Persona 5 Royal has maintained love among fans amidst the growing appreciation for the Shin Megami Tensei franchise from which it spawned, and a big part of this lasting appeal is the game’s fresh take on technical, turn-based RPG combat. A defining aspect of the Persona series and its popularity is each of its games’ diverse cast of party members utilized throughout the story, and Persona 5 was no exception at all. 2019’s Persona 5 Royal update added a new teammate and further expanded the depth of pairing different Phantom Thieves, but its changes also solidified who are the best picks for the dungeons of Mementos.
While nobody in the party of Persona 5 Royal is a bad pick, the more underwhelming characters find themselves lacking in certain areas that cause them to be surpassed. Each party member generally has a special aspect that they focus on particularly, but the usefulness of each isn’t equal. The ten characters that make the Phantom Thieves include some who dominate as the best party members of Persona 5, and others stuck behind limitations.
S Tier
Ryuji Sakamoto - Ryuji is an extremely key member of the party that sets the tone for the entire cast. Available from the beginning, he is capable of maintaining his spot as the strongest physical attacker of the party for a lot of the game. Ryuji’s effectiveness in this role comes from abilities like his devastating God’s Hand, game-defining Charge, and multi-hitting Agneyastra that give him incredibly high damage potential all the way through to the last dungeon.
Joker - It might seem ironic, but many Persona 5 fans won’t be surprised to see the protagonist rank above all his friends. The fact of the matter is that regardless of the plethora of fantastic options for all the best party members available, the entire game can be completed with just Joker going solo. His jack of all trades, master of all quality combined with his access to rare affinities unavailable to most party members justifies Joker’s protagonist status in Persona 5 Royal.
A Tier
Haru Okumura - The final party member received in the base game, Persona 5 Royal's Haru is a bit of an all-rounder that excels with her signature grenade launcher. She can require some attention from a dedicated player to bring out her best, but her Psychokinesis skills let her do great Technical type damage in the right situations. While she can be controversial due to her actual place in the story and the lateness with which she enters the party, Haru is a highly underrated member of the Phantom Thieves.
Ann Takamaki - While she can be underestimated by some players, Ann has excellent damage complemented by her status abilities. Strong abilities including fire skills that can inflict burn and the devastating Lullaby sleep ailment skill make Ann a great choice for advanced players of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.
Kasumi Yoshizawa - Persona 5 Royal's Kasumi has an interesting place in the story that, as a new character, is backed up by her great use in combat. She can use an affinity that was exclusive to Joker before her introduction in a similar vein to Akechi, but she’s actually a permanent teammate. What keeps her from being among the very best characters is her final Persona’s awakening taking place so late in the game, all the way on the second to last day.
Makoto Nijima - Makoto is a great all-rounder character with at least decent capabilities for most roles in the game, and she’s often considered the best for this by players. Her high speed and depth of skills can make her a challengingly technical character that focuses more on party synergy than her own strengths, despite her status as a Persona 5 Royal fan-favorite character. In the right team, she can shine as a healer, attacker with her Nuke abilities, or even a support that boosts status ailments.
B Tier
Yusuke Kitigawa - Yusuke has solid physical abilities and got a lot better in the move from Persona 5 to Persona 5 Royal. Early on in the game, he excels and even keeps up with Ryuji’s effectiveness. However, once Ryuji learns the powerful skill Charge, he slowly starts to outclass Yusuke as the party’s physical attacker. Persona 5 Royal's Yusuke ends up becoming more of a situational choice by the end of the game, but his ice magic specialization and unique abilities still make him a personal favorite of many.
Goro Akechi - Akechi is by far one of the most powerful party members in the entire game, utilizing abilities that were exclusive to Joker before him. With his powerful, unblockable Almighty Rebellion Blade skill in Persona 5 Royal, there’s no reason to not have him on a team composition. The only reason that he’s not higher on the list is the simple fact that he’s only a temporary party member. Due to the events of the narrative, Akechi is only available for two dungeons in the whole game.
C Tier
Futaba Sakura - Futaba fills such a support role that she doesn’t even actively occupy a slot, so her relevance as a party member at all is a bit subjective. Despite this, however, her indirect presence proves to be valuable through the help she offers in battle and her random healing and buffs in fights. Just like the proper party members in the game, she can awaken into her true self and gain new powers as the player progresses Futaba's Confidant level in Persona 5 Royal.
Morgana - While he’s effective at filling the role of a designated healer, it’s safe to say that Morgana is probably the worst party member available in Persona 5 Royal. His status as more of a one-sided support character ultimately makes him a hard teammate to justify using a whole party slot on, and even agreed to be one of the least helpful party members in Persona games.
Persona 5 Royal is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
