‘Persona 5 Royal’ – First Impressions

On March 31st, 2020, I obtained my copy of ‘Persona 5 Royal’ and began playing. 35 in-game hours later, and about a third of the way through the original game’s plot, I’m here to give you my first impressions.

A lot has changed (I played and beat the original ‘Persona 5’ back in 2017), and many of the changes aren’t till near the end of the game. As such, I will give you my first impressions of this new expanded version of the original game.

The first thing I noticed was the opening cinematic which has changed.

Here it is below:

The next thing I noticed was that the menu had changed, and that the Japanese voice acting is integrated as an option when starting a new game. The graphics are also more crisp and clean, as they’ve had time to polish them for this PS4 exclusive release.

But, let’s get to the new content that I’ve come across in my first 35 hours…

First, the general changes:

‘Persona 5 Royal’ includes several new features. The palaces and boss fights have been overhauled. Joker now has a grappling hook to use in the aforementioned palaces, new collectibles have been introduced and the combat has been remixed. Guns now refill after every battle and there are now ‘Showtime’ attacks that act like little sketches that do massive damage to an enemy. A few scenes are changed here and there to flow better and you now have more chances than ever to grow your attributes and build confidant relations due to some smart changes. There are a few other changes, but they’re small and insignificant.

Lastly, the major additions:

The major additions to the game are a reworked confidant for Akechi, the twin wardens are now fully fleshed out confidants, and the addition of two new confidants: Maruki and Kasumi, who play major roles. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t elaborate.

Everything mentioned so far makes the game flow better, play better and feel fuller.

Oh, and the addition of an unlockable third semester with 15-20 hours of new story content!! I haven’t gotten to that yet though – so I can’t elaborate – but I’ve heard only praise for it.

I’ll have a full review once I finish the game in its entirety.

Gonna be a blast! I’m especially looking forward to the brand new story content!