Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Developer: Atlus Publishers: Atlus (JP), Sega (INT) Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Windows Released internationally: June 14, 2024 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material.

To do: A demo came out on Steam and it's almost as big as the full game, check if there are any actual differences and/or if it isn't possible to just play the full game from the demo.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a rerelease of the original game that adds a entirely new route featuring a mysterious demonic group called the "Qadištu", several new demons (most being ported from Soul Hackers 2), and playable human party members. It was released as a multiplatform game for the first time ever in the series, and marks the first Xbox entry in a whopping 22 years (after Shin Megami Tensei NINE). It also fixes some notable issues fans requested from the original, like removing level scaling, making it easier to grind maccas, and allowing early demons to fight stronger enemies.

Debugging Features

To do: Go into more detail about what each individual option does.

A full debug menu to test many of the game's features is included in the files inside directory "Project/Content/Level/Debug", a mod allows the game to boot directly into it. This menu was also in the original game but with almost all of its functions stripped away.

Unused Graphics

Placeholder Pixie

The placeholder that features Pixie from the original game files returns, but this unused graphic is used for any demon slot that's unused.

Tao and Yoko Alternative Panagia Forms

While both of these forms of Tao and Yoko DO appear in the story, both aren't playable nor encountered as enemies. Tao's alternative Panagia form is still unused in the rerelease, but the fact that Yoko got a unused graphic for her alternative Panagia as well implies the developers may have been planning to reintroduce this scrapped idea before dropping it entirely once more.

T_Studio

A very strange small graphic that can only be found in a HDR file in the "Tree" folder. It is actually Small Studio 01 from PolyHaven.

Sky Texture

A nice blue sky texture that never appears in the game.

Test Battle

A graphic that was used to test battles and their placement; the protagonist and his party is meant to stand on the blue side, while the opponents stand on the red side.

Kazuma Kaneko Lilith Remnants

In the rerelease, the version of Lilith that was designed by Kazuma Kaneko was replaced by the Masayuki Doi version of her, as Lilith takes a more important role in the story. Despite this, there are some traces of Kazuma Kaneko's Lilith left in the files.

Party Icon

Her icon, which was used if she was encountered as a enemy or in the party.

Garden/Demon Haunt File

Garden (aka Demon Haunts) is a feature that's exclusive to the rerelease where demons will talk to you about various things. Kazuma Kaneko's Lilith somehow has her own garden file. Keep in mind that this isn't Masayuki Doi's Lilith, as she has her own garden file numbered at 391, whereas Kazuma Kaneko's Lilith is numbered at 71. It doesn't contain any dialogue, but the fact that she still got a garden file implies she could have been planned for the rerelease during the implementation of Garden/Demon Haunts before getting scrapped.

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Unused Test Maps

A unused red checkered map, used for debugging purposes like testing animations.

Same as above, but with a grey texture.

Shakan Test Map

There's a unused test map for the new dungeon "Shakan". Unfortunately there's not much of note besides a floating copy of the protagonist in one of the corners.

Unused Text

To do: Do these strings have Japanese equivalents? Add them if so.

Scrapped Ending Dialogue

In the rerelease, there are two endings you can choose by either siding with Tao or Yoko at the end of the game. The true ending is by siding with Tao, as everything goes back to normal and anyone that got killed were revived, albeit losing their memories of the game's events. While this ending is extremely happy and ends the game with a definitive conclusion, there's scrapped dialogue that shows the ending wasn't so happy originally.

It was a paradise, equally welcoming of those who accepted the world of the past, and those who rejected it.
Yet, this world was filled with the clashes and disputes of old, and in that respect, was no different than its predecessor.
To realize one dream is to deny another, and from ideals irreconcilable arises discord.
Conflicts of man become conflicts of nations, each side fueled by their vision of justice.
The spectacle was far from a perfect world. Yet the new ruler held fast to his hope for the future.
Within this war-torn legacy, a new path would surely rise... and from there, the advent of a true paradise.

Unused Demons

Like with the original version of Shin Megami Tensei V, there's several unused demons mentioned in the demon name folder.

Krishna 
Maitreya 
Baldur
Astarte 
Shesha

Krishna, Maitreya, and Shesha are demons from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, while Baldur is from Devil Survivor. Astarte however, only appears as a Persona for Trinity Soul and Persona 5. It definitely looks like they were planned to receive a new design by Masayuki Doi at some point during development before ultimately being scrapped.

Demon Conversation Placeholder Text

During battle, demons can talk to each other, which can either cause a new demon to join your party, give you a item, or cause the enemy to get upset. With some of these conversations, there's placeholder text left by either the developers or localization staff.

(NOTE: this is not displayed in-game)