Imagine you live somewhere where you have to lie to survive, someplace where you’ll never really be you. All the connections you’ll have are hollow, you can’t ever truly express yourself because life is unfair to you. That was my reality when I played the Maruki arc of Persona 5 Royal for the first time, it’s an arc that asks the question of “does suffering need to exist” and at the time when I was first presented that question I didn’t know how to answer it. The morally correct option that society taught me to say was yes, but I was torn, I had seen some of the lowest things in life. Death of loved ones, abuse, suicide, drug abuse, and selfishly the one I feel is the worst is loss of self. I didn’t know who I was, I couldn’t be who I wanted to be, I simply existed to simply pass the time until some golden opportunity or miracle happened. So to answer the question, no I don’t think suffering needs to exist, Takuto Maruki is absolutely right. But just because he’s right doesn’t mean I have to give up on life and wait for a miracle to happen, seeing the journey of Sumire overcoming her flaws, flaws very similar to mine made me tear up. I wasn’t alone in dealing with life’s worst, I could stand back up and reclaim my life by myself, maybe I can’t be who I want to be now, but I’ll strive to become that person every day of my life until I do goddammit. Would I take Maruki’s offer? Absolutely, no sane person wouldn’t, but I’m not in a position to where I could accept his offer. Seeing the characters push past him, and reclaiming their life by their own merit touches my heart. Yes not everyone can endure hardship, some people can’t do anything but run away from life’s worst, but I am not one of those people, I am a strong person who can reclaim their life on their own. It might be a selfish and self centered view on the world and the arc, but it’s the exact same view as Akechi in the game, I am selfish, I care about myself and those close to me more than the world. Yes, I will achieve my dreams even if the world has treated me unfairly, I will not fold to the fake personas I’ve created and live my life as my own.
This review is more what this game means to me, and not a critical look/analysis of the Maruki arc. I’ll save that for a later date, I just wanted to pour my heart out on why I love this arc. I’ve lived most of my life in fear of being myself and the repercussions it would have on my life. I was scared, confused, disconnected from reality, couldn’t even make any friends without it feeling fake. I was stuck and I felt hopeless, but this arc made me realize that I don’t need to always feel trapped, I can look at all the hardship I’ve faced in a positive light, and reclaim myself by myself.
I love this arc, it changed my perspective of life from a nihilistic one to a hopeful one, one where your hardships don’t necessarily need to pull you down, but rather help you move forward.