Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne/YMMV: Difference between revisions

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* [[All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game"]]: If you've never played this game, but have heard of it, chances are you only know about the Labyrinth of Amala and the True Demon Ending. Barely any other part of the story is well-known, and even among the game' fanbase the endings besides TDETrue Demon Ending are largely forgotten.
* [[Anticlimax Boss]]: Kagutsuchi. If you Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's mostly a joke, especially compared to the rather brutal battle that precedes him.
** {{spoiler|Sakahagi}}. Sure, you fight him right after taking down Girimekhala (the first boss to reflect physical attacks) and given no chance to heal, but he only knows second-tier elemental spells and can be easily taken out in one turn by this point in the game.
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** Black Rider is one of the easier Fiends due to not having any way to deal with buffs and debuffs and having no other gimmick like Daisoujou and Trumpeter other than being a [[Flunky Boss]]. Don't be too complacent though, as he does have Megidolaon.
* [[Crazy Awesome]]: What demon, after giving the world's most epic evil laugh, shoots lasers out of his eyes that causes a powerful, Almighty-type, multi-target attack with a chance of instant Expel-type death? Metatron. ''That's who!''
* [[Complete Monster]]: {{spoiler|Chiaki}}, who is the only person to be explicitly called "evil.".
** And the Demi-Fiend by extension, if he sides with Yosuga.
*** Possibly in the True Demon Ending as well, although genocidal [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] is another possibility.
** Also, Sakahagi is also called evil. [[Obviously Evil|Not that you'd need to be]] ''[[Obviously Evil|told]]'' [[Obviously Evil|that a guy who wears stitched together manikin faces and leaves their corpses behind him like a trail of breadcrumbs is evil.]].
** Even worse, it's heavily implied that {{spoiler|Futomimi, the Manikins' [[Big Good]], was like this when alive.}}.
* [[Crowning Music of Awesome]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx5DAp86pqE "World Map -Last Area-"], and pretty much the whole soundtrack.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8VXPVhv8WI&feature=related This] is one of the many normal battle themes. It's also the theme that plays when you fight the Demi-Fiend as a [[Bonus Boss]] in ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fylg8zp4Pzo This] is the Kotowari (Reason) boss theme, playing only against three bosses when they decide to get serious.
*** Or hell, even the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpjJmE8YMFU pre-boss music]. "The next thing you see is going to beat the ''shit'' out of you. Prepare for that."
**** Heck, in this game, all the pre-boss musics bathes in pure awesome; we have [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzUmF3wRgJY&feature=related the theme that plays before a Fiend battle.]It says: "You'll be fighting something ''horrifying''. Brace yourself". On the same vein, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCoXfFOT-GI&feature=related this] is the epic song that plays just before the [[True Final Boss]]. One of the most [[Oh Crap]] inducing songs you'll find.
**** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmqbhyS-BK8 Boss Battle]: - Thethe lyrics help convey the intensity of a difficult battle, and the hollow, disembodied, distorted sound with which they're recited serves to underscore the notion that if the beings singing this ever were humans from the world we know, they're something (or somewhere) horribly different now.
*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1qoekdgx0o&feature=related Isamu's theme song] fits incredibly well in the scenes it plays in.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uct9il7pju8&feature=relmfu "Metatron's Theme"]. There is no other song in the universe perfect enough to portray the feeling that you're practically giving God the finger at this point, and have inflicted his wrath. Bonus points for including a remix of the ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' Law Theme.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1SKWfyGbc Tokyo Conception]. Soft piano, for Yuko's lines... and then the booming organ and the dark riffs pitch in, and the world '''''dies'''''.
* [[Draco in Leather Pants]]: Lucifer and the "True Demon" Demi-Fiend get this a lot. The fact that their agenda involves destroying all life seems to be glossed over '''at best'''. People forget all too often Chaos is ''at least'' as horrible as Law, and Lucifer is its heart and soul.
** On one hand, a Z-Class [[Apocalypse How]]. On the other, an eternity of X-Class Apocalypses, one after another... until [[God Is Evil|God]] [[Despotism Justifies the Means|find that shining world]]... [[The Evils of Free Will|the world with no free will]]. One could say that this is the ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' game where Neutrality started being seen as the higher path.
* [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]: Combined with [[Gratuitous English]] considering the game has nothing to do with music. At least the title Lucifer's Call made more sense.
* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]: Matador, with a bit of overlap with [[Colbert Bump]]. Prior to the game's Maniax update, Matador was simply a fiend that [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|looks like a skeleton dressed as a matador that is ready for a bullfight]]. Cue his jarring [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]] battle and now Matador has become a symbol for the franchise of "Never, EVER think buffs/debuffs are pointless. Always invest in them. They ''will'' save your ass from being pounded flat."
* [[Fashion Victim Villain]]: Hikawa's got an amazing pajama-esque suit and M-shaped widow's peak.
* [[Fountain of Memes]]: For someone who only shows up for a single boss fight outside of fusion, Matador has a surprising amount of memes:
** "I challenge you to a duel!" Despite the fact that there's more to the sentence, this is all that shows up in the one text boss, but with a comma replacing the exclamation point. Pictures of Matador saying this is a fandom joke of things getting serious.
** "I swear, by my sword and capote, that I will once again prove victorious!" A rather spectacular [[Pre-Ass -Kicking One -Liner|Pre Ass Kicking One Liner]] that is one of the last lines before the fight properly begins. Among other things, it's the image for Atlus's That One Boss page.
** Red Capote - One of his unique skills and the skill that defines the fight, which maxes out Matador's hit/evasion rate. As this was the first mainline game to be released in the West and the first game to use the Press Turn system, Matador is widely considered to be ''the'' boss for teaching players how to properly use buffs and debuffs thanks to this skill.
** As a sub-meme of the above, variants of "Get the buffs ready" occur often when talking about the Press Turn system, and if the phrase is brought up, Matador is almost always mentioned.
* [[Hell Is That Noise]]: Shikome's scream whenever it attacks.
** Daisoujou's scream whenever it uses Meditation.
* [[Les Yay]]: Fun fact,: having a female demon use Seduce (high chance of recruiting male demons when used by a female demon) or wooing (high chance of recruiting female demons when used by a male demon) ''can'' work on other female demons, while a male demon using either on another male disgusts the target and results in a guaranteed fail.
** It doesn't ''work'' so much as it doesn't ''not'' work. A female demon's chances of recruiting another female demon using Seduce are exactly the same as if trying to negotiate normally. One would imagine that female demons are a bit more comfortable about being hit on by someone of the same sex than male demons.
* [[Memetic Mutation]]: Other than the numerous memes spawned from Matador, we have these:
** "Featuring Dante from the ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' series!" is often used in photoshops of game covers in order to mock the European cover's blatant attempt at cashing in [[Wolverine Publicity]].
** Mot's Drama, which refers to whenever Mot spams Beast Eye and pairs it with enough Makakajas and Megidolaons to wipe you out in one turn. Became an [[Ascended Meme]] in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei IV]]: Apocalypse'', where one of the DLC regular enemies is a Mot with Guardian's Eye, Makakaja and Antichthon.
** One more god rejected, a line from the Fierce Battle theme and often shows up when talking about the game.
* [[Narm]]: Listen to Daisoujou when he uses a physical attack. White Rider using God's Bow is also pretty Narmy.
** Whenever Trumpeter speaks.
** Every time Black Rider uses a spell. Heeeeee!
* [[Newer Than They Think]]: The Fiends have existed since ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'', and are usually represented by the ''Revelation'' Fiends (the Riders, Mother Harlot and Trumpeter). They actually didn't debut until this game, with the Super Famicom games using a more varied roster that included the first three non-cameo Fiends in this game. The exception is Pale Rider, who was one of the original three Fiends along with Daisoujou, the second Fiend in this game, and David. The roster for every future game would follow this game's, with the six ''Revelation'' Fiends accompanied by three or four others.
* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: The moment when the Young Boy drops the wriggling, bug-like Magatama [[Eye Scream|on your eye]] and it burrows into your brain? That'll do it.
* [[Play the Game, Skip the Story]]: While ''Nocturne'' is beloved by the fanbase for many reasons ranging from gameplay, atmosphere and music, the story tends to not be one of said reasons. This is generally held to be due to the games minimalist approach. Not helping matters is that the game has a serious case of [[Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy]], making it hard to get attached to anyone aside from your own demons. To its credit, it does raise some very real and interesting questions, but it's hard for much of it to stick when everyone has less than pleasant character issues, traits and ideoligies.
** Even before that, the idea of the Conception itself. And that flash of light, followed by the Magatsuhi flowing out from buildings you see before Tokyo wraps itself up into a ball? That's '''humanity being wiped out in the blink of an eye without a fighting chance!'''
** Kabukicho Prison. Just...Kabukicho Prison. It's an abandoned building filled with empty rooms, some of which have voices from nowhere. And then the Mirage flips the building, turns everything white, except for the streaks of blood on the ceiling, and the giant, golden shutters. Behind most of those shutters are jail cells/torture chambers filled with Manikins.
** [[The Reveal]] as to the true identity of Hijiri.
* [[So Cool Its Awesome]]: The game is just that awesome... [[Oh Crap|even if you could actually become the AntiChrist.]]
* [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|"Stop Having Fun" Guys]]: There's nothing ''wrong'' with completing this game and being good at it, but a number of people who hold this game in high regard seem to sneer at anyone who expresses frustration and accusations of unfairness over it.
* [[That One Boss]]: '''[["Wake-Up Call" Boss|Matador]]''', who gets the honor of being pictured in the Atlus [[That One Boss]] page. With the right strategy, he's not too difficult, but he's the first boss in the game that you won't be able to beat without fusing a party specifically to counter him.
* [[That One Level]]: That fucking cursed hallway in the Second Kalpa. Your HP gets cut in half every 5 or so steps, there are level 60+ demons [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|that always seem to get through Repel]]. andTo theget onlyout wayyou have to getgo outback isthrough tothe retracehallway, yourthough stepsthankfully, ''allthere theare wayseveral backshortcuts, so you don't have to go the beginning''whole circuit.
** The lower levels of the Third Kalpa definitely count, too. You have to run around and flip switches while being shot at by Dante. Get caught by him, and he knocks your party around and sends you back to the beginning. In the second part, not only are the switches in mazes of invisible walls, Dante ''resets them'' after he catches you. The top level's not easy either: it's a gigantic maze filled with one-way doors, and some of them teleport you if a certain stat isn't high enough. The only way to be sure that you won't get thrown all over the map is to have all your stats at 25 or higher, which would require absurd amounts of grinding at this point.
** Actually the Cursed Hallway is optional, {{spoiler|Mandatory later on to get a key}} but you do get a solid 250,000 macca as a reward for reaching the end {{spoiler|before the key event}}, and the exits are very close to the walls. If anything, that is a solid area to level grind if you know which demons inhabit the hallway.
* [[That One Sidequest]]: The Labyrinth of Amala in its entirety. The mandatory parts put you through the wringer ''constantly'' and remind you it's particularly hard to assemble a powerful team capable of resisting continuous assaults (many back attacks, particularly) at the beginning. The optional Grave Run is also particularly tough, even with the endgame stats. Granted, the rewards are also proportional: reaching the end of the Fifth Kalpa before the Tower of Kagutsuchi nets you the sixth ending and ''[[Game Breaker|Pierce]]'', and the Grave Run gives you ''an extra Press Turn'' when you reach the First Kalpa's first Burial Chamber in a [[New Game+]].
** The lower levels of the Third Kalpa definitely count, too. You have to run around and flip switches while being shot at by Dante. Get caught by him, and he knocks your party around and sends you back to the beginning. In the second part, not only are the switches in mazes of invisible walls, Dante ''resets them'' after he catches you.
** Puzzle Boy, a young Manikin that makes you play a minigame of 20 increasingly difficult puzzles if you want to obtain all the Magatama in the game. He's practically required as the Magatama he gives you teaches the Demi-fiend all the second tier healing abilities.
*** The top level's not easy, either; it's a gigantic maze filled with one-way doors, and some of them teleport you if a certain stat isn't high enough. The only way to be sure that you won't get thrown all over the map is to have all your stats at 25 or higher, which would require absurd amounts of grinding at this point.
* [[That One Sidequest]]: The Labyrinth of Amala in its entirety. The mandatory parts put you through the wringer ''constantly'' and remind you it's particularly hard to assemble a powerful team capable of resisting continuous assaults (many back attacks, particularly) at the beginning. The optional Grave Run is also particularly tough, even with the endgame stats. Granted, the rewards are also proportional: reaching the end of the Fifth Kalpa before the Tower of Kagutsuchi nets you the sixth ending and ''[[Game Breaker|Pierce]]'', and the Grave Run gives you ''an extra Press Turn'' when you reach the First Kalpa's first Burial Chamber in a [[New Game+]].
** Also, in the Fifth Kalpa, one can find the soul selling an obscenely overpowered Girimekhala (which also carries Pierce).
** Puzzle Boy if you want to obtain all the Magatama in the game.
* [[What an Idiot!]]: Ongyo-ki. As long as you keep hitting the real one, he'll do very little besides buff himself. He even does this after the effects are maxed out.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne]]
[[Category:YMMV]]