Way back in November of 2021, Shin Megami Tensei V (SMTV) released on the Nintendo Switch. Gamers had waited a eight long years for a follow up to SMTIV and they had finally got it. Unfortunately, it was locked to the Nintendo Switch so it didn’t reach its entire audience. Many people had been hoping it would get a wider release and never got around to playing it (myself included.) Thankfully, that wait is almost over now with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. This isn’t just a remaster with upscaled visuals – it’s a completely retooled experience that ironed out all the issues the game initially had. The trailer lists and demos a staggering 50+ new additions/adjustments made to the game to make it a more fulfilling experience.
The biggest change added to the experience is a brand new side of the campaign. At the start you can either play the vanilla Canon of Creation or the brand new Canon of Vengeance. When our protagonist bears witness to a murder in the streets, he finds himself in a wild series of events that has him waking up in a desolate land called Da’at. You learn that you aren’t quite human or demon, but a mysterious being called Nahobino. You must use your newfound powers to avenge a world that has gone to ruin. Throughout Da’at you will meet new friends and fight evil demons. Team up and fight alongside with the new character, Yoko Hiromine to bring down the four new antagonists known as the Qatdištu. You can now fight with teammates as party members in the new Canon of Vengeance campaign which is a very welcome change.
SMTV Vengeance boasts an impressive 270+ demons to encounter along the journey. Would it be an Atlus RPG if you weren’t able to stop and talk to the demons mid-battle? Of course not! Sometimes it’s worth it to talk a demon into joining your team, or giving you some money, or perhaps a potion. This already terrific (and hilarious) demon negotiation dialogue system has been expanded on. You can now talk to and hang out with your demon friends outside of battle. You can offer them gifts to raise your bond and potentially gain them bonus stats.
Atlus has also implemented new ways to make different team set-ups viable. Each demon has a passive ability that will affect the battle around them somehow. You could go a team full of demons who raise fire damage, or perhaps a team who can make you more defensive. Obviously with all the demons available, the amount of ability mixing seems like it could be a lot of fun. It might be a cool challenge to see if you can make even the least opposing demons viable in battle. Some demons also have unique attacks and spells they can pull off when in battle when paired up with certain other demons. This even further pushes the limit on how viable a team can be, and it really shows that Atlus wanted to go all out to ensure it was possible to make any demon work as long as you put the effort in.
The Demi-Fiend makes his return in SMTV: Vengeance. The Demi-Fiend is the protagonist of SMTIII: Nocturne, and he is back and stronger than ever. Apparently if certain conditions are met we can unlock him as a party member, and I am very stoked about that. There is also a new region of Da’at to explore as well as a new dungeon called Shakan. There are also new side-quests where you take control of demons and perform some time-sensitive missions.
There have also been many quality of life changes added to the game to make it a more polished experience in 2024. Such changes include; custom controls, graphics options, rotating mini-map, the ability to save anywhere, level cap unlock, better demon sorting functionalities, and more. Atlus did a wonderful job in their overview presentation showing many of the new changes they’ve added. They made a claim that there are even more adjustments made that hadn’t been listed. It’s also worth mentioning that PC, Xbox, and PlayStation players can finally get their hands on this game after waiting for the last couple years! It’s nice to know that the wait has apparently been more than worth it.
There definitely seems to be an emphasis on making sure this game would be a welcome experience for new players but also a way to bring back people who’ve maybe already beaten the game several years ago. I actually think if I had previously purchased the game that this new release might tempt me to double dip into my wallet. The amount of changes added here seem to address every major issue people had with the vanilla version of the game. I can only speculate that this will be the definitive version of SMTV but we won’t have the answer until Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance releases on June 14th, 2024.
