This is my first mainline Megaten game and it really was a ton of fun! I had to grind quite a bit which makes for the fact that I've only just finished it, despite owning the game since release. The combat is fun and engaging because of the press-turn system, which really encouraged building versatile parties to counter certain strengths and weaknesses.

The game can get really tough. Especially in boss-fights I regularly found myself with just a bit too little MP, or I'd get killed in a single round because of a series of unlucky hits. Even after a few hours of grinding you can still die to an enemy critting on every single attack they make.

Not only can you build effective strategies with your team compositions, but also by changing up their move-sets. When fusing demons to fight for you, you can assign them new skills that might not originally be in their list of powers, because you fused it with a certain demon. You can also find essences throughout the world, that let you replace skills and affinities for both your demons and your main character: Nahobino.

Your character is basically a demon that fuses with a human to fight throughout Da'at, also called the Netherworld. It's a big power to have here. The story is definitely there, but wasn't all too compelling to me. I'm sure there's a bunch of symbolism here and thematic stuff, but it didn't fully register with me the first time around. I can definitely see myself playing this again and delving into it further to understand it better though.

On the technical side this game is... okay. Graphically it's fine, but it definitely seemed to take a lot out of my Switch, since it was making a lot of noise at times. Every so often there'll be a dip in framerate, which is especially noticeable during the cutscenes.

All in all though, Shin Megami Tensei V served as a really fun and exciting journey into the franchise I opened the door to with Persona 4 and 5. I'll definitely be playing the other ones as well!