It was weird for me to be so interested in a game like Persona 5 since I have never really had much connection with the series. I've played Persona 3 and enjoyed it (but never finished it because the final moments of the game continuously kick me in the teeth) and I haven't gotten all that far into Persona 4 (definitely on the bucket list). Regardless, I was interested by what I was seeing of Persona 5. Everything from it's style to it's improved dungeon design and interesting story and characters. So, the night it came out I ordered it, played it, and absolutely fell in love with it. It is safe for me to assume that this will probably be my favorite Persona game. Not only that, it is one of the best RPGs I have played in a long time.
The game's story follows a young boy (officially named Akira) who moves in with a disgruntled coffee shop owner as part of his probation. He attends a school where he meets a rag-tag group of misfits whom they all awaken the power of their personas (spirit, essentially) to defeat douchebag adults in a mysterious world known as the Metaverse. Persona, as a series, has never been known for its subtlety, and this game is certainly no exception. Some of it's morals and plot details are incredibly on-the-nose to the point where it can almost seem laughable. However, do not take that as a bad thing. What this game lacks in subtlety, it more than makes up for it in intrigue, mystery, and character interactions. I was instantly hooked by the game's story and I was instantly eager to see where things will go from there. There are a couple of really surprising twists and turns throughout. Some were pretty obvious, while others I would never have anticipated. While it is certainly made with Japanese culture and politics in mind, it was also surprisingly relatable to events that happen in my part of the country on a daily basis. Even more relatable than that are the game's cast of characters. Always an important aspect of Persona and to RPGs in general, and this game hosts some of the best and most likeable characters in the series (Makoto and Yusuke being my personal favorites). Each one has their own distinct personality and troubles to overcome. I became invested in each of these characters in some form or another and wanted to max out my confidants with them not just for the sake of making me stronger, but because I wanted to see where their stories would lead to. And it's not just the main characters that get that treatment. The side characters you come across are just as entertaining and engaging.
Let's talk about Persona 5's most notable point of praise: it's style. This game positively oozes with flash and pizazz. The bold and vibrant colors and uniquely designed characters and monsters. The stylish animations and finishing moves that are just in your face. Even something as simple as the game's UI and menus have so much care and personality put into them. The art team went all out (hehe) on the design of this game. It is one of the most unique-looking games I have ever played. Beyond the game's visuals lies it's phenomenal soundtrack, placing a heavy emphasis on acid jazz. Not once did I ever get tired of the battle themes for this game. That is an incredible achievement seeing as how you are going to be listening to it a few thousand times throughout the course of the game. To top it all off are some incredibly solid voice performances that add the right mix of melodrama and sincerity.
Persona 5's core gameplay is still similar to its predecessors. The game features a mix of daytime social interaction and nighttime dungeon crawling as the Phantom Thieves. During the day, you attend school, hang out with your friends, and partake in a number of different activities. Everything from working a day job, to swinging at the batting cages, to eating giant hamburgers, to exploring a totally-not-at-all-optional underground dungeon. Everything that you do in the game has a unique benefit to it. Specific activities raise specific stats that enhance combat as well as your social status with specific people (confidants). You need to plan everything out accordingly. There's only so much you can do during the day, and you have a set time limit in each main story scenario to complete a dungeon so be sure to properly prioritize your time in the correct areas. You also can't max everything out in one go. Thankfully, you have a New Game + that carries over all your existing stats, equipment and personas. It's perfect for those that want to breeze through the game and explore other scenarios that you missed out on the first go around.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the dungeons themselves. Unlike Persona's 3 and 4, Persona 5 offers uniquely crafted, individualized dungeons that are themed around the person you are going after. Each one has their own specific challenges and puzzles to them, rather than being a randomized dungeon crawler. These are easily the best designed dungeons that the series has seen thus far. When starting a fresh game you won't be able to complete dungeons in one go. Yourself and your party members will get tired after a while and you'll have to come back and finish that dungeon another time. Once the dungeon is complete, you tackle it's uniquely challenging and awesome boss fight.
You engage in battles by (preferably) sneaking up on an enemy and attacking it to gain the upper hand. The game still retains the fun, fast paced traditional turn-based combat of previous games. You fight using a combination of melee weaponry, firearms and, most importantly, your personas. As the main character, you can collect a large number of different personas to summon in battle. Each persona not only has different strengths, weaknesses and abilities, but they are also heavily tied to your overall stats. The stronger the persona, the more powerful you yourself will be, allowing you take take hits easier, have stronger melee attacks and other passive benefits. Most of the fights require some layer of strategy, but eventually it will get to points where you can easily breeze through certain fights thanks to either your persona combination, or memorization of enemy strengths and weaknesses.
The negotiation system from the first two Persona games makes a return here. After inflicting a certain amount of damage to an enemy or cornering them, allowing the chance for you to gain items or to recruit that persona for your own use. If you're not up for negotiations, you can unleash a devastating "All-Out Attack" in which everyone piles on and delivers a stylish finishing move to the enemy. Persona's in your collection can be enhanced or fused together with other personas in the Velvet Room. You can only get certain kinds of persona and moves for currently existing persona by fusing them together, and plus it's just fun to experiment to see what crazy new creature you can come across.
There are only a few minor gripes to be had with this game. The first few hours of the game are basically a glorified tutorial (Kingdom Hearts II) and on repeat playthroughs it can be a slog having to sit through all of this stuff that you are familiar with. Also, the latter parts of the game (especially in the last couple of dungeons) can be incredibly difficult without the right set-up. Thankfully, there are useful workarounds to make grinding exponentially easier (use your sick days wisely). Otherwise, I don't have much by the way of complaints for this game.
Honestly, this is one of the few games that I have played that comes as close to perfection as it can get. Rarely does ever achieve such a feat, but Persona 5 managed to do so. If you haven't already, please play this game.