I first saw/heard of the series when Joker was added to Smash Ultimate back in 2019. Although his play style is unique, it’s not one I fell in love with, but everything else about him I loved, especially his final smash. Flash forward to this year and I started watching a streamer who said that Persona 5 was one of his favorite games of all time. I started getting more interested especially when Persona 6 was announced back in June. Finally on Labor Day weekend, I saw that Persona 5 Royal, 4 Golden, and 3 Portable were on a 70% sale in a bundle on Switch 2 (Yea I played the game on Switch 2). So I obviously got the deal. With all my intrigue around the game, I never actually saw a second of gameplay. So I was going in blind and after completing the game, here’s my thoughts with a total of 115 hours played.
Let’s start with aesthetics since it’s the least I have to say about. Yeah the game looks fantastic, the unique text box design, the sharp black edges and the red undertones make for an excellent visual style. THE MUSIC, OMG THE MUSIC. It’s generally one of, if not, my favorite OST of all time, although Splatoon is up there as well. My personal top 5 favorite songs are Life will Change, Beneath The Mask, Rivers in the Desert, Last Surprise, and Colors Flying High, although Take Over is an extremely close sixth place. Overall this game nails its aesthetic and the music is one of the best OST’s out there.
Let’s talk about characters because there’s a lot. Ryuji is the Goat and you can’t tell me otherwise. His confidant is also pretty good but not one of the best, ether way though he’s probably my favorite character in the game. Ann is fine, I didn’t care for her personally but I like her enough. Her confidant is pretty cool though, not better than Ryuji’s but solid. Morgana is bad, next question. Yusuke is based, he has some of the funniest lines which always gave me a chuckle. I personally didn’t complete his confidant but I did like what I played of it. Makoto is badass and that’s epic. Her confidant is whatever though. Futaba I found kinda annoying to be honest, I just don’t like high pitch voiced females in my ear for over half the game. However I get it since she is basically a little sister so she gets a pass, but on thin ice. Her confidant is another I personally didn’t Finnish however what I did play is just okay and nothing more. I don’t like Haru, sorry but I just don’t care for her. The way she’s introduced could’ve been better, her voice is as annoying as Futaba’s, and her background is nothing but “I’m daughter to big evil cooperative and my father is using me as nothing but a tool” which isn’t interesting. I didn’t even start her confidant because I just don’t like her. Akechi is epic and I think that explains itself. Oh yeah and his confidant is one of the best in the game. I will go into more depth on Kasumi later but just know I don’t care about her and I didn’t complete her confidant. Now for the rest of the cast, Igor is great and the twist is one I didn’t expect, I also love his voice after the twist. His confidant is a nothing burger though. Sae is just okay, I like her story beats, but her confidant sucks. The Twins I have to nitpick because I just wish you would up their confidant when you take them out, instead your forced to bring them persona’s which sounds cool, but I never got past rank one because of it. Sojiro is another I didn’t complete because it takes so long just for him to get a rank up. Takemi is another goat and you can’t tell me otherwise. Probably my favorite confidant in the game. Kawakami is interesting story wise but the premise kills it for me, I just felt uncomfortable playing it. Hifumi is a close contender for my favorite confidant, overall just a great story and great character that was the only one I romanced. Mishima is pretty alright, he kinda gets shafted after the Madarame Arc and he probably is the easiest confidant to complete, but I did like it. Shinya is another goat, his confidant is also one of the better ones. Maruki is just okay, I found him boring and the confidant equally so, but I’ll talk about him more later. Iwai is pretty badass and cool. His confidant is another I didn’t complete, but I did like from I did play. Finally with the Fortune Teller and the Street Orator I didn’t even start their confidants so I can’t say anything about them because I haven’t played them. Overall though the characters in the game are amazing with two outliers and the confidants are equally as great.
Gameplay is the next thing I wanna talk about and it nails everything. The game is half RPG and half Slice of Life. I normally don’t care for RPGS since I find them tedious and repetitive. This game is the one exception and it’s all because to the perfect battle system. How is it that it’s so in depth, yet so easy to understand. I thought I would forget about something, yet there’s a reason to do everything the game tells you about, apart from the thief assist which I never used. The palaces are all so well designed and fun to go through. From Worst to best in my opinion is Okumura’s Spaceport of Greed for having an awful story and awful boss. Maruki’s Laboratory of Sorrow for reasons I will say in the next two paragraph. Shido’s Cruise Ship of Pride for being way too long and a okay boss. Futaba’s Pyramid of Wrath because I didn’t like the story and overall being extremely forgettable. The Depths of Mementos for not only just being the insane end game, but for its aesthetic and puzzles. Kaneshiro’s Bank of Gluttony for having fun puzzles and a neat aesthetic. Kamoshida’s Castle of Lust for having the best villain and being the first. Nijima’s Casino of Envy for having the best story and amazing puzzles. And finally Madarame’s Museum of Vanity for having a very fun boss fight, perfect pacing, and an amazing story. Overall the palaces were all pretty great with one major stinker. I should quickly mention Mementos and it’s pretty good. There’s nothing too memorable about it but it is a fun time when you go into it. With all the RPG elements out the way, how about that slice of life thing? Yeah it’s also really good, I think it’s better than the RPG elements but not by far. There’s something really charming (HA) about the whole ranking up social stats, reading books, training at the gym, or just hanging out with a confidant. The world is so alive and filled with so many little trinkets. I didn’t know you can draw the phantom thief logo on the board in the classroom to see your popularity. It doesn’t need to exist, but I love that it’s there. If I had to nitpick it though, it would be really REALLY nice if you can see how long you are from ranking up a social stat. I know the bathroom exists, but I’m talking about numbers. Even just increasing the size of the star with each yellow note would help a ton. Overall though the gameplay is fantastic with some nitpicks here and there.
What’s a game without a story, so let’s talk about how awesome it is. The first arc is one of the best ones because the game really wants you to hate Kamoshida and does so perfectly. I love how it introduces everything to the player while leaving something’s for later. The second arc is spectacular and just shows what the rest of the game is gonna be about. Trying to get popularity, discover what Mementos is, and solve puzzles to steal a palace’s heart. I like how Yusuke is introduced and later rectified and how he struggles with his relationship with Madarame. The third arc is great with Makoto at first feeling like a nuisance, only to open up and become one of the best party members. The fourth arc is just so okay in my opinion, there’s nothing noteworthy about it, which is just like the palace so that makes sense. The fifth arc… The sixth arc is when shit starts getting real and I loved that the game starts off with the escape scene in the palace. The twist with Akechi was so clever, I never saw it coming (HA). As well it reminded me of Death Note and it’s not just because of Akechi and Light having the same freak-out moments. To be honest I think the game should’ve ended by going into Akechi’s Palace but nope, the main dude we’ve been chasing is just a puppet for another big bad. I hate when stories do this, it just undermines the true mastermind because someone else did their bidding. Tangent aside, the seventh arc is when I started feeling like the game was done and I had no more passion to play it, yet I pushed through. Doesn’t help the story in the seventh arc is barely there besides “ooo we need to hide Joker so he’s presumed dead” and yeah I understand why, but it’s not fun from a gameplay standpoint. The “final arc” is when I started feeling something again as we finally learn what Mementos actually is and the message and theme are so powerful and important. It truly is a finale that ends the game off perfectly and made me reflect about the world which I don’t normally do with games. It would really be a shame if this message and climatic ending got ruined in some way… thankfully no such things exist so we can move on. Overall the story is one of the best stories I’ve ever played, the Batman Arkham Trilogy though is an extremely close second.
Fine fine, I’ll talk about the Third Semester exclusive to Royal. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, it completely undermines the message of the original ending, making it feel like just another end for a palace ruler. Now we got a Chad Maruki having the ability to…alternate reality…I can’t explain how stupid this is. It feels as though it comes out of nowhere, but not in a cool way like Akechi. With Akechi the game shows you all the times he slipped up. But with Maruki, from the start and even to the moment right before you fight him, he talks and acts like a kind-hearted consular. I don’t buy the fact that he’s a bad guy yet he is and it comes out of nowhere. Yes it was foreshadowed with Kasumi if you did her confidant…too bad Kasumi is the most boring character in the game by far. She has literally nothing going for her besides a somewhat interesting design and her calling Joker Senpai every time, which might I add, her voice is as annoying as Haru’s sometimes. I never liked her for being boring in the first and second half of the game, but my god she took a nose dive during the third semester. In a story that mainly is realistic fiction, the whole Maruki Arc feels so disconnected from the rest of the game. Doesn’t help he has a mid boss fight, and a horrible palace design. This is my biggest issue I have with Persona 5, or at least on my play through. Okamura’s Arc though is not far off though.
READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON’T WANNA READ ALL THAT
I might’ve missed something but this post is getting way too long so I’m gonna end it here. Overall though, this is one of my favorite games I’ve played in recent memory. Amazing story, epic characters, Memorable story, and some of the best gameplay with aesthetics and music off the charts. However with two major issues, and a handful of nitpicks, I can’t give this game a perfect score, but it is extremely close. A very good 9/10 game that is a must play in my opinion. Like I mentioned at the start, I did buy Persona 4 Golden and 3 Portable, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I have other games I wanna play in the meantime and I’m completely Persona’d out.
If you did read this whole massive post, thank you SO much for reading :)
