Persona 5 Royal (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.2 Update + 60FPS MOD

Persona 5 Royal 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 backward 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 were included with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service. They ultimately left Game Pass on October 31, 2023.

PLOT

While the Phantom Thieves begin to form, the protagonist is acquainted 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 into 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 from giving vital services in Mementos, he also grants the protagonist a Wishing Star capable of letting party members perform Showtimes.

During their heist on Okumura’s Palace in October, the protagonists, 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 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 before November 18th, the events past the original game’s true ending would 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 begin 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 in the protagonist, not being able to process the use of the name.

On January 2, the protagonist witnesses the abnormalities firsthand, learning that the unknown teenager he met in Leblanc the previous morning is 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 has 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 subconsciously caused Sumire to believe that she was Kasumi 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 to 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.

BAD ENDING

In addition to the new true ending added concerning 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, when 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. When the protagonist goes to bed, on February 3, Maruki summons him to his office in his dreams. Maruki intends 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.