Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Game Review – A New Canon

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Atlus has just released the latest iteration of their gorgeous role-playing video game franchise, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. After the spin-off was announced, fans were worried that the new game wouldn’t be different enough from the original to justify the new arc. Thankfully, they were proved wrong.

While there is plenty that Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance shares with its predecessor, there is also plenty that it doesn’t. Odds are that if you are here to read about the new version, you have already played the 2021 original, so I won’t bore you with too much of a recap (or any dreaded spoilers), but it’s worth mentioning that some core details have stayed the same.

You still play the story’s protagonist, who fuses with an otherworldly being in a moment of dire need to become an even more powerful and intelligent force to be reconned with. What follows is a period of trying to understand what has happened to your hometown of Tokyo while also facing otherworldly forces in the aftermath of a centuries-old war between angels and demons.

While the original game followed the “Canon of Creation”, we now follow the “Canon of Vengeance”, giving the game a slightly darker twist that isn’t so dark that it detracts from the overall experience.

Although Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance starts in a similar way to the original, less than half of the events are actually shared between the two arcs, giving you the true feeling that the entire game has changed because of the choices that you have made.

With a butterfly effect that has literally shifted the fabric of reality, there are enough differences to keep players on their toes, a totally new allied character to get to know, and a new faction of enemies to occupy your time as well. 

Many games fail in the department of making a “new arc” or remastering their game in a way that feels different enough to the original to justify the time, money, and energy that it takes to play a game like this, but Atlus has once again hit the