This review contains spoilers
Spoilers for what happens after the casino palace, an out of context spoiler for the cutscene following the defeat of the final boss, and light Persona 3 spoilers regarding Apathy Syndrome
Persona 5 feels like a game that outgrew its original scope quite significantly. I get this feeling most when looking back to Persona 3, in that game Apathy Syndrome was the antagonist for most of the run time, and Persona 5 has a fictional syndrome that bears resemblance, the Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns (the differences of these really aren't at all clear so I'll just be treating them as the same thing).
Persona 3's Apathy Syndrome has one primary distinction though, it's actually visible in the game world, anywhere you go you will see any number of The Lost corresponding to your progress in the game. Yet, in Persona 5 victims of Mental Shutdowns have absolutely no impact on the game world at all. If you read the TV in Leblanc everyday like I did it will paint a bleak picture of the world, that this is a significant issue, but I step outside and it's as peaceful as ever? Seeing The Lost everywhere gave me a sense of dread and impending doom that Persona 5 just left on the table.
The game also treats the player like they're fucking stupid. It constantly shows you flashbacks to dialogue from a scene or two ago to make sure you really understand that when Ann called Makoto useless its just like how her sister also called her useless like 5 minutes ago. I can't even make this shit up. There are some moments where the flashbacks are used properly but 9/10 times it's bullshit.
My final major issue is that the plot twist following the casino palace fucking sucks. It just demands so much suspension of disbelief that I wasn't willing to afford it after like 85 hours of "society destroying Mental Shutdowns" and bullshit flashbacks. I refuse to believe Futaba couldn't install a bug on Akechi's phone that records both sides of conversation but she could hack into security cameras from the Metaverse to make sure they wouldn't get caught in the interrogation cells. I refuse to believe Akechi is stupid enough to call Shido by name when referring to murder. I have no clue why Nijima had to show Akechi Joker's phone in order to take them into the Metaverse. I'd also like to know when, exactly, Akechi heard Morgana speak in Madarame's palace, one of the few times a flashback could be used properly and it isn't.
However, the game made me feel something, I don't know what that something is even after two days of thinking about it but I do know that Morgana's spiel about the world being a product of cognition made me think about replaying The World Ends with You, so there HAS to be something there. Also the gameplay is great and the characters are almost as lovable as Persona 3's cast.
The peaks of this game are like, 4.5 stars and the valleys are like, 1 star, I'm honestly hesitant to give this game a score at all but my heart tells me 2.5 stars is how I feel so that's what I'm going with.
Persona 5 feels like a game that outgrew its original scope quite significantly. I get this feeling most when looking back to Persona 3, in that game Apathy Syndrome was the antagonist for most of the run time, and Persona 5 has a fictional syndrome that bears resemblance, the Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns (the differences of these really aren't at all clear so I'll just be treating them as the same thing).
Persona 3's Apathy Syndrome has one primary distinction though, it's actually visible in the game world, anywhere you go you will see any number of The Lost corresponding to your progress in the game. Yet, in Persona 5 victims of Mental Shutdowns have absolutely no impact on the game world at all. If you read the TV in Leblanc everyday like I did it will paint a bleak picture of the world, that this is a significant issue, but I step outside and it's as peaceful as ever? Seeing The Lost everywhere gave me a sense of dread and impending doom that Persona 5 just left on the table.
The game also treats the player like they're fucking stupid. It constantly shows you flashbacks to dialogue from a scene or two ago to make sure you really understand that when Ann called Makoto useless its just like how her sister also called her useless like 5 minutes ago. I can't even make this shit up. There are some moments where the flashbacks are used properly but 9/10 times it's bullshit.
My final major issue is that the plot twist following the casino palace fucking sucks. It just demands so much suspension of disbelief that I wasn't willing to afford it after like 85 hours of "society destroying Mental Shutdowns" and bullshit flashbacks. I refuse to believe Futaba couldn't install a bug on Akechi's phone that records both sides of conversation but she could hack into security cameras from the Metaverse to make sure they wouldn't get caught in the interrogation cells. I refuse to believe Akechi is stupid enough to call Shido by name when referring to murder. I have no clue why Nijima had to show Akechi Joker's phone in order to take them into the Metaverse. I'd also like to know when, exactly, Akechi heard Morgana speak in Madarame's palace, one of the few times a flashback could be used properly and it isn't.
However, the game made me feel something, I don't know what that something is even after two days of thinking about it but I do know that Morgana's spiel about the world being a product of cognition made me think about replaying The World Ends with You, so there HAS to be something there. Also the gameplay is great and the characters are almost as lovable as Persona 3's cast.
The peaks of this game are like, 4.5 stars and the valleys are like, 1 star, I'm honestly hesitant to give this game a score at all but my heart tells me 2.5 stars is how I feel so that's what I'm going with.