
Persona5: The Phantom X
Jun 26, 2025
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76561198806304928

Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
nothing like giving fans gacha slop to live off of until Persona 6 and Persona 4 Revival releases am i right
250 votes funny
76561198806304928

Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
nothing like giving fans gacha slop to live off of until Persona 6 and Persona 4 Revival releases am i right
250 votes funny
76561198846959300

Recommended4 hrs played
finally i can gamble my life funds on persona gacha game
171 votes funny
76561197978929018

Recommended0 hrs played
Atlus isn't just stealing our hearts, but also stealing our wallet.
165 votes funny
76561198119287988

Recommended11 hrs played
Disappointing that there is no option to explode Morgana with a thermonuclear warhead; otherwise, a decent game.
93 votes funny
76561197969157720

Not Recommended67 hrs played (54 hrs at review)
Editing to add this: Seems soft pity is either bugged or was removed, because many people are reporting hitting the full 80 pity, something we havent seen in the gacha space in a long time. Currently hoping this is a bug because that is a problem. TW client has a soft pity as well, not sure whats going on. To add, TW also has the ability to set 110 pity counter to guarantee banner unit whereas we dont have that option. 160 to guarantee. 50/50 at the 80. All these gacha QoL could have really paid off in changing the space and getting some goodwill from the playerbase, instead its the opposite.. Just sad.
I will start by saying this game is great, very Persona and feels very P5. I am currently enjoying alot of the systems in the game as they feel more advanced/worked on than how it was in P5. The anime cutscenes are constant, plentiful and actually quite good and interesting with a surprising amount of combat in them(in the first few hours anyways.) There seems to be alot of depth to the content and the way that you go about completing the map and the game in order to get as many resources/materials as possible, which I feel is well thought out and there's alot of quality of life right off the bat that makes the experience enjoyable. The music, as always is top tier. Best in the business, it's very hard for me to find another game that can outright beat Persona's soundtracks, and the same can be said for this game. Every game beat gives you a step in your foot as you go around in a familiar world while still being different, engaging and exciting.
I would love to talk about the systems and game more, but I only have one point and goal for this review: The monetization. I'm sick and tired of every IP under the sun getting a gacha game and then throwing tons and tons of packs and purchases in your face over and over and over again. It's egregious in this game. It's literally everything and everywhere, constant FOMO packs and opportunities to get you to spend more of your money "before it dissapears!". "Buy this pack for a limited time" offers spamming on my screen taking over the entirety of the game, mind you these packs arent cheap either. Each pack was advertised at 30$CAD. Starter pack? 30$. Special 1 time month pack? 30$. Premium battle pass? 30$. 10 pull?(need 80 btw) 30$ each. Limited 3 day pack? 30$. The more I play the more they pop up. I havent played the game for 5 hours, yet they have tried to milk me every 5 minutes with a new pack about 10-20 times already.
Im also sick and tired of the fact that you can never really max a character out in these games. Now I don't know how it is in this game yet(I have not really looked up whats available in the JP version of the game) or how much you can obtain dupes to progress these characters but typically, you will always need to spend money in order to have a character reach full potential, unless you use 4star characters, and who wants to do that? The whole 4star - 5star system is so overdone at this point, wasting time making characters no one will use and having us do draw after draw of getting these useless creatures/characters in hopes of the off chance we get the 1 we actually want. Why can't they just make every character the same rarity. They dont all have to be good or interesting but its just something annoying that youll have to deal with because you wont really ever use them, they usually dont have any nuance and are easily overshadowed, and typically have lacking animations and other things to make you not want to use them to force you to get the shiny 5*.
More 50/50 garbage slop, causing you not to get the character you want just to tempt you to spending another hundred dollars to get the one guy you did want. Then you need god knows how many copies of them to max the character out which comes out to thousands of dollars per character.
Now mind you, I don't mind that there is a shop, I don't mind that there are things to buy or spend money on, in fact, I typically support and pay in games that I actually enjoy, but were getting to a point where there are just too many of these same-same but different games, and not every game is good enough to support the exact same monetization practices or prices that some others do just because its the same "genre".
It was one thing when genshin impact was the one mainstream gacha game, but then came the 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th and 10th, and 20th and 50th same-same but different game trying to nickel and dime you every chance it can get. Its been like 5 years since that point and we have been fed the same slop over and over in order to make as much money as possible and its tiring, I dont want to spend thousands on your game in order to experience the full RPG mechanics of it. It isnt worth that much and while I understand that you don't need that to beat the content, it just feels like shit. Then you factor in the inevitable EOS that will happen because that seems to be the trend lately, we can potentially be stuck with nothing.(look at every gacha game that closed in the past year alone, some even lasting just a month or 2.)
What I'm getting at, is if this game came out 5 years ago, I'd be going insane and maining this game. But we are now half a decade into this gacha craze, and already, there is too much. There is only so much people can constantly spend money, switch game, pay more, rinse-repeat. Most of these systems that have adopted either some sort of paid currency or method of getting you to spend money, were totally free behind the purchase price of Persona 5 so there was no need for some of it, yall could have atleast been creative in the way you want to monetize..
Now I'm not saying remove the shop, remove MTX etc. I love persistent worlds and service games, I want to see these games grow and develop into something people can play for a long time to come and that's why I'll gladly pay for skins/outfits, cosmetics, hell I'll even strait up buy new characters if it was possible. I'd pay for convenience too, but all I'm asking for is to stop with rediculously overcharged prices, stop with the rarity of characters that we wont use(4* trash), and stop this gacha BS causing us to need to spend thousands to max out anything, and using unfriendly tactics to milk your fans and playerbase. We will pay when its worth it, so make it worth it instead of having us roll 79 times for absolute trash to get 1 good thing at the end which, if we're being realistic, probably only took a dev or two and some AI tools a few minutes at most to create (joke).
I will continue to try it because I love persona 5 and it still lets me relive the gameplay that I enjoyed so much in P5R while giving a breath of fresh air to the actual content itself. From what I have been able to play it has been very reminiscing and very good, but my point stands, and my review reflects my stance on these issues regardless of the gameplay of the game itself. I may update in the future.
TLDR: If you absolutely love persona, play it, enjoy whats there, and then move on. That's what I'm going to do. Don't waste your money on more gacha box RNG slop.
56 votes funny
76561198042190233

Not Recommended0 hrs played
I don't support gacha, I find it inherently immoral, and to be honest it should be illegal for underaged players, but that's not why I'm leaving this review. You see, I didn't even get into the game... The game throws a data collection message at you during the first start up, basically the same as cookies on the internet, and as such it should provide an option to opt out according to EU law. They only provide a link to a website talking about such data with steps on how to stop the data collection on IOS and Android. I've got a little question: Where's the PC option SEGA??? This is illegal, not borderline, but actually illegal. I can't in good conscience recommend anyone installing this, let alone playing it
51 votes funny
76561198278667700

Not Recommended1 hrs played
Had to uninstall after the objective 'to get a job'' happened
a trigger warning would have been nice!
27 votes funny
76561198120384596

Recommended4 hrs played (4 hrs at review)
Persona 5 with the slightest hint of gacha. somehow with moving to one of the greediest types of games, they managed to do so with respect to the player. gameplay is mostly what you'd expect from a real persona game with the occasional pull on the magic slot machine for new party members. Absolutely beautiful experience for the sole fact that morgana is not constantly screamin in my ears.
Edit: Fuck you devs i pulled morgana
Edit 2: I would also like to mention that i have spent nothing, that is a very important detail when it comes to these types of games.
24 votes funny
76561198061991390

Recommended57 hrs played (7 hrs at review)
It's wild that the majority of the negative reviews are essentially "game is good but its gacha."
19 votes funny
76561199064980041

Not Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
these aint the phantom thieves these the ghostly burglars
19 votes funny
76561198254632925

Not Recommended63 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
The game was good, until I saw that stupid fucking cat again.
19 votes funny
76561198187402595

Recommended61 hrs played (32 hrs at review)
Ah yeah it totally is a Persona 5 clone, surely its just a reskinned Persona 5.
No, its a completely different thing, anyone who says its just a reskinned P5 literally hasn't made it past the title screen.
Do not play this game if you can't get into gacha or don't like gacha.
I know we are in a Persona 5 oversaturation, however if you want to see a new look and new cast into a Persona 5 world this is going to be worth looking into.
17 votes funny
76561198156849437

Not Recommended73 hrs played (27 hrs at review)
P5X does have some redeeming qualities, but even as a hardcore Persona fan, if you are not already preconditioned to tolerating gacha games, you'll have to force yourself to ignore every issue that plagues the game so you can enjoy it.
P5X is, in every single way, an inferior product compared to "real" Atlus games. That should be expected with its free-to-play label, but the lack of quality control and polish in this game is an embarrassment to Atlus as a developer with such a great track record, and I really have to wonder if the money they'll make off of whales is enough to not make them regret licensing the IP to Black Wings.
We can start with the user interface and experience, which is one of the main reasons Persona 5 has become so popular. Simply put, P5X's interface is a janky, poorly designed mess, which was clearly made with mobile devices in mind only, resulting in one of the worst controller support experiences I've had in a long time. From menus breaking, to touch screen buttons taking up half the screen even on PC, to "Please Tap Screen to Progress", to having to input entire button combos to navigate menus instead of a proper menu, P5X was absolutely not ready to be released on PC, and I can tell why it hasn't released on consoles yet. Some character portraits are full of crunchy compression artifacts, which makes the game feel unfinished.
Menus feel deliberately confusing and crowded, which as it seems like a reoccurring theme in every gacha game I've seen, I can only assume is to purposefully confuse you into either purchasing the wrong upgrades or not claiming rewards you're entitled to.
The game's graphics are a mixed bag. There are parts that look really good, and parts that look not good. Lighting is often fine but with certain effects making the world feel like it's made of plastic. Rainy days just slap a reflection filter on literally everything.
In terms of gameplay feel, it feels like I'm playing an amateurish recreation of the game in Unity. Character movement is extremely stiff and while there are some really good animations and voicework, there are also really bad animation errors. Sprint in daily life was removed, clearly because there's too many hotkeys taken up on controller. The sprint function that does exist in the Metaverse not only feels sluggish due to it virtually not increasing your speed, and no changes to FOV, it's actually faster to constantly tap the sprint button due to the initial dash, likely another symptom of mobile design. The Third Eye mechanic works on an unnecessary cooldown system and darkens the screen to the point you can't even see anything. The stealth mechanics not only feel like garbage, they are entirely useless as enemies are genuinely unable to react and you can run laps around them before hitting them in the face and still get the player advantage. Because of the game's online nature, the flow between dungeon and battle is constantly broken, as you can sometimes have the game freeze for upwards of 10 seconds to load into a battle scene. Selecting skills, targets, and "Highlight" skills sometimes feels extremely sluggish and I can't tell if it's server-side lag or purely janky animation flow.
The game's combat doesn't just feel like watered down Persona, it's an insult to the games. Characters have 3 skills, with extremely wordy descriptions full of numbers and percentiles in the decimals that feel overwhelming at first, but you quickly realize none of them matter and it's just "use setup skill, use sweep skill, all out attack, gg". Upgrades are extremely superficial, often increasing the ability's damage by less than 1%, which is the usual gacha balance pitfall as numbers are so large that buffs have to be extremely small. Persona building, a core aspect of Megami Tensei, is not only generally pointless, it's actively advised against. The 1More system is heavily watered down in a blatantly obvious attempt to curb gamebreaking strategies. Abstaining from an all out attack or a baton pass is a very common thing in "real" Persona games, and here, while you do have the option, all it does is literally eat your turn with no compensation. In fact, simply getting an extra turn at all is an innate trait of Joker, who is a gacha-locked character with a drop rate of 0.04% despite being the protagonist of the game this entire Gacha is based upon. Persona games are more than just "hit weakness and all out attack", but P5X waters the gameplay down to those absolute basics to make the gameplay loop as narrow as possible to make the sole determining factor of success your character's element and level.
It's egregious how historically, the protagonist and male party members with physical attributes have been disproportionate gamebreakers in Persona games, and the one game where the complete opposite is true is coincidentally a gacha game.
Battles might feel challenging at times, but victory is almost never earned. You either get steamrolled or steamroll the enemy, with the primary deciding factor being whether or not you posess the 5 Star 0.04% ultra rare gacha drop character that is specifically designed for the challenge, and stuffed them full of upgrade items which are farmed at a snail's pace with a stamina system.
The only battles which are not designed in this way are the main story ones, which are relatively "normal", but of course, even if you did want to stick just to main story, beat it, and then be done with this game, there are several "player level" gates which will force you to grind side activities over the course of several real life days. Your engagement and retention is the developer's sole priority.
There are some good ideas here, let's not be entirely negative. I like magic crits which do not cause knockdown, I like the idea of several mini-buffs and procs on skills even if the ones in P5X are garbage, and I do like the knockdown barriers. Highlight is frankly a better mechanic than Persona 3 Reload's Theurgy. I also like bosses having unique mechanics, but P5X handled them terribly by making them so abstract that they need a tutorial popping up explaining exactly how it works. Adding to that, it's borderline insulting how every puzzle in the story is completely nullified by putting red arrows pointing towards the solution. You can't even avoid it or disable it so you can think for yourself, the "puzzle" is quite literally just a formality as the game treats you like an idiot and the solution is always waypointed and marked.
Some side stories and activities are really fun, and there's glimpses of the games I've grown to be such a massive fan of here, but that fun is constantly stripped away from you. I wouldn't even mind a AAA $70 Persona game that worked on a real-life real-time calendar basis. I think it's unorthodox, but it could be fun. The overwhelming upgrade material farms in place of real battle exp, the character gacha, and current stamina systems however leave much to be desired and you will eventually have moments where your "daily" playtime is basically a handful of minutes long.
The game's music is honestly really good, but at this point it shouldn't even be a question coming from an Atlus game.
The main story is a joke, and I can totally understand why Atlus has decided to step in for future patches. The idea of a guy who slams into people on the subway for fun having his own palace is laughable when in the main game he would've just been a small mementos miniboss, backstory notwithstanding. I'm not even trying to compare the guy to major antagonists like some memes have, he's specifically a narrative parallel to Kamoshida from P5, but he doesn't even come close.
I don't even want to comment too much on the Gacha mechanic itself. The culture of creating hundreds of accounts until you get the perfect start is obnoxious, and even if you do, you will eventually get burned. The only free-to-play friendly Gachas are the ones that swiftly declare End of Service.
15 votes funny
76561198314027001

Not Recommended24 hrs played (22 hrs at review)
this doesn't feel like a new persona game, it feels like a cheap knock off rather than a freshly made persona game. It also abandones the core mechanics of other persona game just to make you buy stuff, i would rather pay 70 dollars to a refined persona game than this gacha slop
14 votes funny
76561198054304829

Not Recommended2 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
I'll start this off by saying I never usually leave reviews, but this hot pile of horseshit actually deserves to be called out for what it is instead of whatever the fuck these other fanboys are typing in their reviews. 0.4% FOR A 5* on a limited banner, with 80 pity AND A 5050 on top of that is extremely pathetic rates, the game does give you BARELY any premium currency and you can dream of being given premium pulls in their entirety, not to talk about how predatory their ads are for the paid only bundles. Overall just ruins the reputation of the IP and is disgustingly cringe and aimed solely at milking the fans.
EDIT: the rates are actually 0.8%, my bad on that!
The game is still a clunky pile of hot dogshjt with predatory ads and barely any premium currency, but it has normal gacha rates, yay!
14 votes funny
76561198288928677

Recommended0 hrs played
MEROPE is Hot AF. its more persona. Runs good on the deck.You will need the touch screen to start.
13 votes funny
76561199136137390

Recommended53 hrs played (4 hrs at review)
OH NO!!! Joker Persona 5 is trapped in the metaverse with no way out !!! To help him, all he needs is your credit card number, expiration date, and the three stylish numbers on the back! But, you gotta be quick, so Joker can safely make his escape and get back to stealing hearts!
12 votes funny
76561199536843120

Not Recommended3 hrs played (3 hrs at review)
it's like persona 5 if it had micro-transactions, the battles were way more janky and sluggish, the pacing sucked and had horrible awful exposition, and generally way worse writing, and had a godawful mess of a UI. that's this game. this is "we have persona 5 royal at home".
to give credit where credit is due, it IS distinct from p5r. it's a new story and characters, and while i do like the new characters and it is visually impressive at times, it doesn't do enough to make this worth your time in my opinion. if you are able to find enjoyment in this game though, more power to you. there ARE good ideas and concepts here and there, but the kind of game that persona is just isn't well suited for a live service game. plus, i cannot stress how much of an unreadable mess the UI often is. it's the aesthetics of p5r's menus but without the clarity.
tldr, buy persona 5 royal, persona 3 reload or metaphor refantazio instead of playing this, all of which are more than worth the cash that this game wants you to spend on it.
11 votes funny
76561198227499960

Not Recommended2 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
Probably the worst experience I've ever had with a persona game.
I was hoping to play something at least close to the level of Genshin Impact but this game managed it to ruin it completely.
Don't even bother playing this game. Play Genshin Impact or Fortnite, those are better.
Plus it doesn't have any lgbtq+ addition to the game so it gets even worst, I hate when companies just ignore lgbtq+ people and just make the Male fantasy with hot women and stuff... Ugh, so disgusting...
Uninstalling NOW!🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
11 votes funny
76561198814922763

Not Recommended64 hrs played (31 hrs at review)
SEGA. Soft Pity. Is it in the room with us? You think we wont notice that after hitting 80/80 every single time? Pls do not ruin my favorite game with this scummy bs and tryna be stealthy about it.
I'm willing to wait 1 year for goro akechi pixels bc I'm insane but no soft pity is where i draw the line.
9 votes funny
76561198043989610

Not Recommended4 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
They removed soft pity for the Global release of this game and removed some rewards. They are trying to treat non CN players like trash. I wouldn't spend any money or bother with the game, they are just looking for a quick buck.
Until soft pity is added back in and addressed avoid this game at all costs.
8 votes funny
76561198052391709

Recommended5 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
For people worried—this is a full-fledged Persona 5 game, not a cheap cash grab. It's more of a JRPG than it is a gacha, and it's also pretty generous. Definitely recommend checking it out—especially if you're a Persona fan. The gameplay is pretty faithful to the mainline games, and you don't need to have played/finished Persona 5 Royal to understand the story—It takes place in an alternate universe.
On the gacha side, all the characters are easily earnable (including limited pulls) by just playing casually. Feels like Persona 5, plays like Persona 5, and the writers are also heavily involved. The game also just oozes atmosphere, the UI, animations and art are A+ tier. It's also free, so no harm in just giving it a shot! Even if you haven't played Persona, it's a great entry point into the series. Also runs great on the Steam Deck.
8 votes funny
76561198378939879

Recommended0 hrs played
16 mins in the game and can already gamble for real money much love.. (I have gambling problems)
7 votes funny
76561198134635371

Not Recommended9 hrs played (3 hrs at review)
Played the Kr version for a bit and tried this for the official translation.
This is a shallow spin-off of the P5 series with a honestly boring story 90% of the time that tries to make you care for a random group of generic "Here is my original phantom thief" characters enough to spend for them. The revised gameplay is a watered down version of the classic Persona gameplay mixed with other gacha systems with clunky animations but decent models.
Also, a gacha live-service game simply doesn't work for the type of story Atlus games try to convey (with the limited amount of days to try to make the most of everyday choices).
This game exploits the love people have for the P5 franchise by showing the original cast at the start and I'm honestly saddened by the fact that it's working.
Tldr: Can't make me care enough for the "Spectral stealers".
7 votes funny
76561199446706081

Not Recommended0 hrs played
Persona 5 X is a shallow, watered down, predatory, and embarrassing imitation of a much better game. The positive reviews of P5X genuinely make me feel like a crazy person. Being self aware of your exploitation does not change the fact that this is one of the most poorly disguised slot machines I've ever seen. A frankly embarrassing stain on the ATLUS steam page.
7 votes funny
Persona5: The Phantom X
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76561198806304928

Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
nothing like giving fans gacha slop to live off of until Persona 6 and Persona 4 Revival releases am i right
250 votes funny
76561198806304928

Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
nothing like giving fans gacha slop to live off of until Persona 6 and Persona 4 Revival releases am i right
250 votes funny
76561198846959300

Recommended4 hrs played
finally i can gamble my life funds on persona gacha game
171 votes funny
76561197978929018

Recommended0 hrs played
Atlus isn't just stealing our hearts, but also stealing our wallet.
165 votes funny
76561198119287988

Recommended11 hrs played
Disappointing that there is no option to explode Morgana with a thermonuclear warhead; otherwise, a decent game.
93 votes funny
76561197969157720

Not Recommended67 hrs played (54 hrs at review)
Editing to add this: Seems soft pity is either bugged or was removed, because many people are reporting hitting the full 80 pity, something we havent seen in the gacha space in a long time. Currently hoping this is a bug because that is a problem. TW client has a soft pity as well, not sure whats going on. To add, TW also has the ability to set 110 pity counter to guarantee banner unit whereas we dont have that option. 160 to guarantee. 50/50 at the 80. All these gacha QoL could have really paid off in changing the space and getting some goodwill from the playerbase, instead its the opposite.. Just sad.
I will start by saying this game is great, very Persona and feels very P5. I am currently enjoying alot of the systems in the game as they feel more advanced/worked on than how it was in P5. The anime cutscenes are constant, plentiful and actually quite good and interesting with a surprising amount of combat in them(in the first few hours anyways.) There seems to be alot of depth to the content and the way that you go about completing the map and the game in order to get as many resources/materials as possible, which I feel is well thought out and there's alot of quality of life right off the bat that makes the experience enjoyable. The music, as always is top tier. Best in the business, it's very hard for me to find another game that can outright beat Persona's soundtracks, and the same can be said for this game. Every game beat gives you a step in your foot as you go around in a familiar world while still being different, engaging and exciting.
I would love to talk about the systems and game more, but I only have one point and goal for this review: The monetization. I'm sick and tired of every IP under the sun getting a gacha game and then throwing tons and tons of packs and purchases in your face over and over and over again. It's egregious in this game. It's literally everything and everywhere, constant FOMO packs and opportunities to get you to spend more of your money "before it dissapears!". "Buy this pack for a limited time" offers spamming on my screen taking over the entirety of the game, mind you these packs arent cheap either. Each pack was advertised at 30$CAD. Starter pack? 30$. Special 1 time month pack? 30$. Premium battle pass? 30$. 10 pull?(need 80 btw) 30$ each. Limited 3 day pack? 30$. The more I play the more they pop up. I havent played the game for 5 hours, yet they have tried to milk me every 5 minutes with a new pack about 10-20 times already.
Im also sick and tired of the fact that you can never really max a character out in these games. Now I don't know how it is in this game yet(I have not really looked up whats available in the JP version of the game) or how much you can obtain dupes to progress these characters but typically, you will always need to spend money in order to have a character reach full potential, unless you use 4star characters, and who wants to do that? The whole 4star - 5star system is so overdone at this point, wasting time making characters no one will use and having us do draw after draw of getting these useless creatures/characters in hopes of the off chance we get the 1 we actually want. Why can't they just make every character the same rarity. They dont all have to be good or interesting but its just something annoying that youll have to deal with because you wont really ever use them, they usually dont have any nuance and are easily overshadowed, and typically have lacking animations and other things to make you not want to use them to force you to get the shiny 5*.
More 50/50 garbage slop, causing you not to get the character you want just to tempt you to spending another hundred dollars to get the one guy you did want. Then you need god knows how many copies of them to max the character out which comes out to thousands of dollars per character.
Now mind you, I don't mind that there is a shop, I don't mind that there are things to buy or spend money on, in fact, I typically support and pay in games that I actually enjoy, but were getting to a point where there are just too many of these same-same but different games, and not every game is good enough to support the exact same monetization practices or prices that some others do just because its the same "genre".
It was one thing when genshin impact was the one mainstream gacha game, but then came the 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th and 10th, and 20th and 50th same-same but different game trying to nickel and dime you every chance it can get. Its been like 5 years since that point and we have been fed the same slop over and over in order to make as much money as possible and its tiring, I dont want to spend thousands on your game in order to experience the full RPG mechanics of it. It isnt worth that much and while I understand that you don't need that to beat the content, it just feels like shit. Then you factor in the inevitable EOS that will happen because that seems to be the trend lately, we can potentially be stuck with nothing.(look at every gacha game that closed in the past year alone, some even lasting just a month or 2.)
What I'm getting at, is if this game came out 5 years ago, I'd be going insane and maining this game. But we are now half a decade into this gacha craze, and already, there is too much. There is only so much people can constantly spend money, switch game, pay more, rinse-repeat. Most of these systems that have adopted either some sort of paid currency or method of getting you to spend money, were totally free behind the purchase price of Persona 5 so there was no need for some of it, yall could have atleast been creative in the way you want to monetize..
Now I'm not saying remove the shop, remove MTX etc. I love persistent worlds and service games, I want to see these games grow and develop into something people can play for a long time to come and that's why I'll gladly pay for skins/outfits, cosmetics, hell I'll even strait up buy new characters if it was possible. I'd pay for convenience too, but all I'm asking for is to stop with rediculously overcharged prices, stop with the rarity of characters that we wont use(4* trash), and stop this gacha BS causing us to need to spend thousands to max out anything, and using unfriendly tactics to milk your fans and playerbase. We will pay when its worth it, so make it worth it instead of having us roll 79 times for absolute trash to get 1 good thing at the end which, if we're being realistic, probably only took a dev or two and some AI tools a few minutes at most to create (joke).
I will continue to try it because I love persona 5 and it still lets me relive the gameplay that I enjoyed so much in P5R while giving a breath of fresh air to the actual content itself. From what I have been able to play it has been very reminiscing and very good, but my point stands, and my review reflects my stance on these issues regardless of the gameplay of the game itself. I may update in the future.
TLDR: If you absolutely love persona, play it, enjoy whats there, and then move on. That's what I'm going to do. Don't waste your money on more gacha box RNG slop.
56 votes funny
76561198042190233

Not Recommended0 hrs played
I don't support gacha, I find it inherently immoral, and to be honest it should be illegal for underaged players, but that's not why I'm leaving this review. You see, I didn't even get into the game... The game throws a data collection message at you during the first start up, basically the same as cookies on the internet, and as such it should provide an option to opt out according to EU law. They only provide a link to a website talking about such data with steps on how to stop the data collection on IOS and Android. I've got a little question: Where's the PC option SEGA??? This is illegal, not borderline, but actually illegal. I can't in good conscience recommend anyone installing this, let alone playing it
51 votes funny
76561198278667700

Not Recommended1 hrs played
Had to uninstall after the objective 'to get a job'' happened
a trigger warning would have been nice!
27 votes funny
76561198120384596

Recommended4 hrs played (4 hrs at review)
Persona 5 with the slightest hint of gacha. somehow with moving to one of the greediest types of games, they managed to do so with respect to the player. gameplay is mostly what you'd expect from a real persona game with the occasional pull on the magic slot machine for new party members. Absolutely beautiful experience for the sole fact that morgana is not constantly screamin in my ears.
Edit: Fuck you devs i pulled morgana
Edit 2: I would also like to mention that i have spent nothing, that is a very important detail when it comes to these types of games.
24 votes funny
76561198061991390

Recommended57 hrs played (7 hrs at review)
It's wild that the majority of the negative reviews are essentially "game is good but its gacha."
19 votes funny
76561199064980041

Not Recommended1 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
these aint the phantom thieves these the ghostly burglars
19 votes funny
76561198254632925

Not Recommended63 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
The game was good, until I saw that stupid fucking cat again.
19 votes funny
76561198187402595

Recommended61 hrs played (32 hrs at review)
Ah yeah it totally is a Persona 5 clone, surely its just a reskinned Persona 5.
No, its a completely different thing, anyone who says its just a reskinned P5 literally hasn't made it past the title screen.
Do not play this game if you can't get into gacha or don't like gacha.
I know we are in a Persona 5 oversaturation, however if you want to see a new look and new cast into a Persona 5 world this is going to be worth looking into.
17 votes funny
76561198156849437

Not Recommended73 hrs played (27 hrs at review)
P5X does have some redeeming qualities, but even as a hardcore Persona fan, if you are not already preconditioned to tolerating gacha games, you'll have to force yourself to ignore every issue that plagues the game so you can enjoy it.
P5X is, in every single way, an inferior product compared to "real" Atlus games. That should be expected with its free-to-play label, but the lack of quality control and polish in this game is an embarrassment to Atlus as a developer with such a great track record, and I really have to wonder if the money they'll make off of whales is enough to not make them regret licensing the IP to Black Wings.
We can start with the user interface and experience, which is one of the main reasons Persona 5 has become so popular. Simply put, P5X's interface is a janky, poorly designed mess, which was clearly made with mobile devices in mind only, resulting in one of the worst controller support experiences I've had in a long time. From menus breaking, to touch screen buttons taking up half the screen even on PC, to "Please Tap Screen to Progress", to having to input entire button combos to navigate menus instead of a proper menu, P5X was absolutely not ready to be released on PC, and I can tell why it hasn't released on consoles yet. Some character portraits are full of crunchy compression artifacts, which makes the game feel unfinished.
Menus feel deliberately confusing and crowded, which as it seems like a reoccurring theme in every gacha game I've seen, I can only assume is to purposefully confuse you into either purchasing the wrong upgrades or not claiming rewards you're entitled to.
The game's graphics are a mixed bag. There are parts that look really good, and parts that look not good. Lighting is often fine but with certain effects making the world feel like it's made of plastic. Rainy days just slap a reflection filter on literally everything.
In terms of gameplay feel, it feels like I'm playing an amateurish recreation of the game in Unity. Character movement is extremely stiff and while there are some really good animations and voicework, there are also really bad animation errors. Sprint in daily life was removed, clearly because there's too many hotkeys taken up on controller. The sprint function that does exist in the Metaverse not only feels sluggish due to it virtually not increasing your speed, and no changes to FOV, it's actually faster to constantly tap the sprint button due to the initial dash, likely another symptom of mobile design. The Third Eye mechanic works on an unnecessary cooldown system and darkens the screen to the point you can't even see anything. The stealth mechanics not only feel like garbage, they are entirely useless as enemies are genuinely unable to react and you can run laps around them before hitting them in the face and still get the player advantage. Because of the game's online nature, the flow between dungeon and battle is constantly broken, as you can sometimes have the game freeze for upwards of 10 seconds to load into a battle scene. Selecting skills, targets, and "Highlight" skills sometimes feels extremely sluggish and I can't tell if it's server-side lag or purely janky animation flow.
The game's combat doesn't just feel like watered down Persona, it's an insult to the games. Characters have 3 skills, with extremely wordy descriptions full of numbers and percentiles in the decimals that feel overwhelming at first, but you quickly realize none of them matter and it's just "use setup skill, use sweep skill, all out attack, gg". Upgrades are extremely superficial, often increasing the ability's damage by less than 1%, which is the usual gacha balance pitfall as numbers are so large that buffs have to be extremely small. Persona building, a core aspect of Megami Tensei, is not only generally pointless, it's actively advised against. The 1More system is heavily watered down in a blatantly obvious attempt to curb gamebreaking strategies. Abstaining from an all out attack or a baton pass is a very common thing in "real" Persona games, and here, while you do have the option, all it does is literally eat your turn with no compensation. In fact, simply getting an extra turn at all is an innate trait of Joker, who is a gacha-locked character with a drop rate of 0.04% despite being the protagonist of the game this entire Gacha is based upon. Persona games are more than just "hit weakness and all out attack", but P5X waters the gameplay down to those absolute basics to make the gameplay loop as narrow as possible to make the sole determining factor of success your character's element and level.
It's egregious how historically, the protagonist and male party members with physical attributes have been disproportionate gamebreakers in Persona games, and the one game where the complete opposite is true is coincidentally a gacha game.
Battles might feel challenging at times, but victory is almost never earned. You either get steamrolled or steamroll the enemy, with the primary deciding factor being whether or not you posess the 5 Star 0.04% ultra rare gacha drop character that is specifically designed for the challenge, and stuffed them full of upgrade items which are farmed at a snail's pace with a stamina system.
The only battles which are not designed in this way are the main story ones, which are relatively "normal", but of course, even if you did want to stick just to main story, beat it, and then be done with this game, there are several "player level" gates which will force you to grind side activities over the course of several real life days. Your engagement and retention is the developer's sole priority.
There are some good ideas here, let's not be entirely negative. I like magic crits which do not cause knockdown, I like the idea of several mini-buffs and procs on skills even if the ones in P5X are garbage, and I do like the knockdown barriers. Highlight is frankly a better mechanic than Persona 3 Reload's Theurgy. I also like bosses having unique mechanics, but P5X handled them terribly by making them so abstract that they need a tutorial popping up explaining exactly how it works. Adding to that, it's borderline insulting how every puzzle in the story is completely nullified by putting red arrows pointing towards the solution. You can't even avoid it or disable it so you can think for yourself, the "puzzle" is quite literally just a formality as the game treats you like an idiot and the solution is always waypointed and marked.
Some side stories and activities are really fun, and there's glimpses of the games I've grown to be such a massive fan of here, but that fun is constantly stripped away from you. I wouldn't even mind a AAA $70 Persona game that worked on a real-life real-time calendar basis. I think it's unorthodox, but it could be fun. The overwhelming upgrade material farms in place of real battle exp, the character gacha, and current stamina systems however leave much to be desired and you will eventually have moments where your "daily" playtime is basically a handful of minutes long.
The game's music is honestly really good, but at this point it shouldn't even be a question coming from an Atlus game.
The main story is a joke, and I can totally understand why Atlus has decided to step in for future patches. The idea of a guy who slams into people on the subway for fun having his own palace is laughable when in the main game he would've just been a small mementos miniboss, backstory notwithstanding. I'm not even trying to compare the guy to major antagonists like some memes have, he's specifically a narrative parallel to Kamoshida from P5, but he doesn't even come close.
I don't even want to comment too much on the Gacha mechanic itself. The culture of creating hundreds of accounts until you get the perfect start is obnoxious, and even if you do, you will eventually get burned. The only free-to-play friendly Gachas are the ones that swiftly declare End of Service.
15 votes funny
76561198314027001

Not Recommended24 hrs played (22 hrs at review)
this doesn't feel like a new persona game, it feels like a cheap knock off rather than a freshly made persona game. It also abandones the core mechanics of other persona game just to make you buy stuff, i would rather pay 70 dollars to a refined persona game than this gacha slop
14 votes funny
76561198054304829

Not Recommended2 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
I'll start this off by saying I never usually leave reviews, but this hot pile of horseshit actually deserves to be called out for what it is instead of whatever the fuck these other fanboys are typing in their reviews. 0.4% FOR A 5* on a limited banner, with 80 pity AND A 5050 on top of that is extremely pathetic rates, the game does give you BARELY any premium currency and you can dream of being given premium pulls in their entirety, not to talk about how predatory their ads are for the paid only bundles. Overall just ruins the reputation of the IP and is disgustingly cringe and aimed solely at milking the fans.
EDIT: the rates are actually 0.8%, my bad on that!
The game is still a clunky pile of hot dogshjt with predatory ads and barely any premium currency, but it has normal gacha rates, yay!
14 votes funny
76561198288928677

Recommended0 hrs played
MEROPE is Hot AF. its more persona. Runs good on the deck.You will need the touch screen to start.
13 votes funny
76561199136137390

Recommended53 hrs played (4 hrs at review)
OH NO!!! Joker Persona 5 is trapped in the metaverse with no way out !!! To help him, all he needs is your credit card number, expiration date, and the three stylish numbers on the back! But, you gotta be quick, so Joker can safely make his escape and get back to stealing hearts!
12 votes funny
76561199536843120

Not Recommended3 hrs played (3 hrs at review)
it's like persona 5 if it had micro-transactions, the battles were way more janky and sluggish, the pacing sucked and had horrible awful exposition, and generally way worse writing, and had a godawful mess of a UI. that's this game. this is "we have persona 5 royal at home".
to give credit where credit is due, it IS distinct from p5r. it's a new story and characters, and while i do like the new characters and it is visually impressive at times, it doesn't do enough to make this worth your time in my opinion. if you are able to find enjoyment in this game though, more power to you. there ARE good ideas and concepts here and there, but the kind of game that persona is just isn't well suited for a live service game. plus, i cannot stress how much of an unreadable mess the UI often is. it's the aesthetics of p5r's menus but without the clarity.
tldr, buy persona 5 royal, persona 3 reload or metaphor refantazio instead of playing this, all of which are more than worth the cash that this game wants you to spend on it.
11 votes funny
76561198227499960

Not Recommended2 hrs played (1 hrs at review)
Probably the worst experience I've ever had with a persona game.
I was hoping to play something at least close to the level of Genshin Impact but this game managed it to ruin it completely.
Don't even bother playing this game. Play Genshin Impact or Fortnite, those are better.
Plus it doesn't have any lgbtq+ addition to the game so it gets even worst, I hate when companies just ignore lgbtq+ people and just make the Male fantasy with hot women and stuff... Ugh, so disgusting...
Uninstalling NOW!🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
11 votes funny
76561198814922763

Not Recommended64 hrs played (31 hrs at review)
SEGA. Soft Pity. Is it in the room with us? You think we wont notice that after hitting 80/80 every single time? Pls do not ruin my favorite game with this scummy bs and tryna be stealthy about it.
I'm willing to wait 1 year for goro akechi pixels bc I'm insane but no soft pity is where i draw the line.
9 votes funny
76561198043989610

Not Recommended4 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
They removed soft pity for the Global release of this game and removed some rewards. They are trying to treat non CN players like trash. I wouldn't spend any money or bother with the game, they are just looking for a quick buck.
Until soft pity is added back in and addressed avoid this game at all costs.
8 votes funny
76561198052391709

Recommended5 hrs played (2 hrs at review)
For people worried—this is a full-fledged Persona 5 game, not a cheap cash grab. It's more of a JRPG than it is a gacha, and it's also pretty generous. Definitely recommend checking it out—especially if you're a Persona fan. The gameplay is pretty faithful to the mainline games, and you don't need to have played/finished Persona 5 Royal to understand the story—It takes place in an alternate universe.
On the gacha side, all the characters are easily earnable (including limited pulls) by just playing casually. Feels like Persona 5, plays like Persona 5, and the writers are also heavily involved. The game also just oozes atmosphere, the UI, animations and art are A+ tier. It's also free, so no harm in just giving it a shot! Even if you haven't played Persona, it's a great entry point into the series. Also runs great on the Steam Deck.
8 votes funny
76561198378939879

Recommended0 hrs played
16 mins in the game and can already gamble for real money much love.. (I have gambling problems)
7 votes funny
76561198134635371

Not Recommended9 hrs played (3 hrs at review)
Played the Kr version for a bit and tried this for the official translation.
This is a shallow spin-off of the P5 series with a honestly boring story 90% of the time that tries to make you care for a random group of generic "Here is my original phantom thief" characters enough to spend for them. The revised gameplay is a watered down version of the classic Persona gameplay mixed with other gacha systems with clunky animations but decent models.
Also, a gacha live-service game simply doesn't work for the type of story Atlus games try to convey (with the limited amount of days to try to make the most of everyday choices).
This game exploits the love people have for the P5 franchise by showing the original cast at the start and I'm honestly saddened by the fact that it's working.
Tldr: Can't make me care enough for the "Spectral stealers".
7 votes funny
76561199446706081

Not Recommended0 hrs played
Persona 5 X is a shallow, watered down, predatory, and embarrassing imitation of a much better game. The positive reviews of P5X genuinely make me feel like a crazy person. Being self aware of your exploitation does not change the fact that this is one of the most poorly disguised slot machines I've ever seen. A frankly embarrassing stain on the ATLUS steam page.
7 votes funny