Regardless of being a flagship franchise, Atlus has by no means shied away from taking dangers and experimenting with Shin Megami Tensei. Even with out taking spinoffs like Persona or Satan Summoner into consideration, the “core” collection has taken new types and reinvented itself over a number of many years and platforms. 2021’s Shin Megami Tensei V was a primary instance, each respecting its oppressive, hardcore roots whereas embracing Atlus’ evolving viewers and standard shifts in video games as an entire. It solely is smart that in revisiting such a current title, Atlus has performed excess of produce a easy port with some bonuses. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is aptly titled; it’s an act of defiance in opposition to conference, criticism, and possibly even its personal status.
SMT V was a giant deal for the collection, its HD debut after beforehand shifting from the PlayStation 2 to the 3DS. It was a novel mixture of post-apocalyptic doom and gloom with colourful superhero motion. Because the “Nabohino,” a strong fusion of human and artificial demon, gamers traversed the sand dunes of a long-dead Tokyo, preventing for management of the longer term within the aftermath of a conflict between Heaven and Hell. Whereas some discovered the story lonely with a definite lack of supporting characters, I discovered SMT’s recurring theme of a lone human preventing a hopeless battle in a world already misplaced extra resonant than ever in the midst of a pandemic.
On the floor, SMT V: Vengeance is a house run with none additional effort. The unique sport being a Swap unique meant it arrived with inevitable technical compromises. Vengeance remains to be on the Swap, however its multiplatform debut means each inch of its world is out in full drive. This sport is as colourful as it’s dour, juxtaposing multicultural spiritual imagery with post-apocalyptic destruction. Merely having the ability to sprint throughout the shining dunes of Da’at (previously Tokyo) with out the body charge sputtering is definitely worth the worth of admission.
However there’s a lot extra to Vengeance than a touch-up below the hood. Relatively than being a sequel within the type of SMT IV: Apocalypse or a pseudo spinoff like SMT: If, Vengeance provides a completely new marketing campaign situation. Practically your complete story is totally retold, utilizing the unique premise as a springboard to leap right into a situation with new central characters, antagonists, and completely completely different endings. On prime of that could be a large quantity of retooling, with adjustments and changes that vary from quality-of-life tweaks to brand-new options solely. Vengeance is nearly an entire new sport that treats the unique as a tough draft. “Virtually” is a key phrase right here, as a result of the unique situation can also be selectable in the beginning, so you possibly can nonetheless expertise the unique story whereas having fun with the brand new options and changes.
In some ways, the brand new situation looks like a direct response to issues gamers had with SMT V the primary time round. As a returning participant and a longtime fan of the collection on the whole, it’s a weird setup with a formidable stage of self-awareness. Moments happen when the story seems to alter from the unique in a direct and crowd-pleasing method, just for it to yank the rug out from you violently, twisting the twist to make it much more disagreeable than earlier than. Whereas I didn’t agree with the criticisms that led to this new marketing campaign within the first place, having an entire new story to dig into that toyed with my earlier information was plenty of enjoyable.
The brand new character was intriguing and added lots to the situation, and getting extra of the returning forged admittedly fleshed out the plot extra. I did discover having them playable to be sort of foolish, as utilizing a group stuffed with my very own demons was at all times extra productive anyway.
This remixed method might be complicated to a newcomer. Fortunately, Vengeance accounts for that too, and the selection of which model to pursue is introduced in-game in a method that’s virtually seamless. It merely looks like but another choice in a sport and collection stuffed with decisions that affect the place the narrative goes. There isn’t particular consideration drawn to it, nor does it really feel like a clumsy try to interchange or undermine the unique. It’s simply extra SMT V to dive into, which for an already jam-packed RPG stuffed with narrative company and monster-collecting motion, is extra meals on the desk for the feast. And it was a hell of a feast to start with.
