Many, many bloggers more active than myself have pointed it out already, but 2017 has been quite an extraordinary time to be a gamer, with many possible Game of the Year contenders having hit shelves before we've even reached June. To name a few examples, Resident Evil VII has restored its franchise back to its survival horror roots and provided fans with the best game in the series since 2005's landmark Resident Evil 4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has arguably created a new benchmark for open world exploration that other developers should strive for. Yoko Taro has once again emotionally traumatized the masses with his cruel and artistic game Nier: Automata. And Mass Effect: Andromeda... well, Mass Effect kind of sucked.
Attempts at jimmie rustling aside, every platform and genre has seen a high quality release so far, which is why I find it odd that at this point, I can't imagine any game release this year surpassing Persona 5 as my favorite 2017 video game. To be honest, I went into Persona 5 fully expecting to hate the experience. I've generally lost patience for JRPGs lately due to their slow pacing and lengthy exposition and before I played Persona 5, I felt as though JRPG characterization wasn't what it used to be. Frankly, I mostly bought the game so I could justify complaining about it to some of my good friends, who hold the game's predecessor Persona 4, in very high regard.
Except... that isn't what happened. I didn't end up hating Persona 5. On the contrary, I ended up loving it, and I can confidently say it stands among my favorite games of all time. To use the game's own lingo, Persona 5 stole my heart.
Persona 5 took my heart, but didn't send me a calling card.
The crux of my adoration for Persona 5 comes from the fact it is simultaneously a great game, and a fantastic experience. I feel as though most releases fall into the category of one or the other. While titles like Super Mario Galaxy and Spelunky are undoubtedly a joy to play, they're simply games at the end of the day, and not experiences that will resonate on a deeply personal level for a lot of people (save for perhaps their eventualy nostalgic value). Meanwhile, the "walking simulators" that have glutted the indie market lately are mostly great and emotionally evocative experiences, but the critique that the aren't very interactive and thus not particularly well designed video games isn't entirely unplaced. Of course there is nothing wrong with either of these things.
However, Persona 5 avoids this dilemma of only being one or the other by offering both a great game and a great experience; on the one hand, it's a well crafted JRPG, with a stunning presentation, compelling combat, and a clever take on time management. On the other, it's an unforgettable experience rich with a lively setting, deeply written characters, and a story that has the potential to strongly resonate with anyone who plays it. Today, I'd like to explore these two halves of Persona 5 in greater value, because I believe it offers a new benchmark for what video games that want to both fun and meaningful should strive for.
Persona 5 As a Game
The Presentation
One of the most important elements of a game to me is its presentation, by which I mean the visual style, soundtrack, and the appearance of the menus and U.I., the latter of which I feel most video games aren't creative enough with. Persona 5 offers up a delicious combination of all three that ensures the game is consistently appealing to look at and listen too throughout the entirety of the experience.
First up, visually the game is a real treat. While Persona 5 is technically a last-gen port (The PS3 and PS4 versions are identical from a visual standpoint), Persona 5 avoids looking visually outdated compared even to the strikingly detailed and realistic worlds of the likes of Bloodborne and Final Fantasy XV. This is because of Persona 5's creative artstyle; similar to the kind seen in 2012's Catherine, Persona 5's visuals are a combination of what you'd expect from an anime and a 3D cel-shaded video game, like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The result is a colorful and vibrant world that is very pleasing to the eye. While Persona 5 tackles heavy and mature subject matters (more on that in a bit), the game doesn't use this to regress its world into a mess of drab brown and gray.
This color and flourish extends into the games menus and U.I. Where as most video games are full of simplistic menus like this:
Persona 5's look like this:
I simply can't think of another video game where scrolling through menus was actually FUN, and considering that the game lasts well over 100 hours, it's very important that the game is so consistently engaging to interact with.
Thankfully, the presentation is rounded off with one of my personal favorite soundtracks in video game history. From rousing boss fight themes to the the inspiring theme that plays when finishing a dungeon infiltration, Persona 5 is always as much of a joy to listen to as it is to look at. Headphones are highly recommended! All in all, Atlus put so much care into the every aspect of the game's presentation, even finer details that are often overlooked like menus, but thankfully this level of care and passion was put into other areas of the gameplay as well.
The Dungeons and Combat
As is customary with my extraordinarily long blogs, I realize I've typed quite a few paragraphs so far without discussing much of Persona 5's gameplay. To put it simply, Persona 5 is one half JRPG, one half social simulator. With regards to the first half, the game sees the player infiltrating several dungeons and fighting off demons known as shadows to better society (more on that society part in a bit). In stark contrast to Persona 5's two predecessors, the game features static, handcrafted dungeons instead of randomly generated ones. This not only creates a more consistent and balanced gameplay experience, but more memorable moments. From jumping across the chandeliers of a castle ruled by a wicked king to sneaking into the depths of a carefully guarded bank, Persona 5's dungeons deliver captivating interactive set pieces that would be impossible with Persona 3 and 4's endlessly generated hallways. Dungeons are thus much more fun to explore as a result, a sensation that extends into the game's combat system.
The best way to summarize Persona's combat to the unintiated is that it's almost like a more complex form of Pokemon's. Players have the option to physically attack enemies or shoot them with guns (which are more powerful but have limited ammo). But the majority of your combat decisions will revolve around casting magic and using skills that the titular Personas can utilize. Every character can wield a Persona, a spiritual manifestation of their personality, to do things like buff their allies, heal, or cast magic spells. Similar to Pokemon, these spells have an elemental affinity and some enemies are weak to certain types of elements. Attacking an enemy with its weakness will cause it to fall down, and if you can do this to all the foes in a battle, you can initiate a "Hold Up." With the enemy's fate up to you, you can spare them in exchange for money, rare items, or them joining you as a Persona, or you can initiate an "all out attack" which will cause massive damage to all enemies and likely end the battle with a stylistic finish. Combat in Persona is thus relatively simple, but revolves around skillfully deciding what to do after initiating a hold up, and conserving "SP" which allows you to cast spells, but is difficult to replenish for much of the game.
You'll likely initiate hundreds of all-out attacks over the course of Persona 5's lengthy campaign, but their stylistic comic book-esque finishes will ensure they are always satisfying to pull off.
The final gameplay element that makes Persona's combat so endlessly enjoyable is its "Persona Fusion" system. After recruiting numerous Shadows to fight by your side, you can choose to execute two of them and fuse their spirits together into a stronger Persona that both learns new skills and retains a few of your choice from the two fallen Shadows. Persona Fusion is a simple idea to grasp, but there's a surprising amount of depth to the Personas you could end up creating. Not only is it thrilling creating unique Personas to match your play style, but the feeling of satisfaction that comes with turning two weak Shadows into a Persona substantially stronger than the enemies you're fighting in a palace is immense and addicting.
Ultimately, Persona 5's well crafted dungeons, simple yet flexible combat system, and the freedom that comes with fusing your own Personas makes it one of the most enjoyable JRPGs I've played in years, remaining fresh and engaging when many other games like it would start to grow stale.
In order to fuse stronger Personas, you'll have to execute weaker ones, which is a pretty gruesome prospect.
The Social Simulation and Time Management
Persona 5 is a compelling JRPG, but navigating dungeons and fighting demonic entities is only one half of the experience. The rest of Persona 5 is a social simulator of sorts and this aspect of the game is arguably even more enjoyable than exploring the dungeons. Persona 5 is a game full of "deadlines"; the player is given a set amount of in-game days (usually about 20) to finish the dungeon, otherwise they get a game over. The remaining days can then be used for other purposes. Thus, players have an incentive to carefully manage their SP in a dungeon to finish it in as few days as possible, freeing them up for the other aspects the game has to offer.
These other offerings include raising social stats and making friends. Persona 5 is as much a slice of life as it is about fighting demons in alternate worlds. As such, a considerable portion of the experience is devoted to the player choosing to do simple day-to-day things like working a part time job, reading a book, or watching a movie. Such tasks raise the player's "social stats" such as their knowledge or kindness, making them a more well rounded person and allowing them to form "confidant links" with their party members and certain NPCs.
Players can use some of their free time to spend time with these characters, advancing what is known as their "confidant link," which simultaneously provides the player with more insight into the backstories and personalities of these characters, while providing in-game benefits. For example, spending time with a shady doctor that lives near you will both give you insight into how she was banished from the medical community, as well as give you the ability to purchase increasingly powerful healing medicine. Or spending time with an unjustly disgraced politician will both help him find his confidence again and unlock you abilities that will aid in negotiating with Shadows during hold ups.
However, time management is a crucial aspect of the Persona experience. Every in game calendar day consists of two slots of free time, day and night. And time will not advance until the player fulfills a meaningful action in this time. However, there is an end to the game. Thus, it is very unlikely the player will be able to max all of their social stats and all of the confidant links in one playthrough, encouraging them to finish dungeons quickly and efficiently spend the remaining time before the deadline. Sometimes you'll have to choose who or what is most important to you. Would you rather spend the day helping your friend come to terms with the attempted suicide of someone close to her, or another friend overcome her crippling social anxiety?
Advancing confidant links is fulfilling on two levels - they simultaneously offer both compelling backstory and valuable in-game benefits that make the dungeon exploration more manageable. However, because the player has only so much free time to advance them, it forces you to play smartly and decide whose companionship you value most, adding a unique layer of strategy to the game and ensuring every player has a unique experience based on how they choose to spend their days in Tokyo.
Spending enough time with confidants unlocks valuable abilities and options that will help you with your dungeon infiltrations.
Persona 5 is more than just a well made game... check out the next page to find out about what makes it a great experience!