@sethmode: Yeah, I’m probably gonna step away from it for a few days and see if any motivation comes back. It’s just so draining playing the same single player game every week, especially one that has about 3 different climaxes with long build ups for each.

As for Akechi, he becomes so comically unhinged in the third semester that it’s easily my favorite part of that whole content. The vocal performance is just amazing.

@nateandrews: I hear ya. I have basically the same experience with every Persona game.

1) I love this game, I want to do everything!
2) I'm still really liking this game a lot and want to see all of the S. Links
3) Okay this is a very long game.
4) Jesus, I just want this conversation to be over.

I'm being a little dramatic, but I do find that every time I play one of these by the end I am just kind of worn out.

I can understand getting worn out, considering how ridiculously long Royal is, but the 3rd semester content was maybe the high point of the whole game for me. And I went into it pretty skeptical, considering I don't think Atlus always handles that kind of additional content super well. But what they did with it was completely worth it.

And Akechi was definitely among the reasons why. I had super mixed feelings about him in the original, but he's so much more interesting and entertaining in Royal. He's still super extra, but in a way I can actually get behind this time, and they actually do some interesting stuff with him.

@zeik: That’s what’s killing me about it. I love having insane Akechi and Kasumi in the party and the story is interesting, save for some repetitive character moments (did I really have to talk to each person, one per day, to get them all to snap out of it?) I think it’s the fact that the game climaxes once with Shido, then again after that, and now they’re building to *another* one. It’s a lot!

@nateandrews: You're not wrong. I think if the 3rd semester content had been planned from the start they probably wouldn't have structured it that way, but that's just the downside to having to tack on that content to an existing story.

But at least they justify it with how much better the new ending is compared to those first two.

There's nothing wrong with taking a break if you need it though. When I played the original P5 I put the game down for several weeks during Shido's palace because I got kinda burnt out myself. But I later came back to it and finished without issue.

Oddly it didn't happen to me this time, despite it being even longer, and so much of it being a retread. I think partly I just paced myself better.

The only issue I had with third semester was a problem of my own design in that I used aids to make sure I got everything fairly optimally and that means that there isn't a goddamn thing to do in that semester day to day.

@zeik: Yeah, don't get me wrong, I WANT to play the 3rd semester and think the content (or what I've seen of it) is fantastic (especially considering how much I like Yasumi and Maruke). It's kind of a spirit is willing sort of thing, I guess. I just sort of get tired when I boot the game up now.

And personally too, it doesn't help that I've been enthralled from the word go with Trails in the Sky, so every moment I boot up Persona I'm kind of like "But...I could also play Trails".

I pretty much loved Royal throughout. Its quickly become an all time favorite for me. I'm kinda the opposite of most people here. I bet original Persona 5 new game plus not too long ago, but with everything going on and the extra free time I decided to pick up Royal and just plowed through it, loving the entire thing. All I keep thinking about now is how I want to start up a new game plus run of Royal.

The only thing about Royal that I wasn't crazy about was the pacing of the third semester. Starting off with having visit each friend, one a day, having to go back into the palace... 3/4 times?, then just waiting for like two weeks where basically all there is to do is get tier 3s for your teammates and go to the jazz club. I felt they could of fleshed it out a bit more, but still loved it.

I loved more great music, the changes to momentos, the new confidants, the changes to the battle system, more free time. Overall it was such a great package.

@zeik: When they introduced the palace halfway through I thought it was going to be something that worked its way into the main game, like some kind of alternative to Mementos. I might've enjoyed that more since I kinda just walked all over Mementos.

@efesell@madpierrot The pacing is pretty messed up. I didn't really need more time to spend with these characters since the ones I cared about were maxed out. The weird time-filler scenes with everyone are even more bizarre. It's cool that your rank 10 party members can have their persona evolve again, but the scene for each person is the exact same apology and reaffirmation of their values that you've already heard.

@nateandrews: I liked the party stuff a lot it’s mostly just too many free days.

@nateandrews: I don't think the game really needed another filler dungeon. I much prefer the story importance the new one provides.

Mementos does become a joke once you unlock Stealth, but that's also why the game isn't an extra like 10 hours long, so it's probably for the best.