Let’s return to breaking down the best JRPG battle systems with another game celebrating a big milestone. Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne turns fifteen years old at this week, yet it’s still held up as one of the finest turn-based battle systems out there. This punishing “Press Turn” system changed the way we approach turn-based combat and represented a new direction for the iconic series. So with that in mind, let’s take one more look at why it works.

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First, the presentation of combat is quite different to the Shin Megami Tensei games that had come before. Nocturne wasn’t the first entry to present battles from a third-person perspective, but it was the first one that was actually popular (sorry to all five Shin Megami Tensei: Nine fans out there). The move to third person is more than an excuse to show off the new 3D models, it’s also an attempt to capture a new audience. In an interview, the game’s Producer, Koji Okada said that Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was intended to have a more realistic direction to match what was popular at the time. Although the abstract combat and surreal setting are hardly realistic, it’s a way to capture a new audience after first-person fighting had fallen out of favour. Perhaps also to attract new players, the changes to the battle system aimed to simplify the systems which had become increasingly complicated. The result is a distinctive 3D style which, when combined with the new mechanics, set it apart from earlier dungeon crawlers even if the game’s structure and difficulty weren’t all that different.

Despite battles taking place between duelling armies of fiendish demons, both sides politely take turns to attack. There’s a set player phase and enemy phase, with the number of actions dictated by how well you make use of “press turns”. This is Nocturne’s big addition to the formula: each combatant has their turn indicated by an icon in the top corner of the screen. Using the correct attack type and striking a foe’s weak point makes these icons flash and gives your party of demons an extra turn to use. Like so:

Unlike the later interpretation in the Persona series, this extra turn is automatically passed on to the next demon in line, meaning you can’t keep on using the same attacks. However, party members can also use up half a turn to pass it to the next demon, so it’s a flexible system that lends itself to different strategies. It can also be very punishing. If an attack is reflected, absorbed or misses completely, players are penalised by losing turns. It’s harsh, but fair. The same rules apply to the enemy side, which creates an even playing field (at least until certain bosses start getting extra turns).

According to designer Hashino Katsura, the motivation behind making the Press Turn system was to create battles that felt more real and full of tension. The goal was to keep players on their toes, something the constantly shifting number of actions definitely succeeds at. Although turn-based battles follow a set structure, striking a weakness or losing turns from a failed attack throw off this structure and give combat a chaotic feel. As Katsura says, “the turns and advantages of the allies and enemies turn the encounter into some sort of brawl.” However, it took a lot of tweaking to get it feeling right as the battle system went through a number of revisions. Most notably, early versions used a swinging bar to show the number of turns remaining, as shown below. However, it made the screen too cluttered so it was abandoned for clearer, more stylish icons.

As the basic turn-based combat at Nocturne’s core is instantly recognisable, the extra twist of the Press Turns are simple to grasp. That said, the weaknesses and resistances are not as immediately intuitive as the likes of Persona or Final Fantasy. Even coming from playing the Persona games first, the number of different elements was initially overwhelming for me. Unlike later entries, there’s no way to check what effect each skill has without delving into status screens, meaning the earliest battles aren’t as difficult as understanding the unique morphology behind all the skill names.

Even once you’ve figured the difference between Rakukaja and Masukukaja, it’s not exactly smooth sailing. If you’re coming into the series fresh, Nocturne also requires new players to relearn everything they know about buffs, debuffs and status effects. Unlike the situational status effects in FF, skills that cause problems like fear or panic can be incredibly useful. Provided you take weaknesses into account, your team can earn extra turns while crippling the other side with poison or paralysis. That said,they rarely work on bosses so players need to tailor their skills to both boss fights and the random encounters that lurk around every corner in Tokyo.

As anyone who’s reached as far as the infamous Matador boss in Nocturne can tell you, buffing your attack, defence, accuracy and evasion is also incredibly important. Since missing an attack costs the party valuable turns, the way this skeletal shitlord increases his evasion stat can be absolutely devastating for players who aren’t aware of his gimmick. I thought it was an awful, unfair battle the first time I played Nocturne, but upon replaying it I found him to be surprisingly easy: just nullify his stat gains and bring some buddies that resist his attacks. From experiencing the fight the first time, players are taught not to neglect their evasion stat.

Since Nocturne is low on tutorials, it forces players to learn through losing. This makes victories feel rewarding, but it can be a frustrating process. The game gives players many ways to customize their party, with different demons to recruit and fuse, along with magatamas that give the Demifiend different stats and elemental resistances. Since the Press Turn system puts so much emphasis on elemental attacks, sometimes you’ll just have to lose a battle and come back with the right team to counter it. The number of options for customisation allows players to be ready for anything, but sometimes you’ll need to grind to get that demon you need or switch up magatamas – something you can’t do outside of battle.

This lack of flexibility is something that titles like Persona 5 would smooth over, but what could be seen as a frustrating accident is at least consistent with other aspects of Nocturne. It’s a game that makes players commit to their decisions both in and out of battle, punishing careless lapses of judgment. While there are a lot of demons, each only has eight slots for skills, so players need to think carefully about what to pass on through fusion. If you try and cover every element, there’s simply no space left for buffs, debuffs and essential healing spells. Restrictions on what skills you can pass on means that making a balanced party is challenging, which is why the Demifiend’s ability to take on different roles through magatamas is so useful. There are also certain actions that only the Demi-Fiend can do in battles, like using items and switching out demons. Fittingly for the one whose decisions drive the story, he’s the cornerstone of the team – which is why it’s game over if he winds up dead. The Demifiend might be the glue that pulls these angels and hellbeasts together, but he still plays by the same rulebook. The magatamas grant him all kinds of abilities from levelling up, but these can’t be reset so players need to commit to a set of just eight skills and where to assign his skill points. In the same way, the narrative sees players taking the Demifiend down different story routes and dealing with the fallout of their actions.

While Nocturne gives players ways to prepare for some brutal difficulty spikes, occasionally you’ll be screwed over and sent to the game over screen because of sheer dumb luck. Instant-death spells are common and can easily kill the protagonist, losing you up to an hour of progress. And just when you think you’re in the clear, a second wave of enemies appears! Randomness has always been a part of RPGs for good reason; encounters are always more exciting and challenging when you need to deal with things suddenly going south. The randomness in Nocturne’s battle system can be cruel, but it works to disorientate players and make them think up solutions to sudden problems. Though you can carefully plan out your party, every encounter with demons is fittingly unpredictable; even the battle music features some ingenious randomized guitar solos!

Most notably, luck comes into play when the Demifiend or other skilled party members attempt to negotiate with enemy demons. It should go without saying that in this post-apocalyptic setting, peacefully resolving combat is often more difficult than making use of press turns. Though there are certain patterns, the questions that your fickle foes pose appear to be completely arbitrary and it’s never clear exactly how much you should bribe them. This makes negotiation a total crapshoot that’s needed to make new allies who could just as easily run off with your stash of Life Stones.

Perhaps the frustration of a failed negotiation is why Atlus dropped it completely when they reused Nocturne’s battle system in the later Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga games. After it was used for these other PS2 entries, the Press Turns become a staple that is still being adapted for the latest SMT games and spinoffs like Persona 3 and Devil Survivor. So why is it still popular? Besides the obvious ease of recycling systems (Atlus did reuse those 3D demon models for an awfully long time), it works just as well in other settings. It just feels satisfying to strike weaknesses to take the upper hand. The fact that your army of demons also has weaknesses still puts players and enemies on equal footing while rewarding experienced players who build a balanced party and know what array of spells to carry. What’s strange then that no-one else has borrowed from it. Unlike Grandia, which boasted an influential take on turn-based combat that ended up in both Japanese and foreign titles, no-one is ripping off Nocturne. Strangely I can’t think of titles from other publishers that have used the same principle of gaining extra turns from careful skill use. While we’ve seen a move away from turn-based battles (excluding those in established series like Dragon Quest and Pokemon) it’s still a system that a lot of RPG designers could learn from.

Atlus certainly learned from it, with later interpretations smoothing over some of the problems in Nocturne. The big flaw with this early version is that there’s no easy way to view enemy weaknesses, or even check the demons on your team. Players need to experiment, but this can easily end with an fireball reflected in your face. You end up with the knowledge to do better next time, but you’d better be writing it down. This approach can be frustrating, but that’s just the kind of game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is. From the moment they awake as the Demifiend in an unfamiliar world, players are presented with unique gameplay mechanics and skills that seem to be in a different language. It overwhelms at first, but players grow stronger as they learn the new world order and display their power. Combat is confusing and consistently oppressive, but that suits the setting. Getting through Nocturne’s battles takes a lot of luck, but you can turn things in your favour by making use of press turns. Like the demons at your disposal and the factions at the heart of the scenario, the fights are a mix of law and chaos. The marriage of these core themes with innovative battle mechanics and a strong presentation are part of the reason why Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is still a must-play RPG fifteen years after its original release.