Shin Megami Tensei V has been a long time coming. The last mainline entry in the series was released over eight years ago for the 3DS, while the last home console entry was another ten years before that. Moreover, Shin Megami Tensei V was one of the first games ever revealed for the Switch, mere months after the console itself was first shown to the public. All those years of hype have thus generated some awfully high expectations. It was never in doubt that Atlus would give this release the attention it deserves, but the question has always been whether it would be good enough to get over the high bar set by its predecessors. Fortunately, any such concerns can be cast aside — Shin Megami Tensei V is the best entry in the series yet and stands as an impressive achievement for a beloved franchise.
Right from the off, it’s made abundantly clear that Shin Megami Tensei V is every bit as ‘heavy’ as its predecessors. Things start off seemingly normal as you follow your character through a typical day of school, but there’s an ominous tone to the announcement at the end of the day that advises students to travel home in pairs. People have been disappearing and there are rumors of violent attacks taking place around Tokyo, but nobody really seems to have a clear idea of what exactly is going on.
Then, in practically the blink of an eye, Tokyo is gone.
In its place, your character finds himself trapped in a sand-swept hellscape littered with the crumbling ruins of skyscrapers and streets. Strange demonic and angelic creatures roam these wastes and there’s scarcely another human to be found. The world has already ended and you are alone, although this changes quickly when you meet an entity named Aogami, who fuses with you and turns you into a being called Nahobino. Invigorated with this newfound power, you thus begin a lengthy journey to both uncover what exactly happened to the world and to fight a whole lot of angels and demons along the way.
The story is something that really needs to be experienced to be understood, and we won’t rob you of the fun by spoiling anything further here, but suffice to say Shin Megami Tensei V tells quite a compelling tale. This is a story that is still very much marked by the weighty philosophical and moral ruminations that defined past entries, but Atlus has smartly decided to make this a more character-driven narrative than many previous games.
For example, the main shopkeeper in the game is a memorable, green-skinned ghoul named Gustave. Gustave is a friendly fellow. He seems like he genuinely wants to help you on your quest. But he also comes off as the kind of guy who likes to microwave butterflies in his spare time, and there’s something equal parts haunting and endearing in his maniacal giggles as you sell him another few bottles of soda.
Make no mistake, this is hardly a lighthearted tale, but wandering the wasteland in isolation feels purposeful now that you’re given more concrete reasons to have emotional investment in the narrative. You have clearer goals and objectives for driving the plot forward, and the characters you encounter are more interesting than the mostly one-dimensional idealogues that populated past entries. The narrative is certainly not as straightforward and relatable as, say, Persona 5 or Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but we’d still contend that Atlus has crafted a nicely balanced story with this entry. The world of Shin Megami Tensei V is just interesting in a way that the previous entries weren’t, and it’s a credit to the writers that they were able to pull this off without losing that darker edge that the series is known for.
Shin Megami Tensei V is a true dungeon crawler at heart, and it’s been designed in a way that’s ‘semi-linear’. Each of the maps you can explore are ultimately laid out in a simple-to-follow fashion that’s nearly impossible to get lost in, but there are also many side paths and areas that reward exploration and offer up some compelling side content. There’s never a question of where you need to go or what you need to do next, but the path you take to get there and the things you do along the way are still very much up to you. Exploration is also assisted in part by little Magatsuhi energy balls dotted throughout the landscape like breadcrumbs. You automatically pick these up as you run over them, and they’ll top up things like your health, MP, and Magatsuhi gauge while their positioning often encourages you to step off the beaten path.
Once you start poking around the world a little more, you’ll find that there’s often quite a bit to help you build up your characters better. There are, of course, the expected treasure chests that offer up nice rewards, but the main draw to exploration is usually side quests and little creatures called Miman. The side quests are usually offered up by friendly demons and give you the expected tasks of going on fetch quests or fighting powerful foes, and while they usually don’t have a ton of depth, they add some welcome texture to the otherwise lifeless environment and often act as the only way to unlock more Magatsuhi skills.
Additionally, there are 200 Miman to find throughout the whole game, and these are all connected to an ongoing side quest for Gustave. Each Miman gives you a little bit of Glory (more on that in a bit), while hitting certain milestones with how many of them you collect will lead to Gustave giving you some special gifts. Suffice to say, there is a lot to do in the world of Shin Megami Tensei V and you’re constantly doing something that either progresses the main story or somehow builds up your character or their party.
Another important factor that greatly aids the accessibility of this new world design is the Leyline Fount system. Dotted around the world are blue portals that act as one-stop shops for everything you could possibly need for your adventure. You can use these portals to quickly fast travel around the world, save, heal your party, shop for extra goods, and engage in any demon-summoning or fusion shenanigans. Given that combat (at least on normal difficulty) is as savage and difficult as it was in past entries, these founts act as a nice balancing factor to make the journey feel that much more bearable. You’ll still likely wipe more often than you intend to, but it feels like the game 'earns' those deaths now that you are frequently given reasonable access to every tool you could need to succeed.
Combat follows the same Press Turn rules of previous entries, making for what feels like the best take on straight turn-based combat. You can have an active party of the Nahobino and up to three other demons, and each party member is given one action per turn. However, if you manage to connect attacks that crit or hit an enemy’s elemental weakness, you can get up to four additional actions for yourself. Smartly using this system in your favor means that you can effectively clear average enemy encounters in one turn if you’re tactical, but the flipside is that you lose turns if an attack misses or gets blocked by an enemy. Additionally, everyone in your party has elemental weaknesses of their own, and enemies can gain extra actions if they hit these.
Thus, this Press Turn system is very high-risk, high-reward. If you get the first turn on the enemy and planned your team well, battles can typically be wrapped with scarcely any effort. Yet if the enemy gets the jump on you and you’re just beginning to explore a new area, it’s not uncommon for a few party members to get completely wiped before you even have a chance to do anything. The only real downside with this system is that it can become a little repetitive once you’ve ‘solved’ an enemy encounter. By this, we mean that if, say, an area is littered with Cait Siths and you’ve already discovered how to best leverage your current team to defeat one, all subsequent encounters mostly become you using the exact same moves in the exact same order to maximize your turn count. Luckily, there’s quite a bit of enemy variety and you usually come across new ones just as you’re beginning to get bored of the current crop, but this repetition does crop up if you spend a little too long in any given area.
New to Shin Megami Tensei V is an additional feature called the Magatsuhi Gauge that works as a nice means of fudging battles even more in your favor. This gauge fills up a little bit by doing specific actions or naturally with each passing turn, and once full it allows you to unleash powerful skills to tip the scales. Every character and demon has different skills they can use, and these offer helpful buffs like ensuring every attack for that turn is critical or massively raising everyone’s evasion for a turn.
Best of all, casting a Magatsuhi skill doesn’t cost an action and the caster can still act after they’ve used one. The Magatsuhi gauge feels like a welcome addition to the tried-and-true combat system, as its not influential enough to ‘break’ the game, but sometimes gives you that extra oomph you need to decisively finish a fight.
Much like in previous games, you build your team by a combination of negotiating with demons to join your team, and fusing allied demons together to form more powerful varieties. Demon negotiation remains just as opaque and frustrating as ever, but here it feels like you generally succeed more often than you fail. Even so, we’ve had plenty of times where a demon fleeced us of some health and items, only to laugh and run off with the goods. Still, negotiation gets a little easier as you unlock more skills that help to give you a better chance, and once a demon has been caught, it remains in your compendium forever.
Running back to a Leyline Fount then allows you to create demon fusions by either fusing together party members or paying a fee to temporarily summon former ones for fusion fodder. Naturally, this means that your fusion options are rather limited in the first few hours given that there’s only a few demon types to collect, but the table opens up exponentially as you add more demons to your compendium and create that many more potential combinations. It can be a little nerve-wracking when you’re making changes to your team, as there are only so many skills you’re allowed to carry over from the two ingredient demons, but the end result is usually something notably more powerful than either demon you’re losing. Sure, fusion in Shin Megami Tensei V may be basically the exact same system that’s been in previous entries for the past several years, but it’s a good example of Atlus choosing not to fix something that isn’t broken. Fusion remains a compelling and fascinating way of measuring progress, and it only becomes more interesting as the game goes on and you have more options to choose from.
Borrowing somewhat from the last mainline numbered entry, Shin Megami Tensei V uses a new system called Apotheosis for guiding your Nahobino’s growth. For one thing, this is now the main way of giving him new skills, as he doesn’t learn them from demons anymore. Rather, you collect Essences from demons either through leveling them or getting them as rewards elsewhere, and each Essence acts as a small bundle of skills that you can pick from to add to his abilities. This feels like a welcome change, as it allows you a little more flexibility over actively changing up the Nahobino’s moveset without having to worry about how you’ll later get back the skills you had to toss.
Additionally, you can now use a new currency called Glory that you collect from Miman or other sources on your adventure to give the Nahobino new permanent passive skills. These skills touch on all areas of Shin Megami Tensei V and grant you things like better proficiency with different spell types to lower costs for fusing from the demon compendium. These skills don’t come cheap, however, which really pushes you to prioritize what kind of build you want the Nahobino to have. This Glory system doesn’t feel like it breaks the game too much, but it does offer up some lovely benefits and a thrilling sense of forward progress as you develop your character.
In terms of presentation, Shin Megami Tensei V is certainly the best-looking entry in the series yet, but it does come with some caveats. Seeing all these beloved demon designs in glorious HD is something to behold, and the art style does a great job of giving them a certain ‘realistic’ look that they lacked in previous entries. Things like dynamic lighting and high-res textures are welcome additions, but they do come at the cost of performance. Whether you’re playing on portable or docked, Shin Megami Tensei V always looks slightly blurrier than we’d like and asset pop-in is a common sight. The frame rate mostly seems to stick to its 30FPS target, though there are some times when there are lots of demons in the field and it slips noticeably. It would be disingenuous to say that Shin Megami Tensei V is disappointing with its performance, but it’s abundantly clear that this is a release that pushes the Switch to its very limit.
We’d be remiss to close out this review without also mentioning the soundtrack, which is simply sublime. The music is mostly characterized by heavy synths, fast drumbeats, and metal guitar riffs, and it’s a mixture that feels equal parts intense and relaxing. At any rate, it sets a wonderful tone for the often oppressive atmosphere established by the rest of the game. There’s no soundtrack out there that sounds quite like Shin Megami Tensei, and we’re happy to report that Shin Megami Tensei V continues this legacy of memorable music.
Conclusion
Shin Megami Tensei V is a modern masterpiece. It successfully delivers on all the aspects that have made the series thus far so popular with fans—namely through its high difficulty, heavy narrative themes, and expansive team-building options—while polishing up and tightening the weaker aspects. Things like a more easily navigable map and more difficulty options to cater to players of all skill levels comfortably make this the most approachable entry in the series, and it feels like there’s more things to do in the world than ever before. If you are at all a fan of RPGs or have been looking for a good entry point into this oft overlooked series, we would strongly encourage you to pick this up as soon as you can. Shin Megami Tensei V was worth the wait, Atlus has successfully stuck the landing with this one.
Comments 132
You know a company is confident in their game when reviews go online one week before release. Can't wait
Oh sweet, was hoping it would be that good. Can't wait to pick it up.
@mariomaster96 I've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before, but seeing it in all of the directs, it just looks so cool, I'll definitely pick it up
Should be a fun romp. Will carry me through the holidays.
YES YES YES! Can't wait!
will definitely get this at some point. Dark Souls remastered and the animal crossing dlc are getting me through for now
Aside from my normal eye roll at this particular negative that this site is infamous for (performance doesn't bother me on Switch for any game I play, that's just how I feel) this sounds like a great game. Says a lot about Nintendo/Sega's general feeling on this game now that reviews are live, with over a week until release. They apparently were right to have that confidence.
Edit: perhaps it is a little childish to care about someone who is bothered by something I'm not. So...meh. Still sounds like an amazing game but I'm avoiding reading/watching too much about it because I really want to experience it all on my own.
@Mauzuri The Persona games are Shin Megami Tensei spinoffs. Don’t you want the real deal?
Honestly, I did not know this was coming out today LOL I know I've seen articles about the game recently but I guess my idiot eyes and dumb brain never connected the dots. Well this is exciting... and it reviewed extremely well!! I'll be buying it! I own all other entries on 3DS and love them. They're very punishing and I've never beat one but dang I love them.
EDIT... I guess it's not out today!? There goes my dumb eyes and idiot brain again! I assumed it was. Either way.. I'm buying it!
EDIT 2: I for whatever reason feel I need to put this out there.. I assumed the main character was female but I think it is so freaking cool they sort of come off as non-binary or maybe gender fluid. I know the character is referred to as "he" but I never would've guessed.
I watched the review video and read it as well and I went from "I'll buy it in the next 2 months" to "I'm preordering it." It looks like a well-refined version of all previous entires. And seeing the demons in 3D is a huge jump for me. Thanks for the review, NL! I know what I'll be playing this holiday!
@JoeDiddley The final week is the worst week! You're gonna get HANGRY!! 😂
I've been waiting for SMT5 for almost 5 years can not wait to play it next week
I hope its decent but that footage where you collect those MP spheres on the map has me extremely worried. I really hope that the dungeon crawling aspect is there and it's not just about the boss battles like with 99% of JRPGs these days.
Pre-ordering when i get paid tomorrow, very excited.
@Mauzuri poor summer child.
DAMN! This review came out fast! Hoping for sucess for the game, in part so that we can get youknowwhat
Juicy details a 9/10 sign me up!
Also a day one update will fix that subpar performance.
9/10 from NL makes it 7/10 for regular review. So all in all - a decent RPG, just nothing groundbreaking.
If someone never tried SMT series before then this entry is definitely should be their first one, as it's polished enough and contains all the QoL improvements for an old SMT formula.
Sounds alike game of the year material for me, that's if it can knock tales of Arise from that position
@Friendly It's funny, people never seem to realize that Persona is the spinoff series. Same with Metroid Prime, people are always surprised to find out it's a prequel and not the main series lol
Very much looking forward to this one. I grabbed SMT3 earlier this year on the Switch, but it wasn't easy to get into it.
Sounds great. I can't wait to jump into this one.
I really really cannot wait. But I’ve waited this long.
I’m trying to stop myself from playing any SMT stuff ahead of release so I’m hungry for it when I finally get to play this game.
I don’t think I’ve ever followed a release for such a long time, so I really have tried to keep my expectations in check, I can’t see myself being disappointed.
Sorry, this read like a 10 review, but it’s only a 9 because of performance sometimes being subpar. Yet Metroid Dread gets a perfect 10. Something is fishy here.
@anynamereally https://www.metacritic.com/publication/nintendo-life?filter=games
"On average, this publication grades 8.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)"
So you are factually wrong.
@anynamereally Nevermind that it's currently sitting at an 86 on Metacritic...
Cool, was basically on board with this anyway, even more so with good reviews.
As an aside though, and a genuine question so please don't flame me, what has happened with Atlus this generation? What I mean is, on the 3DS I have tons of Atlus games but on the Switch there only seem to be about three others (Catherine, Persona Strikers, SMT3) and they are all available on other systems. Are they not too interested in the Switch or has their recent output been resource intensive? Seems to me that loads of people, myself included, would love some more Etrian games and more of their quirky RPGs.
Oh, forgot, there's also Mirage Sessions but that was pretty much complete last generation.....
Genuine question: what impact does performance have in a turn-based RPG?
Like a few others in the comments ive also never played a SMT game before. This will be my first one as i will defenately be buying it.
@anynamereally So would it take a score of 11 or 12 to make a game above 8?
@CurtisABXY All I will say is prepare for something that is going to be an entirely different flavor from what you're used to.
I can't believe this game is actually coming out soon. After so many years of waiting it doesn't feel real 😂.
@BongoBongo Well, maybe other outlets gave it a higher score I'm not really bothered with checking them out because I'm saying it from my point of view as an experienced SMT player. If you never played SMT before go get it, it's a good game, no arguing here.
I've played some of them so I have a good understanding of this series and this particular entry doesn't look interesting enough for people like me who already played more than a couple of SMT entries.
Mechanically I'm pretty sure it's an upgrade from earlier SMTs, as all of its systems were modernized and smoothed out so not to scare off contemporary player, but the world itself, the setting they made here is all subpar looking if you compare it to Strange Journey or if you look at what made Soul Hackers so special.
Finaly a must buy game on the switch this year.
As a huge fan of the franchise words cannot describe how excited I am for this game, the wait since 2017 more than paid off. To everyone in the comment section deriding it for not being Persona just give it a chance with an open mind and you'll find a very different but nonetheless amazing RPG experience
@BrazillianCara
>So would it take a score of 11 or 12 to make a game above 8?
7 is legit score for a good game one can enjoy. it doesn't need to be always 8 or higher.
7 is an average game that did most of the things right, it's just didn't add anything new. it didn't impress the player with something outstanding or unique enough to be a memorable experience.
Nice timing. I just finished Tales of Arise and I was wondering what RPG I was going to get into next. I don't have a ton of experience with the series, but I enjoyed SMT IV: Apocalypse on 3DS, as well as Devil Survivor and the Persona games, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy this just as much.
As someone who has never played one of these games before, would I be fine to jump right into this game?
@Warioware Atlus' current output doesn't even come close to what they used to release back in the PS2/DS era, it's not really a lack of interest on Switch but rather they got caught up well into the HD era without any expertise as they kept developing for the more underpowered systems. Hence why Catherine released so late into the PS3/X360 days, P5 is a PS3 game (using the Catherine engine) with the PS4 version being a port, P5 Strikers was developed by Koei Tecmo even and SMTV is literally their first title made with UE4
@anynamereally soul hackers lmao. It's a fun game but it's definitely not the high point of the series. DDS maybe? SMT 4 maybe? SJ is just a bunch of walls but it is one of my favorites! Devil Survivor maybe? SmT 2? If you can out up with what it is
My point is I've played every smt game except the Majin tensei, Raidou and megami tensei games. And I think this looks cool as *****. Now if you don't like the series that's different but I've enjoyed them I can't see how you don't hear the soundtrack, look at the visuals, the voice acting, the scale and think. Yeah imma pass this one looks subpar visually environment wise. YOU'RE NORMALLY JUST IN A DUNGEON OR MOVING YOUR CHESS PIECE AROUND IN EVERY OTHER GAME EXCEPT THIS ONE. Okay I'm done but did want to leave this out here for others. Try this game out friends! It'll be hard but you'll enjoy it tons if you have the mindset to be challenged!
@anynamereally 7/10 for a normal review? It got an 86 metascore.
@rmswriter you are on nintendolife, only Nintendo games receive perfect score because Nintendo games are perfect even when they are not perfect…
@Warioware HD games take longer to develop.
@CurtisABXY That I can certain vouch for. SMT in general focuses more on morality, law vs chaos, man vs gods, and similar themes in general. SMT main series in general deals with humans dealing with the machinations of gods and demons upon their world and struggling against them or embracing them.
Glad it's a solid game, now I'll have to wait for my copy to arrive.
Very much looking forward to this. Finally a AAA game where you play as a drag queen!
Hopefully this does well and incentivizes Atlus to bring some of their other heralded titles over to the Switch. Having only played Persona 5, Deluxe/Definitive versions of Persona 3 & Persona 4 would be great and an instant buy for me. 🤞🏾😁
**Sidenote: As an aside with Atlus, a sequel to Catherine with more life/dating sim and less grueling, repetitive puzzles would be nice.
I'd also love a revival of the underrated Trauma Center series for Switch with the improved motion controls of today as well! 🙏🏾😷🏥💉🩺
... Wun can only hope.
No context spoilers. Y'all will understand later.
@anynamereally
Yeeeeah, no. Their reviews (whether I agree with them or not) are seemingly about as regular or outlier likely as any others out there.
Almost every game have at cons “performance…”. Can’t wait for nintendo to finally come with that switch pro so i can never hear how amazing games are hampered by a device who can’t deliver the best performance.
@clianvXAi every game has some performance issues. Some games like Dread and SMT V don’t have a lot. Close to little performance issues.
Switch pro ain’t happening. At best we will get a next gen Nintendo system in like 2023. It’s also due to the chip shortage that an enhanced Switch doesn’t exist. I am guessing the OLED model WAS supposed to be the enhanced Switch but due to chip shortages and stuff, it has not happened
@CactusMan
Maybe those titles mentioned don't fit in with the silly notions & narrative that they're trying to go with 🤷♂️
@munstahunta Hades and Tetris Effect have both gotten 10/10. Axiom Verge 1 also got 10/10 if I recall correctly.
Also not every Nintendo Switch exclusive from Nintendo has gotten 10/10. Mario Golf on Switch has gotten a 7/10 on this website iirc. Pokémon Sword and Shield has gotten a 8/10 on this website as well
@BTB20 @Kr96 Thanks to you both for your short and long answers! Personally I'd settle for some lower powered Atlus games to be honest since I can't see too much difference with a lot of the HD stuff (poor eyesight) but I guess that's not going to happen!
Wanna know what's sad? My first Megaten game is the spin-off of a spin-off, Persona 5 Strikers. I need to start somewhere legitimate, and this game seems to be the most promising.
@anoyonmus I know, just kidding .
@Mauzuri So in other words the only reason you want to play Persona instead is because Joker is in Smash, pathetic
I'd be picking this up if it released at any other point this year. Between the Animal Crossing update, the Pokémon Sinnoh remakes, GTA trilogy, and the N64 games, my gaming time is full up for the rest of the year. Maybe next year after Pokémon Legends: Arceus and before Kirby and the Forgotten Land?
I've played a couple of games in the series, mostly crossovers, spin offs, and spin offs of spin offs (some on DS, the ones on 3DS, Persona 4 and 5, Persona Q 1 and 2, Strikers, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions). Looking forward to the day I'll eventually play it, probably.
This Glory system sounds like a replacement of the COMP upgrades from 4 in a new context.
The biggest question the trailers left me with and which all reviews are refusing to answer: are all demons now really drawn to scale? Finally giants are huge and pixies are hella tiny? Because Nocturne tried a step in that direction but ultimately still didn't deviate much in demon sizes, same for Persona 5.
@Shambo I haven’t played Tokyo Mirage Sessions. How is it though? I might want to try it someday
@Warioware Man, I'm right there with you! Atlus put out something like 15-20 games on 3DS. Tons of SMT and Etrian Odyssey content, plus unique stuff like Stella Glow and Radiant Historia. I'd be willing to bet the only publisher that made more games than them was Nintendo itself.
My only guess is that all those 3DS games were very cheap to make and offered a very consistent return on investment for Atlus. HD games require more resources and effort, and the sales probably are mostly the same or only slightly better than before, so the margins are probably much thinner.
Nice review. A Shin Megami Tensei game with better exploration, level design, and more of a focus on the characters is literally all I've wanted from the series to date.
Cannot wait for launch.
Very excited for this!
@SwitchVogel Yeah I guess that's the thing which might be problematic going forward as costs rise. I don't want the gaming market to just be COD and FIFA. As I said in another post I'm not that bothered by outstanding graphics and the like and certainly on the 3DS Atlus seemed to get around this with a ton of style. I'll take a great art style and funky soundtrack over a high polygon and pixel count and faster than the human eye can even perceive framerate any day!
Interesting conversation above about how Atlus used to be able to produce so many games during the 3ds era compared to their output on the switch. I’m probably in the minority but I wish HD never happened, at least in gaming. Games were make frequent and certainly used to take more risks. All well, I’ll go yell at a cloud about this.
Looking forward to picking this up. It will be my first Shin Megami Tensei game so I don't have a clue what to expect.
Man, one more week..... aaaarghhh!
@gojiguy smoothness in general (and for me also graphics. Hitches, stutters, frame spikes etc are annoying. It’s the main reason why I play multi platform games on my ps4/5. I really like the fact the you can have the switch with on the couch or on the go but man some games suffer so hard.
Man, I can't wait to play this game! It will be my first time woth SMT too, but I have a feeling I will love it XD
Cannot wait to get this with the steelbook!
I have picked up a number of the Shin Megami Tensei games over the years starting with a heavily discounted Strange Journey on DS, moving to 3DS games Devil Survivor overclocked and lastly Shin Megami Tensei IV. I never get very far, just really bouncing off the difficulty. I like the idea of easier difficulty and more accessibility options. I will keep a eye out for a demo.
I cannot wait for this. 100 hours easy.
I’ve been keen to get a big JRPG for Switch, tried Ni No Kuni but not for me. The sidekick is so annoying and the combat is a bit awkward.. can’t decide between Xenoblade, Dragon Quest or this.. or maybe Tokyo Mirage Sessions
@SwitchVogel @Warioware Simple. Atlus' parent company went belly-up and Sega bought them in 2014.
@nessisonett Drag Queen? No. Character that turns you bisexual the moment you see them? YES.
@anoyonmus For once, the Persona comparison makes sense. It's more of a combination of SMT and Persona with Fire Emblem frosting on top.
@Warioware And that becomes cringe to look at a few years later when it's no longer is the top of the graphics world.
@Kr96 Again, blame the transition to being Sega owned as a major factor on the slow down.
@wuntyme8 Persona 4 is likely because of the success of P4G on Steam, but Persona 3 would be a challenge. Trying to fit the additions from FES along with the Female MC from P3 Portable could make it quite messy. The fact that some parts of P3's story and gameplay have NOT aged well along with the matter of Junpei's English Voice Actor...
@anzzjam I actually hear you and agree somewhat with what you're saying. To me the graphical upgrades have been a diminishing return on the wow factor since the PS2 days frankly, it just doesn't impress me as much anymore. As I said in my earlier post it seems a shame if HD is forcing up the costs because some of the games from ten years ago were fantastic without it and now they might not get made because people demand 4K visuals which apparently cost a lot but don't actually improve the gameplay.
I've been meaning to post this for a while but I honestly have to wonder if some people can even discern what they claim to want or if it is just a sort of placebo effect. My eyesight is poor but I really can't see much difference between 4K and standard HD and now people are demanding 120FPS and even 240FPS from things and sometimes even claiming that below 60FPS is unplayable. Got by on much lower than that in the past and still enjoy those games today. I thought the human eye could only perceive 30 - 60FPS anyway, which is believed to be the human update rate. Can't say that my daily life experience is jerky and unplayable! (at least from a visual perspective anyway!)
@NatiaAdamo Sorry I'm not sure what your reply means - do you mean that graphics are irrelevant because they always date eventually or that the games on the 3DS now look bad and so are worse as a result?
@Warioware More of the former. It's the ones the look the most "realistic" that become dated much quicker.
@NatiaAdamo
Good to know, but tbh it doesn't wane my yearning for Ultimate versions of both Persona 3 & 4 on Switch! Anything is possible if they are committed and invest the resources. Not to mention I'm sure they'd widen the potential return on their investments by releasing them on every capable and available platform to reach new audiences and continue to grow and capitalize off the Persona brand.
Atlus is still celebrating Persona's 25th anniversary and they announced a bunch of upcoming Persona announcements dubbed the "Persona 25th Anniversary Project" throughout this and next year on their website... hopefully those are some of them!
https://atlus.com/persona25th/
... Wun can only hope.
@quigtendo Get Xenoblade (either of the two), DQXI, Ys VIII or this one. I'd say you can't go wrong with neither of them XD
Looks great! Happy to have pre ordered it weeks ago. Was the review based on a version of the game without a day one patch or with it?
I play SMT Overclock but I only got so far. That was years ago thought. I still have the game but I want to play this one first and then play the other one. Looking forward to it
@Warioware I guess this is where Square Enix are succeeding with smaller scale RPGs that have AAA JRPG gameplay but probably cheaper to make because of simpler graphics, Octopath, Bravely Default.. I certainly don’t need full HD graphics, Switch was my first console since GameCube so I love playing ports for the years I’ve missed with their allegedly ‘unplayable visuals’.
@IronMan30 this site is infamous for calling out performance? I am 100 per cent thankful that stuff gets called out. Does it change my opinion, no, but there are some games that have been truly terrible on the Switch, so it’s important to keep that as a metric for success.
@the_beaver I’m leaning on Xenoblade for the concept of the world. Not familiar with Ys VIII - will have to check it out before making my decision. I want something I can have really put some hours in handheld in
@quigtendo Yeah it's a good point and a route that I would love to see Atlus follow since I generally prefer their RPGs to SquareEnix. I might be a bit biased at the moment because I recently dug out my 3DS and looked through my old library, loads of classics on there. Modern games are great and all but I feel that the advance have been technical rather than creative. Maybe why I love indie games.
@NatiaAdamo Aha, yeah I'd have to agree with that. Good gameplay ages better than graphics frankly, as does good art design. Windwaker and Odin's Sphere still look great today despite their age. I now there are some technical issues that impede enjoyment a bit, especially on old 8 Bit games but even some of them are still awesome today because of great design.
Can't wait.
I have the Fall of Man Edition pre-ordered, going to be a long week.
@Clutchtime SMT V is going to be the most modern and accessible entry in the series to date. No better time to finally jump in, frankly.
I have no idea what to make of this. I’m all for a great JRPG but this just looks so bland? I’ve never played any of these games before though and don’t really get the appeal.
Worth a punt if I generally like JRPG’s?!
But is smirking still in?
@Pikman obviously can't speak to this entry yet but the series as a whole is pretty awesome. Stylish and fun and quite challenging too. If you like RPGs the combat systems are really good and the themes and stories are fairly unique. If that helps at all.
at least the menu is in 720p/1080p
Very excited to go in, been staying out of trailers since E3, just to go in blind!
Had a good feeling for this and now it has been confirmed as a very good game. Thanks for the review. Physical for me.
Not surprised to see the high reviews across the board. The SMT series constantly delivers, can't believe launch is almost here. The 4 year wait looks like it'll be well worth it.
I don’t understand the performance comment: it sacrifices performance for high res visuals yet it also looks blurry and maintains a steady frame rate? That would imply that the game actually sacrifices visual fidelity for better performance, no?
Game looks amazing! I can't wait to play this on my Switch OLED! Pre-ordered from Best Buy and the game also comes with a nice looking steelbook case! 1 more week to go!
@nintendoknife Smirking is gone in SMT V. Magatsuhi abilities are the new battle gimmick this time.
@munstahunta I hope you're being sarcastic. Tetris Effect just recently got a 10.
@Edwirichuu the 3ds one was my 1st & it kinda sucks that every game has all the same enemies (in addition to the persona games, because i play those now also, since persona 4), but that's really the only knock on those games for me. I love jrpgs like dragon quest, final fantasy (mainly the turn based ones), etc & anyone that loves any of those games should love SMT. I am so glad there's another series besides dragon quest that's holding down the turn based fort & i will continue to support them by buying their games as long as they do.
@Shambo I'm in the middle of Tokyo mirage sessions, but i only play it at night, so will be a while before i finish it, i bet. Idk if i should wait to finish it before i snag SMTV, but will be hard to wait. I know if i get SMTV, i will play it instead, ofc, & I'm always worried I'll get burned out on Atlus' games (because i do get burned out on things, & all these games have the same enemies), so i don't want to play them back to back to back, but oh well.
The review actually got me interested in the game. Might have to add it to the Xmas wish list.
@anynamereally How do you figure it'd be a 7 for a "regular review"? It has an 87 on Metacritic so 90 is pretty on par with what others are giving it.
Sucks that I'll only get a week's worth of play time before putting it down to play Pokemon Shining Pearl.
@exDeveloper Basically they prioritised high-resolution textures first, framerate second and resolution third, which means its mostly a stable 30fps except for more detailed areas, and the resolution remains a lil blurry rather than properly crisp.
@ChromaticDracula Fun fact for you: The protag's VA is non-binary!
Looking back, there seems to be a large amount of backlash on how almost every review compares this game to Persona 5.
@Gohanjin That's a good question. I don't remember this ever getting a patch, so I'd be inclined to say this was the base version. I know there will be at least one patch around launch for the easiest game mode and to open up DLC.
@Warioware Thanks
If I didn’t see the screenshots it would sound exactly like my type of game, I’ve needed a good RPG since Dragon Quest! I’ll just have to try but maybe not full price…
Adding to wish list at least…
@Ralizah Thanks!
First Switch title in a long time I feel like I could confidently buy into. I've grown to love SMT in recent years so glad to see this is continuing the trend of high-quality games under the banner.
It was a good review. IGN, how to review a game, take this as an example.
I don’t expect anyone to understand. But I feel conflicted. This game looks cool, but also kinda... demonic (obviously, I guess) but I’d feel like a bad Christian for playing it. I mean, you can recruit Baphomet...
@Ryan_Again Not Christian myself, but my two cents:
@Pikman I never played the first two SMT games but certainly 3, 4 and 4A have an apocalyptic setting so wasteland and ruins are kind of the thing. I know what you mean by it all looking a bit that way but I've found in past entries that the style and atmosphere more than make up for it. There's a terrible IGN review of this up on Youtube where the guy just moans that it doesn't have the feel and setting of Persona 5 but they are really quite different series with some system overlaps. SMT tends to be broader strokes and themes with its stories.
If you have a 3DS there are some great SMT games on there that you might be able to pick up for cheap and try out. Also, whilst they still cover fairly dystopian themes some of them have a slightly more colourful setting.
I know I'll be taking the chance on this one though, the Persona series was kind of my gateway drug to this series!
@anoyonmus Despite that I'm not into this whole Japanese idol and showbizz thing, I really enjoyed it. Played it on Wii U, and while I have it on Switch as well, I haven't played it there yet so I don't know about the extra stuff, but I suppose extra stuff won't make it a worse deal The combat is very much SMT, the setting is a lot like Persona, and it has some Fire Emblem characters, and I may be mistaken (it's been a while) but I think it also uses the axe-sword-spear triangle. Not sure. My memories of it are that I couldn't put it down once I got into it, and that it was fun and flashy and stylish and colourful, and the combat was really exciting, the dungeons a bit boring both visually at times and in the 'challenges' offered.
@twztid13 I'd say SMT V will still be a good game after TMS, but returning to complete another game often takes me out of the 'drive' I suppose. In a way it's nice to see and hear so mich familiar things throughout all of the games and still so much difference as well, but I completely get that it might lead to a burnout on the series, having basically the same enemies, attacks, systems,... for so long throughout so many games. I played each one I mentioned separately from each other, and it felt familiar in a good way when I heard the velvet room theme, but refreshing to see how they made it different.
@Shambo This is the first time I've realised that the acronym for Tokyo Mirage Sessions is SMT backwards.
@Warioware I’ll try it
A friend of mine LOVES the Persona games, I’ve never played one!
@Pikman Persona 4 Golden is my favourite game of all time and by extension the best RPG I have played. The SMT games are great too though, just a bit more serious and somber in tone. Like I said there are some cheaper ways to dabble in the overall series if you're not sure about taking the plunge.
@nintendoknife in all honesty, so did I while writing it
@Lilmonix3 There are a couple easier modes, I think one of them is even basically a 'story' difficulty that just lets you breeze through. Plus, there are lots of QoL changes here to make the difficulty much more palatable and fair.
I think you'd be fine playing on the lower difficulties, it seems evident to me that Atlus really wanted this one to appeal to more than the few hardcore fans of this series. If you do go for it, however, I'd encourage you to challenge yourself and try for a difficulty level that's just at the edge of your comfort zone. These games are great for how nail-bitingly intense some of the combat encounters can get, and while I'm sure it's still enjoyable if you take the easy way, I think you'd be missing out on a key part of the experience. It'd be like playing Resident Evil with the infinite ammo rocket launcher; it's fun, but that's not how it's intended.
@Lilmonix3 the game is not difficult lol the difficulty is overstated. You just have to manage your demons and abilities properly
@Lilmonix3 i think the key is to explore everything and fuse or capture the most powerful demons for your level straight away
the more I read this review the more I think that the reviewer had only played a couple of hours before writing
Has anyone been able to get more Skills for Zio. I level him up and no more Skill are coming?
@Ralizah Thank you for the kind response!
@Ryan_Again One thing to keep in mind is Japan doesn't really have the same understanding of angels and demons that western culture has. From the anime I've watched, I get that Japan's idea of a demon is less "agent of evil working to destroy mankind" and closer to the mythological creatures of ancient Greece. Supernatural, amoral, no real agenda for humanity, but inherently dangerous just by their nature. So while a game like SMT might look really blasphemous to westerners, I don't think that was the intention of its developers.
@mariomaster96 is SMT V worth it? Did the performance get fixed up
@anoyonmus The performance was noticeable but not unplayable, I have beat it nonetheless (about 65h) and really enjoyed it a lot
Easy to navigate maps? Character driven narrative? Am I missing something here, did we even play the same game?
The maps were confusing and designed in such a way as to trick you into going one way following the minimap only to make that a dead end, and multiple times you had to travel a long way around, then there are several things you want to do at the top but are forced to jump one way, and it's a one way jump, and now you have the joy of running all the way around again to get back there! This happens multiple times throughout the game, not just once or twice.
The second and third maps in particular were extremely bad. Good thing the fourth map was relatively more straightforward, but the infuriating map design was far from "Straight forward" as you claim.
And character driven? LOL. I guess if Gustave is your extremely low watermark for what makes a nuanced, well-written character then I have nothing further to argue. The game has a great plot and setting as you'd expect from a Megaten game, but is extremely hobbled by pacing issues exacerbated by the need to run around the poorly-designed maps over and over and over.
The game can't decide if it's an open-world-lite RPG, a platformer, or an exercise in frustration. Game would have greatly benefitted from having some actual straightforward dungeon designs like in past Megaten games like Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga. That way you'd get to the story bits more often and you'd spend more time on characters and developing them, rather than the extremely shallow one-note characters we got in this game, both from the demon NPCs who regressed to pathetic FedEx quests you'd expect from a cheap Western RPG than a well-woven JRPG story.
Even the main actor characters didn't get anywhere near enough attention to make them memorable. Tao, Miyazu, the honor student and Dazai were all very shallow characters and not memorable. No, removing your cap and wiping the dumb look on your face pretending you're a hardass doesn't make you memorable.
I expect more from a Megaten game. Nocturne was a little light on this as well, I guess this game was trying to be more like Nocturne? But at least Nocturne wasn't bogged down by the terrible map design.
And while I appreciate a lot of the improvements to combat and the awesome QOL improvements to demon fusion, you didn't touch on the biggest design problem of this game: level-based combat. I mean, I utterly hate it. Why did they feel a need to do this? Because it was "open world" and "semi-linear" as you put it, so they didn't want the combat to get "too easy" for people who know the demon fusion system well and know how to get the most mileage out of it?
Everything in combat is governed by level. If you're high level, you get huge attack bonuses to your target. If you're low level, you take huge damage penalties. It's stupid! What is the point of creating a build for a demon or the Nahobino if it's all negated by an opposing demon being 12 levels higher? The only real path to power in this game is to grind levels, and that makes for a huge regression in my opinion, and an absolutely stupid game design choice.
Performance issues were annoying but not a big deal in an RPG like this... at least when it's not being a platformer.
Shin Megami Tensei V — 2/5. Pokémon-like gameplay barely sustains interest through a tedious eschatological religious story that's mostly nonsense.
Another sin the game commits is robbing you of the one good choice of ending if you don't assiduously read walkthroughs and trudge through hours of niche side quests.
Difficulty is based on ignorance of bosses' elemental strengths and weaknesses, and large HP wells for enemies. The endless cavalcade of end bosses and false endings doesn't help. Another uninspired JRPG replete with cliches.
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