So, Persona 3 was a good game, and then Persona 4 came out and it was even better, and then we all wondered what sort of thing Persona 5 would be. And then we had to wait… for a long time. And I mean a looooooooooooooooooooooong time. But boy, let me tell you, when it finally came to grace the west, we were not expecting something like this, and we loved every second of it.
Persona 5 follows Ren Amamiya Pizza Pasta Mama Mia, or as fans prefer to call him, Akira, as he is sent to live with his guardian in Tokyo after being blamed for assaulting the Prime Minister, and is forced to experience all sorts of oppresive dick heads in Japan, like abusive teachers, scummy celebrities, crime bosses, and a terrible boss fight. With the help of a cast of friends from a model, a punk, a talking cat, a painter, a class president, a rich girl, and a shut in, they team up to go against their oppressors and change the world for the better by becoming the masked group, the Phantom Thieves. Now already, I was interested in this style from the get go, because man, that menu screen is flashy as hell and I love it so much. But then, when I saw the story we had and the music and the visuals and the- Okay, I gotta slow down, and get all my thoughts out together, because there is a lot with this game. So, the gameplay is typical Persona, you go through a dungeon at certain times of the day, and some times, you can go to the subway section of the area called Mementos to do side quests and level up, but during the day, you can increase social skills or hang out with Confidants. My favorites in this game were best girl Kawakami, Takamaki, and Sojiro. But mostly Kawakami. The game is also over a hundred and twenty hours long, so there is a lot to do in this game. When you do get to go against the bosses in their dungeons, or Palaces as they’re called here, it’s a real spectacle, because you get all sorts of new explorative mechanics, like how you can use the walls to sneak around them and always get a chance to get them first for a surprise attack. When you down an enemy, you can hold them up for a chance to get a new Persona, since that’s the best way to get a new Persona, get money, or get an item, or if you just don’t care, go right on ahead and kill them. Aside from taking down assholes that are above us, because I know we all had that feeling at one point, I sure did, the game also has a very amazing soundtrack. Probably my favorite in the entire franchise. It has that smooth jazz sound that really worked well in Catherine, but when you hear it in Persona 5 at any moment in the game, be it hanging out at Le Blanc or going on a mission in a Palace to deal with more awful people, it just works so well. This game, it just has so much for you to do in it and I don’t know if I can list it all. I am still trying to do everything in this game, even after beating it, because there is just so much here. And I love every moment of this game (Except the Okumura boss fight, what the hell were they thinking with that snorefest)
Persona 5 was something that Atlus needed to make their best game yet, and while I still prefer Persona 4 by just a smidge, it’s clear that Persona 5 was a classic among the franchise and was a favorite to many others. It had style, grace, a funny face (Okay, I’ll stop referencing the DK rap), it had flare, it had an amazing story and a great soundtrack, and the characters were some of the best in the franchise. If you want to get into the Persona franchise, 5 is a good place to start. Also, Kawakami is best girl. This is a fact.