When Shin Megami Tensei returned to Nintendo Switch in 2021 , fans of the RPG franchise had a destiny of reasons to lionize . Shin Megami Tensei Vwas the first game in the series to boast an open world , and developer Atlus pulled it off with flair . It felt like a lifelike conversion given that the previous ingress were purely segmented with dungeons and maps . It was the kind of succeeder story that was begging for a practiced victory lap .
Now , Atlus is taking its rightful three-fold dip with an enhanced port of the game , Shin Megami Tensei V : Vengeance . The new version comes unadulterated with young gameplay features , story mental object , and quality - of - animation improvements . That ’s great news , because as great as the originalShin Megami Tensei Vis , it has two vital flaws : its skeletal tarradiddle and subpar performance on Switch . The RPG ’s intricate and attentive bout - based battle system , gorgeous artistic production direction , and moody atmosphere were able-bodied to fill up in the centre between the bones , but there was way to ameliorate .
Thankfully , Vengeanceaddresses the original ’s issue to create a stronger parcel . The newly introduced story way of life is much more coherent , and its fend for cast plays a more dynamic role in it . Best of all is that even thoughVengeanceis available on Switch , it ’s no longer tied solely to that platform . Your performance may variegate depending on where you play it , but a move to PC , PlayStation , and Xbox finally unlocks its ability . Shin Megami Tensei Vwas already one of the good undecided - world JRPGs out there , andVengeancemakes it even better .
A new timeline
InVengeance , players are capable to prefer between two story paths : the Canon of Creation or the Canon of Vengeance . The former is the one found in the original game , and the latter is a wholly young one . The biggest issue with the original Canon of Creation storyline is how uninvolved many of the endure cast of graphic symbol felt in the plot of land . Much like old games in the series , the chief character , Nahobino , is on a pursuit in a post - revelatory hellscape to reshape the world in their figure of speech .
The supporting characters usually only make their most impactful appearance toward the last hour of the plot line , where depending on which decisiveness you pick , you get unlike finish . The freshly added Canon of Vengeance has a reworked story that feels much more like a streamlined RPG narrative you ’d typically have . The Canon of Creation ’s story never felt like it went anywhere , and quality motivations here were vague . That ’s not the case here .
The new baddie faction introduce in the Canon of Vengeance , the Qadistu , are a more lucid antagonistic force to go up against . The supporting roll is much more involved this clock time around , and their motivations are clear , making the fresh storyline easier to get invested in .
The Canon of Vengeance also has an alone new explorable region , Shinjuku . This one interchange the third region , Chiyoda , from the Canon of Creation . Since most of the biz ingest place in a ruby-red desert mise en scene , I really appreciated Shinjuku ’s drastic work shift in aesthetic with its white gumption rather , almost making it look like snow . replace Shinjuku and Chiyoda between both report way adds a bed of replayability , specially for those who ’ve already made their way through the original release . It ’s a supersized RPG package now .
This old dog has new tricks
Vengeance ’s turning - found gameplay does n’t bring any Brobdingnagian overhaul from the original system . Those who ’ve played its babe series Persona will feel right at home . You attain foe weakness in Holy Order to gain redundant turns , give the battle system a mystifier - corresponding cycle . role player novel to the series will bump it much more difficult and stern than Persona , however . The Shin Megami Tensei serial publication really emphasizes party composition . Trying to find the everlasting party of three additional demons to assist take down an overpowering boss is as satisfying as get the better of a boss in a Souls game . Thankfully , there are difficulty preferences that can be adjusted at any full stop .
The biggest change to the gameplay system is the inclusion of human company phallus . Not only are there new ogre to fight and collect , but the patronize shape of fibre can also fight alongside Nahobino in struggle in the Canon of Vengeance plot line . Here , Vengeanceborrows a bit from Persona to take the supernumerary sea mile in pretend the stomach cast finger even more involved .
There are smaller change to the fight system of rules that really add up . confederative demons now have unlearned limited power , like to the Pokémon series . For representative , one demon ’s ability apply a passive damage boost to the party ’s fire elemental attack . New Magatsuhi Skills , which function like ultimate attacks when a meter is filled , are added too . Some can only be used with a certain combination of demons in your party . These two additions alone radically open up how I think about company synergism . Do I need to take reward of these shiny new Magatsuhi skills , or maximise my harm output for one element ?
One style to learn new devil friend is through devil talks , where you babble out to monsters during battle and pick dialogue choices to judge to get them to fall in you . There ’s been some improvements there , including add a fun minuscule minigame where the fiend will involve you to judge the silhouette of another fiend . By guessing aright , they ’ll mechanically join you . Small moments like that freshen up a familiar RPG just enough .
Vengeanceis well worth come back for …
There ’s a Modern consumable item call a Gold Card . If a monster ask you to give up some money , point , or HP in monastic order to link up you , you may apply Gold Cards to counteroffer and they ’ll link up automatically rather . While these are some welcome additions , dialogue still largely remains annoyingly hazard - based , as choosing the wrong talks option could still get the enemy to assail you or run aside . Moments like that keepVengeancehumble — there ’s always way to keep better .
But wait, there’s more!
The incremental gameplay changes are astronomical , but the tone - of - lifespan upgrades are key here too . For freshman , you’re able to now lay aside your game anywhere on the mapping instead of having to trek all the manner back to a save point . to boot , the novel Magatsu Rails scattered across the opened - world mathematical function let you zipper around different points , making geographic expedition much quicker . Quest name and address can now be seen on the mapping , and it ’s color - coded to help easily distinguish between height summit .
I always foundShin Megami Tensei V ’s open world to be as telling as single found in its contemporary likeXenoblade Chronicles 3andFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth . Even though humanity was shell and demon took their place , it still felt lively with Nonproliferation Center . The ruin buildings and cliffs offer so much variety and height elevation . All of these unexampled quality - of - life change to the undefendable world make deny it a smooth experience .
SinceVengeanceis on all platforms , more potent systems alleviate functioning issues found in the original release on Switch where it suffer from long lading clock time and stutter frame rates . There were also pop - in and pull back space problem in the open world where sometimes ogre could appear in front of you at any present moment . This was especially annoying if you were trying to avoid conflict . ThePlayStation 5 version , which I tested , has none of those issues . Load times are shorter with very few , if at all , performance retardation or frame rate drops .
Shin Megami Tensei Vwas already an incredibly square open - macrocosm RPG in 2021 , and the newVengeanceversion is well worth coming back for so much so that it makes the original completely obsolete . The Canon of Vengeance storyline alone would be enough , but the gameplay and timbre - of - lifetime adjustments might makeShin Megami Tensei V : Vengeanceperhaps the best entry in the series so far .
Shin Megami Tensei V : Vengeancewas tested on PlayStation 5 .
