PREVIEW: Shin Megami Tensei V

Even though Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remix released just this past May, Atlus is priming to assault fans with another wave of demons with Shin Megami Tensei V, the next entry in the hallowed JRPG series coming this November 12th for the Nintendo Switch. We at Anime News Network were granted a first look at this much-anticipated title.

The setup is comfortably familiar: you play as an unnamed highschooler in Tokyo, where there are growing rumors of shadowy attackers lurking in the alleys. After an earthquake rocks Japan, you awaken to find that Tokyo has become the Netherworld, where demons roam freely. Your humanity is similarly ripped away from you, and you are tasked with exploring this new world and its many horrific facets.

While the setup is familiar, the execution is far from typical. We were granted access to the urban setting of Mita, once a sprawling city reduced to arid sand-ridden ruins. Your character can run, dash, and jump through the locales—a far cry from its predecessors where deliberate dungeon crawling was the order of the day. There are plenty of tiny flourishes that help make the open-world design feel inviting; for example, your character's hair billows behind them as they dash, and they slide down sandy dunes. There are tiny trails of gems you can collect that help restore your abilities, while also potentially leading you to further hidden treasures. In a new twist for the series, demons roam on the map and you can encounter or avoid them at your leisure. The nooks and crannies of maps are littered with subquests and collectibles. The result is an oddly inviting realm of demons that invites exploration.

Combat is mostly the same as the other Shin Megami Tensei titles; through the Press Turn system, your party expends icons in order to strike the enemy. Landing critical hits or spells with elemental advantages grants you an extra move; missing attacks or using moves enemies are resistant to forces you to lose extra moves. Enemies operate under the same strict rules as you do, so the best strategy is to show enemies no mercy in striking their weaknesses while you compensate for your own. There is a new wrinkle courtesy of the Magatsuhi meter: as battles continue, your characters accumulate Magatsuhi. Once you've gathered enough, you can utilize a special move that can change the course of battle. In our playtime, we were granted an ability that turned all subsequent attacks or spells into Critical Hits, ensuring that all of our moves would guarantee us extra attacks. Further abilities can be found by completing subquests or exploring the map. The extra options will come in handy, as Shin Megami Tensei V can be brutal even on easier difficulties. We played on Normal and still witnessed our Pixie get defeated by basic Slimes in our very first non-scripted battle after recruiting her.

As usual for the Shin Megami Tensei seires, you can amass help from the demons you fight by negotiating with them. Demons will ask you questions or demand resources from you, after which they might join your side—or just run off with your gear. And demons only learn so many skills through leveling up, which requires you to fuse demons together in order to acquire stronger partners. Mixing things up is the Essence system, wherein you can acquire skillsets from other demons and fuse them to your party members; in this way, you can teach old demons new skills, even some they might otherwise never learn. There is also a new layer of strategy to skills: some demons show greater or lesser proficiency with certain skills, forcing you to be strategic and thoughtful with how you distribute them. Is it worth having a demon that knows a wide array of skills if most of them are at a -1 due to a bad type alignment? Or is it better to load up your demon exclusively with skills that it has a +1 proficiency in and just try to collect other demons that can make up for its shortcomings? Or do you just take whatever demon comes your way and hope for the best?

Presentation for Shin Megami Tensei V is up to par for the series' standard cutting-edge aesthetics. The protagonist's blue backlighting is striking as far as character designs go, and the world is fittingly desolate. There is voice acting both for the characters and for certain demons in your party, adding just the right amount of charm or eeriness from the many Pixies or Petras you encounter. Players have the option of either Japanese or English voice acting; conversely, the text is available in English, German, French, Italian, or Spanish. Similarly, the music is a unique blend of esoteric chanting and trance rock, upholding the Shin Megami Tensei tradition of ensuring absolute bangers in our ears while we attack and dethrone God. In our time playing on the Nintendo Switch, Shin Megami Tensei V ran smoothly but not perfectly. Some scene transitions felt stuttery, as if the processor could barely hold to keep up. The protagonist's run animation is nice but it feels similarly jittery. We also experienced a minor bug when trying to install the game to the SSD card instead of the console. Altogether, there wasn't anything serious getting in the way of playing the game, but there were minor issues. Shin Megami Tensei V also features variable difficulty settings. Bragging rights are yours if you dare to complete Hard mode, but there is also a Casual mode for people who simply want to experience the story. Shin Megami Tensei V will also have a free Day 1 patch featuring Safety mode.

So far, Shin Megami Tensei V is shaping up to be another must-have entry in the series. Fans can also look forward to Day 1 DLC once the game is released on the Nintendo Switch this November 12th; this includes the aforementioned Safety mode, several quests intended to facilitate grinding for experience or money, and special quests granting recruitable party members—one of which tantalizingly named “Return of the True Demon”. There will also be a Digital Deluxe Edition that includes all offered DLC upon purchase.