This review contains spoilers
Having played the vanilla Persona 5 when it was released and now I have the opportunity to experience the Royal edition, I couldn't miss it.
However, I have to say that despite my love for Shin Megami Tensei (and consequently the Persona series), this one is more or less a downgrade from the original game.
Nonetheless, it is wise to start with the pros of the game in general. I will review Persona 5 as a whole and the additions of Royal as well.
The basic thing is how smooth the combat and the mechanics are compared to its older brother (Persona 4), when this game was released, it revived one of the best RPGs I ever played in its glory. The combat mechanics in the previous games are not the best, and even some of the newest Shin Megami Tensei series still lacks a lot of the charm this game has. Royal adds even more things to the table, with special moves and a lot of quality of life changes.
Another thing we should mention is how the art design in general is top-notch here. The game passes an amazing vibe of Japan and the theme in general. I'd go as far as to say every Phantom Thief is very unique in this regard with one exception, which I will cover later on in this review. From Joker to Akechi, both attires are unique and reflect a lot of the characters themselves - even if Joker's personality is, in a way, 'dull' given how their personality is more of what the player wants it to be.
Most of the characters are indeed pretty interesting, some with very good motives and others falling flat - and I don't think that's intended. I'd go as far as to say that's the writers' (or the director's) fault. While some of them started off with a good hook, it really dies very quickly as the game progresses, both the main plot and social links. I will go as far as to add that Director Hashino is not very good at writing female characters, and it shows in most games how awful he is at it. I won't go in full to explain which characters are affected by this, since it is something quite obvious within the Megaten community.
However, despite this, I still believe the game to be enjoyable and the characters themselves relatable. You can really feel some sort of attachment to them, and they don't go off too far from real life. Ann's problems to Futaba's are very much things that can happen within one's life, especially at the ages they are in. Still, I'd like to say that the adult characters had the best social links in the game (including Maruki himself).
Now, there is another concerning aspect of this game, which is how Joker can get into a relationship with certain adult characters - and despite being of legal age in Japan, it is something quite disturbing from my point of view. It is something that should not be common, and perhaps just one social link should allow you to date an older woman, but still, it happens in-game with three or so characters.
Now, for the new three social links they added with Royal, I'd say Maruki is the best of the three. Yoshizawa's character as a whole is wasted potential. While I find her plot all too interesting, the developers clearly wanted the player to feel invested in her, even if they have to push it down our throats. I did not like Yoshizawa at all. And you might go as far as saying that this is something common in Persona games, having Marie in P4 and Aigis in P3 as some sort of plot point, this is true. But alas, even Marie and Aigis were much more invested in the protagonist's party than Yoshizawa was. She only becomes active towards the LAST ACT of the game. Before that, you just see her alone with Joker (and Akechi sometimes).
All the screentime that was given to her could've been given to Haru, which is a main party member. And despite that, Yoshizawa still has more plot relevance and attention than any other party member.
At least they gave Akechi some justice, given that after his death in the original game, he was barely mentioned after. I think that ended things very well with him, and I liked him more as a character.
Moving on, Maruki's social link was definitely the best addition, but I find that his reasoning fell flat for a character like him. Not that I disliked having him as a final boss or his palace in general, I just think that him getting all that power after the God of Control was defeated is just... lazy.
The palaces were, in general, all pretty good. Needless to say that the OSTs are always perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. Although, I need to admit I feel the game itself fell a lot after Kamoshida's palace, mostly because the other rulers weren't as present as Kamoshida was. it's just me, though. I think Kamoshida hit very close to the heart, and that's why I consider it to be the best dungeon from P5. Not that the others were bad by any means, it's just that they did not have a high impact as his did for me. Perhaps it's due to the shock value as well, which can feel kinda cheap, but I have mixed feelings about it.
Besides the palaces sort of falling off, I do feel the story of the rise and downfall of the Phantom Thieves was good! Even if they got involved with bigger and bigger targets one after another, I think the plot ended on good terms with everything.
With all that said, let's not pretend that the combat combined with the graphics and the art style of Persona 5 isn't what made this game so attractive to the public, and in my opinion, it is what makes it stand on top of their siblings (despite, in my opinion, the other games having a better storyline and even better characters overall). As you progress more and more into the story, new mechanics are brought to the table - all to make you even more powerful.
And that just makes the game less fun. At one point in the game, you can simply pay to have higher level personas, and money quickly becomes easy to get due to Mementos having its own way of boosting how much money you get. Along with Network Fusions which can be easily abused to get Victory Cry very early into the game and other powerful spells, and I'm not even talking about the new DLCs personas that were added. From the very first dungeon, you can get Izanagi-no-Okami for the price of 0 yens.
Still, you can say "well, just don't buy it," and it's true. It is what I did. But, I can find no reason for the developers to make these mechanics so easily accessible at such early points of the game. But alas, Persona was never considered a hard game by any means, even on Merciless, the game was more punishing in the way that "hit them before you get hit" way instead of actual teambuilding and whatnot.
Talking about that, I appreciate the boss fights being reworked, but I got quite sad to know that the last boss of the vanilla game wasn't reworked at all!
Ah, there is another thing I should mention about characters, which is how often they say "adults bad, phantom thieves good". I don't think the game is really about that, but when the characters themselves say that in-game, it is disappointing. It makes it all too easy to label this as the worst story of Persona games. For real. It's quite sad to know that someone saw this and thought it would be a good idea to let it slide in the game, even if the game is all about rebellion. It is not THIS kind of rebellion.
Overall, I think what mostly carried this game was the base game. Royal had some additions (some good, others bad), like every other Persona before it. But, I don't think the price they are selling it on Steam is very nice, given this is a game from 2016 still. Still, it is not a bad game by any means, and the port is very good considerating how some ports are. But alas, it feels like a downgrade from the original plot. Instead of adding to it, they extended it even further with... dare I say, meaningless confrontations.
I think a lot of what Royal brought to the table was very poorly explained. Still, putting all that aside, we got a lot of cool scenes from Joker and the party itself, while having to endure the game pushing Yoshizawa into our faces all the time.
Oh, and bring back fusion spells in the next game. Along with Raidou's outfit. xoxo
However, I have to say that despite my love for Shin Megami Tensei (and consequently the Persona series), this one is more or less a downgrade from the original game.
Nonetheless, it is wise to start with the pros of the game in general. I will review Persona 5 as a whole and the additions of Royal as well.
The basic thing is how smooth the combat and the mechanics are compared to its older brother (Persona 4), when this game was released, it revived one of the best RPGs I ever played in its glory. The combat mechanics in the previous games are not the best, and even some of the newest Shin Megami Tensei series still lacks a lot of the charm this game has. Royal adds even more things to the table, with special moves and a lot of quality of life changes.
Another thing we should mention is how the art design in general is top-notch here. The game passes an amazing vibe of Japan and the theme in general. I'd go as far as to say every Phantom Thief is very unique in this regard with one exception, which I will cover later on in this review. From Joker to Akechi, both attires are unique and reflect a lot of the characters themselves - even if Joker's personality is, in a way, 'dull' given how their personality is more of what the player wants it to be.
Most of the characters are indeed pretty interesting, some with very good motives and others falling flat - and I don't think that's intended. I'd go as far as to say that's the writers' (or the director's) fault. While some of them started off with a good hook, it really dies very quickly as the game progresses, both the main plot and social links. I will go as far as to add that Director Hashino is not very good at writing female characters, and it shows in most games how awful he is at it. I won't go in full to explain which characters are affected by this, since it is something quite obvious within the Megaten community.
However, despite this, I still believe the game to be enjoyable and the characters themselves relatable. You can really feel some sort of attachment to them, and they don't go off too far from real life. Ann's problems to Futaba's are very much things that can happen within one's life, especially at the ages they are in. Still, I'd like to say that the adult characters had the best social links in the game (including Maruki himself).
Now, there is another concerning aspect of this game, which is how Joker can get into a relationship with certain adult characters - and despite being of legal age in Japan, it is something quite disturbing from my point of view. It is something that should not be common, and perhaps just one social link should allow you to date an older woman, but still, it happens in-game with three or so characters.
Now, for the new three social links they added with Royal, I'd say Maruki is the best of the three. Yoshizawa's character as a whole is wasted potential. While I find her plot all too interesting, the developers clearly wanted the player to feel invested in her, even if they have to push it down our throats. I did not like Yoshizawa at all. And you might go as far as saying that this is something common in Persona games, having Marie in P4 and Aigis in P3 as some sort of plot point, this is true. But alas, even Marie and Aigis were much more invested in the protagonist's party than Yoshizawa was. She only becomes active towards the LAST ACT of the game. Before that, you just see her alone with Joker (and Akechi sometimes).
All the screentime that was given to her could've been given to Haru, which is a main party member. And despite that, Yoshizawa still has more plot relevance and attention than any other party member.
At least they gave Akechi some justice, given that after his death in the original game, he was barely mentioned after. I think that ended things very well with him, and I liked him more as a character.
Moving on, Maruki's social link was definitely the best addition, but I find that his reasoning fell flat for a character like him. Not that I disliked having him as a final boss or his palace in general, I just think that him getting all that power after the God of Control was defeated is just... lazy.
The palaces were, in general, all pretty good. Needless to say that the OSTs are always perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. Although, I need to admit I feel the game itself fell a lot after Kamoshida's palace, mostly because the other rulers weren't as present as Kamoshida was. it's just me, though. I think Kamoshida hit very close to the heart, and that's why I consider it to be the best dungeon from P5. Not that the others were bad by any means, it's just that they did not have a high impact as his did for me. Perhaps it's due to the shock value as well, which can feel kinda cheap, but I have mixed feelings about it.
Besides the palaces sort of falling off, I do feel the story of the rise and downfall of the Phantom Thieves was good! Even if they got involved with bigger and bigger targets one after another, I think the plot ended on good terms with everything.
With all that said, let's not pretend that the combat combined with the graphics and the art style of Persona 5 isn't what made this game so attractive to the public, and in my opinion, it is what makes it stand on top of their siblings (despite, in my opinion, the other games having a better storyline and even better characters overall). As you progress more and more into the story, new mechanics are brought to the table - all to make you even more powerful.
And that just makes the game less fun. At one point in the game, you can simply pay to have higher level personas, and money quickly becomes easy to get due to Mementos having its own way of boosting how much money you get. Along with Network Fusions which can be easily abused to get Victory Cry very early into the game and other powerful spells, and I'm not even talking about the new DLCs personas that were added. From the very first dungeon, you can get Izanagi-no-Okami for the price of 0 yens.
Still, you can say "well, just don't buy it," and it's true. It is what I did. But, I can find no reason for the developers to make these mechanics so easily accessible at such early points of the game. But alas, Persona was never considered a hard game by any means, even on Merciless, the game was more punishing in the way that "hit them before you get hit" way instead of actual teambuilding and whatnot.
Talking about that, I appreciate the boss fights being reworked, but I got quite sad to know that the last boss of the vanilla game wasn't reworked at all!
Ah, there is another thing I should mention about characters, which is how often they say "adults bad, phantom thieves good". I don't think the game is really about that, but when the characters themselves say that in-game, it is disappointing. It makes it all too easy to label this as the worst story of Persona games. For real. It's quite sad to know that someone saw this and thought it would be a good idea to let it slide in the game, even if the game is all about rebellion. It is not THIS kind of rebellion.
Overall, I think what mostly carried this game was the base game. Royal had some additions (some good, others bad), like every other Persona before it. But, I don't think the price they are selling it on Steam is very nice, given this is a game from 2016 still. Still, it is not a bad game by any means, and the port is very good considerating how some ports are. But alas, it feels like a downgrade from the original plot. Instead of adding to it, they extended it even further with... dare I say, meaningless confrontations.
I think a lot of what Royal brought to the table was very poorly explained. Still, putting all that aside, we got a lot of cool scenes from Joker and the party itself, while having to endure the game pushing Yoshizawa into our faces all the time.
Oh, and bring back fusion spells in the next game. Along with Raidou's outfit. xoxo