[[warning:// mild spoilers for Persona 5]]

Ann: Best girl?

I think I’m going to have to go with Makoto. ALL the girls were really strong in this game (pretty much every character was in general, tbh) but in terms of social link as a whole, romance route, and everything Makoto comes out on top. I really love the idea of the class president who had her whole life figured out stopping and being like “wait… is this really worth it? am I really doing anything important?” because I’ve been there. And even when she comes to the conclusion that she is going to stay with the path she had decided upon before her social link, it’s well done and feels satisfying. She’s strong-willed while also being a caring sweetheart, and she’s a GR8 party member!

Yusuke: Best Boy?

Yusuke Kitagawa is my favorite fucking character and I will fight people about it (I won’t really fight anyone because favorite characters are subjective and tend to have personal meaning so whoever you most appreciate for your reasons is cool). I also think he has the strongest voice acting performance in the game, which is a bonus point. His social link was full of hilarious moments, and the twist at the end with art benefactor guy was nicely done. He’s quirky and says some of the weirdest shit, and I identify with and appreciate that. As a party member he’s pretty fantastic, being the heaviest hitter with physical moves and being so damn speedy that it blows my mind. I want to romance him, and a lot of his scenes have onlookers assuming we’re dating so ATLUS STOP BEING WEAK AND MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Takemi: Favorite NPC?

It’s a tough pick, but I’m going with Iwai. I don’t know if this question meant more obscure NPCs, but Iwai is such an interesting and incredible character. He’s a badass, he’s a snarky asshole, and he’s a loving father all at once. His social link, while not my absolute fave of the non-party confidants, is strong and showcases his character phenomenally. His confidant benefits are meh (in my opinion), but as a character he is top notch.

Velvet Room: Unpopular Opinion?

Shit… I have to think for a second because I don’t know what I have that could be an unpopular opinion, or what is an unpopular opinion among the fandom? Here’s what comes to mind:

At first, Akechi didn’t impress me. I wasn’t a huge fan of his character and I just thought he wasn’t super interesting. He’s still not even really in my top 5 (maybe he’s in my top 10) characters in the game, but the encounters with him towards the end of the game made me at least find the appeal in him. I know the fanbase goes gaga for him, so this might be controversial that I think he’s simply… okay.

Something else that might be unpopular to voice is that I really do not like Morgana. I mean, as a character he’s alright and he is certainly leagues above Teddie in terms of a mascot character. In fact, I liked him quite a lot on my first playthrough! But as I’m over halfway through my third playthrough, I’m noticing that Morgana is such an unnecessary asshole, especially to Ryuji. He takes every fucking available opportunity to tell Ryuji how much he sucks, and when he runs away and throws a tantrum, ALL the blame is put on Ryuji, even though Morgana was an equal (if not predominant) contributor to the conflict. All the “go to sleep” nonsense aside, Morgana is needlessly douchey for most of the game. I can’t bring myself to hate him, but he still is just… relatively unlikable. //Plus he’s arguably the worst party member, given he’s squishy as fuck so I have to constantly heal and revive him when that’s supposed to be his job and garu skills just don’t have that much of an advantage since they don’t cause shock/freeze/burn or anything. His best quality in battle are the lucky/miracle punch skills. Oh and his persona won’t awaken until the very end of the game so that sucks.//