Persona 5: Royal doesn’t just add a new semester to the game; it adds tons of content improvements. Some changes are glaring like the addition of three new confidants, while others are so naturally added in that you may never notice.

Almost everything in Royal fills fluid, many players are even left thinking that the original game was more fluid than they remember. It’s not often that you find a game with improvements that fit so naturally into the story and gameplay. Royal, however, does a wonderful job of creating a superior gameplay experience than was found in the original.

10 Updated Palaces

When players first get into Kamoshidas palace, there are quite a few things that have been changed around. Palaces have been rearranged to work with the grappling hook, and some puzzles have been added or streamlined. Even the bosses are different in the game to offer more of a challenge to players, Madarame, for example, now has clones of himself.

Since players spend hours in each palace, this is a great improvement.

9 Free Time Rebalancing

This is a bit more subtle and may take a while to notice, but the free time has been moved around. The calendar is now adjusted to allow players more time honing their skills and getting to know their favorite confidants. In particular, players may eventually realize that they have more time in the evenings. It’s easy to max out all confidants without feeling pressured.

In fact, most players can easily have all available confidants complete by the epilogue.

8 New Characters

Royal doesn’t waste any time and presents gamers with the new characters incredibly fast. By the time they enter Madarames Palace, all three new additions will be introduced to their party. Kasumi is naturally introduced during morning sessions while Jose shows up when you enter Mementos. Even Maruki’s introduction is smoothly orchestrated.

Part of the new calendar balance was also done to help include these character’s events.

7 Better Foreshadowing

The Persona community often jokes about how abrupt the introduction of Haru was. Thankfully, Royal fixes this along with foreshadowing many other characters. Haru can be seen in the background of events or standing around in school. Makoto wandes the hall listening in on students, and Maruki is mentioned well before being introduced.

Some of these additions are so subtle that you won’t even notice.

6 Updated Soundtrack

With a third semester and new palace, there is no surprise that the game has a few new tracks. The most noticeable music addition actually appears in Mementos. In the original games, the area kept the same theme all the way to the bottom. Royal changes this up, and as you descend into the deeper levels, the overworld theme will change.

This makes wandering through Mementos for hours much more tolerable.

5 Reworked Confidants

Another improvement you may not notice right away is the changes to confidants. While there are now follow-ups after each meeting, one confidant has been changed quite significantly. The strength Persona now has five new tasks that players need to meet in order to max out the wardens. Old guides won’t help with this as the fashion system has been changed.

This creates a new challenge and more pressure to make or capture Personas.

4 New Activities

With the addition of Kichijoji, players are going to find a jazz bar and place to play darts with their team. Some other activities have been improved on though; there are now DVDs to rent and watch. There is also an option to clean Leblanc, which may be overlooked. Even the baseball center has a new course for you to try your luck at later in the game.

These activities are also a great way to skill earn points much faster.

3 Dialogue Changes

If players feel like the game’s dialogue is much heavier than they remember, then they’re right. The whole translation has been overhauled because the original dialogue was oversimplified. This makes many scenes in the game feel much heavier than they did in the original. Even some dialogue choices are different in Royal.

With this, players can find many new scenes and events to further enhance the character’s story.

2 Fluid Battles

The battles go much faster now and are streamlined to be more fluid. This means that enemies take less time to attack, and player’s Personas are getting their attacks off much faster. Baton pass is now a more useful ability, and many Persona have undergone stat changes to make the battles feel more balanced, which can be noticed in later parts of the game.

This adds both more challenge, and ways to save time when encountering enemies for grinding.

1 Ammo Restock

One of the biggest reworks is the guns that in the original weren’t used much due to their inconvenient system. In Royal, though, players will be able to use their gun freely as player’s Ammo is now restocked every battle. There are also new customizations options making guns an efficient way of attack. This also makes more sense to the lore of the game.

With guns being added into battle, monsters with gun weaknesses are easier to take on.

NEXT: Persona 5: 10 Hidden Details Everyone Missed About Mementos