"LET'S GOOOO, EVERYONE!" Miguel shouted as he confirmed Hard Mode, grinning toward the camera as though he had just accepted some heroic challenge rather than voluntarily selected the difficulty his chat had been warning him about for the last several minutes. The game immediately asked him to name the protagonist, and Miguel barely needed to think. He typed TORO KAMI, confirmed it, and pointed proudly toward the screen. "There! Perfect protagonist name! LET'S GOWWW!" His chat immediately began mocking him for naming Demi-Fiend after himself, but Miguel ignored them and continued through the opening sections, watching the strange events surrounding the Conception and the transformation of his character into the Demi-Fiend with increasingly fascinated eyes. By the time the game properly released him into the ruined Vortex World, Miguel had become completely invested. "Okay, this atmosphere is fucking creepy. I like it."
His confidence lasted until the random encounters began.
Hard Mode immediately made it clear that this was not going to be a comfortable JRPG experience. Enemies hit noticeably harder, mistakes were punished quickly, and even ordinary encounters could become dangerous if the wrong demons appeared together. Miguel's first reaction was naturally to scream whenever something went wrong, but beneath all the shouting he was actually experienced enough with JRPGs to understand what the game wanted from him. "HEY! Don't treat me like some beginner, guys! I BEAT ZAGE SMT 1 AND 2!" he shouted when chat began telling him to learn the battle system. "I KNOW HOW THIS WORKS! Buffs! Debuffs! Weaknesses! Demons! Negotiation! I'm a professional!"
The chat immediately responded with variations of "PROFESSIONAL WHO PICKED HARD."
Miguel ignored them.
Rather than simply filling his party with whatever demons had the highest attack value, he started building a balanced group from the very early demons available to him. Pixie naturally stayed with him at first because she gave him reliable healing while also providing useful magic. Miguel immediately became attached to her. "PIXIE IS STAYING! Nobody tells me otherwise!" Alongside her, he recruited a Kodama, giving him another magic-oriented demon with useful elemental coverage, and a Shikigami, which Miguel used as the tougher member of the group whenever he needed something that could take or deliver more physical punishment. None of them were impressive late-game demons. They were literally creatures Miguel had encountered during the opening sections of Nocturne, but together they gave him exactly what he wanted: healing, different elemental attacks, and a frontline presence instead of three demons all trying to perform the same job.
The recruitment process itself became half the entertainment. Miguel quickly discovered that demons could be complete bastards during negotiation. One demon demanded money from him, then asked for an item, then simply left anyway. Miguel stared at the screen for two seconds before shouting, "YOU FUCKING ROBBED ME!" His chat immediately filled with laughter. Another demon asked him a strange question and joined only after Miguel accidentally selected the response it liked. "See? Charisma. Toro Kami charisma!" Then another demon took his money and escaped. "THAT ONE DOESN'T COUNT!"
Despite the chaos, Miguel genuinely began understanding the Press Turn system. Once he realized that hitting an enemy weakness could effectively extend his party's turn while missing or striking an immunity could destroy his momentum, his playstyle became much more deliberate. He stopped simply selecting his strongest attack every round and started checking what each demon could contribute. Pixie healed whenever necessary instead of wasting turns on damage. Kodama targeted weaknesses when possible, and Shikigami helped cover fights where Miguel needed more direct offense. Demi-Fiend became the flexible center of the group, changing attacks depending on the enemies they encountered.
Miguel grinned after completely dismantling one enemy group by repeatedly exploiting weaknesses. "SEE!? THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! PRESS TURN, BABY!" A few encounters later he missed an attack, lost extra turns, and watched the enemy nearly wipe his party. "THIS SYSTEM IS FUCKING CHEATING!"
Chat immediately reminded him that the exact same system had just helped him destroy another group.
"That was different!"
It was not.
After several hours, Miguel's confidence began growing again. He had accumulated several healing items, his MP was still in decent shape, and his early demon party had survived much longer than chat expected. Most importantly, he had finally reached a point where he felt comfortable moving through areas without returning to save after every few encounters.
That was when he made the mistake.
Miguel looked at his resources and leaned confidently toward the camera. "Guys, look. Toro Kami still has plenty of HP, plenty of MP, I've got healing items, Pixie can heal, everybody is alive. I'll save later. Don't worry! There will definitely be another checkpoint ahead."
The chat instantly began screaming at him to save.
"MIGUEL SAVE."
"SAVE NOW."
"THIS GAME DOESN'T LOVE YOU."
"HARD MODE BRO."
Miguel waved dismissively. "Relax! You guys are paranoid."
He continued through the area near Yoyogi Park, fighting several encounters without much difficulty. That only made him even more confident. Then another random encounter triggered.
The screen changed.
Miguel initially remained relaxed.
Then the battle began with the enemies acting first.
Miguel's smile faded slightly when the battle music started. This wasn't the normal encounter theme. The distorted guitar sounded almost broken, with strange aggressive riffs crashing over uneven drums and eerie electronic noise underneath. It didn't sound heroic or exciting—it sounded like something had gone wrong. "Wait… what the fuck is this music? Why does it sound so damn sick and uncomfortable at the same time?" Then he noticed the encounter indicator. Forced Battle.
Miguel leaned toward the television. "WHAT THE FUCK!? It's a Bad Encounter! I always got normal ones! Why now!?"
The first enemy attacked.
It hit Demi-Fiend.
Miguel stopped smiling.
The second enemy attacked.
Demi-Fiend again.
"WAIT!"
A third attack landed on him.
Miguel's eyes widened dramatically. "ATTACK THE OTHERS, YOU BASTARDS! THERE ARE THREE OTHER PEOPLE HERE!"
The chat immediately exploded because everyone understood the danger. In Nocturne, if Demi-Fiend died, it did not matter whether every demon beside him remained perfectly healthy.
Game over.
Another enemy moved.
Miguel nearly jumped from his chair. "DON'T HIT ME! DON'T HIT ME! DON'T—"
It hit Demi-Fiend.
His HP disappeared.
The screen transitioned to defeat.
Miguel stared silently.
For approximately one second.
Then—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
His scream was so loud that his microphone distorted.
"WHAT THE FUCK!? THEY ALL HIT MEEEE! WHY!? WHAT DID I DO TO THEM!?"
The chat became completely unreadable from laughter. People spammed skulls, demons, and messages reminding him that they had explicitly told him to save.
Miguel grabbed his head. "MY FUCKING PROGRESS! I DIDN'T SAVE! NO NO NO NO—"
Suddenly, a much louder voice came from somewhere outside his room.
"MIGUEL! YOU BETTER SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I'LL WHOOP YOUR ASS!"
Miguel instantly froze.
The chat froze with him for half a second before exploding again.
Miguel slowly looked toward the camera and lowered his voice almost to a whisper. "That's my mom, guys."
He glanced toward his door.
"She's scary."
Another wave of laughter filled chat.
Miguel carefully put his headphones back on and muttered, "But this fucking game…" Then he suddenly stopped. His expression changed. "Wait! WAIT! ZEPS 4 has an HDD now! New console! Modern technology!" His smile returned. "There should be autosave!"
The chat started warning him again.
Miguel immediately opened the load menu.
There was no autosave.
He stared.
Only his previous manual save remained.
From much earlier.
Silence.
Miguel's eye twitched.
Then he remembered his mother.
He clenched both fists, leaned extremely close to the microphone, and screamed as quietly as physically possible.
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…"
The chat nearly died.
Miguel was forced to replay a large section of the game, but this time the experience permanently changed his behavior. He saved whenever he found the opportunity. He stopped assuming another save point was conveniently waiting around the corner. He began carrying more healing items and paying much closer attention to his party's condition before moving forward. "Okay, guys. No more bullshit. We play properly now."
Surprisingly, he actually did.
Over the next several hours, Miguel became much more competent. He still shouted whenever a critical hit nearly killed Demi-Fiend, and he still insulted demons whenever negotiations went badly, but his party management became noticeably smarter. He fused demons rather than becoming emotionally attached to every early recruit forever, while still trying to preserve useful abilities through inheritance. He kept his team balanced around healing, elemental coverage, support, and physical damage rather than chasing raw levels. Even chat gradually became impressed because beneath Toro Kami's screaming and ridiculous personality, Miguel genuinely understood JRPG systems.
He still died.
Several times.
But every death taught him something.
Eventually he defeated Forneus, and Miguel celebrated as though he had already beaten the entire game. "FIRST BOSS DOWN! HARD MODE! TORO KAMI DOESN'T FEAR ANYTHING!"
Chat immediately began posting one name.
Matador.
Miguel frowned.
"What the hell is Matador?"
More messages appeared.
"You'll see."
"HE DOESN'T KNOW."
"Nobody tell him."
Miguel narrowed his eyes. "You guys are acting suspicious again."
Much later, Miguel finally reached the encounter.
The mysterious Matador appeared before him, skull-like face grinning beneath his hat and cape while the atmosphere around the entire scene immediately became far more threatening than Miguel expected.
Miguel looked at him.
Then shrugged.
"This guy? This skinny skeleton bastard? After Forneus? He'll be a breeze."
Chat exploded.
The battle began.
The music kicked in.
Miguel's entire attitude immediately changed.
"Ohhh! WAIT! THE SOUNDTRACK IS FIRE!"
He started moving his head to the battle theme while selecting his opening commands, confident that his balanced party would handle another boss without too much trouble.
Then Matador used Red Capote.
His agility and evasion increased enormously.
Miguel stopped nodding.
"Wait."
Then came Taunt, lowering his party's defense while increasing their physical attack.
Miguel's eyes narrowed.
"WAIT."
Matador attacked.
Andalucia struck multiple random targets.
Miguel's party health collapsed almost instantly.
His eyes widened.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!"
Pixie was already heavily damaged. Another demon had fallen dangerously low. Demi-Fiend himself had lost a large chunk of health.
Miguel leaned toward the screen. "WHAT THE FUCK!? HE JUST STARTED!"
He tried retaliating with magic.
The attack missed.
Miguel froze.
Because of the Press Turn rules, his party immediately lost momentum.
"NO! FUCK YOU! HIS EVASION IS BULLSHIT!"
Matador's turn arrived.
Mazan.
Force magic struck the entire party.
One of Miguel's demons died immediately.
Another barely survived.
Miguel's mouth dropped open.
"What."
Matador attacked again.
The battle quickly collapsed.
Miguel tried healing, but healing merely delayed the inevitable. His party could not reliably hit Matador after Red Capote, his defenses had been shredded by Taunt, and Andalucia continued tearing through whoever happened to be targeted.
Within minutes, Demi-Fiend fell.
Game over.
Miguel stared at the screen.
Then slowly turned toward the camera.
"HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT THAT SHIT!?"
The chat erupted.
Unlike earlier, however, several viewers began giving genuine advice rather than simply laughing at him.
"Adjust your party."
"Buff and debuff."
"You need Sukukaja."
"Force resistance."
"Stop trying to brute force him."
Miguel sighed and leaned back.
"Fucking game."
Then, gradually, he grinned.
"Okay."
He pointed toward Matador's game-over screen.
"You want preparation?"
His grin widened.
"Toro Kami prepares."
That began several more hours of party rebuilding.
Miguel did not suddenly acquire some absurd late-game demon. Everything he worked with was still appropriate for this early section of Nocturne. He began looking at demons he had previously ignored because their raw attack values seemed unimpressive. Nozuchi suddenly became interesting because of its useful relationship with Force attacks. He worked toward a demon that could provide reliable party healing, eventually using Ame-no-Uzume as one of his stronger support options around this stage. He also started taking support skills much more seriously, particularly buffs that improved accuracy and evasion so Matador's Red Capote would not completely control the battle.
Miguel even adjusted Demi-Fiend himself, paying attention to his equipped Magatama instead of treating it only as a source of new skills. Once he realized he could prepare specifically around Matador's Force-heavy attacks, his entire view of Nocturne changed.
"This game wants me to actually build for bosses," he muttered.
Chat replied:
"YES."
Miguel pointed angrily at the screen. "I KNOW NOW!"
His rebuilt party still looked humble compared with the enormous demons he had seen in promotional material. They were early-game demons, some of them creatures he had previously walked past without thinking much about. But now each one had a clear job. One handled healing and support. Another helped deal with Force attacks and survive Matador's pressure. Another brought useful damage or buffs. Demi-Fiend tied everything together.
Miguel challenged Matador again.
He died.
"FUCK!"
Another attempt.
He got much farther.
Then Andalucia killed his healer.
"NOOOOO!"
Another attempt.
Red Capote caused several attacks to miss, destroying his turns.
Miguel nearly threw the controller but remembered how much ZEPS 4 cost and gently placed it back onto his desk instead.
"Expensive controller. Expensive controller. Calm down."
Chat laughed.
Then came another attempt.
This time Miguel entered prepared.
Buffs began going up early.
He kept healing before party members entered critical range instead of waiting until someone was nearly dead. He managed his Press Turns carefully, avoided gambling on low-accuracy attacks, and gradually wore Matador down.
Red Capote.
Miguel countered by keeping his own accuracy and evasion buffs active.
Taunt.
He adjusted and refused to panic.
Andalucia.
The party survived.
"YES! FUCK YOU! WE'RE STILL HERE!"
Matador's health continued falling.
Miguel was no longer shouting randomly.
He was focused.
For several turns his room became almost strangely quiet except for the game's music and the occasional muttered calculation. "Heal here… no, buff first… then heal with her… okay, Toro Kami attacks…"
Matador attacked again.
Demi-Fiend survived with dangerously low health.
Miguel's eyes widened.
"Oh shit."
He healed immediately.
The battle continued.
Then finally, after multiple failed attempts and hours of preparation, Miguel saw Matador's remaining health drop into range.
He attacked.
The hit connected.
Matador staggered.
Another party member moved.
Another attack.
Then the battle ended.
For a fraction of a second, Miguel did not react.
He stared at the screen.
Matador was defeated.
Miguel slowly stood from his chair.
His hands rose into the air.
"YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
He immediately began jumping around his room.
"FUCK YOU, SKULL BASTARD! DIE! DIE! DIE! I'M DEMI-FIEND, YOU SON OF A BITCH! TORO KAMI WINS!"
The chat exploded with congratulations, laughter, and reminders from viewers that his mother was probably still somewhere inside the house.
Miguel immediately lowered his voice.
"Toro Kami wins quietly."
The chat laughed even harder.
He finally dropped back into his chair, exhausted but wearing an enormous grin. He had started the stream acting as though Hard Mode would simply make enemies slightly stronger. Several hours later, Nocturne had already taught him otherwise. Random encounters could destroy progress. Party composition mattered. Demon fusion mattered. Buffs and debuffs were not optional decorations. Press Turn could make the player feel unstoppable one moment and completely helpless the next.
Miguel wiped sweat from his forehead and looked toward the game.
Then he smiled.
"Okay… I fucking love this."
For all his screaming, he understood now exactly why the game was satisfying. Matador had felt impossible when Miguel first encountered him, but the game had not required better reflexes or some hidden trick. It had demanded that he understand its systems, rebuild his team, prepare properly, and return stronger.
And when Matador finally fell, the victory genuinely felt earned.
Miguel pointed toward the screen one last time. "But seriously… whoever designed Hard Mode is a fucking psychopath."
The chat immediately answered:
"YOU PICKED IT."
Miguel stared.
"…Shut up."
One thing was already certain.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne was absolutely not a game for the weak-minded—especially on Hard Mode on Start.
And Toro Kami had barely started.
To be continued.
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