The Megami Tensei franchise is an odd beast. It has a cyclical nature to it that's been fostered on purpose: Both the Shin Megami Tensei games, and the many spin-off franchise that it's spawned (especially the Persona games) have a long habit of building on traditions. They share similar player move abilities, enemy designs, plot elements, and more. It's easy to compare the Shin Megami Tensei games to each other, but sometimes there's special occasions where they're particularly similar. That's happening right now with Shin Megami Tensei 5, an upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive, which has a lot in common with Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne.
It couldn't be more appropriate that Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster got released in the same year as Shin Megami Tensei 5, which is planned to release in October 2021. Both games are turning points in the franchise after Atlus took an extended hiatus from mainline Shin Megami Tensei entries. They're also both places in the franchise's history where Atlus took it upon itself to update and innovate. These games are siblings already, but they're closer than most due to to their importance as points of progress for Shin Megami Tensei. SMT3: Nocturne redefined the series before, and it's possible that Shin Megami Tensei 5 will do so again.
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne's Major Changes
A lot of the changes that took place in Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne happened thanks to a major shift in platform. The majority of Megami Tensei games developed up to that point, including the first two Shin Megami Tensei games, were released for the NES and the SNES, which meant that the graphical potential of the franchise was limited to the time period.
Everything changed in the early 2000s when Atlus picked the franchise back up after a few years. Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne released on the PlayStation 2, which was vastly more powerful graphically than the franchise's previous platforms. That means, rather than low-pixel 2D art, SMT3: Nocturne could focus on detailed 3D renderings of characters, demons, and settings. The cel-shaded art of SMT3 completely changed the franchise's aesthetics and made good use out of the PlayStation 2's potential.
That's only a few of the ways Shin Megami Tensei changed in its mainline entry. This was also when the franchise abandoned a first-person perspective and switched to third-person, giving players more space to look at the world around them, especially during battles. The enemies that players fought changed, too. While Shin Megami Tensei already borrowed a lot of lore concepts from Abrahamic religion, SMT 3: Nocturne was when the games started including more demons based on things like Gnosticism, which remains extremely influential in later Megami Tensei games like Persona 5.
Fans had to wait nine years for the next numbered entry in the SMT franchise, but it was well worth it. Thanks to its upgrades and innovations, Shin Megami Tensei 3 was a huge commercial and critical success. It's only one of many examples of times Atlus has been rewarded for putting new twists on its habitually traditional RPG franchises.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 Can Change Things Too
A lot is changing between Shin Megami Tensei 5 and its predecessors. The last major games in the franchise — Shin Megami Tensei 4, and its sequel Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse — were both for the Nintendo 3DS. That meant that they were inevitably limited graphically compared to home consoles. The newest Shin Megami Tensei 5 trailer already indicates that the game comes with sharp graphics in the same art style that Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne pioneered. It's a big step up over its predecessor, which spent many years working within the hardware limitations of the 3DS.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 also plans on making some changes to the series across the board, and the new trailers have teased that as well. The game's developers have already explained that their vision for the game involves combining the best parts of SMT3: Nocturne and SMT4, including in the departments of demon training. Fusing and strengthening demons has always been crucial to the Megami Tensei games, and Atlus has shown in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal's Velvet Rooms that there's still room for upgrades and innovations on this front. SMT5 will surely be given a similar treatment.
There's also already evidence of changes and upgrades in combat. For instance, the latest trailer encourages players to target an enemy's weakness to get additional actions and extend turns into long combos, which is pretty reminiscent of Persona's One More system. It's only natural that the franchise changes between entries to stay fresh, but it sounds more and more like Atlus is opening the door to drastic changes, just like it did with Shin Megami Tensei 3. Atlus seems aware of its burgeoning audience for the Megami Tensei games, and wants to capitalize on that by improving on its star franchise as much as possible.
The Stairs to Shin Megami Tensei's Future
In a way, it's ironic that Shin Megami Tensei 5 is getting so much attention and praise lately. Atlus hasn't said nearly as much about its sister series Persona as it promised it would last year. Persona is in the middle of an important anniversary, but hasn't gotten much acknowledgement. If the spotlight isn't going to be on Persona right now, then at least Atlus is doing everything it can to make sure Shin Megami Tensei 5 and Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster can thrive.
These two games are certainly thriving. They've been mainstays in Nintendo Directs for a little while now, and future Shin Megami Tensei games could decide to keep sticking to Nintendo consoles, considering how many games Atlus is putting on the Switch lately. It's a good sign for the franchise's next potential steps. As always, Megami Tensei is succeeding by learning from its past. If there's any game that SMT5 should be imitating, it's definitely SMT3: Nocturne, the franchise's poster child for succeeding through risks and imagination.
With the game's release only a few months away, hopefully Atlus will come back soon and explain in more detail what it plans on changing for Shin Megami Tensei 5. Fans are eager to see what this game can do for the rest of the series.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 releases for Nintendo Switch on November 12, 2021.