Highlights

  • Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance improves traversal with Magatsuhi Rails for quick access to important locations.
  • Vengeance streamlining exploration is a big deal, as it makes it easier for players to complete side quests and earn exclusive rewards.
  • The enhanced edition also includes new mini-map icons, the Bird's-Eye View function, and the ability to save anywhere.

Sega and Atlus' recently released Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance continues a trend among the publisher and developer's games of releasing an improved and enhanced version of a title that debuted just a few years prior. Like Persona 5 Royal before it (and Persona 4 Golden even before that), Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance aims to be the definitive version of an already great JRPG by introducing some balancing tweaks, a completely new alternate campaign, and several other additions to the core mechanics and systems. One of the most pronounced improvements Vengeance makes over the original Shin Megami Tensei 5 is its new traversal options.

The majority of Shin Megami Tensei 5 takes place within the inhospitable nether-realm of Da'at. Despite Da'at featuring several distinct regions each with its own environmental features and enemy types, it's all too easy to get turned around or confused on how to make it to an objective even with the help of Shin Megami Tensei 5's mini-map. One of the best additions Vengeance makes is the introduction of the Magatsuhi rails for quick access to important locations that were much harder to reach in the original version of Shin Megami Tensei 5, streamlining the act of traversal and encouraging thorough exploration of its world.

shin-megami-tensei-5-vengeance_key-art
Related
How Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance Hones the Edge of SMT5's Turn-Based Combat

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance's turn-based combat presents possibly the best version of one of the RPG genre's greatest encounter systems.

Magatsuhi Rails Are Much More Than Simple Quick Access Shortcuts

shin-megami-tensei-5_magatsuhi-rail

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance's most obvious improvement to traversal comes in the form of the Magatsuhi Rails. These new "grind spots" allow players to simply walk up and press a button to initiate burst travel between two points of the map. While it might be easy to pass these off as simple quality-of-life upgrades to the moment-to-moment traversal and exploration in Vengeance over the original Shin Megami Tensei 5, how they transform side quests and make exploration more efficient is worth examining.

Completing side quests and then returning to report progress can be easier said than done thanks to the plethora of missions players can pick up and the potential to get lost in the sprawling wasteland of Da'at. Combined with the new improvements to Shin Megami Tensei 5's mini-map and more pronounced icons for tracking side quests and their important locations, the Magatsuhi Rails facilitate seeing and doing everything that Vengeance has to offer. And, considering how many new rewards there are for players to collect in the form of version-exclusive Demons, Miracles, and Essences, it pays to see as much of Da'at as possible and complete every side quest that comes the Nahobino's way.

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance's Improvements to Traversal Smooth Over Da'at's Rough Edges

Along with the new Magatsuhi Rails, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance introduces several new improvements to the mini-map and main map screen, the new Bird's-Eye View function, and the ability to save anywhere.

The Magatsuhi Rails in Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance might be the most obvious new inclusion to the enhanced edition, but they're just the tip of the iceberg. Along with the helpful new quick-travel locations, players also have a much-improved version of the original's mini-map in Vengeance (complete with several new gameplay-specific icons to aid in traversal) and the supremely helpful "Birds-Eye View" function that allows players to scan an area from above at the press of a button. Combined with the new ability to save outside Leyline Founts, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance's version of Da'at is much more forgiving than the original.

In just the first area of Da'at that players get to explore as part of the "Lay of the Land" quest, there are dozens of treasure chests, optional tough encounters, several side quests, and plenty of random encounters to engage in and demons to recruit. It can almost be a bit overwhelming to anyone new to JRPGs or the Shin Megami Tensei series in general, but Vengeance's new traversal options and quality-of-life features go a long way toward acclimating players to the start of a grand adventure.