Difficulty: Easy
This was my first dive into the Persona series and it has been under my radar ever since Joker was introduced as a playable character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
I am usually not a J-RPG fan due to the overwhelming length of these games. What makes this worse for me is my OCD to finish a game before I start a new game and my drive to finish most games with 100% completion. This usually means that J-RPG games become a chore to finish and I can't usually enjoy them or I end up benching these games and never touching them again. However, Persona 5 Royal was such a refreshing game with elements of visual novels and daily life activities that switch up the flow of the game and kept me engaged till the very end.
The game starts off a bit odd as it starts from a section later in the story but from a narrative perspective, this was cleverly implemented as the mysterious relationship with Niijima Sae and the twist regarding the memory haze later on felt satisfying when the story unravelled towards the climax. I thought it was a bit of a spoiler on who joins the phantom thieves but I soon realised that so much is going on in the story and gameplay that you forget some details and it is not hindered by this choice of introduction. Although a nitpick, it was a bit disappointing when Arsene was introduced, only to be used as a fusion into a basic-looking persona for a mechanic guide & for Arsene to never come back (unless summoned). I also found little point in levelling up personas unless you found one you want to really keep as you can fuse or summon them into stronger ones with minimal effort.
However, the constant introduction of gameplay mechanics kept the gameplay from being simplistic and repetitive. The moment I thought I learnt everything about the game and mastered the mechanic, I found another that is most often useful to the progression of the game and making the battles more appealing.
The most visually striking aspect of the game is its UI, giving Persona 5 Royal a very original identity with a strong personality. The incredible jazzy & funky music complimented the visuals and gameplay, making the game a must play with sound on.
While the Mementos aspect of the game does remind me of a mystery dungeon game, I did not particularly enjoy this area as it starts off interesting but soon becomes dull and repetitive with no interesting rewards or quests. Most areas are basically the same and the bosses for each quest don’t feel worth the time to complete.
With that said, now I can understand why my friend was raving about this game a few years ago and I am ashamed that I dismissed his advice to play this game till now.
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Narrative: 4.5/5
Art Direction/Graphics: 5/5
Music: 5/5
Creativity: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
This was my first dive into the Persona series and it has been under my radar ever since Joker was introduced as a playable character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
I am usually not a J-RPG fan due to the overwhelming length of these games. What makes this worse for me is my OCD to finish a game before I start a new game and my drive to finish most games with 100% completion. This usually means that J-RPG games become a chore to finish and I can't usually enjoy them or I end up benching these games and never touching them again. However, Persona 5 Royal was such a refreshing game with elements of visual novels and daily life activities that switch up the flow of the game and kept me engaged till the very end.
The game starts off a bit odd as it starts from a section later in the story but from a narrative perspective, this was cleverly implemented as the mysterious relationship with Niijima Sae and the twist regarding the memory haze later on felt satisfying when the story unravelled towards the climax. I thought it was a bit of a spoiler on who joins the phantom thieves but I soon realised that so much is going on in the story and gameplay that you forget some details and it is not hindered by this choice of introduction. Although a nitpick, it was a bit disappointing when Arsene was introduced, only to be used as a fusion into a basic-looking persona for a mechanic guide & for Arsene to never come back (unless summoned). I also found little point in levelling up personas unless you found one you want to really keep as you can fuse or summon them into stronger ones with minimal effort.
However, the constant introduction of gameplay mechanics kept the gameplay from being simplistic and repetitive. The moment I thought I learnt everything about the game and mastered the mechanic, I found another that is most often useful to the progression of the game and making the battles more appealing.
The most visually striking aspect of the game is its UI, giving Persona 5 Royal a very original identity with a strong personality. The incredible jazzy & funky music complimented the visuals and gameplay, making the game a must play with sound on.
While the Mementos aspect of the game does remind me of a mystery dungeon game, I did not particularly enjoy this area as it starts off interesting but soon becomes dull and repetitive with no interesting rewards or quests. Most areas are basically the same and the bosses for each quest don’t feel worth the time to complete.
With that said, now I can understand why my friend was raving about this game a few years ago and I am ashamed that I dismissed his advice to play this game till now.
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Narrative: 4.5/5
Art Direction/Graphics: 5/5
Music: 5/5
Creativity: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5