Early contender for game of the year
IT STILL feels a little early to be bandying “Game of the Year” about, but that’s exactly how Persona 5 has left me feeling. After the giddying low that was Ghost in the Shell, I felt the need to cleanse my palate, so popped Persona 5 in the PS4.
I have a love/hate relationship with the Persona series. Past titles have left me bored with over-long cut scenes and slow burning stories.
Persona 4 Golden, the 2012 remaster of PS2 classic Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, completely won me over – and was by far one of the best games I’ve ever played on the PSV.
So I had high hopes that this success would carry over to the new release.
This fifth (technically sixth) title, is the first main game in the series since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment to omit the Shin Megami Tensei moniker.
At first glance, it doesn’t sound that amazing.
Set in an urban high school, you play as a student who spends his days in the classroom and his nights saving the world.
Ignoring the obvious Kick Ass comparison, I was amazed by how strong the storyline is.
Thrown straight into the action, there’s a frenetic chase through a beautifully rendered casino in the heart of Tokyo.
It’s fast paced, and plays an important part in that it is here you learn how to navigate the game’s complex turn-based battle system. Once you’ve grasped the basics, it’s incredible how instinctual the controls become, and that’s vital if you are to stand any hope of completing this game.
The plot sees our hero moved to the Japanese capital after a confrontation with a powerful politician. Sent to a new school, he is introduced to a supernatural mobile app, which takes him to the Palace realm. It is in this realm he can change wicked people’s hearts by stealing their “treasure”– the emotional root of their behavior – from their Palaces.
Persona has incredible RPG elements. During the day, you literally attend classes, answer quiz questions and generally go about your life as a typical teenager, but by night, you invade the mind Palaces of different ne’er do wells to seek out the root of their evil, and set them on a better path.
Maps are much larger in this game – with Palaces almost three times the size of the dungeons in Persona 4. That scope has allowed developer Atlus to let its imagination run free. Branching path and puzzle locks give the game a less linear feel, while the hunt for hidden rooms and the increasing complexity of puzzles, gives you a real sense of achievement when you’ve completed a task.
Graphically, it doesn’t break any molds, but it’s bright and breezy as you’d expect from a JRPG.
The characters themselves are quite adorable, there’s a real chemistry between them which makes you feel a connection.
Persona 5 is easily one of the best games I’ve played in the last few years, with an innovative story that perfectly complements the bold gameplay – and an actual sense of loss when your journey together comes to an end.
BUY IT: £44.99 for the steelbook launch edition from amazon.co.uk
SPLASH THE CASH: £139.99 for the collectors edition including game, steelbook case, soundtrack CD, 4”/10 cm Morgana plush, hardcover art book, school bag and collectible outer box.