I love the aesthetic of this series so much with the digital devil stuff and the way it talks of gods and demons. Growing up in the church but having since fallen out of it, all the the Abrahamic lexicon and rituals that get thrown around or visualised on the screen make for a uniquely enchanting experience. The gameplay is less so my thing since I'm really not a fan of alternate endings in any game, and the SMT/Persona combat system just doesn't really catch me me. Too grindy and overly centralised on elemental weaknesses. A lot of the time I feel as though I like SMT as a concept more than I do as an actual video game, since across multiple titles I've lost the motivation to continue only about an hour in. From the trailers and the current trends of Atlus (a greater focus on gameplay accessibility at the expense of narrative density), however, I had faith that SMT V would be the one to finally break me into the franchise and provide the hook I then need to work my way back. I wouldn't say it let me down. The combat is the same as ever and I lament that such an important title was stuck to the struggling Switch hardware, but nonetheless: fantastic dialogue, incredible environmental design and an outstanding soundtrack (the latter two being what I value most in a JRPG). The abstract, otherworldly atmosphere this game creates is the total inverse of Persona 5, yet a counterpart in how impressively well-realised it is. The music is strange and warm to the ear as though it were a rhythmic white noise and the dream-like landscapes slowly swallow you within.