Persona 5 Royal adds more content to one of the longest-running Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) in the genre – but fans of the series probably won’t complain. First released in 2016, Persona 5 Royal is an updated version of the original game, which adds new characters, battle system tweaks, quality of life improvements, and an additional classroom, complete with its own mansion. What sets this new version apart is that Persona 5 Royal is no longer a PlayStation exclusive. Players can now experience this game on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Personal 5 Property Review: Specifications
platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed) PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
price: $60
release day: October 21, 2022
TypeJRPG
Despite being an improved version of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal is a great starting point for players new to the series. Throughout the game’s 100-plus hour story, players explore dungeons, face increasingly difficult enemies, and pick up new characters to build their arsenal. In between demolishing mansions, you attend high school in Tokyo and engage in activities to boost your social stats.
Even all these years after its initial release, Persona 5 Royal has something for everyone, with a variety of characters, engaging combat and a story full of plenty of mystery. This Persona 5 Royal review will help you decide if this is one The best Nintendo Switch gamesor if you’d better run it on a next-gen console instead.
Character 5 property review: gameplay
The gameplay in Persona 5 Royal is split between exploring the mansions, which serve as the game’s dungeons, and experiencing everyday life as a high school student.
In the palaces, the heroes, called Phantom Thieves, fight enemies known as Shadows. During the battle, four party members battle against increasingly difficult enemies using their characters, which are a manifestation of each character’s personality. While the rest of the team only has one character per person, the hero is able to use many people at once. He can also recruit Shadows defeated in battle to fight alongside him as Personas.
In addition to physical attacks, each character can use basic skills to quickly dispatch enemies. By paying careful attention to enemy weaknesses, players can impede enemies with the right attacks. When The Phantom Thieves eliminate each enemy, the group can team up and launch an all-out attack for a lot of damage. Likewise, once a character hits an enemy weakness, they can hand over the remainder of their role to another party member in a movement called Baton Pass. Unlike the original game, Persona 5 Royal allows you to link baton lanes to each other to get more damage.
Finding out each enemy’s weaknesses and exploiting them properly is what makes Persona 5 Royal battles fun. Instead of just attacking your enemies until their health is depleted, you need to strategize accordingly to launch an all-out attack. It also looks very rewarding when you see the custom animations that follow these attacks.
Going to school is just as important as demolishing palaces, because correct answering to questions during classes will help enhance your knowledge. There is even a midterm exam, as well as a final exam. These sections of the game break down the action, although I also liked the way they give you additional insight into each character’s personality.
Personal 5 Property Review: Social Activities
When class is over for the day, you have the afternoon and evening to engage in different activities. From reading books to playing old games, watching DVDs, going to the movies, and working a part-time job, there’s always something to do in Persona 5 Royal. Even if you only have a few minutes to play each day, you can still get a lot done in the game. Increasing your social stats sounds as rewarding as upgrading your team.
Besides activities, you can also spend time with your friends and other characters you will meet in Tokyo. By building stronger relationships with them, you will be able to create powerful new characters to help you in battle. All of Persona 5 Royal’s disparate parts fed into each other, which helped me keep going, even at times when I wanted to stop and play something else instead.
While you are doing activities or socializing with your friends, time passes, and there is a limit to how much you can do in a day. You need to spend your time wisely if you want to master each of the five game skills (Knowledge, Courage, Competence, Kindness, and Magic). Increasing these skills can become quite addictive, and you may find yourself playing only one day inside the game, in the same way that Civilization players tell themselves they will only take one extra turn.
Character 5 Property Review: Story
Persona 5 Royal tells the story of a group of high school students who gain the ability to enter a cognitive realm shaped by humanity’s collective subconscious. This world is called the Metaverse. The teens call themselves The Phantom Thieves, and they work together to destroy the mansions of the Metaverse, which manifest the distorted desires of corrupt adults.
The story starts off strong. The Phantom Thieves performs a heist inside a casino, which actually happens later in the game. This opening section introduces you to the protagonist, who is arrested by the police shortly after he has learned the basics of exploration and combat. After a brief interrogation by Prosecutor Sai Nijima, the story goes back to the beginning of the school year, when the protagonist arrives in Tokyo.
This is not the only time the game jumps, as the game uses it quite often. The mechanism works well, as the sections that take place in the future show just how powerful The Phantom Thieves can be, while adding some mystery to the plot. These time jumps even give players insight into the corrupt adult that The Phantom Thieves will target next.
While it gives the protagonist an air of mystery, his best friend and former track star Ryūji Sakamoto is more outspoken and outspoken. Meanwhile, aspiring model Anne Takamaki is thoughtful, and often serves as the voice of reason for The Phantom Thieves. Besides being their guide to the Metaverse, being a cat-like Morgana provides some much-needed comedic relief. These are the first characters you meet, but the rest of the actors have interesting traits and characters, which encourage players to get to know them better.
For the most part, Persona 5 Royal tells its story through movie scenes and dialogue, but group chats on your phone also convey important information or story points. Sometimes, the game feels like a virtual novel. If the plot resonates with you, you probably won’t mind showing it. But if you just want to press the action, you might get upset at how much story Persona 5 Royal has to tell.
Persona 5 Royal’s story isn’t without its flaws, which include some speed issues in the middle of the game. First-time players can also easily miss the third semester of classes, which is a rewarding new addition to Persona 5 Royal. The third chapter is worth a try, especially as it gives the game’s story a more compelling conclusion. However, if you don’t plan accordingly, you may not be able to play with it at all.
Persona 5 Royal Review: Visuals and Audio
Despite the limitations of Nintendo’s hybrid console, Persona 5 Royal looks great and works well on the Nintendo Switch, in both TV and mobile modes. There is some slight slowdown when groups of enemies appear on the screen, but nothing to break the game. Loading times are fast, and I didn’t notice any lag in the hours I spent playing the game.
By choosing a stylized design instead of a more realistic one, Atlus made it possible for Persona 5 Royal to still look great on the Switch even with its less powerful hardware. Persona 5 Royal’s red, black and white color scheme appears throughout the game in menus, battles, and even when you check your smartphone for incoming messages. At the same time, the menu animation flows smoothly. The game’s sound effects simulate the way the protagonist moves when sneaking around the mansion, and this helps you feel like a phantom thief.
The soundtrack is another high point in Persona 5, and it’s hard not to get the catchy songs in your head. When exploring the different Tokyo neighborhoods, you’ll often hear slower, truer songs and even some music tracks. However, when you head into the Metaverse, the tempo of the music picks up a bit to match the action taking place on the screen.
Personal 5 Property Review: Judgment
Persona 5 Royal puts a new layer of polish on what was already a successful modern take on the traditional JRPG. From new characters and dialogue, to an optional extra class full of gameplay, there’s more than enough content here to justify the price of the game, even if you’ve already played Persona 5. While fans of the series should feel right at home, Persona 5 also makes Royal the game More intuitive for newcomers, with battle system tweaks and quality of life improvements, like Morgana who doesn’t repeatedly bother you to go to bed.
If you enjoy a good mystery and have the patience to get through the slower parts midway through Persona 5 Royal, The Phantom Thieves might steal your heart too. Now that the game is available on every major console, there has never been a better time to try it out. Just be sure to clear your calendar first, as once Persona 5 Royal notifies you, the real-life days pass by at the same speed as the in-game days.
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