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"
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"