Okay, so I felt like my brain was getting a bit mushy lately. Needed something to chew on, you know? Something to really make me sit down and think. I kept hearing whispers about this game, Shin Megami Tensei V, or SMT V as folks call it. Heard it was tough, demanding. That sounded like just the thing.
Getting Started
So, I got myself a copy. Booted it up. Looked pretty neat, this post-apocalyptic Tokyo thing. Then the game actually started properly. And man, did it kick my butt right out of the gate. First few random encounters, boom, dead. Wasn’t expecting that level of intensity from the get-go.
This wasn’t just about mashing buttons. I quickly realized I had to actually pay attention. Like, really pay attention. What are the enemy weaknesses? What skills do my demons have? How does this whole ‘Press Turn’ system work? It was confusing at first, not gonna lie.
The Real Work Begins
So I decided, alright, let’s treat this like a project. My goal wasn’t just to beat the game, but to understand it. To actually learn its guts.
I spent hours just messing around with the demon fusion. Trying to figure out how to get the demons I wanted, with the skills I needed. It felt like actual research sometimes.
- Trying to get specific resistances passed down.
- Figuring out which fusions resulted in stronger demons.
- Reading through all the demon descriptions – kinda cool learning bits of mythology along the way.
That whole process… it was slow. Sometimes frustrating. I’d fuse a demon, think it was great, then run into a new enemy type that just wiped the floor with it. Back to the drawing board. Back to the fusion screen.
Hitting Walls (and Pushing Through)
There were bosses… oh boy, the bosses. Some of them felt like hitting a brick wall. Just absolutely brutal. I remember one fight, must have taken me ten, maybe fifteen tries. Each time, I’d get a little further. Learn a bit more about its attack pattern. Tweak my team lineup. Change my own character’s skills.
It wasn’t just about grinding levels, though that helped. It was about strategy. Finding that one weakness, exploiting it perfectly. Using buffs and debuffs at the right time. It demanded patience. It forced me to stop, think, plan, execute. If any part of that chain broke, I was usually looking at the game over screen again.
That process, that repetition and refinement, that felt like learning. Real, gritty learning. Not just absorbing facts, but building understanding through trial and error.
Where I’m At Now
I haven’t finished it yet. Still chipping away at it. But I definitely feel… sharper. More engaged. It woke up parts of my brain that felt dormant. I learned a ton about the game’s systems, sure. But also picked up random bits of mythology I never knew. And honestly? Just proving to myself I could stick with something challenging and figure it out piece by piece, that’s been the real reward.
It’s not always fun in the traditional sense. Sometimes it feels like work. But it’s satisfying work. It’s the satisfaction of untangling something complex. That’s the knowledge I was chasing, I guess. And SMT V definitely delivered.
