The Japanese RPG franchise "Persona" first began over 20 years ago by Japanese development studio Atlus. While the series has advanced greatly throughout that time, they finally reached their prime with "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4" (simply known as "Persona 4"). First launched on PS2 in 2008, the title was praised by critics, becoming one of the generation's defining JRPGs. Noted for its personality, mechanics, characters, combat, and lengthy campaign (with playthroughs ranging from 50 hours to just complete the story, or even over 100 hours if you want to do as much as you possibly can). A few years later a remastered edition titled "Persona 4 Golden" then came out on the PS Vita. Improving on some issues and adding more variety, it's often called the system's must have game. While the franchise has grown in popularity, and is celebrated as one of the greatest series the genre has to offer, it doesn't change the fact it's been 9 years since the last major installment. During that time fans waited patiently, until they were finally given a glimpse into the future. "Persona 5" was on its way, but fans would have to keep on waiting. After numerous delays, its winter 2014 release was finally pushed back to fall 2016; unfortunately, everyone outside of Japan would have to wait a little longer since the developers announced that they needed more time for the translations, localization, and quality voice acting. But finally, after over two years of delays, its finally here. Now fans just have to find enough spare time to play one of the longest single player campaigns I've ever experienced; but trust me, they'll enjoy every minute of it.
You play a nameless, mostly silent high school student from a small town. One night while walking through the streets, you see a drunk man trying to force a young woman into his car. You step in to stop him, causing him to fall down and smash his face. It turned out that man was a powerful politician, who used his connections to have you arrested and charged with assault. Now having a criminal record, you are expelled from your school and forced to relocate to Tokyo in order to go to the only school that will accept you; but when you arrive you soon realize something is off in the city. It's almost as if a dark shroud come over the city, causing countless accidents that can't be explained. One day while walking to school, you and a classmate end up at some mysterious castle. You enter only to realize that the castle is somewhere between reality and a dream, and is ruled by the shadow of a sadistic teacher at your school. While being attacked you unlock a rare power deep within you, summoning a Persona (a magical force used in battle). You learn that the evil within one's heart have corrupted many within the city, so with the help of your friends and a mysterious man named Igor, you set out to right the wrongs and stop these individuals under the name "The Phantom Thieves."
A few years back when I first got my PS Vita, the one game I was told I had to get was "Persona 4 Golden." When I finally got into the game and put in some serious time, I quickly realized it was one of the best games ever made. Despite the limitations of the hardware at the time of its release, the developers managed to put together a truly brilliant and engaging game. So, "Persona 5" sure has a lot to live up to; and fortunately, it does. On paper, this game does everything right. It does have one noticeable flaw that bugged me, which I will get to, but for now bare with me while I list out why this game is brilliant. Let's start with the visuals, this is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. While, on a technical level, this isn't the most impressive game out there; its particular style is gorgeous. The in-game gameplay is anime inspired, and along with the game's aesthetics it is truly beautiful. This is the type of game where you can tell everything was lovingly hand crafted. The cut-scenes, most of which are done in traditional anime style, are also wonderfully done and a step up from its predecessor. And I have to say, this is probably the most stylish game ever made. From the animations, to transitions, to the loading screens, and even the menus, the game game oozes style out of every crack. Finally, I just have to commend the overall visual designs. The world, characters, enemy, and level designs are exceptionally well done, with plenty of personality and passion; as well as depth and variety. Visually, this stands among the best looking games ever made. But while beautiful, the game is more than just style.
The game's story is interesting to say the least, you really get invested in what is going on. And while this game's predecessor had a pretty dark plot to begin with, but the overall tone and nature of this story feels more mature. What helps is a wide array of colorful and layered characters. While most of the characters fall under a certain archetype that are often common in modern Japanese story telling, each character in "Persona 5" feels far more layered than you'd expect. You're fellow compatriots are often damaged with tragic backgrounds. Even the side characters have a lot going for them; like the local doctor who was once a respected physician, but was ostracized by the medical community for testing an experimental drug on a patient that made them suffer. Or a local political who was caught stealing funds from a charity 20 years ago, but still runs for office because he truly believes that the government is failing its people. The developers of "Persona 5" put more thought and care into a minor character, whom you may never end up talking to, than most developers put into their main protagonist. It also helps that the English voice acting is better in this game than its predecessor, as well as the localization (which makes conversations easier to handle). Now it's not the best voice acting in the world, since some of the voices don't always seem to fit the character. And in all honesty I actually play the game with the Japanese voices, but the English is far from the worst I've seen in a Japanese game. Looking back at "Persona 4," it is a truly exceptional game; the problem is that it has some clear flaws. The biggest being it's combat. While its story, life simulation, and time elements were exceptionally implemented, the action oriented parts of the game were lackluster. Whenever you needed to go into an enemy dungeon, every player was left with a sense of dread. Each dungeon consisted of long corridors that all looked the same, filled with enemies that could see you from a mile away (preventing you from sneaking up on them, giving them a chance to attack first). Then when encountering an enemy you must engage in a turn based combat system that was slow and tedious (especially if you had to target an enemies weakness). But with "Persona 5," they fixed these problems. The dungeon crawling has been greatly improved, with each dungeon feeling unique and well crafted. Even going floor to floor feels like a whole new level. They've also littered the dungeons with treasure you can find, and even implemented puzzle mechanics that mix things up. The combat has also been streamlined; it's much quicker than "Persona 4," and gives you more options when entering a fight. If the character you currently control has an attack that an enemy is weak to, a single press of the R1 button automatically brings up that attack to use. Fights are also much faster, and if you get all of the enemies into a critical state (where they are unable to attack) you are given the option to do a massive team attack or talk to them. If you talk to the enemy, you can get money, items, or even have them join your team as a new persona. The developers have managed to take the worst parts of "Persona 4," and actually make them a pleasant experience in "Persona 5."
Over the years, what this franchise has become most notable for has been the game's extreme lengths. "Persona 4: Golden" was at least 60 hours to beat the campaign, and upwards of 100 hours if you are extra thorough about everything; and "Persona 5" is no different. As of writing this review I'm about 40 hours into it, and from what I understand I'm barely getting started. I've heard that a single playthrough is at least 70 hours, but in reality most players will take about 100 to complete this game. And on top of that, the way this game is designed encourages multiple playthoughs. Being a time management game, you'll never be able to do everything; which means certain characters and story lines will be over looked on any given playthough. While this may bother some, I actually like it. It gives players choices, and lets them decide how they want approach things. Do you better your relationships which will give you bonuses in battle, do you go into a dungeon and grind to level up, or do you partake in various activities to boost certain stats that will unlock specific conversations and story lines? It forces the players to evaluate their options, and makes it so no two players will have the same experience. To do everything (of which there appears to be an endless amount of things you can do), you will have to beat this game several times. This is the ultimate "bang for your buck" game. If I had to fins fault in this game, it would be that it takes several hours before you're given your freedom. Much like its predecessor, the first few hours of the game are on rails; they explain how the world works, and what the various mechanics are (but does so in a way that is more welcoming and straight forward than its predecessor). I understand the need to do this since there is so much to this game, but when you're four hours in you're ready to go off into this world and make it your own. That being said, once you fit that point, the freedom is exceptional.
Since I started this blog back in 2012 I've reviewed many amazing games" "The Last of Us," "Grand Theft Auto 5," "Bloodborne," and "Uncharted 4: A Thieve's End" just to name a few. "Persona 5" may be the best game I've ever reviewed. It truly is a masterpiece, and the best JRPG we've seen since "Persona 4." Whether it be the mature story, the improved dungeon crawling, fantastic soundtrack, or memorable characters, at no point while playing this game have I felt anything but love and admiration for it. This is one of the best game's to come out this decade, it's one of the best RPGs of all time, and is one of the best games I've ever played. And I can't wait to play it some more.
Pros: The most stylish game ever made, stunning art style and aesthetics, anime cut scenes are lovely, gorgeous visual/world/character/enemy/level design, improved and varied combat, huge array of colorful and layered characters, dungeon crawling is far more engaging and enjoyable than predecessor, fantastic soundtrack, incredible bang for your buck, an endless amount of stuff to do, encourages multiple playthroughs, gives players lots of choice in how to approach things, the best JRPG since "Persona 4," better voice acting and localization, interesting and mature story, more welcoming than its predecessor.
Cons: Doesn't give you your freedom for several hours.
5/5 Stars
