Persona 5 introduced me into a new world of possibilities for how AWESOME a game can be. A visual marvel, from character design, to the mind-blowing UI, to the incredible All-Out Attacks, and much more that often left me staring at my screen in awe. There is simply so much artistic talent poured into this project... I thoroughly enjoyed many, many hours of this game.
Personally, however, I cannot dub this game a masterpiece. There are certainly issues, and the most glaring ones are found in the story: plot holes, abandoned threads, dry morality, jumps in logic (sometimes huge ones)... Persona 5 is an INSANELY long game, and unfortunately that leaves much room for error. Don't get me wrong, there are many good moments for the story, and notably the first and last story arcs were really good. But in between, both the story and characters of this game can (and will) fall flat on their faces.
It is obvious that this game wasn't made in one go. Development lasted about five years, so we're talking about multiple revisions and adjustments for characters and plot. As you might understand, this makes achieving coherency quite a daunting objective, especially for a game of this scale (we are talking more than a hundred hours of gameplay). This, in turn, is maybe why the story has the issues that it has.
At the end of it all, however, I have nothing but love for this game. The visuals and the OST, the combat sequences, the characters, the voice work (speaking about the Japanese dub), they all work together to capture you in the mood, be it the relaxing ambience of a rainy Tokyo, or the hype of the group rushing in a Palace to steal the "Treasure"... I love watching this game, I love listening to it, and I will keep writing and talking for all the reasons I love and hate it.
Personally, however, I cannot dub this game a masterpiece. There are certainly issues, and the most glaring ones are found in the story: plot holes, abandoned threads, dry morality, jumps in logic (sometimes huge ones)... Persona 5 is an INSANELY long game, and unfortunately that leaves much room for error. Don't get me wrong, there are many good moments for the story, and notably the first and last story arcs were really good. But in between, both the story and characters of this game can (and will) fall flat on their faces.
It is obvious that this game wasn't made in one go. Development lasted about five years, so we're talking about multiple revisions and adjustments for characters and plot. As you might understand, this makes achieving coherency quite a daunting objective, especially for a game of this scale (we are talking more than a hundred hours of gameplay). This, in turn, is maybe why the story has the issues that it has.
At the end of it all, however, I have nothing but love for this game. The visuals and the OST, the combat sequences, the characters, the voice work (speaking about the Japanese dub), they all work together to capture you in the mood, be it the relaxing ambience of a rainy Tokyo, or the hype of the group rushing in a Palace to steal the "Treasure"... I love watching this game, I love listening to it, and I will keep writing and talking for all the reasons I love and hate it.