Three Reasons to Play Persona 5 Royal 

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Want a game that fuses slice-of-life with dungeon crawlers? Here you have it: Persona 5 Royal!

Released to western audiences in 2020, Persona 5 Royal is an expansion of the original Persona 5. Developed by ATLUS within SEGA, Persona 5 Royal strives to be its own story while fixing and adding to the original’s narrative and gameplay. When both versions are compared to the other, Persona 5 Royal is far more thought out.  

If you’re worried about the “5” in the title, don’t be. Persona 5 Royal has its own narrative that doesn’t relate to the earlier games in the series. There’s no fear of missing anything; all you have to do is jump in and play. Experience over hundred hours of gameplay and enjoy all there is to do!   

An illustration of 11 people and a cat mascot surrounding a center figure dressed in black.

image courtesy of sega

Gameplay Variety 

With a game as large as Persona 5 Royal, it’s expected that it will be packed full of gameplay variety. Persona 5 Royal is unique compared to most other Japanese Role-play Games (JRPGS) in the sense that there are two main phases in which you can choose what to do in the game. By day, you’re able to dungeon crawl, hangout with friends, increase your skill levels, or explore the city of Tokyo. Japan. At night, dungeon crawling is limited; you’re instead encouraged to focus on the bonds you have with your confidants (friends/connections). 

It is unlikely that you will have a repeat of days and nights within Persona 5 Royal because of the sheer number of things you can do. You could go fishing, work at a job, dungeon crawl, hang out with confidants, study, build infiltration tools, cook meals…the possibilities are nearly endless, and the variety will never bore.  

You will have to live throughout an entire year playing each day, but don’t let that scare you. The days fly by quickly. Before you know it, you will be hours deep into the game in just a single session.  

Addictive Narrative That Will Make You Want to Play for Hours 

A game like Persona 5 Royal is nothing if it doesn’t have a compelling narrative thathooks you. Throughout the game, you will find yourself put into a narrative pattern that drives the gameplay forward, while also expanding the story. This is mostly shown with the dungeon crawling aspect. With each major area of the dungeons (Palaces) that you complete, the story will propel you forward. The game does a good job of keeping the player engaged with cutscenes, interactive dialogue and narrative consequences that will leave you aching to find out what happens next.  

The shoulder view of a character that has gameplay user interface surrounding him as they face an opponent.

image courtesy of sega

Compelling Characters 

Throughout your playthrough, you will come across over a dozen different characters that you can get to know. Each character you can learn more about are called Confidants. Confidants within Persona 5 Royal are people you will be able to hang out with. When you do, you get in-game rewards that’ll help with dungeon crawling. 

 However, that doesn’t mean that all Confidants are simple reward farms, as your character’s main group of friends will be the Confidants you see most often. Each friend of the main character is extremely well-developed, with arcs that surround their character's growth.  

You may find that some characters fall into stereotypical archetypes, such as social outcasts, mascots, and more. But as they’re developed, it will be hard to define them as just those archetypes. Each character feels like their own person with positive and negative traits, and they never feel dull.

An illustration of a person holding a mask against a red background next to a showcase of other characters in gold.

IMAGE courtesy of sega

Despite how long it is, Persona 5 Royal is an upgrade from Persona 5 that deserves to be given a chance. It can be daunting, but the satisfaction you will get at the end is worth every hour put into the game. Every penny you spent on the game will reward you with its vast potential and variety.  

What are you waiting for? Go give Persona 5 Royal a shot! 

Kate Mulligan

Kate Mulligan is one of our authors who will be responsible for the world building section within IGN. Born in Edmonton Alberta, Kate has lived their entire life within Canada. Having been raised in a household that loves video games, Kate has taken just as much of a liking, especially towards story driven games. For IGN, Kate will be focusing on the importance of world building and how exactly it effects the continuity of story based video games. Catch their first blog post titled “3 Reasons Red Dead Redemption II Will Captivate You Like No Other Game.”