Persona 5 Review: You'll Never See It Coming

With the next instalment in the Shin Megami Tensei series, developer Atlus had a mountain of a task ahead of them. Persona 5 is the long-anticipated sequel of 2012’s Persona 4 Golden, which was released to critical acclaim on the PS Vita, thanks to a HD makeover of the PS2 version and the addition of new story elements and characters. Persona 4 Golden is one of my very favourite games of all time, so after a 6-year development cycle spanning 2 console generations I was excited to see what crazy adventure was planned for the series.

Set in modern-day Tokyo, Persona 5 tells a tale of teenage defiance and adult corruption. You play as a silent protagonist who has recently transferred to the city after being falsely accused of a crime. Therein you are met by your new carer, Sojiro, and take residence in the attic above his quiet, yet charming café LeBlanc.

Once we’ve been formally introduced to the exceptionally well recreated city and some of the kooky characters that inhabit it, you are thrust into a chaotic world of high school drama and dungeon crawling and as you constantly shift from the real world to the madness of the augmented world of cognition. While the Persona series is known for its endless grinding and intricate turn-based combat system, the other side to the series is quite a different affair. You will spend a lot of time navigating the troublesome waters of high school, including answering questions correctly in class, choosing a romance option or even taking a trip to the cinema on your day off to help boost your stats in battle.

Embedded in the game’s 120-hour (yes, you heard right) runtime is a narrative that is entertaining from start to finish. After a crazy first few hours, you become the leader of the newly formed ‘Phantom Thieves’, a group hell bent on stealing the hearts of the corrupt to help rid society of evil. To achieve this, the group infiltrates the ‘palaces’ of their targets to steal their most cherished possession. Palaces are the distorted manifestations of a person’s thoughts, with each of the Phantom Thieves’ targets having a new, interesting area to battle their way through (similar to The Midnight Channel or Tartarus from other games in the series).

The gameplay of Persona 5 will be familiar to fans of the series the second you get past the game’s quirky intro. While in the real world, you will explore small yet charming areas in a third-person perspective, completing tasks to further develop your characters attributes. During this time, you can hang out with friends, check out the shops in Shibuya or even try your luck at the towns local ‘Big Bang Burger Challenge’.

In the ‘cognitive world’, the game takes a more traditional dungeon-crawler approach to gameplay. Each area is laid out like a maze, whereby you must navigate each floor using stealth tactics to approach enemies. Persona 5 takes advantage of an excellently developed turn-based approach to combat that, in any other franchise, would have been stale and unimaginative. However, it builds on the developments of the previous titles and adds new mechanics, such as baton-pass moves and hold-ups (you are the Phantom Thieves, after all) that make the familiar gameplay far more interesting and compelling. At no point was I ever bored of slaying countless demons on my quest to rid the world of greed and corruption.

While not as compelling as its predecessor, Persona 5 uses excellent voice acting and a unique tone to help make the story enjoyable. The cast of characters (despite being alarmingly similar to the characters of previous titles) are a joy to be around, each possessing character traits that are both relatable interesting. The standout here is the Teddie-like character, Morgana. Shrouded in mystery, Morgana is a cat who seemingly knows his way around the cognitive world. He is sassy, somewhat insecure and extremely condescending, spending most of the early game mocking your and your friend’s inability to perform complex tasks. He was a constant source of amusement during my lengthy playthrough.

Despite this, I never grew to love any of the main cast of characters. While all competently voice acted, written and designed, the Phantom Thieves we are presented with in Persona 5 didn’t leave a lasting impression past the end credits. Comparing this to the wacky ensemble of Persona 4’s Investigation Team, the characters in Persona 5 just don’t quite live up to the likes of Yosuke, Chie and Kanji.

Like most games with a 100+ runtime, there are definitely sections of the game where the pacing slows to a crawl. While you work through a palace during the day, the game presents you with a wealth of different activities to fill time while in the real world. However, once the palace is complete, the game has you endlessly clicking the X button repeatedly for hours at a time as you slog through the game’s text-based conversation system. The story presented here is enough to keep you playing, but there were often times I would pause the game to go and make a sandwich to break up the sheer volume of dialogue.

Persona 5’s biggest strength comes by way of its excellent art direction. While the series has never been known for its realistic character models, Atlus has instead delivered a game with immense style similar to that of your favourite anime series. It’s slick, jazzy and oozes cool. Persona’s graphics leave much to be desired (perhaps due to the game initially being planned as a PS3 exclusive), yet the funky art direction and mesmerising style combine to deliver a real visual treat.

I really enjoyed my time with Persona 5. While the game is littered with uneven pacing, lacklustre graphics and drawn-out story sections, my mind quickly dismissed the game’s shortcomings when I was presented with jaw-dropping art direction, a truly great soundtrack and an exceptionally well realised setting. In a game that is in excess of 100 hours, to say that I never felt like I was wasting my time is about the highest compliment I can give.