Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 Royal, abbreviated as P5R and titled Persona 5: The Royal in Japan, is an enhanced re-release of Persona 5.

The game was initially released for PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019, followed by a Western release on March 31, 2020. The PS4 version has also supported backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 5 since the console's launch.

Announced in June 2022 as part of the Persona 25th Anniversary, Persona 5 Royal was remastered for additional platforms worldwide on October 21, 2022. It was ported natively to the PlayStation 5, alongside versions for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows via Steam and the Microsoft Store. The Xbox console and Windows Store versions are also currently included with Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

New Characters/Confidants

 * Kasumi Yoshizawa: An accomplished young gymnast who enrolls in Shujin Academy around the same time as the protagonist. She is a great admirer of the protagonist and one of the few people in school who treats him kindly. Though not an official Phantom Thief at first, she briefly assists the protagonist during the events of the original game. She wears a black mask with silver accents and wields rapiers and rifles in battle.
 * Takuto Maruki: A part-time school counselor and researcher of cognitive psience who enters Shujin Academy following Kamoshida's arrest. He is a genuine, understanding person and always helps students whenever needed, being among one of the more popular members of the school faculty. He is one of the protagonist's new Confidants in the story.
 * Jose: A mysterious young boy who researches humans and helps the Phantom Thieves in Mementos. Flowers and star stamps can be collected in Mementos, and the protagonist can trade these items with Jose in his shop: flowers are traded for items, and star stamps allow him to change Mementos' cognition, improving the rate at which rewards are given, such as experience, money and items.

Third Semester
Royal introduces a third semester that doesn't appear in the original Persona 5. In this mysteriously altered reality, the party's various wishes have been granted:
 * Morgana is a young, attractive human boy.
 * Ryuji's leg was never broken and the track team is restored, with Ryuji being its leader.
 * Ann is now happily hanging out with Shiho, who was never sexually assaulted by Kamoshida, yet transferred schools for other reasons. Much to Ann's delight, Shiho is now a volleyball ace, and will be transferring back to Shujin.
 * Yusuke's teacher, Ichiryusai Madarame, has changed and has been released from prison, reconciling as Yusuke's mentor, and the original "Sayuri" is exhibited in an art museum under Yusuke's mother's name.
 * Makoto's father is alive, and she and her sister Sae have a much tighter, sisterly bond, feeling like a complete family.
 * Futaba's mother, Wakaba Isshiki, seems to have always been alive. She's entrusted Sojiro to take care of her daughter while she's working on her research, and the three are frequently seen together, acting as a family.
 * Haru's father, Kunikazu Okumura, is also alive and no longer corrupt. Instead, he is now a kindhearted businessman with no interest in politics, and genuinely takes care of his daughter like he once did.

The protagonist realizes how strange this all is, and is approached by Akechi, who is also cognizant of these discrepancies. Together, they investigate these strange events.

In order to unlock the third semester, the Councillor Arcana Confidant must reach rank 9 prior to November 17th. If it does, it will max out automatically during that day. Failure to max it out will result in the same end scenario as the original Persona 5.

School Life

 * A new location added is Kichijoji: A popular spot in Tokyo that the protagonist can visit. With a mix of new and old, various cultures and personalities clash in this area that attracts men and women of all ages.
 * A collaboration with DARTSLIVE: DARTSLIVE’s latest darts machine, DARTSLIVE3, is fully reproduced in-game. The protagonist can invite his fellow Phantom Thieves to play darts together. This is a completely new minigame in the series, and uses the DualShock 4's motion controls. Playing will increase the ally's respective Baton Pass Rank to help in battle.
 * The Phantom Thieves can play billiards, an activity which can increase a random Social Stat. In addition, it can help boost the group's Technical rank, increasing Technical damage and Down rate.
 * The protagonist can invite a teammate to Jazz Jin to drink virgin cocktails. Depending on the drink, certain stats of party members can be boosted, or they can learn new skills.
 * The protagonist can visit an old temple to meditate, increasing his maximum SP.
 * A clothing shop has been added where instead of being washed, Sooty Clothing can be traded in for points, which can be redeemed for rewards.
 * Numerous other vendors have been added in old areas as well as in Kichijoji, selling more unusual or powerful items, usually accessories.
 * The protagonist can invite his Confidants to an aquarium in Shinagawa, a new Confidant hangout spot.
 * Another new hangout spot is Nakano, a shopping district filled with many trendy stores.
 * Yoshizawa is one of the new Confidants the protagonist can hang out with. Her Arcana is the new, unnumbered Faith.
 * Her Confidant abilities allow ambush from a distance with a grappling hook, and help the group avoid being surrounded by enemies when they're attacked.
 * The protagonist can also bond with the aforementioned school counselor Takuto Maruki, of the new Councillor Arcana, numbered with the Arabic numeral 1 rather than the Roman numerals of the other Arcanas.
 * His Confidant abilities grant the protagonist a chance to automatically remove status effects inflicted on him and automatically recover SP when it's running low.
 * Instead of being automatic, Goro Akechi's Confidant is now leveled up by hanging out with him.
 * His Confidant ability is Sleuthing Instinct, which gives the protagonist a chance to instantly reveal a random affinity of an enemy at the start of battle. The upgraded version of this, Sleuthing Mastery, has a chance to reveal all affinities of a single enemy.
 * Some original Confidants' abilities have been modified, being able to grant the protagonist new perks as well:
 * Ryuji's ability, which let the protagonist automatically take down underleveled encounters, now only activates when he's dashing. He also makes it easier for the protagonist to dash without being spotted.
 * Caroline and Justine's Confidant, once maximized, reduces the fee the protagonist has to pay for summoning Personas.
 * Iwai's customization has been completely overhauled: now all guns can be modified in various, but specific ways. For example, the gun's accuracy or attack power can be increased, or one stat can be boosted further at the expense of the other. Additionally, guns can be customized to afflict Burn, Shock or Freeze.
 * Chihaya's ability to reveal all of a Confidant's remaining abilities is unlocked early, and she can reveal the ideal dialogue choices while hanging out with other Confidants.
 * Ohya's scoops, which reduce the Security Level, have been overhauled.
 * Shinya increases the odds of afflicting ailments with guns.
 * The protagonist can bring Caroline and Justine touring around Tokyo, separate from their Confidant events, and they will reward him with Skill Cards for doing so.
 * Similarly to female Confidants, the protagonist can now give gifts to male Confidants.
 * There are also no more gifts that require the protagonist be in a romantic relationship to give away.
 * The protagonist's free time has been slightly rearranged on the calendar.
 * In addition, on certain evenings, the protagonist now gains additional, but more restricted free time, granting him the ability to perform activities within Café Leblanc.
 * Most of the daily activities from the original game have been modified or expanded.
 * A "Thief Assist" command has been implemented during the daily life sections of the game, with the intent of helping players navigate the options available to them on a daily basis.
 * The Valentine's Day event is now updated with additional content.
 * For the first time in the Persona series, White Day can be celebrated, which occurs prior the protagonist's departure from Tokyo. He can go on a date with any romantic partner. If he doesn't have one, he ends up hanging out with Sojiro.

Phantom Life

 * A new palace appears as the available dungeon in the third semester,
 * There is a new area in Mementos with a brighter, monochrome coloration, noticeably different from the previous areas seen in the original game. Enemies from the Depths of Mementos and the Qliphoth World can be encountered there.
 * During the third semester, should their Confidants be maximized, the party will receive new, stronger third-tier ultimate Personas, as a result of a fusion between their initial and second-tier Persona. In the process, each member will receive a special, signature skill.
 * Akechi returns as a playable character in his Black Mask attire together with Loki.
 * The Phantom Thieves have unison attacks called "Showtimes," unlocked over the course of the story, where two members can unite and attack an enemy together. It uses no resources, just like All-out Attacks, and works even for enemies that cannot be Downed, though only one enemy can be targeted.
 * New types of Shadows can appear in Palaces and Mementos:
 * Savage Shadows are exceedingly strong enemies with a glowing red aura that cannot be negotiated with unless their health is reduced to very low levels (about one-quarter).
 * Disaster Shadows appear, which have higher stats and will only attack when they are targeted first. They drop rare items and cause an explosion that damages nearby enemies once they are defeated.
 * Special items known as Will Seeds appear within all Palaces, restoring a small amount of SP upon pickup. There are three to collect per Palace, and once obtained, they combine to create a powerful accessory, bestowing unique skills related to the rulers of the Palace they came from. Bringing these accessories to Jose allows him to upgrade them to a stronger variant with more useful properties.
 * While traversing Mementos, there's a rare chance to stumble upon Deviations, special areas with different layouts and effects, which can be positive or negative for the group.
 * The protagonist can use a grappling hook to reach higher places and ambush enemies from afar.
 * Due to this, every Palace has been altered to make use of it.
 * Futaba has her own finishing touch.
 * The behavior for all major bosses has been altered or expanded on, and the artificial intelligence for many foes has been significantly improved.
 * Lavenza, like her Caroline and Justine counterpart, can be fought in Mementos in New Game Plus during the third semester.
 * All party members immediately have Baton Pass accessible without having to have their Confidant established.
 * Additionally, each party member now has their own individual Baton Pass rank, which adds more effects as they rank up, such as a larger damage increase and HP or SP recovery. Ranking up can be achieved through playing darts.
 * Furthermore, the 4th and last Baton Pass in a single turn allows for the respective party member to use any skill with no HP or SP cost.
 * Each party member's Shadow negotiation ability in Hold Up, which grants the protagonist a chance to try again should he anger his target, now always works, but only under specific circumstances. The requirements for this to occur vary between party members.
 * Technical damage now has an innate chance of Downing enemies. Because of this, the innate damage multiplier has been reduced from x1.8 to x1.4.
 * Technical attacks can be ranked up by playing billiards. Doing so will increase their power, and grant greater chance to Down enemies.
 * Psychokinesis skills can now induce Technical damage against enemies inflicted with Forget.
 * In addition, after buying and reading "Knowing the Heart" from Jinbocho, more Technical combinations are added, meaning ailments will add vulnerability to more elemental skills.
 * Freeze, which originally suppressed all resistances to Physical and Gun skills, no longer affects Repel and Drain.
 * Dizzy, Forget and Confuse now end after the target is hit.
 * Additionally, Confuse ends 1 turn earlier in comparison to other ailments.
 * The Reaper is now immune to Despair, meaning he can no longer be defeated easily during Flu Season weather.
 * New Personas that haven't appeared in Persona 5 have been added.
 * Some Personas and their Shadow counterparts have had their attributes altered or their movesets revamped.
 * Additionally, the Arcana of certain Personas has been rearranged.
 * New enemies are added to various locations within the game, along with previous enemy pools being shuffled somewhat.
 * The skillsets of most party members have been slightly tweaked.
 * Several new skills have been added.
 * In addition, the effects of Giant Slice, Headbutt, Terror Claw, Swift Strike and Dream Needle have been changed.
 * The catalogue of items has been expanded on.
 * Additionally, certain items from Persona 5 are no longer available.
 * Search Object and Treasure Chest drops have been completely overhauled.
 * Accessories can grant usable skills in addition to passive effects, and equipping them on party members can greatly diversify their movesets. A majority of these can only be obtained through itemization.
 * Personas now have traits, abilities which can be passed down through fusion and grant automatic effects in battle and are separate from the Persona's pool of skills.
 * Personas can have their stats directly boosted in Lockdown through incense, special items that can be bought in Kichijoji or obtained via negotiation.
 * The Security Meter in Palaces now starts at 40% instead of 0%.
 * Treasure Demons can now appear inside random Shadow encounters.
 * Guns now reload after every battle, rather than having a set number of ammo per dungeon visit. Because of that, total gun ammo is drastically reduced, which is determined by the weapon's rounds statistic, which before only limited how many times the user can shoot in one turn.
 * There are several new Mementos Requests, with some appearing during the third semester.
 * The Velvet Room can sometimes enter a fusion alarm state, beginning from the time of the third heist, allowing the protagonist to:
 * Fuse stronger Personas with a different skillset than usual;
 * Itemize Personas for more powerful weapons, armor, accessories or skill cards;
 * and gain more experience when strengthening a Persona via the Gallows.
 * The alarm ends upon exiting the Velvet Room, manually ending it by speaking to the wardens, or when an accident occurs. To balance the improved capabilities, there is a greatly heightened chance of a fusion accident to occur, and certain fusion accidents can create bizarre Personas with incredibly specific or odd skillsets.
 * Challenge Battle, a mode akin to training quests from Shin Megami Tensei IV appears, allowing the party to battle waves of various enemies on a special stage in the Velvet Room.
 * Copies of the protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are also available as DLC boss fights using this mode.
 * The Merciless difficulty and dual audio functionality are available in Royal immediately, rather than having to be downloaded as DLC.
 * Every difficulty aside from Normal and Hard have had their modifiers tweaked from the original game. If one has not played any Persona game before, Normal should be fine, since the greater variety in ways to take down enemies and increase stats makes this game more manageable than the original version:
 * Safe (previously "Safety") changes the damage modifier from x2 to x1.6, EXP from x3 to x1.5 and money from x5 to x1.5.
 * Easy changes EXP and money from x1 to x1.2.
 * Merciless changes the damage modifier from x0.8 to x0.65, and EXP and money from x0.4 to x1.2.

Thieves Den

 * The protagonist may visit his own personal "Thieves Den," a fourth-wall breaking recreational area unrelated to the story. It is the protagonist's Palace.
 * While in the Den, the protagonist can change his appearance to any of the Phantom Thieves and explore it in their guise.
 * In the Den, one can watch cutscenes from the game, listen to the soundtrack, and view various artwork.
 * The protagonist is able to customize his Palace as he pleases, and depending on what is placed, he'll be able to listen to conversations between cognitive versions of his Confidants.
 * The Den has an Award wall, which is gradually decorated with accolades for various accomplishments divided into School Life, Battle and Phantom. Such examples include opening 40 locked chests, spending over one million yen at Untouchable and washing 10 pieces of sooty armor.
 * The protagonist can play a card game, "Tycoon," with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. The rules are based on.

Other

 * Persona 5 Royal adds 29 new songs, with a few overlaying gameplay sections from the original game:
 * If the Phantom Thieves ambush an enemy, the added "Take Over" theme will play in place of "Last Surprise."
 * Mementos now has additional themes, which will play depending on how deep the Phantom Thieves traverse.
 * The PlayStation trophies are significantly different than the ones in the original game.
 * A lot of trophies that were in the original Persona 5 are now Thieves Den awards.
 * Alternate costumes from Persona 5 are available for free in the English version of Persona 5 Royal.
 * The accessories that came with DLC outfits or Personas have had their properties tweaked.
 * New costumes exclusive to Royal can be purchased as DLC and be worn in the Metaverse. All characters can wear their Ball Stage, Velvet Room and Featherman outfits from Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, wear skins based on their simplified look in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, and Demonica suits based on Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.
 * The party members' dialogue portraits have been completely redrawn, and new angles and expressions have been added.
 * Furthermore, many backgrounds and environments from the original game have been given noticeable updates, such as Shujin Academy, particularly the courtyard.
 * Lip sync during voiced cutscenes is included in the Japanese version.
 * Some scenes that were not voiced in the original Persona 5 are now fully voiced.
 * The Shujin Academy students' hostility towards the protagonist now dies down after Kamoshida's confession. This would also have an effect on certain events, such as studying in the school library.
 * Junya Kaneshiro and Chihaya Mifune's Japanese voice actors from Persona 5 the Animation re-recorded the original voice lines, due to both of their previous Japanese voice actors passing away.
 * Tae Takemi has a new English voice actor.
 * Lala Escargot is now fully voiced.
 * Miscellaneous events have been added or modified:
 * Several events now have photographs to commemorate them, such as the Phantom Thieves' celebration at Wilton Buffet.
 * The protagonist attends a summer festival with Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana.
 * Should the third semester be pursued, the major events of the original ending of the game would be put forward: the protagonist is not arrested and Morgana returns immediately on Christmas.
 * Valentine's Day has been updated with additional content.
 * For the first time in the Persona series, White Day can be celebrated as a follow-up to Valentine's Day. If the protagonist is single, he'll spend it with Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana.
 * More characters can be spoken to when the protagonist bids his farewells on March 19, such as Mika.
 * The characters were also fleshed out further wherever possible. They would mostly have their key traits put on display, but some would have additional changes:
 * Goro Akechi now acts as a rival to the protagonist, expanding his role in the story;
 * As Ryuji was misunderstood, his altruistic side was emphasized on; he would over time become more protective and caring of Morgana, mending their rivalry.
 * Morgana was also resolved revolving a design issue where he was made to appear as if he's making the protagonist sleep in during certain evenings.
 * The Shinjuku men who abduct Ryuji in Shinjuku have been given names: they're now Angel and Julian.
 * In the English localization, Angel and Julian have had their dialogue slightly tweaked. Instead of preying on Ryuji, they want to mentor him in the world of drag.
 * The western release of the game comes with both English and Japanese audio options, whereas in the original version the dual audio setting was only available as DLC.
 * Persona 5 Royal has been officially localized in French, Italian, German and Spanish (albeit only in subtitle form.)
 * A new English font, Optima Nova Black, is used for dialogue instead of KoreanKRSM (a카리스마), the one used in the original game. This is likely due to the necessity for the font to support the additional western languages with the Latin script, similarly to Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight.
 * Additionally, as the new font supports accents, several names have been edited appropriately, such as "Arsène" and "Café Leblanc."
 * However, the English text font from the original Persona 5 is used during the scene where people are cheering for the Phantom Thieves before Satanael's awakening. This is due to the scene being a pre-rendered cutscene.
 * The improved graphics are now based on Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. The game runs in 30fps with 4K support for PlayStation 4 Pro.
 * Image and video capture, which has only been available during the intro before the protagonist gets captured by the police, is now available throughout almost the entire game, only being restricted during third semester content.

2022 Remaster

 * The remastered version of the game adds minor visual changes.
 * On PlayStation 5, Xbox and Windows, the All-out Attack animations and in-game cutscenes that show flashing lights are now dimmed to prevent epilepsy seizures. Similar methods are used in Japan during anime broadcasts.
 * The dimming effect on the All-out Attack screen is absent from the Nintendo Switch version, which remains unaltered from the original release.
 * The CRIWARE logo has been removed when starting the game.
 * Almost all DLC, including the paid content exclusive to Royal 's original release, has been confirmed to be included for free in the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC versions of the game.
 * Censorship of the game that was originally catered to the Korean and Traditional Chinese versions of the game, has been applied globally to all versions:
 * The Rising Sun symbol on Ryuji's shoes is now taken out of all versions.
 * The Almighty skill icon, which was also reminiscent of the Rising Sun, was changed to the alternate spiral design.
 * The Raidou Costume DLC is no longer present in the remasters of Persona 5 Royal.
 * The Xbox and the Microsoft Store versions of the game do not include the achievement "The Phenomenal Phantom Thief", which is rewarded for obtaining all other achievements.
 * Due to the lack of an integrated achievement system on the console, the Nintendo Switch version lacks native achievement support, but still retains the in-game Thieves Den Awards.
 * When naming the protagonist, the game prioritizes the first name instead of the family name like before.
 * The PC versions use a mouse cursor shaped like an icon of the protagonist's knife.
 * The PC version of the game names the protagonist and the Phantom Thieves using the keyboard.
 * The 2022 remaster of the game allows for the user to change languages freely. To ensure consistency, doing so will default the protagonist's name to "Ren Amamiya" and the Phantom Thieves' to "The Phantoms" in the respective language.
 * The keyboard controls for combat are laid out using WER, C and Space. The keys are all close enough to be covered by the entire hand, with the WER set of keys being explicitly framed above the rest. Those top-most keys prioritize more complex commands, specifically Gun, Persona and Items, with C and Space being used by more common and simple tactics: Guard and Melee.
 * The Nintendo Switch version carries over the majority of functions performed by the DualShock and DualSense controllers in the PlayStation versions of the game:
 * The darts minigame is still motion-based, but instead uses the Joy-Con or Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for positioning and executing throws in TV Mode, while moving the Switch console around using the gyroscope is required in Handheld Mode.
 * Petting the Morgana Car within Mementos on the Nintendo Switch is done by touching the car directly on the screen.
 * The PC version of the game does not make use of the keyboard for the crossword puzzles, and instead relies on navigating options and transferring them on the blank field like the other renditions of the game.
 * In the last puzzle of the final palace, a textbox was added to show what colors are active when a switch is flipped.
 * The recording restrictions for the third semester have been changed for some consoles:
 * The PS5 version has no changes from the PS4 version.
 * The Nintendo Switch version does not allow recording video footage, but has no restrictions with taking pictures.
 * The UI of the game differs between each port of the game due to the difference in button configuration and appearance:
 * The PS5 version's UI button prompts are white to reflect the monochromatic appearance of the buttons on the DualSense controller, compared to the original PS4 version, which displays colored buttons modeled after the DualShock 4 controller.
 * The Xbox versions use colored letter prompts to reflect the Xbox Wireless Controllers.
 * The Switch version uses white, lettered button prompts to reflect the Joy-Con and Nintendo Switch Pro Controller configurations, bearing a similar appearance to the UI in the Switch version of Persona 5 Strikers.
 * The Nintendo Switch version of Persona 5 Royal employs similar resolution scaling solutions to the original release of Persona 4 Golden on PlayStation Vita. The game has a max resolution of 810p in TV Mode with the UI and menus displaying at the native 1080p output; the resolution in Handheld Mode is 540p with menus and UI presented at the native 720p output of the Switch console's screen.
 * Additionally, the Nintendo Switch version (specifically the English one) has been compressed down to 14.2GB, roughly a third of the size of the original game.
 * The Nintendo Switch and Xbox One versions of the game run at a set performance target of 30 frames-per-second (FPS) like the original PlayStation 4 version, while the game is able to go up to 60FPS natively on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The Microsoft Windows version however, is the only version of the game that is able to reach 120FPS depending on hardware configurations.
 * Additionally, Xbox One X, PS5, Xbox Series X are able to display the game at a native 4K resolution, while Xbox Series S runs at 1080p, the Xbox One S runs at a max resolution at 900p.
 * The Microsoft Windows version has individual settings for improving resolution and performance, including being able to configure shadow and texture quality, depth of field, anti-aliasing and rendering scale to suit the player's hardware prerequisites.
 * The PS5 version of the game cannot be directly upgraded from the PS4 version of the game, and will have to be bought separately.
 * The Xbox and the Microsoft Store versions support "Xbox Play Anywhere" and "Smart Delivery", allowing players to play between devices without the need to buy separate copies. Save datas and achievements are universal, and upgrades from Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S is supported.
 * The PS5 and Nintendo Switch versions were released physically worldwide. However, it will only be released as a digital title for Xbox consoles in Asia, while it will not be released physically on PC platforms.
 * The 2022 remaster of Persona 5 Royal was also localized in Simplified Chinese (subtitle only.)
 * As opposed to being developed internally at P-Studio, the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows versions of Persona 5 Royal were ported by Atlus parent company and publisher Sega.

Plot

 * Main article: Persona 5 → Plot



While the Phantom Thieves begin to form, the protagonist will acquaint with more faces: Kasumi Yoshizawa, a newly enrolled first-year scholarship student in Shujin Academy and a talented gymnast; and Takuto Maruki, a school counselor hired to help the students after Kamoshida turns himself in to the police. While the Phantom Thieves' first explore Mementos, they also meet a mysterious entity in the form of a boy known as Jose. Aside of giving vital services in Mementos, he also grants the protagonist a Wishing Star capable of letting party members perform Showtimes.

In the midst of their heist on Okumura's Palace in October, the protagonist, Morgana, and Kasumi find themselves in an unknown Palace linked to the construction site of a stadium in Odaiba Seaside Park. There, Kasumi finds a cognitive version of her deceased sister, who is quickly squashed by a tall, lanky and disturbing looking Shadow that bursts into a Byakhee. Kasumi's frustration at the school administration pushing their desires onto her, along with grief over the death of her younger sister, causes her to awaken to her Persona, Cendrillon, and team up with the protagonist and Morgana to defeat the Shadow. After they escape the Palace, Morgana invites Kasumi to join the Phantom Thieves, which she declines, believing she would be doing a disservice to the group to join when she isn't fully invested in their work.

On November 19th, Kasumi will appear briefly in Niijima's Palace, helping the protagonist escape from the authorities by assisting him with defeating a large group of Shadows pursuing him. She reaffirms the promise he made to her that he would return safely, before quickly taking her leave to distract the rest of the Shadows on his tail.

If Maruki's Confidant was completed prior to November 18th, the events past the original game's true ending will change and be extended: after the Phantom Thieves defeat Yaldabaoth on Christmas Eve, while Sae Niijima requests the protagonist helps her prosecute Masayoshi Shido by turning himself into the police, instead Goro Akechi will suddenly reappear and offer to testify in his place. The protagonist and Morgana both return to Leblanc and celebrate Christmas Day and New Year's Eve with the Phantom Thieves. Because of Akechi's testimony, the woman whom Shido harassed at the start of the year was found, and Shido was arrested for treason. However, before New Year, the protagonist dreams of himself walking around school and hearing his friends talking about their desires, with a garbled voice over the intercom expressing disappointment at the protagonist's desire to leave.

On January 1, while the protagonist prepares for a shrine visit with Kasumi, abnormalities began to surface, starting from an unknown teenager idling in Leblanc, followed by Futaba mentioning her mother buying her a yukata. When he meets Ryuji, Ann, Makoto, Yusuke, Futaba and Haru at the Meiji Shrine, he is shocked by Haru mentioning going to lunch with her father, Futaba planning to go shopping with her mother, Makoto spending time with her "family," and Ann meeting with Shiho. When all of the protagonist's friends depart but Kasumi, Shinichi Yoshizawa arrives to inform Kasumi that all of her relatives are at home. In doing so, he calls her by her given name, which provokes a strange reaction on the protagonist, not being able to process the use of the name.

On January 2, the protagonist witnesses the abnormalities first hand, learning that the unknown teenager he met in Leblanc the previous morning is actually Morgana, now a human, and finding Wakaba Isshiki celebrating New Year with Sojiro and Futaba, followed by Akechi, seemingly released from jail, visiting to discuss the abnormalities with him, having found it suspicious that he was suddenly acquitted of his charges. After a phone call from Kasumi about the mysterious Palace they previously visited in Odaiba, the three investigate and discover that the Palace Ruler is none other than Takuto Maruki.

Maruki confesses to the trio that he had made everyone's desires into reality. In addition, the real Kasumi is dead, and the "Kasumi" the protagonist has come to know is her twin sister, Sumire Yoshizawa. Through counseling, Maruki had subconsciously caused Sumire to believe that she was Kasumi in order to help her cope with Kasumi's death, as was her wish. After seizing her from the boys due to her desire to be re-established as Kasumi, he urges the protagonist to see what his new reality looks like before deciding whether he wants to live in it for himself.

Throughout the week, the protagonist visits the other Phantom Thieves individually and tries to remind them of their former lives. He also witnesses firsthand that Kunikazu Okumura and Makoto's father are no longer deceased, Makoto and Sae have reconciled, Ryuji's leg was never broken and he reconciled with his track teammates, Ann's friend Shiho will be transferring back to Shujin for reasons other than Kamoshida's abuse and Madarame was an ideal mentor to Yusuke instead of treating him as a source of profit. After he meets all seven teammates, Akechi calls the protagonist about what he found relating Maruki, and tells him that neither Wakaba, Okumura and Makoto's father were dead to begin with in this reality because Maruki tampered with history instead of outright reviving the dead as cognitive beings.

On January 9, the protagonist and Akechi return to Maruki's Palace and reject his new reality, while the other party members, gather in Leblanc and agreed to deny it as well. Sumire, desperate with grief and denial, fights the protagonist, and Maruki then restrains her with his cognition control device, causing Sumire's Persona, Cendrillon to go berserk as a result of Sumire's frenzied and turbulent mental state, attacking the protagonist and Akechi. The rest of the Phantom Thieves arrive to save them, having Maruki retreat, again giving the group a chance to decide whether they want to live in his new reality, this time waiting until February to hear their final decision. At school, Lavenza informs the Phantom Thieves that Maruki may have a unique Persona ability which provides his actualization capabilities.

While it was only capable of activating subconsciously and its effects are limited, once he filled the vacuum left from Yaldabaoth, he was able to create this reality entirely under his own power. Lavenza also reveals that while the Phantom Thieves supposedly took control of the collective's cognitive desire once the God of Control was defeated, deep down they allowed Maruki to oversee it since they confessed their own desires to him during counseling, and subconsciously still wanted those desires to be fulfilled.

Since Maruki had the ability to make their ideal realities, each of the Phantom Thieves bar the protagonist and Akechi allowed themselves to accept the new reality. If Maruki is not stopped after a month, Mementos and all of Maruki's alterations therein will fuse permanently into the real world and can no longer be reversed, with Maruki's ideal reality becoming the true reality. Sumire, overhearing the conversation, accompanies the Phantom Thieves to Maruki's Palace and finally comes to accept herself, awakening Cendrillon to her full power.

Near the end of the Palace, the Phantom Thieves learn that Maruki was one of the original researchers for cognitive psience. When he was about to marry his fiancée Rumi, her parents were killed in an indoor burglary case. The culprit was apprehended, but Rumi fell in a PTSD-breakdown that resulted in her being rendered catatonic. Out of Maruki's desperation, an unknown entity reached out to him and mysteriously gave Maruki the power to help Rumi cope with the death of her parents, at the cost of her losing her memories of their relationship.

Afterwards, Maruki's research was stymied by Masayoshi Shido and his plans to construct a lab in Odaiba were cut off by his influence. During the Christmas Eve of the prior year, Maruki presented the finished paper he completed with the protagonist's help, only for his professor to deny it vehemently. In the middle of their argument, his Persona, Azathoth, awakened when Yaldabaoth merged the Qliphoth World with reality, finally granting Maruki the conduit to reach out to his other self.

Once the Phantom Thieves have located the treasure, on February 2, Maruki meets the protagonist and Morgana in Leblanc. He indirectly reveals that Akechi had been returned to the protagonist because his untimely separation from the protagonist made Maruki want to give them a fresh start together. However, the details around Akechi's disappearance are still unclear, so Akechi's true fate outside of Maruki's reality remains unknown. Depending on if the protagonist resolved to fulfill Akechi's promise for a duel in the future or not, the subsequent scene will also be altered:
 * If the protagonist promised to remember Akechi, Akechi will arrive to Leblanc, having been eavesdropping on Maruki and the protagonist's conversation. After the protagonist gives the calling card to Maruki before he leaves, Akechi will discuss with the protagonist about how he has decided to stand up against Maruki no matter what, expressing that he doesn't care if he dies or not so long as Maruki is stopped. The protagonist is given a chance to leave Maruki alone and call off the heist the next day by telling Akechi that he wishes to live in Maruki's reality. If he has confirmed to do so again, Akechi walked away in disappointment while the protagonist calls off the heist, resulting in the same ending as the direct offer during January 9. If he does not, Akechi will be greatly relieved, and his Persona will evolve into Hereward.
 * If the protagonist chose not to remember Akechi, or hadn't maxed out his Confidant, Akechi will not arrive at the cafe, and Maruki himself will ask if the protagonist accepts this reality one last time to avoid a conflict. The protagonist may agree to his deal, and Morgana will double confirm the decision for him. If he has confirmed to do so, Maruki will express joy and the same ending as during January 9 will play.

The protagonist agrees to reject him again, and the party goes to the top of Psientific Model Eden to fight him and his Persona Azathoth. Although he was defeated, Maruki evolves his Persona into its ultimate form, Adam Kadmon, by fusing it with his Palace's Treasure, a golden torch. Futaba reveals his weakness to be his head, and the Phantom Thieves block his attack with their Personas to allow the protagonist to shoot him. The party escapes by Morgana's new helicopter form, only for Maruki to pull the protagonist down for one final fist fight. Afterwards, Maruki resigns himself to fall to his death in his crumbling Palace, but he is pulled back by the protagonist and the Monacopter.

After Maruki loses his powers, the events that happened courtesy of Azathoth's manipulations are reverted. While time itself cannot be unwound, and the events of the previous month remain real, the world has returned to the state it should have been in without Maruki's interference, with Akechi still missing, and the protagonist detained in juvenile hall. All of the protagonists' maxed Confidants rally to free him and clear him of his charges, including those whose Confidants were maxed during the third semester, with Morgana returning once again quickly after. At bedtime the same day, it was also revealed that the Wishing Star that Jose has given to the protagonist drained all of its powers to transform Morgana into a helicopter to make sure everyone escapes the Metaverse safely.

After the protagonist and Morgana return to Leblanc, the Phantom Thieves decide to break up for the time being and pursue their own dreams; Ryuji will move near a location with a physical rehab facility and undergo therapy, Ann will go overseas to study fashion for a short while, Yusuke will stay in Tokyo to complete his painting, Makoto and Haru will move to different parts of the city to go to their preferred colleges, and Futaba will go to high school and aim for college, eventually desiring to become a psientific researcher like her mother. Morgana will stick with the protagonist, but he no longer wants to become human. During that night, Sumire also sends her parting words via IM to the protagonist, vowing that she will take international gymnastics on her own and choose her own path as well.

On the protagonist's final day, the other Phantom Thieves decide to drive him home, as they realize the police is following them. Maruki, who is now a taxi driver, offers the protagonist a ride to the train station while the others distract the police. The protagonist exchanges farewells with Maruki and the rest of the Phantom Thieves, as well as Sumire, whom he encounters at the train station. This police following the Phantom Thieves during this cutscene is possibly an allusion to the game's sequel, Persona 5 Strikers.

In a post-credits scene, the protagonist will see his Phantom Thief outfit as his reflection on the glass before it returns to normal after he removes his glasses. If Akechi's Confidant was maxed out and depending on other choice-driven factors, he will appear to pass by the train window, accompanied by two men in black suits.

Bad Ending
In addition to the new true ending added in relation to the third semester, there is also a new bad ending and unique Game Over.

If the protagonist agrees to Maruki's reality on either January 9 or February 2, the protagonist will come to his senses on February 3, where all of the Phantom Thieves have gathered for Setsubun. All of their desires were actualized, with only the protagonist potentially aware of his choice: Akechi is alive and friends with the Phantom Thieves, most likely having never worked for Shido in this reality; Sumire is living as "Kasumi" with no memory of her former self, and Sojiro offers the protagonist to continue to live with him until he graduates high school.

The game then fast-forwards to March 15, where Haru, Makoto, and Akechi have graduated from high school, with Futaba, Morgana, and Yusuke planning on attending Shujin Academy for the next school year. Maruki, his face obscured by his hat and glasses, offers to take the Phantom Thieves' photo. No one seems to recognize him, despite everyone present having previous dealings with him in the original reality. Kasumi thanks him as he walks off, and when she passes by the protagonist, he shows a thoughtful expression, but rejoins the Phantom Thieves with her. The credits show each member of the Phantom Thieves living out their desires, with a final photo of them all together at the end. In the final photo, the protagonist and Akechi stare knowingly at the camera.

Game Over
If Maruki's Treasure is not located by February 2, the Phantom Thieves believe that their failure to secure the route to the Treasure comes from them not being able to resist their desires, which leads to Mementos and reality permanently merging together. When the protagonist goes to bed, on February 3, Maruki summons him to his office in his dreams. Maruki's intent is to gain the protagonist's approval for his reality, but since he has trouble deciding, Maruki decides to make him sleep forever so that he no longer has to worry. The protagonist is then shown sleeping in his room for an indeterminable amount of time, and Lavenza fails to reach him, with her butterfly form weakening and fading.

Themes
Apart from the standard anti-authority and anti-corruption themes existent within the Persona 5 campaign, Royal ' s third semester features an anti-escapism theme. Despite everyone in the Phantom Thieves having their dearest desires come true and the rampant corruption coming to an end thanks to Takuto Maruki's machinations, they do not conform to his version of eternal happiness and seek to fight for the path they chose. The Thieves refused to entrust themselves and their future to Maruki, regardless of his genuine intentions, eventually confronting him in a decisive fight for their future.

This is also embodied by the new character Sumire Yoshizawa, a mentally unstable girl who can only live her way through assuming the identity of her deceased sister, Kasumi Yoshizawa, who died to save her. With the protagonist's help, she learns to get back on her chosen path in life and get over her immense grief and survivor's guilt.

Much like the base game, the extra content uses Gnostic and Kabbalistic motifs. However, instead of using the, which represents the evil of man, it uses the , which represents the enlightenment of it, symbolizing that Maruki truly stood for the greater good of humanity, unlike Yaldabaoth, and his actions are all genuine altruism, although he was misguided in it. The Gnostic motifs are further emphasized with the presence of the Garden of Eden as the top of Maruki's Palace, as Eden is created by the Demiurge to pacify Adam and Eve and prevent them from knowing pain. The final antagonist encountered in the game is also Adam Kadmon, the "perfect man" in Gnostic myth and sometimes being considered as the Demiurge.

Lovecraftian motifs are also present, fitting for Maruki's origins as a psientific researcher. This is seen with the final antagonist's initial form being Azathoth and his Palace containing Byakhee and Hastur as enemies, along with the Shadows and Maruki himself using tentacles frequently and tentacles seeming to replace power cables within the Palace itself.

Development
The game was initially teased by Atlus on December 30th, 2018. It was unveiled after the Persona 5 The Animation OVA, Dark Sun..., finished airing. There were no details behind the project, other than that the trailer serves as a teaser for more projects that are currently in development. Another new teaser trailer was released on March 23, 2019, featuring an unnamed girl with a ponytail, after the second Persona 5 the Animation OVA, Stars and Ours, finished airing.

The next trailer was shown during the "Persona Super Live: P-Sound Street 2019: Welcome to No. Q Theater" event on April 24, 2019. The game was shown off and a release date was confirmed for October 31, 2019 in Japan, along with more information coming on May 9, 2019. Not too long after, a western release was confirmed for Spring 2020. On December 3, 2019, a trailer for Persona 5 Royal was released with a confirmed western release date, on March 31, as were the different editions that would be available on day one.

In Japan
Persona 5 Royal was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019. A Limited Edition called Persona 5 Royal: Straight Flush Edition includes the following additional content:
 * Persona 5 Royal art book
 * Persona 5 Royal soundtrack (2 CDs + Booklet)
 * Special T-Shirt (Designed by P-Studio, Size L)
 * Special illustrated box
 * Velvet Room, Featherman & Ball Stage DLC outfits & music.

In Japan
The multiplatform re-release of Persona 5 Royal will be accompanied by a special bundle in Japan known as the "Famitsu DX Pack", to be distributed through the online retailer Ebten exclusively for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 versions of the game. It will include a tapestry featuring the commemorative artwork from issue #1613 of Weekly Famitsu Magazine, and a minature "Picaresque Mouse" plush toy modeled after Yoshizawa in her Phantom Thief attire. This limited edition will not apply to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game as they will only be released digitally in the region.

The pack will retail for ¥10,978 yen.

In the West
The western special edition of Persona 5 Royal, "1 More Edition", includes:
 * Treasure Chest Box
 * Grimoire Art Frame
 * Phantom Thieves Art Prints
 * Akechi's Briefcase Bag
 * Arcana Tarot Card Deck
 * Persona 5 Royal Steelbook

Gallery

 * Box Art

Videos

 * Trailers

Trivia

 * During the third semester's new alternate ending, Ryuji eats his eho-maki at the north-northwest direction, which matches the same Eho (the direction that one should eat the eho-maki at Setsubun, a 5 year cycle) as 2017.
 * The third awakening scenes were fully dubbed in both the Japanese and international releases, although the voice acting was removed for the final release. The voiced dialogue is significantly different from the actual in-game dialogue in terms of wording. Only Akechi's third awakening remains fully dubbed.
 * This also applies to the counseling sessions throughout the game with the Phantom Thieves and Maruki, and the ideal reality scenes from January 3 to January 8, again with completely different wording on both versions.
 * In the Persona 5 Royal Official Completion Guide, an interview with the staff states that the developers intended for neither of the new endings added in Royal to be considered the "True" ending. Internally, the two endings were referred to as the "stay ending" and "return ending," referring to whether the player chooses to remain in Maruki's reality or to go back to the original reality. The conclusion to the story was meant to be "there is no single path to justice."
 * This is supported by the PlayStation trophy and achievements for completing the game, called "The Path Chosen." This achievement unlocks regardless of which ending the player chooses, and is simply described as "Witness the ending," further alluding to the idea that neither ending was meant to be the "true" one.
 * Persona 5 Royal is the first mainline Persona game to be released for Nintendo and Xbox consoles. It is also the first Persona game available on Xbox in 8 years, as well as the first Persona game on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S disregarding backwards compatibility.