Shin Megami Tensei V - How to save your game and recover

Accustomed to some modern RPG design, Shin Megami Tensei V may throw you for a bit of a loop if it’s your first rodeo with the series. The easiest way to look at SMTV is through the lens of traditional RPGs—you’re out of luck if you just spent an hour grinding only for Nahobino to take a death blow. You'll have to restart from the last time you saved.

The same goes for recovery, it’s a simple mechanic, but SMTV’s nature as something a little less generous may surprise you. When you’re hurting and your demon buddies are hovering in the red, resources may feel tighter. 

How to save your progress in Shin Megami Tensei V

You’ll save your game at the Leyline Fount in SMTV, a little glowing circle in the ruins of Tokyo. Aogami introduces you early on, and the Leyline Fount will also become a central point for all of your in-game business dealings. 

Saving often is always advisable, especially since the nature of SMTV means sometimes a new demon will catch you off guard without a member of your own party ready to deal with it. In addition to saving, you can use a Leyline Fount for:

• Chronicle Deeds - Save your game data. 
• Leyline Crossing - Travel between founts you have interacted with.
• Cadaver’s Hollow - Buy and sell items, or receive Miman rewards.
• World of Shadows - Fuse demons, check your compendium, manage essence and miracles.
• Recovery - Use Macca to heal individual party members. 

The best ways to recover in SMTV 

No, simply touching the Leyline Fount isn’t how you’ll restore your HP and MP in SMTV. There are, of course, a few options when it comes to regaining your health or mana, but they aren’t always accessible, and sometimes you’ll want to take a more thoughtful approach. Also, not every option covers both resource pools. 

Rely on Magatsuhi Crystals when you can. At the beginning of your journey, you’ll notice three types of glowing orbs on the ground. The yellow crystals recover MP, green crystals recover HP, and red crystals build your Magatsuhi bar. That last one, in particular, is valuable since Magatsuhi is the source of your special skills. 

Using Macca at the Leyline Fount will restore all of your HP and MP to every party member you select. This can also be used to revive fallen demon pals, and it’s not that expensive. The grind for Macca later on can become a little bit of a chore for some quests, but recovery prices here aren’t a big deal. The biggest obstacle is finding the fount. 

There’s also the auto-heal function you can select at any time by pressing ‘R’ on your Switch. If you’re hurting for MP, this does you no good. The quick auto-heal uses spells like Dia to restore the health of your party. It’s easy to rely on this, but draining your MP pool can leave you vulnerable when trying to exploit enemy weaknesses.

You can spend Glory on some Miracles that help, too. Magatsuhi Wellspring will give you a little HP and MP at the start of every turn if your bar is full. You can also pick up other passive skills like Restore or High Restore for MP recovery after striking a foe’s weakness or landing a critical hit. There’s also Mana Aid, which gives you mana after a battle, though this ability is only rarely found on certain Essences.

You can also rely on Consumables in a bind, but that gets pricier and leaves your supply low for more taxing encounters. This certainly isn’t your best option, and some of your bigger sources of clutch recovery should be saved for battle.