The "take your heart" edition has some nice perks, but honestly once I put the game in I forgot about the extra swag. I did rip the music CD immediately, there are some great tracks on there. However it is not the complete soundtrack, so I ended up buying that separately. The package has some nice treats in it, but really its all about the game.



There are tons of great things about Persona 5, its largely an improvement over prior games in the franchise. The biggest issue is really the scope of the game, making it exceptionally long. I completed Persona 3 in about 75 hours, and Persona 4G in about 65. However neither of those games prepared me for the monster that is Persona 5. 126 hours for me to see the credits, and right now I'm about 136 hours into the game playing a New game+.



The game has fantastic visuals, the art direction is bold and stylized. It has a few areas with lower texture quality, but most of the graphics are splendid. The jazz influenced soundtrack is original and well performed, and fits the rebellious theme of the game very well. The story is solid and the side-stories are engaging as well. The turn-based gameplay is tried and true. Status effects really mean something, you'll need to stay alert. The new stealth gameplay isn't perfect, but overall is a good addition for this game. It adds some interest to the dungeon crawling and your character and teammates do look cool dipping around the environments.



The city is immersive and lively, with entirely too many things to do in it. You can take part time jobs, go to the movies, read books, craft lockpicks, go fishing, play games at home or the arcade etc etc etc. It can be overwhelming at first. Fortunately they slowly expose your options, but eventually you time management and picking priorities will be a must. Do you spend time with your best friend or at a part time job? Both have gameplay benefits, and both also will unlock story events you couldn't get otherwise.



There are about 20 different confidants that the player can interact with and develop relationships.There are gameplay benefits to building relationships, and some are clearly more powerful than others. But also most of these stories are entertaining. For characters I enjoyed the most I felt compelled to complete there stories as soon as possible. There are a few characters I just didn't care for, which isn't surprising or a failing of the creators. People have varying opinions on the characters, so other people may enjoy characters I did not.



The social side-stories really help create interest in characters that may have initially been less than appealing. So if time permits, give as many confidants a chance. However I suggest all players befriend the Doctor and Maid with full devotion. I am working on a second play-through just so I can complete the side stories for the 5 or 6 characters I missed the first time. The friendships in this game are that fulfilling. I've never played any RPG this many hours, but I don't feel done just yet.



The personas look better than ever in P5. There are over 100 unique personas in game, each rendered with the traditional Persona style but now with better refinement and technology. Personas are monsters you fight or capture. There are so many that a few of them will only be seen a couple of times throughout the entire game. Fusing personas to make stronger ones will eat up some time, but also make you more powerful. The entire persona management portion of the game can be really involved if you want. I chose to keep it simple, and spend time on other areas.



The dungeons are long and elaborate, and visually much better than what the franchise has had historically. There tends to be a good bit of story-telling as you crawl through the dungeon that helps better explain the current villain or target. The puzzles are mostly easy to figure out, but eventually there are a few that require serious thought or a bit of help. There was one puzzle I was completely stuck on because I wasn't aware of a certain thing...and I would have never figured it out alone. Thankfully there are guides available...



I hadn't intended to write such a wordy review, however it all just flowed out as I started thinking about my experience with of one of the best RPG's I've ever played.