I’ve been following the Shin Megami Tensei series for years now. I played a few of the spinoff Devil Survivor games on 3DS and DS, and I’ve been a fan of the Persona spinoff series for over a decade. However, I hadn’t really sat down to play a traditional Shin Megami Tensei RPG in the main series before. I can honestly say that while I really enjoy Shin Megami Tensei V, it is different from a lot of RPGs I have ever played, including the Persona franchise.

Shin Megami Tensei V puts you in the role of a protagonist who is a young student in Tokyo. He, along with several other students, finds himself in a post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo. A war is brewing between Angels and Demons, and humanity is caught in the middle. As a result of an incident, the protagonist fuses with a being named Aogami and becomes the Nahobino, known as the unification of a human and demon, unlocking divine knowledge.

I won’t spoil the intricacies of the plot, because it is simultaneously darker and much different than that of most JRPG offerings by Atlus or any other similar developer. Choice plays a firm role, and as a result, you can find multiple endings, including a true ending that takes a little more work. However, the story does drastically shift depending on what route you take. I did find it somewhat frustrating though that the game doesn’t give you a huge amount of detail to warn you if you’re making a choice that goes against your preferred route.

The gameplay is where Shin Megami Tensei V feels familiar, but also sets itself apart. If you’ve played the Persona franchise, then you’ll recognize the emphasis on attacking enemy weaknesses. However, Shin Megami Tensei V is a much more difficult experience thanks to the Press-Turn system. Each combatant on your team (or the enemy team) gets a turn that corresponds to an icon at the top of the screen.

If you hit a target’s weakness, guard against attacks, or pass to the next character, then that icon lights up giving you an extra turn. You can have a total of eight turns, two per character before it defaults to the enemy turn. However, the enemy can also get extra turns as well if they strike your weaknesses. Because of this, a battle can quickly turn against you, and your party can be wiped out.

This leads to another major departure from other games you might be familiar with. You can only save at specific places in the world known as Leyline Founts. Leyline founts are essentially your hub for all your major needs. Demon fusion, enhancing your Nahobino via Apotheosis, buying/selling items, and fast travel are all done through Leyline Founts. However, you can only save at Leyline Founts as well, and if your Nahobino dies in battle, there is no autosave, so you go back to the last fount you saved at.

Shin Megami Tensei V is a very difficult game. However, there are several difficulty options for you to choose from, including “Safety” which can be downloaded for free off the eshop and is suited for people who just want to experience the story. I personally went with the easy difficulty rather than safety, and even on that difficulty a lot of thought and preparation went into battles and boss fights.

To recruit new demons, you talk to them when you fight them. This mechanic is similar to Persona negotiation in Persona 5, though technically this mechanic came from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise first. There is a degree of randomness to it, so you often will have to talk to a demon a few times before you say the right string of answers to get it to join you.

I can definitely recommend changing up your demon team frequently, whether you do so via fusion or just recruiting new demons. At first, you’ll only be able to carry a few demons with you outside of your 4-person party (Nahobino included), but as you progress you’ll be able to unlock passives for the Nahobino to increase your carrying capacity of demons.

I mentioned Apotheosis earlier, and there are two mechanics tied to it. By destroying Abscesses (collections of demonic power) out in the world, you unlock Miracles, which are passive upgrades for your Nahobino that you can acquire using a special currency called Glory. Glory can be obtained by finding little creatures called Miman hidden throughout the world, or finding caches with Glory in them.

There are other methods of obtaining Glory, but that would be a spoiler. Regardless, in addition to obtaining Miracles that can increase various things such as demon stock, the number of abilities you can have, etc, you can also fuse demonic essences into your Nahobino or your other demons. Demonic essences can be found in chests, in battle, or through leveling up demons.

They are essentially the distilled form of a specific demon and contain their abilities and resistances/weaknesses. You can use these to give demons specific skills or change your Nahobino’s strengths and weaknesses to suit an upcoming boss battle. In truth, there is a lot of strategy and care that goes into Shin Megami Tensei V. It is a difficult game, and it is very different from what I have played before…but I love it.

I’m used to a lot of modern RPGs being easily “brute-forced” meaning that I can usually grind for a few hours and then breeze through the game. This one requires tactical thought and strategy. In fact, even if I am under-leveled, if I play correctly and use the right strategy, I can succeed. However, if I play carelessly I can easily party-wipe.

The story is also very interesting. You might think at first glance that it is a typical “Angels are good, Demons are bad” plot, but in truth, there are shades of grey all throughout the plot. Both sides have their virtues, and both sides have their downsides. It is up to you to follow whatever path you feel you wish to take, and there are a lot of choices involved.

Even a few of the side quests in the game can change depending on what choices you make. Speaking of that, there are a lot of side quests and a lot of things to do, see, and find. Shin Megami Tensei V is full of content. I’ve played for 30+ hours and I don’t even feel like I have scratched the surface. At the same time, I’m always excited to dive back in and play, even after a frustrating boss or area.

To wrap this up without going too long, if you like a challenging RPG then I think you’ll really enjoy Shin Megami Tensei V. However, if you’ve never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before, this is also the perfect one to start with. The Safety difficulty will give you a chance to really dip your feet in and get familiar with the game. Not only that but there are a lot of ways to strengthen yourself and prepare for the challenges ahead.

It may have some rough edges, like a lack of autosaving, but I really think that Shin Megami Tensei V is exactly what we’ve been waiting for. It was well worth the wait, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. Before that though, I’m going to at least get one or two playthroughs in.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Shin Megami Tensei V was provided by Atlus for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Shin Megami Tensei V

$59.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Hundreds of Hours of Gameplay
• Challenging Combat
• Fantastic Visuals and Environments
• Intriguing Story and Characters
• Lots of Side Content

Cons

• No Autosave
• Some Enemies are Damage-Sponges
• Demon Negotiation can be Frustrating