Nintendo and Atlus gave us a huge surprise this past month when they announced that Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne was being brought to the Switch as an HD Remaster. Considered to be one of the greatest JRPG’s from the PlayStation 2, many fans were elated to see the much-loved title get a full remaster treatment for modern consoles. However, they didn’t stop there, as Atlus has now confirmed an additional piece of content for the game. Players will now be able to play/fight as a guest character, and it’s none other than Dante from Capcom’s Devil May Cry series.
Dante will be part of what’s called the “Maniax Pack” and will be available in Japan only for the time being on the game’s release day, October 29. For those wondering why Atlus would include Dante of all people, there are a couple of reasons why. First, he was actually implemented in the extended version of the game in Japan which was dubbed Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax which came out in 2004. On this basis alone, it makes sense to see Dante return to the world of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.
However, it’s more than likely that the second reason was the main catalyst for this. When the Maniax version was released to regions outside of Japan, the European publisher slapped a giant and extremely obvious sticker on the front of the box art that states “featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.” This sticker, which can be seen in the above tweet, was probably made so that the game would look more appealing to those not initially interested in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise but knew who Dante was right away.
Either way, due to the minimal participation of Dante in the main storyline as well as the out of place sticker, the European publisher became the laughing stock of the gaming community for many years, and the sticker itself has since become an internet meme. Atlus, who clearly has a sense of humor, saw this as the best way to reintroduce Dante into the game, hence the aforementioned tweet. Still, it’ll be awesome to play/fight as the gun-toting and sword-swinging demon hunter once again, making this version even more enticing.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster will officially launch on October 29 in Japan and in 2021 for other regions on the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4.