Shin Megami Tensei V Reviews
Several years after SMT4, Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a huge revitalization of Atlus' flagship JRPG that new and returning fans will enjoy thoroughly.
Shin Megami Tensei V's excellent JRPG combat and deeply rewarding customization shine bright, even when it sometimes feels like Persona without the heart.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a punishing delight. It revels in its classic approach to combat and exploration, brought to life with a battered and broken vision of our world as it teeters on the edge of extinction. JRPGs of the modern era are often content to hold our hands and guide us through each new journey, but Atlus decides to punch us in the gut, steal our wallet, and sprint away as we try desperately to catch up. As I’ve said time and time again, this isn’t a game for everyone, but those who gel with its specific brand of masochism will find something very special indeed.
Shin Megami Tensei V enhances its formula with expansive areas and more ability customization. The result is a mostly entertaining ride, albeit with a few bumps along the way
Shin Megami Tensei V may be slow-paced, but its strategic turn-based combat and dark, foreboding atmosphere deliver a challenging and rewarding RPG experience.
There are more quality-of-life updates that go beyond combat. While roaming through areas, you will now stumble upon orbs that can recharge your health, SP (mana for magic attacks), or Magatsuhi gauge. The return pillar allows you to return to the last checkpoint you interacted with on a whim without any penalization (perfect to save your game, restore health to your party for a small fee, visit the merchant, or fuse demons). Loot is fairly generous as well; a companion character who follows you around pinpoints item spots that sometimes lead to fights, but more often than not just grants you an item.
Shin Megami Tensei 5’s combat is great, punishing and rewarding in equal measure without ever tipping the scales too far in one direction. Mixing and matching your deck of demons makes for great fun as well, and spurs you to look to all corners of the ruined world for allies of all shapes and sizes. It’s everything outside of the battling and grungy soundtrack where Shin Megami Tensei 5 badly misses the mark, with one-note characters that you’re never given the chance to better know, and a paper-thin plot that feels dragged out over dozens of hours. Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a good RPG battler, but it’s not good at much else.
Shin Megami Tensei V is one of the best RPGs of 2021.
Shin Megami Tensei V brings players an old-school challenge with some modern concessions.
Shin Megami Tensei V is a modern masterpiece. It successfully delivers on all the aspects that have made the series thus far so popular with fans-namely through its high difficulty, heavy narrative themes, and expansive team-building options-while polishing up and tightening the weaker aspects. Things like a more easily navigable map and more difficulty options to cater to players of all skill levels comfortably make this the most approachable entry in the series, and it feels like there's more things to do in the world than ever before. If you are at all a fan of RPGs or have been looking for a good entry point into this oft overlooked series, we would strongly encourage you to pick this up as soon as you can. Shin Megami Tensei V was worth the wait, Atlus has successfully stuck the landing with this one.
Shin Megami Tensei V has a deep and satisfying combat system making every fight a challenge, as well as an engaging story and great visuals.
Shin Megami Tensei V is a return through the big door. A delivery that modernizes the saga without depriving it of its flavor, its delicious roughness, or levels of demand that contribute decisively to draw an experience with character. Combat and high-flying exploration to enjoy for dozens of hours.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei 5 brings back the things that fans love about the series. Its biggest sin is that it doesn’t do much to innovate. Fans that were expecting to see a brand new vision for SMT will be confused because this is essentially the same demon collecting dungeon crawler it has always been.
The battle system is excellent but the Shin Megami Tensei series once again misses a golden opportunity to reincarnate itself, with its sparse plot and sky high difficulty.
Visually very original, playably very familiar and narratively very interesting are the adjectives that join AAA production values to put on the table one of the best RPGs of the year and, possibly, of the decade.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei V is a severe JRPG, at times even a bit 'heavy, but capable of standing out thanks to its flawless integralism in building an extraordinary gameplay.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Shin Megami Tensei V trascends divinity achieving a perfect balance between heaven and hell: it's and ode to the classics, to those JRPG's that weren't afraid of being complex and challenging, but it's also a modern game, adapted to current times and trends..
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The seemingly endless possibilities of Shin Megami Tensei V directly fueled my desire to play it from the moment I got my copy. It’s overwhelming, but compartmentalized. The world is technically finite, but feels limitless. It’s just what a lot of people want out of an RPG, and the strong personality-driven throughput helps propel it past a lot of its competition.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is yet another gem for the Nintendo Switch that every JRPG fan needs to check out.