Persona 5 Royal (Switch) Review

Retake My Heart

When Persona 5 Royal was announced for PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch I was ecstatic mostly because I've played Persona 5/Royal once a year since its original release in 2017. Unfortunately, since its release, Persona as a series has been chiefly locked to a Sony console. I looked at this new wave of releases as another chance to play through one of my favorite games but on a new platform. Hopefully, this trend continues for the entire franchise.

When the Nintendo Switch started having Shin Megami Tensai games released for it and even the Persona 5 spin-off game Strikers, people clamored for a Persona 5 port to the Switch. Bringing an 80+ hour JRPG to a handheld console is a beautiful idea, making it immediately more accessible for the millions of Switch players that may not have been able to prior to this port. To make things even better, Persona 5 Royal runs surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch and looks gorgeous even on the launch Switch.

Before I go into this review, I would like to just put out some trigger warnings. Persona 5 has a heavy story and deals with many complex subjects. There will be mentions of sexual assault, thoughts of suicide, and abuse. 

The story of Persona 5 places players in the shoes of Akira/Ren (Joker), a student who is on probation for assaulting a wealthy man who was sexually assaulting a woman. Of course, because of this man's position, the police take his side. So Ren is sent to his parents' friend for the year to go to school. 

Things start out rough for Joker. Sojiro, his guardian for the year, does not enjoy having to keep him in line and tends to take it out on him. In fact, almost every parental figure or person in power in Persona 5 is horrible. For example, Kamoshida, a physical education teacher crosses paths with our Hero and is used as a tutorial boss. He abuses the male students and objectifies the female students with some sexual connotations. It's gross. 

I enjoy the story here a lot, and I do not like ruining the story for others, but I do want to give one warning. In Royal, there are two endings, one of which is the canon base game ending which is good. Then there is the expanded ending which is impressive. It does grow to the point of typical JRPG proportions, with Joker and friends trying to save the world but some people might have issues with the other ending being locked behind interacting with the new characters (make sure you max out the confidant levels of the guidance counselor Takuto Maruki, Goro Akechi, and Kasumi Yoshizawa) but I think it is an ending well-earned being a game about making lifelong connections with people, and if you do that you will not miss it. That being said, I'm aware I am a Persona apologist, and I'm here for every little nuance, whereas someone who is in it strictly for a golden path through the game might only get to see some of the fantastic stuff Persona 5 has in store.

The gameplay in Persona 5 is twofold. The metaverse side is where all the action happens, turn-based combat with elemental affinities like Pokemon. Actually, you can also capture personas like pokemon. Speeding up the pace of battles, hitting an elemental weakness on an enemy grants an extra turn. The flip side is if an enemy hits the party’s elemental weakness, they also get an additional action. If you manage to knock down all enemies in a battle, you enter this unique battle phase where you can make an all-out attack that pushes Persona 5’s style to the limit and does a ton of damage. The other options are you can ask a persona to join your team, where they need to be convinced, or you can ask it for items and money. The latter never really happens, but pulling off having a Persona join you always feels good and the all-out attacks are visually stunning.

The other half of the game is living a day-to-day life as a student. Studying for tests, reading books, and most importantly, getting to know your teammates better. As you grow your bond with your teammates, you get various boosts like being able to pass your extra turn to them through a baton pass, dealing extra damage. Additionally, by creating a persona with their tarot card matching the one that you are making they gain additional experience leveling them up and gaining extra skills.

The music is absolutely outstanding in Persona 5. It all fits with this punk, acid jazz style. The whole game is oozing with it. I have never played a game that is as stylish and in your face with its entire shtick. I mean, just listen to this battle music…

Amazing right?!

Overall, Persona 5 Royal is excellent. It takes what was great about the base game and expands on it. I'm serious when I say that the new ending and dungeon are some of the best in all Persona games. In addition, the fact that it is now portable really elevates it to the next level, as performance on the Nintendo Switch is surprisingly fantastic.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

VISUALS - 10/10

SOUND - 10/10

CONTROLS - 8/10

REPLAY VALUE - 8/10

OVERALL - 8.8/10

Persona 5 Royal is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC; more information can be found on the official website. A digital Switch copy was provided for review purposes. Screenshots were captured while in handheld mode.