Persona 5 is a game brimming with content, to the point where people can essentially spend hundreds of hours on the game without even exploring everything it has to offer! The combat and dungeon exploration might be one of the game's biggest strengths, but one can't deny the sheer level of freedom afforded to the player through the game's life simulation mechanics as well.
During this Free Time in the game, players can also end up forming bonds with people all over Tokyo in order to make genuine friendships and also make their journey through the game easier as well. However, while some of the abilities that these Confidants provide are quite beneficial in practical situations, there are some that don't really make the time invested in forming connections with them worthwhile.
Let's take a look at five examples of each.
10 BEST:Â Sadayo Kawakami
Kawakami is easily one of the more interesting Confidants in Persona 5, and while the (optional) act of romancing a teacher as a high school student is something that people would frown upon — for obvious reasons — there's no denying the benefits that can be accrued from spending a ton of time with her.
Leveling up Kawakami's Confidant allows the player to save precious time by assigning menial tasks to her. In fact, maxing out her Confidant allows Joker to explore Tokyo at night even after spending a day roaming around in the Palace, which is bound to be quite beneficial indeed in a game where every action matters.
9 USELESS:Â Iwai Munehisa
While Iwai's side story might be quite intriguing in its own right, one has to admit that the benefits accrued from hanging out with him pale in comparison to the abilities unlocked by other Confidants.
The act of customizing guns might be fun and all, but this benefit is extremely situational and doesn't really impact combat all that substantially either, making for a rather half-baked experience.
8 BEST:Â Hifumi Togo
The shy chess prodigy Hifumi Togo might seem rather boring at first glance, but spending more time with her reveals just how deep and interesting her character and struggles really are.
It certainly helps that bonding with Hifumi allows for the player to swap out party members in combat and allows backup members to perform follow-up attacks — two abilities that can prove to be quite helpful in combat, especially if the player is caught between a rock and a hard place during a particularly challenging battle.
7 USELESS:Â Yusuke Kitagawa
While Yusuke is definitely an interesting character in his own right, one has to admit that his Confidant doesn't really measure up to the quality of the other characters and is mainly used as a window into his zany and eccentric personality.
His ability to duplicate and recreate Skill cards isn't really all that revolutionary, and most players can pretty much go through the entire game without even using this ability once.
6 BEST:Â Kasumi Yoshizawa
The newest character in Persona 5 Royal is an absolute blast to hang out with, making for one of the best parts of this enhanced experience.
Her Confidant doesn't take a ton of time to advance and allows Joker to ambush monsters using the grappling hook — a boon in areas where sneaking around can prove to be rather annoying, at times.
It certainly helps that hanging out with her raises Joker's HP as well... albeit by a meager amount.
5 USELESS:Â Sae Niijima
Out of all the Confidants present in Persona 5, Sae Niijima is one of the few people whose Confidant levels up automatically — a boon, given the fact that leveling up her Confidant unlocks zero abilities or benefits for the party.
Her Confidant is mainly for story purposes, which makes it one of the weaker Confidants in Persona 5 by a country mile.
4 BEST:Â Takuto Maruki
Another new character that's introduced in Persona 5 Royal, Maruki's Confidant is seamlessly integrated into the main game and ends up being quite entertaining to see all the way to the very end.
His Confidant unlocks some of the most useful abilities in the game. Detox X automatically removes ailments with varying levels of success, Flow gives Joker a slim chance to gain both Focus and Concentrate at the start of battle, and Mindfulness allows Joker to recover valuable SP when his pool is nearly depleted. The chances of all these abilities triggering in battle are increased by spending more time with Maruki, making for some of the most useful moves that can make the act of roaming through a Palace in Persona 5 all that easier.
3 USELESS:Â Goro Akechi
Persona 5 Royal ended up overhauling Akechi's Confidant, turning it from an automatic progression system to a manual one. However, aside from a slim chance of revealing enemy affinities and the classic party member bonuses experienced by everyone else in the game — something that is not really all that impressive given Akechi's limited time with the group — there's not really a ton of benefits to hanging out with Akechi.
While this might make it somewhat harsh to put Akechi in the useless category, reaching the eighth level of his Confidant is an absolute pain — something that is even more annoying, given the fact that reaching this last level is important if people don't want to miss out anything in the story either.
2 BEST: Chihaya Mifune
Chihaya is easily one of the most valuable Confidants in the game, and it's certainly a bonus that she's adorable enough to make the act of hanging out with her entertaining as well.
By leveling up her Confidant enough, the player will be able to use Affinity Readings that can level up their relationships with other Confidants without spending any time — a boon for anyone who wants to max out all the Confidants in Persona 5.
1 USELESS: Ichiko Ohya
Ohya is easily one of the worst Confidants in Persona 5 by a country mile, and the fact that the abilities unlocked by hanging out with her are pretty useless to boot doesn't exactly help things either.
Her Scoops end up affecting the Alert Level of a Palace — something that really shouldn't be an issue for players who are judiciously traveling through Palaces and using hiding spots to their full effect.