History Headscratchers / ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne

** At the time the game came out, which remember was almost two decades ago, most players came into it from Final Fantasy and other JRPGs like it where stat affecting spells are useless and the best strategy is just to hit everything has hard as you can while keeping your HP topped off. Matador buffing his speed to make him untouchable without debuffing or canceling it was something nobody was really expecting let alone knew how to handle at the beginning of this game from a series they'd probably never seen before. Remember the only SMT games in the west at this point where Persona 1, Persona 2 EP and Jack Bros none of which most players probably played and even if they did didn't quite play like a traditional SMT. Years later, Persona 3 4 and 5 made SMT game mechanics much more well known and it's a big series in the west so people probably know what to do now. In 2003 this was not the case.

** Well, in the DLC quest in SMT IV Apocalypse, the Demi-fiend (and the other protagonists) have all perished during a certain climactic event in their respective games, in Demi's case, he was killed by Lucifer after destroying Kagatsuchi. Stephen mentions that YHVH is directly responsible to this, killing the Messiahs before they can complete what was set for them. If this was the case, then Lucifer would inevitably fail in the final battle against the Great Will, since his entire role in Nocturne is to nurture the development of the new demon, and killing him has not only undone all that hard work, but has also come to naught as the universe is destroyed...
* So the whole purpose of the Vortex World is for the surviving humans to collect Magatsuchi and construct a reason for a new world to be born. What would happen if all the humans in that Vortex World died?

** ClothingDamage from awakening to all that sweet, sweet demonic power. Or a demon decided to steal them while he was asleep cause they thought they were stylish.

** Symbolism. The fact that Lucifer's lair is a theatre is symbolic of the fact that he's holding secrets away from you, his audiance, on purpose, like in a drama.

*** He also spends some time between being reborn having his soul tortured in hell according to backstory. Then he gets reborn. Also he survived the first time because he wasn't aware of the situation and would have just died with everyone else unknowing as to what was going on. Part of his curse is that he has to realize just what's going on and how one can change things (ie create a reason) but then be denied the chance to do so. When Isamu kills him he's now perfectly aware of just how badly he failed, so he was free to pass on, get tortured and then be reborn to again to realize how the cycle works but have his chance to do anything about it snatched away.
* If you use Lilith in battle, she will say something during her spells that is unclear to this Troper. I'm curious about what she says.

** For starters, he has a move called Red Capote which makes his agility/accuracy skyrocket and will recast it if his agility/accuracy is returned to normal by either speed debuffs like Sukunda or the buff cancelling spell Dekaja, he can use Dekunda to nullify any attack/defense debuffs you put on him (such as Rakunda). And when he TurnsRed, he'll use Taunt to drastically lower your defense before following up with Andalucia -- a multi-hit attack that hits like a truck at that point in the game. Like you said, you can make it a lot easier by equipping a Null Force Magatama and recruiting some demons who are Null/Resistant to Force, but it's essentially a beginner's trap. Oh and you can't attempt to run away and prepare yourself, unlike the majority of the other Fiend battles.

* This is a minor one, but why is Loki holding a 1000 Yen Bill in his room? The world has come to an end and the new world's currency is Macca, so a 1000 Yen Bill is essentially worthless except as something to collect, but you really get the impression that no one in the Vortex World shares the Collector Manikin's fascination with humans. Why would Loki keep something with absolutely no value?

** The way it's explained in-game, it's the former. The entire reality is gone with the Vortex World as its remains, and through the World's power, it awaits for resurrection or destruction.