When released in 2017, Persona 5 represented the next evolution of the Persona formula. Persona 5 Royal amplifies the excellent turn-based combat and masterful social mechanics, as well as the intricate systems around them. But it also adds new characters, storylines, and a meaty post-game palace to delve deeper into the lore of the world to deliver the definitive Persona 5 experience.
The gameplay loop of the original remains intact: You hunt down spoiled individuals, infiltrate dungeons based on their personalities, and battle tons of enemies – all while learning and growing relationships with many different soul mates. Connecting with people from all walks of life, learning their stories, and strengthening your relationships is still beneficial from both a personality development standpoint and the way these relationships benefit you useful perks. If you haven’t played Persona 5 before, this is the perfect way to start.
Even if you played the original release, Royal gives you plenty of reasons to come back. In addition to restructuring how you upgrade your relationship with Akechi, leading to more meaningful interactions with this important character, Royal also adds Kasumi and Maruki, two brand new soul mates. . While I like the story of both characters, I especially like the bonus they offer in the process: Kasumi increases your HP and gives you great dodging when a shadow is about to ambush you. , while Maruki increases the Joker’s max SP, which comes in handy during prolonged palace infiltrations.
Kasumi and Maruki offer humorous and heartfelt interactions, and although Kasumi eventually joins your party as a full-fledged Phantom Thief, that doesn’t happen until the new post-game palace. While I’m disappointed she doesn’t join your party for most of the game, her continued presence in the story means you’ve gotten used to her when the time comes. That new palace and the surrounding palace offer an interesting look at how the strange world works after the events of the original conclusion, while also providing puzzles, dungeon elements and is unique compared to other palaces in the game. I was initially worried that the addition of a new final boss battle would take away from what made the original finale so special, but without spoiling it, this new final boss offers an ending. climax and cinematic for your journey as the Phantom Thief.
In the 100 hours leading up to that post-game content, I enjoyed revisiting the original arcades with their minor additions. Joker now has access to the grappling hook, allowing him to travel to new points in the palace to find hidden treasure chests or new Collectable Seeds of Will. Each palace’s three Willow Seeds are usually hidden behind difficult sequences of grappling, puzzles, or battles, but if you collect all three and bring the resulting item to a new character Jose in Mementos, you’ll earn Get valuable accessories to equip your character. While they all give you powerful perks or moves, my favorite is the move that powers an ally’s next magic attack to the extreme; I can’t tell you how many times that move has turned me around. As you progress through the story, you also accumulate Showtime moves, team attacks that unfold through amusing, amusing cutscenes that also have the potential to get you out of hot water if you run into one. Trouble in the palace.
Revisiting memorable battles against the palace rulers is even more interesting as they now have additional forms to express the themes of their sins. Since palaces are based on the perceptions of palace rulers, I love to see how they combine bosses’ transgressions and distorted views in unique ways. While each of these forms adds something fun or exciting to the way the battles unfold, a limited-time active boss battle and Royal’s version adds extra dialogue and a new form without adding time to the watch, leading to frustration. Despite that misfire, thanks to these additions, the palace boss battles are generally better than those in the original game.
With lots of additions and improvements, Persona 5 Royal is an improved version of what was once one of the best RPGs of the last decade. Whether you are looking to enjoy the journey of Phantom Thieves again or want to experience it for the first time, Royal wears her tiara beautifully.
