is a 2021 role-playing video game developed by Atlus, originally for Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth mainline entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series in the Megami Tensei franchise. It was published by Atlus in Japan, Sega in North America, and Nintendo in Europe. The game follows a high school student drawn into Da'at, a post-apocalyptic realm inhabited by warring factions of angels and demons after Lucifer kills the Creator and triggers a conflict over who will remake the world. The story has multiple endings dictated by moral choices and alliances. The gameplay features free-roaming exploration of Da'at, a turn-based battle system based on exploiting weaknesses, and a system allowing the Nahobino to recruit and fuse demons to fight alongside them.
Production of Shin Megami Tensei V began in 2016, with the aim being to blend elements from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Returning staff included planner Kazuyuki Yamai, artist Masayuki Doi, and composers Ryota Kozuka and Toshiki Konishi. Production was prolonged due to using the Unreal Engine and developing for the Switch. Journalists praised the gameplay design and graphics, but faulted aspects of its story and technical performance. The original release sold over 1.1 million units worldwide by 2022.
An expanded version for eighth and ninth generation consoles and Windows, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, was released in 2024 by Atlus in Japan and Sega worldwide. In addition to expanding and refining the gameplay, new storyline elements were introduced, and some planned or cut content was used. Vengeance met with critical acclaim from journalists, with praise going to the new story campaign, gameplay adjustments, and improved technical performance. Vengeance sold over 500,000 copies within three days of release.
Gameplay
Shin Megami Tensei V is a role-playing video game in which the player controls the Nahobino, a fusion of human and demon who explores the post-apocalyptic realm of Da'at. Da'at is fully explorable and divided into open areas with different environmental themes and enemies. In Da'at, the Nahobino can run around as normal, dash at great speed, jump, and slash at objects or enemies with the Nahobino's sword. The Nahobino can find friendly non-playable characters (NPCs) who have dialogue and can provide quests, hidden beings called Miman which grant an upgrade currency called Glory, and small orbs which restore health (HP), magic (MP), and the special Magatsuhi gauge. In some areas, a companion character will lead the Nahobino to items and treasure. Completing quests rewards experience points which raise character levels, and the in-game currency Macca. Some areas are blocked off by Demon Abscesses, growths with demon mobs which must be destroyed to progress.
Within Da'at, enemy demons roam the open areas, and can be engaged to begin combat, with the Nahobino able to strike first to get the first round of combat. The game uses the series' recurring turn-based combat, dubbed the Press Turn System. The player party is made up of the Nahobino and up to three allied demons, with each side taking turns to perform actions including a standard physical attack; using skills that can attack, heal, or alter character statistics positively or negatively; guarding, using an item, or escaping from battle. An important element of battle is the "Press Turn": striking an weakness or landing a critical attack grants an additional turn, while missing or voiding an attack removes a turn. A new addition is Magatsuhi Skills, activated when the Magatsuhi Gauge is full and able to be used without using up a Press Turn icon. Magatsuhi Skills grant a skill to the party for a single round of battle, with effects including guaranteed critical hits and full healing. Demons can be swapped or summoned in exchange for a turn, and the player hits a game over if the Nahobino dies. Completing battles rewards Macca, experience points and items.
The Nahobino can recruit demons during battle by talking to them via Demon Negotiation, and giving the right responses to questions based on a demon's personality type. After answering their questions, the demon may ask for items, money, or HP or MP from the Nahobino, and successfully bargaining prompts to demon to join. Demon behavior and responses are influenced by the current Moon Phase, with the full moon preventing Negotiation while the new moon makes Negotiation easier. Only demons of a lower level than the Nahobino can be successfully recruited, although higher-level demons will remember successful negotiations and join the party when the Nahobino's level has surpassed them.
Leyline Founts scattered through Da'at are used to save progress, and access a shop to buy and sell items, and the World of Shadows where Demon Fusion is performed. Fusion entails using between two and four demons to create a new stronger demon: demons logged in the Demon Compendium can be summoned for a Macca fee for use in fusion or the party. Reverse Fusion allows the selection of a desired Fusion based on current demon stock, while random Fusion accidents produce a different demon from that predicted. Alongside standard fusion, items called Demon Essences can be used to grant new skills and traits to both the Nahobino and demons, and spend Glory to purchase permanent boons called Miracles with effects including lowering Fusion costs or granting additional skill slots for the Nahobino and demons party members.
The expanded version Vengeance, alongside having a larger roster of demons and a new storyline route, adds new gameplay elements. Rest spots called Demon Haunts allow the Nahobino to speak with demons in their party, with some offering side quests and boosting the Nahobino's statistics. Traversal across Da'at is expanded with Magatsu Rails, grind rails connecting different areas or leading to secret locations with enemies and collectables. Demon navigators can be used to hunt for items outside of story sequences. Consecutive battles can be triggered if other demon groups are near an attacked enemy. Human characters can now join as party members in combat, having an assigned demon that dictates their abilities and strengths. If certain demons are held by in the Nahobino's stock, a special attack combining their powers can be used on enemies. There is also the ability to save progress anywhere in the environment, and trigger an overhead view of areas to help with navigation.
Synopsis Setting and characters The events of Shin Megami Tensei V are divided between two settings: modern-day Tokyo and a post-apocalyptic landscape called Da'at. Da'at was originally an alternate version of Tokyo destroyed in a war between the Angels, who follow the Creator, and the demons, who are loyal to the fallen angel Lucifer. Before the game's opening, Lucifer kills the Creator, triggering a power vacuum where other deities, robbed of their Knowledge by the Creator, seek to regain it and ascend the Throne of Creation. The Bethel Organization, an alliance of polytheistic divine beings and human operatives from across the world, protects the real world from Da'at's influence. With Vengeance, the story splits into two branches: the "Canon of Creation", which is the original storyline, and the "Canon of Vengeance" with altered events. The storyline is influenced by in-game dialogue choices.
The game's silent protagonist is a high school student who is drawn into Da'at, and through fusion with the artificial Proto-Fiend Aogami, becomes the Nahobino, a demon-like being who has regained their divine Knowledge. Multiple supporting characters represent the game's moral alignments: the friendly but dim-witted Ichiro Dazai represents "Law", Bethel agent Yuzuru Atsuta represents "Chaos", while the rogue Shohei Yakumo and his demon companion Nüwa represent "Neutrality".
Supporting characters include Tao Isonokami, Bethel's mystical Saint; Yuzuru's shy younger sister, Miyazu Atsuta; and Sahori Itsukishima, a bullied fellow student. Supernatural representatives are the angel Abdiel, who remains devoted to the Creator, Hayao Koshimizu, Bethel Japan's leader, and the human form of Tsukuyomi, and Lahmu, an antagonistic fallen deity. Vengeance adds Yoko Hiromine, an independent Saint; the Qadištu, a group of female demons composed of Naamah, Eisheth, Agrat, and their leader Lilith: and the angel Mastema.
Plot Coming home from school one day, the protagonist and Dazai are pulled into Da'at, where Aogami saves the protagonist from a demon attack by merging with him, becoming a Nahobino. After escaping from Da'at and returning to Tokyo, he and Dazai are met by Yuzuru, who, together with Koshimizu, recruits them into Bethel, where they keep demons from leaving Da'at. The protagonist learns the current version of Tokyo is not the true one, but a copy generated by the Creator when the real Tokyo was swallowed by a supernatural phenomenon, becoming Da'at.
During an attack on the protagonist's school, Miyazu is briefly kidnapped, and Sahori is influenced by Lahmu into killing her bullies and becoming its Nahobino. The protagonist is mortally wounded by Lahmu, but Tao sacrifices herself to revive the protagonist, who then kills Lahmu and Sahori. The protagonist then travels to Chiyoda and kills the leader of the demons, Arioch. During these conflicts, the protagonist frequently crosses paths with Yakumo and Nüwa, who seek to destroy the Throne of Creation and allow humanity to control their future. Afterward, at a meeting with Bethel's branch leader, the Nahobino is revealed to be an existence forbidden by the Creator. Abdiel is defeated when she attacks the protagonist while denying the Creator's death. The other deities, including Koshimizu, dissolve Bethel to recover their Knowledge and ascend the Throne of Creation. Tao is reborn as a goddess who will lead a Nahobino to the Throne of Creation, choosing to guide the protagonist when the false Tokyo collapses and Da'at overwhelms reality. In parallel, Yuzuru unites with Koshimizu to restore the prominence of all deities despite inevitable conflict, while Dazai convinces Abdiel to merge with him and create a conforming world of peace in the Creator's name.
The protagonist gains keys from the former Bethel deities to access the Temple of Eternity, which holds the Throne of Creation. At this point, the protagonist can side with either Dazai or Yuzuru or agree with Yakumo's goal to destroy the Throne; the latter choice causes Tao to abandon him. Regardless of choice, all the other candidates are killed, and the protagonist ascends to the Throne. If the protagonist completes certain side missions and sides with Yakumo, Nüwa reveals an alternate possibility of using the Throne to create a world free of gods and demons, which Tao is willing to support. In all but the ending where the Throne is destroyed, Lucifer grants his Knowledge to the protagonist in a final battle so the new world will potentially be everlasting.
In the Vengeance storyline, Yoko accompanies the protagonist for much of their journey, and the Qadištu interfere with events while gathering power to awaken the goddess Tiamat, whose overthrow by Marduk led to the Throne of Creation's role in managing the world. Sahori falls to an attack by Lilith, Miyazu is briefly kidnapped by Eisheth before finding sanctuary with a sympathetic demon, while Mastema blesses Dazai to fight within Da'at after Agrat spreads a plague of agony. The Qadištu succeed in gathering the required energy and completing Tiamat's summoning by sacrificing the protagonist and themselves. Tiamat's awakening devastates Da'at and kills Nüwa. Tao and Aogami sacrifice themselves to save the protagonist, and Yoko awakens as a goddess carrying Lilith's will to destroy and remake the world free of ruling gods.