Subject: "Persona 5 Royal"
Have you ever had that one game where you had no expectations going in but blew you out of the water after playing it? That was Persona 5 Royal for me. I donāt really watch a lot of Anime. I donāt hate it, just never really bothered with it. A friend of mine suggested I try Persona 5 Royal and man was I not disappointed. The steam page suckered me in finally and I finally clicked download.
To me, what made Persona 5 was the theme it portrayed. All of it was realistic problems people face in their day to day lives, from alcoholism to sexual assault. The brutal realism was what made it stick with me for a while. It offered you a chance to rebel against a flawed system. A chance to dethrone self-anointed kings and corrupt tyrants. It doesnāt try to hide or romanticise any of societyās weaknesses and thatās what made me respect the game.
A lot of it had to do with the character writing and they were portrayed. They didnāt overstep each otherās role, furthering their uniqueness. I canāt share a lot without spoiling the story but all the confidants have their own interesting backstories. All the characters come from different walks of life, each facing their own struggles. It really makes me sympathize for each one of them except Morgana, what an annoying twat.
Jokes aside, the story itself is a rollercoaster. Weighing in at a staggering 120 hours, thereās no shortage of things to explore. Personally, I didnāt feel that the game was bloated in any way. Itās not like a Ubisoft games where you have to repeat the same thing over and over again. Each segment of the game is different from the last, introducing new characters over time.
My favourite is Marukiās palace added in the DLC. I loved his character especially. The story poses him as an anti-villain. It really plays into the moral and philosophical challenges the game poses to the player which made me think through each interaction with him. I would love to write an entire article about it but suffice to say, I really sympathise with his way of thinking.
The art style is usually the first thing most people talk about and it is very unique. Most of them base their whole review around the artstyle which sells the game short. It fits the underlying theme of rebellion well - jagged black edges cutting through the deep reds filling the screen. The lush green in Iwaiās shop as he works his way through a lollipop or Takemi kicking up her feet as you buy heals, all following a graffiti-like artstyle.
The music is really unique too. It blends jazz with slight hints of rock here and there but Iām no expert. I enjoyed a lot of the tracks, often finding myself just chilling in the Thieves Den listening to āNo More What Ifsā and āBeneath The Maskā on repeat. Lyn did a fantastic job with the vocals. I even have some added to my music collection.
I had lots of fun playing through the game. The combined sense of humour and dread made me enjoy it a lot. A lot of the game is grounded in realism and sheds light on the evils rooted in light. The game gets weirdly philosophical by the end and forces you to answer ambiguous questions. The game is very large but trust me it doesnāt get boring. This is absolutely a must-play if you are a fan of JRPGs.
Post Scriptum
I wanted to make this review for the past year or so. Itās really difficult to pin-point what made this game so good for me so I want to delve a bit into how it affected me personally. I kept putting off on it since I wanted to make it perfect but this game has so much on offer that I canāt truly capture everything that I felt playing this. The biggest struggle was honestly finding the right words to describe it.
The characters were realistic and the world is so immersive that it truly felt like I was living a second life playing through this game. The character that I resonated the most with was probably Futaba. Not because Iām some genius hacker or anything but I found a lot of her anti-social tendencies relatable. I remember internalising a lot of my struggles during that time and it became pretty burdening on myself.
I enjoy talking a lot about games, technology and other nerdy stuff but most of the closest people around me donāt really care and would show disinterest if I try to talk about it. Fair enough. I didnāt want to bother others so I stopped unless they reciprocated interest. I was not totally alone, I still had a reasonably sized friends circle. Yet, I still find myself slowly shutting off and heavily filtering myself in fear of what others might do and say.
I think Persona 5 helped me break out of that logic. I think there is a danger in expressing yourself too much but I think there is a greater sense of unfulfiment when things are left unsaid. I was partly driven by a sort of escapism but it carried me through a lot of stressful times. Finishing it left a large vacuum in my life and Iām afraid I wonāt find another game with the same wake-up call.
It didnāt change the fact that yes, life does stink right now but hey, it gave me enough hope that it will eventually get better. The game taught me a lot about time management and putting in effort. It motivated me to fix my life slowly bit by bit. Sitting here writing this, a lot of things changed since I played this game over a year ago. Some for the worse and some for the better. Waiting for tomorrow and expecting it to be better is delusional. I learnt that you can only make it better by taking action.
Thatās about it.