“Who is the Beauty Thief??” That was the question on everyone’s mind as the embarked on their quest to steal the treasure of terrible CEO Kunikazu Okumura of Okumura Foods. While first exploring his futuristic palace run by his robotic “employees,” the gang encountered this Beauty Thief, along with their former companion, Morgana, who had left the team to prove his worth. It wasn’t long before everyone figured out that this new persona-user was yet another Shujin student; but she was no ordinary student. She was Haru Okumura, daughter of the terrible CEO! That made for an intriguing reveal, both in her identify and why she was in her father’s palace in the first place. Realizing she was a persona-user, she sought to end her father’s reign. Not only did he treat her no better than his poor employees, but he had promised her to an absolutely awful suitor. If she could change her father’s heart, she believed they’d both be the better for it. Her father’s palace is where she connected with Morgana, though their team-up would be a short one.

Kai and the gang eventually welcomed Morgana back into the fold (all was forgiven), and Haru, too, though she was still weak as far as her persona went and couldn’t immediately participate in the gang’s comings and goings. Still, they all quickly became friends and learned that Haru had quite the green thumb (i.e. she liked to garden). Meanwhile, the Phantom Thieves’ popularity skyrocketed after they suppressed the hacker group Medjed and its threats, and change-of-heart requests flood the site that their friend, Mishima, is administering. On the downside, the continue to attract attention from the law in the form of Makoto’s prosecutor sister, Sae; and ace detective/friend(?) Akechi. The thieves take notice but continue to help folks in Mementoes, that seems as endless as ever. In the real-real world, Kai also takes on yet another part-time job and continues to hang out with friends when he can, especially Shogi player Hifumi. She’s just too sweet.

But, it’s not all fun and game as Okumura’s palace awaits. As the thieves explore his palace, its formation as a huge spaceport takes shape. Through its enemies, Okumura’s robotic employees, his transgressions and selfishness come to light – they all want to please Okumura so badly that they would give up their own lives, and many do. It’s a tragic place, and it has a tragic ending, one that the thieves did not see coming. Their time in the palace was no different than in others, what with multiple floors and enemies to conquer. Eventually they reach “Spaceman” Okumura, and with Haru (now “Noir”) at full strength, take him down and steal his treasure. Afterwards, however, while everyone waited for Okumura’s change of heart, he suffered a lethal mental shutdown at the hands of a masked assassin. Well, who ends up being blamed for Okumura’s death? Yep. The Phantom Thieves. Meanwhile, the new is rife with the political movements of one Masayoshi Shido. Hmm, he sure does look and sound familiar, but eh, he just another politician, right?

Branded as criminals, Kai and his cohorts lay low and keep out of trouble. Kai goes out and meets new people, makes some money, finds new spots at which to hang out, and learns on a whim that Kasumi, his gymnast confident, is also persona-user! Much as she’d like to join the team, despite the bad situation the thieves are in, she’s too dedicated to her gymnastics to go off saving the world. Ah, well. Guess she’s made up her mind, right? (*wink wink*) Meanwhile, the Okumura aftermath clouds everyone’s lives, until they are seemingly “rescued” by Akechi, of all people. As down as he’s been on the thieves the whole time, he’s not convinced that the Phantom Thieves had anything to do with Okumura’s death. He goes out to find answers while also revealing that he, in fact, knows all about Kai, Ryuji, Ann, et al. He knows that they are the Phantom Thieves! Not only that, but he’s a persona-user! Quite the bombshell, but Akechi wasn’t done yet. He believed that the shadow of Sae Niijima – yes, Makoto’s sister – was behind Okumura’s mental shutdown – and that he needed to join the team to help defeat her. In return his his help, Akechi made the thieves promise that they would disband after defeating Shadow Sae. With little choice and a world turned on them, they reluctantly agreed.

Sae’s palace, a giant, warped casino, was a site to behold. In it was trapped Sae’s feelings of anger, resentment, and jealously she harbored as a capable women who’s seen as otherwise in a man’s world. Had she been gambling her life away on little more than hope that she would be recognized for her accomplishments? The cards of Sae’s fate had been dealt, and the Phantom Thieves let loose those chains from her heart. The thieves route in Sae’s palace brought things back around to the game’s beginning, when we first met Joker while he was attempting a daring escape. In swept the persona-user we know now as Kasumi to assist, and the results remained the same. Kai was ambushed and arrested. What followed was Sae’s interrogation, and eventually Kai convincing her of the truth – the real killer was *dun dun duuuuuuun* Akechi! (And he seemed liked such a decent fellow, even though he thought the thieves were criminals.) Well, Akechi shows up at the police station to seal the deal and off Kai, which he does. Or…does he? Turned out that the thieves had cooked up an elaborate scheme that involved rescuing Kai, faking his death, and having Akechi “kill” Kai’s avatar in the Metaverse. Hmm. Probably best to not think too much about it, because the thieves quickly had other things to deal with. Despite their popularity being in the proverbial toilet, their next target had made himself known, and it was none other than that ubiquitous face and voice on the news, Masayoshi Shido.

---

If my overall enjoyment of Persona 5 Royal could be graphed, it’d show a steady incline from the beginning to Futaba’s palace, followed by a slightly declining plateau. I’m six palaces in and, given that we’ve been following something of a “seven deadly sins” model with these changes of hearts, I’m kind of hoping that facing Shido’s will be the last one. Honestly, with as much as I had been enjoying palace exploration, Okumura’s palace did me in, and Sae’s palace didn’t improve those feelings. Getting through them felt like chores – the pacing in both felt odd, with Okumura’s feeling like a slog and Sae’s wrapping up too quickly. I was overtly pleased when they were done and I could get back to improving Kai’s social life/links. I didn’t take Akechi as the enemy; however, as soon as he weaseled his way into the Phantom Thieves, I knew something was up. The whole scenario in the police station with Sae and Akechi shooting Kai’s avatar was mostly just confusing as explained through exposition. But, with all that out of the way, the thieves have a new target, new intel to decipher concerning the mental shutdowns, and some new help on their side. Sae wants to catch Akechi, of course, and Kai’s guardian, Sojiro, was let in on the thieves’ entire story, too. Indeed, more thievery awaits!

Persona 5 Royal stats:

Character: Kai Yasuda
Play time: 91 hours
Date (in game): November 21
Level: 58
Knowledge: Encyclopedic
Guts: Dauntless
Proficiency: Transcendent (max)
Kindness: Selfless
Charm: Charismatic

Confidant ranks attained (listed by Arcana):
Fool – Rank 9 (Igor)
Magician – Rank 9 (Morgana)
Priestess – Rank 4 (Makoto)
Emperor – Rank 3 (Yusuke)
Hierophant – Rank 6 (Sojiro)
Lovers – Rank 5 (Ann)
Chariot – Rank 9 (Ryuji)
Justice – Rank 6 (Akechi)
Hermit – Rank 3 (Futaba)
Fortune – Rank 2 (Fortune teller)
Strength – Rank 1 (Twin Wardens)
Hanged – Rank 3 (Weapons dealer)
Death – Rank max (Takemi)
Temperance – Rank 3 (Kawakami)
Devil – Rank 6 (Ohya)
Tower – Rank 2 (Skilled gamer)
Star – Rank 7 (Hifumi)
Moon – Rank 7 (Mishima)
Sun – Rank 6 (Man of the People)
Judgement – Rank max (Prosecutor)
Faith – Rank 4 (Kasumi)
Councillor – Rank 6 (Maruki)

Current personas held:
Pale Rider (Death) – Level 61
Barong (Emperor) – Level 55
Garuda (Star) – Level 56
Ganesha (Sun) – Level 23

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