Persona 5 Royal (Switch) Review: Best Version, Made Portable

As is common for "Persona" games, "Persona 5" involves a group of high school friends dipping in and out of a surreal other-world to fight monsters pulled from human consciousness (called "shadows") for one reason or another. Then they eventually find out something much bigger is afoot and have to fight a god (or several) to save the world from the real threat. And in between all of the fighting and world-saving, they have to keep going to school and hanging out with friends.

This time around the specifics involve your main character stepping in to stop an assault, only to then get a criminal assault charge for himself because said agressor is actually a very powerful (and terrible) person. Now he's on probation, has had to transfer schools, and basically had his life and future put on shaking ground. It only gets more complicated from there — I don't want to go into much more detail since there are plenty of twists and moments of intrigue that are better left un-spoiled.

The discovery of said cognitive world (the almost presciently named "Metaverse") leads to the formation of The Phantom Thieves, who sneak into a representation of their target's twisted heart and "steal their distorted desires." Once the deed is done, the twisted individual will have a "change of heart" and admit their crimes and turn themselves in. It's a bit much to gloss over but trust me, it makes sense in the game.

I devoted a section of the "Golden" review to its writing missteps with regard to certain subjects, and unfortunately, I feel the need to do the same with "Royal." Though in this case, I don't think it's quite as off-putting. But it does still fumble in places. The original "Persona 5" contained a couple of instances of poorly-handled bits that were intended to add levity — but didn't land particularly well (or even blow up in the game's metaphorical face). Some of these elements have been rewritten and dialog re-recorded in "Royal," so while they're still present, the context and approach have been altered to make them a little less... seemingly mean-spirited.

Also if you aren't familiar with the plot of "Persona 5," know that it deals with a lot of mature subject matter — and not always with the best tact. It's not necessarily purely mean-spirited, but there are a few moments peppered throughout that left me feeling like the script could have used an extra pass or two. And unfortunately, these moments didn't receive the same treatment as those re-written jokes. If nothing else, just be aware that "Persona 5" touches on way grimmer — and all too real — topics than its predecessor, so if there's certain content you'd prefer to avoid (like with me and the animal mistreatment) I'd recommend looking over something like a synopsis before starting it up for yourself.

Like many RPGs, "Royal" utilizes a turn-based combat system whenever you face off against enemies, with a variety of attack types, elemental magic, and status effects to make most fights pretty strategic and engaging. But this series (and particularly this game) goes so far beyond those fundamentals. Hitting an enemy with an attack type they're weak against will knock them down and give the attacker a second free turn, giving you the opportunity to chain together devastating combos or give yourself some breathing room to heal and whatnot. And if you knock all of the enemies down in one turn, you can perform a group attack for massive damage.

It's fairly standard for this series (and other "Shin Megami Tensei" games), but this one adds even more nuance to it all. Like two new magic elements (compared to "Persona 4," anyway), physical damage types for both melee weapons and firearms, and a Baton Pass option after hitting an enemy's weakness that lets you pass that character's free turn to a different character — opening up even more possibilities for completely destroying your targets.

Another element "Persona 5" adds — or rather brings back — is conversations. Instead of performing a group attack when all of the enemies are knocked down, you also have the option of talking to them. You can ask for money, ask for an item, or see if they're interested in joining you — and if you're convincing enough they'll actually do just that, becoming a new Persona for the main character to wield.

Much like "Golden" before it, "Persona 5 Royal" acts as a sort of director's cut or definitive version of the original game. Also much like "Golden," this game incorporates its new content and other changes so well it would basically be impossible for a newcomer to be able to tell what wasn't in that initial release. Heck, even though I beat the original game once before I've still had a tough time spotting some (not all, but definitely some) of the additions.

There are some new Social Links/Confidants this time around — with their own respective stories and perks of course — as well as a number of mechanical additions like improved Baton Pass effects (upgraded by playing a new darts mini-game with other Thieves). You have more locations to visit and shop at, some new tunes to compliment the already excellent soundtrack, and more opportunities to boost multiple Confidants' progress at once with some added events. And this doesn't even touch on the bulk of the new story content that happens in the late game.

Though the best change in my mind is the increased amount of freedom to do things outside of the metaverse. You can still only perform one significant action (read a book, watch a movie, hang out with someone, etc) in the day and one at night, but the original "Persona 5" was frustratingly stingy with these opportunities and often kept you from being able to do anything on some days. That does still happen in "Royal," but much less frequently. I'm still not convinced I'll be able to max out every Confidant by the game's end, but at least this time around I've been able to make a lot more progress.

Admittedly, in the earlier portions of my playthrough, I was intending to give "Persona 5 Royal" on the Switch a slightly different (i.e. lower) score due to my initial lack of investment in the overall story. Thankfully it did pick up, and it became pretty difficult to stop playing once the story hit its stride and I fell into a rhythm of hanging out with people and fighting shadow monsters, but I do think it took too long to get there. Still, I can't deny that I've been having a great time with it. Heck, I'd even say it's been better than my first playthrough on the PS4, thanks in no small part to the "Royal" adjustments.

If I'm put on the spot I still wouldn't place this above "Golden" in my own personal hierarchy, but that shouldn't deter you from checking it out for yourself. "Royal" is a fantastic upgrade that makes a really good game even better, and I can't deny that it's the more fun of the two to actually sit down and play for prolonged periods of time. And if it's on the Switch you get the choice of playing on a TV or in handheld mode, which means staying up way too late playing in bed because I just want to get Sojiro to rank 10 why do you make it so difficult to get to know you Sojiro — let me in!

Point is, it's well worth the time investment and the $59.99 price tag. Though I did nab it on sale for $41.99 — that just makes it even more worthwhile.