I've had an on and off experience playing the Persona series over the years. My first exposure to the series was one of the spin offs that was released for the dearly departed handheld PSP a few years ago. For people who don't know, I hate RPG that don't allow the player to actually see the character moving around landscapes so many of the Persona games weren't my style. Plus, students going out every night to fight in this weird looking building also got on my nerves a bit story wise. Then, I checked out the trailers for Persona 5 and felt that the game had everything that I was looking for in a J RPG at the time. The game was originally created in 2016 by Atlus but had a worldwide release in 2017. An expanded version of the game with a new character is said to be released this year under the name Persona 5 Royal. So I thought I would give me two cents on this version before that hits selves in 2020.
A young boy gets into trouble in his home town and is sent to Tokyo under house arrest. He can go to school but is seen as a criminal to most of his school. Due to certain events, the boy finds an app on his cellphone that takes him to the palaces inside people's hearts. He takes the name of Joker with the help of a mysterious being called Morgana as a persona user. Big criminals in Societal Tokyo won't know what hit them now! The Phantom Thieves are on the case!
What I really loved about Persona 5 as first impressions was how youth flows from the appearance of the world in the game. Its like you see Tokyo from the eyes of a teenager trying to figure out their life. Many of the words used to describe sound effects and character dialogue look to be taken straight out of a comic book. Game Menus when you move around during quick travel give a dark mysterious yet comic book hero vibe. Walking around Tokyo is also just a fun treat in itself. There's always something to do, whether it's hanging out with teammates/friends, eating out, buying items, or working for extra money, Persona 5 keeps players busy outside of the fighting in people's palaces. Persona is VERY dialogue heavy throughout the whole game but you do have a fast forward option for those times you have to revisit a part of the story again because you didn't save. I love character interactions in RPG but even I must admit that there were times while playing Persona 5 where I had to either turn mash on the X button really fast to read ahead of the voice acting or fast forward simply because I had to go out and wanted to get to a point I could save my game. Persona 5's motto says to "take your time" which the game doesn't completely stand by. Still there's a big hint in this motto that many players miss out on who decide to not play with a strategy guide.
If Persona 5 is your first Persona game, keep in mind that the Persona series doesn't play out like normal RPG games. If you don't realize this after playing that game for a few hour, then please forever hold your peace. You have to put your adult pants on and decide how you want to spend your time as you play through a calendar system. This means you have stats outside of battle that you have to work on too such as charm, knowledge, guts etc. Each stat will help your nameless character have more of a personality in the eyes of the people around him. Hanging out with people, studying, eating, and working take up time, so use your time wisely. Joker also has to steal the target's heart before the a certain date or the game will end. Seems like a lot to do right? Persona 5's huge saving grace is that you get a crap load of time to do things. What's the problem then? Choosing the RIGHT things to do during the time allowed. Otherwise you end up missing out on some character content such as getting a girlfriend. These things don't affect the story(Some choices you make in the main story do..) but they do make Persona 5 feel like you're missing out on something as you play. I think I hated the school portion of Persona the most. You literally have to answer questions and the teach no matter what class you are in will always call on you. Answer correctly and you get a boost in your Knowledge. Answer incorrectly and get nothing. Tests are the same questions you get in class so take note. Persona gives you a lot of time to do stuff at certain parts of them game and its up to you to start on building your relationships and your stats before the end of the game. You can max out everything. Just make sure you start really early on certain aspects of the game to help you out a bit. This game feels very long however there isn't as many palaces as one would think.
Actions you choose to take on in reality affect what tools you get in the palaces of people's hearts. As your links grow stronger with the people around you, you learn new abilities that make battles more interesting. Fans of the Persona games should know the normal antics of capturing new Personas in battle and fusing them together to create even stronger Personas in the Velvet room. Don't worry if you don't, the game explains what you have to do pretty well. Battles in this installment of Persona are a breeze especially if you know what the hell your doing. Be sure to check out the different elemental weaknesses of the personas you're fighting as well as the stats of the ones you're holding verse the people in your party. Information like this will make or break you big time in battle. I loved the all out attack option in battle so much!!! Your party gets more active in helping each other as you raise your bonds with them too. All of this creates a slickness to battle that doesn't feel stagnant. Most of the slower battles are boss battles and battles where you know absolutely nothing about the persona you're fighting. Just try out everything until you find a weakness. Don't forget little side actions like using guns, getting help on analyzing enemy weakness, and switching out party members. Momentos is another place in Persona 5 that you best not ignore. Side missions take place in there most of the time. Be sure to clear it out completely as the game gives you constant hints that the large place is important to the story.
Persona 5's story was good because of the cast in my opinion. To me, the whole story itself fit well into what the game was trying to do but I do believe that it wasn't the best storyline in the series. I know this for a fact without even playing all the games. You can kinda tell… With that being said, I enjoyed the cause, effect, and conclusion. This game could be made into an anime and I would probably watch it. The twists were alright too. I could see them coming most of the time though…. Well except for what happened toward the end. Did I forget to mention the wonderful soundtrack?! Lord have mercy on me! I've never played a game were the soundtrack fit the game play so perfectly. It felt like the soundtrack actually helped define the true essence of the game. Most games don't have that quality. I can't even remember half of the soundtracks of most of the games I play.
I'm super excited for Persona 5 Royal to be released. People who didn't play this release could probably skip this and go straight to royal. I would still recommend you check this game out just for the fun of it. You won't have a life after you do. I'l tell you that much for sure.
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