Persona 5 Royal Review – Anime of the state

You think of JRPGs, and your mind probably flashes on to thoughts of swords, sorcery, and characters who sound like they inhale an illegal amount of helium before they start talking. Not Persona 5 though, as this Atlus masterpiece wastes no time in dropping you into a world of stylish anime visuals, jazzy soundtracks, and slick combat before it follows up that combo with intrigue, mystery, and high school drama.

One of the best JRPGs of recent memory is now available in its best form on a number of platforms, reuniting occasional Smash Bros. brawler Joker with the rest of the Phantom Thieves in a slick package that combines style and substance together with meaningful tweaks to create the definitive Persona adventure.

In case you missed the original game when it first came out in 2016 in Japan (2017 for the rest of the world), Persona 5 follows protagonist Joker as he enrolls in a new high school after being unjustly accused of a crime that has landed him a criminal record. It’s not long before he joins a group of misfits at Shujin Academy known as the Phantom Thieves, and sets out to save the day while also juggling the social responsibilities of everyday life. If you’re not crawling through dungeons exorcising monsters out of people, you’re cultivating your bond with your teammates, keeping your grades up, and making every day count.

Similar to Persona 4: Golden, Persona 5 Royal is a complete package that bundles all of the game’s original content and DLC together with a number of fine-tuned updates, small pieces of new content, and pacing tweaks to make the whole package run smoother than ever. Beyond that, it’s the Persona 5 that you know and love, a polished explosion of colourful characters and even more vibrant gameplay, all held together by stylish battles and deep character development on and off the battlefield.

Essential, the Royal edition of Persona 5 is the best entry point into the franchise for rookies, and with a number of small but substantial changes to its design, veterans can get a New Game+ experience out of a return to Shibuya. Everything else runs as you remember it but better, as the added grunt of current-gen hardware (I played on PS5) means that the minimal but striking art direction shines with nary a frame being dropped, or an edge looking jaggier than anti-hobo architecture.

Where the game truly stands out, though, is with its approach to the passing of time. Persona 5 breaks up the adventure into days, where you tackle your biggest priorities as you strengthen your team bonds and delve further into the overall story. That results is a more digestible approach, provided that you can sit through the several hours of setup needed to reach the point where you’re given free rein. Persona 5 takes its time with its opening act, but once you’ve sunk enough time into its purposefully restrictive design in those first hours, you’ll notice how it’s playing chess in 4D and moving pieces along the board with a grand endgame in mind.

Persona 5 Royal is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. You can also currently play it with Xbox Game Pass.