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PERSONA 5 (PS3)
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Publisher: Deep Silver.
Developer: Atlus. Released: April 2017. Genre: JRPG. Other versions: PS4. Posted 8th September 2020. By Tom Clare © 2020 |
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A month and ten years after the PlayStation 3 launched in Europe, Persona 5 finally made it to western shores. Late to the party, so much so that a PS4 port was announced during the latter part of the development cycle, presumably when Atlus realised a significant chunk of its intended demographic would by then have moved on to new hardware. The series does have previous: Persona 4 released a whopping nine years after the PlayStation 2, delivering a rousing swansong for a format that had rewritten expectations for hardware longevity. Patient gamers hoped for more with P5, but what we eventually got was an awful lot more. Not so much a plucky send-off for the PlayStation 3, as a grand culmination of what the series (and console) could achieve with a significant amount of time and craft invested. Not only is it the best RPG on the system, but one of the greatest games of its era.
It’s a throwback to the days of once-a-generation releases that, for so long, had been the preserve of Dragon Quest, or perhaps Half-Life. Five years in development was time well spent for Persona 5. A JRPG masterwork, utterly unrivalled in the scale of its ambitions, or the flawlessness of its execution. That it all comes together so spotlessly beggars belief.
Persona 5's palaces are a huge step-forward from the Midnight Channels dungeons, both visually and in terms of design
Having been wrongly accused of assault after defending a woman from a malevolent politician, P5’s nameable high school protagonist is sent to live above a coffee shop in Yongen-Jaya (a fictional suburb of Tokyo). Shortly after starting at his new school, he makes friends with Ryuji and Ann, as well as a mysterious cat named Morgana, whom he encounters in the first of a number of ‘palaces’. If you’ve played Persona 4, you’ll know the gist of it. Accessed this time via phones rather than the TV, palaces represent the distorted desires and twisted imaginings of their troubled owners. Making your way through a series of trials, defeating the offender’s shadow (a version of themselves that represents the negative outlook of its owner) and changing their heart in the real world. With a band of allies working for justice, they form the Phantom Thieves.
The day-to-day is endlessly addictive. Few games can lose their player so completely, for hours on end, like Persona 5. Forming bonds with your allies is engrossing and rewarding, not only because you get to see likeable personalities grow and confront their problems, but because these bonds have material benefits in exploring the palaces. Getting to know Hifumi, a budding shogi star, grants your party new battle tactics. Passing on information to journalist Ichiko Ohya results in a relaxing of security within the palaces. Party members also shares skills, such as providing automatic defence and status-reviving moves, as well as the brilliant baton pass, where one character can tag in another following a critical/weak point hit on a foe, and link a chain of attacks. You can even help out at the coffee shop, ultimately resulting in the opportunity to brew drinks that restore precious spirit points.
The day-to-day is endlessly addictive. Few games can lose their player so completely, for hours on end, like Persona 5. Forming bonds with your allies is engrossing and rewarding, not only because you get to see likeable personalities grow and confront their problems, but because these bonds have material benefits in exploring the palaces. Getting to know Hifumi, a budding shogi star, grants your party new battle tactics. Passing on information to journalist Ichiko Ohya results in a relaxing of security within the palaces. Party members also shares skills, such as providing automatic defence and status-reviving moves, as well as the brilliant baton pass, where one character can tag in another following a critical/weak point hit on a foe, and link a chain of attacks. You can even help out at the coffee shop, ultimately resulting in the opportunity to brew drinks that restore precious spirit points.
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The attention to detail sets Persona 5 apart from its competition. Every day feels unique. You might hear some choice info or opinions on the subway heading into school, or be prompted to answer a question during a lesson. After school, as well as spending time with your confidants, you can hang around and observe the evolving gossip of the students, or those out and about in the lively subway, or commercial spots such as Akiharaba. The protagonist can take advantage of deals from the mail-order channel every Sunday, or see a range of different films throughout the year via the local theatre, each providing different stat boosts. He can even take a part-time job. It’s the freedom to choose, to spend your time how you please, that’s so spellbinding. As a result, Persona 5 becomes a remarkable time-sink, but it never drags, because there’s always so much to see and do.
Persona 4 was a wonderful game, so it’s all the more impressive that Atlus hasn’t shied away from making decisive changes and improvements. Small concerns, such as the creeping repetition of the Midnight Channel’s dungeons, have been revamped, blossoming instead into abundant strengths. Palaces not only have their own theme and specially-designed floor plans, but each comes with a range of logic challenges and puzzles. The settings couldn’t be any more varied: a bank, a spaceship and a pyramid, to name but a few. There’s so much more to them than accumulating battles, you’re never quite sure what’s around the next corner.
Persona 4 was a wonderful game, so it’s all the more impressive that Atlus hasn’t shied away from making decisive changes and improvements. Small concerns, such as the creeping repetition of the Midnight Channel’s dungeons, have been revamped, blossoming instead into abundant strengths. Palaces not only have their own theme and specially-designed floor plans, but each comes with a range of logic challenges and puzzles. The settings couldn’t be any more varied: a bank, a spaceship and a pyramid, to name but a few. There’s so much more to them than accumulating battles, you’re never quite sure what’s around the next corner.
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It's one of the prettiest, most stylish PlayStation 3 releases. Persona 5's art design is fantastic.
Exploration is boosted considerably by an intuitive new cover system, where the player can jump between safe spots, striking at enemies from the shadows. It proves a worthy element that can benefit the player in how they go about approaching battles, without bogging things down. Speaking of battles, Persona 5 remains as strong as ever in this department, with a gigantic array of demonic monsters manifesting in the form of masks the player can wear, either through negotiations (which can alternatively yield money or items), or through fusing combinations of personas.
Persona 5 is one of the finest looking games ever to have graced the PlayStation 3. Its soft, stylish animated environs have a distinctive watercolour style and look pristine. They’re remarkably refined. Its bold presentation really stands out. A cumulation of small, chic touches means P5 looks unlike any other game. The silhouettes of umbrellas fluttering across the screen during rainy day loading transitions, the chatter of the city giving the player a taste of where the Phantom Thieves sit in terms of public opinion. Menus look stunning, everything shifts and transitions with remarkable finesse. As if all this wasn’t enough, there’s also a significant quotient of anime video sequences. Not static backgrounds with a character design superimposed over them: wonderful, high-quality animated cinematics. No expense was spared making this game as good as it could be.
Persona 5 is one of the finest looking games ever to have graced the PlayStation 3. Its soft, stylish animated environs have a distinctive watercolour style and look pristine. They’re remarkably refined. Its bold presentation really stands out. A cumulation of small, chic touches means P5 looks unlike any other game. The silhouettes of umbrellas fluttering across the screen during rainy day loading transitions, the chatter of the city giving the player a taste of where the Phantom Thieves sit in terms of public opinion. Menus look stunning, everything shifts and transitions with remarkable finesse. As if all this wasn’t enough, there’s also a significant quotient of anime video sequences. Not static backgrounds with a character design superimposed over them: wonderful, high-quality animated cinematics. No expense was spared making this game as good as it could be.
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It also represents another impressive evolution in the series’ storytelling. Atlus capture school friends’ camaraderie with their customary aplomb, whilst the broader narrative looks at the perils of entitlement culture and media manipulation in the age of the internet. It portrays society as heading meekly for a prison of its own devising, the public crying freedom from the worry of thinking for themselves, or answering to the consequences of their decisions. The last leg of the game sees an influential figure rising to power, aided by the contrarianism of his support base, who continue to meekly back him even after his shocking crimes have been confessed. It’s unlikely these scenes will feel any less relevant in years to come.
As it turns out, it was the perfect game for a lockdown. Nothing says “no need to leave the house” like a role-playing game that’s good for more than 95 hours of play. Not 95 hours to see everything, you understand, not even close. 95 hours to finish it. That’s without factoring in mastering the fishing, video game and baseball mini-games, exploring the large range of locations and confidant links, or discovering all 192 Personas that make up the compendium, each with its own beautiful, illustrated 3D character model and bio. There’s even a New Game+ if you’ve lots of time on your hands. Remarkably, it’s almost twice the size of your average role-playing game.
As it turns out, it was the perfect game for a lockdown. Nothing says “no need to leave the house” like a role-playing game that’s good for more than 95 hours of play. Not 95 hours to see everything, you understand, not even close. 95 hours to finish it. That’s without factoring in mastering the fishing, video game and baseball mini-games, exploring the large range of locations and confidant links, or discovering all 192 Personas that make up the compendium, each with its own beautiful, illustrated 3D character model and bio. There’s even a New Game+ if you’ve lots of time on your hands. Remarkably, it’s almost twice the size of your average role-playing game.
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No game, no matter how much we rave about it, is entirely perfect. Fortunately, P5’s issues are small enough that they don’t detract from its brilliance. Though significantly less frequent an occurrence than in previous instalments, it’s still possible to be killed instantly with bless/curse magic, ending the game if Joker succumbs to it. This remains a bit of a bugbear: revive your teammates to your heart’s content, but if he is felled, then it’s game over. Boss battles at least have starting checkpoints, so you don’t have to return to a save room should you fall. The voicing is mostly really good, with the odd slightly less convincing effort an acceptable trade off.
Shoji Meguro works his customary magic on the soundtrack, injecting urgency, excitement and no little swagger into proceedings. In terms of the Persona series, it’s perhaps his most consistent work, though the vocal tracks are a little bit too similar. Perhaps it only seems this way because of just how eclectic his earlier work seemed. The box art screams ‘We’re Here to Take Your Heart’ and that’s exactly what Persona 5 does. When Persona 4 arrived, I couldn’t believe how big a step it took from the already-fantastic Persona 3. Almost a decade later, I’m left puzzling the same conundrum with P5. All the hype and expectation, and still I’m shocked by how good it is. Just how did Atlus manage it, and will Persona 6 manage the same feat? We’ll be waiting a while for an answer. One thing’s for sure though: Persona 5 is phenomenal. A game to be cherished, for all-time.
Shoji Meguro works his customary magic on the soundtrack, injecting urgency, excitement and no little swagger into proceedings. In terms of the Persona series, it’s perhaps his most consistent work, though the vocal tracks are a little bit too similar. Perhaps it only seems this way because of just how eclectic his earlier work seemed. The box art screams ‘We’re Here to Take Your Heart’ and that’s exactly what Persona 5 does. When Persona 4 arrived, I couldn’t believe how big a step it took from the already-fantastic Persona 3. Almost a decade later, I’m left puzzling the same conundrum with P5. All the hype and expectation, and still I’m shocked by how good it is. Just how did Atlus manage it, and will Persona 6 manage the same feat? We’ll be waiting a while for an answer. One thing’s for sure though: Persona 5 is phenomenal. A game to be cherished, for all-time.
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VERDICT
"An RPG masterwork, utterly unrivalled in the scale of its ambitions, or the flawlessness of its execution. That it all comes together so spotlessly beggars belief. Persona 5 is phenomenal. A game to be cherished, for all-time." OVERALL: 10/10 |
OTHER EPIC JAPANESE ROLE-PLAYING GAME REVIEWS
Secret of Mana (1994, Super Nintendo)
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Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2013, PS3)
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