Shin Megami Tensei V, Vengeance

What makes SMT V different from nearly any Atlus game that has come before it is expressly its overall structure

The trend away from the crawl is maintained here, as SMT V continues to move in the opposite direction.
For the most part, Shin Megami Tensei V is an open-world game. Well, let's say semi-open world.

The zones do ultimately feel just a bit samey by the end, generally having similar structures with similar aesthetics and similar pathing to reach the story objective. Over time, I could eventually feel the novelty beginning to wear thin after spending dozens of hours roaming around broken buildings and sandy bridges.

there actually *are* a few traditional 'dungeons' in SMT V.

For dungeon-averse people, don't worry too much, these locations keep the puzzle-solving and trap navigation relatively simple, even moreso than some of the dungeons found in games like Tokyo Mirage Sessions or Persona 5.

One somewhat disappointing element to Shin Megami Tensei V is its performance on Nintendo Switch. I do have to admit, as awkward as this might sound, that I tend to play games on a high-end gaming PC, so I am probably not the best person to judge performance vis-à-vis other games on the console. Shin Megami Tensei V seems to render at 1080p docked and runs at best at 30 frames-per-second. The framerate dips occasionally if you are dashing around zones with several demons nearby, and aliasing can often be seen on models and environments. Load times into the primary menus are also just a tad slower than I'd like them to be.

The most egregious performance issue, however, is a frequent texture pop-in issue on both models and the environment. Not only will you see this as you dash around the semi-open world, but also frequently in combat. In my experience, whenever the battle timeline shifted to the next demon in my party, it was very likely their clothing texture would be absent for a moment before it popped into place. You admittedly get a bit used to it after many hours of battling, but it's certainly something that doesn't take a discerning eye to see. If there's any chance it can be patched after launch, it would be super appreciated.