I love this game, so this review will be LONG. I started my playthrough through Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengenace on July 9th, 2025. I write this review on October 21st, 2025. It has taken me nearly four months to finish both my playthroughs of the games different stories (or canons). Four months to have this game become perhaps one of my favourite JRPGS of all time, and definitely my favourite Megaten game. I'm sure many other players could have finished it faster, but I'm glad I got to really soak in and absorb every single part of this game. It has its many flaws, like all games do, and they can be pretty glaring at times. Even still, I implore you to give this game a shot. If you're a fan of JRPGs or Megaten in general, I know you won't regret it.

For those who don't know Megaten, it's a VERY LONG series where colorful casts of characters fight in order to reshape a dying world in favour of different alignments. Law, Chaos, Neutral are the common three

And of course, with Vengeance being a rerelease of the original switch exclusive SMT V, there are a plethora of big changes that affect both canons. All these quality of life changes and new features bump up the game and make it the definitive experience. A short list of the most important changes are the following:
- New story path (the main selling point of the game)
- Innate skills, passives that add an entire extra level to demon customization and specialization
- Over forty new demons being added to the already expansive roster
- ABILITY TO SAVE ANYWHERE
- Virtual Trainer (rematch system against basically every boss)
- Aogami Husks (helps you get some abilities for fusion)
- Demon Haunt (a social area where you get to chat up your demons about their feelings on current events)
- Rails that allow you to shortcut through the map, or allow you to reach special pockets of land with treasure
- Sky view, gives you an aerial viewing of the surrounding location
- 89 NEW SONGS THAT ARE ALL BANGERS FROM START TO FINISH
- All original DLC are part of base game

Before anything else, I must address the music as a stand out part of this game. It is perfect. Perhaps one of the best videogame soundtracks I've had the pleasure of listening to. There is so much variety, so many different tunes with different motifs and moods and its just... perfect. It's consumed my life and I find myself listening to it whenever I get a free moment. That vengeance credit theme just hits some kinda way...

Same with the gameplay, which also deserves its own praise. The press turn combat system that was introduced in Nocturne is still one of my favourite JRPG battle systems ever. Earning an extra half-turn for exploiting a weakness. Losing some turns if you miss or get your attack nulled, or losing ALL turns if the enemies drains or repels your attack. And the best part is that the playing field is even for both parties. Sure, you can dumpster enemies if you play your cards right. But enemies, especially bosses, have their own way of rigging the system in their favor. One weakness exploit can lead into a full party wipe, which forces you to have concrete strategies for whatever you do. Combat can be both trivial at times, and near impossible at others if you allow it to be.

AND THE DEMONS. THE DEMONS! THERE ARE SO MANY COOL DESIGNS AND ALL THE DEMONS ARE FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS AND RELIGIONS!!! Folklore fans always eat great with this series. I cannot do the designs enough justice, they are the bread and butter of Megaten.

Now onto my thoughts on the two different canons that this game has to offer. While I may like the new route more than the original, I believe both need to be played in order to have the perfect experience. I played both routes on the Hard difficulty, but there are easier difficulties if the game is too challenging (I believe this game shines when its hard)

Canon of Creation:

Visually, its great. I love the many different locations of Da'at, that all feel oppressive yet free with their atmosphere. Knowing that you walk among the ruins of civilization makes for some scary thoughts. And the background music just completes it all.

Changing from a random encounter system (from previous entries) to the current overworld system where you can attack the enemies on your own terms takes a lot of frustration out of navigating the world (although Estoma, a skill for warding off enemies, is very pointless here). Fights can range in difficulty, depending on how prepared you are. If you're going into a fight blind, there is a decent chance you may get wiped in a turn or two. Some fights will just kick your ass regardless. But sometimes, the fights don't really pose any challenge to the player. There aren't many strong gimmicks when it comes to the main fights either, other than manipulating the Press Turn system.

Story, a focal point in most JRPGs, is just... alright? I'd say this is the biggest failing of the original game, sadly. That being said, I do like the story! Siding with different ideologies on how to reform the world is the coolest thing ever. However, the majority of characters that represent the different alignments feel more like tropes, and less like characters. Not only that, but the story offers so little time with some of them that you might feel indifferent when it comes time to pick sides. The ideas there are good, some set pieces like the Nahobino fights in the Empyrean are phenomenal, and I think some characters like Abdiel really shine above the rest. But the story ended and I just wished there was a bit more to it. Still, I enjoyed my time with this canon, and I think it deserves to be played just as much as CoV. I ended this canon with the Chaos ending.

Canon of Vengeance:

Areas are the same, apart from the third area and accompanying dungeon being completely new in CoV. Can feel samey if you go through both stories back to back, but the new area Shinjuku is probably my favourite in the whole for how gorgeous and ethereal it feels. Something about it is just so magical, despite it being filled with demons, I'd want to walk around it a little and soak in the atmosphere. Shakan , the new dungeon, is okay I guess. Very short and the 'gimmick' isn't very well used

Most gameplay notes from Canon of Creation are present here, although the intro of Guest characters was such a well-needed shakeup. Having your friends actually join and help in fights makes much more sense than just... NOT HELPING WHEN THEY EASILY CAN. Now you can fight hand in hand with your buddies, which made CoV stand way above CoC by itself (at least to me). Another note about the battles is the better used gimmicks within this route. A lot of fights in the original story could feel very similar, so having actual gimmicks made the battles feel so much more powerful ( even if I hate some of them ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Tiamat that fight was brutal )

Story is a huge improvement over the original, its way more character-centric and the chatacters are way better utilized. The tag-along of Yoko and Tao throughout the middle of the story to provide commentary and moral dialogue may be annoying to some, but it feels quite nice to me. When things happened to the characters, I cared more. I wanted only the best for everyone. Characters like Yuzuru had so much more presence here, compared to CoC where he is sorta just... there. I think there are good aspects about the CoC story that are absent here, but that is why I believe both stories need to be played for the best experience. I ended this canon with the Law ending.


I'm gonna miss having this game as my main obsession. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is something special here that I am in love with. Maybe all my ramblings don't mean much to someone who doesn't know this game well, but I hope someone else will love this game as much as I do

NOTE: I'm mostly writing this for myself and whoever is nostalgic enough to look here. I don't know what possessed to try this game again in 2025 (right at the end of year during exam season), but here I am. I doubt this game is still getting shared around by whatever Steam recommendation algorithms exist, as its been forever without a major update and the game was placed into maintenance mode this year. So, hi to whoever is here.

On account of this game being completely abandoned and having a pitiful player count (around 30 players at 5pm on a Saturday), I was going to give the game a negative review. It's a completely barren shell of a game and despite all the relaunches it has had, it never seemed to get better. However, I KNOW there is something in here that was good. Something that could be considered great, even. Back when it was Requeim: Bloodymare, back when it was Requiem: Rise of the Reaver, and still now as Requiem: Desiderium Mortis, this game has some decent bones. Despite being a pretty underground MMORPG on Steam (based on low reviews and playercounts never reaching higher than 400), this game completely enraptured me when I was a stupid fourteen year old with his first laptop back in 2017. And coming back to try again in 2025, I can see why.

For a starter, the main setting. From the actual locations we play in to the characters and races that permeate the world. God, its good. So good, perhaps it has shaped part of my philosophy when it comes to designing worlds and characters. The world, known as Ethergia, is falling apart. It's grimy, it's horrible, it's completely uninhabitable, and it's so COOL. Dark fantasy like this really scratches the brain right. Lots of stained metal structures that outlined the industry that existed prior to the destruction of everything. The different species that range from ye olde human to thin, lanky, gray humanoid creatures with soul magic and such, a definitely normal thing for every apocalyptic desert wanderer to have. The monsters are disgusting and dangerous and covered in blood. At first, you may want to stick it out with the small amount of NPCs that hang around. However, a lot of them seem to have it out for you, on account of doing shady stuff to yourself for power. Even the menu screen is alien and wrong, being in this fleshy-tech hybrid laboratory that acts as your screen for character creation. I know the graphics are old (the game is from 2008) but to me this ♥♥♥♥ hits great

Gameplay is alright actually, which I was pleasantly surprised about since the gameplay wasn't the part of this experience that stuck with me. I'm not too much of an MMO guy (played Guild Wars 2 and Elsword back in the day), but its pretty fun, even if its basic and a bit slow. I hopped back into the game as a Kruxena Soul Hunter (your starting class is determined by what race you pick, and then each job has a couple specializations for them) and had a good time, even if I was absolutely stomping those generic enemies. And to top it off, killing enemies rewards you with some awesome gore, gibbing and ragdoll effects.

Quests are... I mean, obviously a lot of MMO quests are kill [blank] or find [item] in the map or something. So I'm not gonna fault it for all the quests being very similar, but man, they can be REALLY GRINDY. Killing 40 enemies for a basic entry level mission is ridiculous

Music is not half bad actually, but for some strange reason, the game starts muted? No idea why, but at least you can turn it back on easily. Definitely a weird choice

There is one more positive to this game. Something that I'd never think of as being a positive. The lack of players. This dark, desolate world of Ethergia, made completely unlivable by a worldwide catastrophe. Despite that carnage, a small community of people continued to thrive and prosper in a world that wasn't meant for them. Killing whatever monstrosities had claimed the planet while they couldn't. But no longer. Now, you wake up and step into the world, and you'll likely be the ONLY player you ever see. Maybe one or two others if you play at an optimal time. A world that was abandoned and lost, left to rot for eternity. Monsters and decay as far as you can see. Walking through this corpse of a game world was so captivating and horrifying when I framed it like this. Was this world ever populated before this? Because it was just a husk of itself now. Not a soul in sight, allowing you to walk through a dead, digital world in silence.

If you're a new player who somehow found this, its definitely an interesting world. Maybe play it with a buddy if you want any multiplayer aspects. Or brave it yourself, if you want. Its kinda neat