Persona 5 Review
Finished the game on Friday night.
Absolutely loved it. I'd place it near my top five video games of all time. Here is a massive dump of my thoughts. I've done my best to be vague and avoid spoilers.
Comparison to Persona 4
I kinda hate to do this but I think any review of P5 is going to at least have some comparison to its highly-regarded predecessor. Persona 4 was my first Persona game and I adored it. I shed a few tears when the end credits rolled in P4. Not out of sadness but from that sense of closure to the overall bittersweet finale and from seeing those characters part... characters who had grown to be your friends.
At the end of Persona 5 I did not tear up. However, I think my reaction was more in due to the WAY Persona 5 ends which is far less bittersweet and more ambiguous and up-lifting. The game's overall message about the power to affect real-world change in our lives makes for a far more cheerful coda. I will say the end credits design and music are fantastic. I've re-watched them a few times now and that same sadness of seeing a grand adventure ending was still there.
Story
The story in Persona 5 is definitely an improvement over Persona 4 in my opinion. P4 was a fine tale but P5 integrates the overarching plot, the concept of human cognition, the metaverse, and even the individual stories of each friend and confidant far more tightly into a less disconnected narrative than P4 did. Furthermore, I found P5's story far easier to follow throughout because of this. While not all of the social links in P5 were as memorable as those in P4, they also weren't retreads of the P4 dungeons. Also, there were more interesting twists and seemingly game-altering moments in P5 that delighted me throughout.
The Characters
As for the core team, they were all great except maybe for Yusuke. He was fine but kinda two-dimensional. That's not to say I didn't find him entertaining but he was the only team member whose social-link I did not max out. My favorite characters would have to be Futaba, Makoto, Ryuji, and Morgana. Speaking of Mona, let me just say that when my hype was rising about P5 over a year ago I switched my avatar to that of Morgana as he's the game's mascot. However, I never actually expected him to be a deep character I would care about. What a massive improvement over Teddy! He was great and even has an interesting, mysterious journey throughout the entire game's plot. I certainly hope the memes about his over insistence on forcing Joker to sleep aren't his only legacy because he's actually a well written, well performed character. He was a welcome surprise (and again, a far better character than Teddy ever was). Heck, just giving him a normal, non-cartoony voice alone elevated his characterization.
The World
Tokyo is very well realized from what I can tell. I've read several reviews of P5 from people who frequent Tokyo who say that playing the game gives a
very good representation of the city and I think that's great. The move to the big city from Persona 4's charming little town of Inaba was a welcome move and I think it helped give the story gravity and its affects on society more weight.
The Music
I was initially let down by the lack of vocal tracks at first, preferring the more varying and "poppy" tunes of Persona 4. But over time I think I came to
respect Persona 5's choice of a mostly non-vocal acid jazz soundtrack as it fits better with the game's darker theme of being a "phantom thief". Interestingly, by holding just a few vocal tracks close to its chest, and only using them at key moments in the game, it actually gave those moments far, far more punch like with "Beneath the Mask" suddenly goes vocal from instrumental and most particularly with the debut of the fantastic "Rivers in the Desert". I do intend on importing the three disc soundtrack to add to my collection. I think the only real mistake with the soundtrack was that there weren't more rotating themes for the different months or times of day. Persona 4 did a better job of having far more over world music variation.
The Look
Does it really need to be said? It's stunning. Probably the best use of graphic design I've ever seen in a video game (or most media, for that matter). Even people with zero interest in Persona can look at the game and be struck by the bold, over-the-top care put into every pixel on the screen. In fact, the anime cutscenes produced by A-1 Pictures were often the least creative parts of the overall presentation; never looking as good or being as well animated as the actual in game cutscenes.
Final Thoughts
Anyone who is willing to dedicate the time and are capable of loosing themselves in a world, its characters and its story will no doubt enjoy Persona 5 as I did. It was a long time coming but I think the overall polish and care placed into the production of this game seals its place among the greats which is astounding as we are in a year of great games. Don't miss it.
End Game Stats:
- Got the True Ending
- Final Level: 76
- Money: ¥2,300,000
- In Game Play Time: 131 Hours
- Real World Time Elapsed: 31 days
- All social stats maxed
- Confidants Completed: 15 (including the automatic ones)
- Primary End Game Persona: Black Frost
- Got the "Passionate Listener" trophy
- Compendium was more than 50% complete
- Played in English
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