Shin Megami Tensei V from Atlas is the latest game in the mainline Megan Ten franchise. Highly anticipated and long awaited the game was released two years ago. Given the time it takes to get the full Shin Megami Tensei experience we here felt that it was needed that a dedicated player grind her teeth into the game and see what makes it tick.
With the best graphics the franchise has ever seen, dynamic lighting, and open zone exploration SMT V manages to show that Atlas took no short cuts when developing their once flagship series back into the public eye. The game begins with your anime femboy protagonist dressed in his school uniform living in an all too familiar dreadful but hospitable Tokyo. Asking my wise younger brother for what to name the character he chose... Potato Boy. After a little too much introduction to less than interesting characters Potato Boy is thrusted in Da'at; a region in the netherworld that is reminiscent of the series' past post- apocalyptic Tokyo. In fact, that is what Da'at is. We learn later into the story Da'at is the original Tokyo that sunk into the Netherworld 20 years ago. But do not worry! Knowledge of game's past is not needed to understand the story.
Soon after entering the Netherworld we are introduced to the new movement system. With the ability to run comes the new ability to glide down the sandy slopes of the Netherworld. While fun to engage with the mechanic, it has little functionality other than to look cool.
Series' staples make their return in the form of the famous press-turn system that was introduced in SMT 3: Nocturne at the turn of the century along with the iconic demon recruitment system and the introduction of Pixie: the first demon you acquire. The JRPG combat comes into swing with a rocking battle theme that leaves little to be desired as we are reintroduced to how to gain extra turns from the enemy. Slime, another iconic demon of the series, acts as a tutorial enemy. The disgusting green puke demon is weak to every basic form of combative magic making it easy to strike one of its weaknesses. Potato Boy, otherwise known as the Nahobino, has immediate access to Zio moves: SMT's electric magic. Due to having two members in your party you start with having two moves as indicated by the icon on the top right of the screen. When you gain four party members you reach the maximum amount of base terms: four.
By using Zio on Slime and hitting its weakness the press-turn icon will begin to glow. This indicates that you have gained an extra turn. By continuing to take advantage of enemy weaknesses you can up to double the amount of turns you get during battle. However, if you miss an attack by lucking out or having the enemy void your attack through immunity or other means you not only lose the missed turn but also an additional one. The trick of the game is that every one of these rules applies to your enemies as well. But where SMT V decides to innovate on its formula is the magatsuhi gauge.
Briefly, magatsuhi is the life force that feeds all the Netherworld and its occupants. You can gain magatsuhi by finding it on the ground, attacking enemies, and defeating enemies. When you fill the magatsuhi gauge located above your character's health bar you are able to perform special skills. At the start of the game you have access to only one move: magatsuhi critical which gurantees that all of your combative moves will land a critical hit and function as a weakness to the enemy and gain you an extra turn. The new system while giving you an extra edge is not integral to playing and beating the game. Later in the story via side quests and exploration you will be given talismans for different demon types. This allows demons of the correct type to use their special magatsuhi skill. These moves range from useless to game breaking. The Draco talisman for example allows certain demons you recruit to use an Almighty type move that does colossal damage almost guranteeing a screen wipe of any basic enemy encounters and doing a massive chunk of health to bosses. In some cases even 1 hit killing mini-bosses. Despite this, the limitations of the magatsuhi gauge are fair enough that the game is still balanced. The gauge fills so slowly that most battles you will not have access to these moves. Alongside having to have the right demon active in your party and not in your back-stock to use the moves. Much later in the story you gain the option for the Nahobino to use the demons' magatsuhi moves himself, which leads us into our next topic.
The Realm of Shadows is an ethereal location now headed by a Goddess named Sophia
where you fuse your demons together into theoretically stronger demons. Here you can do so much more than fusing. You are given the optional ability of using apotheosis which entails two major mechanics. You can customize your demons moves by using the spirits of other demons collected through battle and exploration as well as the Nahabino's own moves. While optional, this is the only way for you to gain new moves on your character and create the perfect build. The second major mechanic is where you can utilize a collectible called Glory to unlock new abilities for your character. Some of these abilities will become essential to conquering the game and some act as nice add-ons that add to the power fantasy of being a God deciding the faith of the world. Combining both of these power-ups allows you to create a Nahobino tailored to your playstyle. Want a bulky and hard hitting build that focuses on stalling out enemies? Perhaps a healing build that focuses on keeping your demons alive? I personally chose a magic and luck build that aimed to do one thing: destroy everything through weakness targeting and the insta-kill skills spells Hama and Mudo.
Demons fusing itself is more streamlined than ever before. The system is representative of Atlas's decades of developing Megan Ten games and is perfect for newcomers and veterans alike. The basics remain the same. Pick 2 or more demons, select what moves you want to carry over, and fuse them into a new, stronger demon. The difference is that the game does a lot of the thinking for you. Unlike previous SMT games, every demon can learn almost any move with few exceptions. You don't have to consider what move a new demon can and cannot learn. The drawback being that demons have positive & negative affinities against certain types of move that increase the MP cost of them in battle. For example, series mascot Jack Frost has an affinity for Bufu (ice) skills and a negative affinity for Agi (fire) skills. This creates a risk award system where you can fuse demons that have greater coverage at the cost of more MP spent. In addition, the ability to fuse multiple demons is there from the start and what you can fuse from 3+ demon demon-summoning is laid out before your eyes. No more random guessing what three or more demons make what. The process of demon fusion is better than ever before other than the U.I. being visually boring.
The price of convenience is apparently corporate simplicity.
With no fault to the fusion system itself a problem with the game's player-motivation towards performing it develops. In past SMT games the rate at which demons leveled up was much slower than the player character's. In SMT V this is still true, however the rate has seemingly been buffed. Due in part to the Large Demon Statues scattered across the 4 open zones of the Netherworld that auto-level-ups every demon in your party, your party members will be much closer to your level than games past. This is great in some respects. Gaining a new demon's moves is faster than ever through level up. The issue arises when it comes time to fuse your demons away. Due to being much higher level than usual, the demons available to be fused into existence in many cases will be lower than the demons you are fusing away leaving very little options for higher level demons. One may argue, "Hey, the demons being fused may be higher level but their stats will be lower. So you are still getting stronger demons." This is a sound argument. My monkey brain however, sees the bigger level number and cannot easily fuse away a demon that has a lower number. Suffice to say I would do it anyway with reluctance. The dynamic created frustration with the demon fusion system that was not in previous games.
Easily the best aspect of SMT V are the four open-zone maps that you explore over the 100+ hours of gameplay found. The first is a desert wasteland, the second a blood-red desert with a scenery change to a fairy forest near its end, the third a blackened abyss, and the fourth an ethereal realm where the heads of different world pantheons reside. Having gone into the game blind I was unsure if the game was open-zone or open-world until around 20 hours of my playthrough when I beat the first zone of the game. Each zone is peppered with fully modeled and animated demons that roam the surface, seas, and skies, sidequests, non-hostile NPC demons, loot, and terrain that will literally having you exploring for dozens of hours to find every hidden treasure. The models of the overworld demons are nothing short of stunning and beautiful. Old returning demons looked better than ever and the few new ones made me eager to obtain them. The models are so good that demons I previously found to be boring I picked up on my team and they became the MVP of boss battles. The highlight being the main bosses that await you at half-way points and end points.
Hydra, the first major boss of the game, shows off Atlas' resolve to increase graphical quality of their games to a perfect T. Having recently played SMT 3: Nocturne Remastered the quality came as a shock and a wake up call: graphics matter too. Until recently I had been an advocate that gameplay should be the only standard at which games are judged. SMT V has shown me that is not the case. The great gameplay combined with the fantastic & stylish visuals demonstrates that great graphics do enhance gameplay. And all of this running on a Nintendo Switch!
Unfortunately, running on the limited Nintendo Switch with great visuals (possibly the best on the system) came at a price. In many areas of the game the frame rates drops noticeably. While I have never been a big frame-rate nit-kpicker, many gamers want a good consistent frame rate when enjoying their favorite games. While not too bad, this does knock the game down a peg.
The boss fights of SMT games is where the series gets its fame. A good boss fight can push an SMT game to elite status and a bad one can make it plunge into the realms of mediocirity. The build up to every major story boss is great and fills you with determination to slay the beasts and demons that roam the land. Ishtar's being one of my favorites in the third zone. However, the difficulty of these bosses ranges dramatically. While some live up to the franchise's infamy like the 2nd optional Zeus boss fight and challenge the player to think in creative ways in order to triumph, half of the bosses were simply too easy only taking 1-3 tries to beat. When I play a JRPG series known for its difficulty I want to have to use my brain to defeat the bosses beyond utilitizing the game's basic functions. Many of the bosses were more so damage sponges for the press-turn system. Even with them gaining extra abilities when their health reaches half the same basic pattern would repeat: find weakness, exploit, heal, guard, exploit and repeat until dead. This was a disappointment that the great animations could not help. When I think of a great SMT boss fight I think of Noah from SMT III: Nocturne or Elizibeth from Persona 4. However, the half of the bosses that did challenge me offered satisfactory to great battles that had me on the edge of my feet. The Nahobino boss fights at the end of the game being a highlight.
Throughout this review there has been no mention of the dungeons. This is because SMT: V does not offer much in the way of them. There are a total of three in the game. There is one in-between zone 1 and 2, one at the end of zone 3, and the end of zone 4. The first one being the high school your character goes to in the real world being very reminiscent of SMT: If. The total playtime of these dungeons was less than 10% of my total playthrough. For two out of the three dungeons I genuinely could not tell if they were proceduraly generated or not. The one that was clearly hand crafted did offer an interesting if not annoying set of wind based puzzles that despite the annoyance the game could have used more of with some much-needed touch-ups. The dungeons may have left much to be desired, but it is clear that Atlas spent much of their resources on designing the fantastic overworlds. It remains to be seen if future SMT titles will go with this overworld-centric level design with less dungeons that the recent Zelda games have. Despite my adoration for the open zones of the game I hope Atlas is able to find a balance between methodical dungeon design and sprawling overworld design in the future.
This review while focusing on the gameplay must address the ending of the story as it affects the gameplay. SMT is known for many things, but one of those is the Law, Chaos, and Neutral story routes of the game. Depending on what dialouge options you pick during key moments in the story and what demons you recruit you will find yourself bound to a few different endings that pertain to the franchise's themes of divine order, demonic chaos, and human choice. These choices affect who the final boss of your playthrough is. While in SMT discussion discourse one of the endings is deemed the true ending and thus canon to the story the games themselves emphasize that your ending is the true one for you, the player. The climax of the game centers around a choice of the three major themes where in which you ascend the throne of God to enact the creation of a new world based on your chosen ideal. After much deliberation I chose the neutral route which led to my final boss being the fellow Nahobino: Tsukuyomi. My final boss was a genuine threat to me. He has the ability to Naruto shadow clone himself. And in a game where missing loses you two turns my choices had to be precise. But after a few deaths and very strategic healing and attacking I defeated him. Doing so unlocked the neutral route ending. The neutral route's philosophy entails that neither God nor demon should have control of humanity. That humanity should be left to fend for itself and forge its own path. When I defeated Tsukuyomi I did as was foreshadowed and ascended the throne of God. And when I reached its peak I demolished it: freeing humanity from divine intervention and demonic influence by destroying the means by which humanity can be controlled. While very similar to its predecessors SMT manages to make the choice feel more impactful than ever with great animation and serviceable voice acting.
The other endings: A few months after beating the game I decided to take a crack at the other 3 endings. Using the excellent New Game + feature that allows you to choose what you want carried over I hopped back in and rushed to the throne of God to get the Law and Chaos endings. They were as satisfying as the neutral ending. That is to say: not very good. In order to get the secret ending of the game with the most satisfying conclusion you have to find and fight Hinduism. Yes, that is an accurate sentence. You must locate Shiva and do one of the hardest bosses fights in modern SMT. He will summon the entire available Hindu pantheon to his side to demolish you. Defeating him takes being level 99, a myriad of options in your party to adjust your strategy mid fight, and a little bit of luck. His battle music is the best in the game, however. And at least he got them moves though. (Yes, this man will literally dance throughout the fight.)
By defeating Hinduism, you unlock the final boss: none other than Lucifer. This gives you the best ending in the game that is so good I will not spoil it even in a spoiler review.
Shin Megami Tensei V while not the best game in the series will be remembered as the game that brought the franchise from obscurity to mild popularity as the best-selling game in the mainline series. And not without good reason. The gameplay is refined and streamlined to the point where the average player does not need a guide to start, the graphics are the best the series has ever seen by a long shot, the new demons are stunning, the good boss fights are challenging, and the music is on par with the rest of the series. A great game for series veterans and newcomers alike.
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