SMT- NOCTURNE (HARD MODE): Catch em all?

I don't think I can really get into much further discussion of Nocturne without going over the primary attractions of the game, the demons. From what I can tell so far, there isn't a battle you fight in the game that isn't against a demon of some kind. One of the many hooks here is that the very same demons can become your allies without much trouble. In fact, you aren't getting very far at all without getting as many demons on your side as possible, as soon as possible. And this is only allowed because the main character himself becomes a demon very close to the start of the story. Having trouble keeping all these demons straight? I don't blame you.

My guess is that there are probably more than a hundred of these colorful characters out there to fight and recruit. Each demon has an individual name and a clan name. They are constructed like so where if the demon's name is "Jirae Kodama" "Jirae" is the clan name, and "Kodama" is the individual species name. They also seem to fall along various physical themes, and these themes do not stick too close the clans where they are dominant. For example, "Jirae Kodama" and "Jirae Sudama" are alike in color, size and skills, but "Jirae Hua Po" is also of Jirae clan, yet looks far more like a member of the "Fairy" clan, "Fairy Pixie". Furthermore Hua Po and Pixie are seen banding together against the player in random battles in many places at the start of the game. Hua Po and Kodama are also found alongside one another, but less often for some reason.

To give you an idea of what you might see for demons in the new Toyko, you have "Wilder" clan, which is a clan of beastlike demons. The "Divine" clan is a clan of angelic demons (believe it or not). The "Foul" clan is full of slimes and ghosts. A personal favorite, the "Megami" clan is a phalanx of female demons based on various goddesses. The "Fiend" clan is the one the player belongs to, having consumed a special type of demon to gain it's powers (more on this later). Having only seen a small portion of the total group, around 15% by the reckoning of the Demonic Compendium (think pokedex), I can't really say if these patterns are consistent throughout the demonic world or if I will be surprised again by what I find.

Getting these demons to do what you want can be an interesting process and not too difficult. I have already been warned that there are demons that won't choose to go with me of their own free will but I haven't encountered any of them yet. What you want to do is first find the demon that you want in a random battle, then isolate them, killing everyone else in the opposing party. If there are other demons around either they will block the attempt. Once that is accomplished you can use the "talk" command or have one of your demons use the "seduce" skill. The only difference between them seems to be that "talk" is automatically part of the main character's battle menu. Then the demon will usually start demanding items, money or to drain your 'power' (HP). These requests are never simple, you nearly always have to give them two or three things before you get the final stage of negotiation. The demon you are trying to get to join the team asks you a question. Usually it's something like, "Are humans meant to suffer, or is it just their own stupidity that causes suffering?" I kid you not, this is a very philosophical bunch. You must answer in the positive or negative, and based on that the demon can join you or just take all your stuff and leave, even if you answer correctly. Hell, they can break off the negotiation at any point they want. I've seen this occur with weaker demons more often though. A stronger demon will most like get every last thing out of you before making a decision.

I'm pretty certain at this point that there is a series of secret variables that keep track of your relationships with the various demons, or at least the various demon clans. At the start of the game I recruited a weak demon, probably the weakest one, named "Foul Will-o-Wisp". Foul clan demons are hard to communicate with, you mostly you have to wait for them to halt combat to talk to you. He requested a healing item, I gave it to him and he joined up. He was a kind of floating ball of white smoke with a suffering grimace floating in it. As the game wore on, he naturally gained levels and sometimes upon leveling up he would ask to talk to me. At these points he started giving me gifts, healing items mostly. What happened next was even more amusing.

Every time I would encounter another Will-o-Wisp, they would stop fighting to come over and beg for items. Apparently it had gotten around that I was a friend to the Foul clan! It had gotten so bad that when I decided that I didn't want to avoid combat by placating the demon with money or items, the Will-o-Wisp would just leave combat dejected, robbing me of his precious experience. Annoying for sure, but endearing too somehow. My Will-o-Wisp was essential part of my early game because of his force attacks which could hit every demon in the opposing group at the same time. Now all demons can exhibit these behaviors in varying amounts, but I never again came across another demon as loyal or emotive at the "Foul Will-o-Wisp". I eventually had to break him down for parts at the Cathedral of Shadows (more on this in another post) to make a stronger demon and I have to admit there was a little regret in the decision.

There is another demon out there with even stranger behavior than this. The title of Strangest Demon easily goes to "Yoma Isora". The Isora is a big aquatic manta ray sort of deal that lives in the sewers of the Great Underpass of Ginza. I noticed first that they're negotiation questions were always very windy and often didn't have clear answers, so getting them was always a coin flip. Then after recruiting a few one rushed up to me and begged for his life, offering advice for the kindness. I relented and he gave me a tip on using demon skills that I already knew and was off. After that Isora would break combat to run up to me and ask me their strange questions, all without provocation or a "talk" command. Sometimes I would get items, sometimes not. They would always leave afterward. Once an Isora started talking to me without even a question being asked first. Just rambling about the universe for two or three lines, and then gone like the rest.

Perhaps the Isora are the scholar-poets of the demon world. They seem friendly in their own way, if only a little too much so. During a routine battle I watched an Isora run up of one of the other demons in my party, not even to me! (this has never happened again) Once there and situated in front of "Beast Inugami" he ranted, "I see a RIVER! A glorious shining RIVER! I give my life to you!" And then immediately joined the party without my permission. Not what you'd expect from your garden variety Seaking, eh?