[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5]
During a livestream showcasing the upcoming expanded Persona 5: The Royal, Atlus released an unannounced character trailer for Goro Akechi, aka Crow. It revealed an expanded role for the character, and seemingly taking place after the point in the original game at which Akechi is killed.
First, Akechi plays pool with the protagonist, during which the player is rewarded with confidant points. Previously Akechi's confidant rank could only be increased during obligatory cutscenes, maxing out Akechi's confidant rank automatically during his final moments in the game. This confirms that now Akechi will have a role akin to the other members of the Phantom Thieves, with his own unique confidant link.
Then, in combat, Akechi is sporting the outfit that corresponds to his Loki Persona, which originally is only revealed to the player before the boss fight that precedes his death. In addition to the Loki Persona becoming available to the player, this either suggests that the scene takes place following Akechi's death (or the point at which he originally dies), or that his Loki Persona will be revealed earlier on. Probably the former, given that such a major rewrite to the story is unlikely.
Akechi joins the Phantom Thieves as the eighth and final playable character, filling out the amount of room on the pause menu available for player characters. His Persona utilizes primarily Bless and Curse type skills, rounding out the skill types that each party member is capable of. In the original game, he only stays on the team for one palace before revealing his true colors and betraying the Phantom Thieves. He then returns as a boss fight in the subsequent palace.
Like the best villains, Akechi's bad deeds are the outcome of a traumatic past, and his final moments are heroic, helping the protagonist and company escape a dire situation. The setup is fully in place for Akechi's redemption arc, including a conveniently off-screen death. This had already led fans to theorize about his eventual return, which this new Persona 5: The Royal trailer all but confirms.
Akechi's expanded role is one of many new additions to the rerelease, which will also introduce a new playable character. While plenty of Persona 5 fans are surely on the fence about returning to a game with a 70-100+ hour completion time no matter how cool the new content, the Goro Akechi fan contingent is absolutely going to want to check this one out.