The Shin Megami Tensei V Review
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- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- Minor spoiler warning: This video contains some footage for mid-late parts of the game, and a minor spoiler I forgot to censor from 21:58-22:26, but no story spoilers are discussed in this review.
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After a nearly 5-year wait, Shin Megami Tensei V is finally here, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. In this video I review the game and go over what it does right, what it does wrong, and what it does differently from other Megami Tensei games.
The copy of the game reviewed for this video was a review copy provided by Atlus West.
Intro by Lyric: / @lyric3595 #SMTV #MegaTen
Hey, guys. Viewers have pointed out to me that I accidentally left an-on screen spoiler in the video from 21:58 to 22:26. This doesn't spoil anything in explicit detail, but if you want to go into the story completely blind I suggest either skipping or looking away from your screen at this part.
Edit: I was able to blur that part out with the RUclips editor, but I'm leaving this comment pinned just to be extra-safe
wow imagine being the guy to point that out that’s so weird hahahahahahaha
(it still shows up from 22:20 to 22:25 btw)
Just an FYI, I don't think this comment is pinned...
@@kirin1230 cuz he fixed it
For the story
it's more about their ideals than their characters. Kinda like nocturne were the other surviving characters focused on their reasons and ideals on how to remake the world
One thing I noticed while playing on hard is that consumable damage items are actually really viable if you need to save MP. They are pretty much a higher tier spell that you typically don't have access to, but free, you can choose the element, and they can even be charged by Concentrate or crit with Magatsuhi. If you go out of your way to farm money you can stock up to the cap on gems quite easily before a boss and they usually do more damage than you could manage with skills.
And lastly, the best way to get money is from vending machines which don't require you to do any combat. So basically, "Can you beat SMTV using only consumables?" when.
That's an interesting challenge idea
I cant believe this game is coming out, it feels surreal.
It already has. Japan had it since yesterday. Europe already has it. NA is the last to get it, releasing at 3AM EST when the E-shop refreshes.
Dude I’m literally shaking because it’s so close 😂
Already did, today.
Never played smt before and enjoying this
i heard a lot of complaints about this game while I'm enjoying this game
The thing about the bosses being spongy, yes, they are, but you are supposed to approach them differently than in previous games. SMT V is a lot less punishing when it comes to swapping members. In V demons can swap themselves out and it only costs you half a turn (since you get an extra turn for doing that), so you are in a way expected to replace demons once their mp runs out. Additionally, around the middle of the second area you get the ability to use items with demons, which really expands your tool kit and gives you a lot of flexibility. I found that if I make sure I have 2 party compositions that are ready for a boss, I might be taking a bit longer to kill them, but I am having as much fun.
This this this. All of this. I actually really like it also because it gives my reserves a chance to shine once in a while. I haven't finished the game yet, but I often find my primary lineup softening the boss up while some reserves end up giving the finishing blow just because the frontline runs out of MP. This is doubly true for physical demons in my reserve, because I rarely lead with them on account of them not being able to capitalize on press turns as effectively (at least where I'm at so far), but towards the end of a boss fight when they just need to mop up the last of the boss's HP, their general sponginess really helps while we all just wail on it.
TLDR; the sponginess of bosses and high MP cost of skills really makes you rely on your full reserve of demons for longer battles (and even overworld exploration at times) and I actually really like that.
Bruh
Dude never use single buff and debuff, then complain the boss too strong.
In all honnestly I don't get the boss being spongey thing, I'm playing on Hard and so far this was only true for Hydra and Nuwa (aka the first 2 bosses) where you are quite limited and are indeed lacking in damage... every boss since then however I'm 3-5 LV behind everytime and once set I can take half of their health in one turn, so huh yeah really don't get that complain.
Yeah, the freedom to swap out party members combined with expensive skills felt like it wanted me to go through more than 3 demons per boss fight, and it all kinda clicked and felt amazing. Love the core combat changes.
finally, a review from someone who knows what they're talking about lmao
the combat aspect is the highlight for me - particularly the part about the buffs. in the older games the boss battles eventually just devolve to 'start battle, spam best buffs and debuffs, attack boss while they can't land any hits', so this is a welcoming change of pace. also like new spongy bosses too, sometimes the boss battles in the old games felt too short (though part of it may be because i always min-max my MC's stats)
the soundtrack... well, it's ATLUS, need i say more?
honestly, the things you said about the plot and characters sound par the course for SMT, so it's whatever. even then, i'm mostly here for the gameplay - i didn't care for IVA's story and characters at all but it's still a blast to play through.
overall, this makes me even more excited to finally play the game. great review!
Story is very hard to make it memorable becuase it's depends on taste but if it make sense, It's okay as not make people rage each other (e.g. Last of Us II 🤣)
Yeah not IGN
The only SMT games i played were smt 4 and devil survivor which both have great stories imo. I hope nyarly is just hypercritical of the story and its a bit more engaging than he made it out to be.
Would you stand with that first statement if you knew he rates P3p higher than Nocturne and SMT4?
@@smtandearthboundsuck8400 i'm more of a FES guy but i can see where he's coming from (though P3 was my first MegaTen game so i might have lots of nostalgia bias)
Such a minor thing, but I still really love the bubbles within bubbles ui design they did. It feels like such a throwback to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor's UI design.
TRUE!
Leaving my like and then coming back to this when I beat the game
Same
I am also doing the same
Weak just watch lol no spoilers here
Kind of have to agree with this
Coward
I mean to be fair, Nocturne barley had characterization and plot also. It focused more on concepts and ideas and cutscenes were often broke up between long stretches of gameplay, especially after you get past the beginning areas. So I kinda expect this from mainline SMT games, outside of the IV duology.
EDIT: After spending months on this game, I actually agree with Nyarly's points on the story. It's good, but feels a little rushed and had more potential to hit the same highs as Nocturne or the such. But I really enjoyed it overall. Also, this is my favorite mainline SMT game gameplay wise (IV being best plot) and I have a lot of fun with it. Also the DLC is dumb and the only one worth buying is the Return of the True Demon DLC. Last comment, the only English VA that I thought was odd was Dazai, his voice direction or something was off.
Nocturne did the minimalism thing better. In Nocturne you see the characters 4 times but they're wildly different each time. Here you see the characters 4 times and they're the same until the end
@@puer4787 ah really? I haven't actually played it yet, it only just turned midnight like 18 minutes ago in my country. I was just sorta saying, yknow? Not exactly arguing with his point, just that I'm used to the minimal story telling that smt goes for. I'm reserving any and all opinions on smt v's story until I experience it myself. I'm completely a blank slate on that topic.
@@linktothafuture yeah you will see. nocturne is minimalistic on purpose, SMTV just has bad writing. unfortunately
I enjoy barley as well
Sad to hear the writing sucks.
It's so cristal clear how passionate you are about this franchise, glad you enjoyed it! Can't wait to see some challenge run
Appreciate the spoiler free review.
Although the main story seems rather lackluster, this is still a definite spot on my Christmas list.
I never realized they reused so many voice actors, at least they keep a pay check I guess…
Glad they switched it up
Most American English dubs of games pull from that same pool of VAs.
Spoiler warning from 21:58 to 22:26 if you care about that. It's the same demon at 12:10
I’m glad they changed buffs honestly, every fight boiled down to spamming every buff and debuff in existence hope boss doesn’t dispel them and generally wipe the boss they were so broken it wasn’t strategic or anything just spam em and win
Agreed.
Agreed, super super excited to hear this is a hard game
*cough cough* SMT4/4A spamming luster candy and tarukaja
i strongly disagree. i didn't like what they did with the buff/debuff skills in persona where they gave us the ma kaja skills while in smt the kaja were all multi target, and now its directly like persona, which is a step in the wrong direction. don't fix what's not broken. having it be multitarget saves time
and oh god don't get me started on the buffs going away after a time. it was nice to not have to worry about that at all, just throw up two boosts and you're on your merry way. not anymore though i guess.
@@CallieBlader Except the way buffs worked in SMT was kinda broken. Use them x4 or even less when you hit the end game and unless boss has buffs of its own or actually get the Dekunda you'll basically a god.
@nyarly I did the same thing whenever I beat a boss on Hard, I went back to see how much easier it was on normal.
My math seemed to work out that Hard mode enemies deal 40% more damage and take 40% less damage while having the same amount of HP, but they also have higher dodge and hit chance natively
Hard is absolutely kicking my ass, much harder than 3 or 4
hey nyarly, at 12:16 you put a spoiler text over one of your party members, this obviously to avoid giving spoilers, but at 22:23, you forgot to cover it, just saying for the people who want to go full spoiler free ;)
Making the “professionals” at ign look like a joke. This is one of the best reviews I’ve seen in a long time. Big fan. Your content is always worth the wait.
I'm excited to watch this review from this comment
Unfortunately most Gamers(tm) cant handle alternative opinions. Funnily enough Nyarly essentially said the same thing as the IGN review (onlY without mentioning Persona 5 GASP!)
V' S STORY SUUUCKED compared to Persona 5 sorry butthurt fans
(IV duology and SJ kicks any of the othet games ass interms of story tbh, sad theybleft it behind for pretty shit)
I agree that the story isn’t as good as SMT IV and Apocalypse.
Saying “it’s persona 5 but worse lol” isn’t a good review. He should’ve at least compared it to SMT IV and IVA. If you’re being payed to do a review, you should at least put effort into it.
@@ababilashari9970 whatever happened to the promotion of the game that was connected to Strange Journey? about a girl wanting to kill the mc? i think that happened around Apocalypse release
I've heard a lot of complaint about the story being lacking, but it was hard to tell if it was genuine critisism or if the reviewer was simply expecting "traditional" RPG plot. So it's nice to hear from someone well known for his experience in the franchise.
A shame, but I think it's not big deal here as this game does enough new things to stand out.
It makes me kinda sad that story and characters seem like such an afterthought these days. Videogames as a media offer so much possibilities in terms of story telling that it always disappoint me when it falls short. Hope nyarly was being hypercritical.
@@alexterieur8813 meh smt games were never really about the plot or characters so its not a big deal
@@MILDMONSTER1234 i think many smt games offer really interesting stories, so i disagree with the point: it never was about the story. It's not like it's pokemon either.
@@alexterieur8813 I'd put it more precise. Mainline SMT never felt to me to be about characters. Apocalypse was kinda an outlier here with a pretty wide human cast in terms of party but other games? I don't know how am I supposed to actually care about Demi-fiend "Friends" considering we barely get to see them for more than a scene at a time and they very quicky go for their plot roles. Walter and Johnatan? They really didn't bother stepping out even a bit from their role as Chaos and Law heroes.
@@Jaquan018 @Jaquan at least in smt 4 jonathan and walter were being developped (walter slowly learning to challenge the status quo and jonathan further solidifying his belief in the status quo + Isabeau who represents compromise and integrity).Her death actually moved me. Their development, even if not super detailed, served the plot (which is why stories have characters, to advance the plot that is) and they reacted to the events of the game and the choices of the MC in a way that felt like they were alive. I havent played Nocturne but a lot of ppl seems to say that the story is good even though it's minimalistic. I'm not saying quantity= quality, im saying we shouldnt brush the storytelling aspect of a game off just because it's quantity is scarce. It can be critiqued as much as a "story-heavy" game.
I am salivating over this game.
Even if the story isn't top of the line for the series, SMT, to me, feels like it can have the same appeal as Pokemon or Final Fantasy Tactics. The gameplay and potential party compositions can change the dynamics of battles and lend tons of replay value. I can definitely see myself pouring hundreds of hours in.
Yeah
If I were to guess why it doesn't have the appeal as those other franchises, I'd guess it's because it's aimed at a more mature audience, which puts more of a limit on the amount of people who you get the most enjoyment out of it.
Not saying it's bad or anything, it's just a guess on my part.
Just play persona 5
This is gonna be my first mainline SMT game and I could not be more excited. This is a fantastic review, as always.
“not a fan of the nahobino design”
Opinion discarded, bad take, uncultured
Im jk but great video and I’m so excited for tomorrow
Also, just wanted to point this out, you said a nitpick for the combat was the spongy health and being one shotted easily but you played on hard mode. I know you were comparing it to other smt hard modes, but you don’t think that had some effect? I know you said you did some parts on lower difficulties to test it out, but I think you should have noted that your critique of that may have been influenced by you playing hard mode. Most people will play on normal mode, thats why i wanted to point that out. Some people might take that seriously when it wouldn’t apply to them
That is a good thought but there's like dozens of (ignoring big publishers who think smt is persona) reviews where they played on normal, so it's nice seeing a perspective from hard mode, for the people who are interested in that, yknow.
Also, the Nahobino desisn is AMAZING we love him
i love femboy design almost never femboys as mc video games
@@linktothafuture im aware but they also weren’t as knowledgeable as nyarly. I would like to have seen his take on the game at its base level, but he had fun so that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. Not like it was an issue, I just would have liked to see his take on it! Most games are balanced around their normal mode, with the hard mode being unnecessarily frustrating and difficult (most of the time, not always). Thats just the nature of jrpgs tho.
@@chelronin7843 I do agree to a certain extent. I think a more professional review would've been to do it on normal, to appeal to everyone, yknow. Hard isn't gonna be a good representation of the game. I was just saying that we have some other smt focused RUclips channels that covered it in normal so It was nice for me to see someone who played it on hard
Played 20 hours, and it still feels spongy even on normal. Some bosses took 30mins to defeat.
Compendium search was actually in the SMT4 duology, in "More Options" in the Fusion Search menu
SMT4 couldn't display every single compendium results, so you were forced to put more filters to make it work (to be fair there was +400 demons or so).
Seems this game doesn't have that issue.
This will be my first SMT game after starting with persona 4. I'm exited.
i pray for you
I say this a lot, but P5, DDS and P3 have amazing stories. You should play those first.
@@canadmexi I'd play smt v first since it just came out and it would be easier to avoid spoilers but I agree those games have great stories!
@@canadmexi there is no good reason he should blue ball himself on a brand new game to play a bunch of older ones
If you're coming from ONLY Persona 4, then you should keep in mind that mainline SMT games are way harder than the Persona games. I still recommend trying normal difficulty though, and seeing if you can master and push through. But if that's not possible, then you can always switch it to casual at any time in the game. And never give up! And also, remember, constantly try fusing demons and trying new demons...never try to beat the game with the same small handful of demons. And if a boss wipes you out, use it as a learning experience, figure out what's wrong with your party (and also the boss's weaknesses and shit), and build your party around the boss. Also don't completely neglect buffs/debuffs and stuff, they're important enough in Persona but very important in most mainline smt games. But idk how V is handling it, considering that they changed how buffs/debuffs work in this one lol. Anyway, I hope you have a fun time, and if you do end up enjoying this game, some other good SMT games are SMT III Nocturne (but don't play the Switch port, horrible fps drops and etc), SMT IV and IV Apocolypse (play IV before IV A), SMT Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2. And if you like Persona a lot, Persona 5 Royal is really good, and Persona 3 is a little dated gameplay wise but the plot and especially the ending are really good
Nana has a floppy sword like Altera and looks like a Power Ranger.
I can see that, but to me Nahobino looks more like Devilman to me.
Dang we waited so long for a challenge video, Atlus made Vengeance to apologize on Nyarly's behalf
"Slime Run" should be a thing for this game. You fuse a Slime's affinities to the Nahobino at the first possible opportunity, and play through rest of the game that way.
Black slime one ? That ones weak for some ailments tho, i went for shiki ouji at first then late game for amanozako, then just nulled phys, fire and ice :) altough that one doesnt have any ailment res
@@RDGridJanika normal one
I actually like the pacing of the story. Just when you starting thinking nothing is happening or it's taking too long to get to a story segment the game throws a curve ball at you.
I like the "big gameplay section -> story exposition/development -> big gameplay section -> story exposition/deveopment" approach a lot. Especially coming out of Tales of Arise which is a game that literally doesn't stop interrupting gameplay with dialog and info dumps every 3 minutes or so.
I love skits in the tales of franchise but the pacing of the skits in arise was awful imo. They became a chore more than anything else and they werent that good to begin with (in comparison to other tales games).
Well, regarding the story, you could say it was an attempt I guess. They really try to make Nocturne as a basis while heavily inspired by IV resulting in a weird pacing between the story and character exposition and I can't really blame them considering SMT's story style. They may be worried as well if the game becomes bloated which I think it's an unnecessary worry if they play the card right.
Anyhow, I can hope for the better in the next installments but they gotta work hard on their story since honestly, it's hard to sell a a repetitive grand scheme story like SMT. BUT, if Dragon Quest can do it until their eleventh entry (and the upcoming twelfth), I don't see why SMT can't. They just need to be more creative in their writings.
"Who won the lottery" had me in stiches you truly are a man of culture😂😂😂
RIP to the SMT fans who were looking forward to this for so long but couldn't make it to launch date
Yep, my Amazon preorder got delayed indefinitely yesterday, so I just went and downloaded the game instead lol
I was able to snag a copy of No More Heroes III at my local Target on release but none of the retailers around had SMTV in stock yet
lol I love that smearish type animation whenever an attack misses
Sucks to hear about the writing but every other aspect of the game has me excited to try it out, whenever my preorder decides to show up that is.
smt has different paths, maybe the other routes are more interesting
@@hr-g4640 Seems like the law route is the most fleshed out route compared to the other ones during my play through
Like every other main line Megaten xD
Concepts of the world, lore, background, etc, > characters
@@blkxbr How have you played so much of the game already?
@@nicke.8622 played once on normal (Law Route) , then once on hard (True Ending Route) got the game a week ago that’s why
I hope you do a no buff run with this game
You do it
If it's on the hardest mode that shit will be impossible, I don't know why but this game kicked my ass far more than nocturne did
I'll be honest. Your complaints story wise... All sound like issues I have with a lot of the SMT series, I'll be real. So I can't say I'm terribly surprised.
yeah but the story really take back seat in the game and there’s basically no story in the first 10 hours
Smt 4 has great story imo
@@blkxbr there’s plenty, bro. Everything before the diet building is all setup.
Really hope that with SMT V releasing tomorrow Atlus makes another DDS type game using the SMT V engine
That would be amazing
I doubt it
SMT V Apocalypse 😂
Personally, I think Devil Survivor 3 should be Atlus' next priority on the Switch.
Imagine they do like Nocturne and reuse the engine and assets for 4 games
I particularly love Nahabino design and I advocate it's without flaws. Can't wait to play this game
Can’t wait to play this game tomorrow
I can't wait to play it today.
Same.
Hopefully SMT V doesn’t become another JRPG I get 6 hours into and never finish
Nah it hooked me like a fish probably the same for you
if you played other megaten probably you will finish it, but if not, i don't know maybe a 50/50
Probably not, since most of the modern SMT games are super addictive.
Now we just need a port/remaster of IV...
No one else want that? It's just me?
Ask Nintendo
If SMT IV got the definitive re-release treatment with the redrawn art, re-balanced Smirking, and quality of life improvements of Apocalypse, I could finally love it as much as other people do.
@Alejandro Marin Monterrubio
Remake? Lol that won't happen. A remastered likely, but a remake take probably 8-10 years to developing. Why? That game got a lot of demons, many routes, and have to 3D models everything.
I am half way through on hard and agree with mostly everything you mentioned. However, I never really connected with the story or characters in Nocturne, 4 and 4a, but I always valued the settings, mood and combat system above everything else. Especially the changes to the combat system made 4a my favorite game until now, but since smt 5 is better in almost every aspect it is my favorite smt game to date. I can certainly understand why people wanted more from the story, but on my priority list the story part was behind other stuff which all have been delivered. Compared to smt4a the combat has been even more balanced and going full magic doesnt break the game. You can play whatever you like and still be able to best all bosses. Also, items can now easily be used by all demons and there are lots of useful once like dampener and shards. OVerall, this game is everything I wanted from smt5 and my favorite turn based rpg of all time.
On bosses being too bulky, I initially shared your sentiments on it, and granted I'm only 30 hours into Hard mode, currently at the third area, so maybe it gets much worse.
But something clicked with me about 15 hours in, I realized that unlike Nocturne and most Megaten games you only use a half turn to switch demons out, and unlike in IV demons can switch themselves out (without needing a skill to do so). Sure you could try to mp manage with items/skills etc. and maybe get through bosses with just your A team of four, but why do that just to have a couple more meaningful actions on a demon when you can swap them for a demon fresh on MP?
In previous games switching demons out frequently wasn’t a favored strategy due to losing buffs, but here they’re temporary and less centralizing anyway. It seems like the game at least on Hard is very much designed with the idea of players involving their entire stock of demons in mind, not just their first three active party members, and I think that’s pretty cool. It's reminiscent of how Nocturne's Hardtype mod is designed to be played, and go figure, buffs get nerfed there too in addition to switching being a half turn. I've ended more than one fight in V with a completely different set of demons than when I started.
This approach is complimented by the new mechanics like essence fusion for extended customizability and the existence of things like grimoires and exp statues. These can extend the viability of your current demons even as new ones are fused and help weaker/fading demons in your stock get up to speed, it's never been easier to make demons last or sustain a large quantity of quality demons. In vanilla Nocturne it could often feel like you just had an A team and thats it, three, maybe four demons that mattered for combat and the rest were just filler or fusion/heal fodder by comparison. SMT V goes to great lengths to make sure you can feasibly have your whole stock of demons battle ready, and that recontextualizes the scaling of the bosses for me.
The miracles that expand how many demons you can have at a time are some of the most important to get in retrospect, you don't get that much storage to begin and whereas it was just kind of a convenience to have in other games, here it is a priority on par with skill slots as expanding your demon storage is equivalent to expanding your gas tank in a fight.
Hell, after the story boss at the end of the second area I'm 95% certain these design outcomes were intentional, that boss's design basically screams at you to have some 2nd stringers ready in more ways than one.
Great comment!
If I can play Xenoblade chronicles 2 undocked with 260p and low poly count, I probably won’t even bat an eye at frame drops and texture pop in
16:09
I don't mind, I played No More Heroes 3 knowing the awful framedrops that the game has, and I still love it
For the record , the buff system is closer to Etrian Odyssey than Persona.
Also the compendium search function was present in Apocalypse.... maybe even on IV but i dont remember
Hee Ho i was not in IV Ho
It was not like in 5, in 5 you can do the Reverse Compendium search, and it literally shows you every sigle demon you could fuse with everything that you have in your compendium and in your current party and if you just want a demon you just click it and the game automatically fuses it's way easier tu sue that the Apocalypse version.
Didn't some people who worked on Etrian Odyssey, worked on SMT5?
The review of ALL reviews I wanted to hear.
Finally! I’ve been watching different reviews trying to find someone who shares my opinion. All I’ve seen is people calling the story amazing when I thought it was entirely mediocre.
Like you, I thought the story expected me to care for these characters I bearly knew the names of. I also got the Chaos ending expecting it to be the Neutral ending, and my reaction to seeing it was, “wait, that’s it? That was kinda anticlimactic.”
Also, how can *****’s heel turn be so predictible yet still come out of nowhere at the same time? It’s honestly impressive in it’s own weird way.
I’m really enjoying the gameplay. I’m on my second playthrough right now, but yeah, I thought the story was not good. Hoping to be pleasently surprised by the Order and Neutral endings. Fingers crossed
It’s the end of an era.....This was the only game The was revealed before the Switch launch that hadn’t yet come out...
>there have been three US presidents since SMTV was first teased
I'm happy that's true, but that hits hard
I've been waiting so hard for this.
just dropping a like and playing the video in the background on mute. I'll watch it when I finish playing the game. Keep up the good work on the videos dude.
There are no spoilers in this.
@@ltb1345 Then I'll watch it right now.
Good looking out man.
The review I was waiting for, told me basically everything I needed to know and now all that's left to play it myself so I can better understand the points you brought up, cheers
I liked the big areas and how you can explore them, but I'm really missing the underground settlements and how you unlocked fast travel inside them by fighting mini bosses, that kind of details made me feel more immersed on SMTIV and the stress of wanting to reach a place with a terminal was exhilarating. With SMTV I don't feel as on danger on the field like previous entries :(
I'll make you feel danger.
I’ve never played an SMT before, but as a result of playing Persona 5 a few years ago, I decided to dive into research about SMT5. I wanted to make an informed purchase so I’ve been watching all the reviews and I have to say… this review was just leaps and bounds above everybody else’s… it’s almost like this guy actually cares about us walking away with a clear idea of what this experience will be.. (or maybe it’s some embargo bs that forces detailed reviewers to post after the initial wave of press) and despite all that, I have to say that I’m more excited for this game than anything else the past few years. I pre ordered the deluxe edition and I’m patiently waiting for the digital drop right on the dot. Despite the flaws mentioned, I feel like this game was designed for me. I was playing persona 5 thinking “I don’t want to be a high school kid, I want to go back to slaying demons” LOL well anyway, thanks for sharing all your honest thoughts! I appreciate stumbling upon authentic you tubers nowadays, kudos dude!
I heard this running on a launch era switch and I'm genuinely kinda nervous about running it on mine. I think the last time I heard a console that loud was was with Doom Eternal on my base PS4 where I expected it to take flight at any second
it's actually very easy to clean a ps4 which should eliminate most noise.
@@marcusbayley5126 I usually didn't have any problems with it because I kept it fairly clean, but it could definitely have done with some actual maintenance. The only games it really struggled with were Eternal and Cyberpunk before I decided to stop using it.
Even my overclocked switch running at 60 degrees isn't even 1/3rd as loud as a launch ps4 pro. That has to be the loudest console ever made.
@@Neucher you need to clean it
@@omensoffate It has been like that since day one
Appreciate including the best Yuri Lowenthal performance.
So, I thought hydra had a good amount of health to make the boss feel satisfying. Did you feel he was too spongy or is this an issue later into the game? (The sponginess)
I think it was because he was playing on hard that the way it felt a lot more sponger but yeah bosses in this game are a lot more longer and sponger, on normal difficulty boss fights would take 10-15 mins, just finish my 100% normal playthrough clocking in around 80 hours not including the times I lost and dying before reaching a save point, gonna test out hard next
It's only an issue in hard mode.
Gonna be honest for me that was an issue on early up to late mid game, but when i got to end game bosse didn't fell super as spongy, the reason is because i was getting overpowered and i was dealing a lot of damage, even that i was playing in Hard Mode.
I conceptually understand the pain. If a RPG has ticked all boxes gameplay, presentation, music and world with flying colors it has the potential to become one of the greatest games of our time but if the story and the character lacks then it can never reach that status anymore.
The gameplay may be the most important part of a videogame but it only makes history through a good story.
Hyped af for the game, waiting for my copy to arrive. I just finished Metroid Dread, and while I wish it was a bit longer, replaying it should keep me entertained while I wait for SMT V. Cheers from Mexico!
This is my first traditional SMT and ive been having a blast so far! Difficulty feels _just_ right imo
Single target buffs can be useful somewhat early on if you get a decent support demon with good resistances. Shiisa with tarunda and rakunda is pretty good for the second main boss at the end of the first area
First SMT game I've really played and I am absolutely in love with it. It's fucking addictive and makes me feel like a strategic genius when I deny the enemy a whole ass turn by putting him to sleep after shanking his two buddies to death.
I just finished my first ending and I feel the game had its scope drastically reduced mid development in terms of story.
A lot of things are introduced and have no real payoff. Half of the game time is spent on really pointless moments and then everything is rushed at the end and not much happens.
It's still a good game, probably the best JRPG on the switch. But Nocturne still feels like a more finished product to me. I was really shocked at how little payoff the story and characters have.
Agreed. Personally, i never had been here for the narrative or the characters for megaten games, so much so that i didnt really care about what TMS did. SMT5 however managed to have less narrative than Nocturne did. Nocturne's biggest negative already was that we spent little time with the humans and factions, but SMT5 manages to double down on that concept.
Persona 3 is actually the same way. Almost nothing happens til half of the game. Picks up for a month or two.... something i definitely abandoned P3 for once ( finished since ), but SMT5? Come on, even dark souls games manage to make me care about characters despite the fact that you likely wont see an npc more than 3-4 times for a very brief moment.
For me , it looks like they could branch off with awesome ideas if they would look at SMT 1&2 again in its design and expand it with much more interactive possibilities that could change the world a bit more , going more into a exploratorive story design that would reduce exposition dumps alot while you are still interacting in the game .
Especially the lack of different dungeons (the important and optional ones) harmed the game more and they added uninteresting side-quests as a compromise . They have the pay-off but come out as sloppy .
Lets talk about the elephant in the room who almost nobody wants to particepate. Jrpgs should finally evolve instead streamlining design which leads to rather weak or almost not changed results in the whole game . It happened way too often and even i am a bit exhausted by its common design flaws.
I would dare to say it should be more open like D&D instead of being very strict and linear like Final Fantasy . Some kind of evolution should finally be there.
Great review. Will probably pick the game up when it goes on sale.
I’m looking forward to buying this game. I played and loved Persona 5 Royal when i got it early in the year, so I can’t wait to see what the other side of Megaten has to offer.
i'm glad persona 5 managed to help bring more people into smt. persona 5 (the original version) was my first...well not smt but...smt RELATED game. now just don't pull an ign and hate it for not being like persona XD
Deeply looking forward to your next SMT video!
I am super excited for this game! Awesome music and the combat in smt games are so addicting!
Shoji Meguro is one of the best. Ryoto Kozuka is matching him.
I don't think that the Atlus artists after Kaneko stand on the same level, but the music is keeping up with the old composers.
Me: great, this is going to be my first mainline SMT, I'm going to really enjoy it!
Nyarly: this is one of the hardest games in the entire series
Me: :(
he was also playing hard, there's a easy mode too. and if that is also way too hard, there's a safety mode as free dlc.
Same.
Just don't play on hard mode lol normal or easy mode should be fine.
Very nice review! I had the privilege to review the game before release for an italian website and I was concerned about being too harsh on writing, story and characters, but it feels I'm not the only one. You also share the feeling that the game is somehow incomplete/unfinished/cut - and honestly I can't understand how people couldn't notice that.
Oh, and we share the score! Being the first pure SMT game for me, I was worried... but being so in line with you, it looks like I passed the test ;)
n.b.
Didn't watch the review earlier because I got al the endings and 100% grimoire in the last few days.
Ngl Nyarlathotep seems like the kind of guy to call SMTV "Persona but without the heart".
I'm hoping that more persona fans will check this game out. I personally loved SMT Nocturne and Devil Survivor and look forward to playing SMTV when my copy comes in tomorrow. So excited and happy for all the fans who waited patiently for this game for 4-5 years. Props to yall!
I swear the early game in SMTV is harder than the majority of other JRPGS, you also can’t abuse the Grimoures like you can’t in Nocturne
Remember the girl with green scarf? I dont think you see her after attack on the school. I legit forgot who she is when i finished the game.
How would you compare the story to Nocturne.? Because Nocturne also barely had any characterization and I still loved it.
I guess they tried to go for a Nocturne-style story, but also wanted to have characters similar to IV's? They probably tried to do a more character-driven story earlier in development, but they either ran out of time and/or money, so they tried to switch over to a minimalist story instead, ending up with the strengths of neither style but the weaknesses of both. That's my theory at least. To be honest, the Nahobino himself didn't really resonate with me either, not as much as Demi-fiend, who's my absolute favourite. Still, the gameplay is fun and the demons look fucking amazing, so therefore this game is good. And it has my waifu Atropos as well.
I might consider picking this up after I finish NEO The World Ends With You
how are you liking it
It's good so far, although i do think playing a group up to 4 characters at once isn't optimal. It would be a tighter combat system with 2 or even 1 character, with the same abilities.
@@dafunk1080 Oh its been great, Im in the middle of week 3 and its getting depressing though
@@nore5888 i now have both. smt v has more style than i thought
Before this game, the only time I needed to tag out demons mid battle that I can remember was pillar Zelenin in strange journey. Now I had to use 6 demons to barely kill the hydra. I'm also realizing how mean it is the Hydra's skill he'll always use after a magatsuhi charge is toxic breath, a dark skill that hits one of Nahobino's base weaknesses. Absolutely the hardest game I've ever played
Just buy and spam the dampers
Aw, the STORY sounded like it had the same problems with SMT 3.
seems like it. character more down to earth though cause they didn't have to endure surviving in a doomed world like the guys from shin megami 3 as well. it makes sense cause their realm os still alive, but sitll bit of an issue.
I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS
Edit : awesome video look forward to playing it.
Pretty spot on, but I personally found the enormous boss health bars to just add to their menace and challenge. I saw the health bars as timers I had to beat before I ran out of the appropriate Dampener item to block their Magasuhi skill, which incentivized me to play like a madman and go for immense damage in short windows. This is definitely the best mainline SMT game we've had, makes me happy to see the production value and quality keep going up.
My biggest takeaway from this video is that yosuke is Oliver Swanick. Bought the game 5 minutes into the review but damn am I glad I kept watching.
The return of the king!
Okay wow. I was getting it Day 1 to make sure I had a physical copy, but how Nyarly is talking about this, it shot up to the top of my play list.
Had a feeling the story in general might be underwhelming from the trailers. Hopefully its still intruiging. Man, still super excited for this game. Gonna try hard this time around, hopefully I can finish it unlike strange journey 3ds that I just gave up on the final boss.
I say law is the most fleshed out route in this game and chaos sadly gets snubbed in this game
I think it's more about their ideals than their characters. Kinda like nocturne were the other surviving characters focused on their reasons
@@blkxbr I think it's more about their ideals than their characters. Kinda like nocturne were the other surviving characters focused on their reasons
Which final boss do you mean? Just switch to easy mode to beat it. Trust me, it's worth it, especially if you're going for the based New Chaos ending.
@@blkxbr So SMT V is Law-focused? That's kinda refreshing, NGL.
They fucking nailed the atmosphere and aesthetic, it's unfortunate that the writing department was embarrassingly mid.
The only review that matters
Great review! Super informative without going into spoiler territory. Your tonal inflection and manner of speech make you very engaging.
So it's a solid mid-tier Megaten game in terms of story, like Nocturne and SMT 1. Pretty much what I expected. I'm glad I didn't set my expectations too high when it comes to the story.
I love your profile picture! Mind if I save it?
@Nyarly heyyyy guess who just became your 100,000k subscriber!!!! I even took a screen recording congrats man keep it up next year!
17:49 now I can't help but imagine how cool the official SMT/New Vegas crossover would be
Your videos are so nice to listen to. You've got a great voice and the pacing is always really good. Excited to play this game after years of waiting!
I knew i can count on you to give me a solid review of this game. As a person who plays JRPs for their story (shocking, i know), i really appreciated your honesty on how scant the story is in this game. I'll probably still play it, eventually. Thanks Nyarly!
Same, i feel like for so many gamers story is just an afterthought when at the core it's what's immerse me the most in a videogame.
@@alexterieur8813 right? especially in a game like this where, i chose endings based on my moral affinity. You have to make me care. And you REALLY have to make me care to invest 60+ hrs of my time.
@@trulypatrice yup
My only complain for this game is that you almost never know what boss you will be facing, so you can't prepare ahead, you have to go in to check, and either you are lucky and you have just the right sets, or you have to load your safe to change your set. I liked that the game gave me a hint about the hydra's abilities before I went in to the boss battle, and I actually prepared for it, but later on I never got any hints for boss battles (unless I missed some).
You'll know after it two shots you and makes you have to start from the last save
Hey guys big Nyarly fan here
My copy is coming tomorrow in the mail from Best Buy. My body is ready. Also I didn't see the spoiler, so you're good man. Great review. I love your passion you put into this review.
Dunno, maybe its because I grew up in a non-english speaking country where everything was always subbed, but I haven't yet found an english dub that doesn't make me cringe. Always reminds me of 5th grade and how the teacher would have the kids read aloud what the characters are saying, feels like that everytime.
You just havent tried hard enough to look lol.
Bro I laughed way too hard when you played the New Vegas dialogue!
Spoilers below, don't click "read more" if you don't wanna be spoiled
You say there's good ideas for the story, Nyarly, and here's the best one: the "God and Satan are both jerks" plot thread is basically nonexistent. Like, yeah, it's still a law VS chaos plot, but this time around, neither side is really on the evil side of their respective spectrum. The law side, one still-very-radical angel aside, doesn't follow YHWH's "evils of free will" ideology anymore and want a Creator that _won't_ rob them of their freedom, hoping that law and free will can coexist. Meanwhile, the chaos side is still led by Lucifer, but his jackassery from Apocalypse is nowhere to be found and he's more like he is in Nocturne: someone that just wants humanity to be free from the forces above. Hell, even in a law route, he's not exactly going _against_ you, if only because you're proof that humans can reach the power and authority of gods and thus achieve their freedom _from_ said gods. It's a very new way of doing different plot routes, even if you think the reasons from Nocturne are still better, which I don't blame you for. Both that and this are really cool for how they switch up the formula.
Oh, yeah! I had to order that 5-Disc CD Soundtrack once I started playing. Such a beautiful package that OST is.
Finally a review from someone who knows this series and knows our priorities as SMT fans.
Don't confuse Nocturne fans with SMT fans. Nocturne fans just want Nocturne 2. SMT fans wanted SMT V.
Started playing this game today and so far I’m greatly enjoying it. Glad to see Nyarly enjoyed it as well.