A must-buy if you are a fan of the Persona series
PERSONA 5 was already a contender for best-in-class - after all, which of its peers could possibly contend with what is one of the most deep and deeply surreal games ever conceived? In fact, developers Atlus could easily have left Persona 5 in its vanilla state and there wouldn’t be many who would argue its place among the very best the genre has to offer.
Persona 5 Royal isn’t just a peppering of extra content to get the 2016 game back into the minds and pockets of gamers, it is a smorgasbord of new and expanded content which essentially equates to an entirely new game of equal depth to the original. Persona 5 Royal is a massive statement on behalf of the developers that skyrockets the title to an almost uncontestable position as the finest JRPG ever made.
Mechanically, the most apparent changes are in the combat. Bullets now refresh after each battle instead of the baffling previous system of only refilling your ammunition at the beginning of an infiltration. Showtime attacks are another excellent and appropriately flashy inclusion that involve two of your party members teaming up for a Hollywood-esque decimation of your enemies.
If you can think of it - Persona 5 Royal has probably improved it. One such improvement is the Velvet Room - Igor’s Sanctum and your one-stop shop for upgrading your Personas.
Royal’s version dictates that every time you complete a normal encounter, a fusion alarm may trigger, allowing you to potentially fuse personas that will be far more powerful than if they were fused under normal circumstances.
Persona 5 Royal’s coup de grâce, of course, is the additions made to the storyline. There is now a new palace, a new Mementos area and a new heart to steal. Without spoiling anything, suffice to say that the latest antagonist is deeply fascinating and a suitable continuation of Persona’s already deep exploration of human society. There are also two new confidants, fantastic characters who perfectly supplement the already deep cast on offer in Persona 5.
There is enough new content in Persona 5 Royal to write a novel on, but suffice to say that it is one of the deepest and richest expansions to a game ever conceived. If you are a fan of the Persona series this is an absolute must-buy. If you haven’t had the chance to experience the delights of Persona 5 then it is highly recommended that you do.