{"id":415141,"date":"2025-11-03T03:03:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T03:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/article.php?article_id=2176764"},"modified":"2025-11-03T03:03:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T03:03:47","slug":"shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight\/","title":{"rendered":"Shin Megami Tensei 5&#8217;s hardcore brand of Pok\u00e9mon-esque action is a delight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re of a certain vintage and inclination &#8211; and sorry to make assumptions, but given you&#8217;re currently reading Eurogamer I reckon it&#8217;s likely you are &#8211; you&#8217;ll be familiar with an infamous review of Doom way back in 1994 that ended up asking what if you could talk to the monsters. It&#8217;s an idle thought that&#8217;s since passed into legend, oft-mocked and even held up as some vague prophecy, but I&#8217;ve only just realised it&#8217;s not really that strange a notion. Maybe the mysterious reviewer behind this particular Edge legend was just really into Shin Megami Tensei, the long-running RPG series in which, yes, you absolutely can talk to the monsters. <\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a slim chance that&#8217;s the case, seeing as this is a series whose genesis can be traced back to 1987, and one that stands as a grandee of the RPG genre alongside the likes of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy &#8211; even if it&#8217;s never quite had the global appeal of either. Partly that&#8217;s thanks to the sporadic nature of mainline releases &#8211; Shin Megami Tensei 5, which is out on Switch this week, comes some eight years after the fourth installment, which itself has a clean ten-year gap to 2003&#8217;s Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. Partly it&#8217;s because Shin Megami Tensei&#8217;s various spin-offs have overtaken the mainline series in terms of popularity &#8211; the Persona games easily eclipse the series from which they span off in terms of profile, which has in turn set some awkward expectations for newcomers to a core Shin Megami Tensei title. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/articles\/2021-11-16-shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/articles\/2021-11-16-shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re of a certain vintage and inclination &#8211; and sorry to make assumptions, but given you&#8217;re currently reading Eurogamer I reckon it&#8217;s likely you are &#8211; you&#8217;ll be familiar with an infamous review of Doom way back in 1994 that ended up asking what if you could talk to the monsters. It&#8217;s an idle thought that&#8217;s since passed into legend, oft-mocked and even held up as some vague prophecy, but I&#8217;ve only just realised it&#8217;s not really that strange a notion. Maybe the mysterious reviewer behind this particular Edge legend was just really into Shin Megami Tensei, the long-running RPG series in which, yes, you absolutely can talk to the monsters. There&#8217;s a slim chance that&#8217;s the case, seeing as this is a series&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":415142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shin Megami Tensei 5&#039;s hardcore brand of Pok\u00e9mon-esque action is a delight | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you&#039;re of a certain vintage and inclination - and sorry to make assumptions, but given you&#039;re currently reading Eurogamer I reckon it&#039;s likely you are\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shin-megami-tensei-5s-hardcore-brand-of-pokemon-esque-action-is-a-delight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shin Megami Tensei 5&#039;s hardcore brand of Pok\u00e9mon-esque action is a delight | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you&#039;re of a certain vintage and inclination - 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