Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 Royal
ペルソナ5 ザ・ロイヤル
Perusona 5 Za Roiyaru
Game Information
Developer	Atlus
Publisher	Atlus, Sega (EU)
Genre	RPG
Platform	PlayStation 4
Sales	First Week Japan - 201,448 Life to Date Japan - 400k (As of December 2019)
Development
Director(s)	Daiki Ito
Producer(s)	Kazuhisa Wada
Writer(s)	Shinji Yamamoto Daiki Kato
Artist(s)	Shigenori Soejima Masayoshi Suto
Programmer(s)	Yujiro Kosaka
Composer(s)	Shoji Meguro
Release Dates
Japan	October 31, 2019
North America	March 31, 2020
Europe	March 31, 2020
South Korea	February 20, 2020
Hong Kong	February 20, 2020
Taiwan	February 20, 2020

Persona 5 Royal, alternatively known as P5R and called Persona 5: The Royal in Japan, is an enhanced port of Persona 5 released exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Gameplay Changes

New Characters/Confidants

The Phantom Thieves with Kasumi

• Kasumi Yoshizawa: An accomplished young gymnast who enrolls in Shujin Academy around the same time as the protagonist. She is a great admirer of the protagonist, and one of the few people in school who treats him kindly. Though not an official Phantom Thief at first, she briefly assists the party. She wears a black mask and wields rapiers and rifles in battle.
• Takuto Maruki: A part-time school counselor and researcher of cognitive psience who enters Shujin Academy following Kamoshida's arrest. He can understand peoples' feelings and always helps them whenever needed, and is among one of the more popular members of the school faculty. He is one of the protagonist's new Confidants in the story.
• Jose: A mysterious young puppet-like boy who researches humans and helps the Phantom Thieves in Mementos. Flowers and star stamps can be collected in Mementos, and the protagonist can trade these items with Jose in his shop: flowers are traded for items, and star stamps allow him to change Mementos' cognition, improving the rate at which rewards are given—such as experience, money and items. He can also turn Will Seeds into accessories that greatly aid in battle.

Third Semester

Royal introduces a third semester that doesn't appear in the original Persona 5. In this mysteriously altered reality, the party's various wishes have been granted:

• Morgana is a young, attractive human.
• Ryuji's leg was never broken and the track team is restored, with Ryuji being its leader.
• Ann is now happily hanging out with Shiho, who never transferred schools. Much to Ann's delight, Shiho is now a volleyball ace.
• Yusuke made amends with Ichiryusai Madarame, and his mentor lets him exhibit "Sayuri" in an art museum using his mother's name.
• Makoto and Sae's father is now alive.
• Futaba's mother, Wakaba Isshiki, is alive and well. She's entrusted Sojiro to take care of her daughter while she's working, and is currently living with them.
• Haru's father, Kunikazu Okumura, is also alive and no longer corrupt. Instead, he is now a kind-hearted businessman with no interest in politics, and genuinely takes care of his daughter like he once did, though to the point of over-protectiveness.

The protagonist realizes how wrong this all is, and is approached by Akechi, who is also cognizant of these discrepancies. Akechi clearly remembers assassinating both Wakaba and Okumura, and confronting his cognitive self in Shido's Palace. Together, they investigate the strange events.

In order to unlock the Third Semester, the Councillor Arcana Confidant must reach rank 9 prior to November 17th. If it does, it will max automatically during that day. Failure to max it out will result in the same end scenario as the original Persona 5.

School Life

Kichijoji

• A new location added in Royal is Kichijoji: A popular spot in Tokyo that the protagonist can visit. With a mix of new and old, various cultures and personalities clash in this area that attracts men and women of all ages.
• A collaboration with DARTSLIVE: DARTSLIVE’s latest darts machine, DARTSLIVE3, is fully reproduced in-game. The protagonist can invite friends after school to play darts together. Playing will help increase the ally's respective Baton Pass Rank in battle.
• The protagonist can play billiards, an activity which can increase Social Stats by random. In addition, it can help boost the group's Technical rank, increasing Technical damage and down rate.
• The protagonist can invite a teammate to Jazz Jin to drink virgin cocktails. Depending on the drink, certain stats of party members can be boosted, and they can learn new skills.
• The protagonist can visit an old temple to meditate, increasing his maximum SP.
• A clothing shop has been added where Sooty Clothing can be taken in for points, which can be redeemed for rewards.
• The protagonist can invite his Confidants to an aquarium in Shinagawa, a new Confidant hangout.
• Another new hangout spot is Nakano.

The protagonist hanging out with Maruki.

• Kasumi is one of the new Confidants the protagonist can hang out with. Her Arcana is the new, unnumbered Faith.
  • Her Confidant abilities allow ambush from a distance with a grappling hook, and help the group avoid being surrounded in enemy ambush.
• The protagonist can also bond with the aforementioned school counselor Takuto Maruki, of the new Councillor Arcana.
  • His Confidant abilities grant the protagonist a chance to automatically remove the status effect he's been inflicted with, and recover SP when it's in the low.
• Instead of being automatic, Goro Akechi's Confidant is now leveled up by hanging out with him.
  • His Confidant ability is Sleuthing Instinct, in which the protagonist has a chance to instantly reveal an enemy's random affinity at the start of battle. The upgraded version of this, Sleuthing Mastery, has a chance to reveal all affinities of a single enemy.
• Some original Confidants' abilities have been modified, being able to grant the protagonist new perks as well.
• The protagonist can bring Caroline and Justine touring around Tokyo, separate from their Confidant events, and will reward him with Skill Cards for doing so.
• Similarly to the female Confidants, the protagonist can now give gifts to the boys.
• The protagonist's free time has been slightly rearranged on the calendar.
  • In addition, on certain evenings, the protagonist now gains additional, but more restricted free time, granting him the ability to perform activities within Café Leblanc.
• The criteria values for ranking up Social Stats has been increased.
• Most of the original daily activities have been modified or expanded.
• A "Daily Assist Command" has been implemented during the daily-life sections of the game, with the intent of helping players navigate the options available to them on a daily basis.
• The Valentine's Day event is now updated with additional content.
• For the first time in the Persona series, White Day can be celebrated, which occurs a day prior the protagonist's departure from Tokyo. He can go on a date with any romantic partner. In the case he doesn't have one, he ends up hanging out with his male friends instead.

Phantom Life

• A new palace appears alongside Mementos as the available dungeons for the Third Semester.
• There is a new area in Mementos with a brighter, monochrome coloration, different from the previous areas seen in the original game. Enemies from the Depths of Mementos and the Qliphoth World can be encountered there. After exploring it once, fixed groups of much stronger variants of past enemies will sometimes appear. These enemy groups cannot be negotiated with.
• During the Third Semester, the party will receive new stronger third-tier ultimate Personas, as a result of a fusion between their initial and second-tier ultimate Persona. In the process, each member will receive a special skill.
• Akechi returns as a playable character in his Black Mask attire together with Loki.
• The Phantom Thieves have unison attacks called "Showtimes," unlocked over the course of the story, where two members can unite and attack Shadows together. It is free like All-Out Attacks, and works even for enemies that cannot be Downed.
• New types of Shadows can appear in Palaces and Mementos:
  • Savage Shadows are exceedingly strong enemies with a glowing red aura that cannot be negotiated with unless their health is reduced to very low levels.
  • Disaster Shadows have higher stats and will only counterattack. They drop rare items and cause an explosion that damages nearby enemies once they are defeated. However, repelling their attacks, defeating them via Despair, or using instant-kill spells will cause them to be defeated normally instead.
• Special items known as Will Seeds appear throughout all Palaces. There are three to collect in all, and once obtained, they combine to create a powerful accessory. Bringing these accessories to Jose allows him to upgrade them to two-in-one skills.
• While traversing Mementos, there's a rare chance the group will stumble upon Deviations, special areas with different criteria, whether it's positive or negative for the group.
• The protagonist can use a grappling hook to reach higher places and ambush enemies from afar.
• Futaba has her own Finishing Touch.
• The behavior for all major bosses has been altered or expanded on.
• Lavenza, like her Caroline and Justine counterpart, can be fought in Mementos in a New Game Plus playthrough during the Third Semester.
• All party members innately have Baton Pass accessible without having to have their confidant established.
  • Instead, each party member now has their own individual Baton Pass Rank instead of being a Confidant ability, which adds more effects as they rank up. Ranking up can be achieved through playing darts.
  • In addition, the 4th and last Baton Pass allows for that party member to use any skill with no HP or SP cost.
• Each party member's Shadow negotiation ability in Hold Up, which grants the protagonist a chance to try again, now always works, but under specific circumstances. The requirements for a 2nd chance to occur vary between party members.
• Technical attacks can be ranked up by playing billiards. Doing so will also grant chance to Down enemies and facilitate Hold Ups.
  • In addition, after buying and reading "Knowing the Heart" from Jinbocho, more Technical combinations are added, meaning ailments will be vulnerable to more elemental skills.
• Guns now reload after every battle, rather than having a set number of ammo per dungeon visit.
• Confusion ends after a turn, and ends after the target is hit.
• The Reaper is now immune to Despair.
• The Security Meter now starts at 40% instead of 0%.
• Treasure Demons can now appear inside random Shadow guards.
• New Personas that haven't appeared in Persona 5 have been added in Royal.
• Some Personas and their Shadow counterparts have their attributes altered or their movesets revamped.
  • Additionally, the Arcana of certain Personas has been rearranged.
• The learn pool of party members has been slightly tweaked.
• Several new skills have been added.
  • In addition, the effects Giant Slice, Terror Claw and Dream Needle have been changed.
• Party members will have access to many different skills, which they can use by equipping certain accessories.
• Some areas spawn different enemies.
• Mishima issues new Mementos Requests during the Third Semester.
• The Velvet Room can sometimes enter a fusion alarm starting from the time of the third heist, allowing the protagonist to: fuse stronger Personas with a different moveset than usual; itemize Personas for more powerful weapons, armor, accessories or skill cards; and gain more experience when strengthening a Persona via the Gallows. The alarm ends upon exiting the Velvet Room or when an accident occurs. To balance the improved capabilities, there is a heightened chance of a fusion accident to occur.
• Challenge Battle, a mode akin to training quests from Shin Megami Tensei IV appears, allowing the party to battle various Personas in the compendium.
  • Copies of the protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are also available as DLC boss fights using this mode.
• Merciless difficulty is present in Royal from the start.
• Every difficulty aside from Normal and Hard have had their modifiers tweaked from the original game:​​​
  • Safety has changed the damage modifier from x2 to x1.6, EXP from x3 to x1.5 and money from x5 to x1.5.
  • Easy has EXP and money go from x1 to x1.2.
  • Merciless changes the damage modifier from x0.8 to x0.65 and EXP and money go from x0.4 to x1.2.

Thieves Den

The protagonist visiting his Thieves Den.

• In Royal, the protagonist will be able to visit his own personal "Thieves Den", a recreational area unrelated to the story. It is the protagonist's Palace.
• While in the Den, the protagonist can change his appearance to any of the Phantom Thieves and explore it in their guise.
• In the Den, one can watch cutscenes from the game, listen to the soundtrack, and view various artwork.
• The protagonist is able to customize his Palace as he pleases, and depending on what is placed, he'll be able to listen to conversations between cognitive versions of his Confidants.
• The Den has an Award wall, which is gradually decorated with accolades for various accomplishments divided into School Life, Battle, and Phantom. Such examples include opening 40 locked chests, and washing 10 pieces of sooty laundry.
• The protagonist can play a card game, "Tycoon", with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. The rules are based on Daifugō (大富豪^*)^?.

Other

• Persona 5 Royal adds 29 new songs, with a few overlaying gameplay criteria from the original game:
  • If the Phantom Thieves ambush an enemy, the added "Take Over" theme will play in place of "Last Surprise."
  • Mementos now has additional themes, which will play depending on how deep the Phantom Thieves traverse.
• The trophies in Royal are slightly different than the ones in the original game.
• Alternate costumes from Persona 5, as well as new costumes exclusive to Royal, can be purchased as DLC and be worn in Palaces and Mementos. All characters can wear their Ball Stage, Velvet Room and Featherman outfits from Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, and wear skins based on their simplified look in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth.
• The party members' dialogue portraits are redrawn, and new expressions have been added.
• Lip sync during voiced dialogue is included in the Japanese version.
• Some scenes that were not voiced in the original Persona 5 are now fully voiced.
• Certain scenes from Persona 5 The Animation have been added and modified.
• Kaneshiro and Chihaya Mifune's voice actors from Persona 5 The Animation re-recorded the voice lines due to the fact both of their previous Japanese voice actors passed away.
• Tae Takemi has a new voice actor in the English version of Royal.
• Lala Escargot is fully voiced.
• The Shinjuku Animals harassing Ryuji during the Shinjuku investigation and the Miura Beach trip have had their dialogue slightly tweaked in the English localization. Instead of preying on Ryuji, they instead want to mentor him in the world of drag.
• The western release of the game comes with both English and Japanese audio options, as well as multiple language text, whereas in the original version the dual audio setting was only available as DLC.
• Persona 5 Royal has been officially localized in French, Italian, German and Spanish.
• A new font is used for dialogue instead of SlumpStd, the one used in the original game. This is likely due to the necessity for the font to support the additional western languages with the Latin script, similar to Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight.
• The improved graphics are now based on Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. The game runs in 30fps with 4K support for PlayStation 4 Pro.

Plot

Main article: Persona 5#Plot

10 31発売!!【ペルソナ５ ザ・ロイヤル】オープニングムービー

Opening (Colors Flying High)

While the Phantom Thieves begin to form, the protagonist will acquaint with more faces: Kasumi Yoshizawa, a newly enrolled first-year scholarship student in Shujin Academy and a talented gymnast; and Takuto Maruki, a school counselor hired to help the students after Kamoshida turns himself into the police. During their first Mementos exploration, they also meet a mysterious entity in the form of a boy known as Jose. Aside of giving vital services in Mementos, he also grants the protagonist a Wishing Star capable of letting party members perform Showtimes.

If Maruki's Confidant has been completed, after the Phantom Thieves defeat Yaldabaoth, Sae Niijima requests the protagonist to help her prosecute Masayoshi Shido by turning himself into the police, but Goro Akechi offers to testify in his place. The protagonist celebrates Christmas Day and New Year's Eve with the Phantom Thieves. Because of Akechi's testimonies, the woman whom Shido harassed at the start of the year was found, and Shido was arrested for treason. However, before New Year, he dreams of himself walking around school and hearing his friends talking about their desires.

On January 1, when the protagonist prepares for a shrine visit with the Phantom Thieves and Kasumi, abnormalities began to surface, starting from an unknown teenager sitting on one of LeBlanc's chairs, followed by Futaba mentioning her mother buying her Yukata. When he meets Ryuji, Ann, Makoto, Yusuke, Futaba and Haru, he was shocked by Haru mentioning going to lunch with her father, Futaba with her mother, Makoto with her "family," and Ann with Shiho, implying that Okumura, Wakaba and Makoto's father were alive and Shiho has reunited with Ann. When all of the protagonist's friends depart but Kasumi, Shinichi Yoshizawa dials Kasumi that all of her relatives are at home who calls her by her given name, which provokes a strange reaction on the protagonist.

On January 2, the protagonist witnesses the abnormalities first hand, where Morgana has became a human and Wakaba was celebrating New Year with Sojiro and Futaba, followed by Akechi visiting to discuss the abnormalities with him, having found it suspicious that he was suddenly acquitted of his charges. After a phone call from Kasumi about the Palace in Odaiba Seaside Park, the three investigate and discover that Maruki is the Palace's owner. Maruki confesses to the protagonist and Akechi that he had made everyone's desires into reality. In addition, the real Kasumi is dead, and the "Kasumi" everyone has come to know is her twin sister, Sumire Yoshizawa. Through counseling, Maruki had made Sumire think that she was Kasumi in order to help her cope with Kasumi's death. After capturing her, he urges the protagonist to see what his new reality looks like before deciding whether he wants to live in it by January 9.

Throughout the week, the protagonist visits the other Phantom Thieves individually and tries to remind them of their real lives. He also finds out that Okumura and Makoto's father was revived, Ryuji's leg was never broke and he reconciled with his track teammates, Shiho will be transferring back to Shujin for reasons other than Kamoshida's abuse and Madarame was an ideal mentor to Yusuke instead of treating him as a profit source. After he meets all seven teammates, Akechi dials the protagonist on what he found about Maruki, and tells him that neither Wakaba, Okumura and Makoto's father were dead to begin with in this reality because Maruki tampered with history instead of outright reviving the dead as cognitions.

On January 9, the protagonist and Akechi return to Maruki's Palace and reject his new reality, while the other party members gather in LeBlanc and agreed to break out from the illusion. The protagonist convinces Sumire to accept herself after fighting her, but Maruki takes control of Sumire's Persona, Cendrillon, and attacks the protagonist and Akechi. The rest of the Phantom Thieves arrive to save them, having come to their senses, and Maruki again gives the Phantom Thieves until February 3 to decide whether they want to live in his new reality. At school, Lavenza informs the Phantom Thieves that Maruki had a persona capable of actualization. While it was only capable of activating subconsciously and its effects are limited, once he usurped the vacuum left from Yaldabaoth, he was able of creating this distorted reality on his own volition. Lavenza also reveals that while the Phantom Thieves supposedly took control of the collective's cognitive desire once the God of Control was defeated, deep down they allowed Maruki to usurp it from them since they confessed their own desires to him during counseling, and subconsciously still wanted him to fulfill their desires. If Maruki is not stopped after a month, Mementos will fuse permanently into the real world and can no longer be stopped, with the world eternally trapped in a stasis where everyone will be devoid of pain and live happily forever. Sumire, overhearing the conversation, accompanies the Phantom Thieves to Maruki's Palace and slowly comes to accept herself, awakening Cendrillon to her full power.

Near the end of the Palace, the Phantom Thieves learn that Maruki was one of the original researchers for cognitive pscience. When he was about to marry his ex-fiance Rumi, her parents were killed in an indoor burglary case. The culprit was apprehended, but Rumi fell in a PTSD-breakdown that resulted in her being rendered catatonic. Out of desperation, an unknown entity reached out to him and mysteriously helped her cope with the death of her parents at the cost of her losing her memories of their relationship. Afterwards, his research was stymied by Shido and his plan to construct a lab in Odaiba was sabotaged. During the Christmas Eve of last year, Maruki presented the finished essay he completed with the protagonist's help, only for his professor to deny it. In the middle of their argument, his Persona awakened while Yaldabaoth merged the Qliphoth World with reality.

Once the Phantom Thieves have located the treasure, on February 2, Maruki meets the protagonist and Morgana in Leblanc. He reveals that Akechi had been brought back to reality because the protagonist's wish was to save him. Depending on if the protagonist fulfilled Akechi's promise for a duel in the future or not, the subsequent scene will also be altered;

• If the protagonist fulfilled the promise, Akechi will arrive to LeBlanc, having been eavesdropping Maruki and the protagonist's decision. After the protagonist sends the calling card to Maruki before he leaves, Akechi will discuss with the protagonist about how he has decided to stand up against Maruki no matter what. The protagonist is given a chance to leave Maruki alone during the next day by telling Akechi that he wishes to live in Maruki's reality. If he has confirmed to do so again, Akechi will stumble out of LeBlanc in anger and disappointment while the protagonist calls off the heist, resulting in the same ending as the direct offer during the 9th of January. If he does not, Akechi's persona will transmogrify into Hereward.
• If the protagonist has not fulfilled the promise, Maruki will ask if the protagonist accepts this reality, one last time to avoid a conflict. The protagonist may agree to his deal, and Morgana will double confirm the decision for him. If he has confirmed to do so, Maruki will express joy and the same bad ending as during January 9 will play.

The protagonist agrees to reject him again, and the party goes to the top of Eden to defeat him and his Persona Azathoth. However, Maruki regenerates his Persona into its true form, Adam Kadmon. Futaba reveals his weakness to be his head, and the Phantom Thieves block his attack to allow the protagonist to shoot him. The party escapes by Morgana's new helicopter form, only for Maruki to pull the protagonist down for one final fist fight. Maruki decides to fall to his death, but he is rescued by the protagonist and the Monacopter.

After Maruki loses his powers, the events that happened courtesy of Azathoth's warping are reverted. Akechi is still missing, and the protagonist is detained in juvenile hall. All of the protagonists' max Confidants rally to free him and clear him of his charges. Morgana returns once again quickly after, no longer having the desire to become human. At bedtime during the same day Morgana returns, it was also revealed that the Wishing Star that Jose given to the protagonist drained all of its powers to transform Morgana into a helicopter to make sure everyone escapes the Metaverse safely. After the protagonist and Morgana return, the Phantom Thieves decide to break up and pursue their own dreams; Ryuji will move back to his own home and undergo physical therapy, Ann will go overseas to study fashion, Yusuke will stay in Tokyo and study art, Makoto and Haru will move to parts far away, and Futaba will go to high school and aim for college, eventually desiring to become a psientific researcher. During that night, Sumire also sends her parting words via SNS to the protagonist, vowing that she will take international gymnastics on her own and chooses her own path as well.

On the protagonist's final day, the other Phantom Thieves decide to drive him home and realize the police is following them, hinting at the game's sequel. Maruki, who is now a taxi driver, offers the protagonist a ride to the train station while the others distract the police. The protagonist exchanges farewells with Maruki and the rest of the Phantom Thieves, as well as Sumire, who he encounters at the train station.

In a post-credits scene, the protagonist will see his Phantom Thief outfit as his reflection on the glass before it reverts to normal. If Akechi's promise was fulfilled, a person resembling Akechi passes by his window with the police.

Bad Ending

In addition to the new true ending added in relation to the third semester, there is also a new bad ending and unique Game Over.

If the player agrees to Maruki's world on either January 9 or February 2, the protagonist will come to his senses on February 3, where all of the Phantom Thieves have gathered for Setsubun. All of the Phantom Thieves' desires were actualized, with only the protagonist aware: Akechi is alive and friends with the Phantom Thieves; Sumire is living as "Kasumi" with no memory of her true self, and Sojiro offers the protagonist to take over Café Leblanc after he graduates from high school. The game then fast-forwards to March 15, where Haru, Makoto, and Akechi have graduated from high school, with Futaba, Morgana, and Yusuke planning on attending Shujin Academy for the next school year. Maruki, as a mysterious figure, offers to take the Phantom Thieves' photo. Kasumi thanks him as he walks off, and when she passes by the protagonist, he shows a remorseful expression but rejoins the Phantom Thieves with her. The credits show each member of the Phantom Thieves living out their desires, with a final photo of them all at the end.

Game Over

If Maruki's Treasure is not located by February 2, the Phantom Thieves believes that their failure to secure the route to the Treasure comes from them not being able to resist their desires, which leads to Mementos and reality permanently merging together. When the protagonist goes to bed, on February 3, Maruki summons him to his office in his dreams. Maruki's intent is to gain the protagonist's approval for his reality, but since he has trouble deciding, Maruki decides to make him sleep forever so that he no longer has to worry. The protagonist is found sleeping in his room for an indeterminable amount of time, and Lavenza fails to reach him, with her butterfly weakening and fading.

Themes

Apart from the standard anti-authority and anti-corruption themes existent within the Persona 5 campaign, Royal's third term features an Anti-escapism theme. Despite everyone in the Phantom Thieves had their wildest desires come true and the rampant corruption coming to an end thanks to Maruki's machinations, they do not conform by his version of eternal happiness and seek to fight for it through the path they chose. The Thieves refused to entrust themselves and their future to the artificial god and eventually confronting the misguided Maruki in a decisive fight for their future.

This is also embodied by the new character Sumire Yoshizawa, a mentally unstable girl who can only live her way through assuming the identity of her deceased sister, Kasumi Yoshizawa, who died saving her for her ungratefulness. With the protagonist's help, she learns to get back into the correct track and get over with the grief.

Much like the base campaign, the extra campaign uses Gnostic and Kabbalistic motifs. However, instead of using the Qliphoth, which represents the evil of man, it uses the Sefirot, which represents the enlightenment of it, symbolizing that Maruki was for the greater good of humanity unlike Yaldabaoth and his actions are all genuine altruism, although he was being misguided in it. The Gnostic motifs are further emphasized with the Garden of Eden being a Jail instead of a paradise, as Eden is created by the Demiurge to imprison Adam and Eve and prevent them from being enlightened. The final antagonist encountered in the game is also Adam Kadmon, the "perfect man" in Gnostic myth and sometimes being considered as the Demiurge.

Lovecraftian motifs are also present, fitting for Maruki's origins as a psientific researcher. This is seen with the final antagonist's initial form when fought being Azathoth and his Palace containing Byakhee and Hastur as enemies.

Development

The game was initially teased by Atlus on December 30th, 2018. It was unveiled after the Persona 5 The Animation OVA, Dark Sun..., finished airing. There were no details behind the project, other than that the trailer serves as a teaser for more projects that are currently in development. Another new teaser trailer was released on March 23, 2019, featuring an unnamed girl with a ponytail, after the second Persona 5 the Animation OVA, Stars and Ours, finished airing.

The next trailer was shown during the "Persona Super Live: P-Sound Street 2019: Welcome to No. Q Theater" event on April 24, 2019. The game was shown off and a release date was confirmed for October 31, 2019 in Japan, along with more information coming on May 9, 2019. Not too long after, a western release was confirmed for Spring 2020. On December 3, 2019, a trailer for Persona 5 Royal was released with a confirmed western release date, on March 31, as were the different editions that would be available on day one.

Downloadable Content

Videos

Persona Q2 New Cinema Labyrinth Costume & BGM Special Set Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight Costume & BGM Special Set Velvet Room Costume & BGM Special Set Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight Featherman Costume & BGM Special Set The protagonist of Persona 3 can be fought as DLC The protagonist of Persona 4 can be fought as DLC The protagonist of Persona 3 in battle The protagonist of Persona 4 in battle Challenge Battle: FULL MOON Challenge Battle: FOGGY DAY Limited Special PS4 Theme (Amazon.jp only)

Early Purchase Bonus

In Japan

Persona 5 Royal has been released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019. A Limited Edition called Persona 5 Royal: Straight Flush Edition includes the following additional content:

• Persona 5 Royal art book
• Persona 5 Royal soundtrack (2 CDs + Booklet)
• Special T-Shirt (Designed by P-Studio, Size L)
• Special illustrated box
• Velvet Room, Featherman & Ball Stage DLC outfits & music.

Straight Flush Edition

Gallery

Box arts
PlayStation 4 main box art (Japanese) PlayStation 4 main box art (Western)

General Gallery
Official package visual artwork Persona 5 Royal Splash Screen Release Date Artwork by Shigenori Soejima (Process Video) Additions to the UI

Screenshots

Kasumi Yoshizawa with the protagonist Kasumi Yoshizawa in the Metaverse Takuto Maruki in Shujin Academy Jose in Mementos Jose in Mementos The protagonist playing darts The protagonist playing pool The protagonist bringing Kasumi to Shinagawa The boys at a summer festival The group celebrating New Year Goro Akechi with the protagonist and Kasumi Caroline and Justine at the movies Ryuji taking a selfie with the Phantom Thieves Morgana as a human Wakaba Isshiki with Futaba and Sojiro The protagonist using his grappling hook to travel around the Palace The protagonist using his grappling hook to ambush an enemy Finding a Will Seed in a Palace The protagonist can trade with Jose and have him change Mementos A Disaster Shadow The Velvet Room during a "Fusion Alarm" The protagonist exploring "Thieves Den" in Morgana's cat form The protagonist's Confidants talking with one another in the "Thieves Den" Tycoon

Wallpapers
1280x1080 1366x768 1600x900 1920x1200

Videos

Trailers

Teaser Trailer (English) E3 Trailer (English) Season Reveal Trailer (English) Release Date Reveal Trailer (English) Meet the Phantom Thieves Trailer (English) Morgana's Phantom Thief Crash Course (English) Change The World Trailer (English) Accolades Trailer (English) Teaser Trailer (Japanese) First Trailer PV (Japanese) Second Trailer PV (Japanese) Third Trailer PV (Japanese) Commercial Trailer (Japanese) Message from Jun Fukuyama, the protagonist's JP voice actor Message from Sora Amamiya, Kasumi's JP voice actor

Character Trailers
Protagonist's trailer Morgana's trailer Ryuji's trailer Ann's trailer Yusuke's trailer Makoto's trailer Futaba's trailer Haru's trailer Akechi's trailer Kasumi's trailer Maruki's trailer

Morgana Reports
Morgana Report #1 (5/9/2019) Morgana Report #2 (6/14/2019) Morgana Report #3 (7/11/2019) Morgana Report #4 (8/2/2019) Morgana Report #5 (9/6/2019) Final Morgana Report (10/3/2019)

In Other Languages

Language	Title
English	Persona 5 Royal
Japanese	ペルソナ5 ザ・ロイヤル (Perusona 5 Za Royaru)
Korean	페르소나 5 더 로열 (Pereusona 5 Deo Royeol)
Traditional Chinese	女神異聞錄5 皇家版 (Nǚshén yìwén lù 5 huángjiā bǎn)
French	Persona 5 Royal
Italian	Persona 5 Royal
German	Persona 5 Royal
Spanish	Persona 5 Royal

Trivia

• During the Third Semester's new alternate ending, Ryuji eats his eho-maki at the north-north west direction, which matches the same Eho (the direction that one should eat the eho-maki at Setsubun, a 5 year cycle) as 2017.
• When playing darts or billiards, the background music playing is an arrangement of the Kichijoji theme from Shin Megami Tensei.
• An alternate Valentine's Day Harem and Harem White Day event can be found in the game's coding. In both of these events, all of the girls unanimously pronounce their love for the protagonist despite he was clearly cheating. This event was located in the same folder where events from the third term bad ending were stored at, indicating that it was meant to be a part of the bad ending where Joker accepts Maruki's reality.

External Links

• Official Japanese website
• Official English website
• Official Korean website
• Official Traditional Chinese website