Atlus has put the last three years to good use. So far, we have not seen a PS4 exclusive Japanese role-playing title receive so much hype. As if the original Persona 5 was not good enough, Atlus has come out with a new title, Persona 5: Royal. This is not something one would refer to as a remake, neither is it a sequel to the original game. It is more of an extended version of the 2017’s Japanese role-playing game.

For those who have not played the original game, Persona five is a Japanese role-playing game that puts you in the shoes of Joker, who is the protagonist in the game. I usually do not regard a Joker as Joker if his voice over isn’t done by Heath Ledger himself, but I have made my peace with it since this is the only Joker we would be getting for the game. The game is set in Tokyo and it portrays a life of a Japanese high school teenager. Joker is no ordinary teenager, but he possesses a strange power. The society you live in is not a sane one either and it houses several antagonists that the game will put you up against.

The game portrays the typical teenage life crisis. You will not be alone and you will come across several other characters throughout the game. Each of the characters that you will come across during your gameplay will have a different story to tell, and their life experiences will define the person they are. In this way, the storyline will keep developing as you meet more and more people.

You will meet people once you go out roaming the streets in between the lecture breaks. Once you meet people and know about their story, you will have the choice to stick with them, develop your interest in them and get to know them more as you proceed through the game. Most of your special abilities will be linked to finding better friends, and once you find them, your abilities will enhance. Not only can you enhance these superpowers for battles, but you can also improve your real-world skills. There will be several jobs you can find or even work part-time at places. Since you are a high school student, you can also spend time studying and reading books. Anything you do will affect the course of the game, so you will have to make your decisions wisely. The game reminds me of Bully, only that it is bigger, and it is better. The game has some underlying role-playing principles that are similar to those you see in Bully. As you go out exploring the city and interact with new characters for your character’s development, it tends to remind you of the Pokémon games from the Gameboy days.

The game might sound interesting to the new players, but for those who have been loyal to the game for the last three years, is it really worth spending all the money for a new semester and a 20-hour additional gameplay to the already 100-hour long game? Well, there are definitely some differences to the game which I’ve discussed below.

Foremostly, we will be getting two new characters which will add more colors to the already-existing, long lineup of secondary characters. The game will also have a new gymnast that goes by the name of Kasumi Yoshizawa, and a counselor who we will be calling Takuto Maruki. The characters have been included in such a way that they slide in smoothly into the storyline developed from the previous title. But these two new character additions are not where the real magic happens. There are several minigames spread throughout the city, waiting to be explored by you. There are chances that you will enter a shop only to find yourself in front of a darts board with the darts in your hand.

The date showing up on the top left corner of the screen reminds you how important time is and you should be making constructive use of it.

Persona 5: Royal is the best Japanese role-playing game out there at the moment, however, if you have already played the original Persona 5, spending $60 for an extra 20-hour gameplay might not seem like a very sensible option.