Hey all I’m back with a review for an epic JPRG! It’s Persona 5 Royal!
Plot: The plot of Royal isn’t too much different than the regular Persona 5, although I’ll admit I didn’t play the regular version. If you’ve never played a Persona game like myself though, you’ll find it’s incredibly nuanced in nearly every aspect of the story, from the side characters to the main cast. The main difference from the regular Persona 5 and Royal’s plot however is the addition of two characters who you meet very early on in the game, but who really don’t come to the forefront until after the end of December, which is when the regular game’s story comes to an end.
This new addition takes place in a new semester of School that wasn’t in the regular version. If you played the regular version you might not find the addition worth it, but personally I enjoyed this story immensely and it’s additional characters and semester fit into the story very well, without seeming like an obvious addition.
Characters: The cast of P5R is amazing, frankly they capture humor and drama in a way very few stories can claim to have succeeded at. Other examples of this include the Tales of games, and Brandon Sanderson’s works, which I’ve always rated highly.
Gameplay: I don’t tend to enjoy Turn Based gameplay, but P5R does it in a way that I didn’t immediately dislike and even included a monster capture system that wasn’t too infuriating like other games I’ve played, Ni No Kuni being the forerunner of such a badly done game.
The only things I don’t like about the gameplay is the fact that it’s so easy to really mess up a playthrough due to scheduling how to spend your very limited time if you don’t follow a step by step guide. Considering that the first game I played like P5R was Fate/Extra and the really dark tone of that particular story I’ll admit I might be a bit biased in this aspect. Still even if you don’t follow a guide you can still really enjoy the story, although you’ll probably not max out every Confidant or see all the events that are associated with them in a single play-through.
Art: The art is excellent, unless you hate the Anime style art for some reason, you’ll very likely enjoy P5R’s art that depicts various real life locales of Tokyo very well. Considering that I’ve been to Tokyo myself I think they did an amazing job, even as a foreigner.
Music: The musical score of P5R is excellent, and easily meets the high standard of other various JRPG series like Final Fantasy in its own way without resorting to orchestral tracks or symphonic movements.
Overall: A must play game, easily one of the top 10 JRPGs I’ve ever played.
For those who like: JRPGs, Amazing Story, Fantastic Cast of Characters, Excellent Gameplay, Awesome Artwork, Great Music.
Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.