*Note that this article contains MAJOR spoilers for Persona 5 Royal.*
Persona 5 Royal dataminer pan-hime has discovered another alternate scene from the game, this time one depicting Akechi's third persona awakening.
Unlike in the original Persona 5 game, where each Phantom Thief had two personas - the original one that they first awakened to and a newer one once Joker maxed out his confidant with each of them - Royal added on a third persona, which could be unlocked during the game's new third semester. Each of the Thieves' new personas awoke once Joker was able to convince them to deny Maruki's fake reality.
When it came to Akechi, his awakening was a little different; while all the other Phantom Thieves had their awakenings in each of their respective homes, Akechi experienced his at Leblanc Café following Joker's decision to change Maruki's heart despite the risk of Akechi disappearing in the real reality.
However, it appears that this wasn't always the case.
Pan-hime explained that this alterante scene was discovered in the Chinese build of Persona 5 Royal. Gaming YouTuber Faz has translated the dialogue into English and uploaded it to his Youtube channel. Notably, unlike many of the other datamined scenes pan-hime has discovered, this particular scene is fully voiced.
In this alternate scene, Akechi and Joker are hanging out in the jazz club during the third semester. Akechi talks to Joker about Shido, bringing up the former's last moments before his death and his request for the Phantom Thieves to change Shido's heart. Akechi thanks Joker for following through with his request, though points out that, because they have both been transported to Maruki's "ideal" reality, "nothing has changed" about Shido's past horrible actions. "The reality Maruki is satisfied with, is not good for us," he explains.
Akechi then goes on to express his dissatisfaction living in Maruki's new world, saying "I [am] sick of being in the palm of someone's hand." He then tells Joker that the two of them should go back to the way things were. The declaration of going back to the old reality triggers Akechi's third awakening.
The scene ends with Akechi asking Joker about his glove that he gave to him during the former's duel declaration back during the Rank 8 confidant event. "That glove...don't forget it," he warns, "I won't give you another one."
Viewers in the comments appear pretty torn between their preference for this alternate scene and the one that made it into the official game.
Regardless of the reasons why Atlus chose to use a different scene, the alternate version is now online for fans to view.
Persona 5 Royal is available now, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
Source: YouTube