Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Review
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is Atlus' latest remix of its original title from 2022. As with many of the publisher’s re-releases, this game introduces new mechanics and improvements. After a second playthrough, I can affirm that while the title offers various enhancements over the original, it doesn't fully address all its existing issues.
In Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, you start as an ordinary high school student. Your mundane day abruptly changes when an earthquake knocks you out, and you wake up in Da’At, a post-apocalyptic Tokyo embroiled in a war between angels and demons. You soon encounter Aogami, who fuses with you to become the Nahobino, a being that is neither human nor deity.
While the core concept, characters, and premise are well-executed, the narrative suffers from a slow start, with little development in the first ten hours. Players spend this time navigating the Netherworld, a ruined Tokyo, engaging in repetitive tasks such as fighting demons, being extorted by them, and collecting various items.
Vengeance introduces a new narrative branch involving a mysterious girl, which leads to the Vengeance route. This path adds new characters, including a new side character and villain, and significantly alters the story in the latter half. The narrative's scope and entertainment value are notably enhanced by the addition of the four female Demons known as the Qadištu, who seek revenge on Humans and Angels. A new playable character, Yoko Hiromine, joins early on, providing invaluable assistance and diversifying the skill set available to players. The expansion also features new areas like Demon Haunts, where players can interact with characters and demons.
One of the highlights of the expansion is the introduction of new characters and bosses early in the game. It also brings new demons, field exploration elements, demon conversations, battles, subquests, and more. A particularly useful addition is the new Miracle Estoma, which allows players to avoid most demon encounters, facilitating uninterrupted exploration. The expansion also incorporates several previous DLC features as standard, such as new demons, quests, and characters, including the Demi Fiend.
The combat in SMT V remains the game's most engaging aspect. Fans of JRPGs will appreciate the system, where exploiting a demon's weakness is crucial for gaining extra turns in battle. This makes having a diverse roster of demons essential. However, recruiting demons is often challenging due to their unique demands. Tools like the Spyglass, which reveals a demon's weaknesses, and items such as Shards and Dampers are vital for maintaining an advantage. Players can also fuse demons to acquire new skills and enhance their elemental affinities.
Despite these features, the game’s combat can be frustrating. Grinding is necessary before and after major bosses, and unlike in the Persona series, reviving demons doesn’t immediately bring them back into action. Additionally, while demons extort items from players, they can't use these items in battle, which feels inconsistent.
Outside combat, Shin Megami Tensei V boasts impressive character designs and art direction. Although the character models don't quite match the polish of those in the Persona series, they are surprisingly detailed, especially the new characters. The demon designs are particularly notable, featuring unique and intricate details. The environments, crafted to evoke a post-apocalyptic aesthetic, are initially striking but unfortunately grow bland over time, especially in the first few locations where players spend roughly ten hours each.
Transversing the game world in SMT V feels remarkably smooth and satisfying. Nahobino's movements are swift and light, making navigation easy. The ability to instantly respawn at the last save location (Leyline Founts) and fast travel between them is invaluable, especially in unfamiliar and dangerous areas. The game also offers numerous side quests, each demon having its own story to tell. However, many of these side quests fall into the repetitive fetch or kill categories, with only a few truly standing out despite their smaller narrative scale.
Performance-wise, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance runs efficiently on current-gen consoles, maintaining a responsive 60 FPS and impressive visuals. The game is free from glitches and bugs, ensuring a smooth gameplay experience.
VERDICT
Overall, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a commendable expansion that introduces a wealth of new content and includes previous DLC for free. It brings necessary gameplay improvements and quality-of-life changes. While these enhancements don’t entirely resolve the game's fundamental issues, the added content compensates for these shortcomings, delivering a superior experience compared to the base game.