For years‌ “Persona” fans have been begging Atlus for past editions of “Persona” on all platforms, and this year Atlus responded. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the “Persona” series, Atlus revived “Persona 5 Royal,” a Japanese role-playing game, which was originally released on October 31, 2019. Now gamers can experience the game that they’ve been eagerly waiting for on Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Steam for $59.99.

While playing the game, one must find adults that have a strong corrupted desire, infiltrate their “palace” and “steal their hearts.” These palaces can be found by inputting special keywords related to the target using the “Metaverse Navigator app,” an app that is only available to those who have awakened their persona.

“Persona 5 Royal” takes a different approach with important plot points. For instance, a character unlocks their persona by making a resolve to stand up against a twisted version of their oppressors while in the “Metaverse.” These distortions are called “shadows” which also appear in other persona games such as “Persona 4 Golden,” where the shadows are twisted versions of the character themselves.

Gamers play as Ren Amamiya, the protagonist, also known as “Joker,” who recently moved to Yongen-Jaya after being falsely accused of assault. As soon as he arrives, he gets randomly transported to Suguru Kamoshida’s “palace” with dangerous “shadows” roaming around the place on his way to school. He and his friends band together to “steal the hearts” of corrupted people. Doing so makes them have a sudden change of heart, leading them to confess their crimes publicly. 

“Persona 5 Royal” is a simple game to play, as it is an open-world game, meaning you can roam around the game using the basic controls to choose what objectives to complete. In addition, the combat system is easy to use since each character being controlled gets a turn to perform different actions against the enemy, who also gets a turn to respond. For example, players can block attacks from the enemy to receive less damage from the enemy. There are many options that you can choose from during your turn to strategize and defeat different enemies.

Although the majority of the game is focused on fighting in “palaces,” many other tasks must be done in the outside world, such as side quests, studying, exploring and more. The protagonist, needs to attend school on a regular basis. Sometimes while attending school, the teachers will ask a question that you need to answer. This is similar to trivia and if the answers are correct, they reward you with knowledge points. These are one of the five different social stats that help unlock more abilities. The social stats consist of knowledge, guts, kindness, charm and proficiency. Social stats are improved by doing different actions within the outside world.

One cool feature of the game is the social links that are obtained with different friends, who are considered “confidants.” Hanging out with these confidants will improve your social rank with them which can unlock abilities for the character. Forming relationships with confidants plays a large part in getting stronger. Every confidant has unique things about them so each interaction is fun. 

Even though “Persona 5 Royal” is a fun game to play, it can get boring and sometimes confusing when you actually need to accomplish something. For example, when you are in a palace and come across a puzzle, it can take a while to figure out for some people. There are also times when playing the game straight for a long time can get boring, especially if you aren’t that invested in constantly playing the game. “Persona 5 Royal” is a great game for gamers who look for action and an interactive, open-world experience. With all the unique features and characters that the game offers, gamers will have an enjoyable experience. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to change the hearts of corrupted adults in the “Persona” world.