Shin Megami Tensei V

Shin Megami Tensei V (真・女神転生V) is a 2021 role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo Switch. It is part of the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Produced by Shin Megami Tensei IV director Kazuyuki Yamai, it was designed as a hybrid between Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and Shin Megami Tensei IV, featuring returning gameplay mechanics such as raising and fusing demons.

Shin Megami Tensei V received generally positive reviews from critics. As of April 2022, the game sold over one million copies. An enhanced version subtitled Vengeance was released on June 14, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay
Shin Megami Tensei V is a role-playing video game that features returning gameplay elements from previous Shin Megami Tensei games, such as the ability to fuse demons, along with new mechanics.

Setting and characters
The events of Shin Megami Tensei V are divided between two settings: modern-day Tokyo, and a post-apocalyptic landscape called the Da'at. The Da'at was originally an alternate version of Tokyo destroyed in a war between the Angels, who follow the Creator, and the demons loyal to the rebel angel Lucifer. Prior to the game's opening, Lucifer successfully kills the Creator, triggering a power vacuum where other deities who had lost their Knowledge to the Creator seek to regain it and ascend the Throne of Creation. The Bethel Organization, an alliance of divine beings and human operatives from across the world, protects the real world from the Da'at's influence. With Vengeance, the story splits into two branches: the "Canon of Creation" which is the original storyline, and the "Canon of Vengeance" with altered events.

The game's silent protagonist is a high school student who is drawn into the Da'at, and through fusion with the artificial Proto-Fiend Aogami becomes the Nahobino, a demon-like being who has regained their divine Knowledge. There are multiple supporting characters who represent the game's moral alignments: the friendly but dim-witted Ichiro Dazai represents "law", Bethel agent Yuzuru Atsuta represents "chaos", while the rogue Shohei Yakumo and his demon companion Nüwa represent neutrality.

Supporting characters include Tao Isonokami, Bethel's mystical Saint: Miyazu Atsuta, Yuzuru's shy younger sister: and Sahori Itsukishima, a bullied fellow student. Supernatural representatives are the angel Abdiel, who remains devoted to the Creator: Hayao Koshimizu, Bethel Japan's leader and the human form of Tsukuyomi: and Lahmu, an antagonistic fallen deity. Vengeance adds Yoko Hiromine, an independent Saint; the Qadištu, a group of female demons composed of Naamah, Eisheth, Agrat, and their leader Lilith: and the angel Mastema.

Plot
Coming home from school one day, the protagonist and Ichiro are pulled into the Da'at, where Aogami saves the protagonist from a demon attack by merging with him, becoming a Nahobino. He and Ichiro are met by Yuzuru, who together with Koshimizu recruits them into Bethel where they keep demons from leaving the Da'at. The protagonist learns the current version of Tokyo is not the true one, but a copy generated by the Creator when the real Tokyo was swallowed by a magical phenomenon, becoming the Da'at. The Nahobino is also revealed to be an existence forbidden by the Creator: Aogami's actions prove Lucifer's claim, and at a meeting of Bethel's branch leaders, Abdiel is defeated when she attacks the protagonist while in denial of the Creator's death. The other deities including Koshimizu dissolve Bethel to recover their Knowledge and ascend the Throne of Creation.

Alongside these conflicts, the protagonist frequently crosses paths with Yakumo and Nüwa, who seek to destroy the Throne of Creation and allow humanity to control their future. During an attack on the protagonist's school, Miyazu is briefly kidnapped, and Sahori is influenced by Lahmu into killing her bullies and becoming its Nahobino. The protagonist is mortally wounded by Lahmu, but Tao sacrifices herself to revive the protagonist, who then kills Lahmu and Sahori. Tao's sacrifice awakens her a goddess who will lead a Nahobino to the Throne of Creation, choosing to guide the protagonist when the false Tokyo collapses and the Da'at overwhelms reality. In parallel, Yuzuru unites with Koshimizu to bring about divine diversity despite inevitable conflict, while Dazai convinces Abdiel to merge with him and create a conforming world of peace.

The protagonist gains keys from the former Bethel deities to access the Temple of Eternity, which holds the Throne of Creation. At this point, the protagonist can side with either Ichiro or Yuzuru, or agree with Yakumo's goal to destroy the Throne: the latter choice causes Tao to abandon him. Regardless of choice, all the other candidates are killed, and the protagonist ascends to the Throne. If the protagonist completes certain side missions and sides with Yakumo, Nüwa reveals an alternate possibility of using the Throne to create a world free of gods and demons, which Tao is willing to support. In all but the ending where the Throne is destroyed, Lucifer appears to grants his Knowledge to the protagonist in a final battle so their new world will potentially be everlasting.

In the Vengeance storyline, Yoko accompanies the protagonist for much of their journey, and the Qadištu interfere with events while gathering power to awaken the primordial goddess Tiamat. Miyazu is briefly kidnapped before finding sanctuary with a sympathetic demon, while Mastema blesses Ichiro to fight against the Da'at's demons. The Qadištu succeed in sacrificing the protagonist, with Tiamat's awakening devastating the Da'at and killing Nüwa. Aogami sacrifices himself to save the protagonist, and Yoko awakens as a goddess who seeks to destroy and remake the world free of ruling gods. Ichiro and Abdiel kill Yuzuru, and Koshimizu merges with the protagonist to restore his Nahobino form. Tao in her goddess form guides the protagonist to the Temple of Eternity, seeking to restore and preserve the world. On the way he is forced to kill Ichiro and Abdiel. Depending on the protagonist's choices during the game, he sides with either Tao or Yoko to support their respective goals: the latter prompts Mastema to attack. In both, a fight with Tiamat kills Koshimizu and allows Aogami to return, then Lucifer grants his power before the new world is born.

Development
Shin Megami Tensei V was developed by Atlus, and was produced by Kazuyuki Yamai, who previously directed Shin Megami Tensei IV. One of the development team's goals with the game was to depict and sympathize with modern issues, such as unemployment, unease about retirement, terrorism and nuclear weapons, and home problems. The game was developed as a hybrid between the "profound charm" of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and the demon-raising gameplay in Shin Megami Tensei IV.



The game was developed using the game engine Unreal Engine 4, a first for Atlus; according to Yamai, moving to Unreal Engine 4 changed the way they create games, as the ability to create something and immediately see it within the game allows them to spend more time on trial and error and coming up with ideas. The decision to develop the game for the Nintendo Switch was made because Yamai liked its portability combined with its capability for high-definition graphics; even though there were some challenges involved, because this was Atlus's first time developing for the Switch platform. The superior hardware capabilities of the Nintendo Switch meant that the demons in the game took approximately three times as long to develop when compared to previous Shin Megami Tensei games.

The game was revealed in January 2017 as part of Nintendo's unveiling of the Nintendo Switch console, in the form of a teaser trailer featuring a destroyed office building and a number of demons. At the time of the announcement, development had just started, and the game was presented as Shin Megami Tensei: Brand New Title; the Shin Megami Tensei V title was announced in October of the same year, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original Shin Megami Tensei, along with a new trailer showing a modern-day Tokyo train station and a post-apocalyptic city scene. At this point, Yamai described development as not even far enough for Atlus to be able to say "coming soon". By February 2018, he described the project as having entered "full-scale development", with more and more Atlus staff joining the production. Although Atlus USA did not initially know whether they would get to localize the game for the Western market, they still sent out a press release about the game's announcement in January 2017; an international release was announced in November 2017. Responding to worries about the development's progress following a lack of status updates, Atlus reaffirmed in 2019 that the game was still in active development.

Release
Shin Megami Tensei V was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch in November 2021, launching in Japan on November 11, 2021, before debuting overseas the following day. It is the first Atlus and Megami Tensei title to receive a worldwide simultaneous launch.

Alongside the game's standard release, the launch was accompanied by the distribution of a first-print steelbook edition available to those who pre-ordered or bought the game during the week of release, in addition to the "Fall of Man Premium Edition", which bundled the game with specialized packaging, a sling bag, a handbook chronicling all the demons found in the game, a t-shirt modeled after the main protagonist's school attire, and the game's soundtrack on two CDs.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
On February 21, 2024, an enhanced version, titled Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, was announced during Nintendo's Partner Direct, and will be available on Nintendo Switch, in addition to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Initially announced for June 21, 2024, its worldwide release date was later moved to June 14, 2024.

Vengeance allows the players to experience the original story of Shin Megami Tensei V in the "Canon of Creation" route, or choose a second route, "Canon of Vengeance", with drastic changes in the latter half of the game. Each route is estimated to be 80 hours long and features different endings. The "Canon of Vengeance" features new characters, such as the heroine Yoko Hiromine and a demon group Qadištu headed by Lilith.

This version adds new locations, quality of life features, gameplay mechanics, and over 40 additional demons, including some specifically created for Vengeance by artist Masayuki Doi. The downloadable content from the original release is included with the base game, but Vengeance will launch with its own DLC quests, featuring Dagda from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and a new demon Konohana Sakuya.

Vengeance does not offer an upgrade path or save file transfer for players of the original release. Instead, they can transfer three demons from the Shin Megami Tensei V compendium to the Nintendo Switch version of Vengeance. In relation, the original release (and all its accompanying DLC) was delisted from the Nintendo eShop on June 13, 2024, the day before Vengeance’s official launch date.

Reception
Shin Megami Tensei V received "generally favorable reviews" according to Metacritic.

Polygon praised the scale of the game's world and writing, stating that "Despite the performance issues, the bigger areas and new engine allow for some creatures to be truly breathtaking and terrifying". IGN's Leana Hafer liked the essence system, feeling that it was "possible to create some absurdly powerful and specialized teams that can take on almost any challenge". GameSpot enjoyed the tension of actions in the game, "Every action in SMTV has a weight to it, and that's what makes the game so fun and engaging". Game Informer said "Shin Megami Tensei V makes smart improvements to its already strong core, creating an entertaining and rewarding journey".

George Yang of Bloody Disgusting gave the game a positive review, praising the modernity of the game, and the Tokyo setting, while calling it one of the best JRPGs of the year. Destructoid liked the fast-travel system, liking how the feature allowed players to teleport back before a boss or move between biomes easily. VG247 felt the refinements made to demon negotiation helped make the mechanic more understandable, with the reviewer stating "the tone of your answers when entering talks with a demon actually matter, and you’ll quickly build a familiarity with some of the more common personality traits of demons". Andrew Stretch of TechRaptor gave the game a very positive rating, summing up their review by saying "Shin Megami Tensei V understands its roots in RPG combat, demonic friendships, and plotlines about toppling gods. This new entry takes advantage of the next generation of Nintendo console and improves vastly in look, feel, and world exploration".

Nintendo World Report 's Donald Theriault praised the move to open world environments, writing that, "every square inch of the thoroughly nuked Tokyo has spots to explore".

Sales
The game debuted as the highest selling physical video game of the week in Japan, with an estimated 143,247 copies sold. It stayed in the top 10 for another two weeks and would go on to sell a total of 184,388 physical copies in Japan before dropping out of Famitsu 's reports. In the UK, it debuted as the ninth highest selling, and outperformed other recent Japanese role-playing game releases in the region including Bravely Default II, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and Tales of Arise. In a New Year's message published by Famitsu, Atlus announced that the game had sold 800,000 copies. In April 2022, Atlus announced that the game had sold over one million copies worldwide. As of December 31, 2022, the game has sold 1.1 million copies.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance sold over 500,000 copies worldwide within three days of release.

Accolades
Shin Megami Tensei V was nominated for Best Role-Playing Game at The Game Awards 2021, as well as Role-Playing Game of the Year at the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, but lost to Tales of Arise and Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, respectively.