There’s one other story point that I feel can’t be ignored. Before the release of
Royal, Atlus made a big deal online about the fact that the English localization team was planning to update a controversial scene from the original game. The localizers did change it, but their changes really didn’t go far enough, and the scene is still not great.
The original
Persona 5 features a scene in which two gay adult men approach the character Ryuji — a teenager — talk about how hot he is, acknowledge that they know he’s too young for them, and then physically grab him and drag him off. It’s two of the game’s only gay characters forcibly abducting a kid who has said he isn’t interested. It’s a creepy, uncomfortable, unnecessary scene — and it’s an unavoidable part of the game’s story.
The revised scene really isn’t much better. The two men now assume Ryuji is secretly into drag and too embarrassed to admit it. They once again ignore him saying no, and drag him off to force him into women’s clothing against his will. It’s still a scene where two gay adults abduct a teenager and force him into an unwanted situation, and it still feels gross and creepy. Don’t pick up
Royal hoping to see a major improvement to that scene; it still mars a game that I otherwise really deeply enjoyed replaying.
