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Which route should you choose?
The opening route choice determines which campaign you play. It is not simply a difficulty or character-selection option: Creation follows the original story, while Vengeance follows a new story path. Both use the game’s shared combat, exploration, recruitment, and fusion systems.
| Choose | What it is | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Canon of Creation | The original Shin Megami Tensei V story. | Players who want to experience the original campaign in this expanded release. |
| Canon of Vengeance | A new revenge-focused story involving Yoko Hiromine. | Players who want the new campaign, or who have already played the original story. |
SEGA and ATLUS describe Vengeance as an expanded version of Shin Megami Tensei V, with new locations and demons alongside its two story paths. If you plan to see both campaigns, treat them as separate playthroughs; the route choice changes campaign content.
How do exploration and progression work?
The story moves between modern-day Tokyo and Da’at, a post-apocalyptic world populated by demons. The protagonist joins with Aogami to become the Nahobino. Da’at’s open areas combine story objectives with exploration, side activities, resources, and optional fights. Leyline Founts serve as important hubs; use them to access services and to orient yourself as you move through each area.
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Use leylines and the World of Shadows
At Leyline Founts, the World of Shadows offers Demon Fusion and Apotheosis. Fusion combines demons to create other demons; Apotheosis supports Nahobino progression. Miracles are purchased with Glory earned in Da’at and can affect exploration, combat, fusion, skill potentials, and leveling. Abscesses are demon-held territories: defeat the threat associated with one to earn a Miracle.
Follow Rails and Navigator clues
Magatsuhi Rails connect parts of an area, sometimes opening shortcuts or routes to otherwise hidden locations. A Demon Navigator can point out nearby items and Rails. Navigators assist with exploration but are not regular combat-party members.
Check landmarks as you explore
- Leyline Founts: hubs for services such as the World of Shadows and Demon Haunts.
- Abscesses: clear the demon threat to gain a Miracle.
- Aogami Husks: provide Essences, which grant battle abilities. A husk you have already examined can yield Essences again after time passes.
- Magatsuhi Crystals: green crystals replenish HP, yellow crystals recover MP, and red crystals raise the Magatsuhi gauge.
- Yellow chests and silver Amalgams: yellow chests contain items and Macca; silver Amalgams provide Glory.
- Miman, relics, quest markers, and Navigator finds: check these while sweeping an area rather than assuming the main route reveals every optional reward.
Save and avoid encounters when useful
Saving is no longer restricted to Leyline Founts: ATLUS game director Shigeo Komori described the ability to save anywhere on the map as a change from the previous game in a PlayStation Blog article published June 4, 2024. Estoma is now a Miracle rather than a skill; its encounter-avoidance effect spends Magatsuhi instead of MP, freeing a skill slot. Consider whether the resource cost is worthwhile before using it to bypass enemies.
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How should you build your party?
Recruit demons through conversation
Demons can be recruited by speaking with them, but they have individual speech patterns and preferences. Do not expect one answer or bargaining approach to work on every demon. Adapt to the conversation, and plan recruitment around the skills or resistances your current party needs.
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Fuse for the challenges ahead
Use Demon Fusion at the World of Shadows to turn recruited demons into new options for your party. Review a demon’s inherited skills and elemental strengths before committing to a fusion. Apotheosis, Essences, and Miracles provide other ways to shape the Nahobino and the wider team; use them to address gaps rather than relying on a fixed party throughout the campaign.
Make use of Demon Haunts
Demon Haunts are safe spaces accessed from leylines where the Nahobino can talk with allies and give gifts. Depending on story progress, conversations may provide items or strengthen allies. Check in when available, particularly after progressing the story.
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How do you prepare for combat and bosses?
Combat preparation is about matching your party to the enemy, not carrying one lineup unchanged. Check the opponent’s elemental properties, adjust your demons and skills, and use the World of Shadows and Essences to cover weaknesses or improve your options. The exact party solution depends on the encounter, so avoid treating a general build as a universal boss answer.
- Before a difficult fight: restore your party, review available skills and resistances, and consider whether a fusion or Essence can address a problem you have encountered.
- During a fight: pay attention to elemental interactions and use Magatsuhi strategically. ATLUS’s launch feature coverage describes new Magatsuhi Skills and battle updates, including magic use during auto-battle.
- When you encounter a red Magatsuhi demon: expect a more dangerous fight than an ordinary encounter. These enemies offer Macca, EXP, and Incense rewards.
This guide does not assign specific weaknesses or prescribe parties for individual bosses: the available official feature information establishes the combat systems, not a verified boss-by-boss weakness list.
How should you approach quests and each story route?
Use the route you selected at the start as your campaign walkthrough branch. Game8’s walkthrough index separates the two story routes, which reflects the key planning point: do not assume a step or quest from one canon applies to the other. In either route, follow the active story objective, explore nearby areas for markers and landmarks, and complete available side quests before moving on if you want a fuller run.
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Canon of Creation
Follow the original-story branch for the Canon of Creation. Its route-specific story progression and late-game decisions belong to that campaign; do not substitute a Vengeance route guide for those sections. The official description identifies Creation as the original story, but the references available here do not establish a reliable step-by-step sequence of every mission or boss.
Canon of Vengeance
Follow the new-story branch for the Canon of Vengeance, whose revenge-focused storyline involves Yoko Hiromine. Keep route-exclusive side quests and alignment-affecting decisions distinct from Creation content. A subquest reference distinguishes those categories, but its summary is not enough to reconstruct every quest condition or choice reliably.
Quest tracking without missing route-specific content
- Check quest markers when entering or revisiting an area, and note which canon you are playing.
- Complete optional quests as they become available if your goal is broad quest completion; some choices can affect alignment.
- Do not infer that every quest is available in both routes. Specialist quest references identify route-exclusive quests and alignment-choice quests.
Spoilers: endings and late-game choices
Stop here if you want to avoid ending structure and alignment spoilers. A specialist ending reference reports six endings in total: four for Canon of Creation and two for Canon of Vengeance. It also reports that Vengeance endings depend on alignment built through decisions during the game, including choices in certain side quests.
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Those summaries establish the broad split, not a trustworthy choice-by-choice checklist. Exact ending requirements should not be guessed from the number of endings or from a single decision; consult a detailed route and ending guide for the specific flags before making an irreversible late-game choice. Keep track of side-quest decisions if you are deliberately pursuing a particular Vengeance outcome.
What should you do after the story?
Choose a completion goal before you continue exploring or start another route. A story-focused run, a quest-focused run, an ending hunt, and a demon-compendium run call for different amounts of cleanup.
- For story completion: finish the campaign on your chosen canon.
- For quest completion: revisit areas and check for remaining quest markers, while accounting for route-exclusive quests.
- For all endings: plan for the separate route campaigns and track decisions carefully; ending totals differ by canon.
- For demon collection: recruit demons through conversation and use fusion to expand the roster. SEGA and ATLUS report 270 demons for Vengeance in 2024.
- For exploration cleanup: revisit Da’at to check remaining Rails, husks, chests, Amalgams, Miman, relics, crystals, and Navigator discoveries.
Platforms and release details
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance released June 14, 2024. SEGA lists versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows. Confirm the platform and edition when choosing a copy; availability and stock can change.
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