Kikke’s Review of Persona 5 Royal
With everything that’s going one, with the being confined to our houses and whatnot, figuring out what do to with this quarantined downtime has been lowkey difficult. Luckily for us gamer folk, there’s a ton of new games dropping this spring which will surely take some of the edges off this quarantine time. Atlus is capping off the end of March dropping the highly anticipated Persona 5 Royal! P5R isn’t a completely new title, rather the re-up edition of Persona 5. But is the new content worth the shiny new price tag for those who already played the original P5?
Story:
n a world where people are bound by the corruption of those in power, one good deed wouldn’t hurt to balance the never-ending suffering. Or at least that’s what our main protagonist thought when he attempted to rescue a woman from a scumbag. But in a world where scumbags are S tier, and do-gooders are at the bottom, our protags helping hand backfires big time. In fact, it gets him in some serious trouble. Getting a taste of that corruption clearly didn’t sit well without protag, for the next time a scumbag in a position of power comes his way, he’s no longer willing to put up with the bullsh*t.
Rather than pull up on these corrupt figures of elite and catch more chargers, our hero attacks from the shadows. Using a cellphone app to enter a metaverse, the protag and his band of liberation, justice-seeking misfits form The Phantom Thieves. Under the alias Joker, he and his group of misfits move in the shadows stealing the tainted hearts of corrupt souls (in power) and forcing them to repent for their evil ways. While the Phantom Thieves amass a cult following among the youth, they aren’t very appealing to the adult crowd. Especially those abusing their power. Where there are fans there are haters, lying in wait to expose the Phantom Thieves’ real identities, and put an end to their cause.
Gameplay:
There is a lot to unpack here. Since the protag is a high school and has to balance daily life with reforming society. A good portion of the gameplay is centered around teenage things. Yepper, you’re forced to go to class, interacted with classmates, make new friends aka Phantom Thieves members. While also engaging in after school shenanigans. All of this isn’t in vain of course because it helps level up your protags attributes.
But what would high school life be without blowing up his homies phone via text messages? Using the phone players identify their next target to attack in the metaverse. And like Persona games, the social link system is there to strengthen bonds between the protag and party members
Accompanied by all this slice of life gameplay are dungeons called Palaces. Where players engage in a strategic turn-based combat system that aims to find an enemy’s weakness. Exploit it and ultimately take them down If players don’t want to go ham and beat enemies down. They can negotiate with them and earn items or money.
If the Joker dies in battle, it’s an instant game over so make sure to keep an eye on his health. Unlike the Dungeons in previous Persona titles, the Palaces are much more appealing visually so players are encouraged to explore them more this time around.
New content-wise, there are two new characters able to join the party. This means there are two new social links, never seen cutscenes, and changes to the story. There’s even a new Thieves Den where players can new mini-games with the Phantom Thieves. However, my biggest pet peeve is the way this is executed. Without spoiling too much, this character content is accessible. But only closer to the end part of the game, however, new content involving them is seen earlier on. There are also new mini-games, and snips of new content sprinkled in. Which are dungeons and scenes throughout the game including upgraded boss fights and new locations. So overall the new content is there and isn’t entirely all at the end.
Score:
Overall if you haven’t played Persona 5, I highly suggest you pick it up which you can click here! If you have and are only interested in playing for the new characters. You may be displeased with how long it takes to get them. But the new social links and scenes are there for you. With this in mind, I will keep the grade at a midway point of 4/5. There’s a ton of content here, with a compelling story and awesome gameplay. So, if you have some extra money lying around and want to devote your quarantine down to something fun. Persona 5 Royal is that something you’ve been searching for! Stay safe gamer! Live long, nerd on!
