Just started SMT5V, bout 6 hours in, this game feels like modern day nocturne, which is basically all everyone who has been a long time smt fan has ever asked for. Lots of quality of life upgrades, more super moves, more interaction with demons, voice acting (the new Vengeance girl is voiced by Satou Chiwa of Senjougahara fame!) but at the core you have a dark isolated world and you're trying to make your way through it, while slowly inching closer to godhood.
I have to say, your buddy demon that you meet at the start and fuse with is very interesting though, less of a callous taskmaster like Dagda, or a scheming mastermind like Lucifer, he feels like a half-robot-half-demon being who is with you on the journey of discovering what the hell happened, which makes him a lot more relatable. It eases the feel of isolation a bit, but not by much.
I have to say, your buddy demon that you meet at the start and fuse with is very interesting though, less of a callous taskmaster like Dagda, or a scheming mastermind like Lucifer, he feels like a half-robot-half-demon being who is with you on the journey of discovering what the hell happened, which makes him a lot more relatable. It eases the feel of isolation a bit, but not by much.