- Primary Subject: Persona 5 Royal
- Key Update: Persona 5 Royal overhauls Goro Akechi’s story by turning his Confidant path into a manual bond and giving him an unhinged role in the Third Semester.
- Status: Confirmed / Opinion
- Last Verified: July 22, 2026
- Quick Answer: Persona 5 Royal improves Goro Akechi by making his social link optional, fleshing out his chaotic personality, and granting him a deeper, non-forced third-semester arc.
When Persona 5 Royal first dropped, most of the hype was focused on Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki. However, people seem to overlook how much better the writing is for Goro Akechi in Persona 5 Royal compared to the original Persona 5.
Don't get me wrong - I loved Akechi even in the original 2016 release. He was a compelling villain with a backstory people could relate to, but his revamp in Persona 5 Royal made him better in every way.
Wondering how different Akechi is in Royal than in the OG Persona 5? Allow me to explain.
Why Goro Akechi Is Better in Persona 5 Royal
In the original Persona 5, you didn't actually have to interact with Akechi. His Confidant ranking progressed automatically with the main story, which meant that while you didn't have to dedicate parts of your free time to hanging out with him, it also made your relationship feel forced.
This changes in Royal. If you want your Confidant ranking with Akechi to level up, you'd have to hang out with him during free evenings. You'd sometimes get a text from Akechi asking to hang out, or you'd be able to challenge him to a round of billiards. It made getting to know Akechi feel genuine, and it also meant uncovering his real personality would hit even harder.
For most of the game, Akechi is seen as a "Detective Prince" - a teenage prodigy with a strong moral compass. However, we soon learn that isn't the case. Spoiler alert: Akechi tries to kill Joker on the orders of corrupt politician Masayoshi Shido, who so happens to be Akechi's father. He plans to help his father rise to the top and orchestrate his public ruin as revenge for abandoning his family.
But by the third semester, Akechi's prince-like character is shed, and his true personality reveals itself. When he joins the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in January, you can hear his feral, unhinged side. He has no problems bluntly telling everyone off and can even be heard saying, "My hold on reality is slipping!" We didn't get to see this side during the original game.
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The fact that we were able to get close to him during the "Detective Prince" era and got to see him progress to his true dark, sarcastic, and chaotic self makes Akechi more compelling.
I also appreciated how Akechi's motive in life shifted with the introduction of Maruki's reality, which wasn't part of Persona 5. Initially, his goal was just to destroy his father. However, after he realized that his existence is tied to Maruki's reality, he chose to fight Maruki even if it meant accepting his disappearance. He refuses to be a pupper in someone else's reality and opts to find his true identity instead. I think that even though Akechi's poised to be the villain, his character in Royal shows that he's someone who is complex and has his own profound sense of dignity.
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One thing I'm happy about is that they didn't force an Akechi redemption arc on us. His charm is that he was messy, bitter, and unapologetically himself. I love that Royal gave us the ability to get to know Akechi at our own pace and have him drop his facade in such dramatic fashion.
Akechi was never a hero - nor did he ever want to be. But at the end of Royal, he became a Phantom Thief in his own unique (albeit tragic) way.
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