Shin Megami Tensei V

As a long time RPG fan and fan of the Persona and earlier SMT games, I have to say I was very unimpressed by this entry. I'll start by saying that the game is likely held back by the Nintendo Switch's performance. Hopefully the Switch 2 will handle it better, because I have experienced significant frame drops in many parts of the game. First the good: Gameplay is fun. Typical turn based combat mixed with the demon summoning/fusing niche that the SMT and Persona games have been known for. There's tons of combinations and finding ways to fuse demons to make incredibly powerful ones is a game mechanic that I could spend hours exploring. And now the bad: Everything else. The story is extremely lackluster. Without getting into any spoilers, there is a small sense of intrigue in the beginning where you're trying to figure out what's happened to Tokyo and learn about the world you've been transported to. However, that intrigue disappears almost immediately because of how poorly it's presented. All of the characters feel bland and uninspired. There's nothing unique to them and they don't show much in terms of emotion or realism. If you're expecting the depth of Persona 5, you're going to be seriously disappointed. I'll admit I didn't finish the game. While I got pretty far in it (probably about 70% through) I just couldn't find it in me to finish it. The gameplay loop, while fun, was not enough to hold my attention.