INTRODUCTION

Persona 5 Royal is a Japanese role playing game released on October 31, 2019 by ATLUS studios. The game is also known as P5R and Persona 5: The Royal in Japan. This game is playable exclusively on the PlayStation 4 as well as the PlayStation 5 thanks to the backwards compatibility.

CHANGES MADE IN ROYAL

1.1 New Confidants

Maruki: Maruki is a school counselor at Shujin Academy who is deeply intrigued by the subject of cognitive psience. He is a kind and understanding person who tries his best to help the student out the best that he can. He is one of the new confidants for the main character and plays a pretty big role in the story of Persona 5 Royal.

Kasumi Yoshizawa: Kasumi is a successful young gymnast who enrolls into Shujin Academy, the same school as the protagonist. She is one of the only people who treat the protagonist with respect at the school due to his criminal record. Although she isn’t officially a member of the phantom thieves in the beginning, she does assist them during the events of the base game. (Persona 5) Her phantom thief outfit is all black and she wields a rapier and rifle while engaged in combat.

1.2 Third Semester

Persona 5 Royal adds in a third semester after the ending battle from the base game. In this semester, reality has been altered so that all of the phantom thieves wishes have been granted

Morgana is now a handsome human man Ryuji was never injured by Kamoshida and as a result the track team is still together with Ryuji as their leader. Shiho was never sexually assaulted by Kamoshida and is able to hang out with Ann. However Shiho did still switch schools for other reasons Yusuke’s sensei Ichiryusai Madarame no longer has the same distorted desires he once had. The Sayuri has been placed in a museum and Yusuke’s mother is now being credited for it Makoto’s father is still alive and her relationship with Sae Nijima, her sister, is much better Futaba’s Mother was never dead and has instead entrusted Sojiro to take care of Futaba while she continues her research of cognitive psience Haru’s father, Kunikazu Okumura, is still alive and no longer distorted. He is now a generous businessman man who has no interest in politics and cares deeply about Haru. The protagonist starts to question this new reality and is approached by Goro Akechi who is also suspicious of this utopia. Akechi remembers killing Okumura and Wakaba and so together they decide to investigate. In order to unlock the third semester you must reach level 9 with Maruki before the deadline of November 17th. If you don’t meet this prerequisite then you will receive the same ending as base Persona 5.

1.3 Free time

Kichijoji is a new area added in P5R that you can visit during your free time. This hot spot in Tokyo has a mix of different cultures and personalities that can attract anyone of any age. The phantom can now go out to play billiards which boosts your technical rank allowing more technical damage in combat. The mini game will also give +1 to any random social stat A clothing store has been where sooty clothes can be traded in for rewards as opposed to being washed The protagonist can visit a temple that boosts his maximum SP Time can be spent with the new confidants Akechi, Kasumi, and Maruki which will give special perks and abilities to the protagonist as you level them up Some of the original abilities have been modified from the base game The protagonist can now give gifts to male confidants

1.4 Phantom Thief Time

A new palace has been added along with an additional area of mementos as part of the third semester During the third semester party members can fuse a third-tier ultimate persona to get a third special ability The phantom thieves now have moves known as “Showtimes” where two members work together to pull of a flashy move. These work similar to all-out-attacks and use no resources or SP. Only one enemy can be targeted by these kinds of attacks. Disaster Shadows have been added. These shadows have higher stats and only attack if they are targeted first. They blow up when killed and do massive amounts of damage to enemies around them. Will seeds can be found in palaces which restore small amount of SP upon pick-up. There are there of these seeds per palace and if all are found, they can be combined to make an accessory The protagonist can now use a grappling hook to reach certain areas in palaces. Futaba now has her own All-Out-Attack Lavenza can be fought in the velvet room on new game plus during the third semester All party members start off with the ability to baton pass without needing to unlock their confidant Technical damage has a chance to down enemies Accessories can give members certain abilities and allows for a lot of diversity in their move sets Security meter in palaces starts at 40% instead of 0% Guns reload after every fight. However, the ammo for the weapons has been greatly reduced The velvet room will sometimes sound an alarm which allows you to itemize personas and gain boosts from fusion