Persona 5 is a worthy successor of the previous titles in the Shin Megami Tensei spinoff series. The new game offers a refreshing take on the Persona “brand.” It originally had a 2014 release date, but then was delayed multiple times to a 2016 release. Unfortunately, the September 2016 release was only for those in Japan, making the April 2017 release for Western audiences all the more brutal. However, the wait was worth it.
The game is chronologically the sixth title in the Persona series. The franchise in general belongs in the Megami Tensei series of games. This may be the reason why a lot of players find elements of the two separate franchises a bit similar with one another. However, as this review will reveal, P5 offers quite a stunning departure that gives it its own unique take on the franchise.
Story: A Flashy Take on Tradition
Persona 5 has quite the staple introduction to any game in the franchise. A silent protagonist is sent to Tokyo to be transferred to the Shujin Academy. Moreover, the player finds himself put on probation for a false accusation. Throughout the school year, he and a bunch of other students “awaken” their Persona powers. Unfortunately, these events tend to coincide with an accompanying villainous encounter.
These students in fact become the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. They are masked vigilantes that use their Personas to defeat monsters inside a supernatural Palace. The game involves a sinister plot to steal ill intent from the hearts of the adults. Spoilers aside, there is in fact a good reason for its flashy yet ominous “chaotic” tone.
The game shares a similar thematic scheme with its predecessors. The overall story of the game revolves around the idea of freedom, as aptly represented with the rather youthful yet serious tone of the story. The narrative revolves around breaking free and a myriad of modern topics. The title takes a fair amount of time exploring subjects in modern society such as governments, politics, corporations, prestige and class. Behind all this depth are the Phantom Thieves, who are simply doing their best carrying this heavy burden despite being students.
Players may recognize familiar story elements such as Personas, and the return of the Velvet Room. This is a metaphysical realm where Persona users reside before entering the in-game dungeon, the Palace. As with other games in the franchise, all these elements are blended together to make their own in-universe mythos.
Flashy Visuals, Graphics
The game has an effective blend of saturated colors and its classy yet flashy black and white scheme. This scheme takes a different turn from the typical straightforward approach of previous games. The title has a rather chaotic look that blends well with its modern noir theme. This thief-centric approach extends even to the characters. They all have flashy poses that are absolutely stunning, no matter how much they repeat them.
Tokyo in Japan is a good setting for the game, as it is the capital of the country. It offers its own fair share of culture and modernity, combining elements of both the past and the present. This allows Atlus to showcase the new visuals for P5 and still remind players that it retains much of the elements from other Persona games. These are reflected in even the tiniest of things. For instance, the in-game social networking system where students text each other is a smartphone. Even their chatboxes appear consistent with the stylish nature of the game.
Moreover, the stylistic nature of Persona 5 is superimposed with smooth visuals. This gives the title more of a motion comic theme than anything else. Characters express themselves very well, both visual and audio-wise. However, this is of course courtesy of Atlus and its good work on choosing solid voice actors. The Western release of the game offers the option to switch from the standard English audio to Japanese audio via DLC, which can offer new dimensions to characters.
A New Flair To Gameplay
Persona 5 offers a lot of staple Persona elements that were present in previous games. Players can explore various parts of Tokyo by day. A wide variety of shops and non-playable characters (NPCs) can offer new items, skills and weapons for the protagonist. However, players have to be careful as they have to finish the game’s plot over the course of a year. This means they must balance the act of saving the world and being a normal high school student.
Luckily, players can set the difficulty of the game as early as the prologue. These range from Safety, Easy, Normal, and Hard. Unless one is playing in the first difficulty, the difficulty of the game can be shuffled at any time. Players can buy a downloadable content pack that offers Merciless, a difficulty mode that offers the most damage received, but the less experience and money gained.
There are even Confidants or NPCs that can boost certain attributes depending on a player’s relationship with them. Interestingly, this is where the dating simulation element comes in. Moreover, players have the opportunity to develop relationships with characters, which can then provide significant boosts in battle. This replaces the Social Links system as found in the game’s predecessors. Interestingly, the in-game smartphone allows constant communication with these peers, which means players do not always have to physically go to their locations to talk with them.
The Battles
By night, gamers take on the role of the thieves and fight with their Personas. These are manifestations of psyches that they can use to battle Shadows, the staple monsters of the series. Moreover, the game retains the ability to swap Personas mid-battle. This provides players a wide array of special abilities and skills to choose from. However, some Personas are better against certain enemies, meaning gamers are advised to strategize well to avoid using the wrong Personas.
Unlike other turn-based roleplaying games, P5 offers a quicker approach to commands. Previous games offered commands either as a wheel or as a list. This time, commands are now attached to certain buttons. They are all listed around the certain character during their turn. The game also allows players to switch members while inside the Palace, a feature previously unavailable to the game. However, certain skills are needed to switch members in battle.
New Side Quests, Dungeon Layout
Players will also appreciate a new Atlus tactic when it comes to dungeons. A common complaint is that dungeons in the series appear quite boring as they appear too linear. This time, the new game offers unique platforming elements, stealth, puzzles, and traps for players to enjoy. This gives the feeling of actually being a thief that has to evade security in order to get treasure. As usual, players can get the advantage if they initiate combat in stealth mode.
A new side quest dungeon called Mementos can be accessed by driving a special transformable vehicle. This allows players to collect more treasures and Personas from previously-conquered Palaces. The new dungeon also allows players to steal hearts of targets in the Phantom Aficionado Website. This effectively makes Mementos a good source of extra money and experience points for players in need of stronger attributes.
The Verdict
Persona 5’s long-delayed release was worth the wait. The title blends a lot of its elements to help it become consistent with its theme. Atlus fans will very much enjoy the acting courtesy of the Japanese voice actors, but it seems the Western adaptation of the script may still need a bit of work. This is a common problem when it comes to bringing story-heavy Japanese games to a Western audience. Regardless of a few shortcomings, Atlus is still one of the best when it comes to voice acting in both Japanese and English.
The blending of traditional Persona elements with a modernized take on the subjects of freedom worked quite well in this game. This is quite a new take in the Megami Tensei spin-off series, as it is a very real subject. Regardless, the depth of the narrative, coupled with the game’s rather playful appearance has helped Atlus deliver quite the compelling story.
These blending of elements allowed it to retain many of the trends players love with the franchise, but also introduced ones that give this game its unique edge. Persona 3 dealt with death and Persona 4 dealt with identity, and Persona 5 keeps up with this tradition by offering a similarly emotional take on freedom. In a world where the rules set by society are becoming boring, the latest Persona title shows that even the little things can contain a wide variety of surprises.
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