KitGuru Games: The definitive version of Persona 5 has finally arrived

It has been over five years since Persona 5 first launched on PS4. Up to now, the game, and its updated ‘Royal' version, have been exclusive to the PlayStation platform but today, that has finally changed. We now have a truly definitive version of the game right here on PC, and it is a near-flawless port. 

I've spent several hours with Persona 5 on PC since the game hit Xbox Game Pass today. On the first launch, the game will default to 1080p resolution, so if text looks weird on first load, just head into the config section of the main menu and from there, you can adjust resolution, anti-aliasing, shadows and more. In the display section, you can change your resolution and frame rate cap.

The game also includes a resolution scale option, so if you want it to be a bit sharper, you can boost that all the way up to 200%. On a system featuring a Core i7-8700K and an RTX 3070 Ti, the game hits 120FPS at 1440p with 200% resolution scale, all with other settings cranked as high as they will go. Even with the extra resolution boost, the game barely uses 60% of my GPU, and CPU usage is also quite low, so it should run very well on a wide variety of systems. I only have one note to make – on Xbox Game Pass, I would get an error code message popping up occasionally, seemingly for no reason. Clicking off of this allows you to continue with the game as normal, so it is a nuisance, but nothing game-breaking. Hopefully, that gets patched out relatively quickly as Persona 5 is most definitely going to be one of the most-played Game Pass titles of the year.

You can see some screenshots of the game in the gallery above – all taken from the opening section to avoid any major spoilers. The game itself is not a next-gen-looking title. You won't be blown away by Persona 5's graphics, but every inch of this game is oozing with style and everything looks pretty sharp at higher resolutions. The animated cutscenes all appear properly too and don't give off a low-res or fuzzy look.

I'd also be doing a poor job if I didn't point out the music and voice acting in this game. Persona 5 has one of the best soundtracks in all of video games – to the point where you'll likely find yourself humming along during battles or walking sections. The English voice cast is also very good, and you'll hear more than a few recognisable voice actors from anime and other games too. Nobody's voice sounds out of place for their character, which has been an issue in some other JRPGs I've played over the years (I'm looking at you, Xenoblade Chronicles 2). Still, if you just prefer Japanese voice acting, the option is there.

In the past, we've seen issues with JRPGs like this moving over to PC, with many using odd control schemes that don't line up with what most PC gamers expect. There is a small amount of that here in Persona 5, where there are sections that require a spacebar press, rather than a mouse click. An early tutorial will also show you all the keys for camera movement using just a keyboard, but you can also control the camera with your mouse, so while it looks odd at first, you won't need to be hitting random keys to turn your camera.

For the most part, the game plays very well on a mouse and keyboard. You can mouse-click through conversations and generally, it doesn't veer too far from typical PC game control schemes. If you do find the movement to be a tad unnatural with a mouse and keyboard, then the option to use a gamepad is always there, but personally, I'm finding the experience to be perfectly fine and I've not run into any major roadblocks that would force me to recommend a gamepad over a mouse and keyboard combo.

So with all of that aside, what is Persona 5 actually like to play? Ultimately, Persona 5 is a lengthy RPG that leans heavily into its characters and their individual stories. You'll meet a ton of likeable and not-so-likeable characters along the way and by participating in side content, you can learn more about them and grow your ‘social link', which will unlock new abilities and other benefits for you over the course of the game.

Befriending Yusuke for instance will net you the ability to duplicate skill cards, which you can then use to customise the moves of various Persona. Building up your link with Tae will unlock better healing items and you'll be able to get them cheaper than elsewhere in the game. There is a full list of ‘confidants' that you can interact with between major story moments and it is worth investing your time into exploring these. The gameplay reward is key, but even if that wasn't there, each of these characters have great side stories to learn about and it really helps flesh out the game. Any RPG worth its salt makes you care about its characters and Persona is very good in that aspect.

For combat, you'll have a party of up to four characters, each with their own ‘Persona'. Different Personas have different abilities, so you can organise your party and their abilities for offence, defence and healing, as well as different element types so you can be as effective as possible on the battlefield. Eventually, you'll unlock the ability to capture Persona and have them join your party. You can then fuse different Personas together to make rarer or more powerful Personas to use in battle. It is an easy and simple system on the surface, but if you dive deeper into abilities, fusing Personas and mixing up your party, there is a surprising amount of depth here. You can also avoid most of this depth if you just want to blast through the story, many of Persona 5's side elements are technically optional, but you'll have a lot more fun with the game if you engage with everything it has to offer.

Grinding up your own character's personality traits can take quite some time. Even if you get every test answer right during classes, and study in the evenings, it will take a long time to max out your knowledge attribute. The same applies to your other character traits too, so it is best to go through Persona 5 with some patience, as it is a long game, and it will take a long time to unlock everything.

All of this comes without even mentioning Mementos, which is an area of the game you can explore to collect new Persona, gather loot chests and complete side missions to boost the notoriety of the Phantom Thieves. You can spend hours exploring this part of the game and make quite a bit of progress in terms of levelling up your party and Personas. You'll want to dedicate a bunch of time here too over the course of your playthrough, but I'd recommend being patient with it. You'll want to really start exploring Mementos after you clear the second main ‘palace' of the game.

Unfortunately, the downside to all of this content and the various systems is that if you do take a long break from the game, you may come back and feel a bit lost. This is the main reason I've had to restart the game several times since its original launch, but if you stick with it, it is one of the best RPGs around.

Persona 5 Royal is now available on Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation. If you are on PC or Xbox, you will be able to get the game through Xbox Game Pass, granting you instant access without having to pay full price for the game. The PC version hits a quality level that sets it apart as the definitive version, simply due to how well it runs and the extra sharpness you get from bumping up the resolution well beyond what the console versions offer.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The PC version of Persona 5 Royal is the definitive version. It isn't a game-changing upgrade over the console versions, but it offers enough in the way of performance to set it apart. If you have Game Pass, it is worth an install, assuming you enjoy turn-based combat, the anime aesthetic and aren't expecting to clear the entire game in a weekend. 

Become a Patron!