Finally almost done with SMTV!

This is more of a ramble blog about my experience at the moment with SMTV. Mainly recounting events, discussing my feelings on the game, and future plans for playing it. Expect spoilers for the game!

Been playing SMTV for the past few days since the new Pokémon Scarlet & Violet games reminded me of it. Not that I haven't also been playing those titles. Buuuut I like the turn-based battles in the MegaTen games more than Pokémon.

I actually started playing SMTV back in January 2022. After 3 weeks though, I burnt out and stopped around the last Da'at realm. I was 12 levels under the bosses I had to defeat to continue further and I didn't feel like grinding anymore. But now, I'm in the mood for that! Whoo!

After a few more hours spent doing side quests, compendium filling, battling abscesses, acquiring glory, and plain ol' grinding, I moved onto the next - and probably last - area in the game. I'm still not done. Before going onto the final bosses, I wanted to battle Shiva first, which requires me to gain another 10 levels. I have plenty of gospels saved, but I want to save those for later. Preferably after I beat it.

There's also the compendium. So far, I'm about 75% done since I got the Seed of Life from Sophia after fusing to get Mara (lol). Oh, and also my team is a total mess lol. I also want to strengthen tem and make better magic and heal builds as my current ones are lacking. I learned a lesson not to mix my magic attacker with my stat buffer/healer. It's such a hard time juggling moves during battles when I need both that magic attacker and constant healing.

While I did complete a few side quests, I still have around 3-4 more to go. I believe the ones I'm missing now are the last Amanozako-related quest, the archangel quest, and the ones about the four demon guys I need to battle. Oh, and Armon. Side note: I got incredibly close to beating that guy while 7 levels lower, but ended up getting oneshotted at the end by its piercing fire magic attack because I forgot to cast Kannabi Veil. It was probably 3 turns away from dying, too. One of my worst blunders, honestly.

Really enjoying this game even after stalling playing it again for so long. With my current pace, I should be able to finish it in at most a week. Same goes for the other two games I'm currently playing which are Pokémon Violet and P5R. Wish I had the DLC demons and Demi-Fiend fight. The Demi-Fiend fight looks especially challenging. Makes me wanna try it lol. 

That's all I can think of right now. Feel free to talk about your experience with the game too. Also feel free to roast me for taking this damn long to finish a single play-through of it too lol