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
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 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. 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 release date, on March 31, as were the different editions that would 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 Sakamoto's leg is no longer broken and the track team is restored, with Ryuji being its leader.
  • Ann is now happily hanging out with Shiho, who never transfered 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 shown to be alive and well. She 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 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, although 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 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 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 protagonist 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 a chance to automatically remove the status effect he's been inflicted with, and recover SP when it's low overall.
• Instead of being automatic, Goro Akechi's Confidant is now leveled up by hanging out with him.
  • His Confidant ability is Detective's Eyes in which the Phantom Thieves can scan Shadows' resistances and weaknesses during the first attack.
• 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.
• 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 activities within Cafe Leblanc.
• The criteria values 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.
• 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.
• 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 occur 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 a romantic partner, 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 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.
• During the Third Semester, the party will receive new stronger Ultimate Personas, as a result of a fusion between their Initial and Ultimate Persona. In the process, each member will receive a special skill.
• Akechi returns as a playable character in his late game attire, with his true Persona being usable as well.
• The Phantom Thieves will have simultaneous attacks called "Showtime," 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.
• A stronger type of Shadows 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 and his shop in order for him to create a new accessory that allows the equipper to use special moves.
• The Phantom Thieves can use grappling hooks to reach higher places and ambush enemies.
• Futaba will have 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.
• 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.
  • 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.
• Each party member's negotiation ability, granting the protagonist a chance to try again if they fail, now always works under specific circumstances. The requirements for a 2nd chance to occur varies between party members.
• Technical now downs enemies and facilitates Hold Up.
• 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.
• Some areas will spawn different enemies.
• Mishima will issue new Mementos Requests during the Third Semester.
• 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 protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4 will also be available as DLC boss fights using this mode.
• Merciless difficulty will be 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 go from x3 to x1.5 and money go from 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 their 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 their appearance to any of the Phantom Thieves and explore it in their look.
• In the Den, one can watch scenes from the game, listen to the soundtrack, and view artwork.
• The protagonist is able to customize their Palace as they please, and depending on what is placed, they'll be able to listen it to conversations between cognitive versions of his Confidants.
• The Den's walls will be decorated with trophies that are achieved during the original story.
• The protagonist can play Tycoon with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. The rules are based on Daifugō (大富豪^*)^?.

Other

• The trophies in Royal will be slightly different than the ones in the base game.
• 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 character portraits are redrawn. Some of the old character portraits are re-used.
• Lip sync during voiced dialogue is likely included in the Japanese version.
• Some scenes from the original Persona 5 are now voiced.
• Certain scenes from Persona 5 The Animation have been added and modified in Persona 5 Royal.
• 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.
• Tae Takemi has a new voice actor in the English version of Royal.
• Lala Escargot is fully voiced.
• The Shinjuku Animals harrassing Ryuji during their investigation and the Miura Beach trip will have their dialogue slightly tweaked in the English localization.
  • During the encounter in Shinjuku, 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.
• 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 will be 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, similarly 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

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 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

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

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)
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