(Spoiler Warning!)

Heyo people of the land of V I am back after an entire year after my initial review of Persona 5 to tell you how someway somehow Royal is better in so many ways. I will warn you now that I will be spoiling the story and different aspects of the game that have changed so if you don't want spoiled click back to the main page now, also I have extreme bias towards this game so I hope you don't mind.



Graphics 10/10 -
The graphics from the base game aren't that heavily changed so you might think there's nothing to say except how incredible the graphic design and UI's are which while true is not the only thing that needs brought up this time around. Persona 5 Royal actually made the UI design even better by showing different effects in it based on what season it is so for example in spring on the phone and by the dates you might see cherry blossoms it's an entirely unneeded addition to the game but it makes an already beautiful user interface even better. Speaking of graphic design and UI the game is stunning in how it makes different actions feel so incredibly stylish, such as all out attacks and the new showtime attacks mixing stylish animation with fantastic art in the case of all out attacks.


Sound 11/10 -
I legit had to rank the sound an 11, 10 is not high enough to even begin telling how they made a masterpiece of an OST even better. I spent a large amount of time in review of the base game talking about how incredible songs such as Last Surprise and Life Will Change are and all those songs are still here and now there's even more. Something I do wanna bring up that I didn't touch on last time is the use of leitmotif in different songs such as the way Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There and Life Will Change share similar instrumentation in the chorus and lyrics, there's many more examples of this throughout the game. When it comes to new music for Royal all the new songs are incredible I praised Last Surprise previously well Take Over is the best battle theme I've ever heard I've yet to see a single person say Take over got old from playing the game and with games this long that's a serious accomplishment. Other new themes also hit the mark such as Throw Away Your Mask being from the perspective of the final boss and I Believe being from the perspective of the Phantom Thieves while also having it connected to Life Will Change with the use of leitmotif.


Addictive 10/10 -
Persona 5 Royal is so easy to start playing and not notice how long you've been playing so many times I would look back at the clock and be shocked how much time had passed just by me having fun enjoying the game. I think it's even easier to lose track of time compared to the Vanilla Persona 5 for the fact of the way the story progresses faster compared to the original version it makes you feel like your making a ton of progress almost any time you play the game for a while.


Story 8/10 -
(Spoiler Warning!)
The plot is both similar and really different at some points it's hard to put into words properly but the overall plot is mostly the same for most of the game but the day to day plot can have lots of small changes that add up over time to improve the story. For example Haru is hidden as a cameo to give her more screen time very often in Royal which makes her sudden appearance later in the game not so sudden. The character that probably benefits the most from changes in this game is the pancake boy himself Akechi, his social link has been pretty much completely redone and his character benefits quite a bit from it but not as much as he does from something I'll mention in a bit. Kasumi is also great and I don't really know anyone who dislikes her as her arc is quite sad and can hit pretty hard when you realize what's happening in the third semester. Speaking of the third semester the antagonist Maruki is an excellent character and addition to the overall plot as he's the one character the Phantom Thieves can go to and discuss some of the trauma they are going through. Maruki is also done in a way where you'll more than likely enjoy your conversations with him, which makes the third semester hit even harder as you can't really say he's fully wrong and your fully right. However the best thing about the third semester is Akechi he's no longer worried about putting on a fake act and so his true personality can shine and he's great sounding like he's totally insane all the time or commenting on how he hates pancakes. Overall with the story I find the third semester adds a lot to the end of the game given the Phantom Thieves new goals which in turn makes Joker going back home make more sense as all his friends are off doing their own things.


Depth 9/10 -
Persona 5 Royal has so many things for you to do it's incredible from your daily school life, confidants, and social stat raising all the way to dart throwing. Speaking of dart throwing it's honestly surprisingly fun I ended up playing it even after I had maxed everyone's Baton Pass Level, Billiards on the other hand is kind of disappointing because you just watch a cutscene instead of getting a mini game for it.


Difficulty 5/10 -
I find difficulty is hard to rate in video games but I can say without a doubt in my mind that Persona 5 Royal is easier than the original mostly due to the fact of all the broken mechanics (broken as in overpowered) you can now use.


Overall 10/10 -
I find Persona 5 Royal to be a near perfect game and a game that I can't imagine ever being beat in my mind and for that reason I give it a 10/10

Couldn't agree more with this review. This game is near-godly, 200 hours in and you still don't run out of major things to do without it feeling too much of a drag.

I'd personally uprate Depth to 10 as well. I haven't yet seen what lies ahead of Maruki and Azathoth, but as far as I know there's still much more to do. If you feel this game doesn't have enough depth for a 10, I wonder what game can actually offer such level of depth (and I don't think your bias is high enough to give it a 9 out of spite for the billiards xD).

For me, Akechi went from zero to hero. In the base game he's the archetype secondary antagonist, but in Royal he's turned into a badass antihero. He's basically what infuses life to the third semester, his comments and overall attitude are unforgettable. And Maruki is a character you just can't disagree with, he has no evil intent in his actions and only fights for what he feels it's right, much like the Panthom Thieves.

EX Palen : I think the only reason I had for not giving Depth 10 was trying not to be super bias which is pretty silly and the only other reason was cause I guess technically games like Minecraft have more depth but yeah I see your point in none infinite games not much is going to out depth Persona 5.