MeinMMO editor Jasmin has fallen in love with a very specific country during her vacation. She is now planning her next vacation there and is bridging the waiting time with one of her favorite games for PS5.
You might guess it already, since I am an Anime editor for MeinMMO: Ever since I saw the first animes on RTL 2, I have always dreamt of a trip to Japan. I took Japanese classes to learn the basics, just in case I can ever travel to this country.
In 2019, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan for the first time on business. Unfortunately, at that time, I couldn’t take much of the country with me since I was heavily occupied with work.
Last year, I was finally able to travel the country in my free time, taking the typical tourist route from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka. Outside the route, I also visited some other rural towns, including a city in Miyoshi.
The country amazed me so much that I am also planning to spend my vacation there next year.
But a year is still a hell of a long time that I have to bridge until my next visit. To ease the feeling of longing a bit, I am currently diving into an RPG on PS5 that I already played through 8 years ago – at least in the standard version.
Leisure in Persona 5 Royal feels like a trip to Japan
8 years ago, Persona 5 was released, which takes place in Tokyo. That part was my introduction to the Persona series and has been one of my all-time favorites since then. In terms of gameplay, I just love the combination of exploring dungeons, collecting and fusing monsters, nurturing relationships, and planning activities. All of this connects Persona together.
Currently, I am catching up on Persona 5 Royal on PS5. At the time of the special edition’s release, I had refused to replay the game. After all, I already knew the premise of the game and did not see the point of investing my double-digit playtime again just to see some bonus content.
Meanwhile, I have forgiven Royal this faux pas and now see that there are indeed numerous contents justifying playing the game again. But what I particularly look forward to every time I start the 120-hour long game are the leisure activities. After the school day is over, I get to decide how I want to spend the afternoon or evening.
Every time I explore the fictional Tokyo, I feel like I am visiting the city in real life. What the development team has done particularly well is the selection of different activities I can partake in.
In the PS5 game, you simply feel overwhelmed and really have to plan precisely which activity you want to pursue in the afternoon. I felt the same way during my trip to Japan, as the range of options is enormous. Often, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to visit next in Tokyo – the arcade, the next figurine store or the café that has delicious desserts?
Due to space constraints in Tokyo, the facades are full of signs. Certain stores or restaurants are located on higher floors, often 5 floors for shops is normal. It often felt like a hidden object puzzle when I was looking for a specific store that must be somewhere here. This bustling design is also found in Persona 5 Royal – so you really feel like being in Tokyo.
Persona 5 even inspired me to play baseball on a rooftop in Tokyo. My travel group looked for rooftops where you can throw a baseball with a machine, which you then have to hit back with a bat. No worries – there was a net, so the balls couldn’t fly off the roof. Here, I really felt like I was in the game.
I also find particularly cool and authentic a quest at the beginning of the game where you have to go to the Ginza subway line. The fact that this is a single quest in Persona 5 Royal shows how difficult it is to find the right subway line. I also got lost in the subway network in real life a few times and even had to call a taxi once because otherwise, I would have arrived way too late at a restaurant.
Persona 5 is also in real Japan
The most beautiful moment in my vacation was when I visited the real neighborhood of Sangen-Jaya, which is the inspiration for Yongen-Jaya in Persona 5 Royal. There, I even visited the real café that inspired Café Leblanc from Persona 5.
In the photos, you can also see the café. I didn’t want to photograph the bar where Sojiro stands in Persona 5 Royal because of the staff. Just imagine it:
I treated myself to a coffee and an ice cream there, as if I were actually a visitor in the game’s café. Only the jazz music was missing. Even now, I remember every time I enter Café Leblanc in the game that I was actually there in real life.
I am really looking forward to starting the PS5 again because I know that I can dive back into a virtual version of Japan. This at least bridges the next months I have to wait until my next stay in Japan.
Of course, there are also other games where you can immerse yourself in a virtual Japan. One example would be the Yakuza series, which is also based on real Japanese cities and neighborhoods. However, the gameplay just doesn’t appeal to me as much as in Persona. I just can’t get used to the adult men in baby diapers – ironically, I can get used to gigantic genital monster instead.
I had a similar feeling of being in Japan lately with Digimon Story: Time Stranger. A part of Akihabara is so faithfully recreated that I could even recognize a place where I treated myself to a cola. You can read about how I liked the game here: The new Digimon game does one thing really well that has always annoyed me in Pokémon
