Reviews from

in the past


I’ve had Persona 5 in my library for way over a year now, and playing it has been a long time coming. I was honestly somewhat apprehensive to, I really disliked Persona 4, so even though I’ve heard nothing but great things about Persona 5, I was afraid something similar would occur. My main motivation to playing Persona 5 in the first place was that one of my friends started playing it, and I didn’t want to be spoiled. This entire preamble is to lead up to this; for the past 8 days I have done nothing but play Persona 5. 104 hours total, beginning to end. My perception of time has been fundamentally altered because I was so engrossed and invested into Persona 5, these past 8 days have all blurred together into some amalgamative mass. If it isn’t already obvious by all of this, I absolutely loved my time with Persona 5.

Way before getting into where this game just absolutely works, I love how much style is put into this game. UI, animation, music, everything in this game has this particular style to it that’s addictive. Even when I’m 20, 40, even 60 hours into the game, I hear certain music tracks, or see certain animations, and I get that same level of excitement that I do seeing them for the first time. And in a similar vein, the game’s UI is absolutely stellar. It took a little bit of time getting used to each button being a battle command, instead of having to scroll through a list of actions, but once I got used to it, it really felt great.

I also absolutely love Palaces. They feel like properly planned out and designed dungeons, and I love how they’re able to fully and completely fit the theme they’re going for. I’ll try to avoid comparing Persona 5 with Persona 4 as much as I can, but I want to highlight that I really didn’t like how the main dungeons of Persona 4 were all procedurally generated, it made Palaces such a breath of fresh air. I love the stealth mechanics, being able to hide from enemies and ambush them from the shadows always felt great to do. I would say most palaces are rather good, with only one not being as strong as the others, but that’s mainly because the puzzles in that palace are rather basic. It might be contrarian to what I mention prior, but I also really love Mementos as a dungeon. It is procedurally generated which would make it seem like I would dislike it, but I think it’s the balance between Palaces and Mementos that allows me to actually enjoy Mementos. It’s a dungeon you can take at a sort of piecemeal way, as you’ll be able to slowly gain access to lower parts of Mementos as you progress with the story. You can then alternate between Palaces and Mementos, allowing for a sort of balance between them, which I really appreciate.

I’m also really enamored by the combat system of Persona 5. This is the first MegaTen game I’ve played that doesn’t feature the standard Press Turn system, so it was definitely another thing I had to get used to. Even then, Persona 5’s gameplay system is absolutely masterful. Persona 5 does sort of feature a press turn system, though not in the exact same way. One More functions about the same as a Press Turn, but of course it only activates when downing an enemy. There’s also of course a specific turn order in battle, instead of player and enemy rounds. But going back to One More, it leads into one of my favorite mechanics in the entire game, Baton Pass. Baton Pass works basically as a free switch to an ally to use their action, but you can chain it up to a total of 4 times. Increasing power, recovery, and even lowering the cost of skills if you chain it high enough. It becomes an absolutely addictive system that I love both utilizing, and in a way, abusing.

And this leads me into what I think is what kept me playing all this time. What allowed to sit through and play 104 hours total of this game with only sleep being a break. That of course is none other than the game’s story. Immediately before the game even gets going, it has absolutely one of the best cold opens I’ve seen in a game, and it serves well as a tutorial section too. It sets up so much intrigue that made me want to see more and more of what is going on in the game. As well, the character writing is so good. The main party’s dynamic is really good, and it feels like they’re a proper group of friends. As well the villain of each arc can at times be cartoonishly evil, but I think that exemplifies the world and the themes that Persona 5 is trying to go for. This idea of young rebels fighting against a corrupt society that allows for these cartoonishly evil villains to avoid punishment, and forcing them to realize their actions and live with the understanding of what they’ve done. It’s something immaculate. There’s also just so much else I could talk about here, though I won’t as I don’t really want to spoil anything specific here. The last few arcs of the game are amazing, I love the Royal story content, and the end is absolutely perfect. Persona 5’s story is everything I really hoped it to be, and more.

Goro Akechi

Unlike in Persona 4, where I went only for the Social Links of the main party, I actively engaged with as many social links I possibly could in Persona 5. I’m not going to go into elaborate detail into all of them, that would be the absolute death of me. I would say for a good majority of them, they were really good, and I love how some sort of tie into Mementos and doing Mementos Requests. Its nice that the game opens up a lot of night options to allow you to try to at least get 2 social link rank ups in a day if you plan well. There were definitely some characters I didn’t feel as strong about, but there were few, if any characters I actively disliked. I tried my best to get as many social links done as I can, and I’d estimate I probably got about 90% complete. I completed 18 social links, but I was pretty high in the other ones, ranging between ranks 5-8. I also really like the bonuses that some social links give, some of them are absolutely busted too. One of Ryuji’s bonuses particularly became the perfect level-grinding method. Though it does feel weird examining the mechanical reasons to raise Social Links, it feels good to raise social links not solely because of the mechanical boons, but because I care about these characters.

I’ll say this as well, but I wish I was able to really compare the differences between base Persona 5 and the content exclusive to Royal. While the last major arc of the game (if you unlock it) is Royal exclusive, there’s noticeably differences solely based upon certain characters existing. Maruki and Kasumi are Royal exclusive characters, but they exist through nearly the entire main storyline of base Persona 5. What is it like when those characters aren’t there, what changes? This thought makes me wonder what other changes exist in Royal, and since I don’t have a way of playing the original Persona 5, I have no way of comparing. I should specify I’m not saying this as a negative, it’s more just a thing I’m curious about more than anything.

It feels weird being done with Persona 5. Yet again, I must reiterate, I have done nothing but play this game for the past 8 days. I really do feel like for me, Persona 5 is an unforgettable experience, not only because of the game itself, but because of the environmental circumstances around me that not only brought me to play the game, but while I was playing the game as well. I don’t know if I can bring myself to replay the game anytime soon, it was over 100 hours long after all, but maybe a few years from now I’ll revisit it. I’m glad to have played a Persona game I ended up absolutely loving.

YOU NEVER SEE IT COMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

The original Persona 5 was a somewhat bittersweet experience for me. On one hand, the game had its qualities like the stylish UI, the solid gameplay system, and now you were facing the classic demons of Megami Tensei instead of shadows in battle.Also, its new dungeons had great level design. But on the other hand, the game lacked some of the soulful content that the previous entries had. It was also overly long, especially the first few months felt quite dragged out. The party wasn't as likable as in the previous games, the protagonist's rival was somewhat bland, and the villain fell short compared to the predecessors. There was also a lack of overall cohesion, or at least a theme that tied everything together as well as "memento mori" did in Persona 3 and "bonds of friendship" did in Persona 4.

But Atlus, in another excellent job of improving what was already good, managed to fix almost everything in Royal.

I'm completely amazed by everything new in Royal. Persona 5 went from a game that, despite liking it quite a bit, didn't even come close to Eternal Punishment, Persona 3, and Persona 4 for me. Now, it is for sure something very close, in some cases maybe even surpassing Eternal Punishment and Persona 3 FES in my eyes.

Of course, the game is still excessive and unnecessarily long at over 100 hours. While Reload and Golden shortened the time of their original games, Royal ADDS more hours to what was already the longest Persona to date. The dungeons for example are all excellent but all take too long. And there's another set of a gigantic procedural dungeon to do before the game ends...

That said, a lot of things also improve. The first few months are less of a slog and the two new characters are very special, the new social link and deepening of an old character turned out really well, the game remains quite fun in its dungeons (although all the quality of life additions have made the game even easier), the music and new opening are very good, the new palace is very good...

But when I stop to think, almost all the profound improvements of Royal pass through one character: Maruki Takuto.

Ah, Maruki... How to explain what this character was during part of those 107 hours of gameplay. How this character fascinated me, moved me, made me wander through my thoughts. The last time I remember such a great impact from a fictional character in my life were probably with Gon Freecs, in my formative years, and with Fei Fong Wong, over ten years ago. I probably never wanted to give a fictional character a hug and tell them everything would be okay as much as I did with him.

He retroactively improves the entire cast of characters, gives Kasumi one of the most interesting and intense plot twists I've ever seen in a work, and gives a new meaning to the themes addressed in Persona 5. The original 5 failed quite a bit in dealing with serious themes since it wanted to address them as 3 did at the same time it wanted to have the light and laid-back atmosphere of Persona 4. And these things didn't match. Maruki and the Royal move away from this and from these themes and deal with something new, and the outcome as a whole is something more sentimental, more human, a soulful content that makes this game something special for me just like the other Personas.

That January, which begins shortly after the end of the original game, is and will always be for me one of the most brilliant arcs of a video game. The only time in my life I played such a good extra content/DLC was with Artorias of the Abyss. And much of this because this incredible character finally shows what he came for.

Paraphrasing him: His existence and Persona 5 Royal's are an amazing miracle.

"I'll keep on rooting for all of you to have the best lives possible"

Persona 5 Royal is a very fun game.
Pros: This is the first Persona game where I found the combat fun and interesting the entire way through, even through a 120 hour game. That's due in part to just how streamlined and responsive the menus are. This game is just fun to play. This is despite the fact that the game is also one of the easiest in the entire series. It's just really fun to play. The introduction of Baton Passes makes combat feel more fluid and snappy, and each persona having its own unique passive trait adds a lot of fun customization. Every Confidant having its own unique unlockable abilities is also incredibly cool, and gives you even more gameplay incentive to try and max them all. The story is hit and miss. I'd say this game's story is both a pro and a con. Some parts are incredibly irritating or boring, meanwhile other parts are literally some of the best parts of any Persona game ever.
Con: This game is TOO LONG. I've never played a game where I loved it the whole way through and yet still felt exhausted by the end. The ending is literally the best part of the game and I was having a total blast and I was still like "Man is this thing gonna be over soon?" Persona 5 Royal is proof that there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Also yeah, some parts of the story are not good. The game also has an incredibly long drawn out tutorial section that lasts like 10 hours before you can get into the fun part of the game. It's really poor pacing for the beginning of a game, and I know it's turned a lot of people away. The story in general is very wordy. They spend way too long explaining and reviewing and flashbacking to things you already knew. It's like they wanted to make sure you could stop playing the game at any point and pick it up 7 months later and still be able to follow what was going on. The characters are constantly recapping things that just happened. The cast is likeable enough but some of them dont feel very well developed in the main story, and their social links feel kind of disconnected as a result.
Overall: An incredibly long, very fun game from start to finish, but with a story that varies in quality from insanely good to insanely bad.


Regardless of any discourse tied to it this is definitely a very solid game that helped the Persona series be in the spotlight it has today,also Maruki fucking rules.

Its impressive how hard the game lost me on the DLC dungeon.

Alt: "being called senpai by an underage girl" simulator
(It is exactly as uncomfortable as it sounds)

This review contains spoilers

had a lot of things i liked, gameplay was very good, i liked how the social links gave you little buffs, however most of the social links like Just Okay and the game lacks any characters that i truly loved which sucks because thats my favorite part of persona games! story was alright tho. persona designs were so variable some goats some trash. loki and arsene are two of the coolest persona designs in the series though. it feels like ryuji and ann start really strong and then every character after them is just better ? and the game tries really hard to make you hate ryuji for some reason ? also every scene involving yoshizawa before january feels really forced and weird. rest of the new royal stuff feels pretty natural from me having Not Played bast 5. overall game was still really good though despite all my complaints. I liked makoto, yusuke, futaba, sojiro, and hifumi the most :)

Drags a little bit at the end with the Royal content but ultimately one of the best things I've ever played. A rare 100+ hour game that kept me engaged the entire time.

GOD, lo he jugado tantas veces que hasta poner 600 horas jugadas es poco

This review contains spoilers

At last I have finally completely Persona 5 Royal...again...for real. I loved the game first time I played it but missing out on so many confidants and not getting the Third Semester really annoyed me so despite this being a 100 hour long game I had to replay it.

I loved spending time with all the confidants. Sadly, my time management is still bad so I didn't finish Haru and Sumire's but there's a lot of really nice ones, with Yoshida being a hidden gem and prolly the best non-Phantom Thief one.

The third semester was super interesting. It was nice to finally get some answers about Kasumi/Sumire, admittedly she felt really shoehorned into the original story but I think the big revelation justifies the build up and honestly really fleshes her out. First time round I was indifferent but now I was actually invested in her and her story.

Maruki as an antagonist was super interesting too. It was a nice change from other palace users (with the exception of Futaba) where he had noble goals but were corrupted. He's actually a good case of a sympathetic antagonist - he's likable enough for you to feel for him but his actions are bad enough to justify having to stop him.

I definitely liked this new ending more than the original. The original was nice but this really hit home the bittersweetness by having them all go their separate ways. Even though this is my second playthrough, and admittedly starting to get weary of it a little bit, I still felt that heaviness you get when you come to end of a long but great game. If anything, this second playthrough has solidified this game as a top favourite and I'm excited to see what the games before it have instore!

This game changed my life in a few ways, the history was amazing, incredible characters and the best JRPG gameplay of all the time, this is for me perfection in

I got into this game and series because of RTGame's letsplay and all I can say to him is thank you. Looking back on P5R is weird to me, I like the characters, music, palaces, and really just everything, but I still can't call it my favorite after playing P3 and P4.

Out and out a masterpiece. Well and truly. I've always said a five-star rating doesn't mean a game is perfect; nothing is. It means it's perfect at what it's trying to accomplish. And that's this game to a tee. It's just 100 hours of phenomenal storytelling, elite characters, thoughtful worlds, UNREAL music, sublime turn-based combat and, most importantly, heart. All around, it's the kind of experience that's unbelievably special; just the culmination of years of Atlus making some of the best RPGs ever and finishing things off with a bang.

And as I mentioned, I really don't think it's flawless by any means. The pacing is janky as hell at points, locking you into these infinitely long, linear story segments between each main mission where all the free time aspects are locked off and you just endure all the characters waffling on about the same plot details for like two hours. The Royal content, which I hadn't played up to now, has some of Atlus' best writing yet, finally fleshes out Goro and has a top-notch villain, but it comes so late that it kinda feels like its wrestling with the original conclusion considering it introduces the THIRD mysterious final big bad in a row that forces the team to come together for a "one last job" final stand. And dear god, Morgana is still like my fucking prison warden, chatting mad shit at me from my bag about everything I haven't done yet.

But that stuff is kind of just part of Persona 5's charm in a way. It's made by a team that had a set goal; they wanted to make a gargantuan adventure which bonded you to this world and these characters in a way most RPGs simply can't. And they ate that shit up. Better than that, they ate that shit up TWICE. Royal is the best way to experience this world and hang out with these characters, and it leaves things in a much more final state than the original.

But to save you all from the 8,000 words I could write about how goddamn saucy this whole package is, all you need to know is that it's one of the best games ever made by one of the best developers of all time. It's that rare, once-in-a-generation experience that reminds you why you fell in love with video games in the first place, and I'd put up with Morgana yapping about all the Mementos Requests I haven't done for the rest of my life if it meant I could spend another 100 hours shooting the shit with its cast of goofy-ass dudes. Really, just a giga-chad of an RPG and the peak of what they can be when made right.

This game is truly special.
Persona 5 is one of those experiences that make you really connect with the characters and at the same time with the world.
When i ended the story i truly felt empty, i won´t be seeing these characters again.

They all have it´s special thing and the whole game goes around them, the story, the dungeons, the progression for yourself.

The story it´s really original and interesting, it keeps the attention for 70-80 hours that it´s the duration for the whole game.

OST is from another world, a lot of songs are ICONIC.

Battle system is something quite unique in the genre.


This review contains spoilers

Guess who the new villian is between the girl who we've seen in multiple trailers being on our team, or the other guy who says some pretty strange things about wanting to help others!

In all seriousness though, this game is fire.

persona 5 royal.. man where do i begin with this game? seriously there's nothing that can be said that wasn't already said by others. in my opinion, this is the best rpg i have ever played. not just in gameplay, but just in EVERYTHING that makes this game amazing!

first let's start with the story, the story is an absolute masterpiece! the phantom theifs are such amazing characters, and the ongoing plot is so engaging! the royal segment is peak writing and i can just ramble on and on about how good the story is!

the gameplay is really fun and engaging! it's easy to get into and really complex, with how many personas you can fuse, weaknesses you can exploit, items you can equip, and so much more!

the soundtrack is GODLIKE, every single piece is just a joy to listen to that can either be background music, or just a really bombastic song to listen to in your room. it's so goddamn good!!

the social links are awesome! i don't hate any of the social links here and they're all pretty great! would definitely recommend checking most of them out!

the game itself looks really damn beautiful, the atmosphere of shibuya is captured perfectly here and the artstyle, the ui, everything just screams REBELLION! i love it!!

THIS game is what people would call a comfort game. this is my comfort game. i can always comeback and play the game again and never get tired of it.

persona 5 royal is a masterpiece and i absolutely recommend whether you're familiar with the franchise or not. pLEASE play it!!

I really liked Persona 5 but this didn't add enough throughout the story to keep me to the end, when all of the new content is. Got bored and stopped.

All style with very little substance dragged over 100+ hours. A few of the characters were fun though, I guess.


Mi juego favorito de todos los tiempos
Pese a tener errores notables con algun que otro personaje o en la historia una vez pasado el juego, considero que la experiencia que te da pasar el juego es algo que vale completamente la pena, el sistema de combate es una maravilla y todo el ultimo tramo del juego (3er Semestre) es perfecto, no me arrepiento de haberle dado el try al juego.

It's one of the greatest RPG that has been made, in my opinion. The gameplay loop, the characters, the plot and it's overall charm are all tied up together so well that it ended up almost being perfect in my eyes.
The style in both the UI and the game itself need to be commended. The UI is so snappy as well as integral to everything with both the gameplay and story. It makes looking through stats and confidants so more fun. The battle's UI is also intuitive and not complicated, and all the information is all there for you to see. The anime style of the graphics are presented well and mixes perfectly with the UI.
The music is fantastic, there's so many earworms that dig into your mind. The casino is a banger, so is all of the battle music, and the nighttime jams are all so catchy and matches the mood they were going for. Mix this with everything i said before and it makes for a firework show full of style, and it's very welcoming.
The main cast are smartly written and well liked. The inclusion of the new cast for Royal blends in very well with the OG crew. Getting to see all the confidants unfold and see all of their issues resolve in a meaningful way was also a treat! I would probably say that this is my favorite cast in any RPG!
All of the boss fights were also (mostly) excellent and each one tries to do something a little different from the other and makes for a good surprise each time as well, and the royale content is also thought provoking in what happens during that whole thing.
Overall what drive's the game home to being one of the best is it's overall charm, and that charm ties together in all aspects, making it unforgettable. It deserves all the accolades and gets my highest recommendation!

Honestly I love everything about this game besides the Morgana arc leading up to the 5th palace, felt it was a tiny bit forced, but otherwise I loved the game

Yo tenía un gato. Digo tenía porque después de jugar este juego le agarre semejante odio a esos animales que lo terminé mandando a mementos.
De ahí en fuera, el tercer trimestre es jodidamente peak y quiero que Maruki me ayude con mis problemas mentales.