This is our unofficial guide to the main differences between Persona 5 Royal, and the original Persona 5 which was released on PS3 and PS4 back in 2016.

The various improvements on the original Persona 5, along with the new additions to the game are listed below.

Story Elements

• Several new cut-scenes have been included in Persona 5 Royal, which some original cut-scenes receiving minor changes to compensate for the altered narrative.
  • A few returning scenes have been altered to include new characters, such as Kazumi Yoshizawa meeting the Protagonist during his first few days at Shujin High School.
• Two new confidants, Kasumi Yoshizawa (Faith) and Takuto Maruki (Councillor) are included. along with an enhanced player driven Confidant for Goro Akechi (Justice), replacing his Automatic Confidant from the original game.
• Three extra months have been added to the in-game calendar, which allows you to play through an all new Third Semester. This new part of the game includes a brand new Palace, new story events and the opportunity to gain a Third Form for each of the Phantom Thieves main Personas.
  • Reaching this section of the game requires certain conditions to be met whilst playing through Persona 5 Royal. If they are not, the game will end with the ending seen in the regular Persona 5.
• Some voiceless cut-scenes which return from Persona 5 now have English or Japanese voice acting .
• The new story content added to Persona 5 Royal will give you an average of 20-30 hours additional playtime.
• The soundtrack has 30 brand new songs included, with several of them including vocals by the original vocalist Lyn.
• All of the in game textures have been upgraded to 1080p from their 720p counterparts, which were upscaled in the original release.
• Certain NPC’s have been given new graphical models to increase the diversity of the game’s population.
• A new area named the Thieves Den is unlocked after beating Kamoshida’s Palace. It allows you to listen to in-game music, watch previously seen cut-scenes and view trophies for in-game achievements.
• A new card based mini game named Tycoon has been added to the game. It can be played during your time in the Thieves Den.
• The Thieves Den has a series of interactions with the other characters in the game to flesh out their individual narratives.
• Numerous changes to the User Interface for ease of use.

Game World Changes

• Additional scenes have been included for returning Confidant events, including brief phone calls after the event has ended.
  • Providing certain answers during these calls will improve your relationship with that Confidant.
• A new city location named Kichijoji is included. Like the other cities, it has exclusive locations such as a shrine, a jazz club and a bar which you are can play Darts and Billiards.
  • Playing Darts with the other Phantom Thieves will increase the strength of your Baton Passes.
  • There is also a new shop where you can sell unwanted armour.
• You can now visit new locations, such as Shinagawa and Nakano, with your Confidants.
• The number of nights where you are ordered to sleep by Morgana has been dramatically reduced, so you can do practically any activity inside Cafe Leblanc on most evenings.
• You can increase your Kindness and relationship with Sojiro Sakura (Hierophant Confidant) by cleaning Cafe Leblanc by examining the toilet door in the cafe.
• Your Part Time Jobs contact you to ask to work a shift, and give you a higher salary this time around.
• Confidants now ask you out to the Cinema in the Evening, instead of during the Daytime hours.
• Gift items can now be used to boost your relationship with Male Confidants.
• An Athletics Shop replaces the Music Shop in the Underground Mall. The Music Shop is now based in the Thieves Den.
• You can now craft multiple amounts of the same Infiltration Tool during a single session in your bedroom at Cafe Leblanc.
• It is not possible to watch TV programs upstairs. You will need to use the TV in the cafe area.
  • You can still play DVD’s and Retro Games once you have obtained the DVD Player and Retro Games Console respectively.
• You can now spend time with Caroline & Justine at certain locations once certain conditions have been met.
• The loading times have been drastically shortened, particularly when playing the game on a PS4 Pro.

The Velvet Room

• Several new Personas have been added to compensate for the additional Confidant types included in the game.
  • Some of the returning Personas have different skills, strengths and weaknesses from their original incarnations.
• The Strength Confidant requires new Personas to be created in order to increase it’s rank.
• Each Persona now has an individual trait which boosts certain vital stats. These traits can be changed during the Fusion process.
• The way Network Fusions function are slightly different.
• You can now intimidate a Persona more than once in an in-game day.
• New special fights known as Challenge Battles can now be fought. Performing certain actions and meeting special conditions can earn you valuable items.
• You can now choose multiple ways to perform a Fusion to increase the chance of obtaining rarer skills. This can greatly increase the chance of suffering a Fusion Accident.
• Skills can now be changed at random after a Fusion has occurred.

The Metaverse

• Each Palace has had certain areas and puzzles redesigned to compensate for game play flow and new mechanics such as the Grapple Hook.
  • Certain areas from the original Persona 5 have been removed, or streamlined to prevent game play from becoming monotonous.
• A new type of Shadows named Disaster Shadows have been added to all dungeon areas.
  • These Shadows will only attack if they themselves are attacked. Once defeated, they drop an item and additional experience points. They explode in a flash of multicoloured light, and damage any enemies in the general vicinity.
• New collectables known as Will Seeds have been added to each Palace.
  • Collecting all three of them will allow you to gain a new accessory, which can be upgraded by meeting with a new character named Jose inside Mementos.
• Ammunition for your gun weapons will now refill after every battle.
• Several Boss Fights have been drastically changed, with several new game play phases to complete and new attacks for them to use.
• It is now easier to regain SP inside dungeons.
• Each Status effect has been modified to work differently.
  • The Reaper despair exploit during the Flu Season no longer works.
• Each area of Mementos now has Flower Bubbles and Star Points added.
  • Flower Bubbles contain Flowers that can be traded with Jose when he appears on random floors of Mementos for exclusive items and gifts.
  • Star Points allow you to collect Stamps. Using these, you can alter the structure of Mementos to earn more money from battles, additional experience from enemy encounters and rarer items inside treasure chests.
• The Instant Kill skill awarded from Ryuji’s Confidant will now give you all the money, experience and items you would have received if you had fought the Shadows without using the skill.
• You can now fight Lavenza and Jose inside Mementos during the Third Semester.
• The Baton Pass mechanic is now awarded automatically during the game’s story, instead of needing to unlock it through each party member’s Confidant side quests.
• The Security level for each Palace now begins at 40%, and will now increase to 100% when the Calling Card has been issued to the Palace Ruler.
• It is now easier to negotiate the acquirement of Personas.
  • If you try to acquire a Persona you already own, that Persona will gain additional experience points.
• Hiding behind covers and walls has been improved, and the angle of the in-game camera can be adjusted to a greater extent than in the original game.
• A new mechanic known as Showtime allows you to perform combo attacks with certain allies. These are unlocked as the story line of the game progresses.