TheShin Megami Tenseiseries is famous among JRPG fans for being particuarly unforgiving and difficult. With brutal boss battles, labyrinthine dungeons, and risky game mechanics, theShin Megami Tenseigames can be daunting for newcomers who aren’t yet used to the battle system.
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Shin Megami Tensei 5ismuch more forgiving than previous entries, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways for new players to accidentally stumble into a Game Over. It’s unlikely that these mistakes will cause players to hit a dead end with their playthrough, but it will make it much harder on them. New players should avoid the following mistakes if they want to avoid a frustrating experience.
10Letting An Enemy Get The Initiative
InShin Megami Tensei 5, the first attack is very important. The Press Turn system is designed so that clever (or even lucky) players can decimate an entire encounter in a single turn, meaning battles can end before the enemy can even get a single turn.
Unfortunately, the same applies to the enemy as well. If they manage to get the first turn, there’s a strong possibility that they’ll be able to decimate the player and their party before they even have a chance to act, especially if they have attacks that target their weaknesses. Letting an enemy get the first turn can lead to an unwanted game over.
9Hitting An Enemy With The Wrong Element
Even if players manage to get the initiative, that doesn’t mean they’re in the clear. Part ofShin Megami Tensei’s combat isfiguring out what enemies are weak to and abusing itto gain extra turns. However, the player can also lose extra turns if they’re not careful.
Demons have a variety of resistances, which range from simply reducing damage to completely absorbing or reflecting it. Though hitting an enemy with an element they resist is not too bad, hitting them with an element they nullify will cause the player to lose extra turns. Things get worse if it is an element the enemy absorbs or reflects, as that will cause the player’s turn to end immediately. Players can use these affinities to their own advantage, but if they allow this to happen to themselves, it can lead to a fast game over.
8Not Using Spyglasses
While the above tip sounds easy enough, it can be hard to implement without the knowledge of such affinities in the first place. When players encounter demons for the first time or during special battles, their elemental affinities are unknown and will need to be discovered. This can be done by attacking them with various elements, but players will run the risk of accidentally striking an element that will cause them to lose Press Turn Icons.
Spyglasses, sold in Cadaver’s Hollow, allow the player to see all of an enemy’s information when used. They are extremely cheap and freely available, so using them during dangerous encounters like boss battles is a must. They are also useful against Mitamas, who change their affinities from encounter to encounter.
7Messing Up In Negotiation
Negotiating with demons is a major part ofShin Megami Tenseigames, as it enables players to recruit demons to their party. However, negotiation is not simple. Demons will frequently ask for Macca and items, and before that, they will often ask the player questions that need to be considered carefully.
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Failing to do so may result in the demon getting angry, which will not only terminate the negotiation, but also cause the player to lose their turn. This means the enemy gets a chance to overwhelm the player, even if the player was the one with initiative. Players must be careful during negotiation or face an early game over.
6Forgetting To Heal
Encounters inShin Megami Tensei 5can be quite rough, and it’s not unlikely to find oneself on death’s doorstep after a particularly grueling fight. In these times, it’s important to make sure to heal up before the next encounter occurs.
Forgetting to heal can be deadly. Turns are precious, and using them to heal up the party means that they aren’t being used to take out dangerous enemies. Even a random encounter can spell death for the player if they don’t go in with full health.
5Ignoring Essence Fusion
Essences areone of the new gameplay mechanicsintroduced inShin Megami Tensei 5. Every demon has a chance of dropping an essence, which allows the player to teach any demon, including the protagonist, a skill from the original demon’s move list. The protagonist is also able to obtain affinities from essences, gaining their elemental resistances and weaknesses.
While a new player might avoid using essences due to unfamiliarity, they shouldn’t be passed up. Essences are essentially the only way for the protagonist to learn new skills, so using them is essential to ensure the protagonist can keep up with their demons. Essences can also help improve the diversity of demons' move lists, making party selection more flexible.
4Not Bringing Quest Navigators
Quest Navigators are an interesting part ofShin Megami Tensei 5. While they are so named because they are meant to guide the protagonist to quest objectives, their more frequent use is to search out items.
Such items include basic items like Life Stones and Smoke Balls to items that can’t be bought in Cadaver’s Hollow like Incenses or Sutras. In later areas, Quest Navigators can even find gems. Having a Quest Navigator around is not only good for stocking up on various items, it can also relieve the player’s money burden on the player.
3Recklessly Spending Glory
As the player travels through Da’at, they will slowly accrue Glory. Glory is important because it can be used to purchase Miracles, powerful passive abilities that increase the protagonist’s capabilities.
However, Glory isquite hard to come by and very difficult to farm. As a result, players will have to carefully decide which Miracles they want to buy and when. Recklessly spending glory on Miracles that are not immediately useful can be a mistake, especially if better Miracles are unlocked later. Glory cannot be refunded, so this can leave the player stuck without a way to buy the Miracles they want.
2Improperly Distributing Stat Points
Whenever the protagonist levels up, the player is allowed to manually distribute one stat point to one of the protagonist’s five stats. In this way, the player has some say in the how the protagonist’s stats will develop. However, mismanaging these stat points can result in an ineffective character.
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Since the protagonist will gain three extra stat boots every level up, this is not as debilitating as it would be in a game likeShin Megami Tensei 3. However, the player can still find themselves struggling to keep the protagonist at the same level as their demons without a proper build.
1Forgetting To Save
Unlike most modern games,Shin Megami Tensei 5does not have auto-save or any kind of checkpoint system. In other words, if the player happens to make any of the above mistakes and gets a game over, they may be forced to redo a large amount of progress.
Even if the player does not make a mistake that ends in a game over, they may be stuck with a massive error and no way to rewind without also having to undo all the progress that has occurred. to avoid such tragedies, it is best that players ensure that they save as frequently as possible.
