Very long review (TLDR: 10/10 ground shattering gaming experience for me, definitely recommend)

Where to start... I have played this game from beginning to end 3 times (#1. OG P5 on PS4 #2#3 P5R on my PS4) and am starting my fourth playthrough here on PC. To say this is my favorite game of all time would be pretty accurate, I possess the two versions of the game on PS4, P5R here on PC and have all the manga volumes.

First and foremost, this game takes a LOT of time to finish. If you rush through it you might be able to finish it in more or less 75 hours, but if you are like me, and wish to inspect and experience everything the game has to offer you will easily surpass the 95 or 100 hour mark. This time investment might sound overwhelming but believe me if this game hooks you it is oh so worth it.

As a big fan I know I might be strongly biased, but this game is just such a joy that I feel the need to recommend it. If you are into RPGs, with a turn-based combat system this is definitely for you. Imagine a combination of Pokémon’s character collecting and combat style mixed with a colorful cast of characters with whom you can form bonds not only during the action sequences, but also during the casual, daily life of the protagonist (which makes up a good chunk of the game). That is what makes this game great, you truly love the main cast of characters, and in some cases even feel for them, it is crazy what Atlus managed to pull off when it comes to character development and overall character relatability and likeability.
They pulled no punches, a lot of serious topics are addressed in the game, and you have the power to make things right. You are thrown into a world full of injustice (no different from ours), but have the power to act against it, as time possess you meet so many lovable characters, each with their own, unique personality which makes them so interesting to get to know and spend time with. And even though the game is set in Tokyo it isn’t hard to relate to the main cast, as their personalities aren’t bound to any cultural limitations.

That aside, the soundtrack… To say this games’ soundtrack is perfect would be an understatement. I am no musical expert, but the mix of over-the-top music during exciting scenes with the slow, comforting jazz during the more relaxed times really sets the mood so perfectly. The soundtrack really plays a fundamental role in creating the games’ ambience, it gives life to the games’ most grueling or happy moments in a way I have seen in no other game.

The games’ art style is also unique and stands out for its creative combination of manga drawing styles and western comic designs. I never got tired of the conversations throughout the game, as they where always supported by an eye candy of a subtitle design.

Then again, I am a big fan of this game (can’t speak for the other games), and I know this review might seem driven by hype, but in my long list of single player games I have played in my still young life I can say with confidence that Persona 5 is the best single player RPG experience I have ever played. I can’t say it changed my life, but it made me reflect on many serious things and I firmly believe it touched me in a way no other game has. It is truly one step above your average game.
When I first bought it, I had no clue what it was about and only got it because it was $20. I decided to give it chance, not knowing that the game that was awaiting me would turn out to be my favorite game of all time (followed by Resident Evil 4 and The Last of Us. As you can see, as of today, I have spent a lot more than just $20 on this game, and I don’t regret a single penny.

Truly a gamechanger, give it a try if you are looking for a new game to pick up, you never know, you might love it just as much as I do or even more. Don’t let yourself be steered away from the game because of the weird part of the community, which is the same problem Anime and Manga has. If you give this game a try blindly as I, did you might be pleasantly surprised.

If you made it here thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you have a great day!

Score: 10/10, top games of all time IMO

TLDR: Objectively 10/10 a must buy for RE Fans and a strong recommendation for horror survival fans. Personally a 9,5/10, but mostly for little nitpicks and personal issues.
IMPORTANT: Ill try and keep the review as spoiler free as possible, except for some examples I’ll use to prove some points. These will be marked with (!S!) at the beginning and end of the spoilers.

With the original Resident Evil 4 being one of my favorite games of all time, and one I hold near and dear to my heart because it was one of the first games I ever played, introducing me to video games in general, I am happy to say that this game fulfilled my expectations, even if it didn’t exceed them (just because of some personal stuff I experienced while playing the game, see point 7)
I might not have played the OG as much as others, but I have played it through at least 6 times, each playthrough on a different console, PS2, PS3, PS4, PC and even the mobile version (lets ignore that one for now), this includes Separate Ways, Assignment Ada, and Mercenaries, completing all the secret challenges that each one contains. With this I believe I have a solid idea what the core ideas of the OG are for a casual gamer, I know the good and the bad, and I know almost everything that the game has to offer (as mentioned, for a casual gamer)


Now for the review itself, ill start with the positives, which are the vast majority of points.

1) The game is faithful and respectful of the source material (OG RE4), it handles the originals’ themes with care and only enhances them. Most of what the OG Game contained can be found here, with the notable exceptions of lots of outdated dialogues (!S!): ballistics, “women”, your right hand comes off?!, etc. (!S!) This does not mean that Leons’ cheesy one liners are gone, this might be the only dialogue type that is actually greatly improved upon from the OG, so rest assured Leon is just as cheesy as ever. The OG isn’t known for its mechanical gameplay, but this Remake managed to improve this without losing the OG’s essence completely. They basically copy pasted the RE2 camera controls in here, which turned out great. A lot of people complain about Leon being to slow or kinda clunky, and I tend to agree, but it also is what makes this game stand out from the ones that come after it, Leon is still a human and has his limitations when fighting against hordes of enemies, he still has some years ahead of him before starting to jump on the ground and rolling everywhere while shooting a double handed pistol…
2) The story is improved, not just the lore being expanded upon, but some important story moments have been retouched and made so they are more coherent and realistic. Some examples include (!S!): Ashley no longer having a temper tantrum when running from Leon in the castle, instead being controlled by Saddler, which ultimately results in her having a panic attack caused by the temporal loss of her will. Ashley being able to climb down stairs and even jump from relatively high places on her own. (!S!) I’ll also use this chance to mention that Ashley has been greatly improved, but I won’t go in depth as this is mentioned in pretty much every review.
3) Worldbuilding, game flow, inventory management and balance changes have been tweaked for the better. It happened often that I was almost completely out of ammo in the middle of a big battle, being saved only by my relatively trash knife skills. This results in the player having to be much more aware of his inventory and his environment, as this game has a much larger interactive environment than the OG, which at most gave you red barrels to shoot at. In the Remake walls aid you when meleeing enemies, resulting in them crashing against them and dying instantly, and even bridges and some structures can be destoyed. The guns aren’t as broken as they used to be in the OG, which might sound bad, but they have been tweaked so that they obviously get better the more you tune them but won’t make it so that the sections start being extremely easy, you still have to pay attention to your inventory and environment if you want to come out alive. The enemy dialogue is way better and up to date with current voice acting standards, even if the OG enemies had their charm, this is a remake after all, and I think they made the OG dialogue justice here. I'll also add the Knife here, as it now is a formidable weapon, and unlike BOTW the breaking mechanic isnt annoying but rather there to make you aware of your current status.
4) Backtracking, side quests and treasure hunting: I love this some much. You being able to reexplore already visited places and almost always managing to find something new is a highlight for me. I already love the level design of the OG and the Remake, so me being able to go back and do side quests or collect a treasure I might have left behind makes me so happy. It is a smart way of reusing levels while still making them feel fresh and interesting, and I am glad to be able to say that this game nails backtracking as best as a Resident Evil could possibly do. I feel this is a major improvement from the OG and improves the already great replayability the OG had.
5) Added horror aspects: the only horror moment the OG had as far as I remember were the Regenerators, which I am glad to say have been improved greatly in the remake, not just from the design, but the horror they and they environment build together is just perfect. (!S!) I also love that in your first encounter with 2 of them you are pretty much defenseless, you don’t have the Infrared Sight and can only use your knife to defend yourself and run. Kinda gave me vibes of RE2 Mr.X, which also stood tall and unbeatable against Leon. Of course you later get the sight and are able to kill them, but I still love the decision of making you unable to attack at first. (!S!)

Now as for the negatives, which as mentioned above aren’t a lot.

6) Cut content: of course, we all expected the game to have 100% of the OGs content, and unfortunately that isn’t the case. To be clear I am talking exclusively about boss fights and game sections, not dialogue (which as mentioned before was also changed) To be fair 95% of the OG was kept here, but I personally really miss (!S!) the U3 boss fight, as it felt extremely claustrophobic and tense, and always left a mark on each of my playthroughs (!S!). Some sections of the OG have also been removed, I don’t think trying to describe them here would do a lot of good, but if you played the OG, you would surely notice. Unfortunately this is what makes the game meet but not exceed my expectations, I still believe the original RE4 is the best version of this game, as old as it may be.
7) Lack of extra content: again, to be fair this game will surely release extra content in the future, with Mercenaries releasing on April 7th and Separate Ways being hinted at multiple times in the game. This point might be obsolete once these two release, but I will still leave it here as I was sad not to see them on release day.

Well, I think this review is long enough, after all I’m not a professional reviewer just a casual player that happens to be a big RE fan. I may have skipped some important aspects, and I might edit this review in the future with some other thoughts that may pop up in future playthroughs. Now is this game GOTY worthy? Hard to answer considering some other great games are being release this year (BOTW2, Spider-Man 2, etc.) but as a RE fan, this is for sure the best RE game since RE2R and is definitely worth buying.

If I had to rate this game; objectively, I would give it a 10/10, personally a 9,5/10, with the 0,5 being the 3 points I mentioned above (with 6 being the strongest of the 3). It is a must buy for RE Fans and a strong recommendation for horror survival fans. Thanks for reading until here, I wish you a great day and lots of fun with the game if you decide to buy it! :)