The web’s been buzzy of late for the freshly introduced Persona 5 spin-off recreation, Phantom of the Evening (P5X). Followers have been intrigued by the brand new characters, however they have been additionally excited to satisfy their previous favorites once more. However once I regarded on the screenshots, I seen one particular person lacking: Goro Akechi. What provides, Atlus? You’ll be able to’t simply faux that Persona 5 Royal’s major antagonist wasn’t additionally the collection’ most compelling character. He was a real member of the Phantom Thieves group, and his haters can die mad about it.
Goro Akechi is a highschool scholar who acts as a rival for the primary protagonist of Persona 5. Within the authentic recreation, he’s recognized for betraying the occasion after pretending to be their good friend. He additionally does this within the enhanced Royal launch, however this 2019 replace of the sport provides extra scenes for him. These social interactions make Akechi really feel extra like a deeply troubled good friend, fairly than a shithead cop who had a change of coronary heart on the final second.
Like most RPG antagonists, Akechi has a tragic backstory. His mom died when he was younger, and he grew up as an orphan (who typically face appreciable social stigma in Japan). Akechi wished revenge towards his neglectful and merciless father, so he cooperated with him to be able to get shut sufficient to assassinate him. Sadly, his father additionally deliberate to assassinate his son all alongside. Akechi ultimately acknowledged that the protagonist is the same particular person to him, and selected to sacrifice himself to make sure the escape of the heroic Phantom Thieves.
It additionally helped that in Royal, gamers bought to spend extra time with him in a completely new arc. The post-game added a brand new semester through which actuality has been utterly modified. On this altered Tokyo, each character has their private tragedy undone, and every particular person lives a contented life. That is the one situation through which Akechi could be saved. Nevertheless, he rejects the unreal world and the false happiness that comes with it. Since he’s implied to have died within the authentic plotline, defeating this world’s proprietor means he’ll stop to exist. He doesn’t care. For him, dying is preferable to dwelling beneath the thumb of some larger energy.
However I wished him to stay! Once you pursue the ending through which the unreal world is destroyed, Royal teases the likelihood that Akechi might need survived. And so I held my breath for the potential for having the ability to see Akechi once more within the sequel recreation Scramble. I by no means ended up ending that musou recreation regardless of finishing so many others. Akechi wasn’t in it, and that was undoubtedly a part of the explanation. I wasn’t terribly invested in a P5 through which he didn’t exist.
I hoped that it was a fluke. Akechi is sweet, and he deserves to seem in different spinoff video games. Now it looks like P5X would possibly let me down too, and I’m beginning to lose hope that Atlus remembers who he’s. That is homophobia, and I gained’t stand for it. Atlus, give us my feral chicken son or give me demise.