WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS for Persona 5 Royal ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Summary
- Persona 5 Royal features some of the most memorable bosses in the series, with intense and well-designed boss fights.
- While some bosses are frustrating and disappointing, the highs of the best bosses are unmatched within the Persona series.
- Changes in Persona 5 Royal improved some boss fights, but others became harder and more contrived, highlighting the need for more consistent boss design in Persona 6.
Persona 5 Royal has some of the most memorable bosses in the series, for better or for worse. While many of the antagonists in Persona 5 Royal are well-written and have equally well-designed boss fights, others are remembered for being frustrating or disappointing with little payoff to their arc. The heights these boss fights reach are unmatched within the Persona series, but the lows of some of the worst bosses leave a lot to be desired and should serve as a lesson for Persona 6's boss design.
Compared to the vanilla Persona 5 game, Persona 5 Royal changes up its bosses a bit, even adding a new final boss in the game's third semester. Some of the changes vastly improved upon the original fights to make them much more manageable, while others seemingly made them harder and more contrived. As such, there are clear distinctions between each of the game's main story bosses that helps define their place among the best and the worst Persona 5 Royal has to offer.
S-Tier
Takuto Maruki – The final boss of Persona 5 Royal that is only accessible by unlocking the bonus third semester really lives up to his status. Maruki has one of the most heartbreaking arcs in the game, which leads him to be a very sympathetic villain in the third semester. Capping the game off with an intense, cinematic climax seals his spot as the best boss in the game and a more than worthy addition to Persona 5 Royal.
Masayoshi Samael Shido – Shido is a thorn in the Phantom Thieves' side throughout the entire game, pulling the strings behind the scenes as he makes his way up the political ladder. Finally facing off against this villain is immensely satisfying as his boss fight is not only tough but fair, but features epic music and the sense that justice is finally being served. His battle can be difficult, often pushing players to swap between benched party members, but its unique use of key mechanics makes it a well-rounded bout.
A-Tier
Suguru Asmodeus Kamoshida – While not the most difficult or unique boss fight, Kamoshida is the first boss players will face in Persona 5 Royal and this battle does a great job of setting the tone for the rest of the game. The game's first arc is very intense and Kamoshida is quite the loathsome villain, making defeating him all the more exhilarating. His fight also does a great job of teaching the player Persona 5 Royal's boss mechanics early in the game, setting them up for later success.
Goro Akechi – Persona 5 Royal players will battle Akechi during the course of their infiltration of Shido's Palace, and this fight is still quite memorable even though he's not the primary target of the dungeon. After his betrayal of the Phantom Thieves, Akechi's true colors are revealed in this fight and his unhinged nature makes for an intimidating slugfest of a battle. This fight can be quite challenging for players caught unprepared, but it ultimately serves as the climax of Goro Akechi's complex character arc.
Sae Leviathan Niijima – The fight against Sae in Persona 5 Royal marks a major turning point in the game, as it precedes the capture of Joker. It also is more personal than other fights given that it forces Makoto to confront her sister and the corruption that has overtaken her. Aside from this story beat, the roulette mechanics featured in the battle make for an interesting twist on the standard gameplay and fit thematically with the rest of Sae's Palace.
Holy Grail/Yaldabaoth – The final boss of the vanilla Persona 5 story is the god of control Yaldabaoth, who also takes the form of the Holy Grail. This fight features an epic confrontation against the true mastermind manipulating the events of the game and forces players to throw everything they've got to take down the behemoth and its many limbs. Unfortunately, it is somewhat overshadowed in Persona 5 Royal by the true final boss fight against Maruki.
B-Tier
Ichiryusai Azazel Madarame – Although Persona 5 Royal gives Madarame a pretty substantial glow-up, his boss fight still remains pretty standard. It is less annoying than in vanilla Persona 5, but the Power Rangers-esque clones he creates with their own distinct elemental affinities doesn't make for the most interesting or novel boss mechanic.
Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki – Cognitive Wakaba is an interesting concept for a boss, given the fact that she is not a villain in the game's real world, but only a manifestation of Futaba's trauma in the Metaverse. However, her boss fight isn't all that interesting and mostly comes down to playing the waiting game between firing ballista bolts at her and biding time until Futaba awakens to her Persona.
Junya Bael Kaneshiro – Kaneshiro could have been a much better boss if he had a greater connection to the Phantom Thieves. The boss fight against Kaneshiro himself is rather easy, but he will summon his Piggytron to do most of his work for him, which ends up being about as disappointing as Kaneshiro's character himself. After his Piggytron is destroyed, Kaneshiro will summon a Bodyguard-for-Hire and a Hitman-for-Hire, who can also be annoying because they resist all forms of attack.
C-Tier
Kunikazu Mammon Okumura – Most of the boss fights in Persona 5 Royal are forgettable at worst, but Persona 5 Royal's Okumura battle is actively a poorly designed fight. Okumura himself doesn't do much fighting, instead summoning his robotic underlings to do his dirty work. While this is fitting for his character, these bots get annoying because they will reset if not defeated in two turns, which makes the battle drag on when it is already on a time limit. This all earns Okumura the infamous status among fans as the worst boss in the game.
Persona 5 Royal is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.