Shin Megami Tensei V (2021)

Shin Megami Tensei V is both a visual return to form for the franchise and a modern direction that neither sacrifices its difficulty nor thematic complexity to provide one of the best RPGs on the Switch.

The game has a relatively straightforward plot. The protagonist finds himself in a mysterious earthquake and finds a destroyed Tokyo amidst a battle between angels, demons, gods, and everything in between. Upon merging with a mysterious being he becomes the Nahobino, the key to the world's future and possible recreation. The player gets pulled into the conflict and as the world reaches its true end, many a god and human aims for the throne. The conflict between God and gods as well as a path for humanity doesn't exactly raise the biggest philosophical questions but allows for some really engaging characters to take these opposing ideologies into battle.

The battle are built mostly on Nocturne's battle system with the reintroduction of press turn icons. Weaknesses/critical hits give extra turns while evading, blocking, draining, etc attacks pulls away turns. The protagonist may converse with enemies to recruit them as well as fuse them into stronger demons. A very useful skill is Essence, which allows the player to collect sets of skills/affinities from demons and fuse them onto other demons or the player. This allows an extremely customizable playstyle that allows the player to quickly create dream teams to take on the most fiendish of bosses. And these bosses can get FIENDISH on the right difficulty level - though the game has plenty of difficulties to introduce even the most intimidated players.

The game also has a focus on exploration, with open exploration across several pieces of apocalyptic Tokyo. The player can collect items to sell, find secret Miman that lead to bonus items, and find Glory to imbue the player with permanent upgrades called Miracles. These miracles are very helpful and can dramatically improve battles. There is also some platforming, which can lead to some weak points in design (the demon castle, enough said) but that does not really drag down the meat of the game.

The design of the game is a mix between stark minimalism and the Kaneko/Doi/you name it mass of designed and redesigned demons that evoke a variety of cultures/religions. For plenty of demons this is the first foray into 3D, making them look absolutely gorgeous (even on the Switch) - Amon, Danu, Anahita, and plenty of others make a seamless transition to the third dimension. Music is also a very high point, with epic electronic ambience with the exciting rock tracks people have come to love about the franchise.

Shin Megami Tensei V is expertly balanced, designed, an artistic triumph on the Switch, you name it - while the previous entries are still fantastic in their own right, the jump into a 3D, Nocturne inspired world will be a return to form for many.

SMT V was a fantastic and addictive journey for me that particularly excelled with a strong visual direction and music, that when coupled with the addictive gameplay loop of exploration, demon recruitment and fusion, made for a stellar experience.

I will say that the weakest element of this installment has to be the barebones story and lack of character development. While it was nice to not have to be bombarded with character dialogues, relationship, and story beats at every turn, some more character and story elements, whether mandatory or optional, would have definitely helped give the ending more impact and weight. It certainly would have added a layer of enrichment over an otherwise satisfying framework. It's lacking didn't ruin have a severe damper on the story for me, but I could see it bothering other players more.

Another issue worth pointing out is the way game balancing is so strongly tied to levels. This means that you will barely do much less damage and take much more damage from demons more than a couple levels higher than you. It makes using your favorite demons or trying to take on challenges under leveled less viable. This feels like an awkward balancing approach, and made approaching side content a bit annoying as you won't know if you are way too strong or weak for a particular challenge without trying it first.

These issues aside, I found this to be a fun installment in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and enjoyed the addition of the fully explorable 3D world environments that were engaging to explore. These were increasingly challenging to explore and interesting enough to me, though I'd agree with some critiques that more varied environments would have been nice. One other point on these areas is the addition of generous healing pickups and save points made the tension of exploration less intense than other SMT games.

The combat is great. It's the best part of the game. It's challenging. Always requires thought and strategy even when fighting standard enemies walking around in the world. The demon fusion also helps keep combat compelling as I'm always forced to upgrade my team by sacrificing demons in my roster to create new, more powerful ones. The game is full of interesting looking demons. Some are recognizable mythological creatures with a unique take in design and some are unlike anything I've seen before. The special fusions are cool because it allowed me to create demons that were bosses I fought earlier in the game. Having these bosses on my side made me fill powerful.

The world is split into multiple large, open areas and dungeons. Exploring these spaces is rewarding, and I spent a lot of time going over every area in these maps. The game features great music to make battles exciting and to create an ominous tone in the story. The ominous tone in particular makes this game stand out. The story is fascinating and has some shocking reveals, but it's too cold for its own good. I didn't find myself that invested in it. The game is mostly well-paced even with the long runtime until the end where it gets grind-heavy in a way the rest of the game wasn't.

This is the second best Shin Megami Tensei game I've played behind Devil Survivor Overclocked.

I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to write here other than THIS IS THE BEST SMT GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED!

Even with a few nitpicks towards a few aspects of the game, it finally feels like they have perfected the formula that they've been using for decades.

Everything in itshines from the moment you boot it up. The first thing I want to mention is just how PERFECT the soundtrack is! There isn't a single bad track. Every single song is superb, aiding in building a fantastic atmosphere and an epic experience, wether you're in a boss fight or fusing demons. And speaking of atmosphere, like almost every other SMT game, its just fantastic. The unique apocalyptic and high-stakes challenges and moments that you go through are very immersive and just absolutely engaging. In addition to how immersive it plays and how perfect it sounds, it's also worth mentioning how good it looks. Especially for a Switch game. It does take a MAJOR hit in how it runs, as you can clearly see the fps taking huge dips. But with that said, it's also incredible to see how marvelous the environments and designs are. The devs managed to pull it off.

The highlight of SMT V is certainly how accessible and refined the gameplay is. From battling to fusing, it feels like a modern and necessary take on an old functional formula.

The combat system is familiar, with quality life changes that makes it the series best. Fusion system is magnificent and works smoothly and with ease unlike previous games. Most sidequests are good, balancing challenging and rewarding tasks. And the bosses... they're a delight to fight. From optional to mandatory ones. They all hit the right notes. Especially the final boss and the game's super boss. Two of the greatest JRPG bosses I've fought in a while.

It's amazing to see that one of my biggest gripes with previous games of the series feels resolves. I hated how unbalanced and unfair they could get at times, and I didn't feel that at all with SMT V. Sure, rng can still catch you by surprise, but it's rare and usually just happens to the unprepared. Grinding can also be done pretty quickly. In fact, I only felt the need to grind for the super boss.

If there's anything bad to say about this game, it's certainly two things:

1 - The story can be quite shallow. It's good, packs a nice ominous vibe, at times it's as minimalistic as SMT 3 - but it just lacks depth! The characters are cool, the setting is good, protagonists are interesting and the whole conumdrum is bleak enough to keep you interested, but there's just something missing. It feels a little undercooked.

2 - Exploration sucks. It's the worst part of the game. The first and second area are great, but the third and fourth are MAZES! It can be quite frustrating, especially if you're trying to get everything, like the fun little Mimans and all amalgams. The environments, depiste how beautiful they look, can also look bland and repetitive sometimes.

But that's it. That's my long and loving review of the perfect game that is SMT V. It's definitely not for everyone, because it can often feel pretty niche. But it's a rare diamond.

One that looks, sounds and plays perfectly.

Shin Megami Tensei V oli ensimmäisiä pelejä, joita julkistettiin olevan kehitteillä Nintendo Switchille. Vasta vastoinkäymisten vuonna 2021 peli saatiin vihdoin pelaajien kätösiin. Onneksi aika näyttää oikeasti olevan käytetty pelin kehittämiseen, SMT V vakuuttaa laadullaan ja laajuudellaan.

Pähkinänkuoressa SMT V on täysin vuoropohjainen roolipeli, jossa vuoroja saa lisää iskemällä vastustajan heikkouksiin ja menettää osumalla vihun vahvuuksiin. Sama sääntö pätee vihollisille, ja oikeilla vahvuuksilla varustettu ajatuksella kasattu party voi olla miltei koskematon viholliselle. Vääränlainen porukka saattaa taas menettää nk. nirrinsä sekunneissa. Pelin haaste perustuu pitkälti tämän symmetrisen ja kikkailua mahdollistavan tappelumekaniikan ympärille – ja hyvä niin. Monessa vuoropohjaisessa roolipelissä A-napin hakkaus saattaa olla tehokkain strategia, kun taas SMTV:ssa kuolo korjaa huolimattoman hyvinkin nopeasti. Lisäski partyjen puljaaminen ja demonien yhdistely ja parantelu on sen verran koukuttavaa hommaa, että siitä on vaikea pysyä erossa.

Taistelut pitävät mukavasti varpaillaan, mutta onneksi taisteluiden ulkopuolellakin on mukavasti mielekästä tehtävää. Pelissä tutkitaan tuhoutunutta Tokiota, etsitään sivutehtäviä, tapetaan sivubosseja ja kerätään pysyviä parannuksia päähenkilölle. Paikkojen tutkiminen ja parannusten avaaminen on suunniteltu fiksusti, ja sivutehtäviä ja salaisuuksia etsivä pelaaja saakin monasti hyvät palkinnot vaivastaan. Pääosa pelistä mennäänkin laajoilla ja vapaasti tutkittavilla alueilla, mutta pelin loppupuolella on pari harmillisen pitkää ja suljettua luolastoa, jotka ovat selkeästi vähemmän mielenkiintoisia pelialueita.

Tarina ja vaikuttamisen mahdollisuudet ovat tietysti roolipeleille olennaisia elementtejä. Näiden suhteen SMT V poikkeaa merkittävästi ainakin japanilaisten roolipelien valtavirrasta. Ote on varsin minimalistinen. Pelissä on vähän JRPG-lajityypille ominaista väkevää melodraamaa ja hahmojen paatoksellisia kehityskaaria. Pelin hahmot toimivat pitkälti samoin kuin pelin henkisen edeltäjän Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturnen hahmot: ne edustavat eri leirejä, joihin pelaaja voi pelin loppuratkaisussa hypätä. Pelin tarina käsitteleekin maailman luomista eri filosofioiden mukaan (kuin myös SMT III), joten jaottelu leireihin on looginen. Hieman lisää hahmokaaria pelissä olisi kyllä hyvä olla, mutta nykyiselläänkin peli esittää tarinansa niin taidokkaasti, ettei hirveitä valituksenaiheita ole. Esimerkiksi pelin loppuratkaisun valinta on oikeasti kinkkinen ja hankala paikka. Lisäksi sivutehtävissä ja tappeluiden tuoksinnassa esiintyvien demonien välisten keskustelujen sisällä on myös paljon hyvää tekstiä perehtyvien pelaajien iloksi.

Audiovisuaaliselta toteutukseltaan peli sekä loistaa että kevyesti kompuroi. Audiopuoli on täyttä timangia: pelissä on niin tunnelmallista ambienssia kuin ulvovia kitaroita ja kovatempoista synaprogea. Grafiikkojen puolella on taas rosoja nähtävillä. Pelin framerate ei Switchin tehoilla aina jaksa pysyä tavoiteluku 30:ssä ja avoimien alueiden objektien pop-in on melkoisen silmiinpistävää. Eivät nämä peliä millään tavoin pilaa, mutta ovat valitettavia ryppyjä muuten niin priimassa pelissä.

Kokonaisuutena SMT V on niin monin osin omaperäinen ja taidokas peli, että sen toivoisi saavan enemmänkin mainetta ja myyntilukuja. Toiveajattelua, mutta olisi hienoa, jos Atlus pelin menestyksen innoittamana päättäisi tuoda enemmänkin SMT-pelejä vaikkapa juuri Swithcille.

PROS

• Challenging, satisfying combat
• Creative and attractive demon designs make you want to collect 'em all
• Open-ended levels and quest structure let you explore and progress as you see fit
• The glory/miracles system is awesome in the way it lets you strategically control your character progression and more JRPGs should do stuff like it
• Apocalyptic Tokyo looks very cool and its atmosphere is enhanced by an immersive, other-worldly soundtrack

CONS

• Choppy technical performance (this will definitely get a "definitive edition" on a more powerful console at some point)
• Lackluster plot
• Moments of unfairly getting one-shotted due to bad luck can be very frustrating
• MC looks kinda dumb and you have to stare at his ridiculous hair for like 60+ hours
• The true ending is hidden behind some arcane bullshit that you're guaranteed to miss on your first playthrough

Hoo boy does it feel bad to die to random crits and lose 10-20 minutes of progress twice in one play session. The only thing I could have done to avoid either death is just never even let the enemy have a single action. I've even been pumping points into vitality to try to stop that shit from happening. I've never really liked how swingy the press turn system is, and I'm not really sure I have patience for it at this point in my life. That said, I love the atmosphere, demon collecting and weirdly sparse stories in the mainline SMT games.

Maybe I'll buy safety mode so I can just enjoy the game and not deal with it? That type of thing just usually ends with me losing interest in the game altogether, though.

I just picked this up last night. I’m hoping to dig in a little during the thanksgiving break here in America next week. I haven’t seen a lot of chatter on here yet. I’ll try and change that when I get a chance to play.

I also wrote some code for this site for the first time in a little while this past week. It felt good. You all are the best.