Shin Megami Tensei V – Details On Development Status Revealed

Famitsu has published a new interview with producer Yamai which reveals new details regarding the current state of Shin Megami Tensei V for the Switch

完全新作『真・女神転生V』の“メガテンらしさ”はどうなるのか？ プロデューサー・山井一千氏が語る、開発の本格化と“成功祈願”に込めた思い── https://t.co/bxQcKOZZxQ pic.twitter.com/nVvQDJKHaI

— ファミ通.com (@famitsu) February 23, 2018

In the interview, Yamai says that the team has gotten an idea of how the game’s story and system will work, and that they are already at a stage where some characters can be moved around, with the real meat of development starting from here on- It will be some time before there will be any more news.

When asked about what sort of game V will be, Yamai says that they have paid attention to comments from fans, and that they have found that there are three generations of players for the series; The ones who played it on the NES and SNES who did not need fancy graphics or dialogue to find drama and addictiveness in the game, the ones who came in from III who want to explore a 3D world on a home console, and the ones who started with IV and IV Final (released as IV: Apocalypse in the west) who enjoy the banter between characters and want a more convenient experience, such as being able to combine demons while lying in bed. He says that want to make it so that Shin Megami Tensei V can be enjoyed be all generations, while also being an SMT game made for and because of the current age, in terms of drama, system, characters, and values- Something that is completely new, but fundamentally SMT-like.

When asked what “SMT-like” means, Yamai answers that it is something can change someone’s life or values; That unlike conventional RPGs where good is defined as a hero who defeats monsters and saves people, SMT asks the player if they really want to save the world, and that it’s a “life simulator” RPG which can be enjoyed by the people who would answer no to that.

Yamai also talks about how the original SMT was a product of its age- During the 90’s, many said that the world would come to an end, and SMT was a game that asked the question “what would you do if the world did end?”. They are trying to make SMT V a game that people at the end of the 2010’s- an age filled with frustrations ranging from local ones like unease regarding jobhunting and post-retirement to external ones like terrorist attacks and the threat of nuclear war- can empathise with.

The interview concludes with Yamai stating that while V will be representing new values, they will try their best to make it something that is SMT for a reason.