Vengeance polishes an already strong formula: demanding turn-based combat, addictive demon fusion, and a new story route that shifts everything. Exploring Da'at feels cleaner, and the overall pacing is better tuned than in the original release.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player16+
Description
A Tokyo high-schooler is cast into a desolate, demon-ravaged Tokyo and merges with a divine being. Published by Atlus, released worldwide in 2024. Demon negotiation and recruitment, fusions, alignment choices and a brand-new route added to this expanded version.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Ryota Kozuka's score wraps the ruined Tokyo in cold electronic layers and biting rock riffs that crackle through every demon encounter. The desolate overworld breathes with icy synth textures, while battles erupt into restless percussion and distortion. It's a sound that gets under your skin and lingers well past the final fusion.
Caught between a ruined Tokyo and a demon-haunted wasteland, the tale presses the player toward hard philosophical choices about order, chaos and free will. Its dialogue refuses easy answers, asking you to own your worldview. Mature writing rooted in dense mythology that lingers long after the credits.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Difficult"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Devastated Tokyo teems with demons to recruit, fuse and refine, and each alignment leads to its own ending. Vengeance bolts on an entirely new second campaign that nearly doubles the journey, alongside side quests, fearsome optional bosses and Mitama hunting. That wealth of choices, paired with a difficulty that rewards starting over better prepared, makes it an RPG you never quite finish.
Bargain, recruit or annihilate: every demon can turn ally or executioner, and the bosses press that tension to the limit. Elemental affinities turn a single Press Turn choice into a swift win or a total rout. Against colossal deities and mythic figures, reading weaknesses, juggling buffs and keeping a cool head decide everything, in duels of relentless tactical demand.
A questionable morality
To save a ravaged world, you recruit demons through conversation, flatter them, win them over… then fuse them without a qualm to make stronger ones. Yesterday's companion becomes today's raw material, and you optimize your sacrifices like a cooking recipe. That surface tenderness toward creatures you promptly recycle invites a slightly sheepish smile.
Is Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance still worth playing in 2026?
Vengeance is not just a re-release, it is the definitive version of Shin Megami Tensei V. The new route adds context and characters the original sorely lacked, while the demanding, surgical combat remains among the most satisfying in the genre. Exploring Tokyo's desolate wastes, once a bit empty, now feels denser. Demon fusion and negotiation keep their strategic bite. Visually it holds up well on Switch despite some frame dips. A high point of dark RPGs for anyone who likes to think before striking.
