Recenzii recente de kahtiwin

This was (mostly) a replay for me. I played the 'original' Persona 5 Vanilla Version on the PS4 5 years ago while I was finishing school. Persona 5 remains my favourite of the Persona games (so far, though I doubt that'll change even with a finished P3 playthrough) and I'd recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a good story, a memorable cast and the spark of good old teenage rebellion.

I'd also say it's a pretty good starting point for the Persona-Series though you might miss some quality of life updates in (especially P3 Portable and) Persona 4 Golden afterwards ;)

If you, as someone who has only played Vanilla P5 so far, is questioning whether to play P5 Royal as well. It'd say, yes! Go for it if you want to experience the Vanilla Story (with some changes) and some nice upgrades ;)

For details on the (some of) the changes, feel free to read the rest of the review...

From here on out it's gonna be major spoilers so... (bye-bye)

The Vanilla story still remains great, well-paced and thought through. The characters all have their flaws and strengths. Our main cast of the Phantom Thieves work well together (most times) and I'd say you can feel their connection and shared distaste for the others' fates. The options to get for Joker's dialogue even give hints to what he wouldn't be like if the player wasn't controlling him and I'm glad to say that he is one of few protagonists I actually like. His powers make him different from the otherr, to some degree stronger, but I'd say with the final bosses (Shido, Yaladasomething and Maruki) it becomes clear that a lot of his strength is also thanks to his friends' support.

My personal favourite from the cast remains Ryuji. He's just a great guy with a heart of gold while also still being a teenage boy with typical teenage boy struggles and then some...more struggles.
I'm glad to see that 'the Royal Ending' finally acknowledged that Ryuji's severe injury shouldn't be pushed to the sidelines and that he finally gets his chance to (literally) heal.
(though, unfortunately (and I didn't expect anything else) the weird...beating him up after Shido's palace and basically no acknowledgement remain unchanged :(

My (somewhat mixed) thoughts on the other Royal changes:

The GREAT:
- The expanded Akechi-Social Link is fantastic. You get to see much more of his character and his 'opinion' on the PTs. His connection to Joker becomes much clearer and more understandable than in the Vanilla Version and his death is more devastating because of it. Unhingedkechi, as I like to call him after he finally drops the perfect-prince-act, is hilarious in Maruki's palace and I wish we could have had just him and Joker for a just a little while longer.

- Kichijoji. It's great. Sell my dumb dirty clothes? Yes. Play darts and have stronger Baton-Passes? YES. Evening jazz with the gang? ABSOLUTELY.

The Good:
- Maruki's character (and Social Link): Shujin actually considers doing something for the students after several tragic events? Great! We love consequences in a story!
His talks with the individual PTs expand on their characters, even when the player decides to not 'finish' their respective Social Links.
His Social Link gives you some pretty good skills and you can always use some more SP on Joker.

The "I'm entitled to my opinion":
- Maruki's Palace and Yoshizawa's Metaverse-Existence:
Yoshizawa was an interesting character for me...until she got a Persona. Her first awakening absolutely screwed with the story-telling of the Vanilla Version. Her addition worked pretty well up to the point where you suddenly enter Maruki's palace, then an unknown palace, with her and she, right in front of your/Joker (and Mona's) eyes almost effortlessly awakens to a Persona wearing....a Black Mask.

Who else was wearing a Black Mask and was unidentified at the time? The true culprit behind the mental shutdowns.

Now. If Joker and Morgana had reported back to the Thieves and ANYONE would have, I don't know, questioned whether the mysteriously, almost effortless awakening could have been staged and Yoshizawa could have been the culprit (whether she had any motive for it or not...). I would have had less of an issue with this weird sudden introduction to her as a Persona user. Joker and Morgana NOT REPORTING BACK to ANYONE even while they are actively looking for another Persona-User and Morgana even commenting on how "easy" it was for to awaken to her Persona...

That made less sense than Akechi's "ah, see, I stumbled into this weird place and now I want to team up."-stitch. Akechi at least manages to disguise his 'real' Metaverse outfit to dissuade any suspicion. (even if the PTs already know he messed up).

Yoshizawa's 'awakening' happens before Akechi proposes the team up and the Phantom Thieves identify him as a traitor and the culprit.
Yoshizawa should have been their number 1 suspect at that point. Regardless of any affection the player/Joker might have for her.

Honestly, she even knew Akechi. Anybody should have seen her as a possible accomplice. Her interfering in Sae's palace could have easily screwed up their plan, too.

And this, to some degree, made me dislike her addition to the game. Had she only awakened **after** Yaldasomething as part of Maruki's palace, it would have been fine. But the timing for her first Metaverse-appearance doesn't work and creates plotholes that weren't initially in the story. And this really soured her character for me, even though I enjoyed her as a character up to this point.

Maruki's palace was fine over all. It did wonders for Akechi's characters (even though I already enjoyed him in his role as antagonist and Joker's 'bad' mirror image). Even though the boss fight felt WAY too long for me. It could have ended after the second phase.

Final verdict (I promise):
The expansion on Akechi's character alone made Royal worthwhile for me, as well as the quality of life-upgrades and the chance to play this again and revisit one of my favourite games and stories. :)

Tbh, this is the only DR game (or content, I believe) which I would not recommend, at least not if you were a fan of the other games or simply watched the Danganronpa The Animation (aka the first game as anime, which was MY introduction into the franchise before getting hooked on DR2).

Why?
I didn't really enjoy it. Yes, there were some parts which I found funny/interesting, but the overall experience: No. (which simply means for me: I won't touch this game again.)

1. Trigger Warnings.
For some reason, I did not expect this game to need ADDITIONAL TW compared to the other games (I was expecting: murder, blood, suicide and so on).
Yes, DR is known or should be known for dealing with difficult and 'taboo' topics.
And so far I was okay, or felt they were handled appropriately. I can't say it for this one.
During the chapter 1 boss fight, you get the gist of what is most likely the motive for the antagonists.
Child Abuse isn't "new" to the franchise, I'm sure there is at least one character we know who experienced it as well. Once you realise Junko was involved you KNOW she manipulated (some) of the children, used their previous trauma to gain her more despair.
You can guess where it's headed bossfight wise. But WHATEVER you thought would happen, you did not take into account what chapter 3 WOULD DO. I saw another review sum the issue(s) up with that chapter in particular (see: askayoi's review for this). This wasn't it. Not the way that should have been handled. NOBODY NEEDED THAT MINIGAME OR "EFFECT" TO THE SCISSORS. Nobody.

2. Danganronpa: Another tutorial
Somehow, DR: AE does the opposite of what I disliked in DR: THH, yet it was the second thing I drew the line at.
I like new features/ game mechanics. But there should be a point where you should STOP introducing them.
First of all, you get the explanation for the different truth bullets and how to switch to them during the prologue. But then you only have two and you really just. Didn't need it at that point.
And then the game doesn't stop introducing them. And at some point you wonder, when do the tutorials stop and when should you really be able to just. PLAY. Figure things out for yourself. (it never stops.)

3. Danganronpa: Another challenge
I just got fed up with them. Around chapter 4, I just didn't want any kid to give me another piece of paper. Just no. Idc, about your treasure. I just want to do the main objective.
Same goes for the find the singing kid minigame. I enjoy occasional puzzles. I love the Uncharted games. But. These felt so repetitive and placed at the wrong time.

4. Danganronpa: Another cutscene
You walk to the next crossing. Boom. Cutscene.
You walk. Boom. Cutscene.
Plot cutscene: okay. Cutscenes which JUST show Shirokuma walking to a pipe and extending a bridge, or in chapter 4 Nagisa getting "ambushed". Yes, I got the gist the first time. I. just. want. to. proceed.

I didn't mind the different playstyle (compared to the other games). Not at all. Those parts I found fun, at least, when the game actually let you enjoy using the bullets, instead of giving you tutorials or cutscenes. Or both.

I enjoyed the "idea" of the story and how it connected to the previous game story- wise. It gave you a glimpse of what happened in the videos for the first motive in THH for the other characters. I liked seeing what Makoto, Byakuya, Toko and the remaining cast of THH actually do with Future Foundation and what the world is left like after the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

The remaining cast:

Nagito/the Servant, I am unsure about how to feel about his involvement. I like what Nagito's character does for DR2. I enjoy his "schemes", bc they offer something interesting. It's his job. And I 'love' him for that. This was his "classic" bring hope in the face of despair and testing the Ultimate Hope's sister. All in all not out of character for him though I really didn't need the end scene with him and Monaca. (Though I suppose that the next 'scene' for him will actually be on the boat along with Kamukura/Hinata seen in DR 2)

The other characters:
Toko's/Genocide Sho/Jack's character got a big boost for me here. Apart from the fantasies, I enjoyed her banter/ observations concerning Komaru and the situation.

Komaru. For me, the weakest protagonist, though I did enjoy some of the banter with Toko.

The Warriors of Hope (minus Mona__ and Nagisa). Eh.

Nagisa. Ngl, the "best" of the children.

Monaca. Obviously the "actual" antagonist. Idk what to think really. I am just. Speechless. (not in a good way)

The Kumas: I never want to see a talking bear again.

Haiji: ugh. go away.

The rest: whatever. They were there.

-------------
Conclusion: I played this game. I won't for a second time.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I can see how some people might be able to overlook certain parts bc they enjoyed other aspects more than I did.

This wasn't for me.
I still love the franchise and the actual story which is created with DR: THH and DR2 and the Despair/Future ARC.
But once more: Skip this one, if you expect a good addition to the storyline. Read the wiki for Toko and Komaru. They will most likely sum it up for you. You don't need to bother for the (in my opinion) very repetitive gameplay. I prefer the Graphic Novel/Class Trials combo SO MUCH MORE. This did not work for me.

Was fun to play through the story mode and seeing all the characters and their motivations to fight on their respective sides.
Seeing several recognisable characters (Hera, Wedge, ...) was really nice.
And I quite liked to get to know Grey, Shen and Grace.
On Story Mode difficulty it was even possible for someone as incompetent as me (when it comes to driving/flying in games) to complete the story with almost no struggles.

I only played Multi Player for around an hour, seemed fine, but (as someone who struggles with flying and driving in games) a bit too much getting killed by better players to be enjoyable over a long time.

Only wished for there to be an option to show the controls of the PS4 controller (couldn't find the option), had to guess some of the controls.

It's fun and relaxing at the same time.