My feeling on SMTV kept changing while I was playing through it. At some points, I was enthralled with the world and combat, and enamored with everything I could do. While at other times, I was frustrated and confused by the narrative and world design. But when I finished the game, and achieved the secret ending, I felt nothing but adoration.
I love this game.
In essence, SMTV is a combination of the most recent SMT titles: IV (along with Apocalypse), Strange Journey, and especially Nocturne. It borrows elements from each of these games, some of these elements work, while others don't feel as fleshed out as they should be.
For instance, just like in IV, the best way to get money is by scavenging for items to sell at specific points. While this functions well enough in V, it ignores how its original implementation was used to help the world feel more fleshed out in IV. If anything, it achieves the opposite here. Other examples include the use of completely separate maps, like in Strange Journey, the themes and goal of recreation like in Nocturne, etc. It feels as though these elements were brought in solely to recreate them, rather than trying to fit them into this world.
The absolute worst example of this comes from the narrative; more specifically, the characters. Nocturne's characters weren't extremely fleshed out by any means, but the game made them memorable by giving them all a sense of agency by letting most of their philosophical development happen off screen. While IV, on the other hand, had the characters constantly with the protagonist at almost every turn, which let us come to understand their philosophies as they grew along with us.
V tries to strike a balance between these two, and unfortunately, doesn't do the best they could with it. The cast barely spends any time with the protagonist, however, we still see every important moment in their lives that explains their philosophical growth. The most irritating is Dazai, who will magically warp ahead of you in the map just to talk to Abdiel in the middle of a battlefield, or come up to you after you defeat a boss only to awkwardly ask if you like being told what to do. It simply doesn't work, and results in one of the worst SMT casts I've seen so far.
There are a few other elements I'm not a fan of, such as dungeon designs, the design of the third map, the handling of levelling, especially in the secret ending. However, while I find these annoying, they don't stop the experience from being one I absolutely loved.
When the elements work together, when everything fits as it should, the game is an unstoppable powerhouse of JRPG megatan excitement. When I watched the credits roll, I felt incredibly satisfied with both myself, and the game I just experienced, for the first time in a while, I was ready to start the game up again and play through it a second time, not caring how long it would take me.
Also, as a film nerd, I loved the cinematography in this game. Almost every cutscene shot is purposefully skewed in an unnatural way, implying the uncertainty of the world, and the protagonist. I wasn't expecting such interesting cinematography from this series, but V provided it for me.
If you enjoyed the other SMT titles, but found something holding you back, such as Nocturnes' unforgivable difficulty, IV's world map design, or SJ's frustrating dungeon layouts, but still want a true SMT experience, then this title is definitely for you. It's more welcoming to newcomers than other titles, but will still test your knowledge and skill throughout the whole game. I ended up dying at least 30 times, and that's being extremely generous to myself.
I love everything else about this game, and with the 30th anniversary of SMT happening this year, I'm looking forward to Atlus either giving us an expansion for this game, or another title/remaster to look forward to.
I love this game.
In essence, SMTV is a combination of the most recent SMT titles: IV (along with Apocalypse), Strange Journey, and especially Nocturne. It borrows elements from each of these games, some of these elements work, while others don't feel as fleshed out as they should be.
For instance, just like in IV, the best way to get money is by scavenging for items to sell at specific points. While this functions well enough in V, it ignores how its original implementation was used to help the world feel more fleshed out in IV. If anything, it achieves the opposite here. Other examples include the use of completely separate maps, like in Strange Journey, the themes and goal of recreation like in Nocturne, etc. It feels as though these elements were brought in solely to recreate them, rather than trying to fit them into this world.
The absolute worst example of this comes from the narrative; more specifically, the characters. Nocturne's characters weren't extremely fleshed out by any means, but the game made them memorable by giving them all a sense of agency by letting most of their philosophical development happen off screen. While IV, on the other hand, had the characters constantly with the protagonist at almost every turn, which let us come to understand their philosophies as they grew along with us.
V tries to strike a balance between these two, and unfortunately, doesn't do the best they could with it. The cast barely spends any time with the protagonist, however, we still see every important moment in their lives that explains their philosophical growth. The most irritating is Dazai, who will magically warp ahead of you in the map just to talk to Abdiel in the middle of a battlefield, or come up to you after you defeat a boss only to awkwardly ask if you like being told what to do. It simply doesn't work, and results in one of the worst SMT casts I've seen so far.
There are a few other elements I'm not a fan of, such as dungeon designs, the design of the third map, the handling of levelling, especially in the secret ending. However, while I find these annoying, they don't stop the experience from being one I absolutely loved.
When the elements work together, when everything fits as it should, the game is an unstoppable powerhouse of JRPG megatan excitement. When I watched the credits roll, I felt incredibly satisfied with both myself, and the game I just experienced, for the first time in a while, I was ready to start the game up again and play through it a second time, not caring how long it would take me.
Also, as a film nerd, I loved the cinematography in this game. Almost every cutscene shot is purposefully skewed in an unnatural way, implying the uncertainty of the world, and the protagonist. I wasn't expecting such interesting cinematography from this series, but V provided it for me.
If you enjoyed the other SMT titles, but found something holding you back, such as Nocturnes' unforgivable difficulty, IV's world map design, or SJ's frustrating dungeon layouts, but still want a true SMT experience, then this title is definitely for you. It's more welcoming to newcomers than other titles, but will still test your knowledge and skill throughout the whole game. I ended up dying at least 30 times, and that's being extremely generous to myself.
I love everything else about this game, and with the 30th anniversary of SMT happening this year, I'm looking forward to Atlus either giving us an expansion for this game, or another title/remaster to look forward to.