Persona 5 - Intro

              Persona 5 is another in the long list of games that I bought when it went down to $20 and then never got a chance to play until very recently. It has been recommended to me multiple times but 100+ hours of gameplay has me baulking at the thought of starting it. About a little over a month ago, I decided to jump in. Before starting, I had jokingly said I will probably be playing it for a few years before I get done. It has been about 5 weeks and I have already put in about eighty hours. With only one more palace to go, I certainly haven’t had enough of this game. I will definitely be starting New Game + mode once I’m done with this play though.

              This is the first Persona game I have played (although not the first Shin Megami Tensei game). This is a turn based RPG, with collect-your-fighter aspects from Pokemon. Only here they are called shadows instead. Having played Strange Journey, I am fairly certain the demon avatars carry over between the games. They also seem to not be connected to the story of the game. These are borrowed over from mythologies from across different cultures. In that way it is similar to Final Fantasy series where the summons carry over from game to game but do not have relevance to the story of the game itself.

              Persona 5 is one of the most gorgeous games I have had the pleasure of playing. It uses vibrant colors and stylish menus to create a look that is a cross between Ocean’s 11 and Man From U.N.C.L.E (movie remake not the tv show). As great as the visuals are, the music steals the show. It completes the retro vibe of the game. Eighty hours into the game and I have yet to be bored by it. The cutscenes are done in the old style anime that reminds me of late 90’s, early shows like Trigun or Cowboy Bebop.

              In the spirit of the anime feel, dialogue is awkwardly worded. I wonder how much of it is the function of translation. Some other annoyances include Ryuji flying of the handle over trivial things, Sae being unreasonable older sister. None of these are deal breakers but once I am aware of them, it is hard to overlook.

              I would love to play through it at least one more time. The question is should I get Persona 5 Royal or do a NG+ run. Even though Royal adds more content, there are two important reasons to choose NG+ instead. One, New Game Plus unlocks content that won’t be unlocked in Royal. Second, and more important reason, I have Persona 5 so I can start NG+ without waiting for the game to ship to me.

04-16-2020