I'll probably end up writing a lot about this game, so if you want a quick review, here it is:

This game was an incredible experience. Although I'm not in the same age group as the characters, I ended up identifying with them. The story is deep, heavy, but at the same time light and full of twists and turns. I was so immersed in the story that I reached a point where I’d wake up early just to play. The characters are extremely charismatic, and the story is impeccable. The game has a mind-blowing plot (especially in the true ending). And about the turn-based combat, which I thought would be a weak point—it was quite the opposite. The system is fluid and became one of the most fun parts of the game.

The truth is, the first time I heard about this game, I had no interest in playing it because it was turn-based, a style I don’t usually enjoy. But, after some recommendations from friends, I decided to give it a shot. I downloaded the pirated version, ran it on a PS3 emulator, and immediately hit my first obstacle: the game didn't have a translation in my language. It might seem like a minor detail, but at the time, I had never studied another language, so even English was hard for me.

Still, I pressed on, with a dusty dictionary I had at home and a translator on my phone (couldn’t use it on the computer because an alt + tab might crash the emulator), i was determined to understand what made this game so special. At first, it was quite challenging; I can say the first 30 hours were a struggle to understand what was going on in the story, but gradually, I got the hang of it, and my dictionary lookups became less and less frequent. Honestly, that alone made the game worth it for me, as it turned out to be the spark that got me interested in learning a new language, which I think is priceless.

Even with poor performance and frequent crashes on the emulator (this was my second obstacle, my PC was like a potato), I played for about 90 hours and got completely immersed in the story.

But when the Royal version of the game was announced for PC, I dropped everything I had done in the game so far (I was practically at the last palace) and decided to wait to play an original copy, thinking I owed it to Atlus.

I couldn't really afford the game at launch, so I waited for a sale that fit my budget, but it never came. Until a friend decided to gift it to me for my birthday (if you're reading this, thank you so much, you have no idea how happy I was to receive this gift). And from then on, it was pure joy! This time, language was no longer a barrier, and the performance of this PC port was impeccable.

In the end, I got all the achievements in the game, explored every detail, and enjoyed everything the game has to offer (for the second time, but now in the Royal version). Honestly, I love Persona 5, and though it’s not a perfect game, it’s definitely one of my favorites.