Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance – which route to choose

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance features two separate story routes, the Canon of Creation and the Canon of Vengeance. Which path you go down will be decided at the very beginning of the game, as after the opening cutscene you’re presented with a choice – to take the girl’s hand, or to not take her hand. If you’re wondering what choice you should make, we’ve got you covered with this spoiler-free guide.

What is the difference between the choices?

There are quite a few differences between the stories in the Canon of Creation and the Canon of Vengeance: most notable is the inclusion of a new character who will join your party, Yoko, and the presence of the antagonistic quartet, the Qadishtu. Several story events are altered as a result of these inclusions, and you’ll face different bosses at key points.

There are four possible endings to the Canon of Creation, with which ending you get being determined by the choice you make at the end of the game. The Canon of Vengeance only has two possible endings, with the ending you get being determined by the choices you make throughout the story. Some of the endings in the former have very strict requirements of completing specific subquests that are easily missed, whilst the latter is more easy to manipulate by just picking the top or bottom choice every time in dialogue.

Both routes have specific demons available for fusion that will become available at different points during the game, with many being locked behind specific story paths in the Canon of Creation that you can otherwise acquire in the Canon of Vengeance, which also has unique subquests.

Should you take the girl’s hand in your first playthrough?

If you’ve played the original release of Shin Megami Tensei V, the decision here is probably a pretty easy one: unless you really want to play through the original story again – and there are definitely benefits for doing so, which we’ll discuss briefly below – then you’ll want to take the girl’s hand to play through the Canon of Vengeance and experience the new story content.

If this is your first time playing Shin Megami Tensei V, or you only intend to play through the game once, which route you take is up to you! If you would prefer a more character-focused storyline with less complicated ending requirements, you’re better off taking the girl’s hand and playing through the Canon of Vengeance. If you’d prefer to focus more on the gameplay, or see what ending you end up with making your own choices, then not taking her hand would be the better choice.

If you intend to play through the game to 100 percent completion, the decision isn’t quite so clear-cut. Completing the Canon of Creation first, provided you make a certain choice to unlock a specific ending (this is a spoiler-free guide, so we won’t go into details here) will give you the opportunity to unlock Godborn Mode, the game’s highest difficulty setting, in your first playthrough of the Canon of Vengeance. However, in the Canon of Vengeance you can acquire a specific item to unlock an alternate version of a boss that can only be fought in the Canon of Creation.

Ultimately, you’ll need to play through the Canon of Creation four times and the Canon of Vengeance twice to attain 100 percent completion, so you may wish to play through the former first as that is where you’ll be spending the majority of your time.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance can be purchased now on Switch. We have lots more coverage here.