I am a big fan of the Persona series and have played them all and Persona 5 became a big favorite with me so of course I picked up Persona 5 Royal immediately. Is Persona 5 Royal the same game? Yes and no. The story is the same, but there are some extra things added with some new bells and whistles that frankly make the game even better. Let's dive in and go over those things. Some spoilers will be in here so if you haven't finished the game yet, do that first. If spoilers don't bother you read on.
One thing that is different is there is a brand new opening and theme song which looks incredible. It's vibrant, colorful, and fun. The story starts in the usual way with the Phantom Thieves pulling off a heist with one small difference. It introduces one of the two new confidant characters, Kasumi who is also a romance option for Joker. When you meet Kasumi she is in her metaverse costume showing her to be a Persona user, but you don't learn about that until later in the story. Kasumi is the Faith arcana confidant. You also meet another confidant, Maruki who is the Councilor confidant.
 |
| Kasumi is a new character in Royal. |
Having played through the original Persona 5 a few times, I was excited to see what was different in Royal. The introduction of Kasumi and Maruki happen very naturally and fit into the story quite well. I liked Kasumi and Maruki a lot. They were interesting characters and the introduction of them into the story happened organically and fit perfectly with Joker and his friends. The anime scenes for Royal are crisper with more color palettes. I noticed that right away with the initial first anime scene with Joker and Ryuji.
 |
| Joker and Ryuji in the first chapter. |
The metaverse palaces have been revamped. They are essentially the same, but with some cool new tweaks. One of those things are Will Seeds. There are three Will Seeds in each palace and they are hidden so you really have to look for them using Joker's third eye ability. Morgana will also give hints about the location of a Will Seed telling Joker that he senses it nearby. Each seed is a different color of red, green, and blue. The doors to the room holding a seed are a distinct design. The third door is guarded by a mini boss that the Phantom Thieves have to fight. This boss is challenging, but can be taken down easily with technical and elemental attacks.
 |
| Phantom Thieves ready to take the third Will Seed. |
When you find all three seeds they fuse together forming a crystal skull. This introduces you to an addition to an upgrade to Mementos. When you go into Mementos you meet a young boy named Jose who is exploring Mementos also. This leads to a collection quest of sorts. Jose tells everyone he is studying humanity and exploring Mementos. You can now collect flowers in Mementos and star stamps. Jose will be on different floors in Mementos and you can trade him flowers for various items such as healing items. The number of star stamps you have allow you to change the cognition of Mementos. Talk to Jose to do this and you can have the shadows grant more experience points or find more items. With the crystal skulls, you can give them to Jose and he will craft them into an accessory that Joker and his party can equip. For example, there is an accessory that can nullify all physical attacks. It's worth your time finding those Will Seeds and finding the collectibles in Mementos.
 |
| Will Seeds fuse into crystal skulls. |
The boss battles in metaverse palaces have been upgraded too with some new additional mechanics making the boss fights a little more challenging, but still a lot of fun. There is also the introduction of disaster shadows. Disaster shadows look very pretty, but they can be quite deadly so you can focus on them first and when you defeat a disaster shadow they explode and can take out the other shadows next to them. If you're lucky, sometimes the disaster shadows drop extra money and rare items.
 |
| Disaster shadows are worth the reward. |
The portraits for the different characters during conversation scenes are redone. I noticed right away that Ryuji's portrait was different. I like the new portraits. They're sleeker and make the characters stand out more and add to the great art design Persona 5 has already. There is also another cool feature known as the Thieves Den. Here, you can go and decorate with collectibles from the Persona 5 universe. You can also play a card game with your fellow Phantom Thieves known as Tycoon which feels like a more complicated version of Hearts. This is a good way to earn tokens which you can use in the Thieves Den to buy collectibles to decorate with. There is also an art gallery and a wall where you can watch the movie scenes from the game. It's a really cool thing and I enjoyed gathering all the collectibles and playing cards with the Phantom Thieves.
 |
| New portrait for Ryuji. |
It was great to see the extra scenes with the Phantom Thieves and with the new characters. Kasumi was very nice and I was curious about her. Getting to know her I found I liked her personality because she appeared to be confident, but there were moments where she was vulnerable. Her conversations with Joker are interesting and if you decide to romance Kasumi it is very sweet and endearing. When it comes to Maruki, there are some pretty complex conversations about relationships and struggle. Maruki is nice and it's intriguing to see how he treats all the kids like equals and doesn't talk down to them.
 |
| Maruki has a conversation with Joker. |
There are new things to do with your social links in Royal. You can go to the batting cages in Yongen Jaya and you can now go to Kichijoji where you can play billiards and darts with your friends. This is also where you can find Kasumi and Akechi to hang out with them and increase your confidant rank with them. Yes, you can now hang out with Akechi in a social setting not just as part of the story. I liked that Royal gives you this option and it is a welcome addition to the game because you get to really know Akechi and gain a little more insight into who he is and why he became the person that he is. There isn't just an ending to Royal, there is now a true ending and a third semester. There is an important detail that the game doesn't necessarily tell you in order to get these. It involves Kasumi, Maruki, and Akechi. In order to get the true ending you need to max out your social rank with all three before November 18th because that is when Maruki leaves as part of the story. Kasumi only goes to rank 5 at first so that is done easily. With Maruki, you want him to be at rank 9 and Akechi at rank 8 because both of them rank up to max level as part of the story. If you want the true ending and third semester unlocked, get that done. Hang out with them when they invite you and watch the story unfold.
 |
| Joker at the batting cages. |
The bells and whistles that come with Royal are worth it. You can upload your original Persona 5 data which gives you extra money and items. You can also get the DLC Legacy bundle for free in the Playstation Store. This gives you all the school uniforms from all the Persona games, maid outfits, butler outfits, Christmas outfits, as well as outfits from the game Catherine and Shin Megami Tensei IV. The Christmas outfits look different for each character unique to their own style. You also get a social rank with your fellow Phantom Thieves beyond max rank 10 which makes their Personal more powerful. The Velvet Room is different too with the introduction of fusion alarms. When a fusion alarm happens this gives you a great chance to fuse powerful personas in the various arcanas.
Yes, the story in Royal is essentially the same, but with all the extras that have been added it has made the game itself amazing. You can of course change the difficulty in the game tailored to your personal play style and when you finish the game, you can start new game plus which carries over all your social stats, money, items, and persona compendium. Persona 5 Royal is a royally good time and if you are a fan of the Persona series, it is absolutely worth picking up and playing. Now, I'm ready to start my new game plus adventure!
 |
| Enjoying some signature outfits. |
*Persona 5 Royal is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4
No comments:
Post a Comment