Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster to Exclude Raidou and Goto from Devil Summoner in Chinese and Korean Release

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Update (2020-07-25): Amended a passage regarding the availability of the Raidou Kuzunoha costume DLC for Persona 5.

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Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster will be released in China and South Korea alongside the Japanese version on October 29, 2020. Alongside yesterday’s Japanese website update, the Asian region websites have also been updated with “Story & Character” and “System” pages, which both include a particular notice.

The updated character pages on both the Chinese and Korean websites include a disclaimer at the very bottom stating that the characters Raidou Kuzunoha and Goto from Devil Summoner will not be included in those releases of SMT III: Nocturne HD Remaster. No further explanation for their omission, or how the game will compensate for their removal, is given.

Raidou Kuzunoha costume DLC was also omitted from the Chinese and Korean language releases of Persona 5, however it is available for the Asia region release of the Japanese language version. The other Raidou inspired costumes in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight—Morgana’s “Heeho’s School Uniform” and “Gouto-Douji Costume,” along with Haru’s “Tae Asakura” costume—were not omitted from any region.

From what we’ve seen, neither the Raidou Kuzunoha games, nor Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers for the Nintendo 3DS—which included Raidou Kuzunoha—have been localized in Chinese or Korean.

Raidou Kuzunoha has been featured in the English trailer for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster, implying that the English version will not be affected by the omission in the Asian releases.

Another alteration for an Asian version in Atlus’ recent past is how Ryuji’s design was altered for Asia region releases of Persona 5, as well as other titles he has been featured in, due to the Rising Sun Flag imagery on his shoes.

Shin Megami Tensei III Release Chronology

Shin Megami Tensei III was the game’s first release in Japan, in 2003. Subsequently, an updated version with the subtitle “Maniax,” which included new content like Dante from Devil May Cry as a guest character, was released in Japan a year later in 2004. This is the release that was localized and released in English as “Nocturne” in North America in 2004, and in Europe as “Lucifer’s Call” in 2005.

Afterwards, a new version of SMT III was released exclusively in Japan as “Maniax Chronicle” in 2008. This version of the game replaced Dante with Raidou Kuzunoha and Goto from the Devil Summoner series. The game was initially bundled with the special edition of another game, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon.

“Maniax Chronicle” is the version Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is based on.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster will be released for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on October 29, 2020 in Japan, China, and South Korea. The game will be released in the West in Spring 2021.

— Via @greyleonce