Positives:
- Great JRPG dungeon-crawler and life-simulator game (one of the best of the genre)
- Entertaining and stylish story narrative
- Definitive edition of Persona 5
- Contains a lot of QoL updates
- More content
- New "true" ending and 3rd semester story
- Great dungeon-crawling
- Awesome mechanics and features (very SMT-like)
- Better utilization of the whole party/cast compared to previous installments
Neutral:
- 100+ hours is generally the amount it takes to complete one playthrough
- One of the more easily accessible titles of Persona (stream-lined)
Negatives:
- Easy min-maxing
- Sometimes falls guilty to "illusion of choice"
- Dungeons were very easy for me to prepare for
- Still not the best Persona or SMT title
I really love the SMT/Persona games. This is great way for players to re-explore Persona 5, and I think it is a good introductory title to Persona for the newcomer. I don't exactly think that this title challenged me as much as other installments of SMT/Persona or other JRPGs. I don't really recall any dungeon being too difficult to prepare for. After the first dungeon, it is really easy to min-max and complete dungeons in one in-game day. There's lots of options as well as perks that make my life easier. Building bonds with confidants really helps, and it is easier to manage between different party members. This title encourages you to really use every party member, and there are ways to get the most out of all of them. There still is META involved, but I had a blast changing up the party often as well as switching in the middle of battles. There were a few optional bosses that gave me a decent enough challenge, where having social links maxed out was really what saved me. (good dungeoneering that is dependent on careful decisions and maxing in simulator part of game)
As someone who previously played Persona 5, it was easy for me to play this game blind and figure out how to get the "true" ending. New Game+ has lots of cool content within it, and helps players get the "true" ending if they didn't get it on their first playthrough. That being said, it is a large climb just to get to the end of the game. (at least 100 hours) That can be good or bad for players. For me, I like the length of play, however it makes me really question when I'm going to revisit this game and do a NG+ run.
Persona 5 Royal is a great installment in the franchise. It is stylish and has lots of modern elements, as well as infuses SMT mechanics and has an amazing dungeon-crawling experience. For me, JRPGs, as well as most games, are all about finding the min-maxing. This game was very error-free and easy to min-max, so that makes it less exciting. The story and the stylish, entertaining narrative kept me going though. Like any Persona game, there is a great story and great concept here. I still think that Persona 4 Golden is the best, and that the characters and story have the most depth and made a lasting impression on me. Persona 5 Royal is not the best Persona game, but it is a great Persona game.