Prerelease:Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne/Tech Demo

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.

Tech demo title screen.

A tech demo for Shin Megami Tensei III was made so the developers could further envision what the game was supposed to be. The idea of a chaos was always there , but the execution was different if you compare the prototype to the final version. A lot of the images here are taken directly from a rip of the "真・女神転生III-NOCTURNE Special DVD" disc.

To start off, the logo looks a lot different compared to the final revision. The text is saying Shin Megami Tensei III ver. Alpha.

Plot

The plot for SMT:Nocturne was going to be a bit different at first. You can read the leftover scripts for the prototype plot here.

• Amaterasu is trying to hunt down a legendary sacred treasure and make Dark Tokyo their own.
• Anat awakens the protagonist with the power of Devil Hearts. Originally, devil hearts was the name of the magatama. In fact, there is an early menu rendering where you can see that Magatama is called Devil Hearts. Anyways, Anat summons them and orders them to kill Amaterasu. Thus you go to Ueno Zoo.

• Through getting information from asking around to find Amaterasu, the protagonist meets Take-Mikazuchi, Amaterasu's underling. According to Take-Mikazuchi, Amaterasu was cursed by Anat and in grief Amaterasu had hidden herself inside the monkey enclosure in Ueno Zoo.

• Mikazuchi tells you that you need to find a legendary sacred treasure, the only item that can undo the curse on Amaterasu. At this point, you could follow the original plan Anat had given you, or align with Mikazuchi and not kill Amaterasu. If you choose to align with Anat, you were supposed to fight Take-Mikazuchi.

(Translations: GlitterBerri)

Take-Mikazuchi Alignment

• The protagonist ends up finding out that the sacred treasure is in a cave under the Zoo. To access the cave, you must cross the waters of Shinobazu Pond and enter a tunnel at the bottom.
• They meet Nue, an ancient dog that controls the waters. After negotiating, they get assistance from the dog to navigate the depths.
• After finding the treasure, you hand it over to Take-Mikazuchi.
• Undoing the curse is the end of the demo.

Anat Alignment

• After killing Take-Mikazuchi, you figure out that Amaterasu had escaped to the Imperial Palace.
• Through negotiating with demons, you would figure out where the imperial palace was. But, there is a barrier there.
• Anat appears and breaks the barrier and Amaterasu gets summoned.
• Amaterasu is defeated and the demo ends.

Battle System

Options translate to Nego, Battle, Auto Battle, Analyze, Config and Escape. Originally, in the first tech demo, the battle system worked very similarly to the previous games. Every single one of your demons would input your action, and then press start and everyone would do their actions depending on how high their speed stat was. (Fastest goes first, slowest acts last.)

Negotiation System

The nego part sends you to the negotiation system where you could talk with the demons you would come into encounters with. The first image shows some stats about the demon, what type they are, how they act etc. This might've been used so you could easily manipulate the negotiation system if you knew what you were doing instead of it being completely RNG. The second image shows a Jack Frost that is negotiating. While the third image shows that you could cut into nego. which could mean that you got a successful negotiation.

The nego system originally allowed you to get gems, magnetite, macca, recruit, ask for hints/help etc. However, it was quickly cut when they started working on the actual game.

Cut Demons

• From this demon list we can observe the names in order. Hero, Chasty, Cu Chulainn, Gemori and Yatagarasu. One very interesting thing is that シャスティ (Chasty) isn't a demon in the series. However, it is present in this list. There's also a nego dialogue that mentions this character in the omakase.bmd file.

Text	Translation
ID:10(n03_omakase_SEL) シャスティに一任する 自分も見守る	ID:10(n03_omakase_SEL) Leave it to Chasty. I also watch over.

(Translations: Athena)

• Next on the list is Gemori, the demon that Demi-Fiend summons in the Tech Demo footage. Gemori isn't in the final game, but is a demon in the series.

• Another demon that was shown in the documentary is Anat. She isn't in the final game, but is a major plot point in the tech demo.
• Amaterasu's normal form isn't shown on the documentary, but there is a video with her in it. It's worth mentioning since it used to be in the tech demo.
• Susano-o is mentioned in the tech demo scripts, but there isn't any footage of him.

Ueno Zoo

• This is Ueno Zoo, the main area of the tech demo where the main character is on the look-out for a treasure and the location where Anat and Demi-Fiend unseal Amaterasu with the mirror.
• This area might've been the inspiration for Yoyogi Park as it bears a lot of resemblance to it. Especially the third image.

Text	Translation
(東京付喪神：のたれパンダ): 上野動物園にようこそなんだな。ボクは、総合案内係の「のたれパンダ」 なんだな。	(Tokyo Tsukumogami: Notare Panda): Welcome to the Ueno Zoo. I'm the Information Guide "Notare Panda".

(Transcription, Translation: GlitterBerri; Athena)

Hitoshura Model

The model for the main character used to be a little bit different. First of all, the main character had slower animations at first. The battle animations used to be different too. Not only animations, but it also has a visual difference if you compare it to the final version. The hair is completely black instead of having a shade of gray in the final version. The battle animations can be viewed here.

(Source: "真・女神転生III-NOCTURNE Special DVD")

(Source: Original TCRF research)