This is part 3 of the playthrough Andrew has had with Persona 5 Royal. For those that haven’t played the game, and for fans of the series, let us know what you think and your opinion on this game! It’s a little controversial for some, so I look forward to reading and chatting about your thoughts on it.
Hello, Reader! I hope you’re well. I would’ve had this article out sooner but winter decided to finally show up and steal all my progress I made in the game from my last save. Nevertheless, I have not only completed the progress I made before but went a bit further. Here is my experience. After taking down the security grid in Madarame’s palace last week, I stocked up on medical supplies and returned to the palace. Right away, I found the second half of the palace map in a brochure stand. This leads the Phantom thieves right to the treasure. My first obstacle is a room with an invisible laser maze. Fortunately, Joker’s third eye ability allowed me to see right where the lasers were and I got through it relatively unscathed.
I got to the security room (after a challenging mid-boss fight) and lo and behold, we need another password to get to the next part of the palace. In my previous session we ran into a similar problem. It was quickly solved by eavesdropping on a couple guards and learning that the password was 07734 or Hello backwards and upside-down. This time however, the guards suspect that someone might be listening in so they only give a vague hint as to what the password for this system could be. That hint being Madarame’s foot size. After almost an hour of searching I give up and consulted a guide for the game. At the foot of a statue of Madarame lies the following statement.
“Here we praise our most holy lord Ichiryusai Madarame, the one ray of hope in this depraved world. He stands alone as his two adept hands paint into the future. None shall ever match his excellence.”
Talk about a clever way to hide your foot size. While there appears to be no number, Fox (Yusuke) is quick to point out that they actually are there. The key words are One, Alone, Two and None. In other words, the password is 1120. With that in hand I head back and deactivate the laser fields and then for the next section, the game reminded me of Super Mario 64 and we jump into paintings to get from place to place. However, we are not confined to one painting when we hop in, instead, each painting led to another one. After carefully navigating this puzzle and dying twice to a really tough group of enemies, I arrive at someplace that according to Mona, isn’t on the map, the Twisted Labyrinth.
About halfway through the maze we wind up looping back to a certain point no matter which direction we go in. There’s also a group of paintings that look nearly identical to a painting called “Sayuri” which is pictured below
Identifying the real one allows the group to move forward. Heading out of the maze we arrive in the treasure room which is guarded by a ton of guards and Madarame himself. However, off to the side there is a security room which the group discovers can temporarily disable the lights. They use this to their advantage and hatch a plan that I’ll discuss momentarily.
With the infiltration route set, it’s time to send the Calling Card to Madarame in the real world. Upon doing so, the group re enters the palace and enacts their plan. Skull distracts the guards while Panther enters the security room and waits for Fox’s signal to turn off the lights. Once the lights are off, Joker throws the switch that drops a crane hook with Mona attached down to the treasure (which is under a cloak) to retrieve it. The lights come back on and the group makes their escape. After getting back to the Palace courtyard, the group unveils the treasure to discover it’s a fake. What!? Madarame then appears and reveals the real treasure, the true version of Sayuri.
As it turns out, Yusuke’s mom is the real artist behind the painting and is the woman that appears in it. Apparently Madarame witnessed her having a seizure and instead of calling for help, he watches her seize and eventually die. He then takes the painting for himself and has been declaring it was his ever since. It’s at this point that the boss fight begins. I thought Kamoshida had a horrific design but take a look at this guy.
This boss was tough but not unbeatable. The goal is to destroy all four paintings at the same time, otherwise after a turn they’ll regenerate. After this phase, the Shadow Madarame reveals himself and creates four clones of himself each with an elemental affinity. Fortunately, my team had each elements weakness so taking down the fakes wasn’t difficult. Towards the end of the fight I had the party just relentlessly attack Madarame and it was so cathartic seeing Fox be the character to deliver the final blow to the boss before defeating him. He was put through so much mental and emotional trauma by the man who took him in as his foster father and seeing justice delivered was so satisfying. The palace starts to collapse and a couple days later, Madarame confesses his crimes of plagiarism and another day is saved by the phantom thieves.
I absolutely love the design of Yusuke’s metaverse costume. My favorite color is blue and that’s his whole color scheme. His arc was also so fun to watch and playthrough. He went from someone who would defend his foster father no matter what, to slowly realizing the truth and finally confronting and defeating his former mentor. I cannot wait to see what awaits me in the next palace. Until next time reader, take care and God Bless.
Be sure to check out the previous reviews of Persona 5 Royal. Look forward to more!