Shin Megami Tensei V: Beginner Tips & Tricks

Shin Megami Tensei V is the fifth and latest entry in Atlus’s turn-based JRPG series. While series veterans will likely feel right at home with this one, newcomers may find that there are quite a few systems that get thrown at you at the very start of the game, and that can be overwhelming. With that in mind, here are a few beginner tips to help give you a smoother start to your journey in Shin Megami Tensei V.

Save Often

This honestly cannot be overstated. SMT V doesn’t have an auto-save feature, and there are no checkpoints. This means that if you die, you’ll get sent straight back to the main menu and you’ll need to load your last save file. This can be pretty rough, especially when you consider that even the slightest mistakes could potentially lead to your party getting wiped out in a regular battle.

In addition to that, the game ends when the protagonist gets KO’d, so you definitely need to be extra careful. Whenever you come across a leyline fount (one of those blue glowing pillars of light), interact with it and choose the Chronicle Deeds option to save your game.

Get Used to Essence Fusion

Essence Fusion is one of the new mechanics introduced in Shin Megami Tensei V, and it gives you more freedom in the way you build your character, the Nahobino. As you play through the game, you can open chests and complete sub-quests to gain various demon Essences. You can also unlock them for purchase at Cadaver’s Hollow.

With an Essence, you can then go to the World of Shadows and access the Essence Fusion option via Apotheosis. From here, you can choose to either inherit skills or affinities for the Nahobino. Essence Fusion is also available to your demons, but you won’t be able to change their affinities.

This is especially important, as this is basically the primary way of teaching the Nahobino new skills. You don’t want to be stuck with that low-level Zio spell forever, do you? With Essences, he can inherit more powerful spells. It’s also a good idea to change up his affinities whenever you encounter a boss, just to make sure your weaknesses are covered. Each Essence can only be used once, so we recommend saving those affinity changes for boss battles.

Register Your Demons

Over the course of the game, you’ll add tons of demons to your party through negotiation and fusion. When in the World of Shadows, we recommend registering them to your Compendium, especially as they level up and learn new skills.

This way, if you need to use them in the fusion process but still want to use them for upcoming battles, you can always re-summon them for a fee. Do keep in mind that summoning costs will go up based on the demon’s level, so be careful with that especially early on in the game.

If you’ve got a powerful demon who’s learned all available skills, it’s a good idea to register them. You can then summon them again if you need them in battle, or for fusing purposes. After all, with a maxed out demon, you’ll have more choices in terms of which skills to pass on to your fused demon.

Use the Spyglass

The Spyglass is probably the most useful item you can get in Shin Megami Tensei V, and you can buy as many as you want from Cadaver’s Hollow. It’s fairly affordable, and you should definitely have a few on you at all times.

When you use the Spyglass on an enemy in battle, you’ll get all the info you need about them. This includes their affinities as well as all their available abilities, so you’ll know which weaknesses you need to be aware of in your own party, and how to exploit your foe’s weaknesses.

It’s a viable strategy to just use the Spyglass on a boss at the very start of an encounter to get all the info you need, then reload a save file if you feel your party isn’t sufficiently prepared. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve done this multiple times over the course of my playthrough, but hey, it let me beat most battles pretty easily.

Go for an Ending

The Shin Megami Tensei games usually offer at least three endings: Law, Chaos, and Neutral. The ending you get is determined by the answers you give to certain questions, as well as the choices you make during important narrative moments. While it might make sense to just make your decisions based on how you’re feeling in the moment, this could leave you with an ending that you might not be totally satisfied with.

You’ll meet most of the major characters within the first two chapters of the game, and it’s pretty easy to tell how the characters are aligned based on what they say and do. If you pick a path near the start of the game and stick with it, it becomes a lot more fun to see how the story changes and shapes itself around your decision.

And those are our Shin Megami Tensei V beginner tips. Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more tips and information on the game.