Atlus Shin Megami Tensei V - It's been hurting my OCD.

[Puukko]

Tried the game through Fitgi**
It works! At least on Yuzu, where it is more or less fluid at 30/40 FPS, with cutscenes capped at 30, which seems to be the norm, right?
Riujinx, on the other hand, stutters like crazy, even though Metroid Dread played fine. Perhaps I have to tinker with emulation settings or something.

The game heavily promotes exploration. This will give you glory (resource) and essences which work similarly to how they were in Strange Journey, except applicable to the MC as well. This will give him access to the demons' innate skills as well as resistances. Both the MC and his demons can freely choose skills from them (I haven't had use for the latter feature yet) and the MC gains his resistances this way - you'll essentially have resistances identical to whatever demon you used as base.

So, do the essences influence which skills can you choose during fusion inheritance? Or can you choose which ones to get at will like say the Devil Survivor games? I dunno if I asked this already.

They're separate from fusion, you use the apotheosis menu to apply them. So you can create that nearly perfect demon via fusion and then top it off with some useful skill from an essence afterwards. With the MC, you freely choose from a list of your current skills as well as the ones in the essence to create your new set. The only limiting factor is that some skills are locked and you buy a miracle to gain access to more of them. Usually they're the best skills included in the essence, of course.

 

[Sentinel]

This puukko nigga is drinking some of that honeymoon coolaid a bit too much. The miracle/essence system doesn't offer you any more customization than before. It's the exact same premise as battle apps from strange jorney redux and apps from SMT4, and the essences are just this game's version of skill whispering from smt4/equipment.

The only new thing it offers is the possibility to more easily give a demon an ability you want post-fusion, which imo is completely and retardedly broken. Shouldn't have been included.

 

[Delterius]

So far , easily top 5 SMT to me , even if the story is kinda ass atm.

 

[jungl]

Does this game up the ante like the latest dragon quest did? Its hard getting excited for the same game in 30 years unless it has good production values or cool gimicks.

 

[Sentinel]

Does this game up the ante like the latest dragon quest did? Its hard getting excited for the same game in 30 years unless it has good production values or cool gimicks.

In the animations/visuals department yes, it's an obvious jump from SMTIV and SMTIII. In the story and characters department absolutely not, it's probably at the bottom of the list.

 

[Amurada]

In the animations/visuals department yes, it's an obvious jump from SMTIV and SMTIII. In the story and characters department absolutely not, it's probably at the bottom of the list.

Is this due to a lack of story within the game; or is the overall story just terrible?

 

[Sentinel]

In the animations/visuals department yes, it's an obvious jump from SMTIV and SMTIII. In the story and characters department absolutely not, it's probably at the bottom of the list.

Is this due to a lack of story within the game; or is the overall story just terrible?

Both. What is there is not only not good, but is a rehash of shit you've seen before in SMT games, you can see what they're doing and where things are headed from a mile away, and then they

Spoiler

predictably link the story to Nocturne, retroactively shitting on that game

The predictability of the characters was excused in SMTIV because they were at least entertaining and you spent a lot of time with them, but in 5 you don't spend any time with the people the game wants you to care about. You could ask me to name the 4 characters in the game and I genuinely can't even remember their names except for Tao because it's 3 letters and she's attractive.

 

[GhostCow]

In the animations/visuals department yes, it's an obvious jump from SMTIV and SMTIII. In the story and characters department absolutely not, it's probably at the bottom of the list.

Is this due to a lack of story within the game; or is the overall story just terrible?

I'm not that far in yet but the story isn't bad. It isn't particularly great or interesting either though. It's kind of just there. It serves it's purpose to give you a reason to do the things you're doing but that's about it. I'd say it's better than SMTIV just because I couldn't stand to play IV for more than an hour or two despite multiple attempts to give it a chance.

 

[Sentinel]

Also in my opinion the map exploration gets old by the end of the second map. I was feeling severe burn out on the 3rd map already. I wish they had mixed overworld maps with dungeons instead of forcing me to play a collect-a-thon version of SMT3.

 

[Tigranes]

I've been avoiding spoilers as best as I could for this game, and am holding out on a PS4 port eventually (I have a Switch, but No More Heroes 3 has completely turned me off from playing another third-party 3D open world title on Switch), and I don't know a single game reviewer alive worth reading, so I'll ask here.

Are the changes regarding the Press Turn System worth it; or is it casualization? I wasn't too worried when they first showed it off, as I thought that the change can possibly add a few dynamics to combat that have fallen out of my head already.

Does the Smirk system make a return, and if so, is it improved from the implementations SMT4A had; or did it regress to SMT4's? I enjoyed Smirk, and thought it was a great idea in need of some revisions, as the vanilla Press Turn system being what it is gives players who know enemy weaknesses too big of an advantage, and Smirk can somewhat mitigate that particular flaw.

I'm not sure what changes you're referring to. The press turn system works the same it has always worked. Buffs have been "nerfed" in that they don't stack as high, have a limited duration and start off as single target, but this only really makes them more valuable since you want to play around them more and it's not just a matter of "boss doesn't have dekaja? just stack everything to +6 lol".

Smirk has been replaced with the magatsuhi gauge which is just a bar that fills up from various actions and you can then use it for party wide buffs, or a Freikugel, or a full party heal, etc depending on what races of demons you have. Some say the system is inferior to smirk, I'm ambivalent on it.

The miracles and essence system offer most likely the largest breadth of customization available to the MC yet.

Early? (lv30) impression is that there's no massive change or casualisation, at least not around things like Press Turns.

Press Turns basically work like good old SMT. I never thought Smirk was a genius system in 4/A, and Magatsuhi isn't either but it does introduce another dimension of lining up your demon choices for your preferred Magatsuhi use.

The one thing I'm waiting to see if it's a big negative is the reliance on Dampeners - they are really powerful at least early game, because on Hard I can't imagine how you would ever survive early game bosses' Magatsuhi rounds. They might get 8 attacks on you where one or two would be enough to take out a Guarding MC, and you don't have other tools like the midgame Miracles. And then Dampeners are so cheap at the shop.

 

[Tigranes]

Also in my opinion the map exploration gets old by the end of the second map. I was feeling severe burn out on the 3rd map already. I wish they had mixed overworld maps with dungeons instead of forcing me to play a collect-a-thon version of SMT3.

I mean, there wasn't much exploration to do in Nocturne, no? This seems to ramp up the trend with 4/A that began to litter the map with a lot of stuff to find.

I do think the exact same mechanics could have been done in dungeons instead of overworld. One saving grace is that it does feel thematically very nice to crawl around and sometimes climb atop the ruined buildings.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/204211-shin-megami-tensei-v/79763622

I can't believe this thread, 9 pages of people mostly saying that Nocturne sucked, especially because of its dungeons.

Screw the dungeons, most of them were endless boring corridors and the ones that are in this game are the worst part of it.

Nocturne has some of the worst dungeons I've ever seen in a video game. Most of the time, it's just trial and error getting through them, with almost no rewards for trying to explore them more fully. The worst of them (like the section of the final dungeon leading up to ******) literally teleport you if you step off the correct path, and give no indication as to which way you're supposed to go. That's not good game design.

SMTV's environments are basically gigantic, open air dungeons and are filled to the brim with secrets, collectibles, unique demons, side-quests, etc. It's a much, much better time all-around.

Atlus knew the only way for this series to truly grow was to evolve past the trappings of its past, and it has mostly accomplished this. Hopefully Persona is next.

Nocturne dungeons were terrible. Thanks god they never went back to it again. This game is just superior.

Pure trial and error teleporter puzzles are pretty much the definition of bad game design. They require the player to throw themselves at the dungeon over and over, mindlessly, until they happen to chance upon the correct solution.

This applies to the standard dungeon design in Nocturne as well, where you have to run down random corridors until you happen to find the right way through it. Again, there's no thought involved. You're a rat in a maze. All that's required is basic working memory, and the only "challenge" is via the resource management needed to stay alive while this process happens.

There's a difference between wanting your hand to be held and not enjoying dungeon design that relies purely on trial-and-error. That's not challenging or interesting. It's just monotonous. Especially when no incentive is provided to explore these spaces. Nocturne tries to incorporate puzzles into some of its dungeons, but only a couple of them are actually substantively improved as a result. In game full of really bad dungeons.

SMT V does do open areas right, in fact. The maps aren't flat, and navigating around them requires problem solving. More than a few areas, for example, require you to scale buildings to reach them, or to figure out basic level design puzzles via platforming. Additionally, the game incentivizes exploration by actually rewarding curiosity at every turn.

Dungeons in Nocturne kinda sucked fam. Same wall pattern repeated for 100 floors with some stupid uninspired puzzles tacked on throughout.

Nocturne is boring and underwhelming. Thanks god they knew just how badly design it is and move forward.

Screw the dungeons, open world environments are a lot better than a dungeon

This. Noct remastered remind me how s*** their dungeon design.

 

[Sentinel]

Also in my opinion the map exploration gets old by the end of the second map. I was feeling severe burn out on the 3rd map already. I wish they had mixed overworld maps with dungeons instead of forcing me to play a collect-a-thon version of SMT3.

I mean, there wasn't much exploration to do in Nocturne, no? This seems to ramp up the trend with 4/A that began to litter the map with a lot of stuff to find.

I do think the exact same mechanics could have been done in dungeons instead of overworld. One saving grace is that it does feel thematically very nice to crawl around and sometimes climb atop the ruined buildings.

The fact that Nocturne didn't do something well isn't an excuse for SMT5 to falter. It's 20 years later, 8 years of development time for SMT5.

 

[Puukko]

The story is definitely the weakest aspect so far. In most SMTs the story and characters are utilitarian - they provide you with a goal and reason to go forward and the characters have enough to them that it is a meaningful encounter when you finally battle them. This game basically makes you forget both the story and characters for a dozen hours at a time. This isn't the problem - it's refreshing after years of ~cinematic storytelling~ and forced handholding being the industry norm. What is the problem is the characters are heavily underutilized. I can't remember some of their names, 60+ hours in, and I am still not sure who's even which rep. The blonde dude, Ichiro, gets the most attention, being the cowardly underdog, but he's hanging out with and being aided by Bethel guys. I don't think he's the chaos rep. And no, it's not the swordsman either - he may sort of look the part, but he's dead neutral. The girl in glasses has done nothing so far aside from hanging out in the fairy village. I'm somewhere past the midway point so there's still time but this has to be the weirdest attempt at character development for the alignment reps in the series so far.

I'll also criticize the actual physical world you traverse. This isn't really the game' s fault and it is far from the only series suffering from this problem, but post apocalyptic worlds just aren't very interesting. Endless ruined buildings with very little beauty in them just make me think how they could be made actually interesting. Pure blobbers suffer from this to a lesser extent due to being more abstract and less lifelike depictions of the setting so your imagination does more of the work. And again, the actual traversal is fine, they've done a good job at promoting exploration and making you use your noggin to figure out how to get that Miman or treasure. Lots of verticality. But in the end, it's just ruined buildings upon more ruined buildings.

 

[Silva]

I'll also criticize the actual physical world you traverse. This isn't really the game' s fault and it is far from the only series suffering from this problem, but post apocalyptic worlds just aren't very interesting. Endless ruined buildings with very little beauty in them just make me think how they could be made actually interesting. Pure blobbers suffer from this to a lesser extent due to being more abstract and less lifelike depictions of the setting so your imagination does more of the work. And again, the actual traversal is fine, they've done a good job at promoting exploration and making you use your noggin to figure out how to get that Miman or treasure. Lots of verticality. But in the end, it's just ruined buildings upon more ruined buildings.

In this sense, do you think Nocturne overland map is more effective? Perhaps because it's abstract and so forces the player to use imagination, as you said?

 

[GhostCow]

Yeah if you're running on a potato you may have to sacrifice the accuracy for speed. Ryujinx easily hits 80fps for me even with mods on a 5800X

This is on an OC'd 5600x. What resolution are you playing at? Because I played the first 25 hours at 1x resolution happily but then opted to go full ham at 2x even though that cut my fps by a solid 30%. I still have no idea what the actual resolution is, but that huge jump in fidelity is worth it. My preference for these things seems to change depending on the phase of the moon. Hmm...

I'm playing at 1x because I have a 1080p/240hz monitor. I'm very interested in trying that 1080p mod you mentioned if you can link it

https://yuzu-emu.org/wiki/switch-mods/

Tried this mod out and surprisingly it is enough to cause a small hit to my fps on a 3080 at 1080p. Still averaging around 80 fps in the overworld, but battles have dropped down to about 56fps. Strange that the fps is lower in battles than in the overworld. It's a noticeable upgrade in graphical quality so I'll happily keep this mod installed.

 

[TheSoul]

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/204211-shin-megami-tensei-v/79763622

I can't believe this thread, 9 pages of people mostly saying that Nocturne sucked, especially because of its dungeons.

Screw the dungeons, most of them were endless boring corridors and the ones that are in this game are the worst part of it.

Nocturne has some of the worst dungeons I've ever seen in a video game. Most of the time, it's just trial and error getting through them, with almost no rewards for trying to explore them more fully. The worst of them (like the section of the final dungeon leading up to ******) literally teleport you if you step off the correct path, and give no indication as to which way you're supposed to go. That's not good game design.

SMTV's environments are basically gigantic, open air dungeons and are filled to the brim with secrets, collectibles, unique demons, side-quests, etc. It's a much, much better time all-around.

Atlus knew the only way for this series to truly grow was to evolve past the trappings of its past, and it has mostly accomplished this. Hopefully Persona is next.

Nocturne dungeons were terrible. Thanks god they never went back to it again. This game is just superior.

Pure trial and error teleporter puzzles are pretty much the definition of bad game design. They require the player to throw themselves at the dungeon over and over, mindlessly, until they happen to chance upon the correct solution.

This applies to the standard dungeon design in Nocturne as well, where you have to run down random corridors until you happen to find the right way through it. Again, there's no thought involved. You're a rat in a maze. All that's required is basic working memory, and the only "challenge" is via the resource management needed to stay alive while this process happens.

There's a difference between wanting your hand to be held and not enjoying dungeon design that relies purely on trial-and-error. That's not challenging or interesting. It's just monotonous. Especially when no incentive is provided to explore these spaces. Nocturne tries to incorporate puzzles into some of its dungeons, but only a couple of them are actually substantively improved as a result. In game full of really bad dungeons.

SMT V does do open areas right, in fact. The maps aren't flat, and navigating around them requires problem solving. More than a few areas, for example, require you to scale buildings to reach them, or to figure out basic level design puzzles via platforming. Additionally, the game incentivizes exploration by actually rewarding curiosity at every turn.

Dungeons in Nocturne kinda sucked fam. Same wall pattern repeated for 100 floors with some stupid uninspired puzzles tacked on throughout.

Nocturne is boring and underwhelming. Thanks god they knew just how badly design it is and move forward.

Screw the dungeons, open world environments are a lot better than a dungeon

This. Noct remastered remind me how s*** their dungeon design.

Everytime I think about checking out another game forum, I remember that they're infested by bigger retards than here. This is the modern jrpg audience, god damn us all.

 

[Silva]

Nah, Nocturne dungeons were awful indeed. Great atmosphere but shitty execution.

In fact, everytime I feel the urge to play Nocturne again, it's archaic and shitty design sensibilities (like random combats) make me give up.

 

[Bohrain]

Dazai is the law rep, his character arc is basically being an aimless loser who finds solace when a confident zealot point him to do shit and has enough faith in him to accomplish it. Nuwa and the cop are neutral, same with Finn. I'm guessing that either one of the glasses siblings is the chaos rep, but they haven't really done shit. Given that I just finished the boss of the third location, the story probably got multiple revisions and cuts and the end product is even more mangled than what IV was. There you could tell that alternative Tokyo parts were from an earlier version of the script since Walter and Jonathan suddenly stopped being hostile, Walter's reaction to the demonoid brain feeding was the opposite of what it was in Reverse Hill and the Jonathan connecting the dots between Akira and Aquila never became relevant. So far in V it has felt to me that Dazai is the only character that has consisted screentime, while the others are seen couple of times or in the case of the two girls their content was essentially self-contained in the second world.

 

[EvilWolf]

Tried the game through Fitgi**
It works! At least on Yuzu, where it is more or less fluid at 30/40 FPS, with cutscenes capped at 30, which seems to be the norm, right?
Riujinx, on the other hand, stutters like crazy, even though Metroid Dread played fine. Perhaps I have to tinker with emulation settings or something.

It's the shader cache. All ryujinx stuttering is coming from the way ryujinx is handling the games shader cache. Ryujinx is generating it as you play the game. Ryujinx runs the game faster, and notably more stable, than yuzu it just needs the shader cache to run smoothly. The FG dump doesnt come with it, unfortunately.

 

[Hobo Elf]

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/204211-shin-megami-tensei-v/79763622

I don't know who these people are but they sure as shit aren't SMT fans. They reek of Persona secondaries who are pretending that they were into the mainline series all along just to fit in.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I was fed up with the collectathon gameplay in the same boring wastelands and the music that sucks ass. I put the game aside for now.

I bought the Nocturne HD remaster on PS4. Now we're talking. It's so ridiculously better in almost every way that it's not even funny.

V is pure decline is every way but the combat and fusion system.

 

[Gastrick]

The worst of them (like the section of the final dungeon leading up to ******) literally teleport you if you step off the correct path

Imagine what would happen if they played Wizardry, where you get teleported while opening a chest into a wall and have to restart the game.

trial and error

Real meaning: "trial" -> takes more than one try to get it correct "error" -> you will make mistakes.

The maps aren't flat, and navigating around them requires problem solving. More than a few areas, for example, require you to scale buildings to reach them, or to figure out basic level design puzzles via platforming.

Real thinking cap stuff.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I was fed up with the collectathon gameplay in the same boring wastelands and the music that sucks ass. I put the game aside for now.

I bought the Nocturne HD remaster on PS4. Now we're talking. It's so ridiculously better in almost every way that it's not even funny.

V is pure decline is every way but the combat and fusion system.

This is sadly my consensus as well, and I've actually collected 180 mimans so far. I'm in the last area of the game so I'm gonna finish it, but the lack of dungeons and the annoying open world design is not so fun for me. I enjoy the combat and fusion stuff, as always.. but this is my least favorite SMT because it focuses more on platforming than anything else. The atmosphere / environmental atmosphere is very boring and repetitive as well.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Idk this one of few games that i actually like to explore, it's a lot better compared to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 exploration or most open world games. All the exploration is well rewards and every rewards make the combat , fusion ,etc better. I don't think would be good to continue this thread but as one of , this game is perfectly fine.

My main issues is the story while interesting , have terrible pacing , lack of any meaningful choice so far (you can't stop Sashori from getting bullied or answer why she has bruises for some fucking reason) and the characters are so fucking forgetable asides from Dazai.

He's the only character with screen time , some devemploment and is actually a character. I understand that SMT is not about the character but god damn Atlus , throw me a bone here lmao. I want Jiminez, Gore, Arthur and Zelenin back.