Persona 5 Royal

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3676 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,074 out of 3676
  2. Mixed: 147 out of 3676
  3. Negative: 455 out of 3676
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  1. realkinko
    Apr 1, 2022
    6
    I'm a huge fan of JRPG's, but I honestly can't fathom how highly regarded this game is. For me, I can't say that it's much more than a mediocre game. It does have a solid foundation for JRPG fans and I was genuinly intrigued for the first 20 or so hours, but unless you love dragged out stories with lots of filler content, cheesy characters and weird japanese humour (like the "ThrobbingI'm a huge fan of JRPG's, but I honestly can't fathom how highly regarded this game is. For me, I can't say that it's much more than a mediocre game. It does have a solid foundation for JRPG fans and I was genuinly intrigued for the first 20 or so hours, but unless you love dragged out stories with lots of filler content, cheesy characters and weird japanese humour (like the "Throbbing King" enemy near the end that has a striking resemblence to male genitalia) I'd say there are much better games out there in the same genre.

    Don't get me wrong, there are elements where this game shines, but I just had a hard time getting immersed in the story and the games characters. Hopefully this will be improved in future Persona games.

    Good enough for a playthrough, but all I could feel in the end was a sigh of relief that it was finally over.    … Expand
  2. Phuz
    Feb 11, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My original 2 score was way too harsh, so here to amend that. A middle score is unusual for me, I either normally love it, or it wasted my time.

    It is not that it is bad, it just isn't very good either.

    The worst bit by far is the crappy American voice overs and the dialogue. It is just so bad. I find it very cringey a hell of a lot of the time.

    The art style just isn't that good. It quite simply looks ugly.

    The music is 70's porn music. The story is slow. The enemy design is poor.

    It feels clunky in everything it does.

    The combat is mildly entertaining but not great. So if I dislike so many things then why a 5 score? It has had a lot of love and care put in to it. Someone, or some team have worked hard. It's just that the team is probably a team of boring people. It isn't dark, it isn't happy, it is just very plain.

    It is a real trawl, everything feels so dragged out. I am often playing for 15 minutes, getting bored and trying to get to a suitable save place asap.

    It certainly never has me staying up until 3 in the morning unable to put it down.

    I don't hate it but just as BotW is the most over rated game on Switch, this is a very overated PS4 game.

    It just isn't much fun.    … Expand
  3. jorge1102
    Feb 24, 2022
    6
    Not fun, but not worth this price

    Playing more than 50 hours, still don't feel fun
  4. Oxomo
    Feb 7, 2022
    6
    This is probably the most overrated game I've ever played in my whole life.
    As a jrpg is functional, of course, but if you are going to see the poorly graphics (coming from PS3) that the games brings from this edition, it's hard to see how this game is reached the values of other games like TloU2, for example.
    Personally, I've found the gameplay pretty but basic (style over substance),    This is probably the most overrated game I've ever played in my whole life.
    As a jrpg is functional, of course, but if you are going to see the poorly graphics (coming from PS3) that the games brings from this edition, it's hard to see how this game is reached the values of other games like TloU2, for example.

    Personally, I've found the gameplay pretty but basic (style over substance), and the dialogues generally too much redundant and repetitive.    … Expand
  5. Baristashin
    Dec 29, 2021
    7
    Spoiler Alert!!!

    This can be one of the best JRPG you can ever play. If you didn't play Persona 5 Original before. Everything about P5 Royal is with updated system and gameplay. Some bad and some has been changed due to new stories been added. To first timers, this isn't much of an issue. Gameplay changed much easier and faster for those new comers. I don't see much of problem    Spoiler Alert!!!

    This can be one of the best JRPG you can ever play. If you didn't play Persona 5 Original before.

    Everything about P5 Royal is with updated system and gameplay. Some bad and some has been changed due to new stories been added.

    To first timers, this isn't much of an issue. Gameplay changed much easier and faster for those new comers. I don't see much of problem with that.

    However, real issue I encountered was frustration playing the Royal.

    I think those who already finished the original P5 wanted to see how the additional character fits in with already perfect P5 characters. There was really high expectation of new girl who's dancer name Kasumi(Sumire ;)p)). Well? It really pissed me off and made me angry at Atlus for the first time.
    This really showed how not to just add somebody just to sell more copies of your game.

    Kasumi is attractive and pretty girl and had very high expectation, but Atlus just didn't seem to know when to utilize her character in this game.

    They let you play her very little in the end and decided not let you play her at all until the end.

    Yes, of course P5 we already experience who's the final and the real boss is and what memento is for. P5 Royal plays out the same and by the time they let you play Kasumi, you will be just tired to play this long game. your line up for the boss is already perfect and there will be no room for low leveled Kasumi and Akechi fits in. All the items and equipments are already planned out and your mind is already done with this game by the time Atlus let you play her.

    Me? I just put her in my bench and never looked back. I skipped through boring dialogues and was hoping to reach March to end the game.

    I gave 10/10 on Original P5 and loved the characters and even bought Strikers.

    I'm hoping I won't fall for P6 updated version after release of original.

    Atlus just doesn't respect those who already purchased first game.    … Expand
  6. DevilSurvivor
    Nov 18, 2021
    5
    An obvious cashgrab that is reflected in my score. The original Persona 5 for me is at least a 9/10.

    Atlus seems to fund itself solely by milking their franchises, and for as much flak as companies like Ubisoft get, let's get real, even they didn't do dancing game spin-offs of their flagship titles. This is probably the most disgusting practice from Atlus, the constant release of    An obvious cashgrab that is reflected in my score. The original Persona 5 for me is at least a 9/10.

    Atlus seems to fund itself solely by milking their franchises, and for as much flak as companies like Ubisoft get, let's get real, even they didn't do dancing game spin-offs of their flagship titles. This is probably the most disgusting practice from Atlus, the constant release of braindead and cashgrab games that serve no purpose than to milk people for their love of series like SMT and Persona.

    In any case, this expansion brings a new social confidant, a few months of gameplay and a new palace, as well as new demons and a new party member.

    Is it worth the god damn full price release? Absolutely not. What a shameful practice.
    Is it even worth buying if you already did everything in Persona 5? Unless you're a huge Personadrone, absolutely not. By the time I got to the Sixth Palace in P5, I was already skipping dialogue (they went with quantity over quality for sure), especially the Text messages and the overused and ridiculous chit chat involving the "Oh no, the deadline is coming, do you think everything will work out? :OOO". It's repetitive, uninspired, and lacks a lot of care for it. So, why would I want three more months of that?
    Especially when the same problems still exist for the gameplay: you either grind to death in palaces before leaving them, or you waste your days in Mementos grinding lower leveled enemies. It's not as engaging as SMT's gameplay, nor does it have any fun mechanics like some of the SMT spin-offs.

    This is just Persona 5 with a little bit more content, but when the original is already a dragged out game that can last upwards of 80 hours just playing normally, are you really gonna manage 100 hours of repetitive dialogue, especially knowing that every palace that arrives, a new character joins you and the older cast members either become caricatures or are completely forgotten?

    If you' haven't played P5, buy this version as it's the most complete one out there. And yes, if you haven't played it, it's worth it even at 40 bucks. If you've played P5 already, this should be a 10 buck upgrade at most. Comparing this to let's say, TW3 Blood & Wine expansion... Oof, what a disappointment this was.    … Expand
  7. Bradyjohnston
    Nov 16, 2021
    7
    The gameplay is charming and fun, but the characters and story are admittedly shallow and repetitive. The story takes a convoluted, poorly executed turn after the next to last palace, but all in all it is a flashy, light hearted JRPG that is worth a go. The extra content and characters were not particularly interesting to me, but the quality of life improvements are noticeable. I don'tThe gameplay is charming and fun, but the characters and story are admittedly shallow and repetitive. The story takes a convoluted, poorly executed turn after the next to last palace, but all in all it is a flashy, light hearted JRPG that is worth a go. The extra content and characters were not particularly interesting to me, but the quality of life improvements are noticeable. I don't quite think that justifies the difference between the two versions, though.… Expand
  8. 2random
    Sep 29, 2021
    5
    The game is identical to the original Persona 5. They just added a few scenes and lowered the difficulty by a lot. It's still good, but don't waste your time if you've already played the og version. Oh, and new content is locked behind leveling up bonds with specific confidants. So, there is a huge chance you'll miss like 30% of the game.
  9. lovefromhate88
    Jan 14, 2021
    5
    I hated every minute of this game and i don’t actually know why.

    I adore JRPGs usually but did not enjoy this at all.

    Its the sort of game reviews are irrelevant because you will wither be a fan or not
  10. kuehnau
    Jan 6, 2021
    5
    Just another way for companies to re-sell you a game you already bought. Yeah, it adds some extra content here and there, but it's not like this is an entirely new experience. This really should have been DLC, not released as a new game. At least they charge a reasonable price for admission.
  11. baleilneil
    Dec 14, 2020
    6
    Game breaking glitch on the 4th palace boss made this game unplayable. Vanilla P5 didn’t have a problem with this.

    Also Ryuji deserves better.
  12. rainyday2
    Oct 23, 2020
    7
    The extremely tedious life sim aspect of the game that takes abut 60% of your game time hurts an otherwise really cool looking and playing game with a flawed but still enjoyable story with some pretty good themes

    Constant messages, pointless repeating dialogue , repetition of going to the same places to upgrade your stats and an endless mandatory mementos makes the game too long for    The extremely tedious life sim aspect of the game that takes abut 60% of your game time hurts an otherwise really cool looking and playing game with a flawed but still enjoyable story with some pretty good themes

    Constant messages, pointless repeating dialogue , repetition of going to the same places to upgrade your stats and an endless mandatory mementos makes the game too long for it's own good . Persona 5 to me would have been a much better and more replayable game if it was 30-40 hours shorter    … Expand
  13. RoyalPlushie
    Sep 27, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I think the game is good but not because of the characters or story. Persona 5's aesthetic was great and it's gameplay was probably the best in the Persona series. P5R fixes most of Vanilla P5's problems but not all of them. Maruki and Kasumi were great additions to the gameplay and story but I feel like the game shoves Kasumi in your face too often. Vanilla P5's story and plot twist were predictable and P5R doesn't really change anything about that. I'd give Vanillla P5 the overall same rating as P5R. Oh and I wasn't mad about buying P5R because there "weren't enough changes". I played most of the Persona originals and remasters (IS, Portable, Golden) so I knew what I was getting myself into.… Expand
  14. Nahna
    Sep 16, 2020
    7
    Enquanto o original foi meu jogo favorito da geração, essa versão pecou em alguns pontos: música de batalha do original é melhor, alteraram alguns diálogos por razões estúpidas, alteraram a dificuldade do jogo deixando ele muito fácil a ponto de perder a graça. Definitivamente recomendo o original.
  15. Overt
    Aug 21, 2020
    7
    Me encantó como todos los juegos de la saga Persona pero esta fórmula ya me tiene un poco cansada y saturada, es un buen juego, pero ya no para mí.
  16. Zojar
    Aug 20, 2020
    6
    Otro juego del montón. No destacable.
    Esta ea, pero ps4 tiene mejores.
    Si no tienes más en tu consola pues no queda otra.
  17. Howlingwolfjoey
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Here's what most people say: "Oh! Persona 5 is the best game in the series! This game is a must buy! You must play it. The characters are memorable and the story is amazing!"
    Here's me: "Persona 2, 3, and 4 is better."

    I'm sorry, but I can't stand people kissing the game's butt for being the Greatest Game of All Time. Because honestly, it's one of the most overhyped and overrated Persona game in the series. Not to say it's bad, it's an alright persona game, but not the best one in the series.

    Pros:
    Soundtrack:
    Let's start with the soundtrack. Every persona games has a theme in their series. Persona 3 was rap and Persona 4 was J-Pop. In Persona 5, the game's theme this time is Jazz. And I gotta say. Some of the soundtracks are very catchy, if not, better than Persona 3 and 4. Even the battle theme Last Surprise, which it has become a meme to death and you'll never get it out of your head.

    Gameplay:
    There's one thing that I will admit is that the gameplay has improved drastically, if not, the best in the series. No more you have to fight blob-like enemies in combat. This time, you get to fight and make a great return of battling traditional demons from the previous SMT games & Persona 1 & 2. This feels a big breath of fresh air to the series since they were absent from Persona 3 & 4. All I can say is that I'm glad they're back. And with 3 new elements: Psychic, Nuke, and Gun. These are great new additions to the game and they're welcomed.

    Art Style:
    This game has drastically got an improved art style starting from character sprites, to character portrats, to animation. These are visually impressive upgrade from the P3 & P4 era.

    Cons:
    Characters:
    Now that we got the positives out of the way, let's get to the negatives. Starting with the characters. I absolutely HATED these characters. All of them are unlikable comparing to characters from previous Persona games. Persona 3's characters made you feel sympathetic. Persona 4's characters made you feel light hearted and always give you a big smile. Persona 5's characters are terrible, so bad that it makes me want to grab them from the screen and punch them, mostly Ryuji because he won't shut up & keep on exposing themselves they're the Phantom Thieves.

    Story:
    I gotta say this up front. Persona 5's story has the WORST story in the series. At least for the main story. Because in the Royal's story, there was new content that wasn't in the original. And honestly, it should've focused on THAT STORY because it's at least original and had a better plot twist instead of the actual main story and Maruki is a better villain and an unexpected plot twist than Yaldabaoth. But nowhere near as iconic as Adachi nor Nyx. As for the main story, and I'm gonna say this without triggering you. The story of Persona 5 feels like a rehash of Persona 4. They reused the same idea as Persona 3 & 4: someone who works at school dies, a member of your group is the traitor, the final boss is a god it's the same. And it's tiring. At least Royal did something new. Also, the game has a number of plot holes. Like, the arc with Madarame. They've found legitimate proof that the art has been plargiarized & abused his students. Why didn't they use this proof to the police? I guess plot convenience?

    Overall:
    All I can say this: Persona 3 has better Story. Persona 4 has the best characters. And Persona 5 has the best gameplay. Persona 2 is the best of both worlds, but Persona 2 was a very outdated game that I can't count it. While it's not the worst in the series, I think it's not the best either. I enjoyed it, but not like other Persona games.    … Expand
  18. karelbodlak
    Jul 11, 2020
    6
    Played 100 hours. Saw rest of the game through YT. I was not able to be part of the story. Main character is MUTE, U R not able to customize him outside the battle, lot of conversations are muted (you have to read the text), cut scenes are not made by the game engine. So, your romantic decisions or chosen battle costumes are not reflected in them. Especially end cut scene can totallyPlayed 100 hours. Saw rest of the game through YT. I was not able to be part of the story. Main character is MUTE, U R not able to customize him outside the battle, lot of conversations are muted (you have to read the text), cut scenes are not made by the game engine. So, your romantic decisions or chosen battle costumes are not reflected in them. Especially end cut scene can totally disregard your loved and romanticized character. If this is 10 of 10 game, Mass Effect is 100 of 10 game.… Expand
  19. Alaxis
    Jul 9, 2020
    5
    No bad, but that was only because the original was great and TBH the new semester make no sense - all the others were about people being exploited but couldn’t get help because of societal reasons (like Ann being targeted sexually by a former Olympian that no one would believe allegations against and the school he worked at was protecting) but Kasumi was the victim of magic BS and has toNo bad, but that was only because the original was great and TBH the new semester make no sense - all the others were about people being exploited but couldn’t get help because of societal reasons (like Ann being targeted sexually by a former Olympian that no one would believe allegations against and the school he worked at was protecting) but Kasumi was the victim of magic BS and has to go through a path of self acceptance to fix it... it felt like they took a month off of another persona game and just glued it on to P5 - and the new characters were super annoying. Like, the new graphics and battle fixes are wonderful and felt like a step forward but the new story content was bad enough that it feels like a step back leaving you right back where you started so I’m putting a score right in the middle 5/10.… Expand
  20. SplitMind
    Jul 8, 2020
    6
    For such an in-depth game with vast amounts of fans, this is an incredibly contrived and restrictive experience, and the Royal edition does not do enough to alleviate this. This game needs a lot more freedom and a lot more fluidity in navigating through cut-scenes and dialogue. Such a shame as there's so much that I could have loved here but even more that gets in the way. Perhaps all theFor such an in-depth game with vast amounts of fans, this is an incredibly contrived and restrictive experience, and the Royal edition does not do enough to alleviate this. This game needs a lot more freedom and a lot more fluidity in navigating through cut-scenes and dialogue. Such a shame as there's so much that I could have loved here but even more that gets in the way. Perhaps all the stellar reviews can overlook these elements but I cannot.… Expand
  21. nirolol
    Jul 7, 2020
    6
    Too damn long. Dialogs are getting boring and fights become repetitive after some time in the game
  22. psan
    Jun 29, 2020
    7
    a good RPG and one of the best in the series. must play for JRPG fans you won't regret it!
  23. Ambimunch
    Jun 20, 2020
    5
    I will keep this short. The original Persona 5 is a solid 8/10 game for me. It has a great story, revolutionary JRPG gameplay, and touches on many themes that modern society considers taboo. As for Persona 5 Royal, it's a cash grab. The game is advertised as the "game of the year" version, with enough added content to warrant a full $60 price. Don't waste your money, P5R has very littleI will keep this short. The original Persona 5 is a solid 8/10 game for me. It has a great story, revolutionary JRPG gameplay, and touches on many themes that modern society considers taboo. As for Persona 5 Royal, it's a cash grab. The game is advertised as the "game of the year" version, with enough added content to warrant a full $60 price. Don't waste your money, P5R has very little story additions, very minimal gameplay improvements (that sometimes actually devalue the old gameplay systems that are in place), uses new voices for some characters that deliver an inferior performance, and censors some of its heavy topics from the first game. As a package it doesn't add enough new content to justify a full price, and in other instances removes or censors elements that were good from the first game. The persona 5 experience is better enjoyed in its vanilla original release form.… Expand
  24. Potatoes953
    May 17, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I liked the game but I also didn't like it at the same time. I feel that the game-play and dungeon design is phenomenal however I feel that the story is kind of stupid, that characters are bland and that the themes and pacing are all over the place. I go in depth about it in my video review of the game on YouTube that is 35 minutes long but I thought I would review it over here so that it's seen by more people.
    I dislike the story quite a bit and a lot of the dungeons are boring or are out of place within the story and don't seem to keep with the core ideals and themes of the plot. I played the game right off of the tail end of playing my two favorite games of all time (Persona 4 Golden and Valkyria Chronicles 2) and in every way when it comes to the plot it feels like a step down from the story telling of Persona 3 and 4 and VC2 just has a great plot no matter what some may say. I went into it hoping for an experience I'd remember for a long while but two weeks after beating it I don't remember a single social link or scene other than the stuff at the end compared to P4 to which I think about nearly every day.
    I do not feel that it deserves the 10/10s people are giving it and don't get me wrong I still liked it but I just simply don't have many fond memories of playing it. I feel that the flaws the game has need to be addressed in the reviews here and I feel that too many of them are just "it's so good look at the UI." I feel that people should still definitely play it but not look at it as the all-time best Persona game or RPG ever because it isn't. It is the only game I have ever pre-ordered and I regret being swept up in the hype and doing so because it was a disappointment for me because I expected more from it.    … Expand
  25. GrizzlyFav
    May 13, 2020
    5
    Not bad, but definitely not worth years of waiting or the current price. The new characters are hit-or-miss, most being miss, and the new story parts are just kind of haphazardly smushed into the old plot and don’t actually change anything but the game does have better graphics and gameplay. If you play persona for the technical details and gameplay elements you’ll love royal, but if youNot bad, but definitely not worth years of waiting or the current price. The new characters are hit-or-miss, most being miss, and the new story parts are just kind of haphazardly smushed into the old plot and don’t actually change anything but the game does have better graphics and gameplay. If you play persona for the technical details and gameplay elements you’ll love royal, but if you are here more for the story you’ll probably not like it.… Expand
  26. Punni
    May 9, 2020
    5
    I’m totally split down the middle for this one. Some of the changes are YMMV like if an easier gameplay difficulty is more fun or less fun for you, others changes feel like they cancel each-other out - like Maruki is super interesting and adding him improves the story but then Kasumi is so badly done I totally understand if she ruins the new sections for people. I’d consider it the kind ofI’m totally split down the middle for this one. Some of the changes are YMMV like if an easier gameplay difficulty is more fun or less fun for you, others changes feel like they cancel each-other out - like Maruki is super interesting and adding him improves the story but then Kasumi is so badly done I totally understand if she ruins the new sections for people. I’d consider it the kind of game you should watch a play through of on YouTube or twitch first and buy it if you still think it is worth it after seeing it yourself.… Expand
  27. Poofpooof
    May 7, 2020
    5
    Only buy this if you didn’t play the original persona 5. If you did, this one isn’t different enough from the old version to buy again.
  28. Harleyblackwolf
    May 7, 2020
    5
    Okay so I am actually disappointed enough to have made this account on a website where no one will read this opinion because it isn't a perfect ten but I love the persona franchise and feel it needs to be said.
    I enjoyed the hell out of p5 and was super hype for p5r as everyone kept saying oh new confidants, new personas, new semester, new PHANTOM THIEF...
    yeah no... I saw the opening fmv    Okay so I am actually disappointed enough to have made this account on a website where no one will read this opinion because it isn't a perfect ten but I love the persona franchise and feel it needs to be said.
    I enjoyed the hell out of p5 and was super hype for p5r as everyone kept saying oh new confidants, new personas, new semester, new PHANTOM THIEF...

    yeah no... I saw the opening fmv and thought " huh well that was... Lacking." But I said I was being pessimistic. So I checked the menu and got excited again. The dynamic menu and the music were nice and the hidden menu item was enticing, but I just wanted to get into the game.

    Five minutes in and you see the new thief not that people hadn't seen her already, but the more I looked the more I though, wow she looks like joker but female with queens mask. Still pessimistic? Fine.hows this? The games new combat and overall gameplay improvements are amazing. Technical hits play more into combat, new locations and benefits to explore and abuse, new stores,confidant bonuses and even dialogue options. The new characters show up throughout the game and it's great. That's not the end of the good, but now that you've seen that there are good, understand that there are bad. The new thief isn't even available to play until the third new "semester" (we'll get to that in a bit) and she feels all the way like a self insert. Not a Mary Sue but still fanfictions.
    The new confidants total 2 with one additional confidant being changed so you can actually hang with them. They aren't story important anymore. Most personas aren't even new, they've just been reclassified while new ones don't come on till endgame.

    And regarding the endgame there is only ONE MONTH. That's not a whole school semester. After that month there is only a new ending sequence otherwise it's all the same. Story is beat for beat the same damn thing. You're paying for mostly just game mechanic improvements and maybe 10 hours worth of new content. 20 if you're interested in reading it. 30 if you wanna drive back and forth in mementos a bunch trying to hear a conversation about pancakes. The new SINGLE palace is cool though and the music and story building in it is bomb minus a few forced retcons. Also the new PHANTOM THIEF is the only one that gets a magical girl transformation and everyone else should have one. Also the new ending is just sequel bait for a side game and that slightly upsets me. You shouldn't waste 60 dollars on this unless you haven't played the vanilla game.

    Tldr if you haven't played persona 5 yet, get it. If you have, it's up to you to decide if it's worth it. I don't think it is    … Expand
  29. Swingandmiss
    May 6, 2020
    5
    Do not understand the high ratings. This game is like 90+% unchanged from the original, that came out years ago and goes for like 20$ now, and most of the changes are pretty small. I can call it a bad game because the original was good, but I sympathize with people annoyed with this one.
  30. Wingandwind
    Apr 18, 2020
    5
    First off I believe you need to compare this version of the game to the original since they are both playable on the same system and a new player would have to choose between them and old players need to choose if this is worth buying when they already have a version of persona 5. If you are getting this one solely to have the ‘definitive’ version, also keep in mind both persona 4 andFirst off I believe you need to compare this version of the game to the original since they are both playable on the same system and a new player would have to choose between them and old players need to choose if this is worth buying when they already have a version of persona 5. If you are getting this one solely to have the ‘definitive’ version, also keep in mind both persona 4 and persona 3 got remakes on portable systems, so I would not be surprised if we get another persona 5 remake for a portable system one day.

    So for everything good I have to say about royal I have something bad to say compared to the original:

    Good new graphics update - but bad new opening that you see every time you start the game, uglier, smaller font (big deal since this game is largely told through text and dialogue) used than the original game, and some of the new character busts are very odd looking and don’t look like they were drawn by the people who did the old busts.


    A new semester with a new palace! - it is optional. It also needs to be unlocked and the unlocking is easy enough to miss that many players may accidentally miss it. Also the new ‘semester’ isn’t very long and it is only like a month ish, calling it a ‘semester’ almost feels misleading. I can see why there are many bad reviews saying they were unhappy with how little new content there was.

    New confidants to do and a new romance option - but without going into spoilers the new royal characters are very similar to ones from previous Atlus games (including previous persona games) so if you are familiar with other persona, smt, or other Atlus games the new characters may feel stale or predictable.

    A new party member to use! - but she is on team for a very, very short amount of time so people excited to use a new party member will probably be disappointed. And her character arc doesn’t match the other characters being more about accepting her past and herself than of fighting against social norms and abuse. And as above, her writing is really predictable and weak.

    New battle mechanics and changes to make some aspects (like weapons and guns) more useful! - but it causes some balancing issues. Some changes now make the game too easy later in the game and make make some things already in the game obsolete. Example: changes to the guns to make them better made gun-based persona and gun persona skills a waste of time to use as well as making Haru much less useful, and she already suffers as she joins the cast very late.

    ...So, yeah, I do not believe royal is an unquestionable improvement to the original. I’d even go as far as saying that the new additions really could have used more work and many of the changes actually hurt the game instead of improving it. The new characters are also very disappointing and I don’t think most players will enjoy them.

    So overall I can’t say I enjoyed this version as much as the original, but I don’t think it is a bad game. If you played the original I wouldn’t bother getting this one and if you have never played persona 5 I would say get the original because it will probably be cheaper and it isn’t any worse. I’d only really recommend this version if safety difficultly was too hard for you in the original or if you are a stickler for good graphics and have a giant, super HD TV so a graphic upgrade would make a huge difference to you. Overall though I don’t think royal is worth it to the average gamer. It isn’t ‘bad’ but ‘unnecessary’ might be a good word.


    Buy, rent, watch an LP, or skip? Skip. The original will probably serve you fine and most of the new changes may not be worth buying the game again, most new plot points are optional and don’t change the story and are skippable.    … Expand
  31. Razor7557
    May 3, 2020
    5
    On one hand, it's still the same great Persona 5. On the other hand, it stabs all of it's fans in the back by introducing censorship, and giving in to demands of certain easily offended pseudo-fans who would never buy the game anyway. This is something I simply cannot ignore, no matter how small the censorship itself is. Allowing it to come through, will open a way for much worse changesOn one hand, it's still the same great Persona 5. On the other hand, it stabs all of it's fans in the back by introducing censorship, and giving in to demands of certain easily offended pseudo-fans who would never buy the game anyway. This is something I simply cannot ignore, no matter how small the censorship itself is. Allowing it to come through, will open a way for much worse changes to be done to future games. With it being a full priced on top of that, I must with a heavy heart give it 5/10 at best, despite giving the original 10/10.… Expand
  32. HotCheeto
    May 2, 2020
    7
    This game could of easily been DLC to the original, not worth $60. Also, they have made it easier.
  33. Freshslates
    Apr 23, 2020
    6
    Ok, I see a lot of people comparing this version to the original so I’m writing a review as someone who didn’t play the original and came into the royal with a clean slate.

    Honestly? It didn’t live up to the hype. While the gameplay is the best of any jrpg I’ve ever played and the music was fantastic, I wouldn’t give this game a 10/10 in any other aspect. But the gameplay parts I can’t    Ok, I see a lot of people comparing this version to the original so I’m writing a review as someone who didn’t play the original and came into the royal with a clean slate.

    Honestly? It didn’t live up to the hype. While the gameplay is the best of any jrpg I’ve ever played and the music was fantastic, I wouldn’t give this game a 10/10 in any other aspect. But the gameplay parts I can’t stress enough are amazing, the palaces are beautiful and creative, cool monster designs, and the controls are super user friendly.

    I see a lot of people praising the graphics, and while the menus, dialogue boxes, character portraits, and such were great, most of the in-game graphics were OK at best with flat textures on background items and buildings, low detail background characters, and showing characters from a distance to hide how weird some of their facial proportions and expressions are on the models. If you look at videos of the rhythm game spinoffs you can really see how much better some of the graphics could have been.

    The story was also lacking. There was a lot of filler and I feel like you could have removed like a 1/4 of it and it wouldn’t make a big difference. Most of the female party members are totally removable - Futaba is useful and Ann helps kickstart the plot (but really doesn’t do anything once the plot starts moving) but Makoto only bosses people around and tells people things the player could really figure out on their own, Haru’s dad is more important than her and she’s really only on the team because she happens to be the one to find Morgana after he tries to leave, and Kasumi isn’t even part of the team until after the main part of the story is long over - even as someone who never knew the original I can tell she wasn’t in it and she was added in later because she is just too tacked on. There are also big parts that don’t add to the story like school trips/activities and Morgana running away that would have just improved the pacing if they had been removed.

    The game is also very anticlimactic. Many side stories just kind of end. Morgana’s subplot about his identity is answers with some infodumps near the end, Goro appears and causes problems only to be swept away when he isn’t useful to the story anymore, and most of Kasumi’s and Takuto’s developments become hollow depending on if whether you do the last palace (it isn’t required - I actually would recommend not doing it because it doesn’t add to the plot and is really badly written).

    The game also handles teenagers really badly. The game treats them as adults with fan service of girls that are really young, teens being in relationships with adults (like their teachers, the player character can literally date his homeroom teacher), and many of the characters just act like short adults. I feel like the writer wanted this to be about young adults (like in their 20s) but the publishers or something stepped in and made them change it.

    So yeah, it is a game with all the best basic gameplay and game style, but it is bogged down by a big story that really slacks in areas.    … Expand
  34. JayVale
    Apr 12, 2020
    7
    This is a pretty fun JRPG.

    It’s really good once you get into it. However it has some issues that can make the game a sleepfest. For example, it takes about 10 hours of playing before The game really gets going and becomes fun, and there’s so much dialogue that I find myself checking my phone while I wait for them to finish. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that the    This is a pretty fun JRPG.

    It’s really good once you get into it.

    However it has some issues that can make the game a sleepfest.

    For example, it takes about 10 hours of playing before The game really gets going and becomes fun, and there’s so much dialogue that I find myself checking my phone while I wait for them to finish. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that the dialogue usually isn’t anything important.    … Expand
  35. Gonoru
    Apr 9, 2020
    6
    Been a good game, it has no awesome feature, the story is just fine, graphics are good (but nothing incredible), same goes for the rest...I don't understand the scores that it's getting
  36. Gofive
    Apr 8, 2020
    5
    The game was fun I was enjoying my self a lot of the game but I did not know that there is an order to get the good ending that was **** they really should have told us how to get the good ending and if you are wondering the order here it is you have to get reach councillor arcana on doctor maruki rank 9 before the 18 of November Ans next you have to reach Faith arcana on kasumi ****The game was fun I was enjoying my self a lot of the game but I did not know that there is an order to get the good ending that was **** they really should have told us how to get the good ending and if you are wondering the order here it is you have to get reach councillor arcana on doctor maruki rank 9 before the 18 of November Ans next you have to reach Faith arcana on kasumi **** rank 5 before the 18th of December And then reach justice arcana for goro akechi rank 8 before the 24th November and you have to refuse all offers presented by the big bad boss how was I meant to know that I got the bad ending By the way I did play the game not just writing this for no reason… Expand
  37. EdwinSpellmir
    Apr 7, 2020
    5
    Having played the original and now this version I was very happy to find it wasn’t just a hacked on extra bit to the game, but an amazing improvement on an already amazing game. My only complaint would be that most of the. We content (most not all) happens after the main story and is gated, meaning if you didn’t do “x” things before the end of the main story, you may completely miss it.Having played the original and now this version I was very happy to find it wasn’t just a hacked on extra bit to the game, but an amazing improvement on an already amazing game. My only complaint would be that most of the. We content (most not all) happens after the main story and is gated, meaning if you didn’t do “x” things before the end of the main story, you may completely miss it. Other then that, absolutely fantastic, the new characters are great, the change to an existing character was very welcome, and the new extra story was very interesting, if a bit morally questionable.… Expand
  38. ese
    Apr 5, 2020
    6
    this game is quite interesting. I have played it several times and it was perfectly improved by Atlus.
  39. fpretorian
    Apr 4, 2020
    6
    Jogo bom, divertido, mas, eu realmente não consegui sentir aquela vontade de jogar sem parar. Vale a pena conferir para quem curte o estilo.
  40. MnameJeff
    Apr 1, 2020
    7
    The quality of life gameplay changes are very good, making the very good combat even better. The story on the other hand is still utter garbage. However, that only goes for the base game story, the new story added in Royal, while still the weakest in the series, is actually very enjoyable, and both Sumire and Maruki are some of the best characters in the game. However better gameplay andThe quality of life gameplay changes are very good, making the very good combat even better. The story on the other hand is still utter garbage. However, that only goes for the base game story, the new story added in Royal, while still the weakest in the series, is actually very enjoyable, and both Sumire and Maruki are some of the best characters in the game. However better gameplay and a good new story can't save repetitive gameplay and the overall bland character personalities. I think Persona 5 Royal is good and nothing more, not bad but not great. It's a fine entry point to Persona and Megaten as a whole, but pretty much every other game in the series except vanilla Persona 5 is better than Royal… Expand
  41. Charpi
    Apr 1, 2020
    7
    Ok I'm gonna be honest with all of you with this review.

    I played the game in Jappanese and I was waiting to make a review for the game when the release of west was made. This review I made it on november. P5R is a good game for an JRPG Fan like me of course in this aspects. -Gameplay: I think when I played P5(Vanilla) it was a good gameplay but it needs a log and a advice tag when    Ok I'm gonna be honest with all of you with this review.

    I played the game in Jappanese and I was waiting to make a review for the game when the release of west was made. This review I made it on november. P5R is a good game for an JRPG Fan like me of course in this aspects.

    -Gameplay: I think when I played P5(Vanilla) it was a good gameplay but it needs a log and a advice tag when you want to do a critical or a technical attack. This game added that and surely paid off. Also I like the add of the showtime attacks that is a good extra for the game for something to help and save SP/HP. Another aspect is mementos that is a dungeon to explore and get lot and EXP. That part was difficult on the P5(vanilla) cus you were limited, but the add with a boy solve that problem and I even reach lvl 99 without problems on my first playthrough Lol. New boss fights were added and old ones change they were a lot of fun to play vs them and add my strategy skills to use again like the twins.

    The open world is now more freely to speak with confidants and Morgana doesn't tell you to go to sleep it was a good add but I miss it too cus for me persona is a JRPG but the first gameplay it shows how limited you are but also add a good reality of what the game offers you, I feel very easy to try to get the mayotity of the confidants and the new place to visit Kichijoji help a lot on the team with activities to pass the time but also boost them. Also the confidants have an extra scenes that make fresh dialogues and see more of them.

    Music and sound: I play all the persona games but the music with P3, P4 with P4G and P5 are always the best aspects of the game by far l. The music of each game has their unique taste making the game very stylish. P5R has a good soundtrack but it doesn't get me hype like the P5(vanilla) but still makes a good effort to make something fresh but not very hype with it. The sound and effects are very well polished just like with P5(vanilla).

    Art: Here I don't even need to rate it LOL you know the answer XD.

    Now you are thinking why I'm telling good things of the game but why a 7.0(7.5). Here comes the bad things that I think this game fail for me.

    Story and essence: I think this story is the same thing with changes on dialogue and some adds, but adding Kasumi to the story doesn't really affect to the main plot until the third semester that there is were the new things are getting. Now for me my opinion on Kasumi, she is not my best character even if they give her all the screentime of the life like a wall to pass, I even rate her 5th of the female thieves. The reason is because she doesn't even get that essence of the P5 with her backstory and life. I think she fits well on P4 than P5 just cus her story if I could tell in general she is a happy person she has her life literally ready you have a father who loves her, the society doesn't even make her an injustice and she wasn't even in danger or threatened. If someone who played the game it could reach to that conclusion, but the point is that I think Kasumi was wrong all the time about her life cus she wanted to reach high and be the best on gymnastics but there was another side that makes her think that she would not reach it. I think her family wouldn't wanted being selfish about your life is not worth it, is like a drama for me if you see it if you want to play the game. But her story is more of P4 than P5 cus the message of P4 for me is seeking the truth of the person than what it shows on the TV or any social media, just that we are using cognition and it remind me that. Makoto on one of her confidant rank says to the protagonist "The most important part of your life is how you choose to live it." that's something that Kasumi should do, but for this game doesn't fit her cus is rebelling against society and saving the people who needs it its not rebelling your life for someone by being selfish and making your life miserable if your family doesn't want that the only one that I think is worth the other confidant Takuto Maruki. The other thing is that this game is in doubt because P5Scramble release in Japan and is a true sequel of the P5(vanilla) so this game is not canon(I tell this for the people who like the story and the characters and probably you should wait for that game than this). The final is not the same and shows a bittersweet than the unity of the last one.

    Price/DLC: This is another aspect that ATLUS is bad. I think the price of this game doesn't even afford it to be a full price. By telling you that the story is the same just adding new things I could make a price of 30-40 than 60 cus is the same process of the game just with new things. And the DLC I just recommend to buy the boss fights ones cus the outfits are very expensive and even if you bought it on the vanilla one you need to 1 or 2 dolars for that.

    Gameplay 2.0
    Art 2.0
    Music/sound 1.5
    Story 1.0
    Price/DLC 1.0

    Equals 7.5 cus metacritic doesn't have 7.5    … Expand
  42. reread
    Apr 1, 2020
    7
    (spoiler-free )Thanks to the current worldwide epidemic I received my copy very early and played it non-stop after finishing it, I can't see this game as 10/10 here's why: first of all the price people already paid 60$ for the original and they have to do it again to play the same game(with minor alteration) first then access a 30 hours new content, yeah you play the Snyder-cut of the(spoiler-free )Thanks to the current worldwide epidemic I received my copy very early and played it non-stop after finishing it, I can't see this game as 10/10 here's why: first of all the price people already paid 60$ for the original and they have to do it again to play the same game(with minor alteration) first then access a 30 hours new content, yeah you play the Snyder-cut of the first game and then you get to experience what you paid for, in my opinion, this game should be 30-40$ or a DLC, but for the sake of the Review, I'm gonna pretend P5 doesn't exist

    P5R's gameplay is truly the best I've seen It makes the Turn-based combat fun and rewarding where the battle mechanics have been adjusted to the point the game starts feeling easy even on final boss fight I played on normal and I felt that the game was holding my hand from start to finish those who are looking for a challenge should pump the difficulty to Max, now for the social sim mode of the game a lot there are multiple activities that you can do so you'll never feel bored, but the main point are the confidant there mostly fun some of them can feel corny but the three new ones outshine all the rest there so well-written that I felt bad when I finished them early so I gotta give the gameplay a 5/5 there's nothing left to say

    the story and characters are where it bites the dust for the first half you experience a story that fails in holding everything together the entire phantom thieves get the spotlight in their own respective arcs after that the story won't pay attention to them and neither will you unless you're doing their social links and you'll better do because otherwise, they'll get zero development as for the villains most of them are bland the only interesting one is the new content villain as for the others they just appear, you go beat them, then they apologize that's all. if I was 15 years old this would have been so good for me, too bad I've seen better narrative the new content is when the game starts giving a damn about the villans as two characters become the stars of the show giving you a decent climax I found myself enjoying this 30 hours but that's not even half the playtime of the first half.
    story 2/5 I've already seen the first half is still very boring and it takes almost the entire screentime    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS4 Game of 2020
12
#12 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
95

Universal acclaim - based on 71 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 71
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 71
  3. Negative: 0 out of 71
  1. Gamer Escape
    Jun 10, 2020
    100
    Persona 5 Royal allows players to experience the story they already love in a new way without losing any of the beauty from the original game. New and old characters get their chance to shine through and steal your heart, even the ones you never expected to. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and maybe you’ll even feel a sense of justice for the infamous Phantom Thieves in the end. But one thing you won’t feel is regret in picking up Persona 5 Royal, as it’s truly the best Persona title, if not one of the best video games, I’ve ever experienced to date.
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  2. Games.cz
    May 20, 2020
    100
    This is not more of the same, this is not an optional add-on to the original game. This, my friends, is the perfect experience, down to the last letter, down to the last minute. Persona 5 Royal is a Japanese crown jewel.
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  3. GameCritics
    Apr 30, 2020
    85
    All of the new additions and content mean that Persona 5 Royal is a clear upgrade to the original. New players should seek this version without hesitation, although vets may find starting the game over from scratch to be too big an ask. Either way, there’s no doubt that Persona 5 Royal sits proudly on the throne of Peak Persona… or at least it will until Atlus decides they can do even more with it.
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