This is a game that i never thought i would ever get around playing but this is also a game that i was always intrigued by. around 2020 i had a close friend that really was into this game but i had no means of playing it, fast forward a couple years i have met more friends who have played this game. it seems like everyone that i had a connection to has experienced this game and had drastically different opinions on it. and now it was my turn to see what this game had to offer.

Persona 5 is a very difficult game to rate. I don't think it was a bad game by any means, far from it, nor do i think it is the masterpiece that some say it is. persona 5 lays in this very comfortable middle ground for me but that middle ground is a challenging place to pinpoint because i keep flip flopping between my rating and it will probably keep doing that for as long as i keep thinking critically about the things i consume.

this game definitely starts off phenomenal, starting you off in the middle of a heist with all of your party members cheering you on. everything that conspires from the very first few moments when you open the game is nothing short of a spectacle. the way the game transitions between the interrogation and things like the difficulty and your name is very seamless as well. I like how they foreshadow shido being the person who you have to ultimately take down. from there the story kicks off.

i want to skip ahead a little to the palaces and my thoughts about them as a whole. honestly i think they're rather boring at some points and even a bit tedious. are they better than the procedurally generated dungeons from the previous games? i guess you could say so but i personally prefer them since a lot of the puzzles such as the mouse one in shido's palace and the one where you piece together the letters in kaneshiro's didn't feel all that interesting. i can see why people much rather prefer the palaces compared to the other dungeons though since there is actual human thought put into them. i just think a couple tweaks to the palaces and i'm easily a fan of them. although i'll get to my favorite one and the one i think does the formula the best a little bit later.

sticking around the same topic i want to talk about mementos. mementos is another part of the game that is quite divisive, or at least from what i remember. i think it's alright personally. i know it might not make sense after listening to me say this after i said i wasn't a huge fan of the palaces but to me mementos doesn't really work as a supplement to the palaces. mementos is strange cause i wouldn't want it to be the sole focus of the dungeons in this game either, i think that the palaces are the natural evolution of the dungeons from the previous games. it's just to me mementos doesn't really serve much of a purpose in this game. the quests don't feel important which is an issue because you need to reach the depths of it in order to complete the game. although i'd rather it be here than not because then there would be way too much downtime between palaces which i think is already an issue within this game that i don't remember being present in the other ones.

i think now is a good time to transition to talking about the gameplay, specifically the elements surrounding the combat because this game knocks it out of the park. 1 more obviously returns which i'm already a fan of but royal introduces baton pass which is really satisfying accompanied by flashy all-out and showtime attacks showcasing the synergy of the phantom thieves not to mention the new buffs from your confidants introduced in this game all culminates into an engaging and addictive cycle that always kept me wanting more. i feel like this is easily one of the highlights of this game for me.

furthermore, i did find myself taking a liking to the confidants in this game. nice little side stories that add onto the characters, nothing new here, but i did find it cute that they do find out that you're a phantom thief. and as mentioned previously they do provide very useful benefits new to this game that give you a lot of quality of life features that enhance the experience of the game. another thing that i heavily enjoy from these confidants is not a gameplay thing, but a music thing, and of course that is the song that plays after you get one of your party members to rank 10 and that is the song, swear to my bones.

this leads me to talking about the soundtrack of this game. another surprise to no one, it is good. there are a lot of standouts in this ost such as gentle madman and life will change. i don't think there's much to say here but this is another very well crafted aspect about this game. while i don't think the soundtrack is as good a persona 4's, that is by no means a hit on this one.

now is a good time as ever to talk about this game's story and i think this is where the cracks start to form on this game for me. of course the start is strong but i'd say after kamoshida's palace i feel like it starts to slow down significantly until futaba's where it starts picking up again slowly until you get around the end of okumura's but by then in my case you're 70 hours in and for the story to start picking up there is a little odd to me, obviously i'm not saying that there should be no downtime but a lot of the game just feels empty in some points. and while getting back to the point where you are in the beginning of the game is satisfying, the way joker survives akechi's assassination feels really convoluted and it almost feels like it's trying just a smidge too hard trying to outsmart akechi. his confidant and boss fight are good but his redemption feels a bit undeserved. i understand that akechi was being used by an unredeemable adult so the phantom thieves would empathize with him, but to still offer him a spot on the team after everything he has done gives me such mixed feelings about this scene. i don't think akechi is unredeemable but to have it allowed to him so soon feels off.

we soon reach the conclusion of this game, entering the depths of mementos. everything surrounding this point of the game does feel good including the story and the palace, the only thing that weakens this moment for me is the boss which for me was a giant hp sponge. and after, you summon satanael, you swiftly take care of the false god standing before you with the will of your rebellious spirit which i think is another fantastic scene in this game. fitting for a conclusion.

this would be the ending normally but there are still some lose ends that are left for you unravel. if you completed certain confidants before the ending of the game, with those confidants being kasumi, akechi, and maruki, you unlock the third semester and extra content in it. these characters are integral to this part of the story which makes sense why you can't access it if you don't have them maxed.

I have to admit, i was really caught off guard by how fast they threw you into the third semester but that is not a complaint coming from me. it's impressive how well it shifts into the third semester.

you find yourself in a strange reality where the only ones who were left intact were you and akechi and i have to say, akechi is really good in third semester. it makes perfect sense why you would want to pair up with akechi in this scenario because not only do you guys have a common goal but also it would be suicide to enter attempt to tackle this unknown enemy by yourself. i believe akechi says so himself too. this is the scenario where putting aside your differences with akechi makes sense and him going completely mask off is really entertaining as well. i love akechi as your navigator. this is also when you discover the truth of this reality.

maruki is pulling the strings as we see when kasumi, now known as sumire, recalls the death of her older sister, who is actually kasumi. this was done because the pain was too much to bear. similar things have happened to our party members as well. all of them are living in their perfect world where their most painful experiences never happened, a world where you wouldn't have to endure any pain.

this makes maruki a most interesting antagonist because he has no intentions of harming anyone and this moral dilemma is just as interesting as maruki. would it be selfish for the phantom thieves to be robbing people of a world where no one has to experience any mental anguish again? is there anything wrong for wanting to be in a world where you get to live out your happiest days forever? it is an interesting discussion to partake in and by this point in the story it really makes you think. i now see why so many people think this is the best part of the game by far.

of course we all know what the correct decision is in this situation is. you have to live in the reality that allowed you to forge your own path with the friends you made weather the circumstances were desirable or not. this isn't an easy decision for the characters, and i imagine this isn't easy for a lot of people to choose in the real world. it is also revealed that akechi is actually formed by maruki in this world which means he will revert back to being deceased after you defeat maruki. akechi is willing to sacrifice himself because to him, this is a fate worse than death.

the grand finale is upon us, and what a finale it is. the boss fight with maruki is pretty standard, i like his gimmicks and the boss is really well designed. even in this last battle, he still wants to reason with you and convince you to stay in this paradise he created. what really gets me though is the ending to this. swear to my bones starts playing while you have to fight maruki 1 on 1 without any powers. it's a fist fight between 2 people who have reached their limits, two people that are by this point very weak and tired, but they still want to fight for their ideal world. an incredible final battle to end of this game.

now there's nothing left but the true ending. and it is a happy one, everything is back to the way it was before. no exceptions. while everyone immediately feels the effects to their actions. they don't regret their decision. you say goodbye to your friends because you have to move back to your down and once you finish, you return to your home.

well that would be the case if the game stuck to it's guns but the ending is soured for me because it is implied that akechi is alive at the end of the game. which feels like the most egregious betrayal of the third semester's narrative. i feel like this moment really encapsulates my criticisms with this game.

this game is not a bad game at all, but i do feel like it is lacking in some areas, and at times, falls flat on it's face. but even then this game was a great time and i do not regret the time i spent on it.