Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance review: One of the best RPGs just got even better

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance MSRP $59.99 Score Details Pros

New story path is excellent
Meaningful gameplay additions
Great quality-of-life features
Improved performance

Cons

Demon recruiting is still a pain

When Shin Megami Tensei returned to Nintendo Switch in 2021, fans of the RPG franchise had a lot of reasons to celebrate. Shin Megami Tensei V was the first game in the series to feature an open world, and developer Atlus pulled it off with panache. It felt like a natural transition given that the previous entries were purely segmented with dungeons and maps. It was the kind of success story that was begging for a good victory lap.

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Now, Atlus is taking its rightful double dip with an enhanced port of the game, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. The new version comes complete with new gameplay features, story content, and quality-of-life improvements. That’s great news, because as great as the original Shin Megami Tensei V is, it has two critical flaws: its skeletal story and subpar performance on Switch. The RPG’s intricate and thoughtful turn-based battle system, gorgeous art direction, and moody atmosphere were able to fill in the meat between the bones, but there was room to improve.

Thankfully, Vengeance addresses the original’s issues to create a stronger package. The newly introduced story path is much more coherent, and its supporting cast plays a more active role in it. Best of all is that even though Vengeance is available on Switch, it’s no longer tied exclusively to that platform. Your performance may vary depending on where you play it, but a move to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox finally unlocks its power. Shin Megami Tensei V was already one of the best open-world JRPGs out there, and Vengeance makes it even better.