I apologize for the length of this post in advance.
TLDR image of just the tier list if you don't want to read
S: Madarame’s Museum
Visual Design – 11/10
The visuals of this palace had me profusely nutting, especially this shot at the halfway point. The paintings and art in general allowed for the most visual diversity of any palace, but they all held a cohesive theme. The art museum being the prettiest palace sounds like a given, and the design team really delivered on it.
Gameplay – 11/10
Diving under and jumping over lasers made this feel like an actual heist where you had to dodge security and stay hidden. The puzzles weren’t difficult, but difficulty shouldn’t be an issue on only the second dungeon of the game. What they did do, however, was really emphasize and mesh with the idea of distorting reality. Jumping into paintings and moving from one to the next with no real discernable dimensional physics and the M.C. Escher-like staircases and portals towards the end reinforce the idea that this isn’t the real world, and the rules that govern it don’t apply.
Music – 9/10
The entirety of P5’s soundtrack is amazing, and this song is no exception. The combination of traditional instruments with the heavy, steady drum beat marching you along through the halls of the museum create an ambience that is simultaneously relaxed and filled with tension. You can chill out, but you know you need to keep moving.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 10/10
The final battle of the museum was the first time I truly felt challenged by the game; I lost this fight about three or four times before I finally did it right. The puzzle of figuring out which parts had immunity to which types of damage and strategically figuring out when you could afford to let one of the parts heal from your aoe skills as well as dealing with the fact that one part can revive the others all coalesced into a challenging, but rewarding conclusion to an already solid palace. Madarame himself also serves as a nice transition from Bully Teacher treating students at one school like shit to villains whose influence have a larger sense of scale. Madarame doesn’t control the whole world, but his reputation in the art community was nothing to scoff at. It also felt nice to see him grovel once he had finally been defeated.
Overall Score – 41/40
A perfect level 2 from a gameplay perspective, visually stunning, and narratively thematic. Amazing palace.
A: Mementos Depths
Visual Design – 10/10
Personally, I’m a fan of the eldritch aura this palace had. It felt like true evil, and the branching-veins-all-connected-to-a-central-heart motif is one I really appreciate. Shots like this and this give you a sense of scale of just how deep this rabbit hole goes, have amazing color and contrast, and the arterial tendrils wrapping around everything look sick and feel menacing.
Gameplay – 7/10
Simply put, there wasn’t a lot to do in this palace; but that’s okay. You had to crawl through Mementos proper just to get here, and it simply serves as the calm before the storm that is the final boss. The floor tile puzzles were still fun to do, and some of the fights were tough, but this was intended to be more of a mini-dungeon than a proper palace in my opinion. However, it was made a little easy given that there was a free full restore waiting at the start every time you made it to a saferoom.
Music – 11/10
Freedom and Security is my favorite track on the entire Persona 5 OST. It’s desolate, but has a slightly triumphant undertone: “you’ve made it this far, but look where you’ve ended up.” The lead guitar stands out and elevates the mood but also harmonizes with the violins providing the rhythm, and the periodic bang from the heavy drum goes straight to my bones.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 10/10
It’s God. You kill God. “YOU HAVE NO MEANS OF ESCAPE, HUMANS” and all that. Nothing but a badass fight that tests your knowledge of the game.
Overall Score – 38/40
It appeals to my personal fancy in more ways than one, and I really enjoyed this dungeon.
A-: Sae Niijima’s Casino
Visual Design – 9/10
Between its pretty lights and colorful halls, this was another solid palace design. It didn’t particularly feel unreal or distorted outside of the whole “everything that’s not the Casino is totally normal” thing though.
Gameplay – 8.5/10
This palace was fun and the minigames offered a neat change of pace, but “pretty good” is about the best I can offer for how I felt playing this palace. Akechi kinda asspulls two separate times for the sake of moving the plot along – which from a story perspective shows how smart, cunning, and forward-thinking he is – but from the standpoint of the player it feels kinda bad for a challenge to be presented only for someone to step in and go “nevermind lol sorry I planned for this.” It feels especially bad the second time. The solo-Joker boss gauntlet was my favorite part though.
Music – 8.5/10
On its own, this song is a 10/10. It’s another solid entry on the OST, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a good song for a dungeon. It’s too nonchalant and jazzy, and doesn’t offer the kind of tension you’d expect from what was supposed to be the Phantom Thieves’s last hurrah at the time. It fits thematically for the palace, and is good on its own, but on a greater scale in terms of the story it doesn’t evoke the right emotion in my opinion.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 9.5/10
I’ll admit, Sae was nowhere near my favorite character at this point, but that’s not a bad thing. A character doesn’t have to be likeable to be good. The purpose she served in the plot and the person she becomes after she changes her own heart – rather than it being forcefully changed – redeemed her. But up until this point, she’s been nothing but a workaholic that will cheat every which way in order to win. I don’t think cheating a cheater is fun, and the game doesn’t make you. You beat her at her own game entirely fairly with no rigged odds, and it’s very satisfying. After you expose her cheats, it becomes a war of attrition with no gimmick; it’s thematic, but does get a little grindy from the gameplay side of things.
Overall Score – 35.5(+1)/40
I’m giving this palace a bonus point because even though there were some aspects I had qualms with, I feel like it was greater than the sum of its parts.
B: Futaba’s Tomb
Visual Design – 9/10
I liked the meshing of ancient pyramid ruins with digital code and electronic rune patterns. The room beyond the locked door at the end of the main hall is spacious and bigger on the inside than it seems on the outside, which you could argue represents how Futaba feels about her room.
Gameplay – 8.5/10
Fun puzzles and good fights. The chase sequence in the town at the start wasn’t particularly stimulating and was over as soon as it started, and I wish that town had been expanded upon in general. The inside of the pyramid was good though.
Music – 8/10
This song fits thematically, but after the second or third loop it starts to drone on, but that makes sense considering it’s an ancient tomb – everything should feel dead and lifeless with a slight desert theme – and this song captures that feeling well. On its own though, it’s not one you’re going to put on repeat (or at least I’m not compelled to).
Boss Fight/Ruler – 9/10
These two should really be split up for this palace, since the fight is pretty unrelated to the ruler themselves. Futaba is a cute anxious girl with mental illnesses and a protecc score of over 9000. She’s great and I love her. The fight, on the other hand, was rather anticlimactic, since it was just a scripted loss until Futaba decides to awaken her persona, and then you just spam Mediarama until you can shoot the harpoon a few times and then wail on her until she dies; cyclical and repetitive gameplay. However, defeating an imaginary demon that haunts Futaba within herself is the whole point of this palace, so the fight still fits thematically.
Overall Score – 34.5/40
Really good palace. No real problems, just some small things that could be improved.
B-: The Okumura Foods Space Station Factory
Visual Design – 8/10
Space stations are neat and fit the industrial feel of a corporate factory; everything is bland and metal and unremarkable on its own, which means they hit the nail on the head. Space itself is also cool, so I’m showing my bias pretty strongly on this one.
Gameplay – 8/10
This will probably the opinion that catches the most contention, but I don’t think this palace was boring or unfun or a slog at all. It felt paced just fine, and the shuttle-hopping puzzle at the end was neat, if a little boring and susceptible to eventual trial-and-error that I’m sure we all resorted to. I thought it was solid.
Music – 8.5/10
I really like the way this track starts out, it’s high-energy and evokes anxiety and the need to keep moving; it also has that techno feel to it to match the space station visual theme. The problem is that it has effectively an entire minute of downtime where it loops the same quiet bassline over and over again with no variation or break. If only they had kept the same mood it has from the start.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 8.5/10
Okumura represents pure corporate evil and greed. He treats his employees like machines meant to do one thing: make him more money. In the fight, he hides behind numerous ranks of lackeys, and then once he runs out, he’s a total pushover. He’s nothing without his employees, and they’re the ones who do all the actual work; he just sits on his ass and barks out orders. I’m glad we got to put him in his place.
Overall Score – 33/40
A solid palace, not bad at all. I could understand why people would overlook or underrate it though, it doesn’t do anything particularly special despite taking place about 65-70% of the way through the game.
C+: Kamoshida’s Castle
Visual Design – 8.5/10
Both portions of the castle look cool. The first half is filled with grand rooms and stained glass and labyrinthine hallways all crawling with guards. Even the dungeons from the prologue bit looked cool with their running water and cells. The tower looks even cooler, and really shows the player how the distortion can spatially affect the palace. I liked how the floor would warp and change as you walked over it a lot.
Gameplay – 7/10
There aren’t really any puzzles and not much else to do other than go from point A to point B, but that’s fine since it’s the first palace and the player already has a lot thrust in front of them. Just exploring the castle and fighting baddies is fine and dandy for now.
Music – 8/10
The music for this palace was good. It’s shady and a little uneasy, and feels like nice thief background music. The right mix of fun and mystery.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 7.5/10
This boss fight was nothing special either but again, it shouldn’t have to be. Just being able to finally take down the asshole that’s been hogging up a ton of screen time with his assholery is catharsis enough.
Overall Score – 31/40
A great introduction to the game that leaves room to be built and expanded upon. Also, fuck that guy.
C: Kaneshiro Bank of Japan
Visual Design – 7/10
The interior design itself was rather bland and uninteresting until you made it to the vault, but that part looked pretty cool. Bonus points for being on a UFO though.
Gameplay – 7/10
Nothing special going on, just move from room to room killing enemies until you make it to the end. The puzzles/camera dodging didn’t feel particularly stimulating or challenging.
Music – 7.5/10
The track that plays for the first half is alright, but I don’t think it particularly fits the overall theme of the palace. Granted, I’m not sure what a bank really should sound like. I like the version that it switches to once you make it to the vault. It’s more bank-heisty in my opinion and I like the bass guitar. Still though, neither track is topping my list anytime soon.
Boss Fight/Ruler – 6.5/10
Kaneshiro is just a forgettable generic mafia boss obsessed with money. Nothing unique or interesting about him. The fight is alright, and the big-ultra-chargeup-oneshotyou attack catches you by surprise the first time around if nothing else.
Overall Score – 28/40
Most forgettable and average palace to me, which sucks because it’s the one where you get best girl as a party member. If not for that, I probably would have been really bored when I was actually playing.
D: Shido’s Ship
Visual Design – whatever/10
It’s a cruise ship and the city is flooded. Yeehaw.
Gameplay – ratpuzzle/10
This palace had about one and a half too many rat puzzle hallways and it just kept going on and on. It’s not even particularly hard to not get caught if you’re just patient. Not only that, the rest of the palace is just a miniboss gauntlet, and none of the fights are interesting because they’re just buffed-up versions of normal shadows’ personas.
Music – voteforme/10
Couldn’t hear the music over the speech lol. It’s a persona song, so of course it’s good, but it’s not particularly standout. It does give a cruise ship vibe though.
Boss Fight/Ruler – ohgodhowmanymoreformsdoeshehave/10
It’s just an elongated boring fight against a strong enemy with multiple phases. I kept thinking “okay so when is it actually going to get hard or interesting?” That point never came. Even during his final phase I just kept thinking “oh yay time for another form switch maybe he’ll actually do something cool now” and then the victory screen displayed. The only redeemable part about this fight is Rivers in the Desert playing in the background, and it sullies that song’s name because it’s nowhere near as epic as it should be to deserve being accompanied by it.
Overall Score – yikes/10
I would have been really soured on the whole experience if this was the true final palace like they had made it out to be, so I’m glad it didn’t actually turn out to be that way. It’s just a slog you have to grind through.
Submitted June 22, 2019 at 09:13PM by TerrifyingNun http://bit.ly/2Y6XE59
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