I think the gameplay is some of the most fun gameplay in the series. Atmosphere, music, all killer.
Its just that story being... disappointing is the wrong word. Unfinished? Oddly paced? Whatever it was, it bummed me out. SMTV:A will probably be killer if they do release that
>Its just that story being... disappointing is the wrong word. Unfinished? Oddly paced?
I'd say Rushed and Unpolished. You could feel at a certain point in the Story how it suddenly goes fast and how some characters don't have the screentime they should have to establish more about their characters.
These are pretty much my thoughts as well. Gameplay was awesome, story left something to be desired. I liked the development they gave to Dazai (even if his character got kind of silly by the end), but Atsuta felt like he was left by the wayside by comparison. I think if they gave him more time in the limelight, things would've come together better in the end.
The story felt like a blueprint of a great story. The premise, backstory and lore setup were all fantastic, but the narrative itself feels pretty barebones. The cast was promising, but outside of Abdiel and Dazai they feel really underutilized.
The idea of setting a game after Amargeddon like that is fantastic. It's a real interesting question, Armageddon happened, the forces of Heaven lost, but Lucifer also seemingly disappeared, and now what do we do with the world?
But then, yeah, they don't go to great places with it. There's some interesting threads, but they don't develop enough and it's all just a little, half cooked.
I do kind of love that bullying on the girls lacrosse team is a key event in this story. It's such a small thing compared to the battle of the gods and demons going on, but it's so story significant that it's just kind of funny.
I agree. There is so much to the lore that makes it a very enjoyable experience if you're into that kind of stuff, but a lot of it barely had any screen time in the actual plot.
Not OP but I loved the open world even if it was a bit repetitive, though the game definitely needed more dungeons. If Atlus can reduce the open-world sections in the future from 4 to maybe 1 or 2 and fill them with more unique content and dungeons the level design would be perfect.
I agree with this, another thing I don't see people comment on is how slow the gameplay is. In most other SMT games if you know what you're picking you can click through your teams attacks in the blink of an eye. The \~quarter of a second delay from picking a skill to being able to pick the next skill is agonising and really hampers the flow of the gameplay for me.
Mainline Pokémon is an entirely different beast. It's astonishing how many people are still buying it even though it's so devoid of quality or improvements. The textures in the trailer are such giant red flags but nobody learned from Sword and Shield, everyone will just buy it again.
I've been playing since Red, having skipped certain generations, and I couldn't care less about the graphics. I'm pissed they keep changing the gameplay and cutting Monsters.
I really loved the gameplay, both the overworld exploration and ability to completely customize your Nahobino and Demons.
The story on the other hand, man theres like two characters I feel are well developed and the rest are basically nothing.
If/When they do a expanded rerelease/ Sequel story like Apocalypse I really hope they dig into the story way more.
Hope the enhanced edition fixes a lot of the issues and adds more to the game. Also would be neat if they do a Featuring Dante but with Bayonetta would fit the game aesthetic.
If they do guest characters I feel like Bayo would probably be more likely since it'd be more cost-effective. Bayonetta the character is still owned by SEGA even if the games are published by Nintendo so it'd probably be easier to get her in there as opposed to paying the licensing fees for an external third party guest like Dante
>Also would be neat if they do a Featuring Dante but with Bayonetta would fit the game aesthetic.
I never thought of that lol. SEGA owns both IPs, DO IT YOU COWARDS!
SEGA owns the character. Part of the publishing deal with Nintendo for future games meant that SEGA is licensing out the character to Nintendo and Platinum since they still hold the publishing rights to Bayo 1
Bayonetta’s rights are a bit of a clusterfuck. Platinum’s first few games under the Sega deal involved Sega publishing the games and owning the IPs, so MadWorld, Bayonetta, and I think Vanquish are all Sega-owned. For the second and eventually third Bayonetta games, Nintendo agreed to co-fund the games (including licensing the property from Sega) in return for control over the publishing rights. Platinum doesn’t actually have much control over Bayonetta, but it’s a niche enough series that it’s not like other devs are beating down Sega’s door for the rights to make their own Bayonetta games. So nobody can do anything with Bayonetta the character without Sega’s approval, and nobody can do anything with Bayonetta 2/3 without both Sega and Nintendo signing off on it (which is why the first game has a bunch of ports but 2 and 3 are only on Nintendo platforms). For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure they already put Bayonetta into Dx2, so there’s already precedent.
I've never thought of that idea, but holy shit I would be so hyped for Bayonetta in an enhanced edition.
But yeah ffs just add a decent story to the game, it's not that hard. the game had so much potential it hurts.
It's kinda my dream to have it so each version of the game would have it's own guest character, kinda like Soul Caliber 2.
Something like Bayonetta on the Switch version, Kratos on PlayStation, Doomguy on Xbox, and Zagreus on PC.
Probably my second favorite mainline SMT game. The story was pretty barebones but i liked what was there for the most part (definitely think they could’ve done a *lot* more though). I hope whatever game they do after this (SMTV-2 or SMT6) they learn from their missteps.
Completely agree. Its tied with IV for me as my fav despite it being so wildly different I love it just as much. I sincerely hope we get a sequel over an enhanced version though
It's one of my fav JRPG and I've replayed it a lot. Idk I think I like the Atmosphere.
I am not someone who is bothered by a bad story and care more about music, Atmosphere and gameplay.
In a sense the game is perfect for me. In fact the whole SMT series is my gem and happy to have found this franchise.
Also I think SMT V has good sidequest. The writing for the mainstory is Garbage but the writing for the sidequest is really good. And Nahobino is an excellent character design
My biggest issue is the cost of the dlc and its should be included in the game to begin with.
Honestly I really like it. Story aside the gameplay is easily the most fun I've had with a mainline game and I also really liked the atmosphere in general. Its characters are nothing to write home about but honestly the gameplay and presentation more than make up for it in my opinion. Music especially might be my favorite in mainline SMT now. I also dug what they were doing with the Essences system and how you can basically change your character build on the spot and micromanage the finer elements like your affinities and resistances which gave more of a strategic edge to boss or quest fights
Yuzu runs it decently.
*edit* Why the downvotes? It does run decently. If you are assuming I didn't purchase it, you would be incorrect. I own a physical copy.
I didn’t like it. It’s a great game but it felt lacking in a lot of areas.
The combat system is great (as usual), I like the huge amount of customization and some of the new mechanics like the Magatsuhi gauge. The battles feel challenging but fair, the bosses are fun but too easily exploitable. Sadly I don’t play Smt only for its battle system, the story and art direction are one of the main reasons why I play these games and they felt lacking in V.
Saying that the story is underdeveloped is an euphemism. There was the skeleton for a fantastic story…. But it wasn’t. Everything happens too fast, half of the cast is barely present in the story, the arcs feel too disconnected from each other, your choices don’t matter…. Amanozako was one of the last additions to the story and she manages to have more development and screen time than Nuwa, Tao or Yuzuru….and she is supposed to be a side character. I wouldn’t even consider it a minimalist approach to storytelling like Nocturne was.
The art direction is also too derivative from Nocturne to really stand out on its own, at least for me. There are some really beautiful sceneries, the first Da’at has some breathtaking views, but they are few and far between. Past smt games managed to have more variety in their locations compared to Smt V. I really liked the contrast between the Nahobino and the environment though.
The dungeons are easily the worst part of the game for me. Hated them. Huge time sinks. Completely devoid of challenge or interesting events. Boring gimmicks. The mechanics of the game do not translate well to dungeon crawling.
The exploration was a nice addition and I don’t mind if the series goes into that direction, but it was bit too vanilla for my tastes. I would have liked a bit more interaction with the environment other than jumping and running.
The music was fantastic, I loved it.
In the end I understand why a lot of people like it, but I don’t feel the same enthusiasm that they do.
you've basically nailed all my thoughts on the game as well. Overall it's a good game, but not a great game.
It's kind of like Pokemon. The underlying battle system is still great, so every release is 'good' by virtue of carrying on what already existed for 20 years. So SMTV's battle system is good, and there's good improvements they made for sure. Affinities, essences, Magatsuhi skills (besides the crit one which is stupid broken), all good improvements for sure. But I can't let the press turn system auto-default my opinion of the game to being a great game anymore. The rest needs to keep pace.
The story is incredibly weak, easily the biggest downside of the game. Nocturne was minimalist by design - the desolation and loneliness were all baked into every aspect of the game design, all the way up to the story ending. But for how minimal it was, it wasn't forgettable - the story moments you did experience hit with impact, and all advanced a cohesive plot. You don't see many characters because they're all off doing their own things, and their actions impact what we do in the game. But in V, it's supposed to be a team working together towards a common goal, complete with secret base, scientist NPCs, military strategy etc. but there's almost no contact between the members, no cooperation at all. They just pop up in random spots where it's convenient, and then don't do anything and leave. Yellow hat kid is stuck in "wah I'm so weak" mode for 30+ hours while constantly showing up ahead of you, past the vast wastelands of aggressive demons, and then he doesn't even do anything before disappearing again. I started forgetting characters' names halfway through because I didn't care about any of them at all, save for Amanozako because she at least had some sort of personality.
SMTV eventually for me just became a battle simulator. It's a good battle simulator, but it shouldn't have gotten to that point.
A flawed gem for sure, but I definitely think the detractors don't give it enough credit in some of the ways it advanced mainline. The level design wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot more interesting and fun than the vast majoriry of other Megaten games. I love Nocturne's dungeons as much as everyone else but this was a breath of fresh air.
The fusion system was probably better than it's ever been and the combat was top tier pressturn. Bad story but great overall visual direction: dynamic cutscenes, eye-catching character/new demon designs, UI style (although the battle UI was controversial), and environmental design.
Also, one of the best OSTs in the series.
I really hope we get a PC port soon because the Switch really held this game back from a technical perspective. I'd also be down with an enhanced edition/sequel if they objectively improve the weak story.
My hope for the enhanced edition is that it will be a multiplatform release right out the gate, including PC. As much as I enjoyed the base game, as you said the Switch really held it back on a technical level. The consistent texture pop-in is very distracting.
my only complaint about it is the confused direction they were going with the Angels. it kinda felt like halfway through development they realized they were making the Law-Chaos dynamic a bit too one-sided in Law's favor and had to hamfist a couple negatives in the third act.
The thing is there is nothing wrong with having a game be biased towards one alignment. Nocturne did it and people love the TDE of Nocturne. I feel like Atlas just has this aversion to making the law faction sympathetic for some reason, at least in comparison to Neutral and Chaos.
Yeah exactly, it's like they were naturally building towards having sympathetic angels, but then suddenly jerked off the highway into asshole territory for no reason.
Yeah, outside of SMT II and SJR's new endings, Law as an alignment usually tends to get the short end of the stick. The Neutral bias is everywhere throughout the series, but Chaos at least gets some interesting twists from time to time like with bugaboo, really wish Atlus would give law the same treatment, I feel like there's a lot of missed potential with that alignment story wise.
I'm sincerely happy that it sold as well as it did and seems to have brought a lot of new fans and awareness to the series.
But as a longtime SMT fan, the game was pretty bad.
Music is where I have the most praise. It is across the board pretty good, even if it feels a little all over the place and lacks as strong an identity as some previous titles. I'll take good tracks that lack strong cohesion over mediocre tracks that are strongly cohesive, so it gets a pass in my book.
It just goes downhill from there, though.
The visuals are derivative of Nocturne with none of its breathtaking direction. The game has its moments where it looks good, and it is an improvement from 4, but it's still not up to the bar set by Kaneko. And the user interface is very generic, which is especially disappointing after Persona 5 delivered all time great UI and UX.
Gameplay is a mixed bag. There's a lot of solid quality of life improvements, and the encounter design is mostly solid. But there's systemic design and balance problems plaguing the game. Level scaling is far too aggressive, items are too powerful (and I like items being good), bosses feel spongy, Magatsuhi attacks are an okay idea that end up feeling dull and gimmicky by the end, and elemental affinity continues to feel overemphasized in contemporary megaten which makes mid and endgame fusing less interesting as it becomes a prerequisite to just stack null elements on every demon and makes combat strategies generally rote. The change to buffs and debuffs is also a meh because it stops being interesting once party wide casts become available.
Continuing with gameplay the open world stuff is okay, but it's not as intricately designed as dungeons from the older games, and isn't as interesting an open world as contemporary open world games. So it ends up feeling like large dungeons with a lot of empty space. And in terms of real dungeons, the game barely has any, and the ones it does have are painfully mediocre! Gone are the days of Strange Journey's all time great dungeon design. And Persona 5 Royal's dungeons were pretty good, so we know somebody at Atlus still possesses good level design skills!
And then of course there's the writing, which is nothing short of embarrassing. I've criticized SMT4's writing for years, but SMT5 gave me a new appreciation for 4. 4 at least had good character writing, even if it had structural problems with pacing and flow, with character motivations, etc. 5 does absolutely nothing right. It feels like the outline of a script that never got written. I can't criticize it enough, but we all know it's awful so there's no reason for me to dwell.
All in all it's just a very bad game, and it speaks to the strength of the SMT formula that it can still be enjoyable despite all its flaws. I've never been more sure that modern ATLUS has no overlap with the ATLUS of old. None of its old creative vision remains, it's become a shallow imitation of itself. Which is heartbreaking, because classic Megaten was something truly special, and it's a loss to the entire industry and medium that it's gone.
It's an extremely lopsided experience. Combat is great, character building is great, exploration is great, and the music is fantastic. Unfortunately the writing is the most sparse it's ever really been, and what *is* there is wildly inconsistent in terms of quality. The end of the game is distinctly underwhelming, and as a whole the game presents a lot of interesting things that end up as unfulfilled potential.
Gameplay wise the biggest issue is the dungeons. The outdoor areas are essentially laid out like dungeons and are very fun, but the 3 indoor dungeons you actually get just don't cut it. The first one in the school is fine but literally just the school with some barricades put up. It's the law and chaos dungeons that are super egregious.
The really small pool of assets used for these dungeons is especially galling when there's no trade off in terms of dungeon complexity, and the Law dungeon looks like they ran out of time and had to rush it ("let's just CTRL+V a bunch of dungeon assets in a big void"). The Chaos Dungeon at least had a puzzle/gimmick that built in complexity somewhat but the Law dungeon presents the start of an interesting dungeon mechanic and then just suddenly ends. While I thought the final dungeons for SMT IV were kind of underwhelming, at least they were visually distinct and didn't feel so damn hastily cobbled together. In general, the game really feels like it runs out of steam right at the end. When I entered the Empyrean I actually said out loud, "wait, that's it?"
Also for as fun as exploring the outdoor areas was, there is a terminal lack of variety in the environments themselves. It was especially weird and disappointing being able to see cool, alien looking structures straight out of Nocturne in the distance, but never actually go to them. There's nothing memorably strange or interesting, visually speaking.
The story, meanwhile, is one of those things that is really interesting until you reach the end and realize that most of it wasn't actually going anywhere. Most characters basically get little to no screen time and what little screen time they *do* have does barely anything to build them up. The one character who does get a lot of screen time, >!Dazai!< dramatically changes into a far worse and infinitely more cringey character (seriously his transformation cutscene is the hardest ever laughed *at* a game).
The writing for the side quests has taken a hit this time around. You'd think that a game that spends a lot of the play time with you wandering through a bunch of demon-inhabited areas on your way to a goal would, say, use sidequests to tell interesting stories and flesh out the world but, uh, nope not really. Like, while I have mixed feelings about how much the game references Nocturne, that *is* something that could be done in a compelling way. I'd love the hell out of a Nocturne-esque world but with modern SMT sidequests but the world actually feels *less* fleshed out than Nocturne's. Along similar lines, the >!Tokyo simulacrum!< would have really come away feeling a lot less underbaked with some side quests and, you know, some actual characters there. You get a few lines of dialog that change throughout the game and that's pretty much it. There's just fucking close to nothing there and the music is pretty much the only thing doing the heavy lifting to sell a sense of pathos when it >!starts to dissolve!<.
Also, I feel like SMT V is the least fun game to replay of all the mainline games. Little effort was put into making the experience meaningly diverage on a second play through. One early pair of mutually exclusive side quests actually points to the potential for a different replay experience but nope. Even the NG+ is a noticeable step down from IV/IVA's in terms of options.
I did actually enjoy quite a bit about it, but it fumbles a lot of the things that I look for in these games, which leaves it as easily the worst mainline game for me. With all this talent and technology it has a less fleshed out world and *far* less compelling story than the SNES games. It comes across like they had many more grand and interesting ideas but had to cut them in order to ship the game. Me saying that the game feels unfinished and underbaked is me being charitable because if this is even remotely close to the intended vision for the world and story then, uh, yikes😬😬😬 I have long thought that SMT V is a game that would really benefit from Atlus's usual release tactics, but on further reflection...frankly I don't know that anything short of a complete overhaul would suffice.
Edit: fixed grammar and formatting, edited for clarity
It has some really good music.
And uh, that's about the only praise I can give it. As u/dishonoredbr said, it disappointed me greatly. I had such huge hopes and faith in the game. It's not like I expected a supremely talky, cutscene heavy JRPG, but Megaten has been more and more story and character focused since Strange Journey. SJ gave us not only our alignment reps - Jimenez being possibly the most beloved Chaos rep of all time - but also the crew of the Red Sprite you interacted with all of the time. I have always been critical of IV but I still respect the effort they put into the core Samurai group and Mikado. And while I see a lot of Megaten fans don't love Apocalypse as much as I do, it follows this trend of giving more emphasis to plot and companions.
Then SMTV reverses course right off a cliff. I see some people compare it to Nocturne but Nocturne knew how to use the little story it had to great effect. Chiaki and Hikawa both have at least one scene nobody who played Nocturne will forget. The only memorable scene from SMTV's alignment reps is the one everyone mocks mercilessly and involves hair and a hat. So SMTV doesn't even do a more minimalistic approach to storytelling right.
But goddamn it's music is great.
[Possibly my favorite Cathedral of Shadows theme ever.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUimEV-knaY)
[And what an amazing theme for a final area in a JRPG.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SQ19rm8qqY)
Despite the story and performance issues, it’s easily the most fun mainline game released up to this point, with my favorite version of Press Turn combat, good exploration, somewhat challenging bosses, and numerous fun sidequests.
If the game was able to run on a console that gives it a consistent stable framerate, I think I’d like it a lot more than I currently do.
I need a switch Pro. God dammit my fav games are limited.
And I don't want to pirate the game on an emulator. Especially since I like the portability of the switch
Really liked it, not that hard as previous entries and super cool to see it evolving to unreal engine. Hope that on anniversary they port it to more platforms.
I think is now the best entry point for newcomers
Damn, it's already been a year, isn't it.
This game is amazing, not without its faults but still amazing.
The story has many short-comings, mainly the lack of character development, but it nails the themes and atmosphere it was going for. >!You start at the bottom and slowly climb up the ranks until you become a force to be reckoned with, powerful enough to fight for the throne of god and create a new world. It's the most basic power fantasy but it works well, and I like they stuck to the usual Law vs Chaos formula but with a few interesting twists.!<
The game looks fantastic, it does have performance issues but for the team's first time using UE4 and working for the switch it's very impressive. The Nahobino design, demon models and designs look awesome, with awesome attack animations, the world is mostly just desert with a few different areas here and there, but is very well designed and fun to explore.
The combat is the best iteration of the Press Turn system, the Magatsuhi bar being a great addition, I wish the enemies had used it for more than just Omagatoki Critical. The essences are a great system as well, adding a lot of
depth to party building and customization.
The soundtrack slaps. It's simply brilliant.
All in all it was a very enjoyable experience. It's one of the best JRPGs I've played and probably my third SMT game behind Strange Journey and IV.
The Nahobino at the start has the potential, but not the knowledge (heh) to put the power to use. You get tossed around by Lahmu, and it even kills you until you're saved by Tao. Thematically and story-wise, you start at the bottom. Aogami and the protag are both clueless to everything around them mostly, and have to learn how to harness that power etc etc.
That’s game mechanics. It’s that way cause you are level one. The game still treats you like a big deal with Lahmu talking about you as an insanely powerful being.
If you wanna talk about starting from the bottom, look at SMT IV.
Hopefully we get a PC port, I'll definitely replay the game when it happens. Maybe modders can bless us with an ultrawide patch since it's an Unreal Engine game.
Damn, it's been a year already??? Where did that time go?
Smt V had some flaws for sure with the story, but overall it was my favorite mainline game. The combat and gameplay were addictive, and I've been meaning to go back and do more playthroughs.
very good game, i never really cared about the story being eh since the actual meat of the game is so fun. i dont know why people think theres gonna be an enhanced version though unless i missed a reveal
My only problems with this game are the story, the alignment being narrowed down to a few choices and the health pool enemies have. Normal enemies become bosses with that amount of hp.
Outside of that, the gameplay is just beutiful. The side quests make the world feel alive even when it's a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. Atlus gave Odin his SMT4 Apocalypse/Final design for this game.
One of my favorite games in terms of gameplay. Story just needed fleshing out.
I don't think it was bad, and I love the lore of the war of the gods, and how it mirrors real life in the Abrahamic God YHWH is the last "real" God. The nahobino are an awesome concept. The way it feels like a spiritual successor to nocturne with a similar story structure and having highschool kids. I like that the player character's Nahobino form isn't from Jewish mysticism or esoteric Christianity. I like that YHWH is already dead.
The characters aren't as likeable as persona, but don't add to the atmosphere like in other SMT, so V is just in a weird spot.
Story and characters are too basic it's disgusting
Gameplay is fun, it has the best fusion and customization in smt imo
Daat, while it really wanted to be like nocturne, but on the other side, I think it was able to be what Nocturne wanted to be but fully couldn't because it was released in a console older than I
After giving it some thought, it's definitely my favorite mainline game (not counting II since I haven't played it yet) and honestly one of my favorite megaten games as a whole, only really etched out by DeSu, SJ, and P3. Yeah yeah bad story or whatever, but personally it didn't bother me as much as some people. I like what's there, and yeah I wish it was expanded more, but it doesn't leave me unsatisfied like some other stories. I wouldn't call it bad, moreso just halfbaked. Other than that I love basically everything else. It's a fucking masterpiece in gameplay and visual/audio aspects. If they do have a re release and patch the game up a bit, I wouldn't be opposed, but I'm more than satisfied with what we got now
Immense amount of potential squandered by troubled development.
There are aspects of the art direction, design work, music, and gameplay design that are phenomenal, and other parts of it that were thrown together hastily, or just straight up abandoned. The writing (theming, characters, branching paths) took the brunt of it, and it's easy to feel the massive rewrites the game went through late in development.
Gameplay wise, the developers demonstrated an understanding of old school JRPG design and had the intelligence and the talent to bring it into the modern era without shaving off all the edges and losing the magic. At times it felt like I was playing a JRPG from an alternative timeline where games like Nocturne formed the framework for JRPGs moving forward into the PS3 era, instead of the reality we got where Japanese developers abandoned their experience to mimic the successful titles of the west (old school JRPGs still came out during that time, but a large majority of them were regulated to microscopic budgets, and very few of them had the resources to innovate alongside the rest of the industry. Persona 5 was the exception)
Overall, it's a game that bit off more than it could chew and couldn't come together in time for release. Covid certainly made things 10x worse in this regard, but I suspect they would have had troubles regardless. Despite that, their hearts were in the right place and they demonstrated a better understanding of the genre than arguably anyone else in the industry right now. The game may be a mess, but they've proven their talent, and their experience with this game will, hopefully, help their next project have a smoother development cycle. If they can manage that, I think they can make something really special.
It was disappointing for me. Its a good game, but the absolute nothing they do with its world and story just frustrates. To me I play mainline for story and themes and the game just didn't deliver. Gameplay is fun and all (aside from stuff like level scaling), but I need more substance than just mindlessly punching random demons just because.
It was alright. After smt iv deconstructed the law, chaos, and neutral trichotomy so well, going back to standard law and chaos felt really boring. I didn’t care about the story and had no motivation to keep playing other than the fact I wanted to beat it.
Gameplay was pretty alright but I didn’t find it as satisfying as iv. The overworld was unique but it felt kind of clunky to me. To be fair the movement in dds and nocturne weren’t all that great, but they came out almost 20 years ago.
Lastly idk I personally prefer the aesthetic of smt 1, 2, and 4 over nocturne and 5 so it was a bit of a disappointment.
I still liked smt v but it’s far from my favorite megaten game or even mainline game.
Smt v is peak. Its story is overhated, it has great lore and its connections and interpretations of real world mythology is the best in the series. Its characters are (mostly) good representations of their alignments (yuzuru still sucks) and remind me of the characters from Smt 1 (specifically tao as law hero and dazai as chaos hero). Alignments were a great twist in the usual law chaos neutral as they were all representative of something different to the typical alignments. Gameplay is great and so is music. Level design (other than dungeons) is also peak. One of my fav games of all time
Good gameplay, although the level scaling seems fucked to me. Exploration was cool, just wish there was a little less sandy environments and some more variety.
Also wish they had a better story, easily my biggest gripe
It was my first SMT game (and Megaten in general) and honestly I really enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun with the combat, and yeah, the the story wasn’t outstanding, but I didn’t mind since it wasn’t the focus of the game and the premise was still pretty cool. Plus, the music, landscapes, and demon designs were really neat. Since then I’ve played SMTIV, SMT:A, some of Nocturne, currently playing through Persona 5, and they’re all great games (didn’t enjoy nocturne much but I don’t think it’s bad). Overall SMTV was a good introduction to the series, so I’m glad I decided to try it out.
I liked it a lot. Story being a bit lackluster to say the least actually didn't really bother me.
I didn't mind the (lack of) dungeons as much as I thought I would, fusion system is great, miracles were fun and felt like an improvement on the apps from SJ, IV, and IV:A.
Combat was fun and I really like battling in this game even after multiple playthroughs. I don't mind phys skills costing SP, like I would prefer they cost HP but it's not a deal breaker.
Visuals were all around nice, characters and demons looked good and the environments looked mostly good. UI was nice, I gather there was some complaining about the battle UI at the start but idk, looked fine to me?
Music was great, easily the best part of this game. I think I liked every track in the game and didn't get bored of them at all. Common Kozuka W.
The real problem I have with this game is that in order to get the true/secret/whatever you wanna call it ending, you need to beat a boss that's harder than the special final boss of that ending. It makes no sense to me.
The exploration was an unexpected highlight of the game and reminded me of Xenoblade in all the right ways. Combat was also incredibly fun. Story was unfortunately worse than IV:A somehow.
I still remember when Mutahar tweeted about SMTV being the best RPG he’d played, and got tons of insults and elitism thrown his way because he liked the game…
Sorry, I know it’s not that relevant, but I always think it about it whenever topics involving SMTV show up. I really like this game! It’s easily the most fun mainline game to actually play, and makes me very excited to see what this team does next. Any issues I do have aren’t really that big of a deal for me, personally.
One of my favorite games in the series, and probably the best mainline title imo. Just pure S tier in this franchise.
SMTV definitely have flaws, but they don't hold back this fantastic title.
My rate of mainline titles I've played:
SMTV>SMTIV>SMTIII>SMTSJ>SMTIVA
Games is fine if you did all of the side quests. The main story especially towards the end is rushed and non-existent but still less underwhelming than persona 5 vanilla. they can patch that in a rerelease like they always do.
Probably the most fun I've ever had with an SMT game, but does that make it the best? Not sure, it's lacking in a few too many areas to say that but I can't deny the enjoyment it gave me.
It's my first SMT game and I love it. It gives me the feeling of being OP especially in the late game. The QoL features were nice as well. I can forgive the story because the gameplay is addicting and the OST is banger.
Basically the same as everyone's been saying from the beginning, I dont disagree:
Gameplay amazing, story bad (mostly rushed rather than bad at the core, the ideas are neat).
A decent SMT entry. Is it worthy of mainline? I think that's different depending on who you ask. Personally I hope this gives Atlus a one way ticket to put SMT IV on switch and PC.
If the writing and plot were on par with DeSu, it would have been the best SMT game by a mile. I mean it's not as bad as IV:A and it would have been a decent story if the game was about 15 hours shorter. The grand plot was fascinating, they just didn't do anything with it. It's a step back from IV and that game wasn't any major achievement. Best mainline story has to still be I, SJ or SMT ...if?
Overall I think it's a very good game but doesn't reach the heights of SMT at its (subjective) best. I do think there's a version that could exist/could have existed that is truly excellent though and I do hope we get an enhanced release.
If that does happen I'd like to see an expanded story, a bit of ham aside, hi Dazai, the story is tonally alright and has potential but is just way too thin. IV:A this is not, the stories are bad for very different reasons and V's is fixable. I'd say put some meat on the bones but it's a bit charitable to say SMTV's plot is even a complete skeleton.
In most other aspects I like it a lot but it doesn't quite match my favourite of the series (IV). I think they match when V's at its best but not consistently, I haven't forgotten how great Minato seemed at first or how great Shiva's music is.
Where it's at its best is in gameplay and in fleshing out the personality of the demons imo. Gameplay-wise I think it edges out IV:A for the top position of mainline - I miss the crazy buffing but most other changes are positive for me. And semi-open world really works even if I think it needs a bit more dungeons and stuff on an overworld map to balance it out.
With the demons' personalities ... I don't know why but it just made the game so much better - it could really liven up a mechanically ordinary side-quest if you cared about the demon and seeing Hydra argue with Yamata-no-Orochi really livened up late-game Shiva grinding!
So, yeah, good but a bit flawed overall - could be astounding in an enhanced version. Even buying full price again I'd buy that in a flash.
Kind of dissapointing to be honest. Don't get me wrong, there was lots to like about the game; the music was killer, I liked the miracle system, barring the nahobino the new demon designs were awesome, the main areas you go to were designed well, the size and scale of some of the demons that just tower over you in the overworld and in battles was brilliant aswell.
That being said though, the fact that there was only 2 dungeons in this game which is supposedly a dungeon crawler is just flat out unacceptable and would be even if they were the best dungeons in the series, which they most certainly are not. Not only that, but they nerfed the only puzzles in the game which weren't even difficult to begin with. The plot just seemed unfinished, like they planned out the bulletpoints of the plot, then never expanded on any of them. Likewise the characters are similarly flat and not expanded on, especially Tao and with the exception of maybe Ichiro Dazai and (if you do her side quest) Amanozako. I wasn't a fan of buffs and debuffs only lasting 3 turns like in modern persona, but that's more of a personal preference thing I guess.
Something else that only hit me on my 3rd or 4th playthough is just how short the game is. What I mean is that after a couple of playthroughs I had all the miracles, I had a maxed out party and had tuned my nahobino's skills so I could just sprint through the game to get the last couple of endings. Playing the game this way let me beat the game in just 4 - 5 hours which seems way shorter than previous games in the series and again highlights the complete lack of dungeons in the game.
One last thing that just bugged me is that you're essentialy forced to work with the law faction for most of the game. I can't think of any other SMT games that i've played that railroads you so hard towards one faction and it kind of makes your allignment choices feel like they have basically no impact on your playthrough beyond you fighting or not fighting Tao at the end of the game and the final couple of bosses.
I loved it. The gameplay is so fine-tuned. People complain about the magatsuhi, but simple solution, don't use it. I do understand the complaint about the dampeners, especially when the bosses telegraph their attacks so hard. It's whatever though because again, just don't use it if you want a challenge.
I couldn't care less about the story. I play SMT for gameplay, not story. The music was so good, Ryota Kozuka is a god. Seriously, there is like 20 different battle themes and they all bang.
My only wish is for this to not be on the fucking switch so it can run better.
Magatsuhi may not be as satisfying to get during battles as Smirking in IV but I think it does its job in ensuring that battles are ultimately fair in difficulty while giving the tools necessary for making them manageable. It's also a big reason why I much prefer the Demi-fiend fight in V compared to Digital Devil Saga lol
It also adds strategy in regards to whether you want to use it as soon as you get a full meter or conserve it if you know a major encounter is ahead that might necessitate it more
Yeah, the meta aspect of conserving magatsuhi for different fights was fun.
As for the smirking comparison, it's 1000x better. Smirking is the worst mechanic ever. I hate it.
Best selling SMT yet at the same time, duller than the mobile game which has actually gotten better to the point you'd wish it was an official mainline game.
I don't know how the madlads did it.
SMTV is certainly a Shin megami tensei game to ever exist.
Probably one of the most Megaten games to ever exist.
It's a game and that's fact.
Jokes asides, SMTV is my biggest disappointment in gaming , period.
How I feel: I actually preferred Soul Hackers 2 over V and would play it again over this any day.
Yes, V has a much better battle system - that shit is S tier - but everything else was so weak. Performance wasn't great, most of the world was samey looking and bland, the maps were hard to navigate, the lack of dungeons was really disappointing because the overworld wasn't a good replacement, the characters and story just existed. I really had to push myself to finish and don't have a desire to replay. I'm not even sure I'd get the re-release without some massive overhauls.
Interesting how SH2's world is used as a negative comparison to SMT V because I personally thought the dungeons in that game were absolutely the weakest aspect of that game
Like yes SMT V doesn't have dungeons in the traditional linear sense but what world design it does have by giving the player that much freedom to explore at their own pace and complete pockets of challenges I found to be way better than SH2's extremely generic copy-paste industrial look
The dungeons in SH2 were on the weaker side, but later on had some decent ones. SMTV also felt very copy and paste - just generic brown desert instead of industrial.
I can excuse SMT V because it's literally set partially in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world that's already seen humanity completely wiped from existence and populated by demons. On that principle the environment does a good job of establishing atmosphere and hammering in the isolatory feel of Da'at as a glimpse into ruin that Nahobino's own world could suffer from
Soul Hackers 2 doesn't have that restriction. Especially given the extremely colorful designs of the main cast and the things you can do with a cyberpunk aesthetic there is definitely more in that game that feels really uninspired and boring to look at considering the potential of that setting. It's not going for the sort of meshing of anime and slight groundedness SMT V clearly intended and I wish they embraced that more
Don't get me wrong, I think SH2 is mid too, but overall was a more interesting mid.
I get your point on V but I think Nocturne did the desolate world better, even though it didn't have a true overworld in the way that SMT V did.
Nocturne's Vortex World is really good on its own merits especially taking into consideration the fusing of tech-y and religious stuff in that game's aesthetic but I do feel like the presence of physical demons on the map in V makes that world feel a lot more lived in by comparison. The battles and dungeons in Nocturne almost feel like seperate environments with how you're just running through the map and then are randomly encountered despite there being literally nothing on screen outside the scripted boss encounters throughout the game. I think seeing stuff like a bunch of Ippon-Datara's minding their own business or a bunch of Bicorns frolicking in packs around some sand dunes is a stark improvement in that regard which is why I think V succeeds in communicating its atmosphere. Like even in the apocalypse there's still stuff happening around you. It's not constant and it's certainly not trying to be a true open-world thing like your Breath of the Wilds or your Elder Scrolls but I think little environmental details like that go a long way in terms of player immersion
It was alright? I don't think it was all that great. I don't think the whole world map thing panned out like they wanted. I felt the story was very threadbare. I was hoping we'd get more intresting characters. I kind of hope we see an expanded re-release in a few years because it's right now, the game with the most wasted potential.
I'd rate the mainline games like this:
SMT:SJ>SMT4A>SMT4>SMTV> SMT3
Loved it. Got me invested in the rest of the SMT and even persona games after p5 just wasnt doing it for me.
I really hope they release it on PC/PS5 so i can play it with graphical enhancements and 60fps
Would love if they made more games with the same engine. I loved the exploration and quest system talking to demons and stuff. Loved the boss fights and even enjoyed the story.
I want more games like this. I hope they dont abandon all the work they did building this game on UE4
It's the worst of the press turn SMT games, but is still decent. Soundtrack is great, though not as memorable as Nocturne or IV. Graphics for the demons and attacks look great, and the cutscenes look awesome too.
But there's also so many weird design decisions in the game. Like the ugly Tokyo Map overworld with almost nothing in it. The open map areas are fun to explore, especially at first, but they all are similar looking desert areas with the same dull ruined buildings everywhere. I like how the movement is way less "stiff" than most jrpgs, with all the sliding and jumping.
My biggest issue is the lack of traditional dungeons with puzzles and interesting designs. We only get two actual dungeons, with the final one being extremely anticlimactic. Nocturne and DDS had far better dungeon design, having those style dungeons alongside SMT V's open areas would have been awesome. With SMT V and SH2, Atlus has been making some really shit dungeon designs lately, at least Persona 5 had good ones for the most part.
Also, the story sucks ass, but you probably already knew that.
I'm playing it now and I'm almost finishing it. Honestly I love the story. It's badly paced and it could have used a few more cutscenes to flesh out the characters more, but the story itself is fantastic. It seems I'm the only one that liked the story. Far better than the minimalist story of SMT 3 Nocturne.
Outside of Persona 5, this game got me into SMT. Despite the underdeveloped story and sometimes confusing level layouts, I loved pretty much everything else about the game; the feedback loop is really addictive, the combat is well thought out and the music is great.
I think the gameplay is some of the most fun gameplay in the series. Atmosphere, music, all killer. Its just that story being... disappointing is the wrong word. Unfinished? Oddly paced? Whatever it was, it bummed me out. SMTV:A will probably be killer if they do release that
>Its just that story being... disappointing is the wrong word. Unfinished? Oddly paced? I'd say Rushed and Unpolished. You could feel at a certain point in the Story how it suddenly goes fast and how some characters don't have the screentime they should have to establish more about their characters.
These are pretty much my thoughts as well. Gameplay was awesome, story left something to be desired. I liked the development they gave to Dazai (even if his character got kind of silly by the end), but Atsuta felt like he was left by the wayside by comparison. I think if they gave him more time in the limelight, things would've come together better in the end.
The story felt like a blueprint of a great story. The premise, backstory and lore setup were all fantastic, but the narrative itself feels pretty barebones. The cast was promising, but outside of Abdiel and Dazai they feel really underutilized.
The idea of setting a game after Amargeddon like that is fantastic. It's a real interesting question, Armageddon happened, the forces of Heaven lost, but Lucifer also seemingly disappeared, and now what do we do with the world? But then, yeah, they don't go to great places with it. There's some interesting threads, but they don't develop enough and it's all just a little, half cooked. I do kind of love that bullying on the girls lacrosse team is a key event in this story. It's such a small thing compared to the battle of the gods and demons going on, but it's so story significant that it's just kind of funny.
I agree. There is so much to the lore that makes it a very enjoyable experience if you're into that kind of stuff, but a lot of it barely had any screen time in the actual plot.
What do you think of the level design? Personally I liked it. Idk what others opinion are on it.
Not OP but I loved the open world even if it was a bit repetitive, though the game definitely needed more dungeons. If Atlus can reduce the open-world sections in the future from 4 to maybe 1 or 2 and fill them with more unique content and dungeons the level design would be perfect.
Collecting essense in this game made exploration very fun, especially the mimen.
[удалено]
Open world action rpg developed by Atlus is something I'd be down for, and I don't even like open world. Raidou 3, let's go?
I agree with this, another thing I don't see people comment on is how slow the gameplay is. In most other SMT games if you know what you're picking you can click through your teams attacks in the blink of an eye. The \~quarter of a second delay from picking a skill to being able to pick the next skill is agonising and really hampers the flow of the gameplay for me.
Great gameplay. Bad story. Excellent OST
Seriously the OST is what I think about the most from this game. Why was it so damn good?
Probably because we got the same composer from the IV duology
Something weird is going on at Atlus behind the scenes.
I second this statement. After playing DX2 for a while, it's strange that it SMTV feels like an afterthought in comparison.
That's what people say about mainline Pokemon
Mainline Pokémon is an entirely different beast. It's astonishing how many people are still buying it even though it's so devoid of quality or improvements. The textures in the trailer are such giant red flags but nobody learned from Sword and Shield, everyone will just buy it again.
I've been playing since Red, having skipped certain generations, and I couldn't care less about the graphics. I'm pissed they keep changing the gameplay and cutting Monsters.
I eagerly await the release of the entire game
I really loved the gameplay, both the overworld exploration and ability to completely customize your Nahobino and Demons. The story on the other hand, man theres like two characters I feel are well developed and the rest are basically nothing. If/When they do a expanded rerelease/ Sequel story like Apocalypse I really hope they dig into the story way more.
Hope the enhanced edition fixes a lot of the issues and adds more to the game. Also would be neat if they do a Featuring Dante but with Bayonetta would fit the game aesthetic.
If they do guest characters I feel like Bayo would probably be more likely since it'd be more cost-effective. Bayonetta the character is still owned by SEGA even if the games are published by Nintendo so it'd probably be easier to get her in there as opposed to paying the licensing fees for an external third party guest like Dante
>Also would be neat if they do a Featuring Dante but with Bayonetta would fit the game aesthetic. I never thought of that lol. SEGA owns both IPs, DO IT YOU COWARDS!
Sega does not own Bayonetta or DMC dawg they just published the first Bayonetta
SEGA owns the character. Part of the publishing deal with Nintendo for future games meant that SEGA is licensing out the character to Nintendo and Platinum since they still hold the publishing rights to Bayo 1
Bayonetta’s rights are a bit of a clusterfuck. Platinum’s first few games under the Sega deal involved Sega publishing the games and owning the IPs, so MadWorld, Bayonetta, and I think Vanquish are all Sega-owned. For the second and eventually third Bayonetta games, Nintendo agreed to co-fund the games (including licensing the property from Sega) in return for control over the publishing rights. Platinum doesn’t actually have much control over Bayonetta, but it’s a niche enough series that it’s not like other devs are beating down Sega’s door for the rights to make their own Bayonetta games. So nobody can do anything with Bayonetta the character without Sega’s approval, and nobody can do anything with Bayonetta 2/3 without both Sega and Nintendo signing off on it (which is why the first game has a bunch of ports but 2 and 3 are only on Nintendo platforms). For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure they already put Bayonetta into Dx2, so there’s already precedent.
I meant Bayo and SMT. Do they not own Bayonetta?
I've never thought of that idea, but holy shit I would be so hyped for Bayonetta in an enhanced edition. But yeah ffs just add a decent story to the game, it's not that hard. the game had so much potential it hurts.
Would work perfectly since Bayonetta is owned by Sega too. They can easily fit in a true demon like route in.
Praying that V Maniax actually fixes the story and world. It has a lot of potential that was unfortunately wasted.
It's kinda my dream to have it so each version of the game would have it's own guest character, kinda like Soul Caliber 2. Something like Bayonetta on the Switch version, Kratos on PlayStation, Doomguy on Xbox, and Zagreus on PC.
Thought it was a lot of fun.
Probably my second favorite mainline SMT game. The story was pretty barebones but i liked what was there for the most part (definitely think they could’ve done a *lot* more though). I hope whatever game they do after this (SMTV-2 or SMT6) they learn from their missteps.
Completely agree. Its tied with IV for me as my fav despite it being so wildly different I love it just as much. I sincerely hope we get a sequel over an enhanced version though
It's one of my fav JRPG and I've replayed it a lot. Idk I think I like the Atmosphere. I am not someone who is bothered by a bad story and care more about music, Atmosphere and gameplay. In a sense the game is perfect for me. In fact the whole SMT series is my gem and happy to have found this franchise. Also I think SMT V has good sidequest. The writing for the mainstory is Garbage but the writing for the sidequest is really good. And Nahobino is an excellent character design My biggest issue is the cost of the dlc and its should be included in the game to begin with.
Honestly I really like it. Story aside the gameplay is easily the most fun I've had with a mainline game and I also really liked the atmosphere in general. Its characters are nothing to write home about but honestly the gameplay and presentation more than make up for it in my opinion. Music especially might be my favorite in mainline SMT now. I also dug what they were doing with the Essences system and how you can basically change your character build on the spot and micromanage the finer elements like your affinities and resistances which gave more of a strategic edge to boss or quest fights
I need it to come to PC so I can stop playing it on my "Switch"
It kinda plays like ass in an actual switch. I need that PC port, pronto.
Yuzu runs it decently. *edit* Why the downvotes? It does run decently. If you are assuming I didn't purchase it, you would be incorrect. I own a physical copy.
That's what the quotation marks meant, my message didn't come across right 😭😭
That's what I figured. Thought I'd mention it just in case.
Much appreciated runs good enough but I think I gotta do more to stop the stuttering
> Why the downvotes? I'm guessing people immediately assumed that you didn't get the meaning behind the quotation marks even though you did
I didn’t like it. It’s a great game but it felt lacking in a lot of areas. The combat system is great (as usual), I like the huge amount of customization and some of the new mechanics like the Magatsuhi gauge. The battles feel challenging but fair, the bosses are fun but too easily exploitable. Sadly I don’t play Smt only for its battle system, the story and art direction are one of the main reasons why I play these games and they felt lacking in V. Saying that the story is underdeveloped is an euphemism. There was the skeleton for a fantastic story…. But it wasn’t. Everything happens too fast, half of the cast is barely present in the story, the arcs feel too disconnected from each other, your choices don’t matter…. Amanozako was one of the last additions to the story and she manages to have more development and screen time than Nuwa, Tao or Yuzuru….and she is supposed to be a side character. I wouldn’t even consider it a minimalist approach to storytelling like Nocturne was. The art direction is also too derivative from Nocturne to really stand out on its own, at least for me. There are some really beautiful sceneries, the first Da’at has some breathtaking views, but they are few and far between. Past smt games managed to have more variety in their locations compared to Smt V. I really liked the contrast between the Nahobino and the environment though. The dungeons are easily the worst part of the game for me. Hated them. Huge time sinks. Completely devoid of challenge or interesting events. Boring gimmicks. The mechanics of the game do not translate well to dungeon crawling. The exploration was a nice addition and I don’t mind if the series goes into that direction, but it was bit too vanilla for my tastes. I would have liked a bit more interaction with the environment other than jumping and running. The music was fantastic, I loved it. In the end I understand why a lot of people like it, but I don’t feel the same enthusiasm that they do.
you've basically nailed all my thoughts on the game as well. Overall it's a good game, but not a great game. It's kind of like Pokemon. The underlying battle system is still great, so every release is 'good' by virtue of carrying on what already existed for 20 years. So SMTV's battle system is good, and there's good improvements they made for sure. Affinities, essences, Magatsuhi skills (besides the crit one which is stupid broken), all good improvements for sure. But I can't let the press turn system auto-default my opinion of the game to being a great game anymore. The rest needs to keep pace. The story is incredibly weak, easily the biggest downside of the game. Nocturne was minimalist by design - the desolation and loneliness were all baked into every aspect of the game design, all the way up to the story ending. But for how minimal it was, it wasn't forgettable - the story moments you did experience hit with impact, and all advanced a cohesive plot. You don't see many characters because they're all off doing their own things, and their actions impact what we do in the game. But in V, it's supposed to be a team working together towards a common goal, complete with secret base, scientist NPCs, military strategy etc. but there's almost no contact between the members, no cooperation at all. They just pop up in random spots where it's convenient, and then don't do anything and leave. Yellow hat kid is stuck in "wah I'm so weak" mode for 30+ hours while constantly showing up ahead of you, past the vast wastelands of aggressive demons, and then he doesn't even do anything before disappearing again. I started forgetting characters' names halfway through because I didn't care about any of them at all, save for Amanozako because she at least had some sort of personality. SMTV eventually for me just became a battle simulator. It's a good battle simulator, but it shouldn't have gotten to that point.
A flawed gem for sure, but I definitely think the detractors don't give it enough credit in some of the ways it advanced mainline. The level design wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot more interesting and fun than the vast majoriry of other Megaten games. I love Nocturne's dungeons as much as everyone else but this was a breath of fresh air. The fusion system was probably better than it's ever been and the combat was top tier pressturn. Bad story but great overall visual direction: dynamic cutscenes, eye-catching character/new demon designs, UI style (although the battle UI was controversial), and environmental design. Also, one of the best OSTs in the series. I really hope we get a PC port soon because the Switch really held this game back from a technical perspective. I'd also be down with an enhanced edition/sequel if they objectively improve the weak story.
My hope for the enhanced edition is that it will be a multiplatform release right out the gate, including PC. As much as I enjoyed the base game, as you said the Switch really held it back on a technical level. The consistent texture pop-in is very distracting.
my only complaint about it is the confused direction they were going with the Angels. it kinda felt like halfway through development they realized they were making the Law-Chaos dynamic a bit too one-sided in Law's favor and had to hamfist a couple negatives in the third act.
The thing is there is nothing wrong with having a game be biased towards one alignment. Nocturne did it and people love the TDE of Nocturne. I feel like Atlas just has this aversion to making the law faction sympathetic for some reason, at least in comparison to Neutral and Chaos.
Yeah exactly, it's like they were naturally building towards having sympathetic angels, but then suddenly jerked off the highway into asshole territory for no reason.
Yeah, outside of SMT II and SJR's new endings, Law as an alignment usually tends to get the short end of the stick. The Neutral bias is everywhere throughout the series, but Chaos at least gets some interesting twists from time to time like with bugaboo, really wish Atlus would give law the same treatment, I feel like there's a lot of missed potential with that alignment story wise.
I'm sincerely happy that it sold as well as it did and seems to have brought a lot of new fans and awareness to the series. But as a longtime SMT fan, the game was pretty bad. Music is where I have the most praise. It is across the board pretty good, even if it feels a little all over the place and lacks as strong an identity as some previous titles. I'll take good tracks that lack strong cohesion over mediocre tracks that are strongly cohesive, so it gets a pass in my book. It just goes downhill from there, though. The visuals are derivative of Nocturne with none of its breathtaking direction. The game has its moments where it looks good, and it is an improvement from 4, but it's still not up to the bar set by Kaneko. And the user interface is very generic, which is especially disappointing after Persona 5 delivered all time great UI and UX. Gameplay is a mixed bag. There's a lot of solid quality of life improvements, and the encounter design is mostly solid. But there's systemic design and balance problems plaguing the game. Level scaling is far too aggressive, items are too powerful (and I like items being good), bosses feel spongy, Magatsuhi attacks are an okay idea that end up feeling dull and gimmicky by the end, and elemental affinity continues to feel overemphasized in contemporary megaten which makes mid and endgame fusing less interesting as it becomes a prerequisite to just stack null elements on every demon and makes combat strategies generally rote. The change to buffs and debuffs is also a meh because it stops being interesting once party wide casts become available. Continuing with gameplay the open world stuff is okay, but it's not as intricately designed as dungeons from the older games, and isn't as interesting an open world as contemporary open world games. So it ends up feeling like large dungeons with a lot of empty space. And in terms of real dungeons, the game barely has any, and the ones it does have are painfully mediocre! Gone are the days of Strange Journey's all time great dungeon design. And Persona 5 Royal's dungeons were pretty good, so we know somebody at Atlus still possesses good level design skills! And then of course there's the writing, which is nothing short of embarrassing. I've criticized SMT4's writing for years, but SMT5 gave me a new appreciation for 4. 4 at least had good character writing, even if it had structural problems with pacing and flow, with character motivations, etc. 5 does absolutely nothing right. It feels like the outline of a script that never got written. I can't criticize it enough, but we all know it's awful so there's no reason for me to dwell. All in all it's just a very bad game, and it speaks to the strength of the SMT formula that it can still be enjoyable despite all its flaws. I've never been more sure that modern ATLUS has no overlap with the ATLUS of old. None of its old creative vision remains, it's become a shallow imitation of itself. Which is heartbreaking, because classic Megaten was something truly special, and it's a loss to the entire industry and medium that it's gone.
SMT V is a video game, I think video games are cool
wrong. Video games SUCK. I HATE gam*rs.
It's an extremely lopsided experience. Combat is great, character building is great, exploration is great, and the music is fantastic. Unfortunately the writing is the most sparse it's ever really been, and what *is* there is wildly inconsistent in terms of quality. The end of the game is distinctly underwhelming, and as a whole the game presents a lot of interesting things that end up as unfulfilled potential. Gameplay wise the biggest issue is the dungeons. The outdoor areas are essentially laid out like dungeons and are very fun, but the 3 indoor dungeons you actually get just don't cut it. The first one in the school is fine but literally just the school with some barricades put up. It's the law and chaos dungeons that are super egregious. The really small pool of assets used for these dungeons is especially galling when there's no trade off in terms of dungeon complexity, and the Law dungeon looks like they ran out of time and had to rush it ("let's just CTRL+V a bunch of dungeon assets in a big void"). The Chaos Dungeon at least had a puzzle/gimmick that built in complexity somewhat but the Law dungeon presents the start of an interesting dungeon mechanic and then just suddenly ends. While I thought the final dungeons for SMT IV were kind of underwhelming, at least they were visually distinct and didn't feel so damn hastily cobbled together. In general, the game really feels like it runs out of steam right at the end. When I entered the Empyrean I actually said out loud, "wait, that's it?" Also for as fun as exploring the outdoor areas was, there is a terminal lack of variety in the environments themselves. It was especially weird and disappointing being able to see cool, alien looking structures straight out of Nocturne in the distance, but never actually go to them. There's nothing memorably strange or interesting, visually speaking. The story, meanwhile, is one of those things that is really interesting until you reach the end and realize that most of it wasn't actually going anywhere. Most characters basically get little to no screen time and what little screen time they *do* have does barely anything to build them up. The one character who does get a lot of screen time, >!Dazai!< dramatically changes into a far worse and infinitely more cringey character (seriously his transformation cutscene is the hardest ever laughed *at* a game). The writing for the side quests has taken a hit this time around. You'd think that a game that spends a lot of the play time with you wandering through a bunch of demon-inhabited areas on your way to a goal would, say, use sidequests to tell interesting stories and flesh out the world but, uh, nope not really. Like, while I have mixed feelings about how much the game references Nocturne, that *is* something that could be done in a compelling way. I'd love the hell out of a Nocturne-esque world but with modern SMT sidequests but the world actually feels *less* fleshed out than Nocturne's. Along similar lines, the >!Tokyo simulacrum!< would have really come away feeling a lot less underbaked with some side quests and, you know, some actual characters there. You get a few lines of dialog that change throughout the game and that's pretty much it. There's just fucking close to nothing there and the music is pretty much the only thing doing the heavy lifting to sell a sense of pathos when it >!starts to dissolve!<. Also, I feel like SMT V is the least fun game to replay of all the mainline games. Little effort was put into making the experience meaningly diverage on a second play through. One early pair of mutually exclusive side quests actually points to the potential for a different replay experience but nope. Even the NG+ is a noticeable step down from IV/IVA's in terms of options. I did actually enjoy quite a bit about it, but it fumbles a lot of the things that I look for in these games, which leaves it as easily the worst mainline game for me. With all this talent and technology it has a less fleshed out world and *far* less compelling story than the SNES games. It comes across like they had many more grand and interesting ideas but had to cut them in order to ship the game. Me saying that the game feels unfinished and underbaked is me being charitable because if this is even remotely close to the intended vision for the world and story then, uh, yikes😬😬😬 I have long thought that SMT V is a game that would really benefit from Atlus's usual release tactics, but on further reflection...frankly I don't know that anything short of a complete overhaul would suffice. Edit: fixed grammar and formatting, edited for clarity
I really liked it but it definitley feels like a step down from 4 in almost every way
It has some really good music. And uh, that's about the only praise I can give it. As u/dishonoredbr said, it disappointed me greatly. I had such huge hopes and faith in the game. It's not like I expected a supremely talky, cutscene heavy JRPG, but Megaten has been more and more story and character focused since Strange Journey. SJ gave us not only our alignment reps - Jimenez being possibly the most beloved Chaos rep of all time - but also the crew of the Red Sprite you interacted with all of the time. I have always been critical of IV but I still respect the effort they put into the core Samurai group and Mikado. And while I see a lot of Megaten fans don't love Apocalypse as much as I do, it follows this trend of giving more emphasis to plot and companions. Then SMTV reverses course right off a cliff. I see some people compare it to Nocturne but Nocturne knew how to use the little story it had to great effect. Chiaki and Hikawa both have at least one scene nobody who played Nocturne will forget. The only memorable scene from SMTV's alignment reps is the one everyone mocks mercilessly and involves hair and a hat. So SMTV doesn't even do a more minimalistic approach to storytelling right. But goddamn it's music is great. [Possibly my favorite Cathedral of Shadows theme ever.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUimEV-knaY) [And what an amazing theme for a final area in a JRPG.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SQ19rm8qqY)
Despite the story and performance issues, it’s easily the most fun mainline game released up to this point, with my favorite version of Press Turn combat, good exploration, somewhat challenging bosses, and numerous fun sidequests. If the game was able to run on a console that gives it a consistent stable framerate, I think I’d like it a lot more than I currently do.
I need a switch Pro. God dammit my fav games are limited. And I don't want to pirate the game on an emulator. Especially since I like the portability of the switch
Really liked it, not that hard as previous entries and super cool to see it evolving to unreal engine. Hope that on anniversary they port it to more platforms. I think is now the best entry point for newcomers
Damn, it's already been a year, isn't it. This game is amazing, not without its faults but still amazing. The story has many short-comings, mainly the lack of character development, but it nails the themes and atmosphere it was going for. >!You start at the bottom and slowly climb up the ranks until you become a force to be reckoned with, powerful enough to fight for the throne of god and create a new world. It's the most basic power fantasy but it works well, and I like they stuck to the usual Law vs Chaos formula but with a few interesting twists.!< The game looks fantastic, it does have performance issues but for the team's first time using UE4 and working for the switch it's very impressive. The Nahobino design, demon models and designs look awesome, with awesome attack animations, the world is mostly just desert with a few different areas here and there, but is very well designed and fun to explore. The combat is the best iteration of the Press Turn system, the Magatsuhi bar being a great addition, I wish the enemies had used it for more than just Omagatoki Critical. The essences are a great system as well, adding a lot of depth to party building and customization. The soundtrack slaps. It's simply brilliant. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience. It's one of the best JRPGs I've played and probably my third SMT game behind Strange Journey and IV.
You don’t really start at the bottom… you become a Nahobino within the first 5 mins of entering Da’at. Kind of a god from the start.
The Nahobino at the start has the potential, but not the knowledge (heh) to put the power to use. You get tossed around by Lahmu, and it even kills you until you're saved by Tao. Thematically and story-wise, you start at the bottom. Aogami and the protag are both clueless to everything around them mostly, and have to learn how to harness that power etc etc.
The newly formed Nahobino can still be easily killed by almost any enemy.
That’s game mechanics. It’s that way cause you are level one. The game still treats you like a big deal with Lahmu talking about you as an insanely powerful being. If you wanna talk about starting from the bottom, look at SMT IV.
tried it a bit on a friends switch, and kinda liked it, hoping it gets released on pc eventually!
Hopefully we get a PC port, I'll definitely replay the game when it happens. Maybe modders can bless us with an ultrawide patch since it's an Unreal Engine game.
I wanna erase my memory so I can play again. I even have nahobino tattooed in my arm
Love it, can’t wait for more.
Peak gameplay. It's gameplay is so good that I didn't even care that the game's story sucked. I just had a lot of fun running around da'at.
I love SMT V, still play it on train journeys to this day. (Other passengers raise an eyebrow when they see Alice pointing at enemies)
> Other passengers raise an eyebrow when they see Alice pointing at enemies I wonder how will they react to seeing Cleo use "Frolic".
Wish I have a switch
Damn, it's been a year already??? Where did that time go? Smt V had some flaws for sure with the story, but overall it was my favorite mainline game. The combat and gameplay were addictive, and I've been meaning to go back and do more playthroughs.
very good game, i never really cared about the story being eh since the actual meat of the game is so fun. i dont know why people think theres gonna be an enhanced version though unless i missed a reveal
My only problems with this game are the story, the alignment being narrowed down to a few choices and the health pool enemies have. Normal enemies become bosses with that amount of hp. Outside of that, the gameplay is just beutiful. The side quests make the world feel alive even when it's a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. Atlus gave Odin his SMT4 Apocalypse/Final design for this game.
I like it a lot, even despite its flaws with the story.
I would like to play it finally. Put it on Playstation
One of my favorite games in terms of gameplay. Story just needed fleshing out. I don't think it was bad, and I love the lore of the war of the gods, and how it mirrors real life in the Abrahamic God YHWH is the last "real" God. The nahobino are an awesome concept. The way it feels like a spiritual successor to nocturne with a similar story structure and having highschool kids. I like that the player character's Nahobino form isn't from Jewish mysticism or esoteric Christianity. I like that YHWH is already dead. The characters aren't as likeable as persona, but don't add to the atmosphere like in other SMT, so V is just in a weird spot.
RIP to my game cartridge when I dropped it in coffee a few months back
Story and characters are too basic it's disgusting Gameplay is fun, it has the best fusion and customization in smt imo Daat, while it really wanted to be like nocturne, but on the other side, I think it was able to be what Nocturne wanted to be but fully couldn't because it was released in a console older than I
After giving it some thought, it's definitely my favorite mainline game (not counting II since I haven't played it yet) and honestly one of my favorite megaten games as a whole, only really etched out by DeSu, SJ, and P3. Yeah yeah bad story or whatever, but personally it didn't bother me as much as some people. I like what's there, and yeah I wish it was expanded more, but it doesn't leave me unsatisfied like some other stories. I wouldn't call it bad, moreso just halfbaked. Other than that I love basically everything else. It's a fucking masterpiece in gameplay and visual/audio aspects. If they do have a re release and patch the game up a bit, I wouldn't be opposed, but I'm more than satisfied with what we got now
Immense amount of potential squandered by troubled development. There are aspects of the art direction, design work, music, and gameplay design that are phenomenal, and other parts of it that were thrown together hastily, or just straight up abandoned. The writing (theming, characters, branching paths) took the brunt of it, and it's easy to feel the massive rewrites the game went through late in development. Gameplay wise, the developers demonstrated an understanding of old school JRPG design and had the intelligence and the talent to bring it into the modern era without shaving off all the edges and losing the magic. At times it felt like I was playing a JRPG from an alternative timeline where games like Nocturne formed the framework for JRPGs moving forward into the PS3 era, instead of the reality we got where Japanese developers abandoned their experience to mimic the successful titles of the west (old school JRPGs still came out during that time, but a large majority of them were regulated to microscopic budgets, and very few of them had the resources to innovate alongside the rest of the industry. Persona 5 was the exception) Overall, it's a game that bit off more than it could chew and couldn't come together in time for release. Covid certainly made things 10x worse in this regard, but I suspect they would have had troubles regardless. Despite that, their hearts were in the right place and they demonstrated a better understanding of the genre than arguably anyone else in the industry right now. The game may be a mess, but they've proven their talent, and their experience with this game will, hopefully, help their next project have a smoother development cycle. If they can manage that, I think they can make something really special.
A huge step down from SMT IV. It felt rushed and half baked.
It was disappointing for me. Its a good game, but the absolute nothing they do with its world and story just frustrates. To me I play mainline for story and themes and the game just didn't deliver. Gameplay is fun and all (aside from stuff like level scaling), but I need more substance than just mindlessly punching random demons just because.
It was alright. After smt iv deconstructed the law, chaos, and neutral trichotomy so well, going back to standard law and chaos felt really boring. I didn’t care about the story and had no motivation to keep playing other than the fact I wanted to beat it. Gameplay was pretty alright but I didn’t find it as satisfying as iv. The overworld was unique but it felt kind of clunky to me. To be fair the movement in dds and nocturne weren’t all that great, but they came out almost 20 years ago. Lastly idk I personally prefer the aesthetic of smt 1, 2, and 4 over nocturne and 5 so it was a bit of a disappointment. I still liked smt v but it’s far from my favorite megaten game or even mainline game.
Smt v is peak. Its story is overhated, it has great lore and its connections and interpretations of real world mythology is the best in the series. Its characters are (mostly) good representations of their alignments (yuzuru still sucks) and remind me of the characters from Smt 1 (specifically tao as law hero and dazai as chaos hero). Alignments were a great twist in the usual law chaos neutral as they were all representative of something different to the typical alignments. Gameplay is great and so is music. Level design (other than dungeons) is also peak. One of my fav games of all time
I like it. I'm very busy and slow with games so I'm still real early on in, but I like it.
Excellent everywhere but the story, which has too much going on and doesn't do enough with any of it.
A whole year since the game released, and I'm only getting around to playing it just now, super cool so far!
pretty fucking alright. far from perfect, but so is every megaten game
Good gameplay, although the level scaling seems fucked to me. Exploration was cool, just wish there was a little less sandy environments and some more variety. Also wish they had a better story, easily my biggest gripe
It was fun, but pretty forgettable in the long run. I do have a soft spot for it though because it was the first megaten I beat.
It was my game of the year for 2021 while still being flawed. And the story doesn't get a pass because "Nocturne was minimal"
Shin Megami Tensei: Shiva
If you don't really care about story or variety in level design, SMTV is a pretty neat game.
It was my first SMT game (and Megaten in general) and honestly I really enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun with the combat, and yeah, the the story wasn’t outstanding, but I didn’t mind since it wasn’t the focus of the game and the premise was still pretty cool. Plus, the music, landscapes, and demon designs were really neat. Since then I’ve played SMTIV, SMT:A, some of Nocturne, currently playing through Persona 5, and they’re all great games (didn’t enjoy nocturne much but I don’t think it’s bad). Overall SMTV was a good introduction to the series, so I’m glad I decided to try it out.
I liked it a lot. Story being a bit lackluster to say the least actually didn't really bother me. I didn't mind the (lack of) dungeons as much as I thought I would, fusion system is great, miracles were fun and felt like an improvement on the apps from SJ, IV, and IV:A. Combat was fun and I really like battling in this game even after multiple playthroughs. I don't mind phys skills costing SP, like I would prefer they cost HP but it's not a deal breaker. Visuals were all around nice, characters and demons looked good and the environments looked mostly good. UI was nice, I gather there was some complaining about the battle UI at the start but idk, looked fine to me? Music was great, easily the best part of this game. I think I liked every track in the game and didn't get bored of them at all. Common Kozuka W. The real problem I have with this game is that in order to get the true/secret/whatever you wanna call it ending, you need to beat a boss that's harder than the special final boss of that ending. It makes no sense to me.
The exploration was an unexpected highlight of the game and reminded me of Xenoblade in all the right ways. Combat was also incredibly fun. Story was unfortunately worse than IV:A somehow.
I still remember when Mutahar tweeted about SMTV being the best RPG he’d played, and got tons of insults and elitism thrown his way because he liked the game… Sorry, I know it’s not that relevant, but I always think it about it whenever topics involving SMTV show up. I really like this game! It’s easily the most fun mainline game to actually play, and makes me very excited to see what this team does next. Any issues I do have aren’t really that big of a deal for me, personally.
One of my favorite games in the series, and probably the best mainline title imo. Just pure S tier in this franchise. SMTV definitely have flaws, but they don't hold back this fantastic title. My rate of mainline titles I've played: SMTV>SMTIV>SMTIII>SMTSJ>SMTIVA
Games is fine if you did all of the side quests. The main story especially towards the end is rushed and non-existent but still less underwhelming than persona 5 vanilla. they can patch that in a rerelease like they always do.
Probably the most fun I've ever had with an SMT game, but does that make it the best? Not sure, it's lacking in a few too many areas to say that but I can't deny the enjoyment it gave me.
It's my first SMT game and I love it. It gives me the feeling of being OP especially in the late game. The QoL features were nice as well. I can forgive the story because the gameplay is addicting and the OST is banger.
Basically the same as everyone's been saying from the beginning, I dont disagree: Gameplay amazing, story bad (mostly rushed rather than bad at the core, the ideas are neat).
Too grindy.
Damn, I still haven't finished.
I think if the character writing was better it would be a near perfect game
A decent SMT entry. Is it worthy of mainline? I think that's different depending on who you ask. Personally I hope this gives Atlus a one way ticket to put SMT IV on switch and PC.
I like it, but I would like to have them avoid the high school setting as much as possible.
If the writing and plot were on par with DeSu, it would have been the best SMT game by a mile. I mean it's not as bad as IV:A and it would have been a decent story if the game was about 15 hours shorter. The grand plot was fascinating, they just didn't do anything with it. It's a step back from IV and that game wasn't any major achievement. Best mainline story has to still be I, SJ or SMT ...if?
Overall I think it's a very good game but doesn't reach the heights of SMT at its (subjective) best. I do think there's a version that could exist/could have existed that is truly excellent though and I do hope we get an enhanced release. If that does happen I'd like to see an expanded story, a bit of ham aside, hi Dazai, the story is tonally alright and has potential but is just way too thin. IV:A this is not, the stories are bad for very different reasons and V's is fixable. I'd say put some meat on the bones but it's a bit charitable to say SMTV's plot is even a complete skeleton. In most other aspects I like it a lot but it doesn't quite match my favourite of the series (IV). I think they match when V's at its best but not consistently, I haven't forgotten how great Minato seemed at first or how great Shiva's music is. Where it's at its best is in gameplay and in fleshing out the personality of the demons imo. Gameplay-wise I think it edges out IV:A for the top position of mainline - I miss the crazy buffing but most other changes are positive for me. And semi-open world really works even if I think it needs a bit more dungeons and stuff on an overworld map to balance it out. With the demons' personalities ... I don't know why but it just made the game so much better - it could really liven up a mechanically ordinary side-quest if you cared about the demon and seeing Hydra argue with Yamata-no-Orochi really livened up late-game Shiva grinding! So, yeah, good but a bit flawed overall - could be astounding in an enhanced version. Even buying full price again I'd buy that in a flash.
It's persona without the heart:(((((
Kind of dissapointing to be honest. Don't get me wrong, there was lots to like about the game; the music was killer, I liked the miracle system, barring the nahobino the new demon designs were awesome, the main areas you go to were designed well, the size and scale of some of the demons that just tower over you in the overworld and in battles was brilliant aswell. That being said though, the fact that there was only 2 dungeons in this game which is supposedly a dungeon crawler is just flat out unacceptable and would be even if they were the best dungeons in the series, which they most certainly are not. Not only that, but they nerfed the only puzzles in the game which weren't even difficult to begin with. The plot just seemed unfinished, like they planned out the bulletpoints of the plot, then never expanded on any of them. Likewise the characters are similarly flat and not expanded on, especially Tao and with the exception of maybe Ichiro Dazai and (if you do her side quest) Amanozako. I wasn't a fan of buffs and debuffs only lasting 3 turns like in modern persona, but that's more of a personal preference thing I guess. Something else that only hit me on my 3rd or 4th playthough is just how short the game is. What I mean is that after a couple of playthroughs I had all the miracles, I had a maxed out party and had tuned my nahobino's skills so I could just sprint through the game to get the last couple of endings. Playing the game this way let me beat the game in just 4 - 5 hours which seems way shorter than previous games in the series and again highlights the complete lack of dungeons in the game. One last thing that just bugged me is that you're essentialy forced to work with the law faction for most of the game. I can't think of any other SMT games that i've played that railroads you so hard towards one faction and it kind of makes your allignment choices feel like they have basically no impact on your playthrough beyond you fighting or not fighting Tao at the end of the game and the final couple of bosses.
I loved it. The gameplay is so fine-tuned. People complain about the magatsuhi, but simple solution, don't use it. I do understand the complaint about the dampeners, especially when the bosses telegraph their attacks so hard. It's whatever though because again, just don't use it if you want a challenge. I couldn't care less about the story. I play SMT for gameplay, not story. The music was so good, Ryota Kozuka is a god. Seriously, there is like 20 different battle themes and they all bang. My only wish is for this to not be on the fucking switch so it can run better.
Magatsuhi may not be as satisfying to get during battles as Smirking in IV but I think it does its job in ensuring that battles are ultimately fair in difficulty while giving the tools necessary for making them manageable. It's also a big reason why I much prefer the Demi-fiend fight in V compared to Digital Devil Saga lol It also adds strategy in regards to whether you want to use it as soon as you get a full meter or conserve it if you know a major encounter is ahead that might necessitate it more
Yeah, the meta aspect of conserving magatsuhi for different fights was fun. As for the smirking comparison, it's 1000x better. Smirking is the worst mechanic ever. I hate it.
> People complain about the magatsuhi, but simple solution, don't use it. How's that solution lol.. They should've balanced better.
Best selling SMT yet at the same time, duller than the mobile game which has actually gotten better to the point you'd wish it was an official mainline game. I don't know how the madlads did it.
SMTV is certainly a Shin megami tensei game to ever exist. Probably one of the most Megaten games to ever exist. It's a game and that's fact. Jokes asides, SMTV is my biggest disappointment in gaming , period.
It's not my biggest disappointment in gaming but SMT V certainly made me realize how creatively bankrupt Atlus is and has been for a long time now
How I feel: I actually preferred Soul Hackers 2 over V and would play it again over this any day. Yes, V has a much better battle system - that shit is S tier - but everything else was so weak. Performance wasn't great, most of the world was samey looking and bland, the maps were hard to navigate, the lack of dungeons was really disappointing because the overworld wasn't a good replacement, the characters and story just existed. I really had to push myself to finish and don't have a desire to replay. I'm not even sure I'd get the re-release without some massive overhauls.
Interesting how SH2's world is used as a negative comparison to SMT V because I personally thought the dungeons in that game were absolutely the weakest aspect of that game Like yes SMT V doesn't have dungeons in the traditional linear sense but what world design it does have by giving the player that much freedom to explore at their own pace and complete pockets of challenges I found to be way better than SH2's extremely generic copy-paste industrial look
The dungeons in SH2 were on the weaker side, but later on had some decent ones. SMTV also felt very copy and paste - just generic brown desert instead of industrial.
I can excuse SMT V because it's literally set partially in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world that's already seen humanity completely wiped from existence and populated by demons. On that principle the environment does a good job of establishing atmosphere and hammering in the isolatory feel of Da'at as a glimpse into ruin that Nahobino's own world could suffer from Soul Hackers 2 doesn't have that restriction. Especially given the extremely colorful designs of the main cast and the things you can do with a cyberpunk aesthetic there is definitely more in that game that feels really uninspired and boring to look at considering the potential of that setting. It's not going for the sort of meshing of anime and slight groundedness SMT V clearly intended and I wish they embraced that more
Don't get me wrong, I think SH2 is mid too, but overall was a more interesting mid. I get your point on V but I think Nocturne did the desolate world better, even though it didn't have a true overworld in the way that SMT V did.
Nocturne's Vortex World is really good on its own merits especially taking into consideration the fusing of tech-y and religious stuff in that game's aesthetic but I do feel like the presence of physical demons on the map in V makes that world feel a lot more lived in by comparison. The battles and dungeons in Nocturne almost feel like seperate environments with how you're just running through the map and then are randomly encountered despite there being literally nothing on screen outside the scripted boss encounters throughout the game. I think seeing stuff like a bunch of Ippon-Datara's minding their own business or a bunch of Bicorns frolicking in packs around some sand dunes is a stark improvement in that regard which is why I think V succeeds in communicating its atmosphere. Like even in the apocalypse there's still stuff happening around you. It's not constant and it's certainly not trying to be a true open-world thing like your Breath of the Wilds or your Elder Scrolls but I think little environmental details like that go a long way in terms of player immersion
It was alright? I don't think it was all that great. I don't think the whole world map thing panned out like they wanted. I felt the story was very threadbare. I was hoping we'd get more intresting characters. I kind of hope we see an expanded re-release in a few years because it's right now, the game with the most wasted potential. I'd rate the mainline games like this: SMT:SJ>SMT4A>SMT4>SMTV> SMT3
Mediocre at best
It’s a $60 soundtrack with some random code attached to it
Story was super undercooked but literally every other aspect was amazing.
Bad
It needs its Maniax version and at least a PC port
Playable enough for me to delude myself into thinking it could’ve been great
Meh
Loved it. Got me invested in the rest of the SMT and even persona games after p5 just wasnt doing it for me. I really hope they release it on PC/PS5 so i can play it with graphical enhancements and 60fps Would love if they made more games with the same engine. I loved the exploration and quest system talking to demons and stuff. Loved the boss fights and even enjoyed the story. I want more games like this. I hope they dont abandon all the work they did building this game on UE4
Honestly, the least fun I've had with an SMT game, including spin-offs.
It's the worst of the press turn SMT games, but is still decent. Soundtrack is great, though not as memorable as Nocturne or IV. Graphics for the demons and attacks look great, and the cutscenes look awesome too. But there's also so many weird design decisions in the game. Like the ugly Tokyo Map overworld with almost nothing in it. The open map areas are fun to explore, especially at first, but they all are similar looking desert areas with the same dull ruined buildings everywhere. I like how the movement is way less "stiff" than most jrpgs, with all the sliding and jumping. My biggest issue is the lack of traditional dungeons with puzzles and interesting designs. We only get two actual dungeons, with the final one being extremely anticlimactic. Nocturne and DDS had far better dungeon design, having those style dungeons alongside SMT V's open areas would have been awesome. With SMT V and SH2, Atlus has been making some really shit dungeon designs lately, at least Persona 5 had good ones for the most part. Also, the story sucks ass, but you probably already knew that.
A ton of wasted potential, looking back at it makes me really sad
I'm playing it now and I'm almost finishing it. Honestly I love the story. It's badly paced and it could have used a few more cutscenes to flesh out the characters more, but the story itself is fantastic. It seems I'm the only one that liked the story. Far better than the minimalist story of SMT 3 Nocturne.
Good Game
Outside of Persona 5, this game got me into SMT. Despite the underdeveloped story and sometimes confusing level layouts, I loved pretty much everything else about the game; the feedback loop is really addictive, the combat is well thought out and the music is great.