Persona 5 Royal Review
The original version of Persona 5 released in 2017 was already considered the gold standard in JRPG, with over a 100+ hours worth gameplay. Persona 5 has the strongest story to date, it stands out as an extraordinary, memorable experience and easily one of the deepest JRPGs of the last decade. Its sprawling dungeon design and stylish, fully realized world are an absolute joy to explore, and even after three playthroughs.
Now, fast forward to 2020, Persona 5 was given the “Remaster” treatment titled Royal just like the previous 2 games before it, FES and Golden respectively.
Like previous remasters of the Persona games, new story content doesn’t appear until late in the game with a new school semester and palace. The major positive for me comes in the form in quality of life such as new party attacks, altered dungeons and bosses and extra Personas, to the number of places.
Aside from the Palaces’ (main dungeons to progress the story), Mementos where you normally grid for xp, cash, etc… has been greatly improved. Such additions includes the introduction of Jose, a merchant who trades you goods for flowers you collect in Mementos. Additionally, Jose has the ability to alter Mementos in your favor. Though the major change for me is the instakill ability which you unlock via Confidants, like the name suggest, you instatly kill enemies, thus making it faster grind xp and cash.
Speaking of Confidants, or Social Links as they were previously called received an upgrade too. Royal introduces some new Confidants, characters players can build relationships with, and expands on others in crucial ways. It adds a new party member named Kasumi, a gymnast whose story entangles with the hero’s, as well as a school counselor. Players can spend more quality time with Goro Akechi too.
Now, one of the biggest complaints Persona 5 players have openly voiced was how you’re forced to got to bed by Morgana, the Protagonist’s cat. In Royal however, this has been overhauled, thus allowing the player more freedom to do as they wish in the evening. This really helps a lot, especially if you’re new to Persona games.
Final verdict time! After over a 100 hours spent into the game, Persona 5 Royal is an amazing and an amazing enhance version of the game. The excellent story and its lovable, multidimensional characters along with the challenging, tactical combat are all refined. Whether you’re a seasoned Persona player or completely new, I highly recommend getting this.
