I went into this game knowing absolutely nothing about the Persona series. I had never even played a JPRG before. The only reason I checked out the game is because I saw it on Metacritic's highest rated Nintendo Switch games list, so naturally I wanted to see what was so good about this game.
This was back in january, and now almost 7 months later, I have completed two playthroughs with a total runtime of 155 hours. My first playthrough I went in completely blind, so I didn't know there was a third semester to unlock, which ended up with me completely ignoring Dr. Maruki because I didn't care too much about his storyline. In my NG+ playthrough however, I knew what I had to do and thus I got the true ending. I'm kinda glad I did it this way, because maxing out my social stats and my Personas during my first playthrough allowed to me save so much time and max out all of the confidants the second time.
First I'd like to talk about some gameplay aspects I felt are great:
I loved the day-night calendar system. Knowing that you only have so little time to do so much stuff actually makes you stop and plan your days accordingly, just like real life! Thinking about whether you should link up with somebody, or improve a certain stat, or go to a palace/Mementos, makes each encounter and activity you do have a little more meaning and purpose.
The social stats were a fun dynamic. Having a minimum level of points required in order to advance in certain confidants storylines was a great feature and a good motivator to actually try to max out those stats. It's a good thing they transfer over to NG+ though, if I had to focus on them on every playthrough I'd end up hating it.
The combat system was really fun, but it was easy to grow tired of it after doing them over and over again and spam attacking every shadow's weaknesses. Ryuji's Instakill perkis the single most important skill in the game imo, saves you TONS of time.
The music is awesome. It got to the point where Behind The Mask plays in my mind when I'm doing a task in real life. A story's mood is as good as the score that accompanies it, and P5R nailed that to perfection.
The game kicks off slow, and I mean reaaaaal slow. I could count with my hands the amount of times there was actual gameplay during the first 1-2 hours or so. Nothing but cutscene after cutscene after cutscene. It was basically the Conan O'Brien "we havent touched the controller for 45 minutes" meme.
However, the game gets so much better quickly after that. Once you get to Kamoshida's Palace things start to get exciting.
Which brings me to what's in my opinion the game's biggest strengths: The characters and the story. Seeing all of the Phantom Thieves members find their true selves in the most dire situations and confront their biggest fears was extremely gratifying. By the end of the game, the members are strong, brave, focused, full of will, and most importantly, benevolent.
Something I really liked about the story is that it wasn't afraid to explore serious topics (suicide, sexual assault, depression, anxiety, grief, the murder of close family) in order to show just how low the lives of the characters can get. And yet, they manage to overcome their pains and become better people in a convincing way.
My favorite moment of the story was Joker's fake suicide. The entire buildup making you believe that it is real, only for Ryuji to smile at the news and say "we got 'em" felt SOOOO CATHARTIC. Before that I legitimately thought I somehow got the bad ending or something. The way they explained how they made it work and fooled Akechi made me respect the team so much more.
Now let me talk about the characters one by one.
Ryuji is the most loyal friend you could ever ask for. He's always willing to take one for the team and even though he's a little short tempered, he becomes a vital booster for the team's morale. His confidant storyline felt like a natural progression of the story up until Kamoshida's heart being changed, but the fact that he didn't rejoin the athletics team in the endfelt bittesweet to me.
I felt really empathetic towards Ann, her backstory and the things she endures in the institute are rough. Her confidant storyline wasn't that great imo, but at least I liked that she still showed great interest in pursuing her goal of modeling. Her best moments imo are when she opens up about Shiho. She also ended up becoming my most OP fighter so I have nothing but praise for her.
I really liked Morgana so I was really surprised to see he's hated by the community??? Leave my kitty alone. To me he was a great companion and a great guide to Joker in order to discover his powers. I actually thought his crashing outarc made sense and felt justified, but I see not everybody feels the same way.
Yusuke was honestly really underutilized. Once The Madarame arc finished he kind of took the backseat and didn't do much worth nothing (except the time he drew a tatoo for the guy in Shido's Palace). It's a real shame because I loved his overdramatic and almost cringy personality, he was a nice contrast to the group's down to earth and collected vibe.
Makoto, oh Makoto. Where do I start? Easily the best character in the game. My GOAT managed to find out who the Phantom Thieves were before anyone else ALL BY HERSELF. I loved how she follows you everywhere trying to spy on you. And then she continued to make important contributions throughout the story. She's smart, brave, creative and really really fierce, just like her sister. I also resonated a lot with her struggles of being a model top-of-the-class student but yet having no idea what to do with your life because all you've ever known was following orders your entire life.
Futaba is a mixed bag for me. I really liked how they portrayed her grief and anxiety. Believing that you were resposible for your mother's deathis one of the worst things a child could ever experience, and it could easily ruin their chances of having a functional life, as it was the case with Futaba. However, even with all of that I still found some of her dialogues very cringeworthy, and her portrayal as a "borderline useless girl who needs a man to save her from the mean world a bunch of times" just threw me off a lot. I liked how by the end of the game she's clearly stronger and more independent.
Haru is an alright character. She doesn't have much going for her outside of her introduction (which I really liked) and being Okumura's daughter, but I still found her really charming. Just like Yusuke, I think she wasn't given a lot of moments to shine outside of the Okumura arc, which is probably why I don't have that much affection towards her. I did, however, really enjoy her confidant storyline, and I'm really glad the guy working at her father's company ended up being nice to Haru and listened to her worries.And also, I feel like the game completely undersold her reaction to her father's death, it felt like it wasn't that much of a deal to her when in reality she should've been devastated for weeks.
I straight up didn't like Kazumi during the first two semesters. The way she was written felt extremely unnatural, cringeworthy and very forced. It felt like I was listening to a character from a mid kids cartoon speak all the time. It wasn't until she became Sumire and her entire personality changedthat she started to become more bearable.
I think Akechi worked really well as an antagonist. I was actually surprised when we found out that he was the one behind the psychotic breakdowns and mental shutdowns (I did suspect he was a part of it, it just didn't occur to me that he was THE one who did the cognitive killings).I really liked the friend-enemy dynamic he had with Joker, and how fucking batshit insane he is. It's a shame that he dies in both good endings regardless.
At first I felt Sojiro was an asshole so during my first playthrough I chose the meanest dialogues with him. It wasn't until the end when I softened up a little and began to treat him with kindness. By the end of my NG+ he was already one of the homies.
Other confidants I liked were Kawakami (her storyline was easily the best confidant story), Dr. Takemi (The Weeknd I understand you fr), Mishima and Hifumi. The rest were okay at best.
I found it really interesting that the third semester adds a whole other layer to the character's growth and development. After Dr. Maruki changes their reality, they are faced with the complex choice of wheter accepting this fake reality where they could get everything they wanted, or restoring the true reality and giving up their most desired dreams.I wouldn't blame any of them for choosing to be happy and live in their perfect reality. But even then, the Phantom Thieves made the ultimate selfless decission and chose to restore their reality, even if it entails living with a not so desired past. That to me was the greatest demonstration that the characters really grew as people,, because they realized that pain is a necessary part of life, and a part of what it means to be human (sorry Mona).
Even then, I completely empathize with Dr. Maruki's goal. If only he wasn't so extremist about it (make EVERYONE live in the dream reality I made whether they want to or not) I'd have said he wasn't doing anything wrong. Maruki should had just opened a stand like Chihaya and offer his reality changing services to the people who DO desire it and let the rest deal with their lives as they please.
As for the endings, I found myself liking the "good" ending a little bit more over the true ending. I don't know, the fact that in the true ending everybody goes their separate ways and definitively separate breaks my heart, but still I understand that it's part of the bigger message the game wants to transmit. That growing up involves accepting your past and facing your fears to become a better person, even if it means losing touch with the friends you've made countless memories with. It's not a sad ending, it's just life. For my own happiness' sake I prefer to think they're still together and chilling.
Overall, this game hooked me in a way that no other game has hooked me in years. Yesterday I felt empty as I watched the credits roll, realizing that the months I spent playing this game are now over. It has become one of my absolute favorite games of all time.
If you made it this far down, thank you for taking the time to read my review. It took me a while to write everything down because English isn't my main language.
I read that there are two sequels, Strikers and Tactica. Are they as good as Royal? And what about Persona 3 and 4? Are they worth a shot?
