Shin Megami Tensei V

[HandsomeDead]

I'm around six hours in so in the scope of these games that isn't much but I have some stuff to say I guess.

 

So you play a kid in a Tokyo high school and some strange murders are happening and you and your friends who is trying to investigate it like a YouTuber would gets sucked into this world after Armageddon happens.  Its posed to you that it's twenty years into your future and Tokyo is destroyed and buried in sand as well as demons hanging out pretty much everywhere.  You also kind of fuse with a demon who talks like an android.  There is a slight change of circumstances for our boy.

 

I've spent all my time running around this glittery, sandy area so far; fighting demons and helping out some others.  The areas are kinda big and make me think of Xenoblade Chronicles more than anything else.  I say that because they have these hidden areas with fun secrets and are quite intricate.  They're quite a bit smaller but they have similar ideas in how they're built.  It's unexpected compared to the fourth game {and I'd imagine the ones before that} as they are dungeon based having you explore these tight areas.  The other reason It reminds me of XC is there are tough enemies that are meant to be fought way later roaming around blocking areas and just generally keeping you on your toes.  Exploration has this constant pressure though as the combat even with basic enemies can be dangerous if you don't have the right team so it can get a bit stressful when loads of enemies are around a place you want to be.

 

Combat is still strong in this game as it was before because with the right attacks and spells you easily dominate a fight but the flipside is so can the enemy if you let them in.  You essentially get another turn if you hit with a critical hit or hit an elemental weakness.  This can be easy once you've found those weaknesses but going into a new area with new enemies or bosses make you try to stay safe while you experiment with different moves.  I've been finding the game still pushes you hard into really thinking about using everything you can in a smart way.  What's working for me so far for the boss I beat so far and harder enemies is having one of the last demons in my squad have a sleep attack so after I've got all my attacks out I just use that then they miss a turn and I can go through my bullshit again.

 

Yes, you have a squad of demons.  You have three in a fight and can carry six but that can increase as the game goes on so yes it is a bit like Pokémon.  But here you can fuse two or more together to make new demons so that's what I've ended up doing so I can make room for more.  But you don't catch them in a ball you have to talk to them and convince them to come with you.  You have to try and asses what personality they'd have and basically tell them what they want to hear and bribe them.  There's probably an optimal way of doing it but as long as I have enough stuff I just give them what they want and hope they aren't complete arseholes and just bounce {they've not done that yet here but I know it's a thing they can do}.   Oh, and a tip; don't try to befriend a demon with a higher level than you because they don't come with you then, but I did have one situation where when I fought the same enemy in the same area it did come with me once I talked to it at the right level with no convincing.

 

I don't have much to say about the story so far as its early and sploilers but it seems pretty typical of the series but I'm about to go to where some angels live so maybe things will start picking up there.

[Maf]

My interest in this game was kind of middling but this tweet might have changed my whole tune lol

 

 

[HandsomeDead]

That's pretty good but I liked the demon that just straight asked me if I was a Top or a Bottom more.  I wish I screenshot it.

 

 

I'm having a hard time of it now though.  I've died so many times and I've put in about three hours since I last posted and I've barely moved.  I had to go back and do a bunch of sidequests to level up since the pricks got really tough.  I'm two levels under the current boss I'm fighting but she still eats all my attacks despite me customising a team just for fighting her with her weaknesses but I still barely make a scratch.  I feel like I'm missing something.

[spatular]

I was going to start this earlier but then they released the halo multiplayer, which was odd. Anyway it sounds difficult, hope theres an easy mode or im screwed.

[HandsomeDead]

There is but I can't say how easy it is.

[spatular]

Nice one, cheers! The one in nocturne was super easy, maybe a bit too easy, but it was sort of fun as its like youre the boss character.

[DANGERMAN]

my copy hasn't arrived yet, but yeah, Shin Megami games are a lot harder than Persona, so if you're coming to this from that it's a massive step up. The only one I finished is 4 which is mostly a lot easier, stuff like Strange Journey and some of the Srpg games I've not got close to finishing (Strange Journey I think will happen one day).

 

Unfortunately the best advice is to grind a bit and hit weaknesses, hitting weaknesses means extra turns to hit weaknesses. If it's anything like some of the other games there might be heal spots you can exploit if you find them, and eventually perks that might heal you as you walk or get MP back after battles

[DANGERMAN]

I'm about 15 hours in to this now, not counting time I've lost to dying, and it still feels like I'm waiting for it to properly start. I'd completely forgotten about the actual plot until something popped up last night in a side conversation (just getting to the area where the angels are). I suppose it's good to mix things up, but there's something to be said for a short dungeon or two before you get in to the meat of it

 

I've not messed with the demon essence stuff as much as I should. By the sounds of it I should be able to breed out weaknesses from the main character using that, and it seems to be the only way he gets more moves. I'm clearly not using it enough, but equally my demons have so little space for moves still I can't give them much, it seems like a waste of the spells.

 

I do now have a perk where I heal and get a small amount of sp back if the special meter is full. Handy , but spells cost double in this game what they do in other Shin Megami games, so it needs levelling up a few times I think

[DANGERMAN]

On 15/11/2021 at 20:26, HandsomeDead said:

That's pretty good but I liked the demon that just straight asked me if I was a Top or a Bottom more.  I wish I screenshot it.

 

 

I'm having a hard time of it now though.  I've died so many times and I've put in about three hours since I last posted and I've barely moved.  I had to go back and do a bunch of sidequests to level up since the pricks got really tough.  I'm two levels under the current boss I'm fighting but she still eats all my attacks despite me customising a team just for fighting her with her weaknesses but I still barely make a scratch.  I feel like I'm missing something.

the Diet building by any chance? I'm very close to beating it, but getting wiped out by my weakness, might have to look at replacing my strengths/weaknesses

[HandsomeDead]

Yeah, it turned out to be nothing really.  I beat it quite easily in the end, well it bailed when it was half dead, I was previously very close but went away and prepped and built for a full fight 😅 

 

I got quite a bit further into the second big area but left it.  I'm gonna go back to it soon.

[Maryokutai]

Started playing this a bit, I'm around 7 hours in I think. You know it's SMT when you can't even get past the first proper boss without using literally every tool at your disposal to even have a fighting chance. I like the QOL changes though, like being able to simply fuse a demon out of a menu without first having to summon them from your compenion. I have never completed a mainline SMT game so maybe this will be the first, but so far it's fun, albeit not really groundbreaking or anything. I really like the music though, the level-up theme is particularly catchy.

 

The one thing that bothers me is how ugly it is. The art-direction and character/monster design can only carry so much when you see these undetailed Unreal Engine mountain assets on the horizon and the rubble popping up three meters in front of you. I've usually no problem looking past stuff like that but for some reason I find it almost distracting here. I've played indie games that look significantly better than this (Oceanhorn 2 for example).

[DisturbedSwan]

Started this early this week and have put about 3 hours into it so far give or take.

 

Having never played any of the previous games I didn't know exactly what to expect. All I really knew (or thought I knew) about the series is that it was a difficult dungeon crawler that shares some DNA with Persona in enemy design and the turn battle system. So, going in, I thought this would be a lot like the big underground dungeon in Persona 5 but a bit harder and possibly bigger than the dungeon in that title.

 

Having fired it up, it starts off quite similarly to Persona 5 in that you're a high school kid in a classroom in Tokyo. As you're walking back from school that day you get sucked into another world, instead of being temporarily stuck here like in the Persona games, you're permanently here in this world, there's no social links or anything like that either, this is probably obvious (especially to SMT vets) but thought I'd point it out for folks new to SMT like myself.

 

Once you're in the other world, it isn't really what I expected at all. You're in a decimated version of Tokyo, sand piled in from every direction amongst the crumbling buildings of a once buzzing metropolis. Instead of being in this dark dingy underground passage (which is what I expected) you're instead in this huge, open, apocalyptic dessert environment with towering dilapidated skyscrapers decaying around you. 

 

From what I've played so far you can't really go off and explore, it's all been quite linear and kept me in this prescribed area on my way to the remains of the Tokyo Tower. It has still been fun to explore though, even though the sand gives the environment a bit of a monotone look about it, the vibrancy and decayed beauty of the crumbling buildings is still visually arresting.

 

Despite having some DNA in common with Persona, it's actually a different game that this reminds me more of, and that's the Nintendo/Atlus collaboration of 2015 - Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. The feel of the game as you're running along, dodging or engaging demons in battle along with its battle system feel reminiscent of that title for me, obviously there are a lot of differences between the two (no social links, no high school banter, no dungeons as of yet) as well. It's just that the feel it gives me is more aligned with TMS than Persona at the moment. 

 

Going back to the battle system, I think this is the first Shin Megami Tensei family title I've played where you actually have demon's as party members rather than humans. In that sense it's actually quite similar to Pokémon, in that the demons are your other party members and you can collect all manner of different ones, all that have different strengths and weaknesses against different elements. The way you collect demons is very different though, you have to chat them up so to speak, you can be kind to them and hope they play ball, ignore them or be nasty to them, each with a varying degree of success (from what I can gather at the moment).

 

You can also fuse demon's together to make a different (new) demon and infuse demon essences into your main character (nahobino?) so that you gain resistance to certain elements and stuff. The Persona fusing always went over my head a bit in the Persona games (and TMS, if it was in that?) and it's the same here, I understand it to some degree but I still need to properly get my head around in in time to make the best builds and demons I can. Another thing I've had to get my head around is losing demons when they get defeated in battle, in something like Pokémon they just 'faint' and get sent back to your item box or Poke ball but here that's it, they're gone (AFAIK) and you have to set about chatting up a particular demon again if you want them back in your roster. 

 

I played both Persona 4 and Persona 5 on easy/very easy difficulty so I can't say how difficult this is in comparison, but compared to TMS where I played on Normal for about half the game (before chickening out) it's definitely a slight step up, but not as much of a step as I was expecting as of yet. Early days though, I'm sure once I face the first boss and get my arse handed to me I'll change my mind on the matter. 

 

Still very early days then, but so far so good. The battle system is engaging and fun, as is the method for collecting demon's and their unique strange personalities. I'm really digging this warped, otherworldly, apocalyptic desert Tokyo as well and can't wait to play more. I will say as well, it looks great on the OLED. 

 

Pics:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[DisturbedSwan]

Now about 7-8 hours in on this and just defeated the first boss.

 

In one of my sessions I spent about 45 minutes in the menus at the leyline fount just trying to figure some things out, infusing essences with my character and trying to get my head round demon fusing. I’ve been loosely following a beginners guide on YT that gives you a few tips on this and which essences to use, how to use them and similar stuff with demon fusing too. There’s a lot to take and I’m still not 100% sure and confident I’m doing things right, I always think I’m gonna fuck something up and gain some terrible weakness. 

 

The longer I explored the first area the more it actually reminded me of Xenoblade more than anything else. Quite a sizeable area, especially the area immediately before the first boss with some formidable higher level enemies that aren’t ready to be fought yet. 
 

Got my party wiped a number of times in this area as the difficulty ramped up and some more powerful demons popped up but I managed quite well.

 

Then went into the boss and got wiped three times, on the third occasion I knew what his weaknesses were and took almost a full team of demons with ice moves (as well as the nahobino having an ice move) so it was relatively easy after that. The fight itself was a lot of fun and the demon in question had a great distinctive design. 

 

So yeah, really enjoying it still but am slightly worried at times that the lack of narrative so far will affect my motivation the longer I go on. Still early days though, and for now it’s a lot of fun, battle system is great and the world itself is super fun and foreboding to explore still. Still a lot to learn and get to grips with.
 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[DANGERMAN]

you're about to hit some narrative @DisturbedSwan  or maybe after the next chunk. Essentially, you leave that world for a bit and that's when it introduces the story, it really picks up after that

[DisturbedSwan]

Ta @DANGERMAN that's good to know.

For some reason the past week or so I've been struggling with motivation to play it but last night I had a really good session with it and didn't want to put it down really, I'm not sure it'll ever be a game I could play for long sessions though but it's great in hour-90 minute bursts. Cleared out another one of those red anomalies last night and now heading to the Diet building which is where the second boss is (I'm guessing).

 

I seem to be getting on much better now in battles and pretty much battering everything, my team is:

• Nahobino

• Tsuchigumo

• Angel

• Apsaras

(had to google a couple of those names).

 

I've picked up a couple more of the miracles which means I can keep 10 demons at a time as well which is handy, but I kind of feel like it's silly keeping them and should be clearing some out to make space for some new demons I've met along the way recently. Am I right in thinking once I've registered them to the compendium it doesn't matter if I release them? As I can get them back from the compendium at any time by paying some macca? 

[DANGERMAN]

yeah you can get them back, but it costs quite a bit, there's perks later on to reduce the costs involved. Once they've learned all their skills there's no point in registering them again, which is advice I'm giving rather than following myself out of laziness

 

It's good to have a few different types around, but equally you aren't supposed to grow attached, which is hard when you have a Jack Frost or a Chironnupu

[DisturbedSwan]

Yeah, I think if I get Jack Frost I definitely won't be letting go of it anytime soon haha.

 

I ended up fusing a couple of my demons to get a green elemental type looking demon that doesn't seem to have many weaknesses, he's got all the move types apart from ice which is handy, so he's slotted into my team. He's a bit under levelled compared to Spidey though.

 

Played a bit more last night and got rid of another anomaly but that's about it, just been exploring around the delipidated skyscrapers of the bit I'm in at the moment and finding some chests and stuff really before carrying on to the next anomaly (which seems to be tied to a story quest marker in the distance).

[Maryokutai]

On 25/02/2022 at 16:59, DisturbedSwan said:

I think this is the first Shin Megami Tensei family title where you actually have demon's as party members rather than humans.

 

It's probably more like the 20th game in the series that works that way.

 

I've been dropping in and out of this for the last couple of months. I'm over 30 hours in and in the third area (great music there btw.) and I think that's the furthest I've ever gotten in a mainline SMT game. But I won't lie that there have been moments where it started to feel more like work than fun and I had to force myself a bit to continue, namely for some of the boss encounters in area 2, which I didn't have any answers for in my party so I had to fuse quite a bit. I know that's what the fans enjoy about these games but sometimes I wish I could stick with a party at least a little bit longer. Especially as some of these demons look really good in full 3D now so it's kind of a shame you have to ditch most of them after five hours.

 

But yeah, 30 hours, so it must do something right. Story is kind of meh though, or at least it fails when it wants to be more than just an exposition backdrop because there's too much downtime in between. If you run around for almost ten hours and nobody speaks a word but then something dramatic happens after a boss fight it just doesn't have any impact unfortunately.

[DisturbedSwan]

2 hours ago, Maryokutai said:

It's probably more like the 20th game in the series that works that way.

 

Yeah, my bad, I phrased that incorrectly. I meant to say it's the first SMT family title I've played where you have demons as party members rather than humans. Have updated the original post now.

[DisturbedSwan]

Think I've put in about 15 hours now (according to Switch profile stats) and I kinda feel like I'm in Groundhog Day with this at the moment. 

 

I'll have a good 30-45 minute run where I'm going around the nearby area, finding treasure, glory, fighting a load of demons, talking and capturing a few of them, finding a few side quests and then I'll get wiped by a strong demon out of nowhere or a regular demon will just KO me sometimes and I'll have to reload my save and then start the loop I was doing previously all over again, just being a little more cautious but then I have got wiped again and again and had to do this same loop sometimes 3-4 times to complete all the side quests again, capture certain demons again and stuff.

 

I don't really mind it as I'm still enjoying the game, the environment I'm in, the battle system and everything, it just means that I'm not really getting anywhere fast, and am kind of stuck in these two recent areas (Kamiyacho and Nagatacho) and haven't really progressed at all, I'm just kind of going round and round in circles.