New York (USA) – SEGA has been “lucky” with its turn-based RPGs in recent years. Persona 5 helped the genre “break the bubble” and became a global success. Yakuza became Like A Dragon and has also been acclaimed in the West. And now it’s the turn of Shin Megami Tensei V, with a triumphant and definitive return scheduled for June this year (and I’m not even going to get into the subject of Metaphor: ReFantazio yet).
O MyPlayStation was invited to test Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, which brings not only the original story of the 2021 title, but also a completely new plot and several graphical and performance improvements in relation to the game released on the Nintendo Switch. More complete, more beautiful and with even more demons, the title seems to have all the elements that have the potential to turn it into another classic from this impressive vintage.
Before we dive deeper into what we evaluated in our two-hour preview, check out the newly released trailer for the game, “An Ideal World.” (hello, Aladdin!):
It is worth remembering that Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance will be released on June 14th for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S.
The definitive version of Shin Megami Tensei V
Shin Megami Tensei V was originally released on November 11, 2021, exclusively for Nintendo Switch, and appears with an average of 84 points in press reviews, but only 7.5 in user reviews on Metacritic. The reasons for the main criticisms are around the performance on the console and, for some people, the story.
Well, Vengeance arrives with major improvements in both aspects. That’s why it’s called “the definitive version” of the game.
In terms of performance, the improvement is obvious due to the possibilities that the PlayStation 5 hardware offers compared to Nintendo’s hybrid. Much faster loading times, more polished graphics and no problems with fps dropping in battles. As for the plot, it’s quite simple: the new game has a completely new narrative arc at its disposal.
The original journey, called the “Canon of Creation”, is still there, but now the player can also choose to go along another path, the “Canon of Revenge” – which is what we tested in the preview. And here we are not just talking about content like a DLC, with 10 or 20 hours, but really another game, with around 75 hours.
In total, we are calmly talking about more than 150 hours for anyone who wants to “know both paths”.
Intense and well-crafted combats
After this quick introduction, let’s get to the actual testing. Our session was divided into two stages: the first following a little of the initial part of the Canon of Revenge, to get a better idea of the game’s events, and then at a more advanced moment, in a region full of Demons (where progress was reset if the Nahobino were defeated in battle).
And let’s start by talking about combat, as it is one of the most important parts of a turn-based RPG. If you’re new to the series, but have played Persona or even Like A Dragon, as is my case, you probably won’t have any problems understanding the mechanics. And the coolest thing of all is that there is a huge range of possibilities.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance will introduce more than 40 new demons, totaling 270. Therefore, it is possible to set up parties combining several different play styles and skills that translate the most varied types of attack, such as light, darkness, fire, lightning and so on. Here it goes. Knowing how to combine all of this and understand which are the best moves against each opponent is crucial.
Because, in addition to skills, you can also buy items that will help you a lot in scenarios like this one we tested, where there are enemies on all sides and, in some of the battles, without the possibility of escaping. The tips, therefore, are to always be stocked with consumables and have a flexible team, to protect the protagonist at any cost.
Speaking of the protagonist, for those who are not yet familiar with the story, he becomes unconscious after a traumatic event in Tokyo, right at the beginning of the game, and wakes up in a totally different city, devastated by the apocalypse, called Da’at, and needs to unite with a “savior” to form a new being, powerful, but neither human nor demon: a Nahobino.
“With this new power, the protagonist ventures into Da’at, an enigmatic kingdom full of mythical deities and tyrannical demons in constant conflict for survival. In the search for answers, the protagonist must forge his own path in the battle between angels and demons to dictate the destiny of the world.”explains Atlus.
A journey forged in Revenge
This is the basics of Shin Megami Tensei V, but, as we said previously, Vengeance goes well beyond this story. While Creation follows the original plot and includes extra scenes and quality adjustments, Revenge will diverge “significantly” halfway through the journey, introducing an alternative and unprecedented ending.
This is where the first part of our tests comes in, which better introduced the new and important character Yoko Hiromine. The narrative arc with her seems very interesting, and with this theme of Revenge very clear in the dialogues. She is a somewhat “dark” and mysterious character, which instigates curiosity to know how everything will unfold.
In our tests, we go through a meeting between some of the main characters, where the story is briefly explained, and then we have cutscenes and explorations in the school where the young people study, with a conversation about bullying, revenge and jaw-dropping death. The stretch ended with Nahobino having to face an arduous battle in the Tokyo subway.
In this one-hour preview that is more focused on the story, what we can notice is that Yoko is really an interesting character and that the new story will take us to more intense moments that work a lot on the issue that no one is totally good or bad. Everyone has a little bit of both within them.
The experience was quite positive, with excellent performance both when loading and in terms of fps, the graphics are really beautiful for those who enjoy this style, and it is also important to mention the soundtrack. Another excellent work by Atlus in this regard.
Of course, it was a quick review, of just two of the more than 150 hours that Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance has to offer, but it served to leave a great curiosity about the other 148 (or more) that are to come. It looks like the developers have cooked up something really special here. Again. Will we have another masterpiece on the way?
