Persona 5 Royal

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Persona 5 Royal
ペルソナ5 ザ・ロイヤル
Perusona 5 Za Roiyaru
Game Information
Developer	Atlus
Publisher	Atlus
Genre	RPG
Platform	PlayStation 4
Sales	First Week Japan - 201,448 Life to Date Japan - 400k (As of December 2019)
Development
Director(s)	Katsura Hashino
Producer(s)	Katsura Hashino
Writer(s)	Katsura Hashino Shinji Yamamoto Yuichiro Tanaka
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
China	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 to be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4. 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. It was released in Japan on October 31st, 2019.

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, after the second Persona 5 the Animation OVA, Stars and Ours, finished airing.

After the trailer featuring an unnamed girl with a ponytail was released on March 23, 2019, 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 release date, as were the different editions that will be available on day one.

Gameplay Changes

New Characters/Confidants

The Phantom Thieves with Kasumi

• Kasumi Yoshizawa: An accomplished young gymnast who enrolled to the first semester of Shujin around the same time the protagonist does. She is a great admirer of the protagonist and is one of the few nice people in Shujin. However, some of her behavior does not add up for what she is said to be. She can accompany the Phantom Thieves in their heists. She wears a black mask and wields rapiers and rifles in battle.
• Takuto Maruki: A part-time school counselor and a 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 let him improve the rate at which rewards are given, such as experience, money and items in Mementos. He can also turn Will Seeds into accessories that can greatly aid battle.

Third Semester

• Royal will be introducing the third school term events that don't appear in the original Persona 5. The third term events begin with occurrences that are considered to be strange and contradictory:
  • Morgana now takes the form of a young human male television celebrity.
  • Ryuji's leg is no longer broken and the track team is restored, with Ryuji being its leader.
  • Shiho didn't transfer schools and is happily hanging out with Ann. 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.
  • Sae is no longer a prosecutor and is currently unemployed. Instead, she helps Makoto in searching for a university campus for her. Their father is also now alive.
  • Wakaba Isshiki is shown to be alive and well. She entrusted Sojiro to take care of Futaba while she works and she is currently living with them.
  • Kunikazu Okumura is also shown to be alive and no longer hostile to everyone. Instead, he is now a kind-hearted businessman with no interest in politics, and genuinely takes care of his daughter Haru like he once did, to the point of over-protectiveness. He is also now very clumsy, and was surprised that Haru had a boyfriend.
  • Because of these strange events, Akechi requests the protagonist's help in investigating the strange turn of events. Just like the protagonist, Akechi clearly remembers Wakaba and Okumura being assassinated and his encounter with the cognitive Akechi in the cruiser palace.
    • In order to play the Third Semester events, 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 the Councillor Confidant will result in the same end scenario as the vanilla version.

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, will be fully reproduced in-game. The protagonist can invite friends after school to play Penguin Sniper. Playing darts with fellow Phantom Thieves will increase their Baton Pass Rank, granting better in-battle benefits, such as an increase to damage and better HP/SP recovery.
• The protagonist can play billiards. As well as increasing Social Stats by random, playing pool grants the player increased rate of critical hits and downing an enemy.
• The protagonist can bring a teammate to Jazz Jin to drink. Depending on the cocktail, their friend will attain different new skills and stat boosts in battle. There are also specialty drinks that can be ordered, but have secret attributes that cater differently to each character.
• The protagonist can visit an old temple to meditate, increasing their max SP.
• 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. Unlike other Confidants, she has 5 ranks instead of the usual 10.
• The protagonist can also bond with the aforementioned school counselor Takuto Maruki, of the new Councillor Arcana.
  • His Confidant abilities will grant the protagonist chances to automatically remove a status effect he's been inflicted with, and recover SP when it's low.
• Instead of being automatic, Goro Akechi's Confidant is now leveled up by hanging out with him, up to rank 8.
  • The protagonist is required to battle him alone in Mementos to advance it to rank 8.
  • His Confidant ability is Detective's Eyes in which the Phantom Thieves can scan the Shadows' resistances and weaknesses during the first attack.
• Some original Confidants's abilities have been modified, granting them new abilities as well.
  • Each party member will now have their own individual Baton Pass Rank instead of being a Confidant ability, which adds more effects as they rank up.
• The protagonist can bring Caroline and Justine touring around Tokyo separate from their Confidant events.
• 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 them the ability to perform Social Stat-boosting activities within Cafe Leblanc, which includes making coffee and curry.
• The criteria for ranking up Social Stats has been increased.
• Most of the original daily activities have been modified or expanded:
  • The contents of the Crossword Puzzle and the Class questions have been completely modified.
  • The Home Shopping Program's system has been overhauled: the weekly show now offers two different sets of items, and the protagonist is able to choose between one of those two sets.
  • The protagonist can now buy and read more books, with some granting them new perks upon finishing.
  • The protagonist no longer has to rent DVDs: instead, they'll have to pay an annual subscription fee, allowing them to borrow and return DVDs whenever they like. Additionally, the collection of DVDs has been mildly expanded.
  • The protagonist can now play a retro game based on Phoenix Ranger Featherman R.
  • The effect criteria for training has been simplified: HP and SP drops no longer occur, whether its temporary or permanent.
  • The special medicinal bath effect in the bathhouse has been shifted to only Sundays.
  • The Maid Cafe activity has been expanded with a stamp card system: the protagonist now collects points from ordering meals, and reaching a certain amount will reward them with a special menu.
  • The Batting Cage minigame has been expanded, allowing for a larger variety of difficulties.
  • The fishing minigame has added a new type of boilie, a new fishing rod and an additional, special fish to catch.
• The Valentine's Day event is now updated with additional content:
  • All maxed female Confidants who the protagonist didn't date will give him a chocolate they bought on Valentine's Day. This includes Sae, who the protagonist cannot enter a relationship with. The scene is exactly similar to when the girls find out the protagonist is cheating, with the exception of different dialogue. Sojiro calls the protagonist to tell him all of his female friends are here, who happily give their chocolate as a sign of friendship. After they leave, Sojiro gives him his chocolate as a thank you gift for helping him in LeBlanc. However, the protagonist won't receive the girls' chocolate if they find out he's cheating on them, before Sojiro gives him his own out of pity.
  • The Valentine's Day scenarios, including the instance where the protagonist cheats will now be fully voiced.
• For the first time in the Persona series, White Day events have been added, which occur a day prior the protagonist's departure from Tokyo. They can go on a date with any romantic partner here. If he doesn't have a romantic partner or after being caught cheating on the girls, he ends up hanging out with his male friends instead.

Phantom Life

• A stronger type of Shadow called Disaster Shadows will appear in Palaces; These Shadows have higher stats and will only make a move if the party attacks it. They drop rare items and cause an explosion that damages nearby enemies once they are defeated. However, repelling their attacks or defeating them via Despair will cause them to be defeated normally instead.
• Special items known as Will Seeds will appear throughout all Palaces. There are three of them which can be collected and traded to Jose in order for him to create a new accessory that allows the equipper to use moves related to that respective boss.
• Some Personas that could only be obtained through fusion on the original game, alongside some new ones, will be appearing as Shadows in Palaces and Mementos. The new ones are as follows:
  • Biyarky
  • Hastur
  • Macabre
  • Mishaguji
  • Cait Sith
  • Tam Lin
  • Atavaka
  • Chimera
  • Fafnir
  • Loa
  • Maria
  • Vohu Manah
  • Thunderbird
• Some areas will have new enemies.
• The Phantom Thieves can use grappling hooks to reach higher places and ambush enemies.
• Futaba will have her own Finishing Touch.
• Technical now downs enemies and facilitates Hold ups.
• Some Personas such as Kali, Lucifer or Satanael have their attributes altered or their movesets revamped. This applies to their Shadow counterparts as well.
• The Phantom Thieves will have simultaneous attacks called "Show Time," unlocked over the course of the story, where two members can unite and attack Shadows together. This works even for enemies that cannot be downed, and is free like All-Out Attacks.
• Akechi returns as a playable character in his late game attire, with his true Persona being usable as well.
• All behavior for major bosses will be altered from the base game.
  • Cognitive copies of Yuuki Mishima and Shiho Suzui will appear as a part of Shadow Kamoshida's Golden Medal Spike animation by lending him a volleyball. They can be killed in order to interrupt the attack and are weak to physical.
  • Madarame is now a significantly different boss: he will start in his portrait form with Artist's Grace and Restore instantly and once exposed will never return to portrait form, instead fighting with fire, ice, electric and wind-based copies of himself with crippling weaknesses against the opposite elements they represent, but repels the same typing as them. They also resist physical.
    • If his HP is extremely low, he will summon clones that start out with status conditions and sometimes at very low health.
  • Shadow Kaneshiro's phases are reversed: he summons Piggytron from the start which functions identically to its original incarnation. After defeating the Piggytron he must then be defeated on foot. His on foot version is heavily buffed in this game as he summons a pair of bodyguards resistant to all elements and can spam technical damage with sleep. Shadow Kaneshiro himself also resists physical and will perform a multi-hit attack while alone, although he can only use it once due to his gold vault running out of money after the attack.
  • The cognitive Sphinx will insult Futaba as usual, and Joker can choose to agree with it or disagree. Agreeing with it feeds in Futaba's depression and makes her less likely to restore the ballista, while disagreeing with it will let Futaba repel one of the Sphinx's attacks.
  • Okumura will now summon exactly 4 of each rank of his robots with a total of 8 waves of enemies instead of the former 6. After the first wave is defeated, he will summon a cognitive Haru which allows him to perform a debuff against the party, a buff to one of his robots and a self destruct order to another one at once. If any robot group are not defeated within two turns, he will replace them with identical robots at full health, forcing the party to restart the entire wave. the robots can also gang up at one party member on his command. After defeating the MDL-ED Execurobo, he will summon the cognitive Haru to self destruct after a turn, in which he reveals himself as vulnerable.
  • The second form of Shadow Sae will use the roulette to decide the affinities of her attacks. These attacks can be of any element. At low health, the roulette will automatically configure her attacks as almighty.
  • Shadow Shido's Samael forms will now have new unseen attacks as well as a reliance on heavy buffs such as Heat Riser and Tarukaja. Once he is on his last phase and is low on health, he will isolate the protagonist for the final battle to be one-on-one.
  • Yaldabaoth's sins now last for two turns instead of one turn.
• Treasure Demons can now appear inside random Shadow guards.
• Confusion ends after a turn and ends after the target is hit.
• The Security Meter starts at 40% instead of 0%.
• Baton Passes can now have different colors
  • In addition, the 4th and last Baton Pass party member will now be able to use all their skills with no HP or SP cost.
• A "Daily Assist Command" will be 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.
• Party members will receive a new stronger Ultimate Persona, unlocked during the third term events. In the process, each member will receive a special skill.
• 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 to the areas seen in the base game. Enemies from the Mementos Depths and Qliphoth's 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.
  • Mishima will also issue new sub-quests in Mementos during the Third Semester.
• The Reaper is now immune to Despair.

Other

The protagonist visiting his Thieves Den.

• Royal will have a gallery mode called "Thieves Den" where one can watch anime scenes (including the original version opening animation), listen to the soundtrack, view artwork, take control of any of the Phantom Thieves, check achievement progress, customize the palace, and play Daifugō (大富豪^*)^? with the rest of the Phantom Thieves.
• The trophies in Royal will be slightly different than the ones in the base game.
• The western release of the game will come 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.
  • Merciless difficulty will be present in Royal from the start as well.
• The protagonist can buy costumes in Harajuku, which can be worn in Palaces and Mementos, although legacy and crossover costumes still require DLC. They 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 original character portraits are redrawn, and they're more flexible in angles, similarly to Persona 3.
• Lip sync during voiced dialogue is likely included in the Japanese version.
• All Phantom Thieves and several Confidants will receive both new midwinter casual clothes and school uniforms.
• Akechi's confidant portrait changes at the Third Semester. Caroline and Justine's Confidant portrait will also become Lavenza's portrait after accessing the Qliphoth World.
• 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.
• Haru Okumura's existence is foreshadowed earlier in the game.
• The Velvet Room can sometimes enter red alert mode and allow the party to fuse stronger Personas with a different move set than usual.
• A mode akin to training quests from Shin Megami Tensei IV will appear in-game, allowing the party to battle various Personas in the compendium. Copies of the Persona 3 and Persona 4 protagonists will also be available as DLC boss fights using this mode. Their appearance is based on Persona Dancing spin-off games.
• Lavenza will be present after the Day of Reckoning, as part of the events of the new semester. She, like her Caroline and Justine counterpart, can be fought in Mementos in a New Game Plus playthrough.
• Kaneshiro and Chihaya Mifune's voice actors from Persona 5 The Animation will redo the voice lines due to the fact both of their previous Japanese voice actors passed away.
• Kaneshiro's voice has a higher pitch.
• In the English version of Royal, Tae Takemi will have a new voice actor.
• Certain cutscenes will now be voiced. For example, Yusuke's arrival to Hawaii is one of those instances.
• Lala Escargot is fully voiced.
• The Shinjuku Animals harrassing Ryuji during the Kaneshiro Investigation and the Miura Beach event will have their dialogue slightly tweaked in the English dub.
  • During the Shinjuku encounter, the men harrassing Ryuji are appropriately named and they explicitly state that they will make him crossdress and force him to hang out with them.

Plot

A brand new bad ending and a true ending has been added, all of them related to the third semester.

• The protagonist is given a mercy offer by Takuto to accept the dream world resulting from his excessive cognition manipulation powers as his reality; Should the protagonist accept, the time skips to February 3rd. However, not only is everyone at the cafe, they will all now be subject to Takuto's magic and happily celebrating Setsubun in LeBlanc, with the protagonist seemingly the sole exception. Sumire is also completely transformed into Kasumi Yoshizawa, effectively wiping out the "Sumire" personality. Jumping forward to the 15th of March, Haru and Makoto graduate while the party celebrates as Takuto takes their photo, with everyone in the photo sporting bright smiles bar the protagonist and Akechi. After Takuto leaves, the protagonist recognizes something is not right, but returns to his friends anyway. The credits display everyone fulfilling their wishes and a remix of Takuto's counseling theme playing in the background, and the post credits display a snapshot of the party having fun at Leblanc with the protagonist and Akechi looking towards the camera, which burns outwards from the protagonist, Akechi and "Kasumi's" direction.
  • This ending can also be triggered on the day before Takuto is fought; when the protagonist is reminded by Takuto that Akechi is a fake made by him, he is offered by Akechi an option to express that he wants this reality to stay forever; Should he proceed, he will get the same ending as above.
  • Once the protagonist makes any decision to allow Takuto to make his reality the only reality during both instances, Akechi will ask him to confirm his choice. Should he confirm, the bad ending will play.
  • If the party takes too much time to clear Maruki's Palace, he will end up in the counselor office of Shujin in prison garb during a dream, in which Takuto tells him to sleep for an eternity. The protagonist wakes up in LeBlanc with his room filled with cobwebs and his phone's battery long dead. Without motivation, he sleeps in his bed again with Lavenza in butterfly form failing to reach him.
• True Ending: After Takuto loses his powers, the events that happened courtesy of Azathoth's warping are reverted. Akechi is still missing, and the protagonist is at Juvenile Hall (as Akechi was not present to take his place). Instead of Ann however, Sumire will be the one who rallies all of the protagonist's confidants, including those who he maxed at the third semester to get him out of it. From here, the events of the true ending are similar to the original game, with some key differences. During the day the protagonist leaves LeBlanc, when he is picked up by his friends for a road trip back home, they find that they are being tailed by some men in black, heavily implied to be Police attempting to capture them so they can save their public image as seen in the game's sequel. Takuto arrives on the scene and offers Joker a ride to the train station while the others distract the people tailing them. Once he is in the train station, he refuses payment and tells the protagonist that he will be following in his example and will choose to live his life bravely, facing the good with the bad. The phantom thieves meet up with the protagonist again and say their goodbyes before going off to distract the men in black some more. At the station, he along with Morgana run into Sumire who vaguely warns him that he's being tailed and he should enter the train quickly. In the post-credits scene, the protagonist will see his Phantom Thief outfit as his reflection on the glass before it reverts to normal. If the Justice Confidant has been maxed out, the protagonist will see what appears to be Akechi outside the window as well.

Plot Trivia

• During the Third Semester "happy" bad ending, when Ryuji eats the eho-maki, he eats it 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.

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 Challenge Battle: FULLMOON Challenge Battle: FOGGYDAY

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 art
PlayStation 4 main box art (Japanese)

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 The protagonist in a call 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 Finding a Will Seed in a Palace The protagonist can trade with Jose and have him change Mementos Having Jose Change Mementos A Disaster Shadow Morgana and Ann's Showtime Ann and Yusuke's Showtime Yusuke and Ryuji's Showtime Ryuji and Makoto's Showtime Makoto and Haru's Showtime Haru and Morgana's Showtime The Velvet Room in "Red Alert" The protagonist exploring "Thieves Den" in Morgana's Cat form. The protagonist's confidants talking with one-another in "Thieves Den" The protagonist at the Palace Maker The protagonist at the Palace Maker Card game A gallery of trophies 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

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) 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)
Simplified Chinese	女神异闻录5 皇家版 (Nǚshén yì wén lù 5 huángjiā bǎn)
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

External Links

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