Persona 5 Royal Review – Poker of Hearts

Analysis of Persona 5 Royal for Xbox Series X.

I don’t consider myself an avid JRPG player. It’s a formula that I rarely try and if I become addicted to a title of this genre it’s because its narration has attracted me from the start and its gameplay interests me. In 2019 it came exclusively to PS4 Royal 5 Person, an enhanced version of Persona 5 which was released in 2017 (also for PS). Until that moment, I knew nothing of this saga of ATLUS, but when they announced the first trailer for the game, it was like falling in love at first sight. I needed to taste it. The problem was that at the time I couldn’t afford another console. Sad of me, I had to settle for watching a friend play it on Twitch.

But three years later, my eyes were shining at the last Xbox and Bethesda Showcase It has become official that three of the most successful deliveries of the saga will come to Xbox Series, Xbox One and PC. One of them was P5R. Although the title is now available for free on Game Pass, I was lucky enough to be able to analyze it thanks to a key provided by Plaion and I verified from my own experience that all the praise this game received at the time was true. So take off your mask, free the Person of your heart and get ready to enter the first Palace which is this analysis.

A new semester begins

Our story begins with a boy who, without eating or drinking it, is rejected by the society of which he was a part. All for arresting a pasta drunk who was harassing a woman on the street. In Japan, the background is much worse than what we are used to here. The bully’s influences will get us sent by our parents Tokyo rebuild our lives by working in a cafe and sleeping in its dusty attic.

When the new term begins Shujin Institute, things are not getting better. Rumors that we are a delinquent run through the halls and we will constantly hear small groups of students whispering around us. But things will start to look a little better when we meet Ryuji Sakamoto, an impulsive and rebellious young man with blond hair who will become our first friend. So far, I can count.

You will surely wonder if it is necessary to have played the previous titles of the saga to understand the story of Persona 5 Royal. The answer is no, well each installment has its own independent adventure.

Double life

The really interesting part of the plot will begin when we can get to the Metavers (Calm down, here you are not going to find a Mark Zuckerberg without legs). Thanks to a mysterious application that installs on our mobile, we can visit this alternate reality where the bad guys show themselves as they really are.

The game will reach a 360 degree turn when we get to this part. We will become Jokerour alter ego and leader of The Phantom Thieves of Hearts (or The Phantom Thieves of Hearts). Our duty will be to do justice to the real world by changing the dream world. For this we must infiltrate the different Palace, which are the staging of a person’s strongest desires in a specific place where everything is controlled by their mind. The objective will be to awaken their hearts, that is, to sneak into their consciousness to steal those desires that make them evil and make them repent and discover themselves in reality.

Even if it doesn’t seem like it reading this, Persona 5 Royal handles analytical psychology concepts in a straightforward way. Moreover, it includes them coherently within the plot., which makes it even more interesting. An example of this would be the explanation they give us of how a replica of a weapon, without live ammunition, can be interpreted and function as a real one. Within the metaverse, our enemies have no other information about him beyond his realistic appearance. Therefore, they will believe it to be real and it will be fatal to them.

Awaken the power of your heart

Moving on to the playable section, the work of ATLUS offers us a complex turn-based combat system. At first it can be a bit confusing, but little by little we will get into the rhythm of the battles and realize how well planned everything is.

The most effective way to attack an enemy will be to use the creatures known as Character. They are the physical representation of the spirit and personality that resides in the heart of each individual. Our companions will only have one, but we will be able to control and manage several of them in combat.

Using a Persona will consume HP (stamina points) or EP (energy points), we will therefore have to learn to use them wisely without abusing them. As an alternative, our characters will have two more additional attacks, one physical with a melee weapon and one ranged with a firearm. The former usually doesn’t miss, but will deal lighter damage. In contrast, the gun attack hits harder, but may miss more often depending on its type. Additionally, these weapons will be bound to ammo, which will not be replenished until the fight is over. We can too relay among our teammates and improve their offensive power.

Having everything!

Personas are creatures that have special magic attacks. Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses and, like Pokémon, its own type table. Attacking our opponent with an attack of the type they are weak to will cause a large amount of damage. Learning the strengths and weaknesses will give us a great advantage and we will be able to fight cleanly.

Also, as I mentioned a few paragraphs above, our Joker protagonist will be the only one with the ability to switch between multiple People in battle. But for that, you have to capture them first. When a single enemy is weakened, a retention and they will appear four possible options: talk to him to give us his power, ask him to give us money, ask him to give us an item or kill him directly using a combo attack. If the former is chosen, we can have a little chat with him. If we manage to like it, it will join our catalog of creatures. Choosing between one of the options will result in the immediate end of the fight.

Also, once we advance through the game, a place called The Velvet Room. This place belongs to the dream world and can only be accessed when sleeping to spend the next day there or before sneaking into a Palace. This room will give us the possibility to perform challenge fights, buy new people or merge two of our team to get a new more powerful. For the merger to be profitable, it will be necessary to take into account the esoteric (its type) of the two creatures we want to join or if we have a bonus for confidant. Finally, we can keep an ability of one of the two old Persona for the new one.

Take your time

Besides the RPG component, Persona 5 Royal also borrows brush strokes from the popular Social writers Japanese. Before starting a palace or a dungeon, we will have a few days in the real world to do what we want. Organizing your time well will be the most important and complicated part of the game.

We will have to take advantage of every moment that they allow us to circulate freely. Looking for work to earn money, improve our level with the confidants (the friendships we make), studying, reading or playing sports will be some of the many things we can do. The weather will also affect the stat points you will get for doing these activities. For example, studying or reading on rainy days will further increase our concentration and intelligence. Getting to raise our statistics will make us fight better, whether we can read more complicated books or we can access new activities. It can all be stressful, but it’s part of the experience of playing a Japanese high school student.

Persona 5 Royal is a playable anime manga

That the ATLUS title jumps out at us is undeniable. From the first moment of starting the game, this is noticeable. Persona 5 Royal is like watching an anime in which, in part, we have control over the protagonists.

From the menus to the loading screens, everything oozes personality. From time to time, we’ll see cutscenes that correspond to key moments in the story and could perfectly pass for an anime series of the highest quality. Talking with the characters will feel like reading a manga, as their reactions will appear on screen like comics, adding more emotion to the dialogues. In short, we are above all a festival for our eyes.

But the soundtrack is not left out either. We will have about thirty new songs of different styles, all of them of an impressive quality. Real hits like “To resume” that you will want to search in Spotify to listen to them more times.

Ultimately

I could write a few more paragraphs explaining how much I loved Persona 5 Royal, but it would never really end. I find it almost impossible to take one negative aspect of this game. To name one, it would be long lasting (about 150 hours), something that can work against us if we don’t connect strongly to the plot. Otherwise, we are ahead one of the best JRPGs of the last decade which perfects the formula of the original work with much more content. Whether you are new to the saga or a veteran, this episode of the popular ATLUS saga will win you over with its wonderful narration perfectly translated into Spanish, original fights, very well-built characters and a technical section that will delight both visitors. and for the ear And it is that The Phantom Thieves have come to Xbox to stay and, incidentally, to steal our hearts.