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The other good news is that this lengthy RPG is finally here and it is getting relatively high scores across the board. Every release in this franchise seems to come with a double-edged sword though. A lot has changed in Shin Megami Tensei 5 to make it one of the best and most accessible entries in the series, but some things hold it back. Fans can hold out hope that these issues can be fixed with future patches or DLC drops.
6 Saves Need a Big Upgrade
It’s hard to find a game nowadays without an auto-save feature. Shin Megami Tensei 5 says hello. There are only two options to save in the game. The main way is through set points on the map and then there are chapter breaks.
It would be great to see Shin Megami Tensei 5 add in two additional save features. The first one should be auto-saving. The second would open up the possibility to save anywhere. This is an open-world game after all. Allowing players to save at will is almost a guarantee. It should make side questing more inviting.
5 Allow Players To Change Hard Difficulty
There are four difficulties in the game: Safety, Casual, Normal, and Hard. Safety must be downloaded from the eShop but it’s free so there are no additional fees to worry about. It, Casual, and Normal levels can be changed at any point while not in combat. This makes Shin Megami Tensei 5 the most accessible entry in the series to date.
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If players choose Hard then they will be stuck on that difficulty until the end of Shin Megami Tensei 5. That seems a bit unfair. It would be more convenient if any difficulty could be changed whenever the player wants. It’s weird to single Hard out.
4 Subtitles And Text Speed
There is no way to turn subtitles off in the cutscenes. This feature is included in most modern games but Shin Megami Tensei 5 is sadly behind on this as well like the auto-saves. This is especially odd because players can take away text boxes whenever they want during normal dialogue. This is a nice way to drink in the scenery or look at cool figures such as bosses.
Discussing the story brings up another small issue. There is also no way to entirely skip a text-based conversation. They can be fast-forwarded through, which is great, but they cannot be skipped. Finally, the text has an auto-play feature that allows players to just sit back and watch a scene play out. However, there are long pauses in-between each text box which can make the conversation flow feel unnatural. Hopefully, that process can be sped up.
3 Group Enemies For Bonus EXP
Enemies are all over the place in Shin Megami Tensei 5. Sometimes they can be grouped in five or more bunches. The odd thing about this is that there is no way to group battles.
Neo: The World Ends With You is another Switch RPG from 2021 that actually does do that. The more enemies that are grouped in a chain of battles then the more experience points are gained. It’s a great way to grind in the game. Shin Megami Tensei 5 seems like it is set up to have a system like this but it is sadly missing. That’s what patches are for.
2 Add A Tactical Menu To Auto-Battle
Auto-battle is one of the nicest features in Shin Megami Tensei 5. It speeds up combat and allows players to sit back and watch the fight play itself. This is only recommended for enemies that are significantly weaker than the current team. That’s because the AI will only use melee attacks.
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The problem with that is the limitation. There is no way to individually program what each character does during combat. Yet another Switch RPG, Super Robot Wars 30, included auto-battle into its gameplay. However, players can at least tweak AI in that game such as having a character focus on attacking or defending. Shin Megami Tensei 5 should also have something like that for auto-battle.
1 More Demons And Character Creation
The design of the human characters, as well as the demons, are some of the best this series has seen yet. Unfortunately, there are some setbacks with that praise. First, the main hero is silent. Players can’t even customize what they look like from genders to preset visuals. If the developers don’t want to allow the main character to talk then it would at least be nice if they could inject some personality into the hero.
Demons have a similar creative issue. Shin Megami Tensei 5 introduces about ten new demons to the series. The vast majority of enemies are old. They are classics that fans adore but change is also good. This is something for the developers to keep in mind for DLC or the next game. They should look at the Pokemon series for inspiration. That franchise would be dead if they only updated their generations with a handful of new creatures.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 was released on November 11, 2021, and is available on Switch exclusively.
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