Elden Ring Is No Longer The Best-Reviewed Game Of 2022
Back in February, the release of "Elden Ring" came with the highest critical reviews of the year – while the PC version of the game saw backlash, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of it received a 96 Metacritic score. The game was widely loved by critics and fans alike for a ton of reasons, including the outstanding world-building and the sense of player autonomy it creates without forced quests. While there are a few games that are more perfect than "Elden Ring," it sat at the top of games released in 2022 for eight months. However, a new game has just dethroned the Soulsborne title by racking up a slightly higher Metacritic score, and it's a port of a hyper-successful PlayStation 4 game.
Back in 2020, "Persona 5 Royal" saw great success after releasing in the West, earning itself a 95 Metacritic score. As part of the 25th anniversary of "Persona" games, the studio announced that many "Persona" titles would be coming to new consoles, and "Persona 5 Royal" was the start of this celebratory rollout. Ports of both "Persona 3 Portable" and "Persona 4: The Golden" will also re-be released on January 19, 2023.
The new port of "Persona 5 Royal" stacks up incredibly well, and the PC version of the game is the release outranked "Elden Ring" with a 97 Metacritic score. So what is it about this new edition of "Persona 5" that's blowing critics away?
Persona 5 Royal goes portable
The PC port of "Persona 5 Royal" outranked "Elden Ring" and its original release with a few perfect scores from sites like God is a Geek, The Mako Reactor, and GameRant. The first two of those publications point towards the game's portability with the Steam Deck as part of the reason why the game deserved a perfect score, which makes the game even more accessible than before.
Beyond that, critics have been fascinated to see the story of the Phantom Thieves play out on a new platform, and the PC port seems like the best place to enjoy it. Even when compared to the other ports of "Persona 5 Royal," the PC port saw some minor improvements over the others. One of the biggest wins for the PC version is just how stunning the game looks. Alex Donaldson from VG247 explained that the art style is gorgeous in any resolution. This includes pushing the game to run in 4k at 120FPS, which performed well for the reviewer. If a PC can handle it, then the game can run at 8k at over 60fps, all without running into stuttering or mouse calibration issues (via DSOG).
Critics have also raved that the presentation of the game on PC is full of small details that fans will love, like a cursor in the shape of a dagger (which was pointed out by PC Gamer's Oscar Taylor-Kent). Another benefit to the PC port of the game, according to RPG Site, is that it give players a ton of options for how they want the game to run, and which settings they want to prioritize. With things like shadow quality and depth of field being adjustable, players can find the perfect settings for their set-up. RPG Site also pointed out that many of the game's new audio options are only seen in the PC port, which made it stand out further.
Persona 5 is the reigning champ of 2022 — for now
Perhaps if the PC version of "Elden Ring" didn't see as much backlash as it did, then it wouldn't have been taken down by a port of a game that was originally released six years before it. The PC release of "Elden Ring" received some blowback upon release for performance issues. However, that six year gap apparently gave Atlus plenty of time to completely polish the game and fix bugs. That's not to say that "Persona 5 Royal" doesn't have its own issues – things like lighting weren't up to par with some expectations (via Shane Robert Moyer with GameRant). Still, these minor qualms haven't been enough to put the game below "Elden Ring."
It's also worth noting that all of the ports of the RPG game have received great ratings thus far. This includes the Nintendo Switch version of the game, which also saw several perfect scores from critics.
Despite this fanfare, however, "Persona 5 Royal" may not enjoy too much time at the top. With early reactions to "God of War: Ragnarok" all saying that the game is pretty much perfect, Kratos might take the throne when the game's released on November 9, 2022. In the meantime, though, it's worth checking out a game that has managed to climb to the top yet again. "Persona 5 Royal" is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.