Latest Persona 5 Royal Video Shows All-New Combat Mechanics, Hangout Spots, And Minigames

It's been a boon for Persona 5 fans lately as developer Atlus has been consistently revealing details on the upcoming Persona 5 Royal--the definitive version of the original RPG. And the latest "Morgana Report" video outlined several new features and mechanics that the game will include. These videos are in Japanese but translations have given us further insight into what Morgana has to say about P5R's new content.

The new partner attacks that we've been seeing throughout P5R's build up have an official name now; they're called Show Time attacks. So far, we've seen Show Time attacks from the duos of Haru-Morgana, Ryuji-Yusuke, Ann-Morgana, Makoto-Ryuji, and most recently Yusuke-Ann. It's not entirely clear how you'll initiate these extravagant, high-damage attacks, but it was hinted that their availability will be tied to developing relationships between specific characters.

Another aspect of combat that has been further explained is changes to the Baton Pass mechanic. With a high-enough Confidant level, party members in the original game could transfer their extra turn (earned from critical or weakness hits) to another member. P5R will flesh out the feature even more to make it more effective. Taking a page out of the Persona Q book, spells and attacks can be used free of HP or SP costs after a Baton Pass. Furthermore, party members will restore a small amount of HP and SP when chosen to receive the extra turn. It appears that these perks will develop through a separate social ranking system, which was briefly shown in the Morgana Report video, where the player reached Rank 3 with Ann after a game of darts.

Combat will be even more dynamic because of accessories you can equip to other party members' personas. Depending on what you equip, characters can cast spells outside of their original moveset; for example, we see Ann using an Ice-type attack through this system. It's another similar element from Persona Q where characters can have sub-personas and cast different spells.

Outside of combat, social activities have expanded. Some of the hangout spots in the new part of town called Kichijoji were previously teased, but the latest video shows more of what these entail. You can actually take part in the DartsLive minigame (shout out to the Yakuza games) that's in the pool hall Penguin Sniper. There's also a jazz bar to chill at and get a drink with the team; you can see Joker and Makoto on a date at Jazz Jin and subsequently leveling up her persona. Like previous Persona games, P5R will feature a Shrine to visit during off hours, and it seems like it'll provided boosts to Joker's SP. Other small addition were showcased as well, like the ability to trade in gear you don't use in exchange for points to spend on other equipment.

We've been keeping up with the new, upcoming version to Persona 5; you can catch up with our breakdown of the first P5R reveal trailer and compilation of all the P5R details that have come out since. While the game is set to release on October 31, 2019 in Japan, we'll have to wait until sometime in 2020 when P5R launches worldwide, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.