Atlus' Persona series received a major boost in popularity over the last decade. With Persona 4 Golden becoming one of the most revered JRPGs of the last decade, it paved the way for Persona 5's success. Coupled with winning RPG of the Year as well as the stellar re-release, Persona 5 Royal, Atlus' JRPG series has taken off in ways fans would never have guessed a decade ago. Moreover, Joker's inclusion in Smash Bros. added the cherry on top to capitalize on the series' meteoric rise in popularity.
For many, the Persona series ranks among their favorite games overall. These wonderfully polished and well-written games offer some of the most unique and enjoyable experiences in the genre. It's admittedly difficult to find any sort of mild series grievances, let alone any major ones, that weren't fixed in Persona 5 Royal. However, to keep a series fresh, it's always worth pointing out a few elements that could use improvement.
Please be mindful of the spoilers for Persona 3, 4, and 5 below.
10 Needs to Stay: Thieves' Den
One of the coolest additions to Persona 5 Royal was the Thieves' Den. This little place boasted all sorts of rewards and incentives from achievements to mini-games. The best part was that it took up none of the player's calendar time in-game!
The new mini-games in Persona 5 Royal include both billiards and darts. The player could also hunt for achievements which, in turn, rewarded the player with pieces of official art and music. This little hideout was the perfect way to unwind and try something new without sacrificing a daily activity.
9 Needs to Go: Level Grinding
While Persona 5 did manage to do away with this, Persona 3 and 4 were admittedly guilty. That's also not to say it won't return one day and therefore must be addressed. Some bosses just become points meant to break the player and force them to run around the dungeon leveling up.
This happened for the Persona 4 Golden final boss and several times in Persona 3 FES, especially the Answer. They're just used to add time to the game rather than offer a meaningful and strategic experience. Here's hoping the next games in the series will continue the path by Persona 5 and prioritize strategy over level grinding,
8 Needs to Stay: Dating Multiple Partners
One of the most fun parts of Persona is the ability to date multiple partners. Persona 4 Golden punished the player by creating an awkward breakup scene on Valentine's Day. Likewise, Persona 5 punished the player for their infidelity with jilted, heartbroken partners.
However, the player's shame will vary based on their risks and how big they want to grow their harem. After all, for the cheating player, Sojiro's Chocolate could come in handy. This is definitely one of the more fun moral-based activities that should remain in the series.
7 Needs to Go: DLC Personas
Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal offer DLC Personas. In the latter, all of the P5 DLC Personas are available for free. However, this means it's just an easier way to break the game.
While they're naturally optional, it still becomes quite easy to obtain higher-level Personas thanks to mastering a few social links. This will trivialize a number of the bosses to include Okumura and even the final bosses of the game. It might be better to just do away with DLC and just allow players to earn them through harder challenges instead.
6 Needs to Stay: Diversity
Persona 3 Portable was the only title in the series to offer players which gender they wanted to pick. More interestingly, this affected the narrative in several ways. One of these included the partners the players could date.
Moreover, it even affected the ending with a particular character whose story ended differently in the male protagonist's storyline. This would also surely pacify a number of players who would like this option coming from other RPGs such as Fire Emblem.
5 Needs to Go: Unbalanced Difficulty Levels
As mentioned earlier, level grinding can sometimes hurt the experience. Likewise, Persona 5 Royal featured a bug that made bosses easier on Merciless difficulty. This is worth noting as it helped trivialize an infamously difficult boss, the aforementioned Okumura. Players with DLC Personas could also trivialize the boss.
Players who feel Okumura was the hardest part of the game might take solace if Atlus keeps the difficulty level streamlined throughout the game. But ultimately, the difficulty level should match the description.
4 Needs to Stay: Alternate Costumes
Nothing is quite as fun as getting to dress up characters in new gear. Some of these include Christmas or beachwear. Others even feature nods to other Atlus titles, such as Shin Megami Tensei and Catherine.
Here's hoping Atlus will continue the tradition going forward. While the option was available in Persona 3 and Persona 4, Persona 5's development team went out of their way to include the most number of costumes in the series!
3 Needs to Go: Protagonist Death Leading into Game Over
One of the most annoying things in Persona is the protagonist dying and thus netting a Game Over. Whether it's during a long boss fight or an ambush-to-death in a dungeon, an unguarded protagonist could be killed due to elemental weaknesses. While abilities from social links mitigate this, such as with a party member sacrifice, this is also seldom a feature in other RPGs.
Thankfully, there are numerous ways to curb this scenario. And it offers another layer of battle strategy. However, if it was gone, it's likely players would not miss it.
2 Needs to Stay: Prison Battles
One of the most fun parts about Persona 5 Royal is the Prison Battles. These include special challenges and solid rewards for victories. Plus the Tekken-esque battle theme and blue light aesthetics really invite the player to try their hardest.
Some of the later prison battles were locked behind DLC. However, they were quite an interesting concept that players got mileage out of. Here's hoping they return in Persona 6.
1 Needs to Go: New Game Plus Bosses
For a series that's known for passing the 100-hour mark regularly, not everyone is going to replay the title. Some people are done after one run and might miss out on fighting Igor's assistant or another secret boss. Such bosses are exclusively locked behind a New Game Plus run.
Persona graciously rewards players with numerous boss battles, secrets, incentives, and even a replay mode. However, locking content behind replays is seldom used in most games and a little bit stingy. Here's hoping we can fight the superboss in the next game without a replay to enable it first.