I’m quite enjoying Shin Megami Tensei V now, even though I just spent the past 10 hours wandering around Tokyo trying to shut down Ishtar’s devices (doesn’t really spoil anything). The maps are horrendous because you can only climb in very specific spots, so a device might be right there in front of you, but you have to go all the way round and double back and pass over this narrow bridge just to get to it. C’mon, with my jumping skills, I should be able to make it up there by jumping on rubble. Or I can get a rope. Or I can create a make-shift ladder. Anything but constantly roaming around getting lost trying to get to particular spots on the map.
The story is also junk. So far, at least. I said I was going to pick the Chaos path this time, but the demons are so dumb and whiny. I’d be lowering myself if I sided with them. The game is pushing the “Anything but Law” narrative so harshly that I want to side with the angels instead, but that would mean being on the same side as that dorky Dazai guy. Ughh. I’ll just pick whatever answers I want to pick and take my inevitable Law ending like a champ.
More importantly, I should be about 60-70% of the way through the game now, if SMT IV is anything to go by. That was about 60 hours long for me, though I didn’t get lost quite as badly there. Nahobino is pushing level 57, Demon Compendium is about 58% full, but I rarely make it to 100% or level 99 in these games so I’m estimating it will be over by around level 90-95-ish.
Ideally I would love to show screenshots my build and my current batch of demons because they’re all doing great. I’m going for a magic nuker build and putting almost everything into Magic except for a few points in other stats very early on. It helps that the game gives you stat points on leveling up so it’s not fully dependent on your choice like in some dungeon crawlers I’ve played. Right now I have 40s in every stat except Magic which just hit 70 IIRC. Wasn’t really feeling the damage until I got a certain demon’s magic that goes beyond “-dyne” magic, AND I invested a few glory points in improving my magic skills. Now we’re cooking with gas!
Really wanted to take those screenshots, but when I took the first one, the game froze on me, then it gave me a “Corrupted Data” error! 😱😱😱 The Switch automatically tried to fix the corrupted data but it didn’t work, so it deleted my game! I had to redownload and reinstall, I was pissing myself (figurately speaking! figurately speaking, okay?!) thinking I had lost everything and would have to start all over again. Luckily, phew, all my save files were intact, and I picked up where I’d left off.
That was about 20 hours ago, and I have way more to lose now, so I’m definitely not touching that screenshot button any more! According to Google, this tends to happen when your SD card is on the fritz. Mine is definitely very old. I used to use it in the 3DS IIRC? Yeah, it’s ancient. I should get a newer one this Christmas, preferably a bigger one so it can hold all those humongous RPGs at once. I still have Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Persona 5, Romancing Saga 2 and 3, and Dragon Quest XI (maybe?) to play.
Maybe he’s born with it.
Back to Shin Megami Tensei V, what am I liking so much about it? I’d say it’s 90% just the Pokemon-ness of it all. Wooing and collecting demons, raising them, fusing them to create more demons, going back to collect some more to use as fusion fodder, and on and on the cycle goes. That’s most of the fun of an SMT/Persona game for me.
The other 10% is actually using the demons in battle. I’ve always liked the Press Turn system where you get extra turns for hitting enemy weaknesses and so on and so forth. SMT V has made things even easier with a cheap Spyglass item that lets you check almost all enemy weaknesses at the start of battle. Not only that, but the SMT series tends to carry weaknesses over, so I knew even without checking that Feng Huang was weak to ice, for example. Or that Girimekhala repels physical attacks. No more guesswork is both a little sad and a huge relief.
In general it’s just fun getting stronger, recruiting stronger allies and moving to new areas so I can get new demons for fusion. It’s just unfortunate that there’s no slavish adulation for the main character like there was in SMT V. It’s nice having people standing around saying “Kyaaa, you’re so sugoi~” sometimes, y’know? Nahobino is just being bossed around and insulted by all kinds of people all day, no wonder he wants to destroy everything. …oh wait, that’s me. Welp, better get back to it!
