Persona 5 Royal: Changes - All Differences Compared to Persona 5

What's new in Persona 5 Royal? What are the differences between Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5? In this guide, we're going to break down all of the additions and changes that we know of in Persona 5 Royal. From gameplay tweaks to entirely new content, there's actually a lot of stuff to look forward to even if you've already sunk hours upon hours into the original Persona 5.

We've also covered the PS5 version of Persona 5 Royal at the bottom of this guide, as that edition of the game has some differences as well.

This guide contains no story spoilers, but it does outline new content.

What's New in Persona 5 Royal?

Below, we've categorised all of the changes in Persona 5 Royal when compared to Persona 5. There are new features, gameplay adjustments, and quality of life improvements, as well as smaller, more general alterations.

New Content in Persona 5 Royal

• New character and party member named Kasumi
• An entirely new school semester has been added, expanding the story alongside a new Palace
• The new 'Thieves Den' feature lets you visit a huge room full of unlockable bonus content at any time through the pause menu. You can use in-game currency to unlock things like artwork, character models, cutscenes, and music
• A number of brand new animated story cutscenes
• A whole new location called Kichijoji is yours to explore, and it's bigger than any other real world location in the game
• Kichijoji has a club that you can visit with party members, opening up new social and bonding events
• Kichijoji's club features a darts minigame that enhances the effects of baton pass for each character
• Kichijoji's club also has billiards. There's no actual minigame, but choosing to play billiards strengthens your relationship with every available party member by a small amount
• Kichijoji has a jazz bar that can grant party members level ups and stat boosts
• Kichijoji has a temple where you can permanently increase Joker's SP through meditation
• Kichijoji has a number of shops that offer new services and items
• Two brand new confidants with their own perks
• Akechi's social link route has been completely overhauled, slots differently into the story
• Some confidants (particularly party members) have additional social scenes
• New events, such as holidays and additional character scenes, have been added to the calendar
• New Personas
• New third form for each party member's Persona
• New enemies
• New weapons
• New armour
• New accessories
• New items
• Two new story endings

Gameplay Additions in Persona 5 Royal

• The Phantom Thieves now have powerful 'Showtime' attacks — basically tag-team super moves. They're unlocked one by one as the story progresses
• All Palaces have been reworked to some degree, although largely they remain the same in terms of layout
• Some Palaces have completely new areas
• Joker now has a grappling hook that lets you access new areas in dungeons
• The grappling hook often leads to secret locations that house 'Will Seeds' — there are three Will Seeds to find in each Palace
• Each time you find all three Will Seeds in a Palace, you'll be rewarded with a unique accessory
• Will Seeds also restore a bit of the party's SP
• All Palace bosses have been reworked in some way, either with additional mechanics or phases
• Some Palaces now have additional boss-like enemies and encounters
• Mementos, the randomised dungeon that you can visit when you have free time, has been expanded quite significantly — floors can be bigger and there's more room for exploration in general
• Mementos now has a shop that sells exclusive goods in exchange for 'flowers' — collectables that you find while exploring
• A new 'stamp' system has been added to Mementos. Stamps can be found on each floor, and you can spend them on three different bonuses: more exp, more money, and more items. Once activated, these bonuses are permanent, unless you decide to reset them
• There are new side quests to complete in Mementos
• Rare, unstable shadows can now appear both in Palaces and Mementos. On death, they explode, dealing big damage to all other enemies
• The Velvet Room now offers special optional battles that you can take part in for various rewards (this is also where DLC battles take place)
• The Velvet Room can now go into a random 'alarm' mode, which powers up persona fusion and other services, but may also result in unexpected fusion results

Gameplay Adjustments in Persona 5 Royal (Dungeons and Combat)

• Ammo now restocks after battle, making guns way more valuable across dungeon runs
• Some Personas have been rebalanced both in terms of stats and available skills
• Some enemies have been rebalanced both in terms of stats and available skills
• The baton pass mechanic has been expanded and is available to all party members from the beginning

Gameplay Adjustments in Persona 5 Royal (Everyday Life)

• The calendar has been reworked in places, allowing for more free time and additional opportunities to interact with your confidants
• Morgana doesn't tell you to go to bed quite so much — you generally get a lot more free time at night, even if you can't leave Leblanc
• 'Assist' mechanic gives you recommendations on which confidant to visit and which stat to improve
• Confidants can now call you after you hang out with them, giving you an additional dialogue choice and therefore another opportunity to strengthen your bond with them
• Some confidants have reworked perks

Other Additions in Persona 5 Royal

• Graphical enhancements on PS4 Pro
• New opening movie
• New main menu screen
• New dialogue text font in the localised release
• Some dialogue windows have new visual effects
• New and additional character portraits in conversations
• Around 30 new music tracks
• New weather effects have been added depending on the time of year in-game
• New Game Plus now carries over additional bonuses, like HP and SP increases
• A completely new Trophy list, separate from Persona 5's

What About Persona 5 Royal on PS5?

On the 21st October 2022, Atlus re-released Persona 5 Royal on PS5. We've listed all of the changes to this version of the game below.

• Persona 5 Royal runs at 60 frames-per-second on PS5, as opposed to 30 frames-per-second on PS4 and PS4 Pro, making for smoother gameplay
• The game's resolution stays the same — it's native 4K on PS5, as is the case on PS4 Pro
• Load times are slightly faster on PS5 over PS4 and PS4 Pro, although we're mostly talking milliseconds
• The PS5 version of Persona 5 Royal comes with all of the game's previously released DLC, which includes character costumes and additional personas (many of which are very powerful, and can be fused as per usual)
• There is no upgrade path for Persona 5 Royal on PS5, if you already own the game on PS4 — the new version must be bought standalone
• There is no way to transfer your save data from Persona 5 Royal on PS4 to the PS5 port — you have to start from scratch
• Persona 5 Royal on PS5 has its own Trophy list — it's the same list that the PS4 version has
• Persona 5 Royal PS5's Trophies do not unlock automatically if you already have them on PS4, because there's no save data transfer
• All content in Persona 5 Royal on PS5 is identical to what you'll find on PS4 — the story, gameplay, presentation, and everything else has not been changed or added to

This article is part of our Persona 5 Royal Guide, which contains All Differences Between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal along with Crossword Answers, Exam Answers, Romance Options, How To Get The Best Ending, New Game + details for Persona 5 Royal, and How To Unlock Persona 5 Royal's New Semester Endgame.

What do you think of all the changes and additions in Persona 5 Royal? Start a new game in the comments section below.