If you’re new to the Persona series, you might have heard about the recently launched Persona 5 Royal. But how can it be distinguished from the original Persona 5? I’m a massive fan of the series, and having played both games, I can vouch for Persona 5 Royal’s new and improved features.
In this article, we will look at all the gameplay, character, and content changes while highlighting the new Persona 5 Royal’s features and enhancements.
So grab a drink or some snack, and let us explore all differences and changes in characters, gameplay, and visuals of these two great games.
Persona 5 Royal Overview
Persona 5 Royal is an adaptive and expanded version of the original Persona 5 created by Atlus. It includes several significant changes, including new storylines, characters, and gameplay mechanics.
The game is set in modern-day Tokyo and follows a group of high school students who possess the ability to get to a strange place known as the Metaverse by using their Personas,
Led by their leader and protagonist in this game Joker, these students establish the Phantom Thieves and utilize their abilities to reform society by transforming the souls of the corrupt.
The game incorporates dungeon crawling and role-playing aspects. It has a lively cast of characters and a captivating plot.
Is there a difference between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal?
Yes, there are several differences between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.
First, let’s start with the story. While both games follow the same general plot and feature the same characters, Persona 5 Royal includes additional story content.
Content that integrates new characters, new gameplay mechanics, new story scenes, and events that provide more insight into the characters and their motivations.
Additionally, there are improvements to the graphics and animation in Persona 5 Royal, and let’s remember the boss fights overhaul.
In terms of visuals, Persona 5 Royal has received a significant upgrade. The game features new character models and improved graphics, giving it a more polished and modern look. The game also includes new cutscenes and animations, adding to the immersion and storytelling.
All Persona 5 Royal Changes
Before further explaining each change, let’s examine the fundamental differences and improvements in Persona 5 Royal.
- New playable character, Kasumi Yoshizawa: Kasumi is a new party member in Persona 5 Royal, with unique abilities and a story arc.
- New Palace and Mementos areas: Persona 5 Royal adds new places to explore, including a new Palace and new sections of Mementos.
- Added Confidant, Takuto Maruki: Takuto is a new Confidant in Persona 5 Royal, with his abilities and story.
- Additional story content and cutscenes: Persona 5 Royal features new story content and cutscenes, offering a deeper look into the game’s story and characters.
- New abilities, skills, and items: Persona 5 Royal adds new capabilities, skills, and articles for players to use and collect.
- Improved graphics and animation: Persona 5 Royal features enhanced graphics and animation, providing a more polished and immersive gameplay experience.
- New music and soundtrack: Persona 5 Royal includes new music and a revised soundtrack.
- Changes to existing characters and their abilities: Some characters in Persona 5 have changed their skills and story in Persona 5 Royal.
- New mini-games and events: Persona 5 Royal adds new ones for players to enjoy.
- Updated user interface and menu design: The user interface and menu design in Persona 5 Royal have been updated and improved.
- Improved and expanded Palace infiltration mechanics: The Palace infiltration mechanics in Persona 5 Royal have been enhanced and expanded upon.
- New endings and epilogue: Persona 5 Royal offers new endings and an epilogue for players to experience.
- Complete combat and boss fights overhaul: By far one of my favorites, this change reworks all the boss fights and introduces new tweaks for the players to deal with them.
New Content in Persona 5 Royal
One of the significant changes in Persona 5 Royal is the addition of new content. This includes new exploration areas, additional story missions, and new side quests.
The game also introduces new characters and changes existing characters, offering players a more diverse and dynamic experience.
Overall, the added content in Persona 5 Royal provides players more opportunities to engage with the game and its characters.
Gameplay Additions
Persona 5 Royal introduces new gameplay mechanics and features, providing players more options and opportunities to engage with the game.
Some of these additions include the ability to use a grappling hook to access new areas, the ability to recruit a new character named Jose to your party, and the ability to collect Memento Stamps to earn additional rewards in Mementos.
Extra Mementos rewards (and Jose)
In Persona 5 Royal, players can collect Memento Stamps by completing various tasks and challenges in the game.
These stamps can unlock additional rewards in Mementos, including new items, gear, and abilities.
Additionally, players can recruit Jose, a new character who can be summoned in battles to provide support and assistance.
Free Grappling Hook
One of the standout features in Persona 5 Royal is the ability to use a grappling hook to access new areas and explore the game world more dynamically.
The grappling hook is a free item that players can use at any time, allowing them to traverse through Palaces and discover hidden secrets and treasures.
Memento Stamps
As mentioned above, Memento Stamps is a new feature in Persona 5 Royal that allows players to collect rewards by completing various tasks and challenges in the game.
These stamps can unlock new items, gear, and abilities in Mementos, providing players with more opportunities to customize their party and improve their abilities.
Two new possible Game-endings
Another significant addition to Persona 5 Royal is the inclusion of two new possible game endings.
The original game featured multiple endings depending on the player’s choices and actions. Still, Persona 5 Royal expands upon this by adding two new endings that provide unique perspectives on the game’s story and characters.
However, you will need to max all the new confidants within a specific time frame to unlock the extra semester, leading to the new ending.
These new endings give players even more incentive to replay the game and explore different paths and choices, adding to the game’s re-playability and overall depth.
An expanded soundtrack
One of the standout features of Royal is its expanded soundtrack. The new tracks were composed by Shoji Meguro and were designed to enhance the gameplay experience and add depth to the game’s story.
Additionally, the expanded soundtrack also includes several new vocal tracks, performed by famous Japanese artists, that were added to the game’s soundtrack.
Overall, the expanded soundtrack in Persona 5 Royal has been well-received by fans of the series and has added even more depth and immersion to the game’s already impressive soundtrack.
Velvet Room Challenge Fights
With the introduction of the Velvet Room Challenge Fights, players can participate in memorable challenge fights in the Velvet Room, where they can test their skills and abilities against powerful opponents.
These fights provide more significant challenges and difficulty and allow players to earn unique rewards and rewards.
Velvet Room Challenge Fights are unique battles players can participate in during their playthrough of Persona 5 Royal. These fights are accessed from the Velvet Room, providing players with more significant challenges and difficulty.
The Velvet Room Challenge Fights include a variety of different types of battles, such as one-on-one fights against powerful enemies or battles against multiple opponents.
During the Velvet Room Challenge Fights, players can earn various rewards and bonuses by defeating enemies and completing challenges. These rewards can include items, gear, and abilities to help players improve their party and skills.
Additionally, players can earn points by completing challenges, which can be used to unlock new content and rewards in the game.
The Velvet Room Challenge Fights are available to all players of Persona 5 Royal, but some of the rewards and content can only be accessed by players who have purchased the game’s DLC.
This includes additional characters, items, and abilities that can be unlocked by completing challenges and earning points.
Overall, the Velvet Room Challenge Fights provide players with a greater level of challenge and re-playability and offer a variety of rewards and bonuses for players to earn.
Kichijoji Area
Kichijoji is a new area of Tokyo that you can explore in Persona 5 Royal. This area is full of unique shops, restaurants, and activities, providing players with additional opportunities to interact with the game world and its characters. It also offers new areas to explore and new story missions to complete.
Some of the premises that you can find in Kichijoji include a darts bar, a jazz club, a shrine, and a bowling alley.
These buildings offer various mini-games and activities that players can participate in, providing them with additional power-ups in the game.
Overall, Kichijoji is a welcome addition to Persona 5 Royal, providing players more opportunities to explore and interact with the game world.
It also adds to the overall atmosphere and ambiance of the game, making it more immersive and engaging.
The Thieves Den
The Thieves Den is a new highly-customizable area in Persona 5 Royal accessible from the game’s main menu. In this area, players can view their collection of trophies, items, and rewards they have earned throughout the game.
It also includes new mini-games and activities, providing players with additional ways to engage with the game and its characters.
Some activities players can do in the Thieves’ Den include playing mini-games, such as the Tycoon card game, darts, and billiards, and purchasing items from the shop.
Players can also view their trophy collection and listen to music from the game’s soundtrack.
Additionally, they can unlock new items and rewards by completing various tasks and challenges in the game.
Although entirely detached from the game’s main story, the Thieves’ Den offers players a more immersive and engaging experience, providing them with new ways to interact with the game world.
Boss battle changes
Boss battles rework is a significant part of the combat overhaul introduced in Persona 5 Royal.
Nearly every boss battle has been redesigned with new phases and mechanics to provide players with a more challenging and engaging experience.
However, the Okumura boss fight has been criticized for being overly difficult. Players are advised to consult our guide on how to beat Okumura before facing him to avoid frustration.
Phantom Thieves combat enhancements
While most of the boss fights got reworked and supposedly got harder, Royal brought some very-welcome changes and enhancements to the Phantom Thieves to help them cope with the difficulty spike that some of these challenges carry.
Some of the enhancements are:
- The Phantom Thieves can grant each other Baton Pass more easily and no longer requires players to increase their confidant ranks
- Now, each Phantom Thief gets a full clip of ammunition for his guns in each fight rather than a few clips for each Metaverse visit.
- Technical attacks are buffered and can be inflicted by causing status ailments and a specific attack type, allowing the Phantom Thieves more flexibility against enemies with no weakness.
It’s Showtime
One of the most hyped changes in Persona 5 Royal is the introduction of new mechanics and features that add depth and complexity to the combat system.
The Showtime feature is a mechanic that allows players to team up with one of their party members for a powerful attack against enemies.
This feature is activated using a Showtime meter, which is filled by performing certain actions during the battle.
When the meter is complete, the player can use the Showtime ability to damage enemies.
The Showtime feature is a great way to quickly turn the tide of battle in your favor and take down even the most formidable foes.
Kasumi and Takuto Joins The Phantom Thieves
Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki are new characters in Persona 5 Royal. Kasumi is a new party member with unique abilities and a story arc.
Kasumi is a talented gymnast and skilled fighter who has become a valuable asset to the team. She uses her Persona, Cendrillon, to deal with powerful attacks against enemies.
Takuto is a counselor who joins the Phantom Thieves to help them understand and overcome their personal struggles. He uses his Persona, Captain Kidd, to support the team in battle.
Kasumi and Takuto add new depth and complexity to the Phantom Thieves and help the team take on even more difficult challenges.
An extra semester and a palace
One of the significant additions in Persona 5 Royal is the inclusion of an entirely new school semester, which takes place after the original game’s events.
This semester features a new palace called Maruki’s Palace, ruled by the character Takuto Maruki.
This palace is different from the others in the game, allowing players to manipulate reality and change the world around them. The new semester and palace provide a wealth of new story content and gameplay challenges for players to experience.
To unlock this new content, players must meet specific criteria, which can be found in our spoiler-free guide on How To Unlock The Third Semester in Persona 5 Royal.
A later bedtime!
In the original Persona 5, the player had to return to their bedroom by midnight to end the day and progress the story.
In Persona 5 Royal, however, the player can stay out later and explore the city at night.
This allows more time to spend with confidants, engage in activities, and explore the city.
The later bedtime feature is activated by spending time with certain confidants and can be increased by raising their levels.
This feature adds more flexibility and freedom to the game and allows players to make the most of their time in Tokyo.
New Battle Themes
Another notable addition in Persona 5 Royal is the inclusion of new battle themes for the game’s combat encounters.
These new tracks provide a fresh and exciting soundtrack for battles and add to the overall excitement and intensity during combat.
The new battle themes will surely be a hit with fans of the game’s music and sound design.
Kichijoji Jazz Club
One of the new features introduced in Persona 5 Royal is the ability to visit a Jazz Club in Kichijoji.
By visiting the Jazz Club, players can engage in activities such as listening to live music, playing instruments, and performing on stage.
Players can also use the club to relax, unwind, advance their relationships, and unlock new abilities and rewards.
You can also use it to invite party members to optimize their personas further and enhance their stats.
Extra palace sections
Persona 5 Royal also introduces several new palace sections. These are additional areas that the player can explore and complete to progress the game’s story.
Overall, the new palace sections in Persona 5 Royal add depth and challenge to the game.
These areas provide players with new challenges to overcome and new mysteries to uncover, making for a truly unique and engaging experience.
So, which game should you choose?
Persona 5 Royal offers a more enhanced and refined gameplay experience than the original Persona 5 game.
Ultimately, it depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re a newcomer to the series or want to experience the story of Persona 5, the original game is a great option.
However, if you’re a diehard fan looking for more content and new gameplay mechanics, Persona 5 Royal is the way to go. Either way, you’re in for an exciting and unique gaming experience.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Persona 5 Royal offers players a fresh and improved experience compared to the original Persona 5 game.
With new characters, added content, and improved graphics and animation, Persona 5 Royal takes the beloved game to the next level.
Overall, Persona 5 Royal offers a more refined and polished experience than the original Persona 5 game.
Whether you’re a seasoned player of the original game or new to the series, Persona 5 Royal is a must-play for any RPG enthusiast.
