For an experience that got me hooked for at least 60 hours to end up being 3,5 stars is somewhat of a remarkable achievement.

There is clearly a lot to like here , especially for a guy like me who basically just needs to have a functioning turn-based combat system to be sated.
The ost is fantastic and might even be my favorite in the series, the exploration is fun and we might need more protagonists whose main mode of moving around is Naruto-running at mach speeds.
A special mention to all the new demons and their designs because they are indeed splendid. They certainly were cooking especially with the 4 genuinely terrifying prostitutes which terrorize the beginning of the game.

Now then onwards to the not so very good.
Perhaps this is somewhat weird but the game breaks itself. For a series that genuinely kicked my ass for the majority of the games that I have played, SMT Vengeance puts up no resistance. While playing I had to restrain myself multiple times from going too crazy with the mechanics because the game would have been a snoozefest for the last 20 hours or so. Throw all the guaranteed crits and broken almighty spells back in the garbage bin where they belong (they do look cool though).

My second and biggest gripe is the story. Now I don't care much for SMT stories. The concepts of Law and Chaos are of course overplayed but they are lovingly baked into the very essence of SMT so this iteration of them was fine. Characters are your usual suspects of teenagers going from somewhat normal to extremists willing to murder their best friends for power in about 5 seconds. All of which are normal procedure.
But by god does nobody care in this game. The stakes are at an all-time low.
Your MC saunters up to a completely empty room besides the one character which represents the opposing faction , beats the brakes off them with whatever broken build he fancies and becomes the new creator.
Where are the epic showdowns with demons and humans alike that have been transformed to ugly monstrosities and whose only remaining braincell functions solely to beat your puny cheeks and achieve their one dimensional endgoal?
Even the good people of Tokyo themselves don't have the decency to get wiped out and provide a solid excuse for tragedy and the willingness to change the world.
The opposing demons that are supposed to compete with you to ascend to absolute godhood just smile after you beat them and say "well you got me there old chum" and just walk off. Because they don't care and nobody else does either.
It may sound stupid but I want SMT to be a powertrip. I want them to look at my MC that got their ass kicked through a grueling SMT experience and cower in fear. This is your new god now.
None of this is going to come from this game, neither in difficulty or in sheer epicness that the journeys of other games provide.

For an experience that got me hooked for at least 60 hours to end up being 3,5 stars is somewhat of a remarkable achievement.

There is clearly a lot to like here , especially for a guy like me who basically just needs to have a functioning turn-based combat system to be sated.
The ost is fantastic and might even be my favorite in the series, the exploration is fun and we might need more protagonists whose main mode of moving around is Naruto-running at mach speeds.
A special mention to all the new demons and their designs because they are indeed splendid. They certainly were cooking especially with the 4 genuinely terrifying prostitutes which terrorize the beginning of the game.

Now then onwards to the not so very good.
Perhaps this is somewhat weird but the game breaks itself. For a series that genuinely kicked my ass for the majority of the games that I have played, SMT Vengeance puts up no resistance. While playing I had to restrain myself multiple times from going too crazy with the mechanics because the game would have been a snoozefest for the last 20 hours or so. Throw all the guaranteed crits and broken almighty spells back in the garbage bin where they belong (they do look cool though).

My second and biggest gripe is the story. Now I don't care much for SMT stories. The concepts of Law and Chaos are of course overplayed but they are lovingly baked into the very essence of SMT so this iteration of them was fine. Characters are your usual suspects of teenagers going from somewhat normal to extremists willing to murder their best friends for power in about 5 seconds. All of which are normal procedure.
But by god does nobody care in this game. The stakes are at an all-time low.
Your MC saunters up to a completely empty room besides the one character which represents the opposing faction , beats the brakes off them with whatever broken build he fancies and becomes the new creator.
Where are the epic showdowns with demons and humans alike that have been transformed to ugly monstrosities and whose only remaining braincell functions solely to beat your puny cheeks and achieve their one dimensional endgoal?
Even the good people of Tokyo themselves don't have the decency to get wiped out and provide a solid excuse for tragedy and the willingness to change the world.
The opposing demons that are supposed to compete with you to ascend to absolute godhood just smile after you beat them and say "well you got me there old chum" and just walk off. Because they don't care and nobody else does either.
It may sound stupid but I want SMT to be a powertrip. I want them to look at my MC that got their ass kicked through a grueling SMT experience and cower in fear. This is your new god now.
None of this is going to come from this game, neither in difficulty or in sheer epicness that the journeys of other games provide.