explains the event that is about to occur, The Conception. This event is triggered so that the world is destroyed in order to be created once again. After this event, the young boy turns into a demon and is reborn as the Demi-fiend. In a desperate struggle to reshape the world as they see fit, Hikawa, Isamu and Chiaki set foot in the newly created Vortex World, while the Demi-fiend has to choose which Reason to help come true.

Characters

Main

Demi-Fiend

Chiaki Tachibana

Isamu Nitta

Jyoji Hijiri

Supporting

Hikawa

Yuko Takao

Futomimi

Louis Cypher

Bosses

Image	Enemy	Description	Dungeon
	Forneus	Forneus is the first boss, fought in the Hospital when the Demi-fiend reaches the exit. A Decarabia in Shibuya claims to be Forneus' friend and is annoyed by the latter's supposed tardiness, although there is no given explanation for their friendship.	Hospital
	Specter	Specter appears in the Amala Network as a boss three times. Each time, he starts alone before calling in five more Specters. In the first battle, after a certain time, any Specters that are alive will merge into one stronger Specter. The number of fused Specters determines how strong the single Specter is. This battle is set before the Demi-fiend can open a path to Ginza through the Amala Network.	Amala Network
	Matador	Matador appears as a boss in the updated release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax. He is first mentioned by a Manikin in the Great Underpass of Ginza, where he is known as a "Grim Reaper." The Demi-fiend must defeat him in order to reach Ikebukuro, headquarters of the Mantra. Upon approaching the demonic presence, the Demi-fiend was forcefully summoned into another realm by Matador, where Matador claims that a weak being like him doesn't deserve to hold the Candelabrum of Sovereignty, but knowing that he will not give in without a fight, Matador engages the Demi-fiend in a battle.	Great Underpass
	Orthrus	Orthus is the first of the three judges that the Demi-fiend must fight after being arrested by the Mantra Army. The next judge after him is Yaksini and then after her is Thor.	Mantra HQ
	Yaksini	Yaksini is the second of the three judges that the Demi-fiend must fight after being arrested by the Mantra Army. She is fought after Orthrus but before Thor. Yaksini can later be encountered within the Kabukicho Prison as a normal encounter.	Mantra HQ
	Thor	Thor is found in Ikebukuro as a member of the Mantra Army. He is first seen when he knocks Isamu Nitta unconscious with his hammer. He locks both Isamu and the Demi-fiend up, and they must prove their strength to become free. Thor is defeated by the Demi-fiend and allowed free. After the Nightmare System destroys the Mantra Army, Thor admits that their fear-based society had no hope of creating a new world. He allows Isamu to go free, and then says that he will see the Demi-fiend again if he is truly strong. He does indeed cross paths with the Demi-fiend again on the 418th floor of the Tower of Kagutsuchi. Regardless of the Demi-fiend's Reason, Thor tests the Demi-fiend's abilities again. Thor is overwhelmed and dies at that spot.	Mantra HQ
	Eligor	Eligor is found patrolling the Ginza underground mall. After entering the Assembly of Nihilo proper, he shows up to fight the Demi-fiend twice; he will appear once more if the Demi-fiend opens a specific chest, and summons a different group of demons to assist him each time. Despite Eligor's boss status, he can be fused before he is fought. Eligor later randomly appears in random encounters in Asakusa and the Labyrinth of Amala.	Underground mall
	Berith	Berith is seen in the Assembly of Nihilo where he prevents the Demi-fiend from entering until the plot has progressed by meeting Gozu-Tennoh.	Assembly of Nihilo
	Kaiwan	Kaiwan appears in the Assembly of Nihilo's Shiodome Headquarters as a story boss. He taunts the Demi-fiend, then vanishes into one of eight rooms. Several duplicates of Kaiwan can be found in these rooms, but only one houses the true Kaiwan. He holds the green Kila.	Shiodome HQ
	Ose	Ose appears in the Assembly of Nihilo as a boss and drops the Anathema Magatama after the Demi-fiend defeats him. An all white version of Ose appears next to Baal Avatar. This Ose is Ose Hallel, who aids Baal Avatar along with Flauros Hallel.	Assembly of Nihilo
	Mizuchi	A large Mizuchi engorged on Magatsuhi serves as the Mantra's warden in Kabuchiko Prison, where Isamu and a large number of Manikins are being imprisoned. During his boss battle, it shrinks in size the more damage it takes, which causes the strength of the spells it can use becoming weaker. As a boss, it possess a skill called Mirage that inflicts Panic on the party, which if not healed, can cause the Demi-fiend to lose a lot of Macca during the course of the fight.	Kabuchiko Prison
	Atropos, Clotho, Lachesis	Lachesis and her sisters are the bodyguards of Hikawa, after Ose is defeated by the Demi-fiend. They appear in the Obelisk, setting traps to impede the movements of the Demi-fiend, one of which involves figuring out the sisters' purpose in the cycle of life and defeating the Moirae in that order.	Obelisk
	Grimehkala	Girimehkala appears as a story-line boss. In the events of the Demi-fiend's second visit to Yoyogi Park, after being confronted by the Demi-fiend about the Yahirono Himorogi, Sakahagi summons a giant Girimehkala to fight for him. Later, Girimehkala appears as a normal enemy encounter in the Diet Building and in the Tower of Kagutsuchi.	Yoyogi Park
	Sakahagi	Later on, Sakahagi had wrested possession of the Yahirono Himorogi from the fairies at Yoyogi Park construction site, putting them under a spell and turning them into wild territorial demons that keep trespassers away while he seeks out the Magatsuhi stored there. Even with all the power of Yahirono Himorogi, Sakahagi and his demon Girimehkala were both slain by the Demi-fiend.
	Aciel	Alciel is first encountered as a boss in the Black Temple of the Amala Temple. Its most dangerous move is Sol Niger, which reduces the Demi-fiend's party to 1 HP, leaving them vulnerable to a physical attack. Alciel will always telegraph this move by spamming Mana Drain the turn before, and the most effective way to prevent an untimely death is to use Tetrakarn or an Attack Mirror in preparation for Sol Niger.	Black Temple
	Skadi	Inside the Red Temple, the Demi-fiend must then solve the puzzles of locking him between the normal world and the shadow land; in which the latter transforms into a floor-ridden trap that slowly drains the Demi-fiend's HP. Upon reaching Skadi's throne, Skadi informs the Demi-fiend that she is hungry for Magatsuhi, and that his blood will quench her thirst, engaging the Demi-fiend in battle.	Red Temple
	Albion	Albion is one of the three guardians of the Amala Temple, specifically the White Temple. When the battle starts, he will summon the four Zoas to his aid. Each Zoa has a specific elemental property, repelling a certain element while being being weak to another. Should all four Zoas be defeated, Albion will resurrect them, and if Albion is defeated, the Zoas will also resurrect him.	Amala Temple
	Futomimi	With his visions, Futomimi led the Manikins in their path to find their own Reason, having a lofty ideal to create a peaceful world full of Manikins where they were no longer slaves. Their starting point is the exodus in the treacherous Ikebukuro Tunnel that eventually led to the creation of their anointed ancestral village in Asakusa. As the Manikins rebuild, Futomimi meditates in seclusion within their holy land, Mifunashiro, preparing to see the future and bring about the realization of their own path of creation, unaware of the fact that fate will inevitably prevent them from doing so.	Asakusa
	Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel	If the Demi-fiend is against Chiaki's Reason of Yosuga, he is forced to fight against Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael upon reaching the last level of Mifunashiro. Otherwise, he will fight Futomimi. Afterwards, Gabriel can be obtained by fusing a Throne with Raphael to get her. She also can be used in a sacrificial fusion with Raphael and Uriel, regardless of position, to create Michael.	Mifunashiro
	Surt	Surt is one of the three Nihilo demons Hikawa enlisted to guard the entrance of the Diet Building while he seeks out the stored Magatsuhi there. The Demi-fiend will battle Surt immediately upon trying to enter the lower-left door.	Diet Building
	Mada	Mada first appears in the Diet Building as the second guardian of four who block the Demi-fiend's path to Hikawa. Mada guards the segment of the building which has been heavily twisted and installed with trick paintings. If the Demi-fiend gets too close to the tricking gimmick or attempts to open the painted door, Mada will teleport them to a random location within that segment.
	Mot	Mot appears as one of the Assembly of Nihilo's generals, guarding the Diet Building at Nagata-Cho. Along with Surt, Mithra and Mada, Mot twisted the Diet into a maze of wandering halls, fake doors and optical illusions. Following the defeat of his Nihilo comrades, Mot confronted the Demi-fiend in a hallway of statues. The Demi-fiend needs to pinpoint the right one among the fake statues, otherwise they will be teleported back. The hint is the reflection on the floor.
	Mithra	He is one of bosses in the Diet Building, representing the power of the Assembly of Nihilo. He is confronted in the senate chamber. After his defeat, he can be fused as a regular demon, and is the only one to learn the unique skill Death Pact, a conversation skill with a high recruitment rate and which has the power to occasionally inflict the Stone ailment on demons who refuse to join.
	Samael	Samael is the demon summoned at the top of the Diet Building by Hikawa to slay the Demi-fiend if he attempts to stop him from offering Yuko Takao as a sacrifice. If the Demi-fiend is aligned with Shijima, Samael will later appear after the encounter with Ahriman in the Tower of Kagutsuchi, introducing himself and explaining that Hikawa instructed him to assist the protagonist, as he represents the champion of Shijima. Should the Demi-fiend accept his offer, Samael will join him, or if there is already one in the Demi-fiend's party or if he refuses, Samael hopes his services will be called upon later.	Top of the Diet Building
	Ahriman	Ahriman is the Demonic Sponsor of Hikawa, promoting the Reason of Shijima. He is summoned within the heights of the Diet Building, as a member of the Tyrant Race. If the Demi-fiend's ideals differ from Shijima, he must fight and kill Ahriman to continue up the Tower of Kagutsuchi. If the Demi-fiend follows Shijima himself, Ahriman lets him pass without conflict, giving him the Earthstone key item as a token of good will. If fought, Ahriman is introduced as a boss with special battle conditions, in that he demands to be "amused" before killing the Demi-fiend. He will randomly forbid the use of specific actions, such as physical attacks, item usage, demon summoning and so on, instantly killing whichever character failed to respect these limitations with his signature move Hell's Call.	Tower of Kagutsuchi
	Noah	To advance his Reason of Musubi, Isamu Nitta uses the Magatsuhi gathered at the Amala Temple to summon a nameless god as his Demonic Sponsor. According to Isamu, this entity has been so far removed from the time stream that his original name has been entirely forgotten, a testament to the absolute solitude that Musubi represents. However, Isamu believes it would be inconvenient for his Sponsor to remain nameless, so he decides to christen him as Noah. Isamu then hibernates inside Noah's head, encased in a red, transparent shell.	Amala Temple
	Baal Avatar	Baal, known as Baal Avatar is a Demonic Sponsor of the Deity Race and the 'God' of the Reason of Yosuga in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. After inheriting the Mantra Army from Gozu-Tennoh, Chiaki Tachibana takes advantage of the Manikin efforts in accumulating Magatsuhi to summon their Demonic Sponsor and establish their Reason, Chiaki leads the Mantra troops to launch an attack on Asakusa, homeland of the Manikins. Entering the holy-land of the Manikins, Mifunashiro, Chiaki mercilessly massacres the Manikins and claims their collected Magatsuhi as her own. Her justification of her actions is that, since the Manikins' sole purpose was to serve the demons, they have absolutely no right to establishing their own Reason.	Mifunashiro
	Kagutsuchi	If the Demi-fiend answers the questions provided by Aradia with cowardice (Answering "Yes, I do.") and rejects all reasons without clearing the Labyrinth of Amala, Kagutsuchi will refuse to battle him and flee, never to return until the next conception. The world remains deserted and collapses into chaos where demons run rampant, and Lucifer sarcastically congratulates him and bids him farewell. The game ends with the Demi-fiend standing on top of a deserted Tokyo.	Tower of Kagutsuchi
	Lucifer	An extra ending, accessible only by completing the Labyrinth of Amala and entering the final chamber, unlocks the sixth ending and True Demon path. After defeating Kagutsuchi, the two entities Lucifer has appeared as manifest and tell the Demi-fiend that he succeeded in breaking the cycle of destruction and rebirth, and thus, time itself is dead. The universe has been reverted to its initial state of primordial chaos, along with all other worlds being finally freed from the grasp of God. However, the blond child and the old man also tell him that God is furious with the Demi-fiend's actions, and he is forever cursed. Lucifer comforts him with the fact that he doesn't have to worry, as even if God would curse him, the demon race and Lucifer himself would bless him. The blond child and the old man proceed to tell him that he needs to test the Demi-fiend's limits, and the two entities fuse together to assume the form of Lucifer, challenging the Demi-fiend to a difficult battle. Should he win, Lucifer would transform him completely into a demon and he will be leading Lucifer's forces in a final battle against the true enemy.	Primordial chaos

Title Screens

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne	Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicles	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster

Original Soundtrack

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Original Soundtrack

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Original Soundtrack

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Original Soundtrack

Media

International Releases

PS2

Japanese

Maniax

Japanese

USA

Maniax Chronicle

Japanese

HD Remaster

Japanese

USA

Logos

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne logos
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne logo Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax logo Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne US logo Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster English logo

Spin-Offs

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne tabletop RPGs

There were two tabletop RPG's released relating to Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Shin Megami Tensei TRPG III Nocturne: Tokyo Conception is the fourth edition of the TRPG and was released on 9/1/2004. It is set to receive an English edition in the West in Q3 2024. Shin Megami Tensei TRPG III Nocturne: Amala Deep World Supplement is a supplement for the TRPG and was released on 12/1/2004. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne: Tokyo Conception Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne: Amala Deep World

.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Novel (2003}

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is an original novel written by Yoru Yoshimura with illustrations from Eiji Kaneda and a cover illustration from Kazuma Kaneko. It takes place during Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and follows a freelance photographer named Kōji Kamishiro, who was investigating Hikawa’s connections to the Ring of Gaia and made it to the hospital before the Conception started, thus surviving the end of the world. He lost his lover, Saki, because of the Conception, and vows to get revenge on Hikawa.

Shin Megami Tensei Pachislot (2009}
	A pachinko game released for the Pachinko Arcades nationwide in Japan. The Shin Megami Tensei Pachislot is a result of a collaboration between Atlus and Taiyo Elec. The theme revolves around the fifth installment of the Shin Megami Tensei series, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.

Trivia

• The game had a different subtitle as a placeholder before making the final game: Shin Megami Tensei III: Vortex, seen above in the gallery, as a reference to the Vortex World.
• Unlike its predecessors, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne seems to borrow heavily from Zoroastrianism to symbolically represent the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche.
• The game was designed with "Chaos" as its theme, to contrast with the previous game's theme of "Law".
• This is the first game in the Megami Tensei series to be officially translated into French and German. The next titles in the franchise to have an EFIGS localisation would be Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight.
• Inside the game disc is a magnitude of unused content, one that is interesting to note is an audio file containing the main theme of Star Wars, possibly to test the audio of the game.
• The European version includes a glitch that soft-locks the game at certain points. Most notably, the game freezes right after beating the final boss' second form, making endings such as the True Demon Ending impossible to obtain. This bug is also present in the PSN version.
  • The bug can be avoided if playing the game in French or German after defeating Kagutsuchi.
• In the North American version, it was noted that Terminal Reality is the owner of the Nocturne license, in which Nocturne was released in 1999 on PC. In order to use the Nocturne name for the North American version, as akin to the Japanese version, Atlus USA used the Nocturne license from Terminal Reality.
• The Traditional Chinese (primarily for Taiwan and Hong Kong regions) and the Korean versions of the HD Remaster are based on the original version instead of Chronicle Edition of the PlayStation 2 game. Sega Asia (Taiwan) explained that the reason was to avoid the historic sensitivity of Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV. In order to access the contents of the Maniacs version sans Raidou, customers of either the Traditional Chinese or Korean versions must buy the Maniacs (Dante) DLC in addition. As a response to the Chinese community outcry, Sega later released the Chronicle Edition DLC which includes Raidou for the Traditional Chinese version, and made it free of charge for a limited time. This mendation is not done to the Korean version.

Continuity

• This being the first game not to be set in the same world as the previous SMT games, it tells its own story completely disconnected from the rest -- however, this game introduces the Amala Multiverse, a network of universes connected by time and space, implying that almost every game in the SMT series is within this multiverse
• The Lady in Black explains to the Demi-fiend that his world is just one of many and that the Conception was simply the destruction of the old world, which didn't affect the multitude of other universes in the vastness of Amala. Kagutsuchi rises, matures and falls in billions of places, other universes which will experience their own Conception and creation of a Vortex World for the sake of rebirth, all in accordance to the Great Will's cosmic intentions. By siding with a Reason, the Demi-fiend is able to choose the rules of the new universe born in its place.
  • Demons and gods are capable of using the Amala to traverse across universes, with the "false gods" from Shadow Vortex in particular seeking Vortex Worlds in order to be reborn along with the universe and becomes real.
• Lucifer makes a return in this game after appearing as Louis Cypher in SMT II. He is the same Lucifer across all games, as the Lady in Black also mentions both she and her master, Lucifer, has spent eons to travel across the Amala, having witnessed the birth and death of countless universes.
  • In this game, Louis Cypher appears to the Demi-Fiend as either a young boy or an old man.
• Masakado makes a cameo appearance in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. If the Demi-fiend manages to collect all of the 24 Magatama scattered around the Vortex World, the minister of the Cathedral of Shadows will give the Demi-fiend the "Lord's Blade," advising him to visit the grave of Masakado with the sword in his possession. Upon examining the gravestone, the blade will react, and the Demi-fiend will find himself teleported to the Bandou Shrine.
• The Laughing, Crying, Angry, and Dancing Dolls from Shin Megami Tensei II can be seen in the background being used as a medium to summon Mara. The ritual's failure and the dialog "A dark ceremony is about to commence... But something is definitely off" is a reference to Hanada accidentally using the wrong doll to open a portal to the Makai.

Gallery

Nocturne announcements

Nocturne title screen

Nocturne HD Remaster ending

Nocturne Official Players Guide