Well, here's another video game rant. I'll be kind enough to put this one behind a tag since most people won't care.
Well, I picked up this new game for the PS 2 called Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (literally, New Goddess Metempsychosis: Nocturne) a few days ago. Needless to say, it's an awesome game which is why I'm actually typing about it in my journal. The Shin Megami Tensei series is regarded the third most popular RPG series in Japan right behind Final Fantasy. Metempsychosis is a fancy term for cyclical life -- rebirth after death, reincarnation, whatever you want to call it. The series generally has at least one female who could end up becoming the reborn Goddess of the new world created in the game. In even simpler terms the world has been reborn and beliefs are being reborn with them.
Several things make this game special. First of all, it's rated M for mature themes (Incubai, Succubai, TONS of religious issues, and some very intriguing albeit bleak philisophical views in an orderless world). Considering that Tokyo has been turned into a demon world and the main character is given demonic powers to shape how the world turns out. You have to negotiate with demons to progress in the game. It's not uncommon that you'll end up fighting/recruiting demon incarnations of all sorts of mythological and religious demons, angels, and gods. Decisions on how you negotiate and talk the other characters determine your characters alignment towards a certain philosophy (Social Darwinism, stillness/perfection, individualism). The philosophies are taken to their good and bad extremes making for some very interesting ethical dilemmas. The fundamental difference between this game and other RPGs is that you aren't traveling to save the world. Rather, you're traveling to create a new world from the apocalyptic, demon-infested shithole of a world that has become of the standard world. The previous versions of this game were never released in the states for American Puritanical reasons -- I think the fact that the Judeo-christian God was always portrayed as the biggest bad guy in these games had something to do with that too.
Secondly, this is the most Japanese RPG I've ever played in the sense that the whole game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo with all of the districts separated from each other. Tokyo IS the world map, and it's round too..which just adds to the gorgeous surrealism in this game. Even though the locations are inhabited by demons, they are almost all there or at least replaced by a smilarly majestic dungeon to crawl through. Also, the conversations you make with the demons are translated so silly that it's obvious that this game is Japanese. But those conversations add an entertaining and unpredictable element to the game missing in most other RPGs.
The third and final thing which is also probably the best point is the mythology in this game. While the philosophies are more fun than anything else (Social Darwinism is a flawed belief anyways despite its popularity), the mythology in this game is hardcore. The designer researched mythology from all over the world, linked the stories in which they appear to create the dialogue, and gave these gods and monsters appearances in the game. Some of the more popular demons are the four horsemen, the archangels, Shiva, Vishnu, Beelzebub, Thor, Ganesha, Lucifer, Metatron, and even lesser know Aztec Gods make appearances. These figures can be either good or bad depending on the player and which philosophy they answer questions towards. That's not where it stops either, even modern pop-mythological figures have been recreated as demons. The bull-dodging Matador and Hell's Angel bikers. Ideologies have been demonified as well. Divine principality and truth can be faught as enemies or recruited as allies. The mythology is incredibly well researched too. One could start playing this game with little to no knowledge of mythology and stop playing it after beating it with knowledge of at least relationships among the demons as they may metaphorically apply to what they were believed to be by the cultures who created them. In a sense, Tokyo has become the new world and it needs to be shaped and given some semblance of order -- or lack thereof.
It just feels and plays like the antithesis of Final Fantasy - the world is a detailed blur rather than realistic. The game is incredibly challenging and the number of skills in this game feels innumerable. Not only that, but all of the skills have a use, and the post apocalyptic world is full of cool places where the colors shift black and white. Next thing you know, you're traveling a dungeon upside-down. The music to this game rocks, in the literal and non-literal sense. When you're about to get your ass kicked by a demon, the soundtrack will be the first thing to let you know before the warnings come in text. And another thing -- this game is quite challenging. If you don't take advantage of weaknesses and cover your own ass, you will see that heavenly Game Over screen many times. I'm convinced the reason they made the game over screen look so beautiful is simply because anybody who plays the game will see it quite often.
Damn I typed a lot... Well, till later!