Should You Buy The Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Digital Deluxe Edition?
In the tradition of many modern games, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance offers two different versions of the game to purchase: The base game, which costs $59.99 USD, contains the additional demon subquest DLC packs that were made available for the original 2021 release of Shin Megami Tensei V and the Digital Deluxe Edition costs $69.99 USD and includes two new demon subquests alongside three DLC packs that can increase the appearance rate of rare Mitama enemies.
If you’re totally new to Shin Megami Tensei V, you might be wondering what literally any of that means and whether or not the Digital Deluxe Version is worth it.
Long story short: The Digital Deluxe Edition of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance adds very little in terms of raw gameplay. The added subquests won’t take you longer than 30 minutes to finish combined even if you go slow and challenge them at really low levels. The Mitama packs don’t add any actual gameplay either. All told, the Digital Deluxe upgrade mostly exists to make the game easier, even though Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance has several difficulty options to do that already.
What do you get in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance’s DLC subquests?
The two new subquests included in the Digital Deluxe edition of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance are “Sakura Cinders of the East” and “Holy Will and Profane Dissent.” Both of these can be unlocked relatively early in the game, but you’ll likely need to level up a bit to actually complete both of them. “Sakura Cinders of the East” recommends you reach level 47 first, whereas “Holy Will and Profane Dissent” recommends level 75.
That said, you can absolutely complete these quests at a lower level than what’s recommended if you know how to prepare for them. For more information, check out our dedicated guides for “Sakura Cinders of the East” and “Holy Will and Profane Dissent.”
Read More: Everything You Need To Know About Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance’s Sakura Cinders Of The East DLC
While these quests have a few structural differences, each of their focal points remain the same. “Sakura Cinders of the East” features a new boss battle against Konohana Sakura (Yukiko’s Persona in Persona 4), and “Holy Will and Profane Dissent” makes you face off against Dagda (best known from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse). After defeating these foes, they’ll join your party for free, regardless of your current level.
Konohana Sakura is primarily a healer with an overpowered, unique healing spell called Sakuya Sakura. This spell restores the party’s HP, MP, and boosts all stats by one stage. Meanwhile, Dagda is a brutal physical attacker, with the unique attack Lost Hit that deals severe damage on top of potentially insta-killing common foes. He won’t necessarily replace all your other damage dealers, but he packs a serious punch.
Both of these bosses feature unique battle themes, and you’ll have the option to replay each battle by visiting the Virtual Trainer in-game.
What do the Mitama DLC packs do in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Also included in the Digital Deluxe version of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance are three Mitama-related packs. These include Mitama Dance of Wealth, Mitama Dance of Miracles, and Mitama Dance of EXP.
For those new to Shin Megami Tensei V, Mitama are rare enemies that drop valuable loot when you defeat them. Rewards include EXP, money, and Glory (the game’s equivalent of skill points). With the Mitama DLC packs turned on, the appearance rates of these enemies goes way up. Within minutes of taking these packs for a spin, I would spot groups of two or three Mitama in the game’s open world within seconds. They appeared so frequently that I quickly started ignoring them; something that I’d never do when they appeared at normal rates.
Fortunately, you can toggle these three DLC packs off from the in-game main menu.
In short, these picks make grinding much faster in Shin Megami Tensei V. However, that isn’t necessarily a good thing. The game’s difficulty curve is a bit lopsided.In the early game, it can be hard to defeat enemies while your roster of demons and spells is so limited. However, once you progress into the midgame and really develop your active party, you can completely overpower even major story bosses. The game only starts to get really tough again once you get into endgame and postgame content, where optional superbosses will push your skills to their limits.
All of this is to say that the Mitama DLC packs can help smooth over some of the game’s more challenging parts, but they otherwise really skew the game’s balance towards being way too easy. I’d say they’re most valuable to players deep into Shin Megami Tensei’s postgame who want to build absolutely perfect teams. Otherwise, it’s very obvious that Shin Megami Tensei V was not balanced with this DLC in mind.
So is the Digital Deluxe version worth the extra 10 bucks?
On one hand, if you’re absolutely, 100% certain that you want all the DLC in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, then it’s technically better to get the Digital Deluxe version. The two subquest DLCs will run you $5 each, and the Mitama packs are $3 each. That’s $19 all together, or you can get an All-In-One bundle after purchasing for $15. Either approach will run you more money than getting the Digital Deluxe version for $10 more.
Otherwise, I frankly don’t think the Digital Deluxe version is worth the money. These DLC packs primarily exist to make the game easier, which players can already do via the in-game difficulty settings. As it is, the DLC demons from the game’s original release are here, and they already offer huge power boosts to your team when you recruit them. The Mitama packs in particular hurt the overall experience more than they help, since they let you level up way too fast. This in turn minimizes the excitement you’d otherwise feel from spotting rare enemies in the wild.
Granted, the two new demons on offer here do have some sentimental value to Shin Megami Tensei fans. I’m not here to judge anyone who purchases things that make them happy. I’m personally of the mind that two characters shouldn’t have been paywalled to begin with, but maybe that’s just the cost of business in an extremely hostile industry.
Don’t get me wrong, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a fantastic game. The entertainment it has provided me has easily surpassed several games I’ve spent $70 on. If you’d just like to show Atlus the extra support and enjoy a couple extra demons as fanservice, I won’t stop you. Just make sure to tune up the difficulty higher than you normally would. After fighting your fifth Mitama in just a couple of minutes, you’ll be begging for some semblance of challenge again.
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