After a whirlwind of taking down some terrible people and their wild palaces, Shijun Academy student Kai Yasuda and his band of Phantom Thieves deserved a break. With the promise of summer vacation, they were rightfully eager for some fun and relaxation. Their break did not get off to the best start with the cancelation of a fireworks festival to which they had been looking forward; and this was followed on the heels by a country-wide, virtual “death threat.” Well, it seemed our gang would have an interesting summer.

One of the minor things I’ve struggled with in P5R is grasping the context and emotion behind the displayed conversational text. Everything reads as very flat and dispassionate, unless the text is accompanied by visual clues attached to the characters. The stark “interruption gashes” help, but better are exclamation points, question marks, and the like that convey the reactions of a speaker or listener. As I’ve progressed in the game, I’ve worried less about making the “wrong” conservation choices in most situations, because I honestly can’t tell the difference between a genuine and sarcastic response – so going with the flow it has become. This is all to say that when the Phantom Thieves’ next target turned out to be some sort of hacker group called “Medjed,” it didn’t resonate as much of a threat. Oh, sure, people in the game were freaking out about them, I think, but I found that storyline to be rather confusing. And I have to admit that the “big reveal” of Sojiro’s adoptive daughter, Futaba Isshiki, as one of Medjed’s proponents, didn’t make a lot of sense. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Futaba’s story, and that of Medjed, along with Sae Niijima’s continued investigation into the Phantom Thieves/mental breakdowns/etc., dominated the summer for Kai and friends. It all began with the gang receiving a mysterious text about a change-of-heart request from one “Alibaba.” Maybe not so coincidentally, Medjed’s threat against the country followed shortly thereafter, with Alibaba claiming that only they could help the Phantom Thieves deal with the threat. And the only way they would help is if the group changed Alibaba’s heart. Lest we forget (because I know I did!), Mishima was still moderating the Phantom Thieves popularity online and monitoring its many incoming requests. It seemed the world was slowly coming around to the positive side of the Thieves’ work, after all.

With no choice but to bend to Alibaba’s demand, the Medjed ordeal led the Thieves to a brand-new, Egyptian-themed palace (that was outright amazing — my favorite one so far). Over the course of their time within it and in the real world, Futaba’s story came to light. After witnessing and being blamed for her mother’s, Wakaba’s, death (ruled an apparent suicide), Futaba, who had become Sojiro’s ward, locked herself away from the world. Her only communication with the outside happened through her mad genius computer skills. Not even Sojiro himself could get her to leave her room. The gang “broke into” Sojiro’s home a couple of times to get pertinent information out of Futaba – which happened mostly thanks to Morgana’s infiltration – and once they had what they needed, it was time to take down Futaba’s shadow.

Or…so they thought.

Futaba’s immense guilt over being the cause of her mother’s death was only half the story. Once the best things about Futaba’s palace was how it served her story. Not only was its layout fantastic, but it contained some brilliant puzzles that pit what actually happened against Futaba’s “reality.” In the end, Futaba herself was not the enemy; rather, her guilt was, which took the form of a giant Sphinx-like version of her mother. I didn’t understand the sheer weight of that guilt until fighting “The Beast that Ruled the Palace.” Wow, she was awful, just awful! No wonder Futaba had given up on the world! With Wakaba’s shadow defeated, the truth came out. Futaba had had nothing to do with the death of her mother, who in fact, loved her dearly. Yes, she was a workaholic who had gotten caught up in her “cognitive pscience” research, but she was first and foremost a good mother.

That realization not only brought an end to Medjed – thanks to Futaba, aka “Alibaba,” who had actually been a member of the hacker group – but it brought Futaba back into the world again. Her transition was bittersweet, and it was great seeing all the members of the Phantom Thieves help her through her journey. With Futaba’s reconciliation came the reveal of her persona, and she joined the Phantom Thieves as its new navigator, “Oracle.” But wait, didn’t the group already have a navigator in Morgana? Hmm.

Dispatching Medjed and saving the country from certain doom was all in a day’s work for the Phantom Thieves; and before they knew it, a new school year was upon them. Their return to Shujin was a short one that was interrupted by another trip – their class trip to Hawai’i. (That’s one heck of a way to say “welcome back!”) This broke up the group temporarily, with Futaba and Morgana staying behind, and with Yusuke heading to Los Angeles with his own class, but of course everyone important would be along for the ride. Makoto, a year ahead, joined the trip as a chaperone. Kai’s younger friend, Kasumi, ended up in Hawai’i with her gymnastics group, and Shogi champ Hifumi was there, too. Yusuke eventually joined up, as his class had been diverted to Hawai’i thanks to bad weather over southern California. Another key player made herself known, too – a classmate with short, curly hair. She had made a quick showing on-screen earlier in the game, and her appearance in Hawai’i was a quick one, too.  More on her in a moment.

Meanwhile, back at Sojiro’s, Futaba and Morgana had been holding down the fort, seemingly getting along fine and picking up more bits about “cognitive psience” thanks to a brief visit from Shujin’s counselor, Maruki. Kai and friends all return safely from their Hawaiian adventures only to have a new target for the Phantom Thieves in mind: the CEO of Okumura Foods (owner of Big Bang Burger). With everyone onboard, however, the Phantom Thieves face two odd events. The first is the sudden and very unusual death of Shujin’s principle – at the least, what will become of his own (and Makoto’s) inquiries into the Phantom Thieves now? The second is Morgana’s abrupt departure from the group to prove his worth.

Coming full circle with my inability to “read the room” with the game’s conversations, Morgana’s situation felt like it came out of left field. He did express private moments of frustration to Kai; and in diverting to explore Mementoes, Futaba had taken over as the group’s guiding voice, but Morgana’s feelings of exclusion totally went over my head. When he left to capture Okumura’s treasure on his own, I just didn’t see it coming. Concerned about Morgana’s disappearance, the group set off to look for him. They unexpectedly find him in Okumura’s palace with…a new cohort? Indeed, over the course of their time within various palaces, the Thieves had learned that their “other world” had been infiltrated by unknown persona-user. Was Morgana’s companion that person? Well, still unnamed and only called “Beauty Thief” (really?), her short curly hair gave her away as the Shujin student the group met in Hawai’i. Will she and Morgana succeed in their quest? Guess I’ll find out soon enough!

Persona 5 Royal stats:

Character: Kai Yasuda
Play time: 64 hours
Date (in game): September 15
Level: 36
Knowledge: Scholarly
Guts: Staunch
Proficiency: Transcendent (max)
Kindness: Empathetic
Charm: Charismatic

Confidant ranks attained (listed by Arcana):
Fool  – Rank 8 (Igor)
Magician  – Rank 7 (Morgana)
Priestess – Rank 3 (Makoto)
Emperor – Rank 3 (Yusuke)
Hierophant – Rank 5 (Sojiro)
Lovers – Rank 4 (Ann)
Chariot  – Rank 8 (Ryuji)
Justice – Rank 3 – (Akechi)
Strength – Rank 1 (Twin Wardens)
Death – Rank 8 (Takemi)
Temperance – Rank 3 (Kawakami)
Devil – Rank 5 (Ichiko)
Star – Rank 5 (Hifumi)
Moon – Rank 6 (Mishima)
Sun – Rank 4 (Man of the People)
Judgement – Rank 4 (Prosecutor)
Faith – Rank 3 (Kasumi)
Councillor – Rank 3 (Maruki)

Current personas held:
Mothman (Moon) – Level 36
Lilim (Devil) – Level 36
Mitra (temperance) – level 35
Sandman (Magician) – Level 23
Thoth (Emperor) – Level 36

All images, including lede, were taken by author during Xbox Series S gameplay of Persona 5 Royal (© Atlus).