Topic: Persona 5

@Ralizah That final boss fight is just so good. I really liked the design of the arena, I thought it was stunning. The way the sky shined bright with those colors with the wind blowing and this giant mechanical being towering over the party. To top it off the music really gives that final showdown type of feel and each character in Japanese audio yelling Personaaaaaa put me in the moment. Then the part where the people believed in the Phantom Thieves again was great. Just chef kiss from me, I'll be 60yo and remember this boss fight.

It's unfortunate you never gave the politician a chance, he has some great skills. Mainly during hold ups or negotiations. My favorite is when you demand money you can repeatedly ask for more. So satisfying to 30,000+ yen pop up 4 times in a row. I also neglected a few confidants, Ohya, Yusuke, Haru, and Chihoyo to name a few. Also sucks that they won't let you have your all maid crew xD, it's the little things in life ya know?

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L Nice! I found it so compelling that she personally heard what the Phantom Thieves are capable of and decided to seek them out to steal her damaged heart. I absolutely loved that bit. On that note about Futaba creeping around the house that part genuinely had me on the edge of my seat and then burst out laughing haha. I also thought it was cool to add that extra depth to Sojiro, he's a great guy. This palace here was my favorite, the story is very touching, I really like Futaba's timidness on the outside but how bold she really is, the music at the palace manages to be melancholic and hopeful at the same time, and I enjoyed that the theme was a "tomb" since she felt so trapped and just dying inside. Just great stuff, by the end I guarantee that your eyes will at least water a time or two.

Side note: Have you unlocked Kichijoji and the ability to play darts? If you haven't played already you should take advantage!

So, just started the third semester content...

Yeah, if I ever do a NG+ run, I'll make a point of maxing out the politician, and the teammates I always seem to pass up.

@Ralizah Lmao yeah I agree that he is boring as villain, I definitely prefer Shido in that aspect. Although the Igor twist was nice, I always was suspicious not to trust him but I didn't expect what they did. It was the spectacle of moment for me, coming from a rumor infested student living in an attic to becoming the savior of the world; that whole thing of it being about the journey and not the destination just shined for me there.

So, Joker and friends are around level 95 now, and I can pretty reliably farm the Reaper with little trouble.

Really annoyed at myself that I ignored the twins' requests for so long, though. There are a number of advanced demons, like Metatron, that I can't fuse because component demons are only unlocked by ranking up with them.

So, I haven't beaten Royal 100% yet, since there's an hour or two of stuff left to do in the game's apparently endless epilogue, but I did complete the last chunk of the actual game (including finishing up some confidant and Mementos stuff) and get a fair way into the epilogue in a mammoth five-hour gameplay session.

All I'll say is that I'm really happy Royal exists, if, for no other reason, than to give this title a worthy final boss. While there's still a bit of silliness, the climax of the third semester is gripping stuff, and the Big Bad is definitely one of the most compelling villains I've met in a video game. So much better than the paper-thin moral monstrosities from previous chapters.

I’ve just been so salty about the way that royal is packaged as a full price new game. You can debate if it is DLC or not, but it isn’t a brand new game. Anyhow its finally on sale enough that I may buy it.

@Mega-Gazz It's not DLC. The entire game has been visually touched up. New mechanics have been added. The new confidants are integrated into the main story. Dungeons have been partially redesigned. Boss fights have been partially redesigned. And so on.

Although, yeah, 90% of it will still be familiar (before the third semester, at least).

@Ralizah It’s not hard to see why people would be annoyed by essentially a same-gen remaster though. Obviously Atlus have previous and Squeenix do too in Japan but there were a lot of new Persona fans after 5 who weren’t familiar with the whole rerelease trend.

@Ralizah @nessisonett It’s not just a same-gen remaster though - it is that they very much planned to do this from the start, and of course they did this with p4 vs p4g too (though I came in at p4g). I get that they integrated the DLC into the game and it isn’t like just a new area added - but this is absolutely an expansion to the main game. It isn’t a new story, its more added onto the same story and game. It’s not even that the game did so well that they released a new story in the same world (p5s is more like that from what I understand) - with p5r they planned before p5 to release the game twice like they have in the past to make people buy it twice at full price. It is kinda offensive that they can with a straight face say its a new game, and not give any nod to people who paid full price for the initial game.

I mean, really that makes apple look charitable and altruistic by comparison.

@TraCuz- So I finished Persona 5 Royal, picking up the Platinum as well, It wasn't what I was expecting it to be at all, I never thought that Maruki would be the final Palace boss and the Kasumi/Sumire was a big surprise!! loved how it ended and I'm hoping Persona 6 gets announced soon

@Kopite Dude it was such a nice surprise! It's crazy how they put it in your face the whole time. Gotta say I really enjoyed all of the music additions in Royal, including those from the Royal portion of the game at the end. Favorite additions being Take Over and No More What Ifs.

So I finished Persona 5 Royal last week, clocking in at about 146 hours of playtime and managed to get my Platinum trophy #37. I've already written my overall thoughts elsewhere, but one thing I want to bring up here is that the developers made one significant change to the Royal version compared to the original, which I'm super happy that they did. I'm going talk more about it with spoiler tags so if you haven't finished P5R and the third semester, then please turn away.

Spoilers for the ending of Persona 5 Royal and the third semester!

@theheadofabroom Dude that 4th Palace is probably my favorite one! Futaba's arc was so good to me. The theme of the tomb/pyramid felt really fitting, and that Palace theme song is also one of my favorite OSTs.

Do you have any favorite moments so far?

@TraCuz- probably some of the terrible DVDs, although maybe the feast after the first palace? IDK, mostly I'm enjoying the melodrama of it all.

Hey guys, p5 on sale on psn for 12$ cad, does it let you do things more or less freely?
Do, talk, explore as u like?
Or it's scripted, guided a lot?
Do things,,story, characters relations to u change depending on u?
I know there's p5r now, but it will be a while before it's so low too.

@Jtheripper I finished Persona 5 a couple months ago and I’ll have a stab at your questions…

First, you do get to do things freely as you like while you’re in the part of the game outside the palaces (they’re like dungeons in other RPGs, but much more thematic and well crafted than previous Persona games). In the palace sections you have a basic journey through to the end of each one to reach certain goals. It’s not open at that point but linear. However, the other half of the game is spent in a social simulation setting and you have mostly free reign to spend your time as you wish. You can hang out with whatever companion you want, spend time at a part time job to earn money, spend time studying to improve your grades and traits, go to a movie, go fishing, etc, etc. Each activity has some perk you might get out of it to increase one of your base characteristics or improve your bonds with your companions. So there is a lot of freedom to do things however you want.

However, not all companions are available every day, and you don’t have access to the full map every day, especially early on. So the game funnels you through certain more limited options, especially until you unlock more of the map and more of the social interactions (called “confidants”).

So there is a lot of choice, but sometimes it is the illusion of choice. But overall, it’s way more customizable than most games and two players could easily play the game and end up with completely different character builds based on how they spent their free time. However, most of the main story points will be the same no matter what other choices you make. But it will affect how well you’re able to battle in the dungeons.

The game is mostly scripted, but you do have a choice of response during some conversations which make slight differences in the way dialogue will turn out. And there are a total of 6 possible endings, I believe, which are dependent on a few choices you make. It’s definitely possible to not see entire scenes if you haven’t opened them up through building certain confidants or traits.

TL;DR version:
If you want a game with a lot of choice and customization then Persona 5 is a really good game to try. Just don’t go in expecting an open world, as the main story is mostly a linear affair. But the way you play and choices you make definitely affect your experience and potentially make each playthrough unique.

My playthrough took me about 125 hours, by the way. So the game is long. People can complete is quicker, like maybe 80 hours, but I wanted to see and do as much as I could so it took me longer.

@Th3solution
Hey there, well thanks a lot for the good write up, appreciate it.
Yeah that's how it seemed from videos and reviews i guess, just hard sometimes when seeing parts of playthrus if the player is just rushing thru it and there's more to it or not.

I'm liking the social part,, adventure style interactivity around, i like turn based combat, and mature subject matter, even though the style is pretty childish.
Not so much fond of non realistic cartoon style so much,corny japanese style and dialogue, and the music.
But still intrigued and seems like living a cartoon semi realistic, but fantasy styled psychological aspects as well, adventure. With some leeway in how you go about it.

Not sure I'd wait on the p5r to be so low too.
Thanks again.

@Jtheripper You’re very welcome.
I didn’t play Persona 5 Royal, but apparently it adds a whole extended storyline with a different ending and a whole new companion to your team, along with other things too. The game is really long as it is, so for the much cheaper price then I’d say grab the base game, especially if you’re on the fence anyways.

The art style is actually really great. I understand you’re preference for realistic graphics and animation, as that’s my usual preference, but the art style in P5 is quite fabulous. It’s really well designed with a lot of flair and personality. The Japanese quirkiness is certainly there in large amounts, so you’ll have to be ready for that, but the subject matter is actually fairly mature. The themes are really serious, even if the High School student setting has a adolescent feel to it. As for JRPGs it’s probably one of the more approachable for a Western audience, actually.