Persona 5 Royal Review
The pattern of Atlus releasing an enhanced edition of their Persona games after the original release will be quite recognizable to fans of the Persona series. With the release of Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 is finally receiving that treatment, even if it did take some time. It does offer some more material, much as Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Festival, but Royal seems like the most thorough and extensive rewrite for a Persona game of this kind. Instead of doing a complete redesign, Atlus has added a ton of extra material, altered gameplay, enhanced quality of life, and made other tweaks to an already strong product that didn't seem all that inadequate at launch.
There have been a lot of changes, but Persona 5 is still mostly what you can expect from Royal, even if you played it in 2017. If you like Persona 5, Royal is an improvement. Even better, if you haven't played Persona 5, you're receiving the whole set without having to put in more than 100 hours of the original game. Those who have played Persona 5 before are aware of what to expect since it is a large-scale role-playing game that focuses on the details of a teen's life. "Joker" must juggle his membership in the Phantom Thieves, a gang that searches Japan for cunning individuals, with his studies and his relationships. There are a lot of different aspects to Persona 5, and we go into more detail about them in our first impressions review article. For the sake of this assessment, we will mostly concentrate on what has recently been released by Royal.
Before putting Persona 5 aside, I myself played quite a bit of it. I've always wanted to return to it at some point, but other than being a fan of the series, I didn't really have a good reason to do so since I wasn't reviewing it. I was aware that I would have to wait for this one when Royal was revealed. I had the same situation with Persona 4. After setting the console version aside at first, I focused a lot on the Vita version. It wasn't all that shocking what I discovered with Royal after that event. I was prepared to love the game, but I was surprised by how many adjustments were made to the main offering. Royal has a ton of brand-new stuff. You may now include a new character in the Phantom Thieves game. A new NPC has been introduced to the game, and the revamped mementos make it worthwhile to truly explore this section of the game. The game's boss palaces now need different tactics and gameplay because to new aspects like Joker's grappling hook. Speaking about Palaces, this aspect of the game now has new treasures that must be located by thoroughly searching these locations. There is now a whole new palace area to explore and a new semester to go through. Together with a ton of presentation changes in terms of music and cinematics, you'll encounter new and unusual settings that provide a ton of new conversation possibilities with various characters.
Compared to what I recall from Persona 4 to Golden, the additions from Persona 5 to Royal seem like a lot more. The introduction of Kasumi, a new character with significant implications, alters the narrative's structure considerably. I guess it's a good thing that Persona 5 feels quite different from Persona 5 Royal. If you don't play the original, you're not really missing anything, although it's okay if you did. It does take some time to fully develop the new character. You're wasting your time with Persona 5 if you don't know how extensive and deep it is. To really reach to the point where you can utilize Kasumi in your party, it will probably take you at least ten hours. She will engage with you quite early on, but be aware that it will take some time for you to be able to add her to the Phantom Thieves. Apart from that, Royal has a similar vibe to the first release. Before things start to stretch out any more, the introductions to Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, and Yusuke still play out as they did.
The game's Mementos sections have undergone significant alterations, which you will notice quite quickly. Locating mini-boss characters is the goal of this dungeon-style region. I personally thought Mementos was a touch boring on its first release. The game's refinements do make it a little bit more enjoyable to explore and find treasure in this section of the game. This is mostly accomplished by creating a new collectible currency to be used at this merchant and introducing Jose as a new NPC character. Stamps are in one, and flowers are in another. Both are utilized to exchange keepsakes or make purchases with this new NPC character. Jose sells a huge assortment of goods, and while visiting Mementos, you'll be gathering a lot of flowers. To spend them, all you need to do is locate Jose. Additionally, you may personalize mementos by finding stamps scattered throughout them. Whether your goals are to get greater item rewards, better money rewards, or more experience points from the mode. To increase the amount of Memorabilia that you want to modify, just utilize the stamps that you have bought. Mementos has two features that provide a little more value.
Collectibles are another area where Persona 5 has been enhanced with Royal. The Thieve's Den is a brand-new feature that was introduced to Royal and gives you access to a variety of fun activities that further the game's plot. You may earn money in The Thieve's Den by completing various tasks. These coins can then be used to buy game-related items like music, films, and artwork. Additionally, you may totally alter this space by adding new themes, character models, furnishings, accent pieces, and other accessories. The Thieve's Den is a clever way to give the game some great structure while also presenting the player with tasks to do.
There are many more characteristics of Royal, albeit the ones listed above are perhaps the most common. There are a ton of minor details that add even more polish to an already excellent game, including new weather animations, new portraits, and a brand-new place where you can go and socialize with your friends. Additionally, the gameplay elements are also polished. Atlus examined and fixed almost every issue that may have arisen with Persona 5. Small details like improving the effectiveness of ammunition in turn-based combat or allowing players more time to explore this intriguing environment in between everyday occurrences may have a big impact. Persona 5 seems to have undergone extensive scrutiny and minor adjustments to ensure that this is the final version of the game.