Shin Megami Tensei V

With the death of the almighty Creator, the disintegration of Shin Megami Tensei V's world begins. Ever since this event, various factions have been fighting for the right to reshape the world to their liking. After our silent protagonist merges with a mystical being at the beginning of the game, we find ourselves in the middle of this on-going conflict. By becoming a deity called "Nahobino" we gain sheer endless potential and as we discover more about ourselves and the true nature of this world, we come to understand that our power elevates us to participate in this gruesome contest. But until we can ultimately determine the future of this broken world, we have many hardships to overcome.

If you are not familiar with the Shin Megami Tensei series, then perhaps the comparison with Pokémon will give you an idea. From a gameplay perspective, there are many similarities between these two franchises, like collecting and training creatures that ultimately fuel stronger specimens. Unlike Game Freak's pocket monsters, however, you don't throw little balls at full-grown angels and demons, but instead persuade them to join you in entangled negotiations. This is a traditional part of the series, where you have to cater to your opponent's personality to impress them (or bribe them with items and money).

Battles in SMT are turn-based and just like in Pokémon, there are affinities and type weaknesses that define your attack power. A unique feature of Shin Megami Tensei is the "Press Turn" system, which rewards critical attacks with another action. If you cleverly adapt your moves to your opponents, you can get much more out of a single turn and thus defeat even the mightiest enemies. However, your opponents can also make use of this mechanic, which is something you always have to keep in mind. Passing on and inheriting passive characteristics and active abilities is an elementary component of these games, since they allow you to play around the strict combat rules, offering an enormous amount of depth.

It takes a few hours to internalise all this, which is why newcomers to Shin Megami Tensei V will have a particular hard time. The title can make you feel completely out of place, but sometimes a single ability or a useful item can turn an almost unsolvable task into a walk in the park. Even on the normal difficulty, you will spend a lot of time in various menus to grow strong demons with helpful abilities or to adjust potential weaknesses in your strategies. Things can get tricky and because there is no automatic save system in place, you cannot even be careless while grinding.

Once again, Atlus has chosen to release the latest SMT instalment on a Nintendo console. This Nintendo Switch-exclusive is a massive innovation for the whole series, as the ruined world of Da'at features sprawling 3D backdrops whose destroyed remains we'll freely explore. Although we still work our way through rather linear map sections, the classic labyrinth character of the older titles now emerge a feeling of branching, open areas. The gameplay core consisting of battles and conversations got mixed up with some platforming elements, too, which we usually see in 3D adventures.

The graphical leap from the 3DS is of course huge, but compared to current flagship RPGs, such as Bandai Namco's recent releases, the purely visual presentation of this Unreal Engine 4 game is downright subdued. The limited hardware has problems to follow an agile god around a freely explorable urban environment. The surreal world of Da'at suffers from the technical drawbacks, as well, because the low visibility does not do justice to the sheer vastness of this unimaginable space. Additionally, in very busy 3D sections, the frame rate drops noticeably.

Nevertheless, the newfound movement options are a nice fit for the game, not only because they offer a welcome break from the battles. If you explore the game's world diligently, you will find demonic allies, challenging enemies that put your skills to the test, and helpful items. Look out for small goblins and objects that provide you with an in-game currency called Glory while you are out there. You can use this resource to unlock passive abilities that can help your progress in many ways. Quests tend to reward you with rare fusion formulas, and although these side quests are usually not that exciting, you do get to have a say in the outcome of a few missions from time to time. By the way, your decisions will influence the end of your story, too.

For a long time I wasn't sure what to make of Shin Megami Tensei V. The game is permeated with religious motifs and unusual themes that create an intriguing end-time atmosphere. You shouldn't expect a feel-good game in the style of Persona, but a rather gloomy story about gathering strength to push through your visions of a new beginning. The central game skeleton is true to the old DNA, although the new elements cover this up very cleverly. Exploring a three-dimensional game world is a great gameplay addition, but in purely visual terms, I think Shin Megami Tensei V's artistic intent is held back by the Nintendo Switch's hardware. That's the price of being able to play a game of this calibre on the go.