Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance Shouldn’t Start One Pattern Among Atlus Games

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance is just around the corner, set to launch June 14. This is an enhanced version of Shin Megami Tensei 5, which was released back in 2021. This continues the longstanding tradition of Atlus re-releasing its games once they’ve had a few years to breathe. However, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance stands apart in one critical way, and it’s a major cause for concern.

Atlus recently announced that it would be delisting Shin Megami Tensei 5 and all its DLC upon the release of Vengeance. This is concerning for a number of reasons, and it’s a decision that absolutely cannot continue in future games. After all, if this becomes a pattern, it will put both the past and future of series like SMT and Persona in serious jeopardy.

What Shin Megami Tensei 5’s Delisting Means for Other Atlus Franchises

Video Game Preservation is in Danger

Video game preservation has become a growing issue in the last few years. Access to physical media is increasingly limited, and some games are being removed from digital services only a short time after release. This has led to many games losing accessibility among general audiences. Other games may die on the vine completely, with no copies allowed to be sold, and no more copies remaining in circulation.

This is, thankfully, not entirely the case for Shin Megami Tensei 5 due to the game receiving a physical release. However, the slippery slope of preservation is one that is nearly impossible to climb back up from. If a game gets lost forever, it means a whole world of art and experiences gets permanently erased.

The Rocky Future of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona

The reveal of SMT5: Vengeance was not a surprising or unwelcome one. After all, upgraded re-releases both improve the experience of returning players, and bring in a whole new host of players who weren’t attracted to the original. However, sacrificing the original for the sake of these re-releases would be a huge danger to Atlus’ lengthy history of quality games.

Persona 5 was a milestone of success when it came to Atlus bringing its franchises to a more mainstream audience. The enhanced re-release, Persona 5 Royal, kept the ball rolling with a wider release, improving its accessibility. However, while Royal improved upon its predecessor in many other ways, it would’ve been unthinkable to erase Persona 5 in its wake. Unfortunately, that is exactly what Atlus is doing now with Shin Megami Tensei 5 and Vengeance.

This decision is particularly strange given the recent release of Persona 3 Reload. Reload did not lead to Atlus erasing previous versions of the game. Instead, Atlus launched multiple Persona remasters to generate excitement before Reload was even revealed, and has continued to promote them after Reload‘s release. This was a great strategy for the preservation of Persona games, and a much preferable alternative to what is now going on with Shin Megami Tensei.

Atlus Could Wind Up Erasing its Own History

While updated re-releases like SMT5: Vengeance are welcome additions to Atlus’ library of games, the original Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a game worth preserving in its own right. The decision to delist it is as confusing as it is potentially dangerous.

This is even more concerning for the sake of future games within Atlus’ catalog. Persona 6 is in the works, and when it releases, it will likely get an enhanced re-release a few years later. If that re-release means erasing the original game, it would be an irreparable blow to video game preservation as a whole.

The ultimate hope is that this move with Shin Megami Tensei 5 is simply a fluke and not Atlus testing the waters. The future of Atlus’ games is heavily dependent on its past. Many fans of series like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona got into them by playing older entries after a gateway like Royal or Vengeance. This is a vital door for the future of video games that, hopefully, won’t be closed by Vengeance.