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Persona 5 |OT3| Ryuji Did Nothing Wr- [DELETED BY ADMIN]

cj_iwakura

Member
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This OT is best viewed with the Dark Theme and best enjoyed while listening to "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" by Shoji Meguro. (YT)

DEVELOPER: Atlus (P-Studio)
PUBLISHER: Atlus
PLATFORMS: PS3 & PS4
RELEASE DATES: Sep 15th 2016 (Japan PS4 & PS3) | Apr 4th, 2017 (Worldwide PS4 & PS3)
TECHNICAL INFO: Native 1080p @ 30fps on PS4 Pro & PS4 | 720p @ 30fps on PS3
LANGUAGES: English Text, English & Japanese Audio (Day 1 DLC | In Game Menu Setting)
GAME LENGTH:
~105 Hours (True End), ~155+ (Completionist)
GAME SIZE: ~20.3 GB on PSN (Day 1 Dual Audio DLC Not Included)

Review Thread


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What is Persona?
With its first release in 1996, the Persona series originally began as a spin-off of the larger turn-based, dungeon crawling Shin Megami Tensei franchise, and focused on the high school setting introduced in 'Shin Megami Tensei: If.' After the Persona 2 duology (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) that followed, the Persona series evolved into what players recognize today with the release of Persona 3 in 2006. The third installment in the series placed a heavier emphasis on social interaction & relationships with other characters (dubbed Social Links), its one-year calendar system, and a modernized user interface; all of which now serve as important parts of the series' identity.​

What is Persona 5?
Persona 5 is a story-driven, turn-based JRPG set in modern Tokyo (taking place primarily within districts based on Shibuya and Sangenjaya) that follows a protagonist who attains the ability to summon a manifestation of his psyche & personality, known as a Persona, and uses this newfound power to change the unjust world around him.

Persona 5 serves as the next evolution of the Persona series style introduced in 2006 with Persona 3, and places not only a renewed focus on series staples like Social Links (now Confidants), the calendar system, and dungeon exploration, but also on returning features inspired by those found in Persona 1 & 2, namely demon negotiations (now known as Hold Ups), additional skill types (Nuclear & Psychic), and secondary weapon types. (Guns)​

How long is the game?
Check the Game Information above for specifics, but the average player should take around
105 Hours
to reach the credits.​

Do I need to play Persona 1, 2, 3, or 4 first?
Outside of easter eggs, cameos, and references to the casts of past games, each numbered Persona title is a separate experience; primarily focused on their own unique stories, casts, and events. Because of this, Persona 5 requires no knowledge of past games to enjoy. At the same time, however, each game in the series spins an engrossing tale, and are all definitely worth experiencing.​

Where can I go to learn more about those games?

What's with the OT Title?
Ryuji's a true br-[REDACTED]​

What should I name the Protagonist?!
The closest you'll get to an official name right now is 'Akira Kurusu' - used in the official manga.​

I've finished the game! Where do I go to talk about spoilers freely?

What if I want to get funky on the dance floor?
Soon.
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Game Synopsis

After having to transfer to a high school in Tokyo, the protagonist has a strange dream.

With the goal of "rehabilitation" looming overhead, he must save others from their distorted desires through his work as a Phantom Thief. After spending a memorable year bonding with the people around him, what awaits...?

During the day, the protagonist can enjoy the life of a student, spending his time however he pleases. After school, he dons the mask of a Phantom Thief and fights to reform corrupt adults. With the use of the mysterious mobile app "Metaverse Navigator", he can enter the world within people's hearts, and with the power of Persona, steal the source of their distorted desires.

Your power may be limited on your own, but by forming bonds with the people around you, you just might be able to change the world.

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Okay, but why should I buy Persona 5?
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  • Living a Double Life:
    Persona 5 takes place across an entire calendar year, and during that time players assume the dual roles of the Protagonist, a young man who must balance the tumultuous life of a Japanese high school student and the daring escapades of a Phantom Thief on a day-to-day basis.

    Sometimes this means going shopping for food, training at the gym, going fishing, or indulging in hobbies. Other times this means working a part-time job to earn money for your larcenist endeavors, following leads & gathering information, building tools, or meeting up with your motley crew of friends. Regardless of how you spend your time, there's always something to do in Persona 5.​
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  • A Little Help from My Friends:
    Even the best Phantom Thief can't work alone, and Persona 5 takes that to heart with its new ‘Confidant' system, an evolution of the Social Links from past titles. Using the Confidant system, the Protagonist can build relationships with the key residents of Tokyo as well as other members of the Phantom Thieves, providing benefits both inside and outside of battle.

    In Persona 3 & 4, these benefits were limited to experience bonuses when creating new personas - not so in Persona 5. Now, in addition to the traditional experience bonuses, the protagonist will also gain access to new allies, medicines, tools, and abilities as he develops relationships with those around him.​
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  • To Catch a [Phantom] Thief:
    Persona 5 has also overhauled its dungeon designs with completely new mechanics for the Phantom Thieves to take advantage of. In previous titles, dungeons consisted of labyrinthine, randomly generated floors, lacking in verticality. In Persona 5, however, all dungeons – referred to as ‘Palaces' in-game – are now handmade, deliberately designed spaces, featuring their own puzzles, mechanics, set pieces and motifs.

    Taking it a step further, the Phantom Thieves are more agile than the casts of previous Persona games, and are able to dart in and out of cover, sneak past and ambush enemies, climb through windows, and more. Just make sure to stay hidden, though: every time you're seen, the enemy will become progressively more alert, and you may have to call the mission off until another day!​
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  • Hold Up! (& Pass That Baton!):
    On top of the return of classic Nuclear and Psychic skills, as well as equipment like firearms, are several new additions and improvements to the modern Persona combat system that both new and returning players can appreciate. All new to Persona is the ‘Baton Pass' mechanic, an option that sees a playable character forfeit their turn to one of their partners in crime, passing along buffs that make their next strike that much more powerful.

    Persona 5 also introduces a twist on the classic SMT mechanic of demon negotiations, here called ‘Hold Up!' Once all enemies have been knocked down, the thieves surround them with weapons drawn, and can request items, money, or even their cooperation. If you'd rather not bother with the trouble, you can always just take them out with an all-out attack – another returning mechanic from Persona 3 & 4.

    Oh, and all of this happens without needing to scroll through menus. Cool, right?
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  • The Music:
    Once again composed by Atlus' very own talented Shoji Meguro, the music of Persona 5 continues the series tradition of stellar, unique soundtracks. This time inspired by acid jazz, the 100+ song soundtrack combines smooth vocals – courtesy of new Persona singer Lyn – with violin, piano, brass, bass and more to satisfy the senses with a wave of modern musical bliss, suiting Persona 5's coming-of-age picaresque tale perfectly.​
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  • Character & World Designs:
    Shoji Meguro is in turn joined by returning artist Shigenori Soejima (Lead Character Designer: Persona 3, Persona 4, Catherine) who sets out to make the most of the bold themes presented within Persona 5, from the party's designs to their phantom thief costumes to the buildings and prefectures they inhabit. If the art used in this OT hasn't yet convinced you that the designs needed their own bullet point, then be sure to click below to view GIFs and screenshots of the game proper.​
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  • Style On Speed Dial:
    From its very first PV, it was clear that the next Persona title would be a massive visual step up from previous releases – but even then, the good folks at Atlus exceeded expectations. Persona 5 exudes style: menus pop with crisp decals, colors, and transitions, character portraits and text boxes are animated and dynamic, every party member gets their own all-out attack cut-in, and much, much more.​
If that's not enough to get you interested, be sure to check out the media galleries and playlists linked below.


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Players who pre-order or purchase the PS4 version of the game during its introductory period will receive the SteelBook Launch Edition.

Players who pre-order or manage to purchase the Take Your Heart Premium Edition will receive the following physical items:
  • Collector's Box
  • Hardcover Artbook (64 Pages)
  • Soundtrack CD (19 Tracks)
  • 4" Morgana Plush
  • Full Size Shujin Academy School Bag
  • SteelBook + Game

Click here to view the DLC Schedule & Pricing for Persona 5, sorted by release date and price.


(Click to View Album of Sweet GIFs like these | Credits go to Respective Users)

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(Click to View Album | Credits go to Respective Users)


(Click to View Playlist)

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Persona 5 |OT| Guidelines:
  1. Be respectful and try to keep discussion SFW. (Otherwise please use spoiler tags!)
  2. Refrain from posting spoilers. (Text, Images, GIFs, etc.) If you're even slightly unsure of whether or not something is a spoiler, please use spoiler tags. Example: "I can't believe
    Morgana isn't a cat
    !"
  3. Please mark ALL story/event spoiler tags with the IN-GAME DATE for reference. Example: "I can't believe (4/4)
    Morgana isn't a cat
    !"
  4. Screenshots and GIFs are welcome and encouraged, but be sure to contribute to the discussion; and remember, the Spoiler Guidelines above also apply to all Screenshots, GIFs, and Images!
  5. Romance & Confidant discussion is allowed, but "Waifu/Husbando" or similar 'wars' discussion is disallowed per Aeana. Please refrain from derailing the OT with it.A separate thread can be found here.
  6. Let us start the game.

*Special Thanks to:
  • BRSxIgnition for their help with structuring, formatting, & editing the OT, creating the assets, and gathering information, and for OT2.
  • Fixyouregrammar for their help with gathering spoiler-free screenshots.
  • R_thanatos & Iva Demilcol for their help with gathering & creating spoiler-free GIFs.
  • YOU, for supporting Persona. Here's to another 20 years!

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MegaMelon

Member
December boss fight spoilers.

Got him down to his final form and under half health. Everythings going great till he uses hamaon on the mc and game over.

Not even mad, guess I'll do em tomorrow then.

EDIT; Oh nice it lets me restart the battle partway in rather than from the beginning.
 
95 hours and I'm almost there.

FINAL BOSS SPOILERS

I managed to beat Yaldabaoth on my second attempt. My first go ended in tears when Ryuji was hit by envy and ended up taking out the weakened MC in one hit. I couldn't help but laugh. I definitely found Shido the more difficult of the two bosses, especially in his final form but I really liked how Yaldabaoth had a weapon for each of the deadly sins. It was a nice tie-in to each of the palace leaders.

I had to stop at the point where Sae tells the MC to turn himself in, so I'm interested in seeing how it all pans out. I should be able to get over the finish line tonight.

I'll admit it has felt like a bit of a slog at times (Palace 5) and I agree with the complaints over repetitive dialogue (especially in the earlier palaces), but I've really enjoyed my time with it and I'd definitely consider myself a fan of the series now. It'll be up there when I decide on my GOTY. The music is still fantastic after almost a hundred hours too. I need that soundtrack.
 

Taborcarn

Member
Hard difficulty is pretty easy so far (4th palace). Game's definitely on the easy side when it comes to MegaTen.

That's one thing I've noticed, all the extra abilities you get from Confidants are making this a good deal easier than previous SMT games I've played. I'm 67 hours in P5, 7th palace right now.
 

kromeo

Member
Hard difficulty is pretty easy so far (4th palace). Game's definitely on the easy side when it comes to MegaTen.

I wouldn't say it's ever super hard or anything but the anubis enemies in that palace were the first enemies I found annoying. I had trouble with the boss in that palace but I won't spoil it for you with the reason why

I'm playing 3 FES on hard atm and it's a much more difficult game
 
I wouldn't say it's ever super hard or anything but the anubis enemies in that palace were the first enemies I found annoying. I had trouble with the boss in that palace but I won't spoil it for you with the reason why

I'm playing 3 FES on hard atm and it's a much more difficult game

Yeah, Anubis wasn't fun to deal with.

... I should know since I spent a weekend in the 4th palace farming them for lockpick materials
 
I hope I have time to go through the rest of the ending today.
It's been a long journey, almost 6 months... Like always with Persona games I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters, though this time I know they'll be back in other games.
 
The game really does pick up around dungeon three. I'm between three and four and really loving the game now. Finally having SP recovery items on my entire party is also making it more fun too. I'm already at 33 hours at this point, I'm going to be playing this for the next six months easily.
 
The game really does pick up around dungeon three. I'm between three and four and really loving the game now. Finally having SP recovery items on my entire party is also making it more fun too. I'm already at 33 hours at this point, I'm going to be playing this for the next six months easily.
The dungeons were all good so far but the amount of dialogue and downtime between dungeons is just insane. You could finish an A tier indie game in the time you read the build up to the next dungeon villain.
 
The dungeons were all good so far but the amount of dialogue and downtime between dungeons is just insane. You could finish an A tier indie game in the time you read the build up to the next dungeon villain.

Yeah, the amount of padding feels ridiculous at times. I'm invested enough in the social links and dungeons now that I want to finish the game, but it can be a slog at certain points. I love Persona 3-5 but I'd be ok with the next game branching out from the time management stuff.
 

Zomba13

Member
Just finished it. 99 hours 19 mins on my clear save.

Really liked it though it kind of sucked because I had a few Confidants on rank 9 and just soooo close to maxing before the end of the game but didn't get the chance to finish them.
 
Aaaand done! Almost 120 hours.

Finishing a Persona game always hits me in the feels.
The part where you
take one last stroll through town to talk to your friends and the NPCs
always feels so nostalgic.
The ending of the final boss fight was so cool.
Loved the game. Great dungeons. Best battle system in a Persona to date by a country mile.
Personally I loved the story, usually your activities are incognito but here every action the team took was exposed to the public eye and seeing how the public reacted to things as the game went on was really interesting and a great reflection of how easily the public changes its opinions in reality and moves on to the next big thing without batting an eyelash if the information flow is manipulated the right way.
Most of the time the villains are normal people, with motivations to which we unfortunately can easily find parrallels in real life, which is another thing I liked.
Audio and visuals are fantastic as we all know.
I would've liked a few more scenes with the group hanging out together, maybe in an enhanced version.
Maybe they could reduce the number of times you need to hang out with confidants to max them, which would allow them to cut down the amount of in-game days and reduce the length of the game.
Speaking of confidants, I came really close but one ended up at level 8 and two at level 9. Still better than my first playthroughs of P3&4 though. Overall confidants were pretty good and more importantly, they had a significant influence on the gameplay with lots of useful skills to unlock.
Thanks to Atlus for yet another experience I'll never forget.
 

SMD

Member
Sorry if this has been asked before but Google isn't helping.

On NG+ I did the December Palace on 12/8. Flu Season is supposed to be 12/9 but I go into Mementos and...it kinda isn't there? If I end the day and go to evening, it pops up but that doesn't help me in trying to get the Reaper to come out.

Is this a bug and am I fucked? I could go to an earlier save but I really don't want to do the December Palace again if I can avoid it.
 

Taborcarn

Member
Palace 7 is the first one where I didn't secure a path to the Treasure on the first day. Even with SP patches on everyone they were running on empty so I called it before the third VIP you're supposed to encounter.

And every time I open a locked door that leads back to the start of an area, I would run back up one floor to save at the safe room. It's really extending the time it's taking to get through this one.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Sad to see this in Community but it's about time. Had a blast posting and arguing (mostly arguing) with people in these threads.

Good night, sweet prince.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
How's the dub for this game? I remember P4's was pretty good.
The dub is fantastic. It has some of the best voice acting I've seen in any game, translated or not.

Though the translation is lacking at times, the voice acting is often good enough to make their lines sound good anyway.
 

Lunar15

Member
Ryuji's VA did nothing wrong.

Yeah, he's definitely the stand-out.

The whole cast is pretty strong, the only weak link, to me, was Morgana. It's not a bad performance, but I get the feeling the Japanese version leaned heavily on Otani's particular voice, which isn't something Morris could emulate. She tried her god-damned best and it shows, but it just doesn't help the character.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
I think Morgana's voice sounded good to me.

Haru was the weakest English voice for me. Not that her acting was bad because it wasn't, but she did the squeaky anime girl voice thing while no one else in the game did. So she ended up being the only character who didn't sound like a normal human being.
 

Lunar15

Member
Morris' performance isn't bad in the slightest. She's fantastic. It's more that her performance doesn't always fit the character, at least in my opinion.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Morris' performance isn't bad in the slightest. She's fantastic. It's more that her performance doesn't always fit the character, at least in my opinion.

It's really apparent when you play through the game with the original voices. Ohtani's Morgana really has this "children's show" mascot voice while Morris's Morgana is incredibly conceited.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
It's really apparent when you play through the game with the original voices. Ohtani's Morgana really has this "children's show" mascot voice while Morris's Morgana is incredibly conceited.
I'm surprised to hear that JP Morgana sounds like a children's show mascot.

I thought the whole conceited thing totally fits Morgana's character. He typically acts like a hotshot, and most of his lines and mannerisms fit that to a T. Having a voice that sounded like that never seemed out of place to me at all.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
I'm just at the part where you meet that detective guy.

I thought there'd be more people in the Phantom Thieves. So far it's only me, Morgana, Ann, Yosuke, and Ryuji. I'm only about 25 hours in so I guess I'm only about 1/4 the way in so far.
 
I'm surprised to hear that JP Morgana sounds like a children's show mascot.

I thought the whole conceited thing totally fits Morgana's character. He typically acts like a hotshot, and most of his lines and mannerisms fit that to a T. Having a voice that sounded like that never seemed out of place to me at all.

Same, honestly it felt perfect to me. I'm not sure if I ever heard the japanese voice but I think the english one is spot on for his personality.

I'm just at the part where you meet that detective guy.

I thought there'd be more people in the Phantom Thieves. So far it's only me, Morgana, Ann, Yosuke, and Ryuji. I'm only about 25 hours in so I guess I'm only about 1/4 the way in so far.

You are still missing party members, they're all on the game's cover.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
Same, honestly it felt perfect to me. I'm not sure if I ever heard the japanese voice but I think the english one is spot on for his personality.



You are still missing party members, they're all on the game's cover.

yeah that's why i'm wondering what's going on. i just wasn't sure if they were part of phantom thieves or just main characters lol.
 
Finished the game last night. Great experience. It's definitely in contention for my GOTY. I feel a bit empty now after finally putting it down.
 

Sayers

Member
So any word on the theoretical P5: Crimson? Kind of itching to replay this game but if an update is coming soon I will hold off.
 
Lol, great title.

For all my grips with Persona 5, I've been finding myself really craving to go back and replay the game a second time. Unfortunately being a 100+ hours game, makes sure that I won't be doing that anytime soon.
 
So any word on the theoretical P5: Crimson? Kind of itching to replay this game but if an update is coming soon I will hold off.

Not that I know of. There's an announcement planned for October 23, apparently, but people say it's going to be either SMT V or just Atlus trolling again.

Even if they'd announce it tomorrow, I doubt Crimson will be out soon. So I'm not going to cancel my planned new game+ playthrough for it.
 

SMD

Member
So any word on the theoretical P5: Crimson? Kind of itching to replay this game but if an update is coming soon I will hold off.

Aren't they pushing SMT HD first?
You might as well replay, usually takes a while for the updated versions to come out.
 

Taborcarn

Member
End of Palace 7, I love/hate
the way psychotic Akechi shouts PERSOOONAAAAA when he uses a Loki ability. I want this awesomely horrible sound to be my notification alert on my phone, so I can listen to it exactly twice before getting sick of it and switching back.
 

Taborcarn

Member
Woo, finally beat this last night, total time was 83 hours. What a ride.
The post-final-battle dialogues could have been shorter though. I know people want closure with these characters but there was nothing new here and it was very repetitive. Plus it was late and I wanted to just finish it and go to bed, lol.
 
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