Persona 5 review: Youth cast off shackles

It's been seven years since Persona 4 was released. Over the past seven years, Atlus has not stopped, continuing to launch "enhanced versions" and numerous derivative works around the Persona series, such as audio games, fighting games, as well as novels, anime and peripheral. According to some reports, Atlus has been working on Persona 5 since 2011. Finally, in the summer of '16, Atlus brought Persona 5 to the PS3 on the series' 20th anniversary.

Looking back at the history of the Persona series, it's easy to understand why there was a seven-year gap between Persona 5 and its predecessor. The Persona series was originally a subIP derived from the Reincarnation of the Goddess, as can be seen from the name. However, since the birth of the Goddess series, relative to its reputation as one of the best JRPGS in the Japanese series, the commercial performance has always been in a situation of success.

The Goddess Rebirth series is extremely difficult, and part of the content is based on religion, and the devil name is the same as the religious setting. This made the series difficult to sell in the religiously sensitive atmosphere in Europe and the United States. By the time of the original Persona games, Atlus had changed the demon name and significantly reduced the difficulty of the game. Atlus also included a silent protagonist to give players the experience of being inside the game's world on an adventure. The theme of the story is also adapted to the school life of high school students. All this made Persona as famous as The Rebirth of the Goddess at the time.

But "Persona" first and second generation of the two works to embrace the market is still not enough. In Persona 3, Atlus took a big step to replace the "demon artist" Kaneko Kazuma's controlled painting style with the more colorful, slender and cartoonishly stylish Subajima Nariki's pen, which is highly recognizable.

Persona 5, meanwhile, is the series' first attempt at a "true head to body ratio" setting. This is a leap from zero to one for Atlus. In the plot, there is an increased proportion of campus life and social interaction, for example, there are a lot of dating scenes with a more youthful atmosphere. The gameplay has also changed the JRPG's maze to drive progress. And in general, these are now in Persona 5, have reached a new height.

First impressions of Persona 5's main character are mostly reserved, unapproachable and preoccupied. Just like the popular "picaresque novel" in Europe, the main character is a group of abandoned children who have been rejected by the public. Male master rain Gonglian was framed in a brave arrest, in order to get rid of the dilemma transfer came to the city, in the new environment with others. However, the students and teachers around him are still wearing colored glasses, and rumors about him are everywhere on campus.

Then join the team of long division and high roll apricot two people are also in an isolated situation. The former was once a good hand in the intramural sports department, but was single-handedly destroyed by the PE teacher athletic career, but also on the back of the black blame, into self-blame. High roll Apricot is a hybrid, blond hair, blue eyes, white beauty, but the same physical education teacher targeted, with her friend's sports career as a threat to contact.

In addition to the characters' own experiences, their inner awakening personality mask - a combative, similar to the "double" in "JOJO's Wonderful Adventure" like the creature, the prototype in reality is also mostly a righteous heart, but abandoned by society. For example, the main character's personality mask "Assen" is the same name as the French writer Maurice LeBlanc's gangster. The personality mask of the second male dragon Ji comes from the famous pirate "Captain Kidd" in history. Often sleep in the male side of the Moore Garner, the mask is Zorro.

As described in the novel Digital Demon Tales, the source of the Persona series, this time the protagonists are battling a demon force that has infiltrated the Japanese government. Big men who appear to be righteous, but in private they exercise their power to do bad things. The player will deeply feel the powerlessness of an individual against a large institution.

From three generations on, the Goddess has firmly set the date, that is, the daily action is limited, and at night, someone will tell you, "It is very late, go to bed today." When a certain date is reached, the corresponding story and trigger events will occur. In Persona 5, these dates correspond to campus life. The midterm exam, or to the summer outing season, in the plot will also follow. In addition, in addition to the main clue of campus life, the game will give the player a time limit for each big figure that the player fights during the game. If you can't sneak into each other's heart and steal the desire within the time limit, the game will immediately END and become a BAD END. When you start the game again, progress returns to one week before the deadline.

And of course, in most cases, the time frame is sufficient. Players can use the extra time to date, get along, and deepen their affection with other characters. In Persona 5, interacting with characters gives players a significant boost. For example, a good relationship with some of the team characters, they will have more passive support in the battle, and even make their personality mask change. The relationship with some characters has to do with item acquisition and the opening of side lines. In addition, the process of getting along with the characters in the film is also fascinating.

In simple terms, this process can be said to be "wife hunting". Just like after the release of "Goddess Chronicles 5", there were immediately players posted a screenshot of "nine ships jump" - the male master and 9 dateable women reached the intimacy Max, and became lovers, and finally sent chocolate to crash on Valentine's Day, and the matter was revealed.

These nine people have very different personalities and different experiences. Just like my favorite new island real, she is the president of the student union in the school, short hair, white and cold skin, strict self-requirements, is the most cerebral girl in the team. However, she is slightly simple when communicating with people in reality, and she is quite immature when dealing with feelings. With her reputation for excellence, she also yearns for someone to be with, someone to talk to, someone to lean on.

In addition, Meguro's music for Persona 5 is also of good quality. It combines pop, jazz, and some classical styles. Whether it's intense, soothing, or in the charming, hazy chic atmosphere of a Tokyo night, the music feels just right. More to the point, even without a game to deepen the emotional rendering, the music alone is impressive enough.

In terms of combat system, Persona 5 has not changed much from its predecessor. The core has largely remained. Hitting a weak spot will stun the opponent and give him an extra action turn. In addition, because the protagonist can capture and cultivate up to 12 personality masks in the game at the same time, the protagonist can basically adapt to any scene, and it is not difficult to find the skills to break the opponent.

After knocking the opponent down, the battle will enter the "negotiation" phase. At this point, the player can launch a total attack without leaving any room. The attack animation is extremely gorgeous, and after a large number of red and black smart silhouettes, it will enter a character's exclusive static and vertical painting transformation shot. Never tire of watching.

It is worth mentioning that the way persona is cultivated in Persona 5, in addition to regular upgrades and learning skills, players can also fuse and sacrifice it in the Velvet room. The form of expression is the most brutal "beheading" and "electrocution" in the past. The fusion here is very sophisticated, basically, to synthesize a high-value mask, you have to fuse two ordinary masks into a new mask, and then the new mask into a new mask, and the circuit is very complicated. However, in the general difficulty, the game's requirements for the type of personality mask are not very high, which can be ignored.

Finally, let's talk about UI. Starting with Persona 3, Atlus has created a different main color for each game in the series. Here in Persona 5, it's red, supplemented by black. In Persona 5's UI, it's not hard to detect elements of pop punk. Its line publicity, skew, thickness changes appear rebellious and fashionable. Some menus also include character dynamics. For example, when buying drugs, Wu see wonderful little sister's silhouette will change with the menu, and make a charming gesture.

It took me about 70 hours to complete a week of Persona 5. But in this process, I still have a lot of full character story to explore, and many of the interesting little details of the scene are also chosen to miss because of the rush to finish. Persona 5's volume is arguably unprecedented in the series. At the same time, it has shown the most sincerity. When the subtitles of the people behind the scenes slowly fell at the end of the week, what I felt in my heart was not unfinished, but a sense of loss. If you look closely, this loss is probably similar to the feelings I had about "separation" when I was a little young and in middle School. Only this time the people who separated became the partners in Persona 5.