Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

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Nintendo’s Switch is powered by a fantastic concept – take the same games you play at home on the go without having to compromise in terms of performance or gameplay. By and large, the Switch kept this promise, but it does so in a “corrupted wish” fashion worthy of the most sinister genie: as the years have ground on since the Switch’s release, you can feel confident that performance parity is achieved by having games run poorly in every situation, whether playing docked or handheld. The Switch wasn’t exactly a killer machine back in 2017 and it’s definitely skipped leg day since then.

That’s why it’s always so delightful to see Switch-exclusive games make their way to other platforms. Games like Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny blossom when they’re able to run on something a little more powerful than an abacus. We’ve recently been blessed with another great example: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, an enhanced and expanded version of the original game + the new DLC content. This update takes an RPG that was rock solid despite the Switch’s shortcomings and gives it some space to roam, turning a must-play adventure into an absolutely-must-play adventure.

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The world has eaten it, much as it tends to in the Shin Megami Tensei series. As one of the seemingly few humans to survive the cataclysm, you’re alone and defenseless in a wasteland full of demons. Thankfully, that “defenseless” part doesn’t last too long – you end up bonding with Aogami, a powerful Proto-Fiend, and by merging together you can form the mighty Nahobino, a fusion of human, demon and stylin’ hair that’s capable of kicking plenty of demonic butt. As the Nahobino, you’ll scour the ruined world and protect whatever’s still worth protecting, perhaps even discovering there’s more going on here than just the usual apocalypse. It won’t surprise anyone to say the plot’s full of twists, turns and occult craziness and it’s half the fun of this adventure.

SMTV offers a new take on the SMT series that’s spiced up with a little of that open-world goodness you’ve come to know and love. Fans of Genshin Impact are bound to enjoy exploring the wasted world of Da’at, searching for goodies and battling demons as they go. There’s demonic Abscesses to clear out, hidden Miman to rescue for prizes, side quests to clear, treasure all over the place…if you needed reasons to run around and explore the world, there are plenty to go around. Controlling the Nahobino is a pleasure thanks to their speedy dash and mad hops and the world design does a great job of rewarding you for searching every nook and cranny. There’s also something to be said for the way SMTV represents combat encounters as actual demons on the field that you can engage in combat via sword strikes rather than using random battles or SMTIV’s abstract icons.

As for that combat, it’s closer to classic SMT than the open-world gameplay surrounding it. Battles are turn-based and use the Press Turn system introduced in SMT: Nocturne, allowing you to take extra actions when you land attacks against enemy weak points. As is typical of the series, you’ll collect a vast menagerie of friendly demons by engaging in negotiation and fusion, and keeping a varied array of attack types is key to making the most out of each fight. Likewise, your own party has weaknesses that you’ll have to account for, lest you eat it just like the world did. Your opponents are mean and don’t play around; expect to die a lot, particularly the first time you encounter bosses.

You can, however, take the upper hand by using SMTV’s new Apotheosis system, which allows you to enhance the Nahobino and their allies by spending divine Glory on permanent buffs and absorbing the Essences of monsters to gain new skills and resistances. Between this system and allocating points obtained via levelling up, it’s possible to build your own Nahobino and tweak that build to suit your needs. The Essence concept in particular helps spice up SMTV’s character development quite a bit – Essences make for both great treasure and a worthy rare loot drop, so there’s a lot of fun to be had in searching for just the right Essence to fulfill your plans.

Vengeance takes all of the above, lets you play it on a machine powerful enough to run the game above single-digit framerates, and adds an absolutely absurd pile of new content on top of that. When we mentioned the new Vengeance storyline above, you might reasonably assume we mean that the plot branches off later in the game…but no, Vengeance essentially remixes all of SMTV, twisting familiar settings and events into something unexpected. There’s new allies for the Nahobino, including playable human companions, and new adversaries to battle. It’s amazing, these changes start occurring right from the start of the game, and you’re still completely free to play the original plot instead if you’d like to do so.

Beyond that, Vengeance adds in plenty of gameplay tweaks and updates to bring SMTV into the new era, even if you’re playing the original plot. There’s new, hidden grind-rail points in the world to expand the already-huge open maps, for instance, and many demon companions have been given new skills and stat boosts to bring everyone a little more in line in terms of power. There’s new Nahobino-specific skills as well, filling out some missing niche options, so if you want to play a support-specific Nahobino you’re absolutely free to do that now. The list of changes is too long to mention in a review, but suffice to say that Vengeance would be worth a playthrough even if you didn’t have access to a whole new plot.

Finally, Vengeance looks and plays absolutely amazing when playing on modern hardware. This is how you’ve always wanted SMTV to look and feel, with a buttery-smooth framerate and an absolutely gorgeous resolution. Grab this game on PC or even your midrange gaming to make it sing, or just check it out on Xbox or PlayStation. Heck, if all you want is the new, fancy content, you can still play on Switch! Welcome to the modern world, enjoy your stay.

It’s saying something when a game is good enough to recommend despite technical and performance problems, which easy easy for the original Shin Megami Tensei V. When that game’s freed of those problems, though, you’ve got something special, which is the case with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Fire up your modern console – or, well, grab it on your Switch because it’s still basically the same experience – and leap into the netherworld. You’ve got a fancy lightsaber, a fancier hairdo and plenty of demons to take out.