Prior to playing this, I admit to having played through the vanilla version 3 times already, having platinumed it. Essentially this is to say the persona games are my kind of crack. It should go without saying that if you don't have a penchant for slow, 100+ hour long rpgs with daily life elements, this isn't a game i recommend. With that out of the way I can gladly say that even 4 years after first going through vanilla, this cast and narrative still manages to charm and entertain me. There's a ton to talk about since vanilla was already a pretty hefty game and Royal adds quite a bit but I'll at least start with some of the negatives.
-The bad news is that in Royal a lot of the pacing/character/gag-scene pitfalls still exist as the plot beats still remain mostly the same. Some of these are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things but others can be pretty eye rolling to plain bad (e.g. the gay couple scene, Ann being used as a sexual distraction literally right after the dungeon about outing her predator, etc.). Also while its not a complaint the final vanilla dungeon kinda hammers in a very "we live in a society" type feel that- I get it. But man is it funny reading some of the dialogue and trying not to laugh while thinking about comics you see pop up about how "everyone isn't seeing the big picture and just ignores our societal issues, man" or stuff like that. Thematically this fits in the game and I understand it but its hard not to think about.
-Daily life Gameplay-wise, there's still some QoL stuff I kinda wish the series had. Stuff like seeing the amount of affinity you have in between confidant ranks would help. Also having a better means of marking who's available what days throughout the week (like 2 days from w/e date your on). Maybe that gets in the way of the realism aspect of daily life but also you talk to cats and get along better with people if you have the Roman god of double penetration in your heart so idk a better calendar would be nice.
-RPG-wise, there's also some QoL that'd be nice. Stuff like a filter in your compendium to see what skills registered personas have would be nice. I also wish the stealth aspect was a bit better? Early on its good but by the end of the game (moreso vanilla endgame) it kinda seemed a bit whatever. Also this kinda ties into the fact that I think later dungeons are a bit on the easy side so if you grabbed the instakill mechanic, if youre overleveled you basically just sweep through a good bit of dungeons (the final FINAL dungeon somewhat excluded in my playthrough). I also kinda wished the mementos party dialogue was a bit better. Im a sucker for dialogue thats just shooting the shit but all of these instances are just a single line of text for two characters (e.g. Yusuke says something about mementos, Ryuji responds with something normal, end of dialogue) when I feel like even just having a third piece of dialogue would at least lead to maybe some punch-line or more interesting back-and-forth but thats just me (also this stuff gets interrupted whenever you open a door/find the next floor/find a chest which kills the mood). Lastly, wish stamps are a bit of a pain to collect. Moreso if you're dying to get every last one, but at least its not completely necessary unless you want to unlock a secret.
Im bringing all this up because this was pretty much everything I wrote down over the course of the ~125 hours I played of this game in the span of a month. I already loved vanilla but its astonishing to see how much stuff was added in this package. The changes made from Persona 4 to Golden were pretty neat in hindsight but here you have a very different game from the last even with the 'new' content relegated to the tailend of the game. Not only is there just new stuff but a lot of the fixes from vanilla are deeply appreciated.
Stuff like:
+guns being reloaded after battle rather than after each mission
+rebalancing of certain confidant ability unlocks (thank you Chihaya)
+technical damage overhaul
+new confidants and confidant progression changes
+new personas (although a greedy part of me wanted more)
+new craftables (thank you perma pick)
+gun customizables
+will seeds, the grappling hook and new dungeon designs making minute but interesting changes from vanilla
+altered boss fights (somewhat mixed on this but some bosses are more interesting to fight this time around)
+WAY less morgana dragging you down to go to bed
+the new Kichijoji area with all of its new and pretty neat features (big fan of the sooty clothes seller)
+new music and new visual changes that are great as always
+the thieves den, allowing for a lot of throwaway but always welcome in my heart dialogue between party members about previous events/elements in the game (this feels like an improvement upon that mementos lack of 'back and forth' i mentioned earlier; it feels a bit more substantial here)
and lastly, + the third semester of the game
If I hadnt already enjoyed the previous improvements/add-ons of the game enough to give this a 10, this third semester would have cemented it. Not only do i feel like its a lot more interesting than the persona 4 golden third semester but it also feels like an improvement upon characters that I feel were shafted in vanilla. On top of this and the added time benefit, the actual plot surrounding this third semester is extremely intriguing, with probably my favorite dungeon in the game, some very excellent character moments, and a finale that feel not only much more satisfying than vanilla's but might be one of my favorite moments in the series as a whole (including megaten). I don't want to give too many spoilers however it was incredibly refreshing to see the third semester not only feel like a 'hey we gave you more leeway in completing stuff' bonus but also a personally more satisfying climax to the game than the 'satisfactory' ending vanilla had in my opinion.
I have my complaints about the game but I can't in all honestly act as though I didn't just love this game. I loved vanilla alot but I'm so glad Royal that both fixed and overhauled on the already charming game vanilla was. I love its cast half to death, perhaps one of my favorite in gaming on average. The soundtrack is incredibly good and its visually stunning. The character designs and classic megaten demons have remained some of my favorites in gaming without a doubt. I really cant sing enough praise about this game. Vanilla itself kinda stuck to me as a game Im glad I bought my PS4 to play along with high school friends and other people that caught a new found love in the series from good word of mouth. I have fond memories of that version but its faults do become a lot more glaring over time. Royal fixes a good chunk of this and the added bonuses only elevate a game I already appreciated into something that I could not put down despite having already kind of played it 3 times prior. I could talk a lot more about this game if I wanted since this is a lengthy enough game but I'll just leave it at that.
-The bad news is that in Royal a lot of the pacing/character/gag-scene pitfalls still exist as the plot beats still remain mostly the same. Some of these are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things but others can be pretty eye rolling to plain bad (e.g. the gay couple scene, Ann being used as a sexual distraction literally right after the dungeon about outing her predator, etc.). Also while its not a complaint the final vanilla dungeon kinda hammers in a very "we live in a society" type feel that- I get it. But man is it funny reading some of the dialogue and trying not to laugh while thinking about comics you see pop up about how "everyone isn't seeing the big picture and just ignores our societal issues, man" or stuff like that. Thematically this fits in the game and I understand it but its hard not to think about.
-Daily life Gameplay-wise, there's still some QoL stuff I kinda wish the series had. Stuff like seeing the amount of affinity you have in between confidant ranks would help. Also having a better means of marking who's available what days throughout the week (like 2 days from w/e date your on). Maybe that gets in the way of the realism aspect of daily life but also you talk to cats and get along better with people if you have the Roman god of double penetration in your heart so idk a better calendar would be nice.
-RPG-wise, there's also some QoL that'd be nice. Stuff like a filter in your compendium to see what skills registered personas have would be nice. I also wish the stealth aspect was a bit better? Early on its good but by the end of the game (moreso vanilla endgame) it kinda seemed a bit whatever. Also this kinda ties into the fact that I think later dungeons are a bit on the easy side so if you grabbed the instakill mechanic, if youre overleveled you basically just sweep through a good bit of dungeons (the final FINAL dungeon somewhat excluded in my playthrough). I also kinda wished the mementos party dialogue was a bit better. Im a sucker for dialogue thats just shooting the shit but all of these instances are just a single line of text for two characters (e.g. Yusuke says something about mementos, Ryuji responds with something normal, end of dialogue) when I feel like even just having a third piece of dialogue would at least lead to maybe some punch-line or more interesting back-and-forth but thats just me (also this stuff gets interrupted whenever you open a door/find the next floor/find a chest which kills the mood). Lastly, wish stamps are a bit of a pain to collect. Moreso if you're dying to get every last one, but at least its not completely necessary unless you want to unlock a secret.
Im bringing all this up because this was pretty much everything I wrote down over the course of the ~125 hours I played of this game in the span of a month. I already loved vanilla but its astonishing to see how much stuff was added in this package. The changes made from Persona 4 to Golden were pretty neat in hindsight but here you have a very different game from the last even with the 'new' content relegated to the tailend of the game. Not only is there just new stuff but a lot of the fixes from vanilla are deeply appreciated.
Stuff like:
+guns being reloaded after battle rather than after each mission
+rebalancing of certain confidant ability unlocks (thank you Chihaya)
+technical damage overhaul
+new confidants and confidant progression changes
+new personas (although a greedy part of me wanted more)
+new craftables (thank you perma pick)
+gun customizables
+will seeds, the grappling hook and new dungeon designs making minute but interesting changes from vanilla
+altered boss fights (somewhat mixed on this but some bosses are more interesting to fight this time around)
+WAY less morgana dragging you down to go to bed
+the new Kichijoji area with all of its new and pretty neat features (big fan of the sooty clothes seller)
+new music and new visual changes that are great as always
+the thieves den, allowing for a lot of throwaway but always welcome in my heart dialogue between party members about previous events/elements in the game (this feels like an improvement upon that mementos lack of 'back and forth' i mentioned earlier; it feels a bit more substantial here)
and lastly, + the third semester of the game
If I hadnt already enjoyed the previous improvements/add-ons of the game enough to give this a 10, this third semester would have cemented it. Not only do i feel like its a lot more interesting than the persona 4 golden third semester but it also feels like an improvement upon characters that I feel were shafted in vanilla. On top of this and the added time benefit, the actual plot surrounding this third semester is extremely intriguing, with probably my favorite dungeon in the game, some very excellent character moments, and a finale that feel not only much more satisfying than vanilla's but might be one of my favorite moments in the series as a whole (including megaten). I don't want to give too many spoilers however it was incredibly refreshing to see the third semester not only feel like a 'hey we gave you more leeway in completing stuff' bonus but also a personally more satisfying climax to the game than the 'satisfactory' ending vanilla had in my opinion.
I have my complaints about the game but I can't in all honestly act as though I didn't just love this game. I loved vanilla alot but I'm so glad Royal that both fixed and overhauled on the already charming game vanilla was. I love its cast half to death, perhaps one of my favorite in gaming on average. The soundtrack is incredibly good and its visually stunning. The character designs and classic megaten demons have remained some of my favorites in gaming without a doubt. I really cant sing enough praise about this game. Vanilla itself kinda stuck to me as a game Im glad I bought my PS4 to play along with high school friends and other people that caught a new found love in the series from good word of mouth. I have fond memories of that version but its faults do become a lot more glaring over time. Royal fixes a good chunk of this and the added bonuses only elevate a game I already appreciated into something that I could not put down despite having already kind of played it 3 times prior. I could talk a lot more about this game if I wanted since this is a lengthy enough game but I'll just leave it at that.