Shin Megami Tensei V fans want to know if the game has any in-game romance options similar to Atlus’ other titles.
Atlus has quite a few important intellectual properties (IPs) under its jurisdiction. Two of these, Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) and Persona, seem to have a decent fandom overlap, with players of both games commonly coming together. This has led to some bleeding of ideas when it comes to the two franchises in so far that a few fans have wondered whether the two games will begin to share mechanics. The most popular of these is the social link or romance system.
Here’s what we know about romance in SMT.
No, Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT V) does not have romances or social links.
Truthfully, the concept of romance or a social link system akin to that of Atlus’ other popular IP, Persona, seems dubious at best. It doesn’t appear that the developer has any interest in crossing those boundaries between SMT and Persona at the time of writing—or, at least, not with in-game romances.
However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a contemporary discussion. Fans of both franchises have debated the inclusion of a romance or social link system before its announcement in July 2020. Some seem to be on the fence about the idea.
“It doesn’t have to be romance, but I wouldn’t mind getting to know the characters better,” one fan wrote on the GameFAQ message boards on Nov. 3.
Others seemed to agree with the stipulation that such mechanics were kept to spin-off games such as SMT IV: Apocalypse.
“SMT has never been about bonding with your allies or demons,” another wrote on a separate post dating back to mid-June 2021, “Apocalypse did something like that, but nowhere near to the extent of Persona.”
Most fans, however, simply stated that romance wasn’t the reason they played SMT in the first place. One of the most common statements was that if one wanted to experience a social link system they would simply “go play Persona.”
Shin Megami Tensei V released on Nov. 11 for the Nintendo Switch.
