Title: Persona 5 Royal
Developer: Atlus
Genre: JRPG
Released: 2019
Rating: 8/10
In Persona 5 Royal, after being found guilty of an unjust accusation, you now live a double life. By day… you’re a normal high schooler under probation. But by night… you’re a vigilante working to fix the corrupt world you live in. Gather allies, train your body and mind, and arouse zero suspicion to become the ultimate unsung hero… the Phantom Thief.
Pros:
Great storyline
In Persona 5 Royal, you and your confidants work to change the hearts of corrupt individuals and organizations that lead immoral lives. This requires you to form relationships with other like-minded individuals who have been unfairly treated. Fellow schoolmates… doctors… arms dealers… anyone and everyone who would like to see the world become a better place. And it is a truly uplifting and inspiring story that highlights determination, bravery, and resilience.
Interesting characters
As the story progresses, the number of allies that you can gather increases and each one brings a unique personality and background. But of course, they also are critical for the development of your character. With each confidant that you gain, you also get added benefits like improved attacks, medicine, weapons, and more. My personal favorites are Tae Takemi, Iwai Munehisa, Jose, and the Twin Wardens because they are well-written characters with entertaining interactions and they provide some of the best perks for your character.
Good “dungeon” variety
Dungeon crawling is a huge piece of the story. It’s the only way to change someone’s heart and make them a better person. With each person you target, you enter their personal dungeon known as a “palace”. And the game developers did a great job of developing unique and challenging dungeons that all have different obstacles to overcome.
Cons:
Railroading… So. Much. Railroading.
The game routinely limits what you’re able to do. Sometimes it forces you to stay at home for an evening. Sometimes it automatically skips to the next day without giving you any evening time at all. I wish that the game didn’t force your hand so often. Let me go out every evening… give me my lunches to talk to my confidants, give me early mornings to do things at home… which leads to my next issue.
Time management
In your first playthrough, it is very difficult to know how to optimize your time. Forming partnerships with all of the relevant characters… improving your confidant relationships… working on your own skills… suddenly it feels like you have to perfectly optimize your time instead of just casually playing the game.
In my first playthrough, I was very casual about my time and after 70 hours, I realized I’d missed so many things. I didn’t form a partnership with the Twin Wardens… I didn’t progress some confidant relationships as well as I should have… I didn’t gather the needed personas to create new ones… I didn’t realize I could decorate my room… I discovered my TV, games, and DVDs many hours into the game… And that’s just some of what I missed. But at 70 hours into the game, I definitely didn’t want to restart. It was an extremely frustrating experience to know that my casual playthrough had hindered my endgame performance. Looking back, I wish I had researched walkthroughs or tips/tricks before starting the game. So my advice for any first-time players… do some research on how to make the most of each month. Or if this level of time management isn’t your preference, I wouldn’t recommend this game.
Overall…
All things considered, this was an enjoyable game. I loved the character development, storyline, and persona variety. But I do wish the game’s need for time management was not as necessary and that the railroading wasn’t as often. I guess I’ll have to do the New Game+ at some point when I feel up for redoing the game.
Caroline’s Library 