A few years ago, P-Studio and Atlus stunned the world with the release of Persona 5, a JRPG revolving around high school drama laced with superhero tropes, mature themes, supernatural beings in strange parallel worlds, and addictive systems that provided hundreds of hours of play. Committing to Persona 5 is a journey, one that’s more like a televised series than most RPGs, as each section could be compared to a season of a show. It’s full of stellar writing, deep characters, detailed Japanese culture, and an addictive combat system in which the heroes unleash symbolic monsters called personas. It’s a game that influenced several projects upon release. Even the creators of Super Smash Bros Ultimate cited it as an influence for its menus and we got Joker as a playable character as a huge bonus for fans. At the end of the month, the world will be able to play Persona 5 Royal, an expanded version of the game that adds over 30 hours of additional story, various tweaks to the game’s various gameplay elements, and of course a new playable character. While I am once again nowhere near finishing Persona 5 Royal, (I got about 100 hours into Persona 5 for my review back then and I haven’t gone back since) I did want to share my initial thoughts and impressions.
Loading up Persona 5 Royal is like coming home. I really enjoyed the world that Persona 5 established and almost every character was relatable to me in some way. I loved growing Joker’s family, steadily deepening connections, and riding out the well-paced, complex story that is full of strangeness and style. Much of my time in Persona 5 was just kicking back and enjoying the story and that’s exactly what I’m doing now but this time things are a little more fleshed out with additional scenes, more pieces in the various systems, and expanded areas. Even at the outset of the game, we are introduced to new elements such as the Grappling Hook, which plays into how the game’s dungeons, known as Palaces, have been adapted. The first Palace feels bigger in a lot of ways and I felt more engaged and eager to find all the various chests and treasures. The battle with the twisted reflection of Kamoshida felt more personal too.
This time, I’ve been taking notes of the various goals I want to achieve, such as remembering which persona to fuse or crafting a couple more lockpicks, which has really helped me keep track of the game’s fondness for schedules and routines which also have more options now. Early on, Joker is given more room to wander his home area of Yongen Jaya, rather than being confined to the coffee shop in the evenings. This allows for a few more options when improving Joker’s attributes and it’s a welcome addition.
Considering Royal is the same game with improvements, there’s not much of a reason to go back to Persona 5, at least in my opinion. Really, the only reason to pick one over the other would be that Persona 5 is cheaper. With Royal though, players get all the DLC from P5, plus all the new changes. That said, I can see some players having a preference between the two as I’ve been initially annoyed with Kasumi, the new (eventual) party member who irritatingly, constantly refers to Joker as senpai and it just feels too much like an overused anime trope. Hopefully, when I get to her part of the story I will feel different. She has been injected into a few early scenes, mostly as an enigmatic character on the fringe of the story.
Another element I struggle with is how Joker moves. I complained a bit about this in my review of the original release but my issue is still valid in Royal. Joker’s run speed is too fast in the game’s smaller spaces such as classrooms and some dungeon rooms. This resulted in me just bumping into things constantly and I desperately wish there was a walk button or a way for me to turn off running. It’s also tough to hit a specific item or task, particularly in the coffee shop which has a lot of different things right next to each other. I would prefer to have a menu or something that can help pick out exactly what to do, like what was done in Splinter Cell or the classic Hitman games.
I’m also in the camp that Persona 5 Royal would make a better portable game than a console game. Royal is astoundingly only coming to PS4 when many were hoping for a Switch release. Proven by Persona 4 Golden (which I’ve only played a few hours of), this style of RPG is elevated beyond its faults when portable. Me being the stubborn player that I am, I streamed much of my playtime of Royal to my iPhone with the PlayStation Remote Play app. Using this, I hooked up my phone to my Dualshock 4 controller and enjoyed Joker’s story from the comfort of my bed. This would also work with Vita but having all the buttons of the Dualshock 4 was my preferred approach. I did something similar with Yakuza Kiwami recently using my Nvidia Shield and streaming through Gamestream. It’s not a perfect way to play depending on one’s wifi connection but it worked great for me most of the time.
Because of that lack of portability, Persona 5 Royal has been a point of great anxiety for me. There’s a lot of games I’m going through, not to mention my responsibilities as an Editor, my day job, and my relationships and it’s hard to fit Persona 5 Royal into that. It’s a massive undertaking but a lot of players can take their time, which this game ultimately deserves. I think playing this one throughout the week and taking breaks at the end of each Palace is the way to go. It may take several months to beat but it’s such a fun ride, especially when you can discuss the game with others.
There are many others that have totally consumed what’s on offer in Persona 5 that can better articulate the intricate facets of enjoyment better than myself. What I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed thoroughly. The drama is relatable. The symbolism is fun to explore. The combat system is like a mini-puzzle that feels incredible to master. The music is brilliant from top to bottom and the presentation is this impressive use of movement and color that ties everything into one of the best JRPGs ever made. That said, I know I’m going to have a hard time just getting to the credits. There’s just so much here.
If this was a Switch release, I would undoubtedly be caught up to where I was before in the original release. I would toss it in my bag, play on lunch breaks and while curled up on the couch of the evenings, lost in my own little world of standing up to the world’s darkness as a Phantom Thief. Oddly enough, I am more excited now about Persona 5 Scramble, a Musou approach to Persona 5 that has some sequel elements that are coming to Switch and PS4. I’m especially pumped for it since I rather enjoyed my time with Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate and I’ve been taking a few minutes here and there to fight monsters in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. One has to think that Persona 5 Royal, or at least the other Persona titles, will hit the Switch eventually but until then I’ll keep streaming it to my phone.
For anyone that hasn’t experienced Persona 5, it’s a momentous JRPG that will compel even those who don’t usually enjoy JRPGs. It is definitely worth playing but know that doing so is a big time commitment, so maybe take it chunks at a time with some friends. Persona 5 Royal is that experience but bigger.
Persona 5 Royal is launching on March 31st for PlayStation 4; more information can be found on the official website. A digital PS4 copy was provided for the purpose of content creation. Screenshots were captured both through the PS4 and by taking stills of recorded b-roll footage. Please look forward to our full review.
As a point of comparison, check out my original review of Persona 5. For more review content of RPGs, check out my take on Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition which takes a lot of elements from Persona but unfortunately doesn’t do them as well. I also covered Masquerada: Songs and Shadows, a Venitian RPG with lots of big voice actors. Aaron also recently reviewed Langrisser I & II on PS4, a great way to experience those classic tactics titles.
