Should I finish Persona 5 Royal? (NO SPOILERS)

[HOTSPUR]

I've been playing Royal a lot lately after dropping vanilla P5 around launch in hopes of a switch port (look where we are four years later lmao) where I stopped in the middle of the second palace. Now, I'm almost done with the third palace in Royal. Im not losing interest per se but there are a lot of games coming out soon that I would rather dedicate my full attention to. Am I losing anything by watching a playthrough/reading a synopsis before strikers? Or should I just tough it out?

This isn't an "I'm bored should I finish this game" thread, but I also know this game is 100 hours long and I'm only on hour 25, I love the characters and the story and the game itself is phenomenal but I feel like I'll never finish it at this rate.

 

[Dullahan]

Man up and finish it.

 

[SunBroDave]

Firstly, if you're not going to finish with P5R, don't even bother with Strikers. Second, yes, you should finish Royal. After the third palace, the formula of each subsequent chapter is changed up compared to the first three.

Third, spend time with Kasumi, Maruki, and Akechi whenever possible.

 

[Iyagovos]

Yes. The third semester is the best part of the game.

 

[RockmanBN]

If you waited this long didn't spoil yourself on base P5 Royal. Just finish Royal and play Strikers at another time.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Nothing wrong with dropping a game if it's not fitting your lifestyle. It was one of my favorite games of 2020, but I'd advocate that you drop it if you're more concerned about the plot & characters. You can catch up on all that through YouTube. The game is designed to be a loooooooong stretch of an adventure. If you don't have the time for that, that's fine.

 

[gdt]

I'm not understanding here. Just watching a video will never hit like sticking it out with these characters. Maybe Persona isn't for you.


Just dip out if you already don't have the drive to keep going 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[Mendrox]

I've been playing Royal a lot lately after dropping vanilla P5 around launch in hopes of a switch port (look where we are four years later lmao) where I stopped in the middle of the second palace. Now, I'm almost done with the third palace in Royal. Im not losing interest per se but there are a lot of games coming out soon that I would rather dedicate my full attention to. Am I losing anything by watching a playthrough/reading a synopsis before strikers? Or should I just tough it out?

This isn't an "I'm bored should I finish this game" thread, but I also know this game is 100 hours long and I'm only on hour 25, I love the characters and the story and the game itself is phenomenal but I feel like I'll never finish it at this rate.

Click to shrink...

How about not plowing through games just because new ones will release and enjoy the one you already enjoy? Also don't play Strikers before finishing 5. It's totally worth it and you haven't even touched the meat of Persona 5 Royal. It's pretty much just getting started in your case.

But it really doesn't sound like you want to so do yourself a favour and just stop it. Otherwise this topic wouldn't exist. You won't get the same experience by watching a playthrough (or even summary lol) at all.

Those games make you feel like having lost good friends when you finish them and you won't get that by just reading or watching someone else play through it. Not to mention that everyone has different playthroughs except for someone doing 100% in one go.

 

[Mish]

I mean, the formula stays the same until the end really and you're not really at the halfway point yet.
If you play the game and think about other things you would do instead, you won't have a good time.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

..... I love the characters and the story and the game itself is phenomenal....

Click to shrink...

This right here says it all.

Don't get so tied up on finishing a game. Enjoy the journey. Stop thinking, "When will it end? How much longer does this game have?" Especially for a game you're loving. That sounds like a surefire way to sour an experience.

 

[Giga Man]

Finish it and watch a playthrough of Strikers.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Royal is a great game and it's Third Trimester is the the best part of the the game.

That said you got a long way to go, and you shouldn't stick with it if you wanna play some thing else, you should do what you want the most.

Nothing wrong with watching YouTube to finish the run.

 

[Viale]

If you're enjoying it, just keep playing. It's a long game, and it's okay to take your time with it. I'd personally reccomend against watching videos/reading a synopsis as you'll likely be more invested experiencing it yourself if that was the reasoning to watch it before playing strikers.


Basically, don't worry about finishing it soon, just enjoy it and play at your own pace.

 

[Ladomania]

You should finish it

 

[Korigama]

If you've played this far, have enjoyed what you've played so far, and are thinking of playing Strikers afterward, then you should finish it. No real point in rushing it.

 

[Giga Man]

This right here says it all.

Don't get so tied up on finishing a game. Enjoy the journey. Stop thinking, "When will it end? How much longer does this game have?" Especially for a game you're loving. That sounds like a surefire way to sour an experience.

Click to shrink...

Also, the loading screen recommends that you "take your time." It's good advice.

 

[Pyro]

Strikers is a sequel and you'll undoubtedly enjoy it more if you finish P5R.

 

[Lemony1984]

Strikers is pretty poor do I wouldn't rush through P5R to get to strikers.

 

[StraySheep]

Having already beaten Persona 5, I played Royal for something like 10 months culminating in me finishing it yesterday. The third semester stuff is honestly some of the best I have experienced in the series and I'm now considering calling Royal my favorite game ever.

But you do not need to dedicate your whole attention to it. Play it in palace bursts. Treat it like a long running TV show. And, you know, take your time.

 

[PK Gaming]

Take a break and come back to it when you're ready

It's entertainment not a school assignment; do what feels right!

 

[HOTSPUR]

How about not plowing through games just because new ones will release and enjoy the one you already enjoy? Also don't play Strikers before finishing 5. It's totally worth it and you haven't even touched the meat of Persona 5 Royal. It's pretty much just getting started in your case.

Click to shrink...

My time to play games is increasingly slim these days, im very meticulous when I play most games so it's less of "plowing through games just because new ones are coming out" and more "I love this game but not sure I want to dedicate another hundred hours right now"

Maybe I should just finish this palace and take a break. The story summary seems to be pretty good (once you finish a palace/month), i bought strikers but am not in a rush to play it by any means

 

[Jalen]

I've finished persona 5 base and persona 5 Royal and both times I really didn't want them to end. Just take your time and finish it when you can.
106 hours for base and 100 for Royal and both times it felt like I was watching the last episode of a tv show I followed for years

FWIW, OP, I bought Royal like in July last year, played until the 4th palace and put it down for months and then finished the rest of the game in like 10 days or so, with the last day being yesterday. It's okay to put it down and come back later.

 

[Mendrox]

My time to play games is increasingly slim these days, im very meticulous when I play most games so it's less of "plowing through games just because new ones are coming out" and more "I love this game but not sure I want to dedicate another hundred hours right now"

Maybe I should just finish this palace and take a break. The story summary seems to be pretty good (once you finish a palace/month), i bought strikers but am not in a rush to play it by any means

Click to shrink...

I don't see the point if you are enjoying it right now. Why not keep playing it now? The other games can wait too and if you come back to P5 in a few months you won't have the same flow as now. It's no Hollow Knight in that regard, but it will feel differently and it's not like there are tons of games currently releasing that could hold a candle in comparison to P5 Royal. I mean, are you sure you will come back to it some day?

If you don't have enough time nowadays for 50 hour + games anymore I would suggest only playing those if you know you will have the time in the future or don't even start them at all anymore which are mostly RPGs. Sorry I don't want to come of as hash or anything like that, but threads like this and even answers always confuse me. There are easy rules to enjoy most things like keep doing the thing till you don't enjoy it anymore or don't play the sequel if you haven't played the original (in most cases) like here. :)

Just do it how you like to do it. In the end it really doesn't matter.

FWIW, OP, I bought Royal like in July last year, played until the 4th palace and put it down for months and then finished the rest of the game in like 10 days or so, with the last day being yesterday. It's okay to put it down and come back later.

Click to shrink...

You already finished P5 so of course it's was fine for you to come back a few months later. You know the story beats and all. I don't know how often I've read on here that people were confused when they came back to such games after months just to give up and not touch the game again lol

 

[black070]

Definitely, it's one of the best JRPGs of all time.

This is the kind of game you can jump back into anytime, so don't worry too much about the length or holding off on playing other games - just play whenever you feel and enjoy the journey.

 

[Deleted member 11976]

It only gets worse as time goes on but I say this as someone who's only finished regular P5. The Palace Dungeons took a nosedive when Futaba showed up (the Cruise Ship was the absolute worst one, maybe that's improved in R?) and some characters like Haru and Akechi were underdeveloped because they felt like awkward plot contrivances so that X could be linked to Y and then to Z. I played all the way to the ending hoping the story would get better but it just got worse and worse as time went on. I really regretted forcing myself to finish it in the hopes that it would get better. It's 90h I'll never get back. The battle system is the only redeeming factor of P5 for me, because it's so stylish and fast-paced.

I'd say if you're having issues now, I'd argue it's not worth sticking to. It makes a strong first impression but then just drags and drags and never manages to reach the heights of the first few Palaces.

 

[MrWindUpBird]

Persona 5 is a game that just never ends. Seeing as they added MORE content to Royal, I can't imagine the pacing has been improved at all and it's not like the storytelling is all that great. If you find yourself struggling to finish a game I think that's a good sign to either put it aside and coke back to it later or just call it a wash and watch a video summary.

 

[dancingphlower]

It's one of the few 100 hour games that managed to keep my interest, which is even more impressive that Royal managed to still be as engaging as the first time I played it. I'd say stick with it. The ending is some of my favorite storytelling in games.

 

[dogbox]

I feel like if you're feeling this way at this point you won't be all that dazzled when you finally get to hour 70 or whatever! Just drop it

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Keep on going. It is worth it. But if you are worried about burn out just play in bursts and take breaks. Don't forget to max out the new Confidants in Royal if you want the true ending. The 3rd semester content added to Royal is easily the best thing in the game and has one of the best antagonists in Persona.

 

[krazen]

I got to the second palace with Persona 5 standard, took a break, and restarted with Persona Royal and I am hrm 70-80 hours in on the 5th palace.

I mean on the positive it gets more interesting as it goes on...the plotline of the games 'big bad' starts to get stronger, and clearer after you rank up some confidants the game opens up in interesting ways and you have more freedom (negative, it also gets easier to play with the more tools you have at your disposal). That said (and to echo someone else above) while fun it does feel like a game that never ends...maybe take a break after a palace so its easier to pick up and revisit it in a few months

 

[Makoto Yuki]

No, if you don't want to play it do something else.

Honestly, after hour 50 of the original P5 I was getting tired of it.

I played 70 hours of P3 and 80 hours of P4 and they felt right on the money.

P5 ended up being around 110 hours. In my opinion 20-30 hours too long.

 

[StraySheep]

OP why did you even buy Strikers already? You could have waited and it would have been half the price.

It's one of the few 100 hour games that managed to keep my interest, which is even more impressive that Royal managed to still be as engaging as the first time I played it. I'd say stick with it. The ending is some of my favorite storytelling in games.

Click to shrink...

Can you elaborate on what made it your favorite?

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

If you put it on safety that should shave 10ish hours off I think. But I'd say play as much as you want, put it down for new releases you really want to play, then pick it up

 

[HeeHo]

I could never get on board with replaying a 100 hour rerelease. Even with all the additions and QoL stuff.I didn't do it with P3FES but I played the Aegis content which wasn't worth it.

I think you should drop it personally.

 

[HOTSPUR]

OP why did you even buy Strikers already? You could have waited and it would have been half the price.

Click to shrink...

forgot i had it pre-ordered. planned on playing this a lot earlier than I currently am but ps4 died and didn't get ps5 til December, started royal last month

 

[Rzarekta]

Why would you ever skip the real, mainline game to get to Strikers? I'd suggest you only play P5R and skip Strikers if you have other games to get to.

 

[Jeb]

Do you enjoy the time management\ social sim aspect of the game or the dungeon crawling?
If yes then stick with it as as those elements balancing out the main story part is what makes it so fun to me.

If no, then yeah watch youtube.

You dont have to beat it in one burst by the way, the game is not going anywhere and has an arc format in which the pace kinda resets, you can play for a palace then play something else then come back later.
Or any other way in which you could listen to the loading screen and take your time.

I still haven't completed Strikers but so far P5 Royal is a much better game, dont skip the good part.

 

[SirNinja]

It's definitely worth it to go all the way. Play in short sessions and don't forget to max out the new Confidants along the way. Don't be afraid to set the difficulty down if dungeons/bosses become roadblocks.

 

[FTLMantis]

Persona 5 falls off a cliff after the first few chapters. The latter character are really boring and the finale doesn't do anything with a promising premise. I don't know if Royal improves on this, but if you aren't really hooked on the game this far in you should probably call it quits, to be honest. I certainly wish I had stopped before the Haru dungeon.

 

[Greywaren]

The extra bits of story in Royal are arguably the best part of the game. Don't force yourself if you're not enjoying it, but I'd say it's absolutely worth it to make it to the end.

 

[psychedelic]

Im not losing interest per se but there are a lot of games coming out soon that I would rather dedicate my full attention to.

Click to shrink...

I think you did lose interest. And that's okay. I can't imagine it being a lot of fun for you so it's time to drop it.

 

[Listai]

P5 ended up being around 110 hours. In my opinion 20-30 hours too long.

Click to shrink...

Definitely, I think there was an exceptional 50 hour game in there that they padded out way too long. I can't even think about playing Royal as the idea of a longer version of P5 makes me feel tired. The only reason I finished the original was because of remote play on the Vita.

 

[dancingphlower]

OP why did you even buy Strikers already? You could have waited and it would have been half the price.



Can you elaborate on what made it your favorite?

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Without getting too deep into spoilers, I found the conflict between the protagonists and the final antagonist to be extremely compelling and it managed to avoid the trap of black and white morality that plagues many JRPGs.

 

[Rainy]

So I got the game on launch last year and finished it last week. I essentially just played it in-between playing new releases. So did a few palaces, played a new release, then came back. The game is not hard to pick back up since it's turn-based and the sim stuff is fairly easy to walk back into. I would definitely return to it though, the third semester stuff is amazing.

 

[ZeroX]

I'm going to go against the grain here, as someone who finished P5 and is on the way to finish P5R: it's not worth it.

It's a very good game. It's also far too long. You could go and finish five more great games in the time it'll take you to finish this one. If your time is slim and you value variety in your gaming experience, just go and play other stuff. The 4th palace is strong and then you're in for a huge 40 hour slog for the 5th to 7th palaces which is far weaker than the opening hours of the game before the third semester stuff. I'm enjoying the game but I hate thinking how many different games I could've played in all this time.

 

[sbenji]

Why would you play or buy strikers if you have not finished either p5 or p5royal?

 

[lusca_bueno]

Finish P5R, the artistic progression is just too good to simply watch a summary. Also, the game you shouldn't play is actually Strikers, and if you really want to, have moderate expectations, otherwise watch a summary of it like you would do with P5R.

 

[Ocirus]

I'm about 20ish hours into Strikers and I'm really missing Royal. A lot. The best parts of Strikers all have to do with the fact that you're dealing with the established characters from P5. I don't like the new characters (both playable and non). I'm missing the Royal additions and I'm getting frustrated by several aspects of the game (I'd easily consider myself a Musou veteran and I've platinum'd P5R, sooo.... I should be enjoying it more than I am, but some things are kinda making me straight up angry and I wish I was just playing through Royal for a third time).

So basically: finish Royal. And without spoiling it (just info on P5R, but I understand if you don't even want to know this, so I spoiler tagged just in case:

Spoiler: Really not a spoiler, just info

the added semester (in it's entirety) and an added ending thing is completely missable if you don't some things throughout your game. What they are aren't necessarily spoilers either in my opinion (as long as they're said carefully) so let me know if you'd like to non-spoilery know.

 

[Lord Azrael]

What's the rush. Finish it

 

[leder]

I was going to say no, but

This isn't an "I'm bored should I finish this game" thread, but I also know this game is 100 hours long and I'm only on hour 25, I love the characters and the story and the game itself is phenomenal but I feel like I'll never finish it at this rate.

Click to shrink...

then read the bolded. Yeah you should definitely try to finish it OP. If you're short on time just drop down to the lowest difficulty.