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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smt3.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil...\
3all bends to my will."]]]]
4
5->''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".''
6-->-- '''From the Journal of a Man who Wandered into Another World'''
7
8The third [[NumberedSequel numbered entry]] in the main ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' [=JRPG=] series, and the first since ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' in 1994. It was released for the Platform/PlayStation2 in Japan in February 2003, in North America in October 2004 and in Europe in July 2005. It was released as a [=PlayStation=] 2 Classic on the Platform/PlayStationNetwork on May 6, 2014.
9
10Tokyo, [[YearX 20XX]]. You and two of your [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent high school classmates]] have gone to visit your sick teacher in hospital, only to find that [[AbandonedHospital the building is eerily deserted]]. The search for your teacher leads you down into the basement of the hospital, where you find evidence of sinister occult experimentation and a mysterious man who is none too happy about your intrusion. Just as he's about to have you killed, you are rescued by the intervention of your teacher, who [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong convinces the man to let you live]] and takes you to the roof.
11
12There, you witness the Conception: the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destruction of the old world]] and its transformation into an embryonic state- [[AfterTheEnd the Vortex World]]- to prepare for its eventual rebirth. [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo becomes a spherical world]] populated by demons and the wandering spirits of those who died during the Conception, with a glowing sphere suspended in its center. You have survived... but during the Conception you encountered a mysterious young boy who [[TouchedByVorlons forcefully implanted you with a creature]] called a Magatama, [[TransformationTrauma transforming your body]] into that of a demon.
13
14Waking up in the hospital with your new demonic body, your struggle for survival in this new, hostile world slowly becomes a battle to determine what form the new world will take. On one side is the Assembly of Nihilo, who wish to create a world of [[WorldOfSilence complete stillness and peace, devoid of emotion]]. Opposing them is the Mantra, a powerful gang who believe in ruling by [[SocialDarwinist strength, passion and fear]].
15
16As the legendary Demi-Fiend, you have the power to decide the fate of the Vortex World. Will you side with one of the emerging armies to help make their idea of a perfect world a reality? Or will you destroy them all and [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial take the power of creation into your own two hands]]?
17
18The game is largely a dungeon crawler, as you make your way across the ruins of Tokyo looking for answers and your missing friends. Gone are the cyberpunk elements of the previous Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei games; as your character is a demon you have no need to use a computer to translate and summon. Your party is made up of the main character and [[CharacterMagneticTeam the demons that you have recruited to your cause]]. By talking to demons, you can convince them to give you money, items or to join your party. Most will demand money and items as a bribe before they will listen to you, but some will also pose a philosophical question that you must answer to their satisfaction.
19
20As demons level up extremely slowly, the quickest way to maintain a strong team is to [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction fuse your demons together]] at the Cathedral of Shadows, creating entirely new demons with new powers and some inherited from their previous forms. A handful of demons will also evolve once they have reached a certain level. The Main Character develops by equipping different Magatama, each of which has a set of abilities that will be learned upon leveling up. An additional degree of difficulty is added by the fact that your character can only know eight skills at any one time, and must forget moves to learn new ones; once they are forgotten, they are [[PermanentlyMissableContent gone for good]].
21
22Battles are conducted with the Press Turn system, where at the start of each round you receive a number of actions equal to the number of characters in your battle party. A normal action consumes one Press Icon, but inflicting a critical hit or attacking the enemy's weakness only consumes half a Press Icon. Thus, by attacking the enemy's weaknesses you maximize the number of turns you get in one round. Unfortunately, attacking an enemy with an element that it nullifies- or missing entirely- consumes two Press Icons, and if the enemy repels or absorbs the attack you lose all your Press Icons. This also applies in reverse; the enemy can attack your weak points to win additional actions for itself and loses actions if you defend yourself correctly. This battle system would go on to be used in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' and in a scaled-down form -- the "One More" system -- in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', ''VideoGame/Persona4'', and ''VideoGame/Persona5''.
23
24In January 2004 the game received a UpdatedRerelease in Japan known as ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax'', featuring Dante from the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series as a RecurringBoss / GuestFighter. This update also received multiple balance changes to gameplay, 12 additional {{Boss Fight}}s / {{Optional Party Member}}s, a massive BonusDungeon, and a whole new TrueFinalBoss and ending if you complete said dungeon. This would later become the version localized and released as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne'' in North America and ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' in Europe. A second UpdatedRerelease called ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition'' came free with Japanese copies of ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', replacing Dante with Raidou.
25
26A third UpdatedRerelease, titled ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster'', released October 29, 2020 in Japan, and on May 25, 2021 worldwide, for Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/MicrosoftWindows via Platform/{{Steam}}. It is primarily based on the ''Chronicle Edition'', with Raidou included as the GuestFighter by default. However, the game also has a purchasable "Maniax Pack" [[DownloadableContent DLC]] to replace Raidou with Dante instead. The Steam version also reworks Raidou as free DLC and adds an option to play the original release of the game without the additions from the ''Maniax'' version.
27----
28!!This game provides examples of:
29[[foldercontrol]]
30[[folder:A-C]]
31* HundredPercentCompletion: If you fill up the Compendium with ''every'' demon available, you will get a [[BigYes summoning discount by a]] '''''[[BigYes huge]]''''' margin.
32* AbandonedHospital: The Shinjuku Hygienic Hospital. Unlike most examples, it's startlingly ''clean,'' as if everyone simply vanished or forgot to go to work that day.
33* AbandonedHospitalAwakening: Not ten minutes into the game, you get implanted with a parasite that burrowed through your eye by an entity implied to be Chaos incarnate, slipping in and out of lucidity, before waking up to find yourself a demonic HalfHumanHybrid in the aforementioned AbandonedHospital implied to serve as the base of an ApocalypseCult. You wake up in the morgue, by the way.
34* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: You'll probably be in the 70s by the end of the game. The cap is 99... on the stat sheet. The ''actual'' level cap is 255. Your character hits 99 and just keeps going. Abusing this is the only way to master all the magatama, especially as the moves they impart have a minimum level cap to unlock.
35* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Great Underpass of Ginza.
36* AchievementMockery: In the ''HD Remaster'', the game pokes fun at you for your first death by granting you the achievement "Rest in Peace".
37* AfterTheEnd: The first major event in the game IS the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - the world (well, the greater Tokyo area) turns into a giant egg wrapped around a mystical star in preparation of being reborn as part of an endless cycle. The rest of the game is made up of figuring out and trying to influence that cycle. The city your character once knew and loved is barely recognizable, and since you're standing on the ''inside'' of the egg, you have no view of a sky, other stars, clouds, anything - all you see in the distance is more city and a giant, glowing pale-blue sun.
38* AIBreaker: In a game from a franchise where enemy AI can be frighteningly smart, there are a few notable instances where it's too smart for its own good.
39** Ongyo-Ki rarely attacks if you manage to debuff him and break his illusion, since doing so will put him in a loop of buffing himself and casting the illusion. Couple that with constantly draining his MP, and he won't do much at all.
40** The Four Horsemen won't attack unless they have their minions at their side. Sure, they'll start with two Press Turns and will use one of them to cast Dragon Eye to get more Press Turns, but only three of them will be dedicated to attacking in a worst case scenario. The others will be used for summons, buffs, or healing.
41* AkashicRecords: Implied to exist via the Amala Drums.
42* TheAlcoholic: Loki. Wastes the entire game not doing much in Nyx's Lounge. This, interestingly, foreshadows what happens to the key you need to get from him to access the last layer of the Labyrinth: [[spoiler:he sold it for booze money]].
43* AlienGeometries: Many. The Labyrinth of Amala's warp points between each Kalpa, and the Twelve Meters of Eternity in the Fourth Kalpa.
44* AllMythsAreTrue: Demons take the form of gods and other beings from a variety of real-world religions.
45* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Buffs and debuffs, Rebellion, God's Bow, Evil Melody, Vast Light, Infinite Light, High King, and [[spoiler:Lucifer's regular attacks]] will always hit opponents, with no way to dodge them.
46* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Several.
47** The Fiend dimension- a red, barren strip of land under an eternally raging sky- is probably the first one you will find, and you will enter it at least 9 times if you want to defeat all the Fiends.
48** Samael's boss room also stands out, as you fight him in a warped version of the Diet Building stained glass room, ''which keeps spinning impossibly on an invisible axis''.
49* AmazonBrigade: Enemies on the first floor of the Fifth Kalpa consist entirely of female demons like Lillith, Nyx, and Dis. Dialogue with one of the [=NPCs=] imply this area might be where Lucifer's harem resides.
50* AmbiguouslyGay: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]; one shopkeeper who acts this way implies he's actually straight, but is frequently MistakenForGay.
51* AmbiguouslyHuman:
52** The Manikins. They are made from compound human souls and emotions, and because the Conception killed all the humans except for six (seven if you count [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]][=/=][[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSTheSoullessArmy Rai]][[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSKingAbaddon dou]]), they are more or less the Vortex World's equivalent to humanity. They have flesh and blood just like true humans, but are also made from the earth, the substance that gives life the easiest.
53** You, if you choose the [[spoiler:Freedom ending. Your demon skin and horn are gone, but Lucifer lets you know that you still have some of your demonic power, and to hang onto it for the day the battle with the [[{{God}} true enemy]] begins]].
54* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Beat the game and you get the option to change your outfit at the start of a new cycle. Your choice influences your starting stats.
55* TheAntiChrist: [[spoiler:What Lucifer wants you to become. Should you take the True Demon Ending, it happens.]]
56* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The ''HD Remaster'' facilitates fusion in two ways:
57** While the game defaults to randomized inheritance, you are now given the option to pick and choose the fusion result's inherited skills.
58** Even if you want to stick with the original randomized system, you can now reroll inherited skills with a press of a button instead of needing to back in and out of the fusion menus.
59* ApocalypseHow: The Earth is destroyed at the beginning with the Conception. [[spoiler:If God continues to have his way, he intends for an endless cycle of destruction and recreation of ''multiple'' universes within the Amala until all free will is completely gone.]] The Demi-fiend ''can'' [[spoiler:reverse Earth's destruction]] in one ending... or he can [[spoiler:destroy the entire universe and prevent countless others from being recreated by killing Kagutsuchi DeaderThanDead]] in another.
60* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Pierce passive skill makes all physical attacks ignore physical resistances, Null and Absorb (''Not'' Repel, though). It's imparted by the Magatama you start the game with, but the conditions to unlock it are [[BonusLevelOfHell an entirely different matter.]]
61* ArmorPiercingQuestion: You are set for a barrage of these by Mithra, intended to draw you to Shijima. Of course, [[MortonsFork no matter how you answer Mithra's questions]], he loses his marbles and decides you and your demons need to die.
62* ArtifactOfDoom: The Magatama, the Deathstones, Amala technology...
63* AscendedDemon: [[spoiler:Ose and Flauros when they go Hallel, courtesy of Baal Avatar.]]
64* AscendedMeme: [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] is commonly referred to as a disco ball by the fandom for his design and techno boss theme. ''HD Remaster'' has an Archangel who originally just called him arrogant outright call him a "goddamn arrogant disco ball".
65* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Both bosses at Kabukicho Prison, [[spoiler:Mizuchi and Black Frost]]. Both eventually lose the extra mass.
66* BarrierChangeBoss: Noah regularly shifts his vulnerabilites with Aurora, making himself only affected by one magic element and repelling all else. Noah can also be hit by Almighty spells, but only receives a laughable amount of damage. [[spoiler:There is a strict pattern that gets hinted at by the element he attacks with, but towards the latter half of the fight his attacks are more erratic and you'll have to track it yourself.]]
67* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The power to remake the world comes at a price.
68* BeginWithAFinisher: The failure variant is used in one BossBattle. The spectre begins the fight by attempting to cast a powerful Megido spell, which fizzles out since it doesn't have the {{Mana}} reserves to cast it. For the rest of the fight, it uses ManaDrain spells on your party until it has enough mana stockpiled to cast it properly.
69* BeneathTheEarth: The subterranean locations. Hope you stocked on Light Balls or Chakra Drops for your Lightoma demon.
70* BigBadEnsemble: Hikawa, [[spoiler:[[EvilerThanThou Chiaki, Isamu]], YHVH/the Great Will (through Kagutsuchi), and Lucifer]]. Your villain(s) will be among them, depending on who you side with, though [[spoiler:Lucifer]], despite using you for his own goals, will never stand against you.
71* BigGood: [[spoiler:Lucifer]] might very well be considered the closest thing to one, BlackAndGreyMorality notwithstanding. He is by no means a good guy, but he is the reason the Demi-Fiend even survives the Conception in the first place and has a fighting chance to make it in the Vortex World. Besides that, he doesn't take an active role in the story, serving more as an outside observer. While he does try to influence the Demi-Fiend into pushing his agenda forward, he won't stand in the way if the protagonist opts for any of the other paths. [[spoiler:In the Freedom Ending, he'll even express some support for your choice to follow your own path, mainly because it's what he'd done eons before.]]
72* BishonenLine: Despite becoming a half-demon abomination, all that changes is that you have glowing tattoos all over your body and there's a horn growing out of your neck. Subverted in that, despite looking almost human, some part of you has changed enough for other characters to instantly recognize you as a demon.
73* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Freedom ending. While the Conception will inevitably happen again, the Demi-Fiend, his friends, and the rest of humanity still get to live normal lives once more for however long it takes for the Conception to reoccur. And the Demi-Fiend kept his powers so as long he lives, the old world has a chance to be restored after the Conception.]]
74* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Obelisk/Tower of Kagutsuchi and the Diet Building.
75* BlackAndGreyMorality: The religious texts of the newly born world will definitely be leaving out a few choice details where the creation myth is concerned. Also, two of the Reasons are portrayed as having ''some'' good points to them, while [[spoiler:Chiaki and Sakahagi]], both following the same philosophy, are the only characters ever canonically referred to as "evil".
76* BleakLevel: Compared to what little is seen of Tokyo in the beginning of the game, the entire Vortex World serves as this.
77* BlindIdiotTranslation: An odd case through the fanbase side of things, the ever-popular common Boss Battle theme has been titled by several fan uploads as ''Fierce Battle'' for years despite the soundtrack never having an official English release back then, its official Japanese name is 匷制戊闘 (Kyousei Sentou) which means ''Forced Battle'', yet the "Fierce Battle" mistranslation was quite spread out.
78* BodyHorror: Many, many instances. [[spoiler:Chiaki and Isamu]]'s mutations are only the beginning.
79* BoisterousBruiser: Black Frost. Not content with incorporating hee-s {{Verbal Tic}}s in hee-s speech, he goes into full LargeHam mode when confronted, ho.
80* BookEnds: The game begins with the protagonist passing through Yoyogi Park on his way to meet his friends. [[spoiler:The Freedom ending ends with the protagonist arriving in Yoyogi Park to meet his friends.]]
81* BootstrappedLeitmotif: In ''Chronicle Edition'', Raidou is stuck with the themes created for Dante in the ''Maniax'' version, which are remixes of themes from the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series.
82* BoringButPractical:
83** The Iyomante Magatama. It can be purchased at Hee-Ho's shop in Shibuya, which is the first "town" area you get. It doesn't offer much skill wise compared to other Magatama's, but it gives three basic debuffs (Rakunda, Sukunda, and Tarunda), Life Aid, and it gives immunity to mental debuffs like Charm or Sleep. With is giving a focus on physical stats, it is a solid option for getting around nasty debuffs like Charm, while still having the stats for damage.
84** Buff and Debuff skills aren't nearly as flashy as elemental magic, your typical KamehameHadoken, and so on, but there's a reason why "use buffs and debuffs" is considered one of the most important beginner tips for surviving the game.
85* BossBonanza: The Tower of Kagutsuchi has a pool of five bosses: [[spoiler:Ahriman, Noah, Baal Avatar, Kagutsuchi, and Lucifer]], with Thor as a miniboss in-between. Which ones you fight depends on the route you take; only one requires you to fight all six of them and, excluding [[spoiler:Lucifer]], only two other routes require you to fight the other five.
86* BossRemix: The battle theme of Metatron is a remix of the series classical Law theme.
87* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Fairy demons at Yoyogi Park under the control of Sakahagi.
88* BreathWeapon: Fire, Ice and Fog Breath. Only the first two deal actual elemental damage, though.
89* BribingYourWayToVictory: As with other modern Atlus games, the HD Remaster has optional DLC maps that grant tons of experience or Macca for people who want to alleviate the grinding.
90* BrilliantButLazy: [[NonActionGuy Jyoji Hijiri]]. The man gets access to the AkashicRecords and comes to know more about what's going on than almost anyone else, and he could probably become a PhysicalGod with what he's learned. But he never reveals much, and doesn't seem to realize he could create his own [[FisherKing Reason]]. Justified, [[spoiler:since God cursed him to be unable to affect the outcome of the Conception. When he finally realizes he could create his own Reason, he simply dies to circumstances.]]
91* ButterFace: When we are introduced to the Harlot she at first seems like an elegant, beautiful lady. Then she turns around.
92* CallAHitPointASmeerp: The series' traditional moon phases exist, but there is no moon to speak of in this game, so instead it's phases of Kagutsuchi, that big holy point of light in the center of the Vortex World.
93* CanonName: The main character is called Naoki Kashima in the radio plays based on the game. But the games he cameos in, and most people in general, just call him Demifiend (Hitoshura in Japanese).
94* CasualHighDrop: Dante from the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series has a cameo. One of his first appearances has him leaping from the top floor of the Mantra HQ skyscraper just before engaging the Demi-Fiend in battle. You can jump off the same roof too, but you and your party member's HP is brought down to 1 when you land. Amusingly, if Dante is in your party, [[DevelopersForesight he will not take any damage from the fall]], as a reference to the ''DMC'' games wherein the playable characters are immune to fall damage.
95* CentralTheme: Sacrifice. More specifically, how much of yourself, as well as other people, are you willing to sacrifice for what you believe is the right cause. All three Reasons have sacrificed parts of themselves as well as other people. To elaborate:
96** Isamu [[spoiler:killed Hijiri, and to some extent, sacrificed himself, to summon Noah in the Amala Temple]].
97** Chiaki [[spoiler:sacrificed her own humanity by fusing with Gozu-Tennoh, and slaughtered the Manikins to gain enough Magatsuhi to summon Baal, and the world of Yosuga is essentially a world in which the strong can prey on (read: sacrifice) the weak]].
98** Hikawa, [[spoiler:being the one responsible for the Conception in the first place, essentially sacrificed the entire world in doing so, with no way of turning back should Shijima ever take hold in the world, [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill essentially sacrificing Free Will]]]].
99** Yuko was subservient to Hikawa until disowning him and [[spoiler:making contact with Aradia]].
100** The Demi-fiend himself is another major example, especially so in [[spoiler:the True Demon Ending]]: Throughout the game you have to constantly gain more demonic powers from new Magatama, essentially slowly losing your humanity in the process, culminating in [[spoiler:the True Demon Ending, where he fully embraces his demonic nature in order to join Lucifer in his fight against the Great Will]]. Another thing to note is that one of the demon fusions you can perform in the Cathedral of Shadows is literally called "Sacrificial Fusion".
101* CharacterMagneticTeam: The Demi-fiend will rack up many demon allies over the course of his adventure.
102* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:There's a seemingly meaningless balcony on the Obelisk, where "you are certain to lose your life" if you fall. Much later, when the Obelisk is driven into the ground, this balcony becomes your entry point, and from there you can ascend into the Tower of Kagutsuchi.]]
103* CherryTapping: Whereas in many games an enemy's MP is a magical unending font, here it's possible to use Drain spells (most notably, Daisoujou's Meditation) to ''completely'' drain an enemy's MP reserves. The end result is the computer wasting press turn after press turn on useless actions. For instance, doing this on Trumpeter means he can't use his OHKO skill ''at all'', [[VictoryByEndurance making his fight ridiculously easy]]. Likewise, focusing on draining Ongyo-Ki, while just breaking his buffs and shattering his illusions will render him a sitting duck. Buffing Daisoujou's Meditation with Makakaja will accelerate the process, making things that much easier.
104* CollectorOfTheStrange: The Collector Manikin likes to collect human-made knick-knacks.
105* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Isamu rips you out for taking too long in saving him out of the Kabukicho Prison, making him look like an UngratefulBastard. [[spoiler:There is an unused sequence which explains Isamu's attitude - Yuko, the teacher he was fawning over, had broadcast a message for the Demi-Fiend to come and save her from her imprisonment at the Obelisk - this making Isamu fall into HeroicBSOD as he realizes he was little better than a nobody in the Vortex World.]]
106* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: A few notable cases:
107** Some random encounters have Beast Eye[[note]]When used it gives your opponent two press turns and can be stacked[[/note]]. Sound tough? Good, because [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules some of the recruitable ones]] have ''Dragon Eye''[[note]]gives your opponent ''four'' press turns and can be stacked[[/note]] and will use it '' every fucking round''. Of course, none of these is available for your use.
108** Inverted with Mithra; he normally reflects Physical attacks, but he does not have this immunity when you fight him.
109** Mot sometimes takes the above-mentioned cheat skills to its logical conclusion: at any time, it can begin to chain-cast "Beast Eye" while spamming Megidolaon and/or Makakaja, over and over and over. And then you die. (Found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IT&hl=it&v=x5yjAjTibT8 here]])
110** Noah is one of the only two enemies in the game (the other being the TrueFinalBoss) to be resistant to almighty attacks. This is on top of being a BarrierChangeBoss.
111** Baal Avatar, if any of your party members isn't immune to curse-type status ailments (Death, in the remakes). She will ''always'' target them first with Bael's Bane, which turns them into a fly - a status ailment that can't be cured by any means (except dying) and renders them utterly ''useless''. Note that only she has the ability to do this.
112* ContinuityNod:
113** During the fight against Mara, there's a small altar with four dolls there. It's the same altar Hanada attempted to use to open a gate to the Abyss in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''.
114** Having Kerberos or Orthus in your party changes the BGM of the Cathedral of Shadows to the Jakyo Manor [=BGMs=] from ''Shin Megami Tensei'' and ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' respectively.
115** The Labyrinth of Amala BonusDungeon in general, which features major characters from previous ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games as bosses and [=NPC=]s.
116** Dante uses the same coin when playing Heads or Tails that he did in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2''. [[spoiler:Meaning if you pick heads, you always win the gamble.]]
117** You get 65535 experience points after beating [[spoiler:Lucifer]]. This was the maximum amount of XP you could earn per battle in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' because of the variable type that was used in the game.
118* CouncilOfAngels: Who end up siding with Yosuga.
119* CrapsackWorld: Par for the course with Megami Tensei, but Nocturne makes a point to remind you constantly that everyone is unhappy and will suffer a terrible and meaningless death. The entire world is vaporized and the remnants become a demon-filled wasteland with only 4 humans still alive, yourself not included. All attempts to make something resembling a happy or peaceful life are immediately crushed, and slave labor is in use everywhere. The worst part? [[spoiler:This is going to happen to the universe over and over, forever and ever until all free will is eradicated. The same thing is ''happening'' to countless universes bordering yours]]. And the only way to break this cycle is [[spoiler:to MercyKill your universe, potentially dooming countless others, and attempt to fight God himself]]. Have fun!
120* CreepyChild: The Young Boy (aka [[spoiler:Louis Cypher]])
121* CreepyGood: Aradia, like all Neutral path representatives, genuinely wants to help humanity, but she's a lot more selfish than most of the others in the series and being a [[spoiler:half-formed, unborn goddess from another dimension]] her morality is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality quite alien]].
122* CrossoverCosmology: As in all ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, you can forge a party of many different demons and gods from many different pantheons.
123* CursedWithAwesome: If you end up cursed by the Magatama, you will suffer the effects of random status effects (but mostly hitting your own side) and it cannot be cured by your usual ailment-curing spells. However, if you enter the Cathedral of Shadows while cursed, the curse will change several fusion options so the results wind up of the darker races (Tyrants, Viles, Fouls, Fallens, etc.), some of which may be tricky to fuse normally; the results will also tend to inherit the stronger skills from their components.
124* CuteBruiser: Pixie, [[spoiler:if you keep her with you all along and finally take her to the room only she can open on the Fifth Kalpa. If you fuse or let her mutate upon leveling up you will still get her, as long as you keep the fusion you use Pixie for or when it mutates to High Pixie or Queen Mab.]]
125* CuteMonsterGirl: Virtually all of the female denizens of the Vortex World, except Datsue-Ba, Kali, and Mother Harlot.
126[[/folder]]
127[[folder:D-H]]
128* DamnYouMuscleMemory:
129** The map is the triangle button, while the menu is the square button, which is the opposite of most other EasternRPG control schemes.
130** Also, if you find this game by reading up on the metaseries after playing the more popular ''VideoGame/Persona4'', you may find that, in combat, the cancel button and the auto-attack buttons are reversed between the games. So, you select an attack, decide you don't want to use it, press what you remember to be the cancel button, and suddenly all of your characters run up and just punch the enemy. The mage, the healer, everyone - and your turn's over before you've realised it. This can be catastrophic if you happen to be fighting demons that are immune in some fashion to physical attacks.
131* DarkIsNotEvil: Depending on how justified you think [[spoiler:Lucifer]] is.
132* DarkWorld:
133** Downplayed with the Mirage dimension in Kabukicho Prison. Visually, the lighting and mist actually make it less creepy than the real one even if it's upside-down. Then you find out that empty rooms in the real world are torture chambers to drain Magatsuhi from Manikins on this side.
134** Another, smaller example is the World of Shadows in the Red Temple. Which is necessary to traverse in order to reach the floor above.
135* TheDayTheMusicLied: If you are Shijima-aligned when you enter the Tower of Kagutsuchi, [[spoiler:when you reach the room where Ahriman lies, the boss encounter music starts up. However, since you're his ally, he gives you one of the three keys needed to reach the FinalBoss and lets you pass without a fight.]]
136* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Hijiri. He never reached the hospital in time, and died along with humanity as the Conception started. He then was forced into the Vortex World in the body of a Manikin to fulfill the terms of his curse, namely, to try and fail to influence the Conception's outcome for the umpteenth time.]]
137* DefeatMeansPlayable: Most bosses can only be created through fusion after you've defeated them in combat. Trying to fuse them beforehand would generate a different demon or produce no result.
138* DegradedBoss: Almost every sub-boss becomes a regular enemy not soon after; a large part of the difficulty of a sub-boss battle is that the EnemyScan move doesn't work.
139* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Aradia]], a goddess from an AlternateUniverse, possesses [[spoiler:Ms. Takao]] halfway through the game.
140* DemonOfHumanOrigin: Subverted with the Demi-Fiend. Once the world ends, your body is forcibly transformed into a demon's, but your soul remains human. [[spoiler:Find the old man at the bottom of the Labyrinth, and you can play this trope straight and willingly give up the rest of your humanity.]]
141* DemotedToDragon: [[spoiler:Hikawa downgrades Samael from being his Dragon to being ''yours'' in the Shijima path. He himself is also reduced to the Demi-fiend's Dragon in the same path's ending, referring to himself as the Baptist to the Demi-fiend's Savior. Not that he minds - he's getting what he wants, anyway.]]
142* DemotedToExtra: The classic Law and Chaos factions such as the Messians and Cult of Gaia, which are a major part of previous and future ''SMT'' installments, have surprisingly little involvement in the plot of ''Nocturne'', although Gozu-Tennoh [[spoiler:and later Chiaki]] could be considered the game's representatives for Chaos. It's stated in-game and by the spirits in the Labyrinth of Amala's Second Kalpa that the Cult and Messians battled each other at Yoyogi Park, but were wiped out thanks to Hikawa's machinations.
143* DePower: Subverted in the Freedom ending. [[spoiler:Judging from Lucifer's words, the main character is still very much powerful despite losing his tattoos. He says to stay strong for the upcoming day where he'll have to fight again.]]
144* DesertPunk: The entire Vortex World is completely desertified, with no greenery or plants ''anywhere''.
145* DevelopersForesight:
146** For an amusing moment, if you bring your own Black Frost in a NewGamePlus at the Third Kalpa, the original Black Frost will be surprised and will leave the Kalpa out of frustration, as you can see [[http://lparchive.org/Shin-Megami-Tensei-Nocturne/Update%2055/ here]]. Something similar will happen if you try to recruit Samael in the Shijima path.
147** If you have conversation skills on certain demons and have them interact with demons that they are canonically linked with you can get some [[https://youtu.be/6elodbFQd6w special dialogue unique to that pairing]]. One example of this would be having the Archangels speak with any of the lesser angels.
148* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In the True Demon ending, the Demi-Fiend [[spoiler:not only kills Kagutsuchi, essentially an avatar of God, but simultaneously annihilates ''every Kagutsuchi in every vortex world'' effectively ending the cycle of creation and destruction]] and then goes out to top himself by [[spoiler:succeeding Lucifer as the General of the LegionsOfHell and goes to wage war against God himself]]. He doesn't just punch out Cthulhu. He has the power to ensure Cthulhu will never get back up again.
149* DiscardAndDraw: How gaining new moves works after you've filled all slots. Rather frustrating to work around, since once you discard a skill, you lose it permanently, meaning you'll either need to learn how to build a character crazy fast or plan the build in advance. This also applies to the Demi-fiend himself so you have to think a few steps ahead with your Magatama skills.
150* DiscOneFinalDungeon: The Obelisk. It's huge, the puzzles are tricky (even the bosses are a puzzle in a way), you finally get to rescue Yuko, finishing it will turn off the Nightmare System...oh, yeah, and then there's all the stuff after it.
151* DiscOneNuke:
152** Tornado is a -dyne tier skill and is picked up from the Hifumi Magatama at level 17. It's much stronger than the elemental parallels that you've got access to at this point and it'll likely remain in the main character's skill set for a long time. The same Magatama also gives you Force Boost as its next skill, just to take things to the next level for a magic-focused Demi-Fiend.
153** Fog Breath, which can be learned from the second Magatama at a low level (Lv.21), and basically acts as a double-strength Sukunda that hits all enemies and never misses. Extremely worth the high MP cost, this skill is useful for the entire game.
154** Dark Might gives its user guaranteed critical hits on a New Kagutsuchi. Available as soon as you leave the hospital as one of Jack Frost's starting skills. Can turn any boss that isn't resistant to physical attacks in a complete joke, as long as your entire party has the skill and you make sure of fighting during the New Moon. Bright Might, its Full Kagutsuchi parallel, works just as well, but appears slightly later from Bicorn.
155** Shiisaa is an early demon that learns War Cry relatively quickly, which functions as two uses of Tarunda in one. Its MP bar is a bit too thin to use it with frequency, but this skill becomes great for surviving boss fights and you'll see it get passed down to the demons you fuse.
156** Daisoujou is at first a challenging fight, and later a level 37 Fiend with an almighty attack that steals the target's HP and MP, and its strength can be augmented by buffs like Makakaja. He's also one of your earliest access to Prayer, which fully heals the party and cleanses ailments. Put two and two together and you have a demon that fills its own MP to full and sucks the opponent dry in no time WHILE healing everyone, and if you give him Makatora he can top off the party's MP before topping himself off at the next random encounter. Needless to say, this demon stays in parties for a long time.
157* DoppelgangerSpin: Ongyo-Ki. Attacking the wrong one will immediately end your turn, and you'll be at the mercy of whichever ones remain. To make matters worse, using "Ma-" spells to attack all of the clones at once doesn't work. You can figure out the real one by [[spoiler:fighting him during a Full Kagutsuchi and looking for the shadow]]. This only upgrades him from "nigh-impossible" to "extremely hard", though.
158* {{Doppelmerger}}: During the first fight against Spectre, it will begin the fight by casting "Gathering" to summon 5 copies of itself. A few turns into the fight, it will merge with its copies to create a giant Spectre. The fused form can be made weaker by defeating some of the copies before it occurs.
159* DownerBeginning: Less than 20 minutes into the game, the world ends and begins anew and most of humanity is killed off. Very few other ''SMT'' games go from "click on New Game" to apocalypse in such a short period of time.
160* DownerEnding:
161** The Demon ending. [[spoiler:Nothing changes, leaving the Vortex world in a state of chaos until the next Conception - whenever that is. To further rub salt in the wound, [[NoFinalBossForYou Kagutsuchi doesn't give you the satisfaction of fighting him out of sheer disgust for your cowardly actions]].]]
162** The True Demon ending is a subversion. [[spoiler:While the world is completely obliterated and the Demi-fiend casts away his humanity to transform into a complete demon, he does so of his own free will ''and'' becomes Lucifer's top dog for his troubles, so from his perspective, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality it's actually a good ending]].]]
163* TheDragon:
164** Samael is Hikawa's ''literal'' Dragon. Though Samael will end up becoming ''your'' Dragon if you join them.
165** Thor is this to Gozu-Tennoh, and later to [[spoiler:Chiaki if you didn't take that spot already]].
166** Three examples of the trope appear in the Labyrinth of Amala, one for the Great Will and two for [[spoiler:Lucifer]], with each appearing in the last three of the Kalpas.
167** The player himself will become this to Hikawa, [[spoiler:Isamu, or Chiaki]] - the Reason holders. If you ally with them, they will send you to focus on remaking the world while they hold down the fort. Hikawa even puts his former Dragon Samael at your command if you join him. Ditto for the True Demon Ending, where the Demi-Fiend becomes one for [[spoiler:Lucifer]].
168* DreamingOfThingsToCome: A human dreams of the Conception before it happens. [[ConspiracyTheorist He thinks aliens]] [[TheCuckooLanderWasRight from Jupiter did it.]] Though this might be a series in-joke: In the ''VideoGame/LastBible'' series, humanity originally came from the Fifth Planet, before having to relocate to the Third Planet. The first demons were there with them, as well.
169* DubNameChange: The original [=PS2=] localisation renamed the Menorahs as "Candelabra" (the broader classification of candleholders menorahs fall under), likely to avoid the landmine of Western audiences hearing that [[spoiler:Lucifer]] is handing out Jewish iconography to multiple demons to encourage them to fight each other. The ''HD Remaster'', however, reverts to the originally intended name.
170* EarlyGameHell: It's not unusual to die in the ''tutorial fight'' (in Hard mode, that would be the ''norm''). Healing is very expensive and you'll be reloading every time a prospective recruit runs off with your items. As you accumulate skills and resources, the game gets much more bearable.
171* EasterEgg: If you have Cerberus or Orthrus is your party and enter the Cathedral of Shadows during new Kagutsuchi, the Jakyou Manor theme from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' will play instead of the usual theme.
172* EldritchLocation: All of the Vortex World. Particularly interesting examples are the Diet Building, the Obelisk / Tower of Kagutsuchi and the Labyrinth of Amala, though the Assembly of Nihilo's Shiodome base, Kabukicho Prison and to a much lesser extent the Mantra HQ also qualify.
173* EmptyShell: The Reason Of Shijima is to turn everyone into this.
174* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Within the first hour, no less.
175* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: The whole story is to get to this [[spoiler:if you don't follow Lucifer, anyhow]].
176* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:The Messians and the Gaians that saw Hikawa as a dangerous rogue teamed up to try to take him down; they wound up being the people killed at Yoyogi Park to be his sacrifices.]]
177* EnergyWeapon: Divine Shot, Spiral Viper, Freikugel all cause the Demi-Fiend to fire lasers from his palm or face. Also, [[spoiler:Metatron's]] Fire of Sinai attack has him shoot lasers from his eyes.
178* EternalRecurrence: The way the entire system of the Conception is supposed to work. The wheel's broken in the Demon (for a while) and True Demon (''forever'') endings.
179* EverybodysDeadDave: The only true humans that remain after the conception are Yuko, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, Hijiri [[spoiler:or not in Hijiri's case]] and the protagonist (and even then only partly). Everyone else? If they aren't turned into pure Magatsuhi, they either get reincarnated into Manikins, the Vortex World equivalent of humans, who suffer from muscle spasms and are [[spoiler:unable to make their own Reasons unlike real humans]], or they get reincarnated into Souls, the Vortex World equivalent to ghosts, who are mostly friendly but are still unable to do much, being outclassed by nearly everything else in the food chain. [[spoiler:In most of the endings, all of them die too. Since you're not a human anymore, [[HumanitysWake the entire human race has died out]]]].
180* EvilerThanThou: Every faction ends up trying to one-up each other.
181* EvilIsHammy: Fiends are near-impossibly hammy. [[WakeUpCallBoss Matador]]'s battle quote sums it best:
182-->'''Matador:''' [[BadassBoast I swear, by my sword and capote, that once again I shall prove victorious!]]
183* EvilVersusEvil: By the end of the game, the only major character left standing who can unquestionably be called good is [[spoiler:a Freedom-aligned Demi-fiend. Chiaki is a vicious social Darwinist who wants to purge the weak, Isamu murders Hijiri in cold blood and would create a world of absolute isolationism, Hijiri himself becomes obsessed with power and knowledge and is implied to have been willing to commit the exact same crimes Isamu did had he been given the chance, Hikawa and even Takao are willing to blow up the universe to create their new world, Kagutsuchi wants to keep resetting this world (and countless others) until at least one is populated with mindless slaves of God, Lucifer's solution to the whole crisis is to destroy the system and potentially everything else along with it, a Demi-fiend aligned with any of the three Reasons or with Lucifer is willing to commit the same crimes as they are, and a Demi-fiend aligned with nobody is a DirtyCoward too weak-willed to see any vision for the world through.]]
184* EvolutionaryLevels: Some demons will, contrary to the series' normal expectations, transform into superior forms. The result of doing this are stronger demons you never get the chance to recruit or even ''see''. The only two ways to know if a demon can evolve is training it so it gains a level, at which point the game will inform you of the changes, or using a Divining Water on the demon in question (which you won't usually have more than a handful of, and are thus inefficient, even with SaveScumming).
185* ExactWords: [[spoiler:[[ButThouMust Because Masakado will only give the Demi-fiend his Magatama if he agrees to bring peace to Tokyo]], a True Demon Demi-fiend can invoke this by instead bringing it ''[[DeadlyEuphemism eternal]]'' ''peace''.]]
186* ExtraDimensionalShortcut: This is the main usage of the Amala Network. Terminals allow the player to enter the network at one location and exit it at another location. Generally, this takes no more than a few seconds, but a couple of times you get stuck and have to navigate your way through the Network to find the exit.
187* ExtraTurn: This is the first game to have the Press Turn system, in which extra turns can be gained by getting a critical hit or exploiting weaknesses. This same game also allows [[SecretAIMoves enemies, and ONLY enemies]], to generate extra turns for themselves with "Eye" skills.
188* EyeScream: The cutscene in which the Demi-fiend receives the first magatama is shown in first person, and very strongly implies it burrows into his body via his eye-socket.
189* TheFairFolk: A Pixie is the first demon that joins your cause. Later you visit a construction park that has been completely taken over by Fairy demons. Most of these are Pixie-like variants (dragonfly wings, tiny floating people) but there's also a big hairy Troll that counts as a Fairy.
190* FairyTrickster: The Pixie profile is:
191--> In English mythology, they are fairies of the forest that love to play tricks on people. They can also be a hard worker when necessary.
192* FantasticSlur: The Yosuga faction exclusively refers to Manikins as "Mud Puppets" [[spoiler:during the massacre at Mifunashiro]] to emphasize how they are less than human.
193* FantasyKitchenSink: You can meet everyone from Loki to Metatron to Ifrit.
194* FateWorseThanDeath:
195** [[spoiler:Jyoji Hijiri]]'s fate (speculated to be a result of him [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII killing his god in a previous life]]]]) is to be doomed to an endless cycle of torment, death and rebirth without hope of reincarnation into a better existence. It's implied that {{God}} will do the same thing- or ''worse''- to [[spoiler:the main character in the True Demon ending if He gets his hands on him]].
196** [[spoiler:It's also implied that it will happen in the Freedom ending where the Great Will will come after the main character one day for returning the world back to normal. He gets to keep his power for when this happens.]]
197* FighterMageThief: Takao's students are divided along these lines, despite the setting's originality. Chiaki is the Fighter, overcoming threats with sheer toughness and determination. Naoki is the Mage, who overcomes threats by learning a variety of spells and negotiating with otherworldly creatures. Isamu is the Thief, who overcomes threats by sneaking past them and seeking out a hidden stash of Magatsuhi.
198* FightWoosh: The screen dramatically zooms in when you're about to get into a fight.
199* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]], though the game also uses NoFinalBossForYou on one route and TrueFinalBoss on another.
200* FisherKing: The various characters manifesting their Reasons changes the overall tone of the environment they're in. This is most noticeable in Mantra HQ, when its interior lighting turns from gold to a silvery blue once [[spoiler:Chiaki]] realizes her Reason of Yosuga.
201* ForDoomTheBellTolls: Metatron's battle theme.
202* {{Foreshadowing}}:
203** If you notice, the "press start button" screen mirrors one of the ending sequences.
204** Right after the Conception, Hijiri mentions speaking to ghosts. It's implied that the hospital ghosts were there all along, but the Demi-Fiend couldn't see them until he became a demon, hinting that [[spoiler:Hijiri isn't quite human anymore, either]].
205** In the ''Maniax'' version and the ''HD Remaster'', there are a handful of hints towards the fact that [[spoiler:The Blond Child and The Old Gentleman are both different forms of Lucifer]].
206*** Long-time fans will notice that [[spoiler:The Blond Child looks a lot like a younger Louis Cyphre while The Old Gentleman looks like an older version of him.]]
207*** In the peephole events in the Labyrinth of Amala, the stage that the Lady in Black and the Old Gentleman stand on has [[spoiler:a goat's head, or rather, a Baphomet's head]] in the background, [[spoiler:and Baphomet is often regarded as a symbol of the Devil if not the Devil himself, a.k.a. Lucifer]]. The head of the Old Gentleman's cane also depicts [[spoiler:a goat's head]] if you look closely enough.
208*** The Lady in Black directly refers to The Old Gentleman as [[spoiler:the Fallen Angel]].
209*** The Blond Child shows a bit too much interest in the Demi-fiend's actions, namely whether or not he'll recreate the world or destroy it entirely, with some notable preference for the latter. [[spoiler:As the cycle of destruction and rebirth is instigated by the Great Will, who Lucifer hates with a burning passion, it makes sense that he'd want to give the Great Will the biggest middle finger he can. And what better way to do that than by messing with the Great Will's chances of creating a world blindly subservient to God?]]
210* ForeverWar: As the Lady in Black explains it [[spoiler:the forces of Light and Darkness have been fighting since the beginning of Amala and even beyond the flow of time, with humans, demons, and all other forms of life are mere pawns of this cosmic battle and affected by it. Even during the game, the war is still raging on beyond the Vortex World; within billions of universes in the Amala. Lucifer's goal in the game is to create a demon who will inherit his will and put an end to the war for good. Whether the Demi-Fiend does or not depends on whether he goes for the True Demon Ending.]]
211* GameMod: The US [=PS2=] version has a "Hardtype" mod that rebalances a number of aspects of the original game, as well as changing things up for veterans of the game.
212* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
213** After beating the Girimehkala Sakahagi summons in Yoyogi Park, he claims to have used up too much power summoning it. Sure enough, datamining reveals he only has 46 MP at a point where random enemies can have nearly twice as much, meaning using even an unbuffed draining skill once will leave him with just his regular attack.
214** A minor example you'd probably never think of. In one part of Hell's Vault in the Fourth Kalpa you can come across a ghost who complains that everyone's in too much of a hurry and then asks if you agree. You actually have to wait several minutes before responding Yes to get him to let you go on to the next room.
215* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
216** Following up from the Sakahagi example above, he apparently used up all his power trying to summon a demon, which translates to his embarrassingly low MP count. Not once does the player ever come across such an issue when summoning demons in battle.
217** The fairies in Yoyogi Park only attacks you because Sakahagi brainwashed them, and they apologize after his defeat. This doesn't stop random encounters from spawning in the park. From a gameplay standpoint, you need a place to easily re-encounter these Demons for recruitment and fusion purposes, but it doesn't make sense for the fairies to still be hostile.
218* GameWithinAGame: The BlockPuzzle game in Asakusa.
219* GenuineHumanHide: Sakahagi's coat and bandolier are made of skinned Manikins he killed himself.
220* GlobalCurrency: Macca, demon currency that reoccurs throughout the franchise.
221* GlobalCurrencyException: Rag's Gem Shop, which gives you rare items in exchange for gems that randomly drop from demons.
222* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:His endless cycle of creating and destroying Earth is more or less genocide to billions and billions of humans]]. Notably, this is among the last times God is portrayed as card-carryingly evil or overly lawful in [=MegaTen=]; his portrayals in games after this are a bit more sympathetic and understandable until ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' (which either retcons his portrayal in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' or can be chalked up to being an alternate version of him) and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Redux'' though he is willing to fight another aspect of himself that is considerably more dickish if you manage to fuse him on Law's NewGamePlus.
223* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: According to her backstory, this is what brought [[spoiler:Aradia]] into the Vortex World. [[spoiler:More accurately, Aradia was created by the prayers of a coven of witches, and genuinely wanted to bring them salvation. Due to the nature of how she came to be, she was far too weak to do that and instead wound up as an empty voice who with the rest of the false gods like her gathered to an eternal world of dark where the Conception had failed to start. The Lady also notes that false gods are technically forbidden, and what they do is try to become a true god - invade worlds during ''their'' Conceptions and entice others into including them into the new world so they will become "real" in that new reality. Aradia herself is noted to be the False Goddess of Forsaken Freedom and the Goddess of Falsehood who can only give hope. This doesn't necessarily make Aradia evil though. She could decidedly be a neutral, or perhaps even good, force at work, were it not for her manipulation of Yuko. Aradia just wants to be involved in the creation of the new world because it will allow her to become a true deity and be more than falsehood.]]
224* GoldfishPoopGang: The Spectre is a comical and completely plot-irrelevant antagonist who keeps on picking a fight with you every time you get stuck in the Amala Network simply out of wounded pride.
225* GroundhogPeggySue: [[spoiler:Hijiri gets to live, over and over and over... but he NEVER gets to ''win''.]]
226-->''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping water out of the sea with a cup... Watch, and record, the history of the world... Witness the entirety of the endless war between order and chaos... That is your punishment for your unforgivable sin..."]]''
227* GuideDangIt: Double whammy since not only is it difficult to know where you're supposed to be going, but the actual guide is very little help. Fortunately, there are plenty of guides online that are much more reliable.
228* HeadsOrTails: [[GuestFighter Dante]] retains this quirk from the second ''VideoGame/{{Devil May Cry|2}}'' game. He can be recruited for one Macca if you know about [[spoiler:the TwoHeadedCoin.]]
229** Raidou has his own variant with mahjong tiles, where, [[PerspectiveFlip mimicking demon negotiation]], he pays you either one Macca or one hundred thousand depending on whether you guess the one of the nine tile.
230* HellInvadesHeaven: This is basically what happens in the True Demon Ending.
231* HellOnEarth: It is possible to make Earth an almost literal Hell - a realm only of demons - until the next Conception occurs.
232* HeroicHost: TheHero, with the [[ArtifactOfDoom Magatama]].
233* HeroicMime:
234** The protagonist. And when he DOES speak (or at least leave a written message) in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' after you beat him ([[HarderThanHard good luck with that, by the way]]), he gives one of the most badass lines ever:
235--->[[spoiler:[[BadassBoast "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil... all bends to my will".]]]]
236** Raidou himself is as silent as the Demi-fiend, as his cat companion Gotou speaks on his behalf for the most part.
237* HeroOfAnotherStory: Hee-ho. He keeps popping up across you in his quest for power, first as a shopkeeper in Shibuya, then visiting the Mantra HQ, and finally at Kabukicho Prison, where he gets his wish. His story joins with yours for a moment for the Black Frost battle, then he loses and you get separated again, and later you can join for good in the Third Kalpa.
238* HollowWorld: With [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo at the center]] metaphorically and a sun in the center literally.
239* HopeBringer:
240** Deconstructed with Aradia. She brings hope to those who seek it, but that is all she can do. The hope she brings is shallow and hollow and causes those under her to stop trying to make things for themselves, blind in the hope she gave them.
241** You are this to demonkind. [[spoiler:Lucifer mentions if you go for TDE that all those cast out of Heaven have been waiting for your birth and final battle against God for eons]].
242** Futomimi is this for the Manikins, with his return from meditation being treated in a manner similar to the Reason holders’ [[spoiler:summoning of their demons]], and has them excited about the possibility of a Manikin Reason because of him.
243* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: You have to fight them as part of the Amala subquest, AND you can have them as allies too provided you have Deathstones.
244* HumanoidAbomination: Lucifer (in ''both'' of his forms), the Lady in Black, the Demi-Fiend himself, Dante, Aradia [[spoiler:and eventually, Chiaki and Isamu, as part of their evolution into the Conception gods]].
245* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Demons don't quite "get" humans. Basic tool use seems to be foreign to their minds in some cases, which is one of the justifications for why demons can't use items from your inventory.
246* HurricaneOfPuns: The HD Remaster adds several dick jokes to the sidequest where two Manikins want to summon Mara.
247* HybridPower: What Lucifer was going for with the Magatama. He got it.
248* {{Hypocrite}}: All of the Reason-seekers seek to create worlds that are incompatible with the actions that they're taking to make them. This was likely intentional for the sake of the story.
249** For a guy supposedly interested in creating a world of stillness and silence, Hikawa sure stirs up a lot of chaos and disorder. (e.g. causing The Conception, stirring up and participating in a war between the Mantra and his own followers, the riot at Yoyogi Park, etc.) He's also very ''passionate'' about his vision for a passionless world. [[spoiler:If you follow the Reason of Shijima, he flat-out admits that he is just the ''baptist'' of the Reason of Shijima and that the Demi-Fiend is the true creator. His deity, Ahriman, god of the void who supposedly wants a world of stillness, initially treats the fight like a game, and once he starts losing, he loses his marbles and goes AxCrazy in an effort to kill you.]]
250** [[spoiler:Chiaki]]. She winds up nearly failing to survive according to her own survival of the fittest philosophy, and only becomes powerful through the intervention of a demon that likewise was nearly destroyed. Further, [[spoiler:in spite of her obsession with beauty, her transformation leaves her looking quite deformed by human standards...]]
251** [[spoiler:Isamu]]. He barely does anything ''but'' ask for help from others, yet the world he intends to create is based on doing everything by yourself and not relying on others.
252[[/folder]]
253[[folder:I-N]]
254* IAmAMonster: You can embrace the destiny of the Demi-Fiend as written in the Miroku Scripture and get closer to Shijima by agreeing with Mithra on this one.
255* ImperfectRitual: At one point you meet a Baphomet who is preparing a ritual to summon the demon Mara, and a pair of Manikins who are pestering him to hurry up. [[ButThouMust If/when you side with the Manikins]] he'll do a quickened version of the summoning ritual, causing Mara to take the form of a BlobMonster instead of his [[GagPenis true form]].
256* IncomingHam: ''"The flames of the Menorah beckon me to the battlefield!"''
257* IndecipherableLyrics:
258** The normal battle and major boss battle themes contain vocals in the background that pretty much sound like demons screeching gibberish. However, the actual lyrics ''are'' in English and connect very closely to the plot of the game.
259-->[[spoiler:War broke out in Heaven! Strike with all plagues! Thou shalt not oppose the wrath of God!]]
260** ''Oh dear God are the lyrics to the music ever.'' It's mostly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] too, as a.) it's not actually sung by a human, but rather an early Apple text-to-speech program, and b.) a ''very'' distorted radio filter is on top of the vocals. While there are many examples, the most prominent one is a repeated lyric in the Forced Battle theme which is either "I'm the Lord and savior" or "I'm the bug inside you". It at least makes sense from the perspective of the Demi-Fiend, as there ''is'' a bug inside him. It's also not uncommon for people to misquote the lyrics to the normal battle theme.[[note]]The lyrics to said theme by the way are "My fate is a haunted curse, please I'm just a human being, Effort doesn't [[StealthPun press]] onto me, please make this a real world."[[/note]]
261* InfinityMinusOneSword: Dante, who is only recruitable after entering the Fifth Kalpa, is an incredibly useful party member, having a wide variety of damage skills, a LastChanceHitPoint passive, a free Taunt that refills his MP, and even learns a passive that gives him 50% bonus to all damage he does. He only falls short by lacking Pierce which makes him unable to reliably dent the TrueFinalBoss, but he's perfectly serviceable everywhere else. The ''HD Remaster'' reworks Pierce into his boosting passive, pushing him into a true InfinityPlusOneSword.
262* InfinityPlusOneSword:
263** The Masakados magatama gives you a staggering +10 to all non-Luck stats and imparts immunity to everything that isn't almighty, and you get it by collecting all other Magatamas first and then defeating the Four Devas. That said, Kagutsuchi and [[spoiler:Lucifer]] are still more than powerful enough to ruin your day even with Masakados equipped.
264** Skill-wise, there's Pierce, which is one of the main reasons why physical builds are so powerful. It allows any physical attack to pierce through all enemy defenses for everything, except for reflects, which can make the Demi-fiend's HP-powered KamehameHadoken skills very powerful, especially when paired with Focus. You can get it by leveling up your first Magatama after completing the BonusDungeon, and if you want it on your demons, you'll need to get it from a special demon from a Shady Broker who resides behind a door that you can only open with Metatron (who's level 95).
265** For Physical Builds, there's Freikugel, the most powerful physical attack in the game, which does both Mega-level physical, as well as Almighty damage. Also doubles as an EleventhHourSuperpower, since the Magatama you gain it from, Kailash, is purchased in the final part of TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
266** Dante was upgraded to this in the [=HD=] Remaster, and Raidou was this in all versions of the Chronicle version, both being extremely powerful party members you gain from the Fifth Kalpa of the BonusDungeon who can inherently learn Pierce.
267* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: The hallways of Kabukicho Prison are blocked off by hastily placed furniture barricades which the Demi-fiend could easily squeeze through (or just jump over), and one-meter wide holes in the ground. The proper way to get around those is by jumping inside the [[GravityScrew mirages]].
268* InTheirOwnImage: The Reasons' purpose [[spoiler:and the essential cornerstone of the Great Will's plan]].
269* ISurrenderSuckers: Occasionally, if you beat the crap out of an enemy demon, they will beg for mercy. If you accept their surrender, there's a chance they'll take advantage of your generosity to attack you.
270* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: The Obelisk is a very tall tower reaching into the sky. The same goes for TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon which is an extension of the Obelisk. Inverted in the Labyrinth of Amala -- you're descending down its Kalpas to meet with the Old Man.
271* ItsAWonderfulFailure: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cZX00grie0 And hopefully you don't mind it]], because you will see it a ''lot''.[[note]]''Shin Megami Tensei'': where getting sent to Heaven is the ''worst possible thing that can happen to you''.[[/note]]
272* IWorkAlone: The Reason of Musubi is to apply this to the entire universe. As in, you and you alone are responsible for your corner of the cosmos, free to do as you wish without being able to interfere with others.
273* JiveTurkey: Comes as a ''magatama-imparted skill'', which allows you to talk to Foul, Wilder and Haunt demons, who normally are TheUnintelligible.
274* JustBeforeTheEnd: The game kicks off at most an hour or so before armageddon.
275* KangarooCourt: The Mantra Army Court, where you prove you're innocent by [[TrialByCombat punching out the judges]]. But when Thor himself is one of the combatants, they don't expect you to win, and they're definitely shocked when you do.
276* KillTheOnesYouLove: Most prevalent in any of the non-Reason endings, [[spoiler:where you put down Noah and Baal Avatar to prevent Isamu and Chiaki respectively from enacting their mad idea of paradise. However, you still have to go against at least one of them, even when you agree with one of them.]]
277* KingmakerScenario: The Demi-Fiend cannot create his own Reason, since he is partly demonic in nature. He can, however, champion any of the three opposing Reasons and help them create the world they seek. He can also choose not to champion any of the reasons [[spoiler:and either return the world to the way it was before the Conception, keep it in a state of primordial chaos, or destroy it outright.]]
278* LastDayOfNormalcy: It begins with three {{Ordinary High School Student}}s from Tokyo going to visit their favorite teacher in hospital... only to discover the hospital is [[AbandonedHospital completely devoid of patients or medical personnel]], and serves as the base of operations for an ApocalypseCult. The cult leader completes a ritual that triggers TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and as the chaos unfolds, [[PlayerCharacter one of the teens]] meets a mysterious young boy, who "gifts" him with a parasite called a Magatama that burrows into his body and turns him into a demon...
279* LevelUpFillUp: Whenever the Demi-Fiend levels up, his Magatama may "react violently". Letting it do so can trigger one of a few effects based on the Magatama, ranging between this trope (for himself or the entire party), a stat boost, or a status ailment.
280* LightIsNotGood:
281** Most of the Angel races align themselves with Yosuga, the most blatantly evil of the Reasons. It's almost a MythologyGag that the angels side with a MightMakesRight philosophy and the demons side with the WorldOfSilence side, when in previous games it's been the exact opposite.
282** And then we have horrors like Amaterasu's [[SignatureMove Godly Light]]. Yay, 80% of everyone's HP just vanished in a single blow! Not satisfied? How about Radiance from the archangels? Metatron's Fire of Sinai? The FinalBoss and its Vast Light and Infinite Light?
283* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Inverted. At the beginning of the game, magic skills are far more common and potent than physical skills, and their ability to get you more turns by exploiting elemental weaknesses make magic-oriented characters more powerful. However, magic starts to scale down in the latter half of the game and strength-based attacks continue to grow, making more physically-oriented fighters superior; it doesn't help that many late-game bosses have no weaknesses so fishing for crits is your best bet at getting extra Press Turns. Physical attacks are rare on Magatama early on, but at higher levels they offer the Demi-Fiend exclusive physical skills that make physical builds a powerhouse. [[spoiler:It gets to the point where the TrueFinalBoss can ''only'' be seriously damaged with physical attacks, making magic even more redundant.]]
284* LiterallyShatteredLives: Get turned to stone and there's a chance of shattering if you take a hit. Take a [[BlowYouAway Force]] attack and this happens without fail.
285* LonersAreFreaks:
286** Chiaki insists on doing everything by herself. Result: [[spoiler:later on she ''literally'' becomes a freak]].
287** Isamu fits the bill better later on. [[spoiler:His entire philosophy is based around doing everything by yourself, [[BodyHorror and his transformation is way more freaky than Chiaki's, what with friggin' faces growing out of him]].]]
288* LongSongShortScene: The world map for the pre-Conception world [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2hHmIkN5gQ gets its own unique track]], despite the fact you'll probably spend less than a minute there.
289* LostInTranslation: Several, particularly the Japanese names for demon races (for example, the {{True Final Boss}}'s race would be better translated as "[[spoiler:Great Demon King]]" but is localized as the much simpler "[[spoiler:Devil]]"). However, a prominently misleading case is "アマラ宇宙" localized as Amala Universe; while it ''is'' technically a correct translation, Amala is an expanse which contains ''multiple'' universes (billions in fact, according to the Lady In Black), so a more accurate translation would be "Amala Cosmos" or "Amala Space".
290* MagikarpPower:
291** A couple of demons take huge level jumps when evolving, potentially getting you a couple of difficult-to-find demons for much less effort. The Pixie set a precedent with this, as after an early evolution to High Pixie, it can jump from level 15 to the level 56 Queen Mab. Even more extreme is the otherwise unspectacular Lillim, who can evolve at level 12 to the level 80 Lillith. While Divine Water will hint these transformations exist, Demi-Fiend has to be within 4 levels of the evolved demon, so it's better to summon a Lillim/High Pixie from the compendium at that point. Of course [[GuideDangIt the game never communicates any of this]].
292** Other two-stage evolutions produce impressive results if you take the effort to grind through their levels to trigger their evolutions.
293*** Koppa Tengu upgrades to Karasu Tengu and eventually Kurama Tengu, and at the peak of his strength he can sweep enemies with Force Boosted Wind Cutters and Tornados or hit Expel weaknesses with Violet Flash and Starlight.
294*** Ongkhot evolves into Hanuman and eventually into Wu Kong, and on the way he learns Tarukaja, Rakukaja, and Sukukaja on top of Life Surge and Endure, all coming together to make the legendary monkey a fearsome physical-immune LightningBruiser. The only thing you'd probably want him to inherit from prior fusion is Focus.
295** The Pixie you meet in the medical centre at the start of the game. [[spoiler:If you take her (or a demon made from fusing/evolving her) to a certain door only she can unlock in the Fifth Kalpa of the BonusDungeon Labyrinth of Amala]], she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a few level in badass]] and learns several powerful skills like Megidolaon, Mediarahan and Samarecarm.
296** Your initial Magatama is a MasterOfNone that can't even be fully mastered at first. That said, [[spoiler:complete the BonusDungeon]], and it gives you the game's [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Skill]], Pierce.
297** Related to the above, Physical builds for the Demi-Fiend. Early in the game, physical skills are thin on the ground, sacrificing HP to do more damage is extremely risky, physical attacks can't give extra Press Turns without a lucky critical, and a single resistance/immunity completely neuters damage output. Later in the game, some of the best skills run off physical stats, Pierce can bypass all but Repel, the HP cost is less of an issue with better healing spells in the party, and a certain combination of these is basically the only way to do more than tickle the TrueFinalBoss.
298* MakeMyMonsterGrow: The Spectre will absorb his brethren and inflate himself to giant size in the first fight against him.
299* MalevolentArchitecture: Several dungeons are designed to get you lost or screw you over if you're not checking your map every now and then, but the Diet Building stands out as its guardians create illusions, teleport you, and block your path to impede progress.
300* ManipulativeBastard:
301** [[spoiler:Aradia. She lures Yuko with promises of giving her the power to remake the world and uses her as a pawn in a bid to become real in the new world birthed from the Conception; while supportive, she's not overtly concerned about her well-being and will often use her as an underling without explaining her the exact idea as to why she can't get a Reason from her.]]
302** You could say Isamu tries to be one - if you're actually listening to his ''very'' poorly thought out {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}es.
303** And of course, we can't forget about [[spoiler:Lucifer, or in this case, the blond boy and the old man. He forcibly turns you into a demon, removing your ability to create a Reason, then sends you on a quest to retrieve all of the Menorahs claiming that the Fiends stole them. It's a lie, of course. He gave the Menorahs to the Fiends himself to test if you're strong enough to aid him. Whether he's justified in his manipulations or not is up to you.]]
304* MarathonBoss: Noah, unless you have the skill Pierce ''and'' Freikugel, the one combination he can't defend himself successfully against.
305* MarathonLevel: The Obelisk is a very tall tower, with over 100 floors (but thankfully several elevators let you skip through many floors at once) and five save points scattered across it. The Tower of Kagutsuchi is even longer with a total of over 500 floors, only made bearable with three large terminals distributed across it for quick travel.
306* MeaningfulName: Aradia, goddess of falsehood, [[spoiler:isn't really a god at all.]]
307* MetaTwist: Though one that only works if you've played other ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games. In previous games, your moral choices locked you into one of three routes- Law, Chaos, and Neutral. In this game, [[spoiler: picking any of the three Reasons makes a Law ending. The reason behind this is that Kagatsuchi is an avatar of YHVH, and is thus tilting the Vortex World in his favor. Picking any Reason, even the one that emphasizes a MightMakesRight "world of the strong" that sounds like a perfect embodiment of the traditional chaos ending is still creating a law-based reality, since that way of life has not naturally formed and is being supernaturally enforced instead. The neutral endings are actually rejecting the Reasons outright, and the Chaos ending ''isn't even in the original release of the game'', as it's the True Demon ending. That itself leads into a meta-twist as well- usually it's the Neutral route that unlocks bonus content in these games, but this time the only way to fight the TrueFinalBoss is to side with Chaos.]]
308* MightMakesRight: The entire world view of the Mantra demons, which then gets adopted into the Reason of Yosuga. Like the others, they plan to spread their philosophy to the universe through Kagutsuchi.
309* MissingReflection: When Mot disguises himself as a statue, this is how you pick him out from the real statues. (He doesn't create a reflection; the real ones do.)
310* MonstersEverywhere: Well, the inhabitants of this world are 95% demons, 4% ghosts and 1% human-like Manikins, so this should be expected. Even when you're walking around in towns, you can still be hit with random encounters. There are very few "safe" zones.
311* MonumentalDamage: The ruins of Shibuya's Scramble is one of the first locations visited during the game.
312* MrFanservice: It is worth noting that the main character ends up spending 95% of the game ''completely shirtless''. A significant number of Norse gods also seem to like showing off quite a bit of toned physique. And then there's [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]], who gets special mention for having [[FemaleGaze a crotch shot]] before jumping off a very tall building.
313* MultipleEndings: There are six, depending on what sort of world you want to create. It's unusual, since usually there are only three different endings in the series, one for Law, Chaos, and Balance. The new worlds created don't really resemble the paradise either YHVH or Lucifer strive to create in earlier games, instead:
314** Reason Endings;
315*** Musubi: [[spoiler:A world of total isolation. Achieved by answering affirmatively to Isamu's questions and rejecting Hikawa and Chiaki]].
316*** Yosuga: [[spoiler:A world where the weak are slaughtered and the strong rule. Achieved by answering affirmatively to Chiaki's questions and rejecting Hikawa and Isamu. This is the only path you fight Futomimi on]].
317*** Shijima: [[spoiler:A world of unchanging stillness and silence. Achieved by answering affirmatively to Hikawa's questions and rejecting Isamu and Chiaki]].
318** Other Endings;
319*** Freedom: [[spoiler:Bring back the old world. Achieved by rejecting all three Reasons and showing courage before Aradia]].
320*** Demon: [[spoiler:Try to create your own world, but fail, leaving the Vortex World unchanged, or possibly like the Vortex World the way it is intentionally. Achieved by rejecting all three Reasons and showing fear before Aradia]].
321*** True Demon: [[spoiler:Destroy the world [[DeaderThanDead even worse]] and become the new Demon King and lead the forces of darkness to battle God. Achieved by fully completing the Labyrinth of Amala (how you answer everyone's questions doesn't matter). This is the only path where you fight Lucifer as a TrueFinalBoss]].
322* TheMultiverse: Notable for being the first of the mainline Shin Megami Tensei-titled game which properly explores the concept instead of just vaguely mentions it. As the player ventures through the Labyrinth of Amala, the Lady In Black eventually explains the Vortex World is only a single world in the vast river known as the Amala Universe (a fairly misleading translation; see LostInTranslation), and whatever happens to this Vortex World does not affect billions of other universes in Amala; this makes it possible other games in the franchise are in fact part of this continuity. However, previous games (mainly ''VideoGame/LastBible'' and ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'') having their own groups of universes suggest that the Amala is ''a'' multiverse (a group of universes), and not ''the'' multiverse (the entirety of ''Shin Megami Tensei'' franchise). Future games later reinforce this by showing they have their own versions of VoidBetweenTheWorlds or PlaceBeyondTime which connect their sets of universes, such as the Akarana Corridor (''Raidou Kuzunoha'' continuity) and the Expanse (''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'').
323* MusicalNod:
324** The Fiends battle theme, introduced by Matador, comes from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.
325** The terminal theme is the same as ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'''s terminals.
326** When you enter the Cathedral of Shadows during a new Kagutsuchi with series mascot Cerberus in your party, the music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk1c2GrioYo& changes]] to the one used in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''. You can also do this with Orthrus in the party for the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' Cathedral music.
327** The ([[LongSongShortScene very underused]]) Amala Network battle theme is a remix of a battle theme from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf''.
328** The music used in Ginza was used in towns in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.
329** The Puzzle Boy music was originally used as the world map music before the missiles hit in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''
330** Beelzebub's and Metatron's introduction themes are also the chaos and law themes of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.
331* MythologyGag:
332** The magazine Chiaki is reading at the beginning has an picture of Nova (the virtual fortune-teller from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' whose questionaire will define your character's stat growth).
333** The fairies took over Yoyogi Park in Shinjuku. Shinjuku was also the home of the fairies in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''.
334** The ritual for summoning Mara shows the four dolls used to open a portal to the Expanse in ''II''. In the Japanese version, Baphomet is also reciting the names of God that appear in the intro of ''I'' (presumably meant to be the Demon Summoning Program's code).
335** Just like ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', Thor and the angels end up in the same faction.
336** The hero of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' was also arrested for trespassing and had the option of killing the Law-aligned judge.
337** Later in the game, one of the spirits in the main hospital lobby will say he never heard of a man named Dr. Otsuki; another reference to ''if...''.
338** Completing the Amala Grave Run will cause an event where a Cerberus appears and will take you to his masters, Izanagi and Izanami. This is a reference to ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory''.
339** If you decide to recruit Dante, [[spoiler:as one to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'', he has a trick coin that always lands heads]].
340** The HD Remaster has a "Beverage Buff" achievement much like ''VideoGame/Persona5''. But it's also a light jab at the tedium of that achievement in its home game -- here, you have a grand total of two working vending machines you can buy drinks from, both before the Conception happens, and they don't affect gameplay at all.
341* NewGamePlus: Lets you keep your Demon Compendium, gives you a new choice of wardrobe for the first part of the game and lets you select a "first person" view for that authentic [=MegaTen=] experience. It also allows you to get an extra press-turn for the demi-fiend if you complete a certain sidequest in your previous playthrough. Needless to say, this is very important for people who are interested in tackling hard mode.
342* NewWorkRecycledGraphics:
343** A not-insignificant amount of sound effects were taken from ''VideoGame/Persona2'', particularly ''Eternal Punishment''. For example, the VoiceGrunting of both Rangda and Skadi are taken from Chizuru Ishigami.
344* NietzscheWannabe: The Assembly of Nihilo. It's even in the name.
345* NintendoHard: Normal difficulty can be punishing but is reasonable once you get accustomed to the battle system. Hard difficulty pushes things into nearly-unfair territory; in this difficulty you can ''die during the tutorial fight''.
346** As if to press home the point, the game describes its "Hard" difficulty setting as "A level of difficulty suitable for one seeking the thrill of death".
347** Expect later dungeons to have fiendish level design between one-way doors, teleporter mazes, damage tiles and pitfalls. [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0KJ3d_-d5Tw/Vy54J2hWdbI/AAAAAAAAAIs/xgPhjQMq2mobSD65C-b5jIdpBwtD0MurwCKgB/s1600/HOLYSHITDUNGEONSOFMADNESS.png Here's an apt summary of how bad it can get]].
348** One of the things that makes this game difficult is the lack of AntiFrustrationFeatures. When you learn a skill by leveling up, that is your one and only chance to use that skill--you can't "store" them for later and there's no going back if you erase something you're currently equipped with. Later games in the franchise would be softer on this--particularly ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga''-- but here, you're expected to plan out your character progression well in advance.
349* NoFinalBossForYou: [[spoiler:On the Demon ending route (not to be confused with True Demon), the Demi-Fiend destroys the other three Reasons, but doesn't have the will to create his own. Kagutsuchi refuses to even meet with him, ending the game without fighting him.]]
350* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: The game makes it clear to ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' fans that ''Nocturne'' is going in different directions from the previous two games in the series by having various news reports and characters in the opening noting that the standard representatives of OrderVersusChaos in the previous games, the Messians and Gaians, have all been killed before this story even started.
351* NotQuiteBackToNormal: The freedom ending has [[spoiler:the Blond Child / Lucifer noting that despite the world being reset to the way it was before the Conception and your tattoos disappearing... you still very much have your demonic strength, and you'll need it for the day your [[GodIsEvil true enemy]] appears before you.]]
352* NotSoDifferentRemark: The protagonist compared to [[spoiler:Lucifer]] in the Freedom ending by [[{{God}} Kagutsuchi]] and [[spoiler:Lucifer himself]].
353* NowWhereWasIGoingAgain: There's no quest log or overworld map, so figuring out where to go next often boils down to "remember that hint a minor NPC gave you an hour ago and keep checking doors until you find [[{{Railroading}} one that isn't locked]]. On one hand, it really makes you ''feel'' like [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration a stranger struggling through a primitive, apathetic world]]; on the other, it can be unnecessarily frustrating as a ''game'' when all you want to do is, say, get to Kabukicho already [[note]]it's through the ground floor of Mantra headquarters, behind a door that was [[EventFlag previously]] impassible[[/note]].
354* NumberOfTheBeast:
355** The final floor of the Tower of Kagutsuchi is the 666th floor, and reaching the FinalBoss requires you to present 3 stones that are each shaped like a number 6, won from the other bosses found in the tower.
356** Beelzebub is given 666 HP when fused, per [=MegaTen=] tradition.
357** The Tomb of Yomi is found in the Labyrinth of Amala's 666th basement.
358[[/folder]]
359[[folder:O-Y]]
360* OddballInTheSeries: This game features a number of deviations from the usual mainline ''SMT'' formula:
361** It's the only numbered game with a subtitle, save for ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' which was a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' instead of a brand-new mainline entry.
362** This is the first main game to use 3D models for demons and [=NPCs=], rather than sprites. Later games would instead employ a SpritePolygonMix, until ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' returned to full 3D.
363** In the other main games, the player character typically use portable technology (arm terminals and smartphones in particular) to summon demons. In this game, as a half-demon, there's no need to use tech to communicate with and summon demons.
364** Unlike the other main games, which have all manners of equipment like body armor, swords, and guns, the only equipment you have are Magatamas.
365** In the other main games, there's usually a fair number of human [=NPCs=] in spite of a recent apocalypse or other dire circumstances. Here, there are ''less than ten humans'' in the entire game world; all of the other [=NPCs=] are the souls of the dead, [[ArtificialHuman Manikins]], and demons.
366** Rather than the traditional AlignmentBasedEndings, this one showcases FactionSpecificEndings where you can choose to side with one of three different philosophies, as well as two endings where you side with none and either [[spoiler:leave the Vortex World as is]] or [[spoiler:revert it back]], and an "ultimate" ending where [[spoiler:you become Lucifer's champion]].
367** Before the ''HD Remaster'', it was the only main game that was not available on a Nintendo platform.
368* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Combined with GratuitousEnglish considering the game has nothing to do with music. At least the title Lucifer's Call made more sense.
369* OhCrap:
370** Two lines are almost guaranteed to make a player wary: "The flames of the [[color:red:Menorah of Sovereignty]] are flickering wildly..." indicate that [[BossWarningSiren a Fiend is nearby.]] "You feel the presence of a terrifying demon... Will you stay here?" triggers when you're about to engage in a Fiend battle -- you have an option to evade it, but it's not guaranteed.
371** [[spoiler:Dante]]'s theme whenever [[spoiler:he]] chases you through the Third Kalpa.
372** The Demi-Fiend's reaction to [[spoiler:Lucifer]]'s true form. He may not say anything, and you can't see his face, but his double-take at the sight of it speaks VOLUMES.
373* OneWingedAngel:
374** [[spoiler:Chiaki]] and [[spoiler:Isamu]] eventually undergo demonic transformations to power up.
375** The Reason bosses. The most notable of them is [[spoiler:Baal Avatar]], who is both aligned with the angels and has one large wing.
376** [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] also transforms into a giant head for his second form.
377* OnlyGoodPeopleMayPass: There are three doors in the Third Kalpa of the Labyrinth of Amala which only let you through if you are on a different section of the morality meter (based on what Magatamas you've mastered thus far in the game) Light, Neutral, and Dark.
378* OptionalBoss: It's entirely possible to get through the Ikebukuro Tunnel without fighting any of the oni. Doing so, however, rewards you with a Magatama after beating Ongyo-Ki.
379* OptionalPartyMember:
380** After beating Black Frost in the frozen Kabukicho Prison, he reincarnates in the Third Kalpa and joins your party should you have an open spot in your roster, without worrying about the Demi-Fiend's level.
381** Samael is willing to join with you partway into the Tower of Kagutsuchi if you're allied with Hikawa, and like Black Frost there is no issue with level.
382** Dante will offer to join your party in the [[BonusLevelOfHell Fifth Kalpa]] for 1 Macca or half of your Macca. It depends on a [[LuckBasedMission coin flip]]... ''except'' if you've played ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' and know that [[spoiler:he uses a double-sided coin]]. Raidou is the same in the ''Chronicles'' version of the game, only with Mahjong pieces.
383* OrderVersusChaos: Slightly subverted as the three main Reasons don't cleanly fall under "Law" or "Chaos".
384** Taken into a broader context (i.e. the other ending possibilities), the three main Reasons fall under "Law." Yosuga is the "tyranny" aspect of Law and populated with holier-than-thou angels, the World of Stillness is the "mechanical perfection" aspect of Law and the World of Isolation is the "distant, impersonal" aspect of Law. All three are created by buying into the reason the world was blown up in the first place--in other words, playing through the avenues of fate set up by the Great Will. The Freedom and Demon endings are created by defying the rules. Quite ironically, Shijima, the closest to absolute Law, has [[spoiler:Ahriman]], a Tyrant (Dark-Chaos), as its champion. Musubi has [[spoiler:Noah]], a Vile (Dark-Law), and Yosuga has [[spoiler:Baal Avatar]], a Deity (Light-Law).
385* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: The Main Character, Chiaki, and Isamu. [[spoiler:This doesn't last, though.]]
386* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The four Riders are {{Flunky Boss}}es, calling two minions into battle which can support them with debuffs and extra attacks, while supplying extra Press Turns to the opposing side. They will replace their minions if you defeat them. However, if you petrify the minions (an asset most players would overlook for boss fights due to ContractualBossImmunity) where possible, they won't act and won't be replaced unless you shatter them, wasting the extra Press Turns they provide and making the fight significantly easier.
387* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Centre of the Conception and Where the Demifiend was Born, two extra dungeons added to the HD Remaster by the "Mercy and Expectation" DLC. The former has demons that drop bull statues that can be sold as ShopFodder if you need some extra macca. The latter has demons that drop Grimoires, RareCandy items that can help your party level up very quickly.
388* PerfectRunFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Lucifer]], who you fight if you complete the Labyrinth of Amala.
389* PermanentlyMissableContent:
390** Miss anything in the Shiodome portion of the Assembly of Nihilo and you never get a chance to go back for it. You also don't get a second chance to collect any treasure that you miss when traveling through the Amala Network.
391** The Demi-fiend's title after maxing out every Magatama, King, is Neutral, meaning the Shady Brokers behind the Light and Dark doors in the Third Kalpa become inaccessible if you get that title.
392** There's two vending machines in the real world (one in the station, one in the hospital) and if you purchase drinks from both of them you get the "Beverage Buff" achievement in the Remaster. You can only get it before the Conception takes place, otherwise, you'll need a new playthrough for it. Downplayed in that this occurs at the very beginning of the game; it's possible to start a new game and earn the achievement within a few minutes.
393* PlanetHeck: The Labyrinth of Amala is essentially home to the legions of demons under the Old Man's command. As you descend into the lower Kalpas its environment progressively deteriorates until the fifth Kalpa has Magatsuhi running through its architecture. You also have cursed zones that regularly halve your HP every few steps and are crawling with powerful demons.
394* PointOfNoReturn: Once you enter the final dungeon or [[spoiler:use the elevator at the final Kalpa of the Labyrinth of Amala]], your ending is set in stone.
395* PowerOfTheVoid: Ahriman is the God of the Void.
396* PowerTattoo: Inverted; from what can be inferred from the Freedom ending, the Demi-fiend's tattoos are a side-effect of his power.
397* PowerUpgradingDeformation: The Demi-Fiend's demonic change is far less notorious than it should be thanks to the BishonenLine-he still looks fairly human even though WordOfGod is that the horn contains a primitive brain or sensory organ granting him most of his demonic power, and the PowerTattoo lines are actually demonic lymph, which is why they change color when he's near-death. [[spoiler:It's a lot easier to notice this, however, in Isamu and Chiaki's transformations]].
398* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: The entire game becomes one if you choose the True Demon route. Just to start it off, you need to claim "I'm a demon" rather than "I'm a human!" to a cute NPC demon in the Amala Labyrinth, and from there on it is made clear that the further you go into it, the more demonic you are becoming.
399** Although given the [=MegaTen=] God, AntiVillain [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] seems more appropriate. And to be fair, said demon is of the belief that "[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are cruel]]."
400* PsychologistTeacher: Yuko appears to be the perfect teacher: smart, strong, wise and confident. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she suffers from crippling self-doubt and gets easily manipulated by both Hikawa and Aradia]]. Her core issue is [[spoiler:she naively thinks Aradia will give her a Reason. Problem? Conception gods ''don't'' give Reasons. As in ''at all''. '''''She's''''' the one who has to develop the inner philosophy to create the Reason, but her own self-confidence issues prevent her from doing so, and she is crushed when Hikawa humiliates her at the Diet Building and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how she has been doing nothing but run away from one thing or another and being used as Aradia's patsy. She has a HeroicBSOD there and is vaporized shortly after]].
401* PunnyName:
402** Futomimi's name means "Fat Ears", referring to how he seems to touch the top of his ear as he prophesises.
403** Sakahagi, on the other hand, refers to an execution method in which the victim was completely flayed, referencing his MO.
404* ThePurge: Within the Mantra Army, as Thor kicked out Ongyo-Ki, Fuu-Ki, Sui-Ki and Kin-Ki.
405* PutOnABus: This is the first numbered ''Shin Megami Tensei'' game that doesn't feature [[GeniusCripple Stephen]].
406* PuzzleBoss:
407** You might say the Moirae Sisters puzzle/fight at the Obelisk also counts. [[spoiler:Defeat them all in a single go with the Kagutsuchi Phase blocks in this order: Clotho, Lachesis, then Atropos]].
408** Noah [[BarrierChangeBoss swaps his defenses throughout the fight]], so you need to regularly determine what he's weak against. [[spoiler:Whatever he casts on you with his second turn, hit him with the opposite, Agi/Bufu or Zio/Zan.]] Unfortunately, his defense is always a reflect, so you can't use Pierce to cheese through it.
409* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The "True Demon" ending.
410* RandomEffectSpell: God's Curse which inflicts a random status ailment, Preach which deals damage on top of inflicting a random ailment, and Root of Evil which combines this trope with RandomizedDamageAttack on top of it.
411* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
412** Hikawa gives one to Yuko toward the game's climax.
413-->'''Hikawa''': How is it that you still don't understand? Freedom was never a thing. It existed in name only, as a front for wholesale corruption. If you really believe in concepts like "freedom" and "potential," why bother with creation? Were these things not present- abundant, more accurately- in the previous world? Why did you not pursue your goal back then?\
414'''Yuko''': ...I mean...\
415'''Hikawa''': You are as guilty as those you judge. And what did you hope to achieve by sending your students here? Did you think they'd be able to do what you couldn't? Or did you want them to feel the same agony of defeat that you felt? Do you know why you've been unable to obtain your Reason? All this time, you've just been running away... trying to leave everything behind. ''(Yuko collapses to her knees)'' Tell me the truth. Do you really believe in freedom?
416** Kagutsuchi gives one to you if you don't support a Reason. His speech when [[spoiler:you confront him as a True Demon]] is particularly hateful.
417-->'''Kagutsuchi:''' [[spoiler:[[DemonOfHumanOrigin By casting aside your humanity]]]], you became the living incarnation of bane itself.
418* RedemptionDemotion: Recruited demons always join as the lowest level possible, making them forget skills they possessed normally; bosses fused have a fraction of the HP they normally have. Additionally, there are several skills like Dragon Eye that you can never use.
419* RedRightHand: [[spoiler:Chiaki]] after her EvilMakeover.
420* ReforgedIntoAMinion: As per franchise standard, all bosses except the {{Climax Boss}}es (Demonic Sponsors), FinalBoss, TrueFinalBoss, and a few others can be eventually forcibly recruited into your forces.
421* RestartTheWorld: Hikawa triggers the Conception with the intent of building a new world in accordance with his philosophy, [[WorldOfSilence 'Shijima']]; whether or not he succeeds is up to the player. [[spoiler:One ending path has you not only ''not'' restore the world, but ''permanently destroy any means to do so'', as the first step of a war against Heaven.]]
422* SchmuckBait: In the Labyrinth of Amala, there are these two ghosts who offer to heal you for [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity an exceedingly modest fee]]. [[spoiler:They drug you, kick you back to the Kalpa entrance and take a whole lot of your money (in case you thought of using them as a quick warp to a save point).]]
423* ScrewDestiny: The [[spoiler:Freedom, Demon and True Demon]] endings.
424* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Aradia invokes this when Yuko confronts Hikawa in the Diet Building. Realizing all three established Reasons either have summoned their gods or are in the brink of doing so, leaving her with no chance of being included as a real goddess post-Conception, Aradia plans to escape the Vortex World to whatever world is birthed from the Conception. She attempts to take Yuko with her, but leaves her at her request, as she's unwilling to allow Hikawa a clear field for Shijima. Hikawa ridicules both of them for this, Aradia for failing to protect her one follower and Yuko for being so foolish in trusting Aradia.]]
425* SecretAIMoves: Plenty, but special mention goes to the extremely common (and extremely cheap) Beast/Dragon Eye moves and their variants. These cost 1MP and give the enemy one and THREE extra turns respectively. It's quite possible to be doing well against a boss only to have them cast Dragon Eye (read: cheat) and slaughter you.
426* SelfDestructiveCharge: Several enemies have suicidal explosive abilities. Leaving them to the brink of health will lead them to prefer killing themselves and blowing up as many of your team as they can instead of waiting patiently to die. Sometimes, they even damage their ''allies'' depending on the skill they use.
427* SerialKiller:
428** Sakahagi loves killing his fellow Manikins and [[GenuineHumanHide using their faces to make clothes]].
429** The Fourth Kalpa reveals [[spoiler:Futomimi was one while alive.]]
430* ShatteringTheIllusion: Ongyo-Ki summons several illusionary copies to fight for him. One punch to a fake will destroy it, but hitting ''the real one'' will destroy them all.
431* ShoutOut:
432** The Fiend "Hell Biker" is an obvious Shout Out to Comicbook/GhostRider. He's a biker with a skull for a face and flaming wheels on his motorcycle. His original name was yet another shout out; it was "Hell's Angel."
433** The Shinjuku Hospital may be one to the location of Atlus' headquarters.
434* SignatureMove: Fiends love their special moves. Other than them, a handful of demons also have at least one of these.
435* SimpleYetAwesome:
436** Watchful, learned as early as a level 20 Koppa; gives the demon LeakedExperience without having to be in the battle. This is the easiest way to get demons to learn their abilities. Even if you can't get an ideal fusion through Koppa, nothing's stopping you from sacrificing one (barring very few endgame exceptions) and re-rolling to get the move onto your demons.
437** Endure is picked up from a Magatama at the two-thirds point of the game and gives the protagonist a LastChanceHitPoint to escape an unfortunate Game Over. It also works against misfortunate Hama or Mudo skills landing, and it's a literal life-saver that many a player will never part with.
438** Mana Refill automatically recharges a demon's MP as you walk. Combine this with a good healing spell (or, even better, Makatora) and running low on supplies becomes very unlikely.
439* SinisterGeometry: There are many structures throughout the Vortex World that don't appear to have been built by human hands at all; they're just ''wrong,'' covered in TronLines and have no furniture or apparent functionality at all.
440* SkippableBoss: You can skip fighting Samael by simply answering "no" when Hikawa asks if you're going to interfere with his ritual at the Diet Building. This doesn't even lock you into his Reason either, so you can essentially choose not to fight this boss if you don't want to.
441* SocialDarwinist: [[spoiler:Chiaki]] develops the vision of a world where beauty and strength are valued and the unworthy are purged, culminating in the Reason of Yosuga.
442* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: In the Third Kalpa, if the calm Amala Labyrinth theme gets replaced with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhR7DCpD8-s Dante's intense theme]], it means he's in the vicinity and is about to catch you.
443* SoundtrackDissonance: The final boss music is ''techno''. You'd expect something more orchestral or grandiose considering that [[spoiler:you're fighting an avatar of {{God}}]], though it does serve to underscore just how alien [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] is to the world. But as noted under AscendedMeme, the techno music is actually quite appropriate for [[spoiler:a giant disco ball.]]
444* SpoilerOpening: More like Spoiler ''Title Screen''. [[spoiler:It's the last shot of the True Demon Ending.]]
445* StartOfDarkness:
446** [[spoiler:For Isamu, it's an unused scene when, at Kabukicho Prison, he studies the Amala Drum in his cell and catches a message from Yuko to the Demi-Fiend, asking to be rescued from her imprisonment at the Obelisk. It was the catalyst that drove Isamu into a HeroicBSOD, driving home just how powerless he truly was and refusing contact with the Demi-Fiend, leading to the eventual birth of the Reason of Musubi]].
447** [[spoiler:For Chiaki, it was her ill-thought assault on Sakahagi, a far deadlier foe and one she was not ready to deal with. She lost an arm during the encounter; the despair she generated managed to attract the dying spirit of Gozu-Tennoh, who acted as her FalseFriend in an attempt to create a worthy successor and foil of the Reason of Shijima. This culminated in the recreation of the Reason of Yosuga under Baal Avatar, and the massacre of the Manikins.]]
448* StatisticallySpeaking: Averted, for the most part. Almost any locked door in the game can be unlocked after a certain stat gets to be high enough. You actually are required to if you want to get all 24 Magatama, as there's one behind a door that requires a base of 25 strength to open.
449* StatusBuff: The -kaja series of spells (Tarukaja, Makakaja, Rakukaja, Sukukaja) and to a lesser extend Dekunda. It's also inverted with the -nda spells (Tarunda, Rakunda, Sukunda), which lower enemy stats.
450* StatusBuffDispel: Dekunda and Dekaja remove all -nda and -kaja effects on your party and the enemies, respectively. While you can't buff/debuff using them, they ''are'' useful for removing multiple de/buffs (stacked and/or various).
451* SummoningRitual: Both the Cathedral of Shadows and the ritual chamber in Shibuya.
452* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th in the Chronicle Edition is identical to Dante of the Maniax version in pretty much every way, with one major improvement: he learns the pierce skill that Dante's lack of restricted him to AwesomeButImpractical territory. Not to mention his slightly-improved versions of Dante's attacks with new animations and better stats. Although the fact that he has Pierce is indeed a huge bonus, as it was the lack of it that made Dante near-useless in the final battle. The HD Remaster rectifies this by letting Dante learn Pierce as well, making playing the Maniax version less of a handicap.
453* TheSymbiote: The Magatama.
454* TalkingIsAFreeAction: ''[[AvertedTrope No]]''. While it ''is'' possible to convince monsters to drop the attack, if the attempt fails by any reason, you ''will'' lose the Press Turn. If negotiations go terribly south their turn begins immediately. Some demons can't speak coherently at all, and trying to talk to them for any reason is a waste of a turn.
455* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: You can convince monsters to help you (or just leave you alone) by talking to them. Speak to a demon while you have one already in your party or stock, and they will agree to walk away immediately (at the cost of no EXP or money).
456* TeleporterAccident: The Drums are not very reliable without some expert tinkering, as Hijiri learnt. Luckily, the worst that comes from this is a longer journey through the Amala Network to reach Ginza. Later, the Drums work much better.
457* TeleportersAndTransporters:
458** The Amala Drums are your main means of quick-travel throughout the Vortex World. Other examples include several parts of the Fourth Kalpa and the final stretch in the Tower of Kagutsuchi. There are also "S-Terminals" that can only teleport you back to the primary Terminal of their area.
459** Fiends can also pull you into an AlternateDimension for {{Boss Battle}}s through some sort of teleportation magic.
460* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Only one of the Reasons is going to be a reality in the end. Additionally, [[spoiler:this is the reason why Chiaki fights you if you sided with Yosuga]].
461* ThirdIs3D: ''Nocturne'' makes the VideoGame3DLeap as the third numbered game.
462* ThisIsUnforgivable: Metatron accuses you of this if you reach his boss room at the bottom of the Fifth Kalpa. Considering [[ApocalypseHow exactly what]] you most likely intend to do if you manage to get past him, this is actually pretty reasonable. Crosses into MoralMyopia because the Great Will who he serves is willing to do an [[spoiler:endless cycle of]] ApocalypseHow.
463* ToHellAndBack: You'll find yourself doing so repeatedly with each visit to the Amala Labyrinth, or each time a Fiend pulls you aside to do battle.
464* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Tokyo has become the shell of new universe. This has an interesting effect late in the game: if you gain the favor of Masakado, the guardian spirit of Tokyo, you're basically being blessed by the ''universe itself,'' which is why his magatama makes you practically invincible.
465* TomeOfEldritchLore: The Scripture of Miroku. The few lines quoted at the start of the Japanese version are fairly disturbing.
466* TouchedByVorlons: Nearly every human left in the Vortex World by the end of the game. Even the Demi-Fiend got his powers from interacting with [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]].
467* TranshumanTreachery: [[spoiler:Isamu and Chiaki forego all of their humanity upon becoming the leaders of their respective Reasons, Isamu when merging with the Amala spirits and Chiaki when absorbing Gozu-Tennoh. Both cross their {{Moral Event Horizon}}s soon after; Isamu kills Hijiri and Chiaki massacres the Manikins. Hikawa really didn't change that much upon fusing with Ahriman, but, then again, both were so like-minded it's not like there's any real difference between both]].
468* TraumaInn: The Fountain of Healing. Some can't-escape-until-you-kill-the-boss dungeons have free healing spots, as well (once you defeat the boss and leave, these spots become unavailable).
469* TrialAndErrorGameplay: The Amala Temple's White and Red Temples. The White Temple has doors that teleport you with no clear pattern, while the Red Temple has invisible traps that prevent you from leaving the floor until you return to specific spots on each floor. In both cases, the only way to proceed is to memorize where each teleporter/destination/trap is until you find the way to the stairs.
470* TrialByCombat: The Mantra Army Court -- Punch out the judges and gain your freedom. But with ''Thor'' as one of the last combatants, [[KangarooCourt they don't expect you to win]].
471* TurnsRed: Usually, when bosses start using Dragon Eye more often, you know they're almost dead.
472* TwoHeadedCoin: [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry2 Dante's coin from the second game]] makes an appearance in his CrossoverCameo. If you know that it has two heads, [[spoiler:you can recruit him for only one Macca in the Labyrinth of Amala]].
473* {{Ubermensch}}: Demi-Fiend is the genuine Nietzschean version of this in every path except the bad ending. The game itself is an allegory to Nietzsche's novel ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra''. This game is probably one of the few straight versions of Nietzsche's ideal outside of the novel itself across fiction.
474* UndergroundLevel: All of the Metro stations.
475* UndergroundMonkey: A large number of demons have their models cut from the same cloth.
476** The [[EliteFour Four Devas]] have models that are PaletteSwaps except for their weapons.
477** The [[ElementalEmbodiment Elements]] have recolored models with different particle effects, with the exception of Erthys.
478** The 'male Amaterasu' has an edited version of Okuninushi's model.
479** Isora is very similar to Forneus, just without the crowned human head protruding from the ray head and slightly more red.
480** A Yaka is a pink Preta with a headdress and ruff.
481** Horus and Hresvelgr have similar avian models. Badb Catha's has a distinctly longer beak.
482** Jinn and Efreet have unique heads, but everything below the neck is a palette swap.
483*** Ditto for Troll and Fomorian, and for Garuda and Gurulu.
484** Quetzalcoatl and Mizuchi have similar models, both being snake demons. Lilith and Loa have similar snakes as well.
485*** The only difference Chatterskull has from Loa is ditching the snake model and having GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath.
486** Choronzon is a blue Legion without tentacles, eyes, and teeth, and with particle effects.
487** The horse demons, Unicorn, Bicorn, and Kelpie, share a lot of details, though Kelpie lacks the other two's back halves, rather having a mess of weeds.
488** Abaddon and Aciel are both giant half-underground heads with pointy ears, but Aciel has sharp teeth, markings, and a crown, while Abaddon has blunt teeth, a uniform color on its body, and wings on its head.
489** The five Oni in the game (Oni, Kin-Ki, Sui-Ki, Fuu-Ki, Ongyo-Ki) have similar general body shapes, but different heads, weapons, colors, and clothes.
490** The HorsemenOfTheApocalypse have different weapons and recolored horses. The other Fiends have similar skulls and hands.
491** Nearly the ''entire Foul race'' consists of two recolored models. Will-O'-Wisp, Mou-Ryo, Phantom, Shadow, and RecurringBoss Specter make one, and Slime, Blob, and Black Ooze make two. The only exception is [[spoiler:Sakahagi.]]
492* UngratefulBastard: Isamu acts like this after being freed from Kabukicho Prison. [[spoiler:An unused scene explains his attitude.]]
493* UpdatedRerelease:
494** ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax'' adds Dante from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', a new BonusDungeon, and a new ending.
495** The limited edition of ''Devil Summoner: Raidō Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon'' includes a new version, ''Chronicle Edition'', in which Raidou replaces Dante. [[NoExportForYou It was only released in Japan]] because Sony shot down the idea of porting that edition to the Platform/PlayStationPortable for Western audiences early on in the update process. This is the version the HD Remaster was modeled on, although a "Maniax Edition" DLC was released that let you choose to switch Dante in for Raidou when starting a new game.
496* UselessUsefulSpell: Averted for the most part. You're cruising for a bruising if you don't use [[StatusBuff buffs]] and debuffs during boss fights, and ailments can regularly come in handy with some tricky random encounters and even a few boss fights. That said...
497** The "Anti-" passives only halve damage from their element but don't actually count as a resistance, so enemies will still get extra Press Turns. It'll be much more fruitful to get Void (or better) passives to cover weaknesses.
498** Last Resort kills the user and deals Almighty damage to everyone, allies included. Friendly fire isn't very welcome in an already tough game.
499** Ailment and insta-kill spells serve you well against troublesome random encounters and even some minibosses, but get stonewalled by ContractualBossImmunity.
500* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The [[spoiler:Tower of Kagutsuchi]].
501* ViciousCycle: The Conception itself; up to EternalRecurrence levels.
502* VideoGame3DLeap: Unlike the previous two mainline games, ''Nocturne'' employs fully-3D environments and character models, with the result being that the demons have some of the most animated visuals in the series.
503* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Seen as the Lady in Black explains the Conception. Called Shadow Vortex, worlds die in it, and worlds are born from it...
504* WaitingPuzzle: The old man in the Fourth Kalpa. [[spoiler:Instead of immediately answering his question as he poses it, wait for three minutes and ''then'' answer "Yes".]]
505* WakeUpCallBoss: Matador again. Up to this point, none of the bosses are too much trouble if you play smart and target elemental weaknesses. Then comes Matador, who serves as a reminder of the strength of buffs and [[CurbStompBattle what]] [[TotalPartyKill will]] [[GameOver happen]] if you don't use them yourself.
506* WakingUpAtTheMorgue: After the Conception and your transformation into the Demi-fiend, you awaken in this hospital room.
507* WarmUpBoss: Forneus is the first boss fight, and pretty much rolls over and dies if you've been paying any attention to the elemental weakness system.
508* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: It's Game Over the moment the Demi-fiend dies. Justified due to the mercenary nature of your demons: they lack the capacity to care (and the means, unless they have Recarm) to bring you back to life.
509* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler:The protagonist, Isamu, and Chiaki start off as a fairly tight crew. But over the course of the game, the latter two become increasingly more extreme in the idea of their respective Reasons which inevitably turns them against each other as well as the Demi-Fiend. He will have to kill at least one of them before the story is done.]]
510* WholePlotReference: To ''Manga/DevilMan'', wherein the hero becomes neither human nor demon due to the machinations of Lucifer.
511* WinYourFreedom: The Mantra Army court.
512* WolverinePublicity: The European cover added a silly-looking sticker informing players that this game was "Featuring Dante from the VideoGame/DevilMayCry series", despite his role being fairly minor.
513* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:If you support Musubi, you can see Isamu and Noah slowly dying on the floor they are supposed to be fought in other routes. Isamu then remarks that he never knew Chiaki could be so strong.]]
514* WorldOfBadass: After the end of the world, everyone left alive has to be badass to survive.
515* WorldOfHam: After the Conception, practically all demons fully embrace the ham.
516* WorldOfJerkass: Exaggerated this time around, as the ''only'' surviving humans are the Reason Bearers and [[UnwittingPawn the teacher]].
517* WorldOfSilence: Hikawa's Reason of Shijima seeks this. Unusually, the normally-chaotic demons ''love'' the idea as it means ''everyone'' will be just like God, in essence triggering a universal Enlightenment.
518* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Lucifer grants you the power of the Magatama as part of a combat test trial. It really doesn't matter ''what'' you do with it - ''literally anything you do with it'' [[XanatosGambit ends with a net gain for him]]. You go and make sure any of the three main Reasons wins, you prove the product is workable. You leave the Vortex World as-is, you spit on the Great Will's face. You restore the world as was, you spit on the Great Will's face ''and'' he gets a warrior that in due time will fight again against God. You accept the offer to reach him in the Labyrinth's lowest level, he gets a worthy successor and new general...]]
519* YeOldeButcheredEnglish: Some demons speak like this when you try talking to them.
520* YetAnotherStupidDeath: Combine NintendoHard with the sometimes long distances between save points and the tendency to get used to certain types of enemies, it's quite possible to frustratingly die like a chump just by having the wrong magatama equipped or the wrong demon in your party when you get to a new game level with different adversaries. Many players have sad stories of ignorance or hubris lamenting a particularly painful GameOver.
521* YouAreNotAlone: [[spoiler:Lucifer grants you his protection for choosing his path, and offers you his blessings.]]
522* YouCantThwartStageOne: Practically the poster child. The world ''ends'' in the first major event of the game and you can't do anything about it.
523** Furthermore, you cannot stop any of the reason bearers from summoning their gods.
524* YouNoTakeCandle: Wilder demons introduce themselves this way when created during fusion.
525--> Me [demon name] the Wilder. Me eat everyone!
526[[/folder]]
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