Persona 5 Review

I just want to apologize about this review being so late and how I need desperately to start better organization of my blog. Well I’ll just say next time, I’ll be featuring a review of a book of poetry I’ve recently finished and then work out some better schedule hopefully when I’m not at work. In the meantime enjoy this Persona 5 review.

Out of all the video games I have loved, none have struck a cord with me more than the Shin Megami Tensei Franchise. My first game from them was Persona 4 as a PS2 Classic you can buy for PS3 and then it went from that game to starting to get all the games in the overall Shin Megami Tensei Franchise that I could play.

When I heard of Persona 5's release date I was estatic expecting another good entry to the series. Overall, despite all the delays, and perfections, I'd say this might be the best Persona Game to date and a first in the Game of the Year Award in my opinion.

Story

Persona 5 takes place in the Shibuya province of Tokyo and is where the Protagonist currently lives. After being held accountable for an act of defense (he pushed a man who was attempting to sexually abuse a woman) He was arrested by the police to be an aggressive vagabond. Moving to Shibuya was part of his probation as he now lives with a random stranger and is stuck in a restrictive high school called Shujin Academy. After trying to lead a respectable life until the next year, (when his probation is over) he stumbles upon a meatverse castle and meets up with corrupt versions of people called Shadows. Later on, he and a group of young teenagers rebelling against the corruption of adults, the restrictions of their society and school, and with a verge of justice form The Phantom Thieves of Hearts while they steal the shadows' most important treasures; their hearts. Traveling to the metaverse at night; being a high school student by day. This is Persona 5.

Backstory

To give perspective on Persona 5, the main game was inspired by pictaresque novels with theieves and heroes like Robin Hood, Zorro, and Arsene Lupin. (All of which are Personas in the game and Arsene is our Protagonist's Persona.) But on top of that, the primarily theme of this game was made to be imprisonment and being free from it. As well as this main reference, this video game is from a spin off series from a spin off series where primarily, you summon demons to fight in the ultimate war of law vs. chaos. (but if I have another SMT game review, I'll do it and explain or rather, I could explain the origins of the series and the main interests of how a cult series became so worldwide) However, in this game, All demons are called Personas in reference to how each person has a persona mask they hide under and a shadow dark side that can consume them in accordance to Carl Jung's psychology known as Persona theory. In all Persona Games, each protagonist goes to a school and gets involved in events that randomly happened and thus they solve each of the mysterious issues but the series also deals with many serious issues including Loss, Isolation, Coming Out and Accepting One's self, Freedom over Slavery, The Negative Impact of Rumors, Depression, and even Suicide. But that doesn't mean each game is so serious it's off-puting. There are many lighthearted moments, giving the right balance of serious and well-crafted storytelling and breathers to enjoy the story overall.

Gameplay

The game has a combo effect of being an JRPG and a life simulator. In the day, for the life SIM, you play an arrested student who didn’t commit a crime he was accused of and has a year of parole to uphold. If unsuccessful, he goes back to jail. On regular days, you’ll be dealing with school, trying to raise your stats and making money from Part-Time Jobs in order to buy and find equipment or gain allies who have abilities to help you with proceeding easier in the game. And before you fight the Shadows of each Palace, you can enter the Velvet Room. The Velvet Room is a mysterious realm in the crossroads between mind and matter where Igor, the host and master (though it’s actually Philemon but that’s another story) of the Velvet Room, can fuse your Personas you have obtained from Palaces. And all the Personas are fused through various executions like Guilloutine, Electric Chair, Incarceration, Hanging, etc. and all serve various purposes to help level up your Personas and gain new abilities. Mentioned earlier in the Backstory part of this review, all enemies are Personas but the cool part is all enemies are based on mythological characters from the ones we read about (Greek/Roman/Norse) to the more hidden mythos (Australian Aboriginal Mythology, Balinese, Chinese, Demonology) to the mainstream religions (Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Shinto). Each has a variety of weaknesses and strengths and capturing them all makes it all the more effective in Progressing though the Palaces and gives off that Pokemon feel. (Ironically, the video game that was the original series to Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, was created years before Pokemon, one was just more popular in Japan and thus translated well into America) Palaces are the meta-verses' castles where strong Shadows hold their darkest sins and their precious treasure. As a thief, it's your job to steal them. It mainly involves finding maps to find the treasure rooms where the heart of the Vile Targets are and then fight a boss battle after you send a calling card. And rinse and repeat until the end.

Battle System:

Before I finish up, let's go over the battle System because it may seem easy but it will kill anyone who is a noob. The SMT series is often seriously and jokingly referred to as the Dark Souls of the RPG world. Though partially true, this is due to the infamy that is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. The first SMT game to be officially known to the Western World. (Originally the Spin off, Jack Bros. was the first SMT game but it was never marketed as part of the series and the original Persona was called Persona: Revelations and also not marketed as SMT.) Primarily it's a turn based RPG that focuses on weakness exploitation. As mentioned in the game mechanics, hit a weakness and you gain an extra turn, don’t and it can backfire. Worse of all, your enemies also have this so be careful on which party members you have because you can’t switch out their personas because they are permanent mainstays but your main character can change all his Personas including his first one. And if the main character dies, it’s automatically game over. Always take care of No. 1.

Final thought:
Persona 5 plays brilliantly and has a wonderful punk rebel style with stylish tones to characterize your picaresque situation. The RPG will be a nice challenge for newcomers and welcome to fans of SMT. And also I wish to add before I go, this game has a great Acid Jazz soundtrack. Shogi Meguro is the composer of this series and he does a great job using JPop (Japanese Pop music) and the minimalist tones of his acid jazz soundtrack to come with catchy tunes you’ll be having on your mind and possibly be humming or singing along to. (Just listen to Wake Up Get Up Get Out There, Last Suprise, and Beneath the Mask to understand what I’m saying.) So I give Persona 5, a 5/5. Perect with not only styling, gameplay and story but also themes and aesthetic choices to fit the overal tone and mood to keep us engaged.