Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 released in 2016 and won game of the year at the VGAs and then an enhanced version was released in 2019 featuring new content called Persona 5 Royal, which was basically a GOY edition. So why are we talking about a game that came out 7 years ago and was re-released 4 years ago? Because it finally landed on all other platforms in late 2022. Now everyone that didn’t have a Playstation can now enjoy this game.

Persona 5 has to be the most popular of the franchise considering it has invaded just about every medium and other video game titles as well. There is an animated movie, players can unlock the main character as fighter in Smash Bros, Ulitimate, there are spin off title from this title like Persona 5 Strikers. The previous games in the series have seen their spin offs as well but the main people paying attention to those were already fans of the series. It seems like Persona 5 has become a new jumping off point for people to experience the franchise for the first time.

So far so good right? Game of year winner, difinitive editions released, spin off titles made, cameos in other games, and spin offs in other mediums made. Must be the best game ever made, providing players with max amount of fun right? Except every time someone has tried to explain what this game is, it never sounds like fun. A short description is as follows:

“A turn base RPG or JRPG, where you spend your time living the life of a high school student, going to classes, hanging out with friends and getting part time jobs. Based on your performance in these activities you become stronger when dungeon crawling and fighting enemies in the evening.” - That just the description of the gameplay loop. The story sounds even more bizzarro.

“Play as Joker, a high school student wrongfully accused of a crime suddenly has the power to change hearts and goes on an adventure with his new found friends changing the hearts of criminals to ultimately reform society.” - Again this sounds very strange and not exactly in line with what most people expect with JRPGs. Usually expect some fantasy or sci-fi setting where you have to stop a war, or save a princess, that ultimately results in saving the world.

I think the best way to describe this game and its series is like this. Its a game that will scratch that old turn base RPG feeling you had when you first played a Final Fantasy game. It will also scratch your anime/manga itch if you like those mediums as well. The story makes sense when you play it so no need to explain that part, but if you like turn based combat and graphic novels this game is for you. You will like it. You will like it for well over 100 hours of game play. I don’t mean that in the sense of being a completionist, I didn’t 100% game in my first play through. Just doing a normal play through to the end of the game’s story it took me 114hrs and 47min to complete. To 100 percent this title I need to start a new game plus and do it all again. Thank god there is a fast forward feature if you choose to use it.

Other than the uniqueness of the game what makes it really stand apart from its competition? I think the following things really make this game shine.

Gameplay:

Atlas games didn’t reinvent the wheel with a bunch of hard to grasp gameplay additions to stand out. They added really easy non-intrusive elements. There are a lot of turn base RPGs out there that always add something, whether it be action points, tactical placements, action timer, or some type of automated system that makes gameplay to complicated or too automated where I don’t feel like I can put any strategy in my moves.

Atlas simply added a weakness system. Not all enemies, and most definitely not bosses, will have weakness to certain elements or physical attacks. When you trigger a weakness an enemy is stunned and if you stun all enemies your team of characters get the option to do an all out attack, negotiate a retreat for an item or get to add that enemies powers to your own.

This is a simple and fun mechanic that keeps the gameplay loop interesting. No tapping an extra button command at the right time to get critical hit, no action timer, just plan out your movies and find the weaknesses of your enemies and exploit if possible.

The life simulator part of the game is not as tedious as it sounds. Its basically the story of the game playing out. But you are rewarded for the things you do in the combat. Having strong bonds with your friends adds automatic abilities that are helpful. It ranges from characters being able to auto heal status aliments inflicted, to being able to survive one hit kills with at least 1 life point, and being able to swap characters out during combat. They don’t add complications to the combat but they add benefits that are greatly appreciated.

Lastly there is no need to grind for levels in this game. Some people who love to grind can grind if the want, but unlike most RPGs or JRPGs now days I never felt the need to grind for levels in order to beat a boss. My progress never stopped suddenly because I was under leveled. That is a huge plus.

Anime Art and Cutscenes:

With most Anime games of the past, like Nurato, if there is a tie in TV show or movie they tend to pull from there and give you badly compressed video of the anime for story cutscenes. With Persona, even though there is an animated movie for the game, the cutscenes are not compressed video they are highly animated scenes made for the game. It matches the same level or detail that is in the art design of the game itself. So you never have that feeling that your console of computer just fired up a video player and is playing compressed video clips to fill in story beats.

The art style of the game also has a feel and match to its animated cutscenes so it doesn’t feel jarring when jumping from one to the other.

Music:

I was never a huge jazz music fan but this game made me one. The music in the game is great. It can get repetitive, especially when dungeons can take a few hours to clear, but I was never tired of the music in my 100+ hour play through. I might not be adding a ton of jazz music to my collection due to this game but the music was thought about when creating the title. When it kicks in when it drops off, it wasn’t a second thought like music is in most games today. So take the time to appreciate the fact that music was created and licensed for this title and implemented in a smart and creative ways.

Story:

As fantastical as the story gets I do appreciate that it doesn’t act like taking down one main villain will suddenly stop the corruption that your team is fighting against. This title has the balls to clearly show that the lackies of the big bad boss will still continue the work unless more is done. Which is where we come to the one negative of this title. Which is when you think you are about to beat the game you haven’t even come close yet. Its almost to a Bayonetta level of you beat the main boss but nope there’s more, another transformation, or nope here’s another boss to fight, oh wait they have a god form you need to fight as well. It can feel like its never going to stop. But once you complete the main story and then complete the extra content as well it wraps up everything really nicely.

Not going to go into detail about the story because it is unique but it covers all the basic tropes that we find in these stories, commitment to ones beliefs, self sacrifice, with a couple of twist in there for the people with a keen eye and good memory to catch.

Overall Rating:

Its a long game like said and I need to do another play through just to unlock everything, but I really enjoyed my 100+ hours in this world and playing this game. It really scratches the itches of classic RPGs and graphic novel games. The gameplay is fun and can be strategic at times and the story’s voice acting, presentation and flow feel right and they tie up all the main story plots in the end. So if these sound like the type of game play elements you enjoy and you have the time to put in to it, you should play this game.

You can find Persona 5 royal on Playstation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch. It is available on Xbox Game Pass currently so if you have access jump in and try it out. You might find that you enjoy it.