Negotiating with demons in Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance is as dangerous, unpredictable, and hilarious as it’s ever been in the 32 years of the series’ existence, and like much in this latest entry will feel very familiar to fans of Atlus’ long-running apocalyptic RPG. Tokyo is once again the place where sassy mythological beings and neon-lined sci-fi meet, where programming and prayers have equal power.
And as is now expected of a series that tends to treat reality-warping catastrophes and fights with every god and demon around as just another Tuesday, Vengeance begins with an enticing mix of everyday life, ethereal mysticism, vague warnings of impending doom—and then throws in a brand new choice, just to make sure I don’t get too comfortable. A single new interactive scene has been seamlessly slotted into SMT5’s original opening, a simple decision determining whether the story afterwards plays out in exactly the same way it did on the Nintendo Switch back in 2021 (now dubbed the Creation story) or whether it follows the new Vengeance route.
Demon Hunter School
This new path swiftly unfurls into a fascinating string of significant changes containing everything from exclusive major characters, new enemies, and shocking plot twists to very different takes on old events. Even if you’ve already cleared the old SMT5 in every way possible, Vengeance still has an entire game’s worth of surprises ready to go.
Bullying Bosses
And with so many deadly skills to learn and demons to fuse together into new and increasingly outlandish abominations, I’m encouraged to get creative about combat too. If I can’t overpower a boss, then why don’t I try weakening it instead? Why not boost my party’s evasion, forcing its attacks to miss and its upcoming damage-dealing turns to disappear in the process? Why not use an item that completely blocks its favourite elemental attack just before it has a chance to unleash anything? The strategic possibilities here are endless, and before long I’m leaving bosses begging for a turn of their own, after which they’ll probably just hit someone on their own team.
Most of the time, anyway. Some days I’m too tired, or too busy, or just too excited to see where the story goes to want to spend my free time carefully constructing the sort of teams and tactics able to topple gods and send demons scuttling back to the netherworld. So it’s a good thing Vengeance is happy to help, once more. Thanks to its easy-going approach to difficulty settings it can keep the story going for everyone, from dedicated demon hunters to first-timers.