One of my favourite RPGs of all time just turned 21 years old – and it’s as good today as it was in 2003

It introduced one of the most interesting RPG battle systems outside the ‘golden era’ of Final Fantasy games. It had a soundtrack by Shoji Meguro inspired by both rock and metal from the 1980s, and hardcore dance and techno from the 90s. It had a mature, nihilistic story that drew from Gnosticism, Buddhism and other world philosophies. It presented cel-shaded graphics with style and confidence, and committed wholly to a minimalistic art style that has barely aged a day. It was the first Shin Megami Tensei (or MegaTen) game to release in Europe, and it remains one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne – or Lucifer’s Call, in Europe – hypnotised me from the second I saw the PS2 case in a rental shop one evening in 2005, when it first made it to these shores. A half-human teen boy, arms crossed in front of him and decked out in body decoration like something from Cyberdog, took the foreground, and Dante (from Devil May Cry, as the memes will have you know) stood behind him. I was hooked. It looked edgy, I’d just got into DMC, and I was really into all that mythological stuff because I was a teenage edgelord. I flopped my fringe out of my face and took the box to the cashier. I’d be back in just a few days to buy it outright.

Nocturne was a revelation. More mature and messed up than any of the other Japanese RPGs I’d played by that point, the game introduced a whole new continent of players to the brooding, gothic aesthetic that had, previously, been exclusive to Japan. This wasn’t your average ‘twink saves the day!’ RPG – it’s dour tone was underscored by a high difficulty ceiling, bosses that acted as skill checks and would mercilessly impede your path unless you learned how to play properly, and dungeons that delighted in your (literal) downfall.

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