I put upwards of 80 hours into Shin Megami Tensei V to 100% it when it came out back in 2021, and you know what? I'm going to do it again. That's because its re-release, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, is adding a whole lot more than just quality-of-life improvements and a few gameplay additions. It's one thing to hear Atlus boast about how much it has changed SMT V for the new Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC re-release, which key developers detailed in an interview I did a while back. But having now played about two hours of a preview demo that focused on the new content, I've seen for myself how Vengeance is building towards something much larger than the original game.
Atlus has established a fairly consistent pattern of putting out definitive versions of previously released games with notable tweaks and extra content, sometimes changing the course of their main stories as well. While this year's Persona 3 Reload was more of a remake, games like Persona 5 Royal, Catherine: Full Body, and SMT: Strange Journey Redux are a few examples of that particular strategy. I get that this can rub folks the wrong way, but I find it exciting to see a game I enjoyed go in new directions to expand on a creative vision. It seems Vengeance is affording SMT V that opportunity, and in some respects, this might be more significant than Atlus' other "director's cuts" of its games.
As the game's subtitle would indicate, the main narrative theme behind the new storyline is about revenge. It flips an existing plot thread from SMT V, weaving it into the story to be much more prominent, and introduces new characters--allies and villains alike--to be the anchors for that theme. Vengeance sows the seeds early on in the game--though much of the game's first half will be quite similar to the original, it incorporates a few twists to fit the extra characters and new story events to set up its branching path.
The big addition to the cast is Yoko Hiromine, a somewhat-undercover transfer student who is fully aware of the apocalyptic timeline throughout the game and wields her own supernatural powers--and she was part of nearly every story beat I saw. Having played through the original version, I can see how there are instances of her presence and dialogue being inserted in ways that don't require a complete rewrite of existing conversations. However, she does get dedicated moments and cutscenes that elevate her well above being another character who just tags along, and even becomes a controllable party member at certain critical points in the story.
Yoko is one of the catalysts for the new route that is teased and provoked throughout the storyline, along with the villainous Qadištu trio--a group of demons who represent a more deranged side of the concept of revenge. In this first part of the preview demo, I got to fight one of the Qadištu named Naamah, who was one of the several new boss battles--and with Naamah having a wonderfully wicked design, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the rest of the group make their presence felt and embody the more twisted side of SMT. It's one example of how the main path integrates new content and tries spotlighting the path toward the Vengeance route.
If you played SMT V, you'll remember an early chapter of the game revolving around a side character being bullied at the school you and your friends attend, leading her to be tempted by demonic powers to get her revenge. This was a pretty standard story beat in the grand scheme of things, but it appears to be a bigger focal point to emphasize the themes that lead into the Vengeance path. In this sequence of events, you'll see Yoko show her hand in an important cutscene to tease her true intentions and further set up a more interesting dynamic between SMT V's human characters, which felt missing from the original story.
The second part of the playable demo put me right at the start of when everything goes in an entirely different direction, showcasing what happens when fully committing to the Vengeance path. To give previous players an idea of when the story's path diverges, the protagonist and most demons in my party were at level 40. You'll enter a brand-new region within Da'at (the post-apocalyptic areas that make up the combat and exploration in SMT V) that looks to be as big as any of the other areas of the base game. It's coated in an ethereal pastel of orange and purple with a heavenly vibe, which is fitting for the brooding conflict against agents of god who claim moral authority.
While SMT V (and the series in general) reveled in the clash of grandiose ideologies between gods, angels, and demons, it's at this point when that moral ambiguity is seemingly tossed aside. The decisions between order and chaos, or the completely selfish path, has been part and parcel to SMT stories, but so far this new route teases a more defiant side that appears to be dictated by the emotions of its human characters. I don't have the full narrative context around this point in Vengeance's story by virtue of this being a short demo, but letting its human characters play a bigger role in this route is a compelling direction since it's the area SMT V showed potential but didn't fulfill by the time it wrapped up.
This part of the game was also a great way to highlight Yoko as a playable character, and from what I played, she's as strong of a party as any demon in my roster. While Yoko wields powerful fire and dark attack spells, the returning character Tao provides healing, buffs, and light magic as a party member as well. They both function as "guest" characters, meaning they drop in and out of the party depending on the story, so they don't completely replace demons in your lineup. However, letting them shine in battle further highlights their importance this time around in Vengeance-specific content.
Having been so ingrained in the original version, which was a Switch exclusive, I had gotten used to its technical limitations. The preview demo was on PS5, and seeing SMT V at a higher resolution running at a consistent 60 frames per second with greater draw distances and better detail was a real treat. Beyond the technical upgrades are a bunch of quality-of-life improvements that also complement the new content. The most noteworthy feature I saw was the social hub-style area where all your demons hang out, which you can visit at every save point. As your demons level up, you can check in on them and get stat boosts by having brief conversations with them. And your companion Aogami will also have social-link-style events throughout the game to give the protagonist additional stat points and show a deeper bond between the two.
Spending two hours of what's said to be "75 more hours of gameplay" is only going to show me so much. However, getting a taste of the new content in SMT V: Vengeance made me hopeful that Atlus can once again make good on putting out a definitive version and make it worth a replay. The changes and additions specific to Vengeance are emblematic of SMT's attitude, starring amazingly designed new characters and still being unapologetically devilish in its themes and presentation. Vengeance is also a way for those on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S who never played the Switch-exclusive original to experience what I already considered a worthy entry in the underserved mainline SMT franchise.
