7 Things Nobody Wants To Admit About Persona 5

7. Dialogue Choices Often Mean Nothing

Aside from a handful of specific interactions when you choose to hang out with the main cast, every major story-related decision steams ahead regardless of your choice in the moment. Oftentimes, even if you want to apologise for something, stick up for a character being talked down to or literally state you don't want to go through with a given thing, either someone else will chime in and say "Come on, man!", or it'll be taken as a joke.

This leads to a similar feeling to Mass Effect Andromeda, where in striving to move away from binary dialogue options - something Persona has never had - we're given a story that only offers the illusion of choice. There are many instances of characters asking what you think, only for your options to be variations on the same sentiment, "I don't know", "That's not for me to say", "..." - all of which fail at making you feel as though you have any real agency in the story itself.

One notably bizarre scene occurs when Morgana straight-up offers your place as somewhere for Yusuke to stay, following Madarame's palace. You're not given any room to object, agree or step in whatsoever, the story putting him in your room the next time you arrive. Morgana even assumes the role of your character, doing the "make yourself at home!" routine, when it should really have come from you.

Yes, various character-specific scenes can pivot and modulate through what you've said, but as the main story goes on, it feels as though your 'character' barely has less meaningful presence overall.