Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance – Shin Megami Tensei V It seemed like it could have been a major turning point for the company. Atlus at the time of release. And in fact, it was a fantastic game!

With a detailed combat mechanism, attractive art design, a storyline that is much simpler than its predecessors but is still accessible and full of depth, Shin Megami Tensei V It seems to be a strong affirmation of the strength and quality of this brand after many years of absence to give “reputation” to its younger brother. Persona.

Many people think that the art style and graphics of Shin Megami Tensei V was “too much” for the Switch, and indeed the game pushed the (then) 5-year-old console to its limits.

It seemed like the fate of this great game would be forever “stuck” on this platform, lost among games that take better advantage of the Nintendo Switch hardware, but Atlus suddenly announced Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.

This is promised to be a comprehensively improved version of the game. Shin Megami Tensei V original in terms of graphics, story and gameplay – but the most important change for many players is that the release platforms now include Xbox, PlayStation and PC!

Will the second “military expedition” of Shin Megami Tensei V Will the launch of these consoles be a success? Will the improvements and a new storyline be worth the two-year wait?

And whether Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Is it really the “ultimate” version of the brand? Mega Tensei like the way the original game almost achieved?

Let's travel back to Da'at with MarkGame to find answers to these questions!

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Newer, More Real

At the time of launch, Shin Megami Tensei V Not only is it one of the most visually stunning games on the Switch, it’s also one of the most impressively designed games in years. Tokyo is a desolate wasteland with beautiful monsters running around, living as if this were their habitat, with strange, surreal structures springing up that seem to defy all the laws of reality. For many players, exploring and finding secrets in the world is a highlight of the game.

It seems like every corner of the map hides an interesting secret, be it a side quest, a shelter for a rare Demon, or simply a beautiful landscape. The giant Demons towering over you are terrifying, promising a fierce battle or a series of interesting side quests, the ruined buildings are arranged in a unique way to tell a creepy story, or the majestic and mysterious Demon statues mark the end of a terrible era and a new beginning for the current residents of Tokyo.

The world of Shin Megami Tensei V It is so captivating because it is a world so vivid and mysterious, meticulously built, to highlight the most impressive artistic designs that Atlus has ever created.

And now, with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeancethat world is even sharper and more beautiful. On modern PC and console platforms, players can completely push the resolution to 4K 240fps instead of being limited to the heavy 720p and 30fps of the original version.

The ugly effects that used to “obscure” the Nintendo Switch’s processing flaws are gone, and with completely new lighting and texture technologies, every detail of the game has more depth, beauty and life. Shin Megami Tensei V and the game's stunning visual style is like “a tiger with wings” with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeanceshowing off the full talent and creativity of the visual design team.

Not stopping there, the version Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance also brings players two beautiful new story-specific areas: the open world of Shinjuku and the dungeon of Shakan.

Serving as replacements for the original story's Chiyoda open world and Demon's King Castle, these two areas have extremely interesting designs, and their surreal, bright nature serves as a rather interesting contrast to the original story.

The new Shinjuku is now more open, with more surreal structures like giant tree canopies, grasslands and vast salt hills, while Shakan is more enchanting with beautiful wall decorations and cleverly laid out puzzles.

Shin Megami Tensei V and the game's stunning visual style is like “a tiger with wings” with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeanceshowing off the full talent and creativity of the visual design team.

If the “looking” part is not enough, the “listening” part will be. Vengeance is no slouch either. The sound quality has of course been significantly upgraded from the original Nintendo Switch exclusive, but the most valuable addition is a whopping… 89 new tracks, nearly doubling the game’s musical output.

Even more impressive, instead of relying too much on remixing tracks Shin Megami Tensei classic, composer Ryota Kozuka focuses on a newer, more innovative and mysterious type of music, making the game's atmosphere even more engaging, whether in combat, experiencing the storyline or simply exploring Da'at.

Goddess of Reincarnation

In Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeanceplayers experience the original story with the above important improvements, but the most important addition is a completely new storyline called “Canon of Vengeance”. Players follow the characters from the original story (now called “Canon of Creation”), the new storyline also allows players to accompany a new character named Yoko Hiromine, and face a mysterious new cast of Qadištu villains.

Everything that happens before and after Canon of Vengeance is almost identical to Canon of Creation, with many important events intertwined. Canon of Vengeance also proactively corrects, explains, and expands on ambiguities in Canon of Creation to make the cast more complete.

Dazai, Yuruzu, Tao, and even the main character Nahobino are no longer just dry plot devices or game theme representatives, but are now believable and likable characters.

Shin Megami Tensei are games that are heavy on philosophy and concepts, and this approach, although it seems like it will make this element somewhat disappear, the appearance of Yoko Hiromine makes the game “get back on track” in the most perfect way possible!

Yoko represents the purest conflicting ideals of chaos and order, appearing to challenge the logic and outlook of both the player and the original cast. Her progression along with the four Qadištu sisters serves as an “anchor” for this new storyline, constantly challenging the player about their place in the new world, and asking pointed questions about the nature of power and the responsibilities of those in power.

These questions of Canon of Vengeance are further deepened when the game does not use cliche and obvious choices to decide the ending of the game like Canon of Creation, but instead tracks each choice of the player throughout the game, showing them their “true nature” when facing the ending of the game.

This makes this new storyline even more engaging and weighty, even though it's a bit shorter than Canon of Creation.

This new storyline is more engaging and weighty, even though it's a bit shorter than Canon of Creation.

Revenge

A better storyline, sharper graphics and sound, if only that would make it Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a great game because the original gameplay is almost perfect, but Atlus still brings extremely valuable additions to the game's gameplay.

First of all, players can now make exploring the world more enjoyable and interesting with Magatsu Rails. These are “rails” that our Nahobino slides on to quickly get from one point to another. These Magatsu Rails can help players connect two very far points on the map, or lead players to secret quests or items.

By not limiting the Magatsu Rail to a single function, Atlus has cleverly turned this mechanic into an extremely valuable addition to the game.

The second major addition to the game is the “Demon Haunt”. This is a place where players can access from the Leyline Fount to… chat with their Demons. From humorous exchanges, valuable items to impressive leveling and power-ups, the Demon Haunt is a great place for players and their demons to “let off steam”, making the game’s world even more deep and engaging.

Not only is this version's experience more complete and full, it also offers more customization and freedom than ever before – elevating the already near-perfect game mechanics to the next level.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance also brings over 40 new Demons with different interesting skill sets, and even more impressively, all Demons in the game now have a passive skill and one to two new powerful Magatsuhi skills to activate under specific conditions.

The level cap has also been raised from 99 to 150, with a brand new Godborn difficulty for those who like to “eat onions”. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance also adds new bosses, new side quests, boss hunting mechanics and boss fights with different difficulty levels, making the experience of this version not only more complete and full, but also more customizable and free than ever before – helping to elevate the game mechanics that were already near perfect.

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Ghosts of the Past

Despite being filled with such important and significant improvements, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance seems to still struggle to “get stuck” with the original, and this “stuckness” makes the game quality not reach its peak.

First of all, regarding the new storyline, although the new characters of Dazai, Tao and Yuruzu separate themselves from the old storyline very cleverly to tell a more complete story, Canon of Vengeance still has to spend a lot of time to resolve the confusing points left by the original storyline, such as Miyazu and Sahori's storyline, causing the game's pace to falter.

Not only that, Canon of Vengeance also assumes that players have played Canon of Creation before, so the game decides not to explain many important plot twists.

The second downside is a technical one, for some reason all the game’s cutscenes are… the Nintendo Switch version, with a resolution of 720p 30fps, making the quality fluctuations… quite confusing. Not only that, these are cutscenes with extremely low bitrates, so the sound is terrible and the image is blurry, making this resolution even more… frustrating.

Canon of Vengeance also assumes that players have played Canon of Creation before, so the game decides not to explain many important plot twists.