Support NeoGAF

[Giallo Corsa]

Got Royal yesterday for the PS5 since it was 25 Eurodollars on Amazon and :
I really like what I'm playing and I'm in no way a JRPG fan but...it has this very cozy and relaxed atmosphere which after tearing my hair out trying to finish Lies of P the other day is just what the doctor ordered.

Thing is, I'm starting to understand what many people have been saying about it taking its sweet time until it gets going/respecting the player's time : I've been playing it for 3-4 hours and...I've been mostly watching cutscenes and interacting with others having barely fought 3-4 battles so far - and this game is 100hours long apparently ? Shit, I almost fell asleep a couple of times so far when playing it, hope I won't lose my interest cause this is way too slow so far for me (maybe I should have went with SMT5).

Another complaint would be the not so good/lazy remastering (lots of blurry textures/billboards etc), the bad IMO voice acting (hey, it's a JRPG after all) and generally speaking, I just don't see how this is considered one of the best games out there.

The fact that PS5 fans got screwed by having to rebuy a full priced version for that 60fps is also no bueno and super shitty.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yeah, P5 is a slow burn. It will pick up I would say about 6-8 hours in so you aren’t too far off. And really starts going 10+.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Yeah, P5 is a slow burn. It will pick up I would say about 6-8 hours in so you aren’t too far off. And really starts going 10+.

Also I think the game starts off too strong in terms of subject matter/bosses

Like how do you follow up (spoilers for first dungeon)

Spoiler

going after a physically and sexually abusive high school teacher

That whole opening is just so good and a bit risky and I feel like every other boss afterwards and scenario around them is just nowhere near as interesting or unique. It’s one thing I hope P6 fixes big time.

 

[adamsapple]

My options are:

1. Play ps4 version of base persona 5
2. Buy ps5 version of persona 5 royal
3. Buy persona 3 reloaded

I really enjoyed metaphor’s combat and want a cozier experience since metaphor was kind of dark.

So I’m down for some persona again. It’s nice to chip away at these games for months

If you've never played P3 before, either that or Royal are good options.

OG Persona 5 is kinda obsolete with Royal now, perfectly playable in itself, but now that I've played Royal, I can never go back to the OG.

 

[Topher]

My options are:

1. Play ps4 version of base persona 5
2. Buy ps5 version of persona 5 royal
3. Buy persona 3 reloaded

I really enjoyed metaphor’s combat and want a cozier experience since metaphor was kind of dark.

So I’m down for some persona again. It’s nice to chip away at these games for months

Persona 3 Reloaded is fantastic. I actually started playing Persona 5 Royal after beating Metaphor so kind of funny others are doing the same. I'd say go with Royal over base Persona 5. Has some stuff that I don't remember the first time playing that I think are worthwhile. But if I had to pick one: Persona 3 Reloaded.

If Royal is on sale I say cop it.

Can't go wrong with that either.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If you've never played P3 before, either that or Royal are good options.

OG Persona 5 is kinda obsolete with Royal now, perfectly playable in itself, but now that I've played Royal, I can never go back to the OG.

Has some stuff that I don't remember the first time playing that I think are worthwhile. But if I had to pick one: Persona 3 Reloaded.

Thanks.

Is P3R more modern playing than P5R?

Better QoL or combat improvements or visuals?

 

[adamsapple]

Thanks.

Is P3R more modern playing than P5R?

Better QoL or combat improvements or visuals?

Similar QoL and combat mechanics to P5R, but it's a very faithful remake so the game 'world' and explore-able locations are smaller, the main dungeon is still the one huge Tartarus tower which can get repetitive and it still retains some of the earlier social link writing etc before Atlus started getting much better at it. Some social links basically last all but 1 minute, for example.

Visuals look about the game, both are 4K/60 on PS5, the art is also very similar so that's not one area where one is better than the other.

P5 (Royal) is just a much bigger / meatier game with more content, Royal is basically 1.5x bigger than OG Persona 5.

P3 also has the Episode Aegis DLC, but it's smaller than the content Royal adds if you want to compare, and is basically a thinner plot-line added over multiple pure-dungeon-crawling areas.

If you only want to play one of those at the moment, I'd say go for Royal.

 

[Topher]

Thanks.

Is P3R more modern playing than P5R?

Better QoL or combat improvements or visuals?

No, I wouldn't say so. P5 adds more gameplay elements like negotiating with shadows and attacking with a gun. P3 had this card draw thing at the end of battles where you could get XP, money or a shadow that P5 doesn't have. I would say they are just different approaches. The overall structure of the game is different as well since P3 is traversing a single massive "dungeon", for lack of better term while P5 is broken up into several individual "palaces". Lots of differences, but you'll recognize how they are basically variations of the same thing, if that makes sense. You'll also recognize similarities to Metaphor as you play.

I don't think you would play P3R and think it feels comparatively old or outdated, imo.

To Chuck Berry 's point, you'll more than likely find P5R much cheaper since it has been around longer than P3R.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Similar QoL and combat mechanics to P5R, but it's a very faithful remake so the game 'world' and explore-able locations are smaller, the main dungeon is still the one huge Tartarus tower which can get repetitive and it still retains some of the earlier social link writing etc before Atlus started getting much better at it. Some social links basically last all but 1 minute, for example.

Visuals look about the game, both are 4K/60 on PS5, the art is also very similar so that's not one area where one is better than the other.

P5 (Royal) is just a much bigger / meatier game with more content, Royal is basically 1.5x bigger than OG Persona 5.

P3 also has the Episode Aegis DLC, but it's smaller than the content Royal adds if you want to compare, and is basically a thinner plot-line added over multiple pure-dungeon-crawling areas.

If you only want to play one of those at the moment, I'd say go for Royal.

Damn, it has like 200 hours + of content?

That may be to much for me.

Visually, doesn't P5 share the metaphor engine which has awful IQ? I heard P3R is on Unreal Engine instead and video footage looks much more crisp than Metaphor.

No, I wouldn't say so. P5 adds more gameplay elements like negotiating with shadows and attacking with a gun. P3 had this card draw thing at the end of battles where you could get XP, money or a shadow that P5 doesn't have. I would say they are just different approaches. The overall structure of the game is different as well since P3 is traversing a single massive "dungeon", for lack of better term while P5 is broken up into several individual "palaces". Lots of differences, but you'll recognize how they are basically variations of the same thing, if that makes sense. You'll also recognize similarities to Metaphor as you play.

I don't think you would play P3R and think it feels comparatively old or outdated, imo.

To Chuck Berry Chuck Berry 's point, you'll more than likely find P5R much cheaper since it has been around longer than P3R.

I only download my games, and PS5R is $60 while P3R deluxe edition is $48.

I guess I can't go wrong either way. P5R may be a better "value" but man the hours in that game seem a little daunting.

 

[Topher]

Damn, it has like 200 hours + of content?

That may be to much for me.

Visually, doesn't P5 share the metaphor engine which has awful IQ? I heard P3R is on Unreal Engine instead and video footage looks much more crisp than Metaphor.



I only download my games, and PS5R is $60 while P3R deluxe edition is $48.

I guess I can't go wrong either way. P5R may be a better "value" but man the hours in that game seem a little daunting.

yeah, I'd say P3R is more streamlined than P5R. P5R doesn't suffer from the aliasing that Metaphor had. I'll never understand why that was.

 

[Gaiff]

Damn, it has like 200 hours + of content?

Only if you go for the completionist/platinum which requires 2 playthroughs. Otherwise, a single one can be done in 90-100 hours. I only have one trophy left on PS4 for the original, but it requires me to play through about 80% of the game again because I messed up in the second playthrough. Not doing this shit a third time.

Still, it's an EXTREMELY long game with A LOT of cutscenes and dialogue. It's half-visual novel, half-JRPG.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Only if you go for the completionist/platinum which requires 2 playthroughs. Otherwise, a single one can be done in 90-100 hours. I only have one trophy left on PS4 for the original, but it requires me to play through about 80% of the game because I messed up the second playthrough. Not doing this shit a third time.

Still, it's an EXTREMELY long game with A LOT of cutscenes and dialogues. It's half-visual novel, half-JRPG.

Seems very similar to metaphor then, is it a worse offender? Metaphor already suffered from too much text/cinematics. I beat metaphor in around 110 hours and did everything but grind out all the archetypes on a single character

 

[Topher]

Seems very similar to metaphor then, is it a worse offender? Metaphor already suffered from too much text/cinematics. I beat metaphor in around 110 hours and did everything but grind out all the archetypes on a single character

I'd say Metaphor and P5R are very similar in this regard. I'm on my second play through of P5 so I'm fast forwarding through most of the dialogue. There is a lot.

 

[Gaiff]

Seems very similar to metaphor then, is it a worse offender? Metaphor already suffered from too much text/cinematics. I beat metaphor in around 110 hours and did everything but grind out all the archetypes on a single character

Haven't played Metaphor, but having played a lot of Atlus stuff over the past 2 decades, I can tell it's in the same vein. It's also worth noting that a big difference between Metaphor and Persona is the addition of (or subtraction in Metaphor) of romance options in Persona. If you've enjoyed Metaphor, I think you'll enjoy Persona and vice-versa as they're very much typical Atlus JRPGs.

I'd say Metaphor and P5R are very similar in this regard. I'm on my second play through of P5 so I'm fast forwarding through most of the dialogue. There is a lot.

That's what I figured. I just hope they got better at writing because Persona games do way too much exposition. Halfway through the game, they still explain how the palaces and metaverse work. I get it. I've been playing for 50 hours.

 

[Topher]

Haven't played Metaphor, but having played a lot of Atlus stuff over the past 2 decades, I can tell it's in the same vein. It's also worth noting that a big difference between Metaphor and Persona is the addition of (or subtraction in Metaphor) of romance options in Persona. If you've enjoyed Metaphor, I think you'll enjoy Persona and vice-versa as they're very much typical Atlus JRPGs.

That's what I figured. I just hope they got better at writing because Persona games do way too much exposition. Halfway through the game, they still explain how the palaces and metaverse works. I get it. I've been playing for 50 hours.

Metaphor is about the same there as well. Brevity is not their strong suit even though I generally enjoy the writing. Throwing new game mechanics into the mix once you think you've figured everything out is also a habit of Atlus. Can be a bit overwhelming in a game that emphasizes time management.

I do think this is why P3R is my favorite of all of them. Not saying it doesn't do those things, but it is a lesser offender.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Haven't played Metaphor, but having played a lot of Atlus stuff over the past 2 decades, I can tell it's in the same vein. It's also worth noting that a big difference between Metaphor and Persona is the addition of (or subtraction in Metaphor) of romance options in Persona. If you've enjoyed Metaphor, I think you'll enjoy Persona and vice-versa as they're very much typical Atlus JRPGs.

That's what I figured. I just hope they got better at writing because Persona games do way too much exposition. Halfway through the game, they still explain how the palaces and metaverse work. I get it. I've been playing for 50 hours.

yep metaphor was like that too

they repeat the same concepts way too much....it's like "I get it!!!".....they could really use a better editor. I also wish that there was less text and more voice acting. I wish the entire game had a voice acting option.

it's not a deal breaker since their games are awesome and very unique for RPGs (almost like their own "Souls" sub genre of the JRPG with their structure)

 

[adamsapple]

Damn, it has like 200 hours + of content?

100~ hours give or take, might be longer if you're trying to maximize social links etc in a single play through *

* it's entirely possible to 100% the game in a single playthrough, though you might need to follow a schedule guide so you don't miss things.

Visually, doesn't P5 share the metaphor engine which has awful IQ? I heard P3R is on Unreal Engine instead and video footage looks much more crisp than Metaphor.

Not sure if it's the same engine, but P5R doesn't have the aliasing issues. It's something wholely unique to Metaphor for some reason.

P5R runs native 4K, everything has hard edges so the high resolution makes everything look pin-sharp, it doesn't have any kind of high frequency textures like foliage etc so it doesn't have those kind of tech issues.

 

[StereoVsn]

IMO, the best game overall is still P4G. I do wish it got updated with newer QoL features, but it is still very good and very cheap.

I think that it has the best cast in the series and you feel like you are hanging out with group of friends. Social Links are well done and the story is quite good.

And the dungeons are more customized vs Tartarus but not as involved as P5. This is especially so if you want a more relaxing game.

Overall P4 is a summer vacation, P3 is your job at the office, and P5 is just all over the place as I don’t think they nailed it well thematically (first palace was by far the best, IMO).

Edit: Length wise, P3R and P4G can be done in about 70-80 hours for your first run and P5R in 80-100, depending on how much you want to complete.

 

[Orbital2060]

Only if you go for the completionist/platinum which requires 2 playthroughs. Otherwise, a single one can be done in 90-100 hours. I only have one trophy left on PS4 for the original, but it requires me to play through about 80% of the game again because I messed up in the second playthrough. Not doing this shit a third time.

Still, it's an EXTREMELY long game with A LOT of cutscenes and dialogue. It's half-visual novel, half-JRPG.

I completed the game 100 % in one playthrough - took me around 200 hours but I didnt skip most of the dialogue and just let it play out naturally.

 

[Regginator]

Only if you go for the completionist/platinum which requires 2 playthroughs. Otherwise, a single one can be done in 90-100 hours. I only have one trophy left on PS4 for the original, but it requires me to play through about 80% of the game again because I messed up in the second playthrough. Not doing this shit a third time.

Still, it's an EXTREMELY long game with A LOT of cutscenes and dialogue. It's half-visual novel, half-JRPG.

Royal doesn't require two playthroughs though. Maybe if you do a completely blind playthrough and as a result miss out on some of the more obscure stuff, like not doing some activities at least once or not getting a certain character to Confidant Rank 9 before the end of the second semester.

Or if you choose an ending that clearly hints at the game being stopped prematurely (in which case you can always revert to an earlier save).

But other than that, just one playthrough. I platinumed it for the first time a few weeks ago, took me about 140 hours.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

I completed the game 100 % in one playthrough - took me around 200 hours but I didnt skip most of the dialogue and just let it play out naturally.

200 hours...
Nope.gif

 

[Orbital2060]

200 hours...
Nope.gif

That was spread out over a year or so, with a couple of long breaks. Looks like 100 hours is more like it for a normal gameplay. The scenes take a long time to play out, if you dont click through the dialogue. Its an awesome game, probably the best made RPG since FF7 imo. And worth every minute spent.

 

[Gaiff]

Royal doesn't require two playthroughs though. Maybe if you do a completely blind playthrough and as a result miss out on some of the more obscure stuff, like not doing some activities at least once or not getting a certain character to Confidant Rank 9 before the end of the second semester.

Or if you choose an ending that clearly hints at the game being stopped prematurely (in which case you can always revert to an earlier save).

But other than that, just one playthrough. I platinumed it for the first time a few weeks ago, took me about 140 hours.

How did you get the twins boss fight trophy? It’s only available in NG+. Did they remove it?

 

[Regginator]

How did you get the twins boss fight trophy? It’s only available in NG+. Did they remove it?

I had no idea you could even fight them, lol. A trophy like that doesn't exist in Royal, so I assume they removed it. In fact, I've been told the trophy list for Royal is much more streamlined and easier than OG Persona 5. In Royal, all the activities related trophies are pretty much "do X once" and that's it.

As long as you do most activities at least once (and progress that one character to Confidant Rank 9 before the end of the second semester), there aren't really missable ones that I can remember. The only somewhat obscure one is the

Spoiler: a certain activity

secret menu from the maids café

, but other than that it's all very straight forward in Royal.

 

[Shifty1897]

This might be controversial, but I think:
- Persona 3 Reload has the best graphics
- Persona 4 Golden has the best writing/story
- Persona 5 Royal has the best gameplay

The music for all three is great and completely up to your taste.
I haven't played Metaphor yet, but I wasn't particularly impressed by the demo.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Good news, P3R is 40% off on PSN ($40) and P5R is 60% off ($20)

Looks like I’ll be getting both lol Topher adamsapple Chuck Berry

Guess I’ll play P3R first after I’m done with SH2

Should keep me busy for uhhh 200 hours lol

Should be good to go for Persona 6 next year (maybe???)

 

[adamsapple]

Good news, P3R is 40% off on PSN ($40) and P5R is 60% off ($20)

Looks like I’ll be getting both lol Topher adamsapple Chuck Berry

Guess I’ll play P3R first after I’m done with SH2

Should keep me busy for uhhh 200 hours lol

Should be good to go for Persona 6 next year (maybe???)

Along with RE4, FF12 and Control, P5 Royal is the only other game I own on multiple platforms, digitally on SX but still have the PS4 Steel Book from when it originally launched.

Damn fucking shame that there was no upgrade path for the PS5 version.

 

[Skifi28]

Good news, P3R is 40% off on PSN ($40) and P5R is 60% off ($20)

Looks like I’ll be getting both lol Topher adamsapple Chuck Berry

Guess I’ll play P3R first after I’m done with SH2

Should keep me busy for uhhh 200 hours lol

Should be good to go for Persona 6 next year (maybe???)

P3R is the right game to start with I think. I made the mistake of starting with P5 as my first Atlus RPG and I felt so lost and overwhelmed to the point I quit. After finishing P3R which is much simpler, P5 was so much better and welcoming and I could appreciate the additions and improvements to the formula.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

So, I'm 8 hours in P5 royal and...
don't know boys, it literally puts me to sleep each and everytime I start playing it (when they say "literally" I mean it, I must have dozed off 2 to 3 times already when playing it).
Everything is.so.fucking.slow and so light on gameplay that it feels more like a visual novel than an actual game/JRPG.

...And before you come at me with those laughing emojis gifs, I'm not necessarily saying that the game is bad, just that maybe I'm not the target demographic for this game since I actually like some meat on the proverbial bones.

Now, maybe it gets more "game-y" after the 10hour mark or something but, no game IMO should take more than an hour as to get to "the good part"/get in gear.

It has its charm for sure (otherwise I would have already dropped it) but, again, It's way, way, way too slow and It's making me feel like it's not respecting my time as a player.

Funny thing is, I actually enjoyed my time way more with Final Fantasy 16 (which people apparently hated) which I dropped to start playing persona.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Goddamn, Persona 3 Reload just drags on and on.....

I think they got the balance better with Metaphor.

Wonder if Persona 5 I'll like a little better, not that Persona 3 is bad, it's just extremely repetitive and boring. I find myself skipping through almost everything

 

[Bojji]

In Persona games (and Metaphor) if you dislike social parts of the game you are fucked... You won't like them, those parts are like 50% of the games or more.

I like both social parts and combat parts.

Shin Megami Tensei V is much more gameplay oriented, same is true for Soul Hackers 2.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

In Persona games (and Metaphor) if you dislike social parts of the game you are fucked... You won't like them, those parts are like 50% of the games or more.

I like both social parts and combat parts.

Shin Megami Tensei V is much more gameplay oriented, same is true for Soul Hackers 2.

The social parts are fine but they are way too long, require too many button presses, and the conversations flow in a disjointed manner and they repeat the same information so many times. I'd rather just watch a quick custscene.

I enjoy the combat and the themes, but there's not enough gameplay overall.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The social parts are fine but they are way too long, require too many button presses, and the conversations flow in a disjointed manner and they repeat the same information so many times. I'd rather just watch a quick custscene.

I enjoy the combat and the themes, but there's not enough gameplay overall.

Check out Shin Megami Tensei V, same gameplay when it comes to combat and demon (persona) fusion.

For something more retro, you might want to check the Digital Devil Saga games on the PS2. Again, same gameplay for the combat but instead of fusion, you get a few characters which skills you can 100% customize. It has more story than mainline SMT games but less padding than the Persona games. Kinda like a FF game but with SMT combat.

 

[Guerilla Munch]

I bought it for Switch and love the art style, battle system, and music, but I just cannot get into a dialog heavy game that takes place in a high school.

Do these devs have any similar games that don't center around high schoolers?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I bought it for Switch and love the art style, battle system, and music, but I just cannot get into a dialog heavy game that takes place in a high school.

Do these devs have any similar games that don't center around high schoolers?

Metaphor

I think it's their best game yet. I haven't played the SMT series or Persona 5 though

 

[TintoConCasera]

Do these devs have any similar games that don't center around high schoolers?

SMT III for the PS2 and IV for the 3DS. In SMT V they are highschoolers, but that barely matters in that game imo, for most of the game conversations are about mature stuff and not highschool stuff.

Also, the already mentioned Digital Devil Saga, for the PS2. Or maybe Strange Journey for the DS and 3DS, although in that one the battle system is slightly different.

 

[Puscifer]

Also I think the game starts off too strong in terms of subject matter/bosses

Like how do you follow up (spoilers for first dungeon)

Spoiler

going after a physically and sexually abusive high school teacher

That whole opening is just so good and a bit risky and I feel like every other boss afterwards and scenario around them is just nowhere near as interesting or unique. It’s one thing I hope P6 fixes big time.

Big time here, it really set a stage for me thinking we're taking down adults who attacked kids and that would've been some really risque shit but they just... Didn't

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Just beat P3R and enjoyed it. Sloggy, yes, but good turn based gameplay, great characters, the theme is strong, loved the music…

And damn. The ending really hits you in the feels….

Not sure I’ll start P5 so quickly, but I hope we hear about Persona 6 this year

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

could not get into p3r. found the entire experience incredibly gay and cringe

sorry, I tried to give them a chance, but you are literally forced to act like a total cuck during every single social interaction, and that's a huge part of the game

the "correct" response is always being a little bitch when talking to girls, and supporting your retarded beta friend when talking to guys

everything outside of that seems solid. any of the other titles avoid this?

 

[adamsapple]

Just beat P3R and enjoyed it. Sloggy, yes, but good turn based gameplay, great characters, the theme is strong, loved the music…

And damn. The ending really hits you in the feels….

Not sure I’ll start P5 so quickly, but I hope we hear about Persona 6 this year

Don't forget that P3R has canonical DLC as well. Episode Aigis is canon and starts off after the base game's ending and gives you some more resolution on the MC.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Lol.

I said I wouldn't start up Persona 5 Royal after just beating P3R, but I did it....and I don't regret it.

I'm actually enjoying the production values, story, pacing, UI, etc..... a lot. It's a big step up from P3R, which makes sense since that was a remake of an older game. But wow, they went all out on Persona 5 Royal. I only played like 1-2 hours of P5 back when it launched in 2016. Did they change the intro up since then? I don't remember a whole lot...

It also looks fantastic on the PS5 Pro....4K 60, really sharp looking game, and the style is just crazy.

Makes me excited to see what they come up with for Persona 6. adamsapple

 

[adamsapple]

Lol.

I said I wouldn't start up Persona 5 Royal after just beating P3R, but I did it....and I don't regret it.

I'm actually enjoying the production values, story, pacing, UI, etc..... a lot. It's a big step up from P3R, which makes sense since that was a remake of an older game. But wow, they went all out on Persona 5 Royal. I only played like 1-2 hours of P5 back when it launched in 2016. Did they change the intro up since then? I don't remember a whole lot...

It also looks fantastic on the PS5 Pro....4K 60, really sharp looking game, and the style is just crazy.

Makes me excited to see what they come up with for Persona 6. adamsapple

I don't want to spoil but just give you a heads up. The key new addition to Royal, along with a lot of other peppered in content, is that there's a post-game now, which lasts a few months in the in-game calendar.

But it *is* missable. You need to make sure your social links with a new character is as high as the game would allow by the end of the in-game November.

Now, the problem here is that if someone has played Persona 5 before, they know who the new characters are. But since this is your first time, they're all new for you.

If you want me to just post the names of that person in spoiler tags, let me know. Cause like I said, if you don't have it high enough with them, the game will just give you the regular Persona 5 ending and end it there, you won't get the new Royal end-game content. It is substantial amount of content, a whole new ending etc.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't want to spoil but just give you a heads up. The key new addition to Royal, along with a lot of other peppered in content, is that there's a post-game now, which lasts a few months in the in-game calendar.

But it *is* missable. You need to make sure your social links with a new character is as high as the game would allow by the end of the in-game November.

Now, the problem here is that if someone has played Persona 5 before, they know who the new characters are. But since this is your first time, they're all new for you.

If you want me to just post the names of that person in spoiler tags, let me know. Cause like I said, if you don't have it high enough with them, the game will just give you the regular Persona 5 ending and end it there, you won't get the new Royal end-game content. It is substantial amount of content, a whole new ending etc.

Oh damn, I kinda hate the way Atlus games do stuff like this where they don't tell you how important a social link is and it misses you out on a massive item or in this case, post-game content. Insane.

Yeah I would not mind it if you post the name in a spoiler, as long as that character doesn't doesn't really spoil anything for me (like are they a villain before they become part of your team?)

 

[adamsapple]

Oh damn, I kinda hate the way Atlus games do stuff like this where they don't tell you how important a social link is and it misses you out on a massive item or in this case, post-game content. Insane.

Yeah I would not mind it if you post the name in a spoiler, as long as that character doesn't doesn't really spoil anything for me (like are they a villain before they become part of your team?)

I'll just give you the name and arcana name, no other details. It's not some out of the way thing, it's a prominent person.

Spoiler

Doctor Maruki. He's like a school counselor, his arcana is the Councillor Arcana, even.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Spoiler

Doctor Maruki. He's like a school counselor, his arcana is the Councillor Arcana, even.

Thanks! Do you recommend the post-game content in this game? I think I've heard it's pretty damn good.

Does it extend the game with a new final boss?

 

[adamsapple]

Thanks! Do you recommend the post-game content in this game? I think I've heard it's pretty damn good.

Does it extend the game with a new final boss?

Absolutely. Post-regular-game here is fantastic, *MUCH* better than P3's DLC or even the new content Persona 4 Golden got.

And it's not just post-game, they added a lot of stuff in the regular game semesters as well.

I can recommend people play either Persona 4 or Golden, either is a complete version, but with Royal, I can never go back to base Persona 5. It just feels half the game.

 

[Larxia]

I actually just started playing it a few days ago too. I'm 16 hours in, and I really like it so far, beat the first palace today.

I hesitated for a long time before trying it, because I usually don't like turn based JRPGs. Most of them have terrible, basic af combats.
Dragon Quest for example, I played 8 and 11, and the combats are so bland and boring. A lot of JRPGs never let you actually do any strategy, they just want you to spam the strongest attack and that's it. Something super weird in many JRPG is how a lot of actions (special attack, spells, buff, debuffs) are useless, because they're not worth using against regular mobs, but bosses are always immuned to everything, so you just never use these sorts of actions. I never understood this, and Dragon Quest is king at that.

I heard good things about Persona combats, like how apparently it's better than your usual jrpg turn based, and some friend recommended it to me based on my feedback on other games, and yes, so far it's much, much better than the typical FF / Pokemon / Dragon Quest turn based.
The 1 more and baton pass mechanics are really fun, I really like this combo type of thing. I'm playing on Hard because I read about how Merciless actually made the game easier because of the weakness damage multiplier, and the first palace boss actually took me a few tries, so it's interesting to have some challenge and try different things.

I used to dislike turn based in general and think that it wasn't for me at all. Then I played Baldur's Gate 3, and I realized that I could actually enjoy turn based if it involved real thinking, strategy, options, it's just something I never found in the previous JRPGs I played, most of them just felt really dumb and didn't provide anything that you wouldn't be able to do with an action game, like sure there is an ice enemy, let's throw fire on him, that's not really strategic, I can do that in an action game too. For turn based to be interesting, it needs to have a lot more depth than that.
After enjoying Baldur's Gate 3 and enjoying it, I decided to give another turn based game a try, Midnight Suns, and I absolutely loved it, it's my favorite turn based gameplay ever so far, super fun game, and playing Persona 5 now, I notice how they have quite many similarities with the social aspect and how they impact the combats etc...

So yeah, so far a cool experience, I hope it will remain good and that I'll enjoy it until the end. One thing I could maybe complain about is that I think there are often too many limitations in your freedom, Morgana will often forbid you to do some stuff because something else is more "urgent", and it's a shame that even on sundays, you can only do one single activity before it's night time. I do wish we had a bit more freedom to do various things.

edit: oh and another small complaint, I hate how the DLC implementation is, and how you can't claim costumes without also claiming ton of money and cheat items etc... It's kind of a shame they did it like this, same for the Overpowered DLC Personas that you have to avoid on purpose if you don't want to ruin your game.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I actually just started playing it a few days ago too. I'm 16 hours in, and I really like it so far, beat the first palace today.

I hesitated for a long time before trying it, because I usually don't like turn based JRPGs. Most of them have terrible, basic af combats.
Dragon Quest for example, I played 8 and 11, and the combats are so bland and boring. A lot of JRPGs never let you actually do any strategy, they just want you to spam the strongest attack and that's it. Something super weird in many JRPG is how a lot of actions (special attack, spells, buff, debuffs) are useless, because they're not worth using against regular mobs, but bosses are always immuned to everything, so you just never use these sorts of actions. I never understood this, and Dragon Quest is king at that.

I heard good things about Persona combats, like how apparently it's better than your usual jrpg turn based, and some friend recommended it to me based on my feedback on other games, and yes, so far it's much, much better than the typical FF / Pokemon / Dragon Quest turn based.
The 1 more and baton pass mechanics are really fun, I really like this combo type of thing. I'm playing on Hard because I read about how Merciless actually made the game easier because of the weakness damage multiplier, and the first palace boss actually took me a few tries, so it's interesting to have some challenge and try different things.

I used to dislike turn based in general and think that it wasn't for me at all. Then I played Baldur's Gate 3, and I realized that I could actually enjoy turn based if it involved real thinking, strategy, options, it's just something I never found in the previous JRPGs I played, most of them just felt really dumb and didn't provide anything that you wouldn't be able to do with an action game, like sure there is an ice enemy, let's throw fire on him, that's not really strategic, I can do that in an action game too. For turn based to be interesting, it needs to have a lot more depth than that.
After enjoying Baldur's Gate 3 and enjoying it, I decided to give another turn based game a try, Midnight Suns, and I absolutely loved it, it's my favorite turn based gameplay ever so far, super fun game, and playing Persona 5 now, I notice how they have quite many similarities with the social aspect and how they impact the combats etc...

So yeah, so far a cool experience, I hope it will remain good and that I'll enjoy it until the end. One thing I could maybe complain about is that I think there are often too many limitations in your freedom, Morgana will often forbid you to do some stuff because something else is more "urgent", and it's a shame that even on sundays, you can only do one single activity before it's night time. I do wish we had a bit more freedom to do various things.

edit: oh and another small complaint, I hate how the DLC implementation is, and how you can't claim costumes without also claiming ton of money and cheat items etc... It's kind of a shame they did it like this, same for the OP Personas that you have to avoid on purpose if you don't want to ruin your game.

You should try Metaphor after playing P5R.

It has an awesome turn based combat combined with a class system and tons of things to upgrade. It's fantastic if you like this type of combat.

 

[Larxia]

You should try Metaphor after playing P5R.

It has an awesome turn based combat combined with a class system and tons of things to upgrade. It's fantastic if you like this type of combat.

Yeah I'll probably keep Metaphor in mind if I enjoy Persona 5 to the end. I think I'll probably try Persona 5 Strikers next though if I want more Persona 5 after Royal, I know it's a completely different gameplay but apparently it's still pretty good. And maybe Metaphor one day.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

I like the game a lot. But I actually didn't love it the way I do P3 and P4.

The music, graphics and combat all surpass the previous persona games. But the piss poor localization really hurt my ability to connect with characters and story. It goes beyond "Kamoshida is a scum." In the later half of the game, from around september on, characters are spouting gobbeldygook word salad nonsense so bad I couldn't think of my party members as people and was badly pulled out of the experience.

I also think the new way of doing dungeons is flawed. It seemed great for the first couple of "palaces" but in the end dungeon crawling and story are no longer separate. It used to be that you could go do social links when you want a break from combat or go do dungeons when you want a break from talking, but now characters constantly stop to talk at length in dungeons, and talking is not the game's strength.

The localization in the new royal content is fine but the new abilities you get are too powerful and kinda break the game. It also makes the length of a playthrough seem exhaustingly long which I would have never have thought possible back in the old persona days where I loved all the characters in my party and wished the games would go on forever.

Yeah I'll probably keep Metaphor in mind if I enjoy Persona 5 to the end. I think I'll probably try Persona 5 Strikers next though if I want more Persona 5 after Royal, I know it's a completely different gameplay but apparently it's still pretty good. And maybe Metaphor one day.

P5 Strikers doesn't have localization problems and has a surprising amount of effort put into its production, the budget and amount of content almost feels like a full persona game with the life sim part stripped out. Obviously you need to be ready for musou combat tho. I would say it spends way too much time in the start of its story having loooong conversations setting up and justifying why the metaverse is back and the characters have to do persona stuff again, but in the second half of the game the story improves.