Persona 5: Style That Will be Remembered
To end the semester with a bang, I’d like to discuss what’s quickly surpassing Persona 4 as my favorite game of all time: its recently released follow-up, Persona 5. Putting aside its rich themes, character writing, and gameplay, Persona 5 has something special that elevates it high above not only its fellow RPGs, but many games in general; it has an undeniable sense of style that grabs you and never lets go in the entirety of its over one-hundred-hour length. From its beautifully animated menus to its sultry jazz soundtrack, Persona 5 gives a sense of purpose to every little action the player takes.
Following a band of average high schoolers by day, supernatural Robin Hood-esque thieves by night, Persona 5 is equal part turn-based JRPG, part high school social sim. And for those who haven’t played it, I’m sure that sounds like a really weird combination. But Persona 5 pulls it off elegantly by making even the most mundane actions of the everyday feel extraordinary and thrilling. When doing something as simple as answering a friend’s request to hang out after school, one can bring up a bright, minimalistic representation of the protagonist’s phone to overtake the screen, becoming a menu where one can respond to texts. The upbeat jazzy nature of the music that plays on sunny afternoons makes the beautifully rendered downtown Tokyo feel like a blast to explore, or even just run around aimlessly; meanwhile smooth cuts to load screens that show various people walking around town or using the subway accompany every transition to a new area. Touches like these make the modern world feel just as exciting and wondrous to navigate as the game’s fantasy sections.
Speaking of which, the thief sections are greatly enhanced by the game’s stylishness as well. In an average JRPG one will have to fight countless battles, and at some points they can start to feel like a bit of a chore. Even after a few hundred battles though, Persona 5’s combat never started to grow dull for me. Its main battle theme “Last Surprise” is catchy enough to get your foot tapping every time, and the gorgeous victory animation that plays at the end of every fight is always charming to watch. On top of this, Persona 5’s stylish flourishes also elevate its thief motif. Many JRPGs have attempted similar gimmicks over the years, but they typically just fall back into the same tropes of straight-forward dungeon-crawling and combat that lie at the heart of this genre. But Persona 5 has its players darting from cover to cover to ambush enemies, initiating hold-ups mid-battle to demand money and items, and leaping across massive chandeliers to avoid detection. It’s not a stretch to say that it’s this style that raises Persona 5 from being just another JRPG with a gimmick to one of the most immersive games about thievery that comes to mind.
As cliché as it might be to say, Persona 5 is one of the rare games that truly refuses to be ignored, because it’s determined to show you something special in every moment of its run. If nothing else, it’s that boundless style that Persona 5 will be remembered for, and I hope it will serve to remind many developers of just how far a little flourish can carry their game.
Images Courtesy of:
Atlus
P Studio
