Persona 5 is the fifth main entire of the Persona franchise. After years of Persona 4 spin-offs we get a full fledge sequel with a brand new cast of characters and locations is this 20+ years series. Now set in Tokyo and playing a teenager on probation, it is your job to live a quiet life until your year of probation is up. However, in true Persona fashion you get the power of persona the ability to manifest a super powered stand and a new mission as the Phantom Thieves you must reform corrupt adults and society all while keeping your identity hidden in a minimum 80 hour journey. Persona 5 is hands down one of the best games that the Playstation 4 has to offer and my favorite of the franchise. Why? Let’s find out!
Pros:
The Graphics, Persona 5 does not have the best graphics but it makes up for it in style. As originally intended for the PS3. Persona 5’s graphics do look average and nothing special. However, despite not looking like Crysis, Persona’s Anime inspired graphics makes up for its shortcomings with the game’s aesthetics producing a style that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for the game it works great and looks more memorable than half the games with great graphics. The game also has beautiful hand drawn anime cutscenes that play at certain parts of the main story. Persona 5 may not have the best graphics but it has the most style with menus, loading screens, and even the title screen all tying in with the themes of Rebellion. It just works.
The Story, Persona 5 has one of my favorite plots of the Persona games yet. In a minimum 80 hour experience. That is a commentary on society, psychology, and the human heart. It handles it all in a way that is very adult. Juxtaposition that to Persona 4 murder crime mystery plot it’s a plot on a larger scale than Persona 4. Which is why I ended up enjoying Persona 5 more than the plot of Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden, it was the first game I played in the series than Persona 3 Portable. Playing these three games Persona 5 surprisingly is my favorite in the series. The plot isn’t perfect there are somethings that are like this again? Come on Atlus. I can write an entire essay about the plot of Persona 5 but it will be too long and spoiler heavy, but Persona 5 plot is fantastic and the best in the series Atlus out did themselves.
Characters, Persona 5 has a new cast of Characters for you to become bros and Romance with 21 confidants all with their unique arcs and perks that will benefit you during gameplay. You have the Phantom Thieves you’re main party and then you have the supporting characters such as the local doctor, your teacher and even a former Yakuza that offer all their own unique perks. A New Game Plus playthrough is necessary to complete all confidants as the game has so much content you can easily skip confidants or not have the right stat to complete a confidant as a result they’re confidants that I started and could not complete as there is a time limit. Despite these setbacks the confidants I did complete were all well done and are better than the average I talked to you once and now we are BFF’s in other games as it takes time for you to max out the friendship. You actually have to hang out with them like in real life, which might sound tedious but ends up working out well. Loved most of the characters some are better than others and of course waifu’s return which doesn’t matter because Ms. Kawakami is best girl.
Gameplay, the iconic turn-based combat returns and has been revamped and given a stylish makeover. With a comic book like aesthetic that gives the engaging combat more of a flare than previous titles. Persona 4 Golden which has great turn based combat system that still holds up but Persona 5 scales it and amps it to ten. Guns and new elements are added to help refine gameplay. The key to getting powerful in Persona 5 goes back to the confidants. Persona 5’s Confidants offer you a wide range of perks both party and non-party. First, fusing persona give you extra xp depending how far you leveled up your confidant relationship. Party members can take hit that would otherwise knock them out and my favorite taking hits that would kill you and they take the damage instead saving you in the process. The rest of the perks from non-party members range anywhere from discounted medicines to new battle tactics. So, not only do you get great arcs with the confidants you get perks that help your journey as a phantom thief. The combat is fluid and well paced despite being turned based, proving the viability of turned based combat in games other than Pokemon. All while hearing another great original soundtrack with a Jazzy tune. Great gameplay as someone who’s not really that big on turned based combat as it can be a double edged sword and get tedious at certain points like when you are over leveled but Persona 5 manages to keep it enjoyable from start to finish.
Music, I hardly praise music in gaming as most do a serviceable job but that’s sort of the standard like good graphics. Persona 5’s Jazz inspired music is one of the best in the industry. Persona is known for good music but the Jazz inspired soundtrack of Persona 5 had me playing the music in my car right after I beat the game it is that good. If I had one complaint is that the battle music could have used more tracks but other than that it’s a great soundtrack that has it own rhythm game spin-off that released in Japan and coming to the west on December 4, 2018 can’t wait.
Cons:
Pacing issues, Persona 5 has a time limit the game reminds you to take your time and utilize it the most efficient and effective way you can. So, why after you complete a palace you have a week of being told to go to sleep by your cat because you’re tired. It was infuriating to say the least that I have to level up this confidant or raise up my stats by working this job. Nope! Got to go to sleep. They’re is a part of the game where you can’t go to school, instead of giving you extra time as the game nears the end it gives you the same amount of time for no particular reason. Which, is just a gotcha by Atlus. These pacing issues killed my enjoyment of the game and it became a slog to go through the next phase of finding the next big target. It could have been handled to where at least they gave you get the evenings to do other stuff and not make you go to sleep that was the most frustrating part being forced to go to sleep by your cat. It’s even become a meme in the Persona 5 fan community.
Not Morally Grey, Persona has a great story and themes it is my favorite plot in the series. However, it does have one major flaw. During the game it gets brought up that is if what you’re doing is morally justified? Changing people’s hearts, changing who they were. This conundrum is then buried when you meet the the villains who like kicking puppies for fun. Then it get brought up again and dropped. If they weren’t going for that type of story that would be fine, the story will still be good. Instead they have this let’s mention it and drop it until later on. It’s a missed opportunity and also a waste that they bring up this potentially big plot point and it ends up just being dropped then mentioned and finally being ultimately dismissed.
Silent Protagonist, The protagonist is silent or is he? I am not a fan of silent protagonists they’re from a bygone age where sound was limited and there were other more important factors to gaming to worry about. Sometimes they’re more practical to use but in Persona 5 the implementation is just bizarre. The Protagonist, Ren Amamiya (canon name) is a pseudo silent protagonist. During dialogue he is silent and he sometimes talks in the animated cutscenes which is a first for the series. Then during combat he is fully voiced and his yelling Persona and this is really annoying the fact they have a canon name and a voice actor but they can’t voice the dialogue makes no sense its inconsistent and it leads me to believe they’re saving it for Persona 5 Crimson or whatever they’re going to call the second version of Persona 5. Persona 5 has this mix of silent and voiced. They should have gone the voiced route given that the game isn’t fully voiced either as most dialogue is read rather than acted. A missed opportunity and just really bizzare given it seems they were planning to go this direction but ended up holding out from fully implementing it.
In Conclusion, Persona 5 was one of my favorite games from the PS4. It is my favorite Persona game in the franchise. Criticism aside, this 100 hour journey didn’t feel tedious it had me playing in the late hours of the night. The second game I played this year that had me doing that with the first being Nier Automata. Persona 5 is a fantastic game that had me hooked from beginning to end with it’s great story, characters, and combat. It took a for Persona to get a full fledged sequel but it was worth the wait. Now comes the tsunami of spin-offs, merchandize, and an anime spin-off by A-1 Pictures which is not as great as the game. I wholeheartedly recommend Persona 5 it's one of those few games that come along once in a while and in the age of live service games and online only, it is a breath of fresh air and proves the big video game corporations (EA) that single player games aren’t dead. Persona 5 is pretty much the closest thing to a perfect game, and it is certainly the best JRPG of the this generation.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 13, 2018
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2017
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Toyu
三万円でゲーム本体しかないですか？
Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on April 10, 2017Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
Carmen
Great gameplay, even if the story is lacking
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 26, 2017Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
LIGHTDX
La gran espera ha terminado.
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on April 21, 2017Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
Mark
Earnestly the best JRPG of 2017.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 21, 2017Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
Mark
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 21, 2017
After 105 hours, finishing the story, I can't definitely say that Persona 5 is a Persona game to heart and fans and new comers are going to be in for a treat. Of course the game does take a while to actually start going, but once you past the first "dungeon", the game begins to open up even more and all the management of previous Person return.
Developing relationship, school, part-time, training, side-quest and the like are all sublime and meaningful. All of the characters are great as always, we'll written and hit's you right in the feels all throughout the game. Battles are very classic and easy to pick up for new-comers.
A huge plus for me is that Persona 5 isn't as grindy as Persona 3 + 4 from a personal standpoint. I never felt I had to spend a large amount of time grinding levels, as going through the dungeons themselves once was enough, starting at normal difficulty. Mementos also help in that aspect as there are a lot of sub-bosses from request you take on.
Music is P5 is AMAZING. Shoji knows how's to make music and make Persona 5 stand out in its OST. Jazzy upbeat tunes and PS2 classic ones hit you in the moment and feels great with the scenes.
I highly recommend picking this up, new comers don't worry about older titles, it's all set in its own . A PS4 gem.
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Amazon Customer
Take It All (except maybe the bag)
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 10, 2017Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: Take Your Heart PremiumVerified Purchase
