Persona’s popularity eventually eclipsed the main series, but it was Shin Megami Tensei that laid the foundations for the franchise. In its 35 years of existence, the franchise has made its reputation in the RPG world. Demanding, sometimes bordering on the sadistic, SMT is not a game for everyone. Some learned this the hard way when the fifth canonical episode was released on Nintendo Switch in 2021 while the Persona 5 spin-off was still on everyone’s minds. Three years later, ATLUS decided to open the door to Hell on other consoles. What if this was Paradise after all?
He comes back and he thirsts for revenge. SMT5 will be back on June 14, 2024, still on Nintendo Switch, but especially on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as on PC. An enriched and embellished version of the original game which will offer a new chapter and its small batch of new features. A bit like its cousin Persona 5 Royal in its time, but with a major difference: a port on platforms which clearly have more under their belt than the hybrid console. ATLUS thus invited us to take a good dose of venom to discover some of the changes of this Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance for almost 2 hours. Spoiler: yes we had a blast, yes we loved it.
New features for beginners and veterans
Almost by the admission of the SEGA teams, this definitive version seems to have two objectives: to welcome more gently the newcomers who let themselves be charmed by the good student Persona, and the fans from the first hour who consider that they have not suffered enough . Not that the game will reduce its difficulty: far from it. New difficult bosses, enemies who make you miserable at the slightest misstep, there will be some, don’t worry, we’ve paid the price. Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance promises no less than fifty demons ready to spank us, with some who will be back for the occasion (but we haven’t seen them). Some new faces will also prove punitive like never before, not forgiving the slightest error (damn Gogmagog). If you want to break out in a cold sweat, from what we’ve seen, you’ll be served.
On the other hand, ATLUS had THE good idea to make it more accessible without compromising the difficulty and it can be summed up in six words: save when and where you want. Saying it like that to a newbie it doesn’t seem like much, but imagine being knocked back by an average enemy and losing an hour of play, because the save point was too far away. It clearly saves the day and it’s frankly a game changer as this sword of Damocles often slowed down this exploration which wanted to be free. And among the welcome new features, to make the inevitable back and forths in open areas more pleasant, Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance introduces a new transportation system to travel more easily from one point to another in the same environment. Perfect for long grind sessions, particularly sluggish as the game progresses. Given the size of the new map and the new playing field, this is frankly not too much. This new map is also artistically successful and should make it possible to break this routine often criticized in the original game, but without being fundamentally exotic either.
A technical overhaul that makes the difference
Added to these comfortable additions is an entire chapter carried by the new student: Yoko Hiromine. A young woman still very mysterious after these two hours of wanderings who obviously cut her teeth at the St Marina academy. It’s impossible to comment on this new situation after such a short time, both in terms of writing and combat, especially since we were getting started at the beginning of this new chapter. A new path that must be selected at the start of the game. To make it simple, you will have to choose between the Creative Goddess (original path) and that of the Vengeful Goddess, a new aspect that we are promised more dramatic and which radically changes the last part of the game and its outcome.
We were able to see a few snippets of this new scenario and its star, but we won’t teach you anything by telling you that with an RPG of this caliber, it’s as if we hadn’t seen anything of its epic. Veterans know that this story should end up in the background anyway, eclipsed by the heart of the game: its ever-demanding combat and its captivating game system. This new narrative aspect of Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance will still double the lifespan of the game (up to 150 hours we were told), but obviously not improve its pace. The license likes to take its time, even if progress is (too) slow, and this is not about to change. This session still showed us ATLUS’ efforts to bring more personality to humans, as well as to demons with whom we can chat as we wish, going through what was before the save points.
You will clearly have to wait until you have the full version in hand to put the enhancements of this ultimate version to the test. Two hours and so much rust was too little to see all the promised improvements, especially those around the fusion system. What is immediately obvious, however, is the entire technical overhaul. Those who suffered on Nintendo Switch know this only too well: the framerate of the original version spit out its lungs as soon as the open world came to life, the display distance was demonic and graphically it was very average. ATLUS has gotten its hands dirty, and this Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance will make all the difference. It’s smooth, clean and so much more fluid (4K at 60 FPS) that relaunching your little hybrid console afterwards is heresy. The unfinished version put in our hands still showed some small residual defects, notably with clipping that was sometimes too visible, but how can you complain after such a glow up? Combined with the transport system and this new fluidity, exploration takes on a very welcome little boost, without fundamentally revolutionizing it.
We’re waiting for it… impatiently
Invigorated, dolled up and enriched, this Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance is already shaping up to be unmissable for fans of the license as well as newcomers who have caught the Persona fever. ATLUS clearly wants to introduce the license behind Persona to as many people as possible, without leaving behind the masos who have been madly in love with it all this time. The emphasis is clearly placed on playing comfort, with a version openly more technically comfortable thanks to its multiplatform release. This SMT5 Vengeance has not yet given us all its secrets and we can’t wait to get back to the table to try to unravel them.