If you look at nearly any list of RPG's on PS4 nearly everyone talks about how Persona 5 is the top of the list or near the top on virtually all of them. Because of this, the game itself has remained high-priced despite being on the market for over 3 years.
I only recently got involved when I found a 2nd hand copy of the game for about $15. When it arrived I was expecting an extraordinary game the likes of which can not be rivaled by any other game given the almost entirely stellar-reviews that this game has. It might be this heightened expectation that lead to me being quite disappointed with it.
The game is a story-driven RPG, which appeals to me. It is also a turn-based RPG, which in turn, also appeals to me because I feel as though many other RPG's where you are operating as a team fall flat due to the difficult camera angles and also tough team management and AI. Keeping the game basic really appeals to me, as does the animation and art style where they didn't go for realism, but instead went for a colorful and exciting cartoon-like experience. All of this really works as far as gameplay is concerned.
The display that is used during the combat is entertaining and easy enough to understand and at least at the beginning, there is very little chance that you are actually going to lose any encounter that you find yourself in. As you would expect this gets more difficult as the game goes on. Combat is fine, although I do want to be a little bit of a stickler and say that the mandatory "intro / outro" animation that comes before and after any fight gets a bit cumbersome after a while.
The enemies, especially the bosses, are whimsical and inventive and the increase in challenge comes at just the correct speed for a more casual gamer like myself.
All of this sounds wonderful so far, right? Well get ready because here comes the part that is going to set the fanbois into a tirade: There is entirely too much dialogue going on in this game.
While I understand that this is exactly what the Persona franchise is, at times I started to feel like this is a movie that I am occasionally taking part in rather than a game. Not only do you dive into dungeons and castles with your friends, but you also participate in the routine movements of everyday life. This includes going to school, getting chores done, and going to work to do you job if you choose to get a part-time job.
A lot of people out there have said that this is specifically the reason WHY they like this game so much but as someone that already did plenty of these activities in his own real life, I don't really want to do it in a video game. This is probably the same reason why I don't like any of those other life simulating games such as farm simulator et. al.
Wandering around a city in order to go through 40 pages of dialogue that leads you to the next aspect of your main quest isn't a good time in my mind and I have to say that I don't really understand the rampart enthusiasm that this game has around it. Is this an innovative approach to gaming? I guess so, it certainly is unique. However, being different doesn't necessarily make it good.
I realize that I am in the minority in not liking this game but I don't like any game where I feel like an observer rather than a participant. I would much prefer if we just get on with the quest and because of this massive amount of story, which even includes excessive text-messaging from your sidekicks, to take away from the game rather than add to it.
I am sure it was an undertaking of monumental proportions and I really appreciate the art style and even the combat. I am just not a fan of the fact that it will, at times, take you over an hour of gameplay between actual combat-oriented objectives. I am sure that there are people out there that really get engrossed in the story and look forward to reading a novella between battles, but I am not that kind of gamer.
I did not finish this game and I have no intention of doing so. I think that once I am lying down on my sofa, clicking the button that advances the dialogue without even reading it for half an hour or so, that it might be time to but that game on the back burner.
I'm in the minority in my opinion, I realize that. This game has received almost universal praise and is the recipient of multiple awards. I was turned off enough by the experience that I won't be looking forward to any future releases.