IGN Japan recently interviewed Shin Megami Tensei director Kazuyuki Yamai about development for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster. According to Yamai, development started two years ago and just recently finished. This correlates with the August 2018 interview by Famitsu where Yamai states that Atlus is considering a port/remaster of the game. Additionally, Yamai chimes in on Merciful difficulty for the upcoming remaster. Here’s what he had to say, courtesy of Persona Central:
“We felt that we needed a mode that lots of different people can play,” Yamai said. He admitted that the game, which was well-received in each territory, had a reputation for being difficult. “When we were developing the original, it was a different era, and with the turn-based battle game system at the time, there had to be a certain extent of difficulty which created tension,” he said.
Sixteen years later, there are more player motivations to consider. “There are those who enjoy the high difficulty battles, and those who want to finish those parts as quickly as possible and follow the story; there are also multiple endings to the story, so there are people who want to check the different endings,” Yamai said. “We wanted to make the difficulty easier so people can play it by being able to clear the story small amounts at a time.”
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster releases on October 29th in Japan and Spring 2021 in the west for PS4 and Switch. Stay tuned at Final Weapon for the latest Japanese gaming news and updates!
