Persona 5 Royal was created by Atlus and published by Sega. The Persona series is a long-running role-playing game that started back in September 1996 and is a name every gamer knows, even if they have not had the chance to play any of the titles themselves. Persona 5 Royal has now made its release on the Xbox marketplace and is included in Xbox Game Pass, and it is a game worth playing to see what all the hype has been about. I dabbled with the Persona titles around the time the second Persona game was released, but I didn’t actively play the series from there on.

With this new version for Xbox, players can expect the graphics to be boosted up to 60FPS and 4K while running on new-gen consoles. Software load times are faster and it feels smoother to play, but nothing new has been added to the release other than what Royal already gives players, which was a newer edition of Persona 5, so there is a massively expanded core story, along with extra side content, and baddies to encounter with hours of gameplay to behold.

This is an ideal starting spot for Persona’s introduction to the Xbox community, and the fact that it is on Xbox Game Pass, with plans of bringing other Persona titles on board, it is definitely the title to start getting hooked on the Persona series.

Persona 5 Royal takes place over a high school year as the player assumes the role of the main character, Joker, who with a troubled past is starting fresh in a new town and school, but is quickly flung into the bizarre supernatural that awaits. Teaming up with new friends and forming a team known as The Phantom Thieves, they fight the weird psyches of grown-ups in bizarre alternate worlds that are impacted by the thoughts or feelings of the team members.

The gameplay of Persona 5 Royal starts similarly to the original Persona 5, with the player trying to out-run and escape from enemies known as ‘Shadows,’ but thankfully, you’re saved, with double thanks to the addition of the grappling hook and the arrival of a new girl, Kasumi.

Persona 5 Royal’s newest, and arguably, the most different inclusion is that of a new school semester, which is much longer than the previous game. The story runs via an in-game calendar with your days divided up by either going to school, being social with your group/friends, undertaking part-time roles/jobs, plus various other activities, all the while preferencing your main focus and increasing your fighting ability with your gang, The Phantom Thieves.

Persona 5 Royal also removes the original pressure from the original game by featuring a follow-through tutorial on negotiating with ‘Shadows’, as the previous version left negotiating feeling very vague and often ended with wrong choices. As is the norm for many re-releases/remasters, boss fights have been reworked and remade, making for a much more enjoyable playthrough experience.

The visuals and audio for the game have also had a boost included with them as mentioned earlier. The graphics are now hitting 60FPS while the audio had an increase of 30 brand-new tracks. The sound still holds up and the music hits just as hard as it always has. The character voices are another worthy mention for audio work as the voice actors did a great job bringing the characters to life and adding emotion to the scenes they are in.

If you are new to the Persona series, this is a great way to get into the games, specifically as it is featured on Xbox Game Pass, and soon, it will be accompanied by two other titles in 2023. Persona 5 Royals making its launch on Xbox is a massive milestone for all role-playing gamers and is a title worth playing.

Written by: Shane Walsh