I was always aware of the Persona series and kinda knew about its connections/nature to being related to the Shin Megami Tensei series too. Both of which are made by Atlus. From hearing numerous cosplayers and friends rave about this game along with watching streamers play this, I was sucked into playing. And hoo boy was it one doozy of a game. The game starts you out with a beautiful anime style cutscene of the main character and an unknown group of people making out of a casino with a briefcase. After an unexpected turn events, you end up being interrogated by a prosecutor who you're apparently familiar with. The game goes into flashback mode as you play through your life up until this point.
Persona 5 is first and foremost a JRPG with a major dose of life simulator mixed in. More so that P5 is half life sim/half JRPG dungeon crawling. Each chapter has you focused on what's known as "Stealing a Person's Heart" which has you on a time limit to clear the dungeon before a deadline to a game ending situation. There's definitely a lot to take in so I'll try my best to not overwhelm you guys with info if you find yourself interested in picking this game up.
One of the key phrases the game constantly throws at you is "Take Your Time". Time is one of your biggest concerns in this game as After school activities like hanging with your teammates take up time. Not to mention doing special store challenges and helping out at your temporary residence. Forming bonds/making deals with teammates and certain NPC characters turns them into your Confidant. Each of these characters have an interesting side-story you can pursue and are designated a Persona type (Arcana is the game term). Leveling these up grant you bonuses such as half off medicine, and allowing your teammates to perform special actions in battle.
Why not dive into the battle system and Personas then? These mainly take place in dungeons and are turn based. You control all 4 members at a time after a certain point but if you (the main protagonist Joker) fall, then game over. HP/SP make up the traditional RPG amounts with the latter being used for Persona Skills. Each character has a Persona which have elemental properties so you can definitely combat enemies with ease if you know what you're doing. There's also melee attacks, gun attacks and guarding. When you exploit a weakness/land a critical, the enemy will fall. If all of them are in that state, you do Hold Up's which can lead to some interesting choices. Joker has the ability to wield multiple Personas so you can recruit the enemy into fighting with you. The Personas themselves you level up and can fuse with others to create new ones in a handful of ways.
Other things Persona 5 throws at you include 5 social stats which are needed when progressing Confidant stories. The art style is pretty fantastic as are the transitions from menus to different areas in the game. That alongside the music were key factors into winning me over to playing this game. As of this going live, I should have the soundtrack in my hands tomorrow XD. The characters are endearing and I'm completely overblown by the VO with the English Dub. Ann being all cute /passionate, Futaba being a nerd at heart, Yusuke having some pretty funny quips here and there. I have to commend them for a superb job well done. There's several other battle mechanics I could go into but I'd rather save them for the game and not have this be part review/part instruction manual.
Persona 5 is one game this year I won't find myself forgetting. Totally see myself diving into a New Game + playthrough later this year if nothing else is on my gaming log. Stellar voice acting, catchy meme-ified music, and an addicting battle system are all incredibly strong points to this game. I found myself complaining only at making dumb mistakes in battle. This was finished in 92 hours under Normal Difficulty.
Should you Play this Game?
Yes! Persona 5 is a brilliantly made RPG with a lovable cast of characters, tragic yet endearing story with lots to offer. The battle system leaves you with dozens of options to take down foes. The music is a perfect blend of funk/jazz and might have you leave the game running for certain songs to endlessly play. You get your money's worth in terms of time spent in playing, so definitely Take Your Time.
