After roughtfly 6 years in development Katsura Hoshino’s masterpiece was released in 2016 in Japan and in 2017 for the rest of the world. A part of Atlus’ bigger Megami Tensei franchise which includes titles like Persona 4 Golden or Catherine, which are all loosely related, Persona 5 is the latest installment in this bizarre franchise which takes a hard look at modern society through the eyes of a group of different high school students and it touches themes that range from school work to sexual harassment, abuse of power and most importantly what real good is.

Persona 5 is a big flashback to a story that the player is telling an attorney. It is about a group of high school students that for various reasons have the ability to access the metaverse. In this parallel dimension they find that certain nefarious individuals have castles based on their warped perceptions of reality. The group takes on these castles in order to try and perform changes of heart and make and impact on the real world. Although it sounds weird and convoluted, compared to other RPGs like the Pokemon which has a very simple story or Final Fantasy that has a very jumbled story Persona 5 is very easy to get into since the first 15 hours of the game do a great job introducing it. In their own right, the three games have outstanding stories but Persona 5 stands out since it is not set in a fictitious land but it is set in a city everyone knows, Tokyo. The story in this experience is essential and with of mix of depth, ease to get into and relatability, it hits a great spot. It is about teenagers, that apart from accessing a alternate reality, are exactly like us.

Persona 5 follows a classic JRPG formula were you have a party and you level them up, gain more abilities and even merge them, but outside of battle it is completely new since it take us into the day to day of high school students, studying, working, socializing and most importantly managing your time. Every other JRPG follows the turned based battle formula but what makes it stand out from the crowd is the dynamics outside of battle. In games like Pokemon you can talk to other people and do other things than sticking to the main story but in Persona 5 every decision you make has and effect on what you can or can’t do since time is an element and not unlimited then you have to know what you are willing to do. Having to manage time not only makes it much more relatable but is what makes all the difference, it makes you have to make important decisions all the time and this is what hooks you, you never have down time and makes trivial activities like studying fast paced and exciting which is why it is such a joy to play.

This games aspect and be separated into two parts, the 3D graphics present in the moving around and exploring part of the game and the 2D ones present in the menus and interfaces like when choosing and attack when battling for scrolling through a shops items or the games menus. The 2D graphics are best described and an anime like Japanese illustration and the 3D ones as outdated. And why do I say outdated, well because Persona 3 is a game that is not only on the current gen PS4 but is also has a PS3 version since it is a game that had been in development for many years. Compared to PS4 titles with stunning graphics like the new God of War or older Uncharted 4 it is completely blown out of the water, but is on par with older PS3 titles like Final Fantasy VI it is on par. It is important to preface that graphics are not ugly but just a bit outdated and compared to the current industry standard it is a bit of a harsh change. Nevertheless the art direction is great and is in some way held back by the 3D graphics significantly.

This is a immense game, it lasts at least 100 hours if rushed but if you follow producers ATLUS’ recommendations and take your time then it is more like 200. With a game so long replay value is not really a factor since it is so long. But if you were to commit another full 7 without eating to sleep to the game there are new ways to approach the tasks at hand like creating different relationships or taking different jobs.Other games in the genre like Yakuza 6 can take 20 hours to complete so Persona 5 offers at least 5 times, if not more, content than anything currently in the market. This is definitely a huge plus for this title since people that are into JRPGs usually like longer games and with one as long as this it is definitely giving you your moneys worth.

This is a game that every gamer in the world should experience, although it seems daunting at the start with an overwhelming amount of content and being part of a bigger series it is not long until you get the feel of the game and can no longer leave the controller aside. It has and extraordinary story, a deep and immersive gameplay which is a joy yo learn, great artwork and tons of content that will keep you hooked for months. The only real drawback are the graphics but this does not subtract from the experience. Enough said this game is a clear 5/5.