I haven't finished
Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT V). And kind of don't want to. But I have gotten so far into this game that I don't think I can pull myself away. The combat is equal parts entertaining and equal parts frustrating. However, the frustrating parts raise to the top a lot more frequently like a drink that is equal parts ice and equal parts water.
And that's the main thing with
SMT V: It's mainly about combat. If you pick up any entry into the
Shin Megami Tensei series, it's almost an unspoken rule that the plot takes a backseat (I'll get to that later). Many cutscenes are less than a few minutes and mainly are added to introduce characters you'll be fighting at some point in the game.
SMT V is also a
very slow burn, a game that requires lots of patience, planning, and (the frustrating part) a lot of luck. The game punishes you for being unprepared but doesn't give you the best methods of being prepared. Let's break this down a bit:
SMT V is a journey broken up into sections that span across the barren wasteland that is post-apocalyptic Tokyo. Sections are quite large in size and require the main character (mine was named
Patrick Bateman) to meander through the different layouts until he reaches the next story point. Enemies are littered through the map and (thankfully) battles are avoidable, not random. However, if you choose to fight enemies, you'll have to play roshambo blindly in order to find out enemies' weaknesses. In the SMT series (as well as it's sister series,
Persona), you're rewarded for exploiting an enemies weakness with an extra turn. This is great because it makes demolishing enemies very satisfying. But enemies can also do the same since the characters in your party also have their own weaknesses. If an enemy attacks and just so happens to exploit your demons weaknesses then oh boy, you're pretty much
screwed.
Judging by this enemy, what would you say their weakness is? Beats me.
See, enemies tend to have enough health to suffer through many of your attacks, but there are rarely times you'll be able to tank your weaknesses in normal battle unless you are severely over-leveled. This becomes a bit unfair because if you accidentally get surprised by an enemy, you end up losing a lot of health no matter what. Or even worse, you lose before you get a chance to escape or strategize. And this doesn't happen
sometimes...it happens over and over and over again.
One of the few games that lets you fine enemies on a toilet.
That isn't to the battle system is all bad. In fact, it's really satisfying. Battles require a lot of thinking and you cannot just spam attacks to get through them. Just like the games that came before it, items, debuffs/buffs and guarding are crucial in every battle. This is good because it makes the player feel more satisfied with their decisions and strategy. Unlike most RPG series I've played, the SMT series is the pretty complex. The problem is that constantly using your brain for every battle is exhausting. Unlike
SMT IV, SMT V has shown that it wants players to explore every inch of it's world. Which is a shame because I feel that the battle system inhibits exploration or at least mitigates it to a degree.
This was the most frequent screen I saw during my exploration.
All this gets compounded because the battles get harder and harder while the areas you explore get larger and larger. Areas are filled with ruins to explore, hills to climb, secret passageways and lots of characters to interact with. But it felt like I had to make sure to fast travel back to the save point (hindering progress in exploration) when I found an item or leveled up because I was scared I could lose it all at any time. Unlike Dark Souls, there is no second chance of catching up to the progress you lost. Not to mention the map design is
horrendous. The map doesn't give a helpful way of identifying topography. It makes trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B a pain. Add that with the difficult battles and unfairness of the enemies and I'm hoping that my point has been emphasized properly.
If you have played this game, this iconic area is the worst
I'm probably close to the final ten or so hours of
SMT V, but I'm struggling to find the urgency to finish it. I didn't even get into how overtly blasphemous this game can be at times (I don't remember
SMT IV being this bad). But I can usually overlook story issues with the game if the actual narrative can pull you along.
SMT V knows that its plot isn't the selling point, which once again complicates my thoughts on the game. If there are no story points I care about seeing, what's keeping me playing this game?
This dude is dumb and the lack of character development in this game makes it impossible to care about him. I don't even know his name, he's just a dumb boy.
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