I finished the Canon of Creation route for Shin Megami Tensei V a couple of weeks ago but never got around to writing about it because I am just tired all the time. But now I'm here! I've tried and failed to finish SMTV a few times now, but then Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance came out and I was locked in. This was because I could play it on my Steam Deck at a crisp, rock-solid 60FPS, the way God intended most games to be played. It also added a bunch of QoL additions, new demons, yadda yadda yadda. The most interesting edition was a new story, appropriately called "The Canon of Vengeance." I haven't touched that yet, but it has new characters, two new endings, and a "fixed" (we'll get to the air-quotes in a minute) story. I look forward to digging into it eventually. The original story has stuck around as "The Canon of Creation," which is what I decided to play first. I wanted to write about it because I'm surprised people disliked the story so much! Or care! At all! It is true that the Canon of Creation is basically devoid of a plot. Its existence almost feels like an obligation from the creators, who shrugged their shoulders and went, "I guess games have cutscenes these days." There's been so much that has been negatively pointed at SMTV's original plot that I was expecting an absolute shitshow to be greeting me when I finished the game. I didn't! I wonder if it's a matter of set expectations. I wonder further still if this is a byproduct of Persona-syndrome. Persona is the most popular of the Megaten properties, and it has multiple novels worth of dialogue in each title.[^1] Did Persona fans, looking for more of what they love, descend upon SMTV and end up disappointed by the lack of a plot or teachers you could sleep with? I ask because I can't remember plot from any Shin Megami Tensei game I've ever played. From the OG to Nocturne and beyond, the plots were always an excuse for what we were there for: the [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goop]] - in this instance, dungeon crawling and Press Turn combat. I've seen people say that SMTIII and SMTIV have more in-depth plots than SMTV, which is probably true to an extent, but does that mean much? What I remember from the SMT games are two things: the vibes, and the personal stories that come as a result of my gameplay. I remember cool guitar riffs as I kill Gods, Devils and Demons left and right in dark, abandoned Shibuya skyscrapers. I remember clutching out my fifth try against Matador after finally learning that this JRPG actually *wants* me to use debuffs. I remember fighting Dante! So when I get hype about fighting the Demi-Fiend from SMTIII in SMTV, it's not because of the intricate, layered plot that he took part in when I played his game. It's because I remember *being* him ([and also because his battle theme is unreal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb7hNZ4P-ew&pp=ygUWYmF0dGxlIHdpdGggZGVtaS1maWVuZA%3D%3D))! My personal connection with the narrative I built crawling through all those dungeons is the thing that I hold onto from my SMT playthroughs. All of this is to say that I wasn't disappointed by the CoC plot, because I wasn't really there for it. I think it does exactly what it needs to do, which is give me a reason to grab Metatron by the throat and [**REDACTED**]. I'll get to the Canon of Vengeance eventually - I'm a little burnt out by 45 hours of SMTV in less than two weeks[^2]. And while I'm excited about the suggestion that the story is apparently a massive improvement to the Canon of Creation, consider me more than skeptical too. Frankly, if the story gets in the way of me playing the game - which is why I like SMT more than Persona in the first place - then I'll probably like it less! [^1]: Whether that writing is *good* is up for debate, but that's neither here nor there [^2]: If you do the math there please don't tell me about it, I'm embarrassed enough as is