Persona 5 Review - BUY NOW!!!
I finally finished Persona 5 after 180+ hours; 20% of those hours may have been because I ran the game in the background so I could listen to a groovy track. The whole journey was incredible and everyone should should experience it.
Persona 5, developed by P-Studio, is a turn based Japanese RPG where you balance daily activities with diving into cognitive dungeons. Don't let the words "turn based JRPG" sour your outlook on this beautiful game. It is oozing with style from all of its finely crafted components.
You start the game in the middle of a heist, but you are apprehended and knocked out by authorities. When you come to, you learned that interrogators had used drugs on you to get a confession and then promptly forced to sign the said confession. Later, a prosecutor shows up shortly to begin an interview where you relive your memories on how you got into this sticky situation as a member of the Phantom Thieves.
The story was always engaging. It never once dropped my interest. I constantly sought to see what was next in the plot. Persona 5 story is an linear affair but like a well crafted novel, it quite works well.
I love the direction P-Studio took with Persona 5. Everything had a stylish charm to it, from the menus to the even the dialogue boxes, which have been snazzed-up by featuring shots of the speaker's expression which helps players understand more of their emotion. Let's look at building up relationships with people known as confidants. Normally this would be dull element of the game, but as you get closer to your confidants, you discover more of their background and unlock new abilities that can be used in the daily life portion of the game or in cognitive dungeons. Even the voice acting is well done. The last game which had me engrossed in its charm was Mass Effect 2, which hopefully says a lot about the quality of Persona 5.
Combat felt similar as it was built on standard turn based concepts but had its own engaging flair by using Personas, strengths/weakness, 1 more, and hold ups. Hold ups are activated when enemies are knocked down when they receive damaged from an attack type they are weak to. During a hold up, you can extort money or items from an enemy or convince them to join you. Battles feel like solving a puzzle which was why I never felt bored. My only dislike about the combat was the persona system which uses a Pokemon style system. Replacing a skill with another will always rub me the wrong way. I would have stopped playing if not for everything else that made the game so great. I had a fever and the only cure was more Phantom Thieves.
I'm a sucker for jazzy sound tracks so it was not a shocker that my ears ate the soundtrack like sweet sweet honey. Shoji Meguro (Composer) and Lyn Inaizumi (Vocals) have done an incredible work on Persona 5. The only draw back some people may experience is the main battle theme features lyrics and after 100 hours it will start to rub them the wrong way, but you'll never see it coming.
Persona 5 sank its claws deep in me early on and there was no escape until it stole my heart. I was left with an empty feeling after watching the ending credits as there would be no more Persona 5 to look forward to. It truly desires all the awards it received in 2017.
Verdict: Buy it
The reviewer had to buy Persona 5 for review because their phone lacks a Nav app