Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is out next week on PS5 and PS4 and is set to introduce the demon gathering RPG to a new audience. The original SMTV was exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, but this re-release includes many additions and improvements.
To learn more about Vengeance (the game, not the action), its new stuff, and why Atlus decided to return to this title in the first place, we asked producer Shinjiro Takata and director Shigeo Komori a few questions.
Push Square: To begin with, what is your overall goal with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance? Why did you decide to review this game?
Shinjiro Takata, producer: Our goal for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is to expand the SMT IP.
SMTV was well received by players and sold well on Switch alone, so we started thinking about reaching an even wider audience by moving SMTV to all platforms. But instead of just porting the Switch version, we decided we wanted to make the best SMTV experience we could make. We focused on adding new content as well as player feedback to make system tweaks and other improvements, and that’s what brought Vengeance to its current form.
Can you give us an overview of Vengeance? What are the biggest additions in this extended version?
Shigeo Komori, Director: Revenge is a dramatic story of revenge against the world. As the battle between those who maintain order and those who commit crimes against it progresses, players will explore new areas as they follow the story of new characters and a group of mysterious new demons, the Kadistuta, who make plans of their own. In your research, you can also influence the fate of people and experience encounters with new demons.
For those who haven’t played the original SMTV, can you explain where the new storyline begins? How does it factor into the main game?
Chambers: The Vengeance canon begins much like the original path, with a terrifying mystery scene in modern-day Tokyo that blocks the protagonist’s path home and an unplanned detour, leaving him buried and unconscious.
He wakes up in a new Tokyo, an apocalypse-ravaged wasteland now called Daath… but before bloodthirsty demons can claim his life, a savior appears and the two unite to become a powerful being, neither human nor demon : a Nahobino.
However, the journey changes dramatically when a new character, Yoko Hiromine, is introduced. Yoko gradually influences the events of the story and by the middle of the game there will be some significant differences, so look forward to that.
We’ve heard that Vengeance is making minor tweaks to the game based on player feedback. Can you tell us more about them?
Chambers: It would be hard to list them all, but I’d say the most notable changes are: The addition of a movement mechanic called Magatsu Rails, map improvements, adjusting the range from which relics are picked up, new additions and improvements for demon navigators , adding a sky view camera mode, transparency of obstacles in the camera’s field of view, adjustments to the way flying demons attack the player in the field, and a few more subtle improvements based on feedback from the original game.
SMT has a reputation as a more hardcore RPG series. We’re just wondering, have you done anything to make SMTV — and Vengeance in particular — more accessible to new players?
Chambers: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the perfect time for new players to enter the series. While fans have always loved the challenge of SMT, we’ve made many adjustments to make Vengeance accessible to a wider audience, including adding additional difficulty levels, making tutorials user-friendly
for newcomers and allows players to save the game at any time.
We have to ask, do you have any favorite SMT demons? Is there a demon that always walks into your group?
Takata: Amabie (new demon in Vengeance) is my favorite. He looks so quirky and cute and I can’t wait for everyone to meet him. You’ll have to do a little something to hire him though…
Finally, do you have anything you’d like to say to our readers and those who might be playing SMTV for the first time?
Takata: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance features both the original SMTV story, “Canon of Creation,” and this new story, “Canon of Vengeance.” Including all the improvements that have been made for this iteration, this is the biggest entry in the SMT series.
For players new to the series, this is the perfect game to learn what SMT is all about. At the same time, those who played the original SMTV will be able to enjoy the added storyline and new additions such as demon haunts, so you won’t want to miss this one.
Huge thanks to Takata-san and Komori-san for taking the time to answer our questions. Special thanks to Samantha Montague and the teams at SEGA and Atlus for making this interview possible.
Are you looking forward to Vengeance coming out on June 14th? Collect some demons of your own in the comments section below.
