Summary
- SMT 5 offers four difficulty settings: Safety, Casual, Normal, and Hard, catering to various player experience levels.
- Safety Mode is the easiest, designed for story-focused players, while Hard Mode is for committed veterans, with no mid-game difficulty changes.
- Casual and Normal modes offer a moderate challenge, suitable for RPG newcomers and those familiar with the SMT series, respectively.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 and its enhanced rerelease, Vengeance, are out now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and PS5, and they come with a variety of difficulty settings to help players get into the game however they need to. There are four different difficulty settings in SMT 5 and Vengeance alike: Safety, Casual, Normal, and Hard. Two of these are easier settings meant for series and genre newcomers, while the other two are harder settings meant for practiced RPG or SMT players.
SMT 5 is the first major worldwide simultaneous release for an Atlus title, and Vengeance takes the original Switch exclusive multiplatform. For the first time ever, many players worldwide, both familiar and new to the SMT series, will be trying their hands at SMT 5 at the same time. And there are many reasons to try SMT 5: those who take the plunge will get to experience Shin Megami Tensei 5’s star voice cast, the all-new setting of Da’at, and its unique gameplay across four unique difficulty modes.
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As a classic JRPG franchise, the Shin Megami Tensei series is notorious for being particularly challenging. Thankfully, SMT 5 offers four different difficulty settings for players to choose between. Even better, players can switch between these settings as they’d like – at least, in most cases. If a newcomer finds Casual Mode too easy, for example, they can bump it up to Normal Mode. Meanwhile, someone who may want to finish the game faster due to external obligations, or is struggling with a particular SMT 5 boss, can drop the difficulty from Normal Mode to Casual Mode as they play. Players who really want a challenge can try their hand at Hard Mode, although they have to be willing to stick with it the entire way through, because players can’t change the difficulty to or from Hard Mode: they’ll have to pick it at the beginning of the game.
How Safety Mode Difficulty Works In SMT V & Vengeance
SMT 5’s Easiest Setting
Shin Megami Tensei 5 features day-one DLC, including the free addition of Safety Mode. This difficulty setting is described in-game as a helpful setting for RPG beginners, designed to get them through the game’s story “safely and comfortably.” Players take a lot less damage from most attacks, and should be able to defeat most enemies – even some bosses – in a single shot. Safety Mode is recommended for those players who are only interested in the story: combat is secondary to exploration and plot.
As a free DLC, Safety Mode must be downloaded separately before the player can select it.
Safety Mode also affects negotiation with demons: players will find that their adversaries demand far less Macca and far more common items in exchange for alliances, surrenders, and other negotiation goals. On the flip side, players will also obtain more Macca when they ask for it.
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In combat, critical hits and status effects come in less frequently, but the player and their allies are more likely to inflict them. The rate of ambushes is also increased in Safety Mode, ensuring the player and their team almost always get the first turn in combat. As a result, players won’t even see enemies attack much of the time; with a well-balanced team, they may defeat them before they even have a chance to move.
How Casual Mode Difficulty Works In SMT V & Vengeance
A Mildly Challenging SMT 5 Option
Casual Mode is included in SMT 5 by default, without the player needing to download anything. Battles are easier than in Normal Mode, but still offer somewhat more of a challenge than in Safety Mode. All the player’s stats are increased and the enemies’ stats decreased in much the same way, just to a lesser extent. Ambushes are also more frequent than in Normal Mode.
Casual is another good difficulty setting for beginners who want to get used to the gameplay mechanics of Shin Megami Tensei V, but are willing to undertake a little more of a challenge and aren’t solely interested in the story. Casual Mode is designed for players who may have a little bit of experience with turn-based RPGs, but are new to the SMT series. Since SMT in general has many unique features that even seasoned RPG players aren’t familiar with, this can be useful for familiarizing oneself with the basics. Of course, the player can always crank the difficulty up to Normal later.
How Normal Mode Difficulty Works In SMT V & Vengeance
SMT 5’s Default Difficulty Setting
Normal Mode in SMT V is described as fairly challenging while still fair, being the game’s default difficulty setting. Player and enemy stats are at their middle-of-the-road settings. Enemies can deal a lot of damage, but so can players, mainly thanks to the demon recruitment system giving both sides fairly identical movesets.
Shin Megami Tensei games are known for being harder than the average RPG, so Normal Mode will be a good choice for RPG veterans, or those who have already played at least one SMT game before, to try. Players also have the option to switch between difficulty settings as they play, so even if a player is unsure of where to start, there’s no harm in trying Normal Mode first, and then altering the difficulty as needed to progress.
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How Hard Mode Difficulty Works In SMT V
SMT 5’s Most Punishing Difficulty Setting
Shin Megami Tensei 5’s Hard Mode difficulty setting is described as having changes to features both in and out of combat to make the game even harder than in the default Normal Mode. Players deal less damage and take more, demons demand more money and rarer items in combat, and ambushes are less frequent. This mode is best for people who are not only seasoned RPG fans, but returning Shin Megami Tensei players.
But as a trade-off, players can’t choose to bump the difficulty up to Hard Mode once they’ve started the game on another setting, or back down to lesser difficulty modes once they’ve started on Hard. As a result, Hard Mode is only for the most committed players – those who come seeking a challenge, and are willing to see it the whole way through. It’s not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced, but overcoming its difficult trials can be intensely rewarding.
Difficulty modes in SMT 5 are deceptively simple: as confusing as it can be to interpret terms like Safety Mode, or the concept of downloading free DLC to play on the easiest setting, all four difficulty modes are clearly ordered from easiest to hardest, and simply scale player and enemy stats either up or down. Normal Mode may be how the game was meant to be experienced, but the ultimate choice comes down entirely to player preference. Choosing the right difficulty mode is a vital first step in customizing the player’s experience, either in the original game or in Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance.
