Persona 5 Royal Endings guide: Interrogation Answers & how to get the True Ending
Multiple endings are something of a series tradition, but Persona 5 Royal ramps things up to another level, with a new true ending and a smattering of alternate and bad endings added over the original, vanilla release of the game. As it turns out, there's quite a few ways the story of Joker and the Phantom Thieves can end.
The canon end to the story of the game is the new-for-Royal true ending - but if you want to see that, you'll need to do certain things at certain times, and follow key instructions. There are time limits and traps you can fall into if you're not careful - which is where this page comes in.
This page summarizes all endings of Persona 5 Royal, and also details how to get every ending, including the true ending. We've tried to do so in as spoiler-free a manner as possible, too.
If you're not quite at the endings yet, we've got other guides that can help you, including our full P5R Confidant Guide, gift guide, P5R Crossword answers list, and our full list of the P5 Royal school quiz questions and answers. For endings? Read on, dear Phantom Thief...
Persona 5 Royal Endings List: Every Ending Detailed
Persona 5 Royal expands things out just a little from the original release of the game, which means that there are ultimately a few more Persona 5 Royal endings than there were in the original game. In the broadest sense, however, the versions remain similar.
There are basically now six different endings in Persona 5 Royal. Sort of - they are for the most part variations on each other. Anyway, they break down like this:
- The Good, True Ending
- A second variant of the True Ending with added scenes
- The Normal Ending (Attained by holding firm in the interrogation, but still failing to progress to the new semester)
- Bad Ending 1 (Unlocked by making a deal with Sae in the 11/20 interrogation, selling out your friends in the process)
- Bad Ending 2 (Can happen on 12/24 in the Velvet Room, by taking another bad deal)
- Bad Ending 3 (Reached by accepting the offers made to you on 1/9 or 2/2)
Beyond this, there are also some other Bad Endings available in the game - things that basically amount to a 'Game Over'. The normal ending and that last bad ending were also present in Persona 5, but the other endings are new to P5R. The one you're probably after is the good, true ending, so let's talk about that...
How to get the True Ending and canon end of Persona 5 Royal
Getting the canon Persona 5 Royal ending all depends on you getting full access to the new content - without seeing everything such as the new cooperations, you won't get the full true ending. In vanilla Persona 5, your ending basically hinged on how you answered in your interrogation with Sae: you had to refuse to give up or even deny all knowledge of your friends in order to proceed to the full ending. In Royal, it's a little more complicated.
The main thing you need to do is ensure that you get Maruki's confidant cooperation up to Level 9 before November 17. This will unlock the 3rd Semester of your school year, which brings with it a lot of new content. You can hit up our full guide to the Takuto Maruku Councillor confidant cooperation for the conversation answers to level it up quickly. If you fail to do this, P5R will end in the same spot as P5, without the story extension, leading to the 'normal ending'.
Just reaching the max rank with Maruki by hitting rank 9 before November 17 is enough to get the 'true ending', but if you want the second variant of the good ending with additional scenes, you'll need to do something else. That something is Goro Akechi - and once again, this is linked to a confidant cooperation.
To get the additional scenes in the true ending, you need to reach maximum rank in Goro Akechi's confidant cooperation. Once again, there's a time limit on this, and again it's November 17 - you must Akechi's hit rank 8 before November 17, then the final two ranks will happen automatically. For help with this, check out our full Persona 5 Royal Goro Akechi confidant guide, which has all the conversation answers and tips for maxing it out efficiently.
There's one more thing you can do, too: you should try to push Kasumi's confidant relationship as high a rank as possible - ideally, you should hit rank 5 before 12/22, otherwise it won't go any higher than rank 4. This will reveal some things about her character you will want to see.
These factors will all play in to understanding the Persona 5 Royal True Ending. With these elements in place, your eye must now turn to various conversations with antagonists who stand against you, starting on 11/20, when an interrogation takes place.
We detail all of this below, but the short answer is simple: refuse to take any deals, or compromise or sell out your friends. Holding your ground is the key to reaching the canon true ending.
Interrogation Answers: Resisting Sae for a better ending
On 11/20, you'll find yourself being interrogated by Sae in scenes that were foreshadowed right at the onset of Persona 5. Regardless of if you're playing the original version or the expanded Persona 5 Royal, if you're in pursuit of the normal or true ending, you've got one simple task ahead of you.
What you must do here on November 20 is basically refuse to cooperate with Sae Niijima, protecting your friends and not revealing your accomplaces. This is key to get the good, true ending.
The Interrogation Answers you're looking for is to deny all knowledge of your friends and accomplices ("No." or "Never heard of them."). She won't let go, and at that point you should tell her that "There were no such people."
Next up is a question about Goro Akechi - none of these answers actually matter, as any will allow you to progress to the true ending.
Finally, as noted above, just getting to the 3rd semester isn't enough alone to get the true ending: there will be two choices, on 1/9 and 2/2, that can send you to a bad ending even after the 3rd semester has begun. These choices are quite obvious so we're not going to spoil them here - but just look out for them and keep them in mind as you push towards the good ending!
Further Deals & Answers
You'll be approached by more characters in the coming days who attempt to break apart the Phantom Thieves, all of which can lead to a bad ending. For the avoidance of doubt, here's what you should do if you're in pursuit of a good ending, or the Persona 5 Royal True Ending:
- On 12/24, when you're given another offer, say "I refuse", and continue on.
- On 1/19, in the new semester, you'll be tackling a new palace. Part-way through this comes another offer. Say, "I can't accept this reality."
- On 2/2, you must say you're going to stop the character you're after. "We're stopping XYZ."
Basically, do not take any offers. Go it alone - with your friends. This leads to the good ending of Persona 5. Good luck!