Note: This review contains gameplay spoilers.




Every month of this year, there seems to be a new game that is very well recieved, from big-names like Legend of Zelda to more niche titles like Yakuza 0. For the month of may, we have something that is somehow both of those at the same time: the niche JRPG that has somehow become a hit series, even in the west: Persona. Today, I'll be covering the newest installment of this franchise:




Persona games all have a fairly similar concept:

Awaken what is essentially a Jojo Stand (a persona) and go and grab your friends to participate in a mix of dungeon crawling and school life. In Persona 5, the themes change drastically from, say, 4, which was fairly lighthearted. This game's premise could be more comparable to the third game in the series, but even then it's a bit of a stretch. It's central theme is "Breaking Free of Society."



Persona 5's gameplay has a lot of things to it, so this may take some time to explain.

First off, let's start off with the RPG dungeon crawling. There are 2 types of dungeons in the game: main ones, with pre-made puzzles and floors to each, and a second randomly generated one meant to grind and do sidequests. Each of the main dungeons have a theme to each, each of which I'll admit it very interesting and brimming with style, along with some smart puzzles.

As for the combat, you will lead a team of 4 persona users (including yourself) to battle countless demons in a turn-based battle system that rewards you with extra turns for hitting weaknesses. I'll cover some of the changes it has made since Persona 4. First off, the psy element is back - yay! Also, there are a lot more status inducing skills. The most interesting things in my opinion are hold ups and guns. In past games, you'd simply get personas in cards at random, but now you can pick and choose. When battling an enemy, if you knock all enemies down you'll enter a "hold-up" in which you can ask an enemy for money, an item, or - to join your Persona stock. This will lead into a dialogue tree where you attempt to please the demon and get them to join you. I liked this feature, mainly because it reminds me of old SMT (and has more depth than just picking a card).

And guns, how could we forget about guns?! In this game, you have not only a close-range weapon, but a handy gun too. Each character has a different kind of gun, from rifles to revolvers. Every gun can be spammed until it's round is out, or it's ammo is depleted. It doesn't deal as much damage as you think, but is damn good for critical hunting.

Finally, the school life. Remember social links in past games? Well, now called Confidants, they are better than ever. Not only will you get EXP bonuses while fusing, but now you will get other bonuses too depending on the Confidant. For example, one character may help you with guns, allowing you to upgrade them for special effects: or, you could spend time with someone who can teach you to get more money out of demons. It makes spending time with people ten times better, and ties the whole experience together perfectly. Overall, Persona 5's gameplay has gone above and beyond.

That being said, it is not perfect. Sometimes the main dungeons become a bit tedious and annoying even, one or two examples coming to mind. In addition, some of the confidants have little to no use. So, it docks the score by just 2 points.




I can't say much here without giving it away, but Persona 5's story is probably the best in the series. It itself earns it tons of points, due to it's mature themes and good twists near the end. The only complaint is that it's sometimes too slow.

The characters in Persona 5 are all great, but there is one problem. Compared to Persona 4 or 3, the main party doesn't have as much chemistry. I would've loved more moments where it was just "the gang handing out" but it seemed like the kids don't hit it off... except in text messages. Those are too hilarious.




The game has style in it's menus and interface, having easily the best presentation in those areas of any game I've played. Ever. However, it's character models and enviroments could use a lot of work.

The music? It's god tier man. Perfect. A nice mix of Jazz and Pop (and sometimes jazz and rock). Listen to Last Surprise or Life will Change if you don't believe me.