The Architecture of the End
Living in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne’s beautiful hellscape
When the Conception occurs, Tokyo is transformed. Bound to an event triggered by a sinister death cult, Tokyo’s transformation is not one of total hell, but of a twisted resolve that churns out an amalgamation of modernity called the Vortex World. Filled with demons, bizarre characters and a twisted landscape, the Vortex World’s most defining characteristic is not its traditionalist post-apocalyptic factors but its anti-humanist architecture, a parade of surrealist geometry that is both fascinating and horrifying.
The Shape of the Afterlife
The Shin Megami Tensei series loosely defines itself by a shared musculature, much in the same fashion as Final Fantasy. Where Final Fantasy titles separate themselves by narrative and character, the mainline SMT games do have narrative connective tissue, though this may not be obvious to your casual player. Playing any other entry in the series is not a required ticket for entry into Nocturne’s hellscape, though the enriched lore and demons might be familiar to players who only have some experience with the spin-off…
