What’s the difference between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal

persona-5persona-5-royalversion differences

After seeing positive feedback about Persona 5 I decided to try it myself. But when I went to PS Store there are so many different versions and packs I'm confused which to buy. Across all packages and costume bundles I identified two major ones – Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, and also found this question about them: Does Persona 5 Royal have all of Persona 5's DLC? , which suggest they are the same game.

What's the difference between them? Is "Persona 5 Royal" just "Persona 5" with all DLCs?

Best Answer

Persona 5 Royal is similar to Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 The Golden: it's an enhanced version of the base game but with a sequel included (except for Persona 4 The Golden, which doesn't add a sequel).

The most important changes at a glance:

  • A sequel in the form of a third semester. The third semester can only be accessed if you managed to meet the requirements before November 17.
  • A new playable character and confidant: Yoshizawa Kasumi of the Faith Arcana.
  • A new confidant: Takuto Maruki of the Councilor Arcana.
  • A new supporting character: Jose.
  • The story has been slightly tweaked to accommodate for the additional characters and the new third semester.

Additional changes include:

  • 4K 30 FPS support on the PS4 Pro.
  • The "Thieves Den" as the protagonist's palace. It is a recreational area unrelated to the story.
  • New songs.
  • Slightly different Playstation Trophies.
  • New costumes.
  • New dialogue portraits.
  • Lip sync during voiced dialogue scenes (Japanese voiceover only).
  • Some unvoiced scenes are now fully voiced.
  • Additional scenes (from Persona 5 The Animation).
  • Some characters have new voice actors.
  • A scene (where one character is being harassed by two men) has had its dialogue slightly modified for the English localization.
  • The international release now has Japanese audio included (was a DLC before).
  • The international release now has French, Italian, German, and Spanish subtitles.
  • A new font to support the additional languages. Some names have been updated as a result, e.g. "Arsène" and "Café Leblanc".

School Life

  • A new location in Tokyo that can be visited: Kichijoji.
  • A couple new hangouts: An aquarium in Shinagawa, and the Nakano shopping district.
  • New activities, such as darts, billiard, or drinking.
  • The protagonist can increase his max SP by visiting a temple.
  • A clothing shop has been added, where the protagonist can buy new outfits.
  • The Justice Arcana is no longer automatic.
  • Existing confidant abilities have been modified, and can grant new perks.
  • The protagonist can hang out with Caroline and Justine to gain Skill Cards.
  • The protagonist can now give gifts to his male confidants as well.
  • The protagonist's free time has been slightly rearranged.
  • It takes longer to improve the Guts and Kindness Social Stats.
  • Most of the daily activities have been modified or expanded.
  • There's a new "Daily Assist Command" to help the player during day time.
  • The Valentine's Day event has been updated with additional content.
  • There is now a White Day event.

Phantom Life

  • New Personas.
  • Some Personas and Shadows have their attributes, move sets, or Arcanas altered.
  • Party members have their skill pool slightly tweaked.
  • New skills, and the effects of some existing skills have changed.
  • New enemies.
  • Accessories can grant active skills in addition to passive effects.
  • A new palace for the third semester.
  • A new area in Mementos.
  • New ultimate Personas for the third semester.

  • Akechi returns as a playable character

  • New Mementos Requests for the third semester.
  • The Velvet Room can sometimes enter a Fusion Alarm state, which allows for the fusion of more powerful Personas, but increases the risks of fusion accidents.
  • A new Challenge Battle mode, where the player can battle various enemies. The protagonists from Persona 3 and Persona 4 are available as DLC boss fights.
  • Merciless difficulty is now included (was a DLC before).
  • Difficulties have been tweaked.
  • Unison attacks, called: "Showtimes".
  • New types of Shadows: Savage Shadows and Disaster Shadows.
  • New collectibles, called: "Will Seeds".
  • There is a rare chance to stumble upon "Deviations", special areas with different layouts within Mementos.
  • A Grappling Hook.
  • Futaba has her own Finishing Touch, a special animation that plays after an All-Out Attack defeats all remaining enemies.
  • The behavior of all major bosses has been altered or expanded.
  • Lavenza can be fought in Mementos during a New Game Plus.
  • Baton Pass is unlocked for all party members from the beginning. There is now a Baton Pass Rank instead. When maxed out, the Baton Pass is now more powerful than before.
  • The party members' Shadow Negotiation ability (during Hold Ups) now always works, but only under specific circumstances, which differ for each party member.
  • Technical attacks (attacking enemies afflicted by a certain status condition with certain elements) can be ranked up by playing billiard and has a chance to down enemies.
  • New status-element combos for Technical attacks, as well as the ability to learn combos from books.
  • Guns reload after every battle. You are no longer limited to a certain amount of ammo every time you visit a palace.
  • When frozen, enemies temporarily lose resistance to Physical and Gun skills.
  • Some status ailments now end upon getting hit. Additionally, Confusion ends 1 turn earlier than other status ailments.
  • The Reaper is now immune to the Despair ailment, and is therefore no longer vulnerable during Flu Season.
  • The Security Meter in palaces now starts at 40% instead of 0%.
  • Treasure Demons can now appear among random Shadow guards.
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