How to Change Clothes, Costumes, and Outfits in Persona 5 Royal

In Persona 5 Royal, the Phantom Thieves have an extensive wardrobe of outfits that go far beyond their default thieving gear and school uniforms. These costumes are purely cosmetic, allowing players to customize the appearance of the party during dungeon exploration in Palaces and Mementos. Many of these outfits also come with special bonuses, such as unique battle music and victory themes that override the game’s default tracks, offering a fresh audio-visual experience for subsequent playthroughs or long grinding sessions.

Most of these cosmetic options are available as downloadable content, though some are included in the base game. Accessing and equipping them is a straightforward process once you know where to look. The system is integrated directly into the game’s equipment menu, allowing for quick changes on the fly while preparing for a heist.

Unlocking and Accessing Costumes

Before you can equip any new outfits, you first need to acquire them. The vast majority of unique costumes in Persona 5 Royal are obtained through DLC packs, which were available for purchase on the PlayStation Store for the PS4 version. The base game also provides a few default options and seasonal changes.

To access any purchased DLC, you must first progress the story to a specific date: April 12th (4/12). This is the point where the protagonist gains the freedom to explore his attic room at Cafe Leblanc. In the room, near the main staircase, is a large cardboard box. Interacting with this box opens a menu listing all your unclaimed DLC items, including costume sets, helpful item packs, and bonus Personas. You must claim the costume sets from this box for them to become available in your inventory. You can do this at any point after 4/12.

Some of the notable DLC costume packs for the PS4 release of Persona 5 Royal included:

• Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight Set: Outfits and music from the rhythm game spin-off.
• Persona 4: Dancing All Night Set: Costumes and battle music from the Persona 4 dancing game.
• Persona 4 Golden Yasogami High Set: The school uniforms of the Investigation Team.
• Persona 3 Gekkoukan High Set: The school uniforms of the S.E.E.S. members.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Set: Demon-slaying suits from the SMT series.
• Catherine: Full Body Set: Themed outfits based on the puzzle game Catherine.
• Velvet Room Set: Costumes that dress the Phantom Thieves as attendants of the Velvet Room.
• Swimsuit Set: Beach attire for every member of the team.

Beyond DLC, characters will automatically wear different outfits based on the season in the real-world segments of the game, such as switching from summer to winter school uniforms. These are not typically equippable in dungeons, where the default is the Phantom Thief attire.

How to Equip Outfits

Once you have claimed your costumes from the cardboard box, you can equip them at almost any time through the main menu. The changes will only be reflected inside Palaces or Mementos. Follow these steps to change a character’s appearance:

1. Press the Triangle button to open the main menu. This menu gives you access to your Stats, Items, Persona list, and more.
2. Navigate to and select the Equip option. This will open the equipment screen, which displays your currently active party members on the left and their equipped gear on the right.
3. Select the party member whose outfit you wish to change from the list on the left side of the screen.
4. On the right side, move the cursor down to the Outfit slot. This is a dedicated slot for cosmetic apparel and is separate from the character’s main armor, which is equipped in the “Protector” slot.
5. Press the X button on the Outfit slot to open a list of all available costumes for that specific character. Select the one you wish to wear and confirm your choice.

To make the process faster, you can use the L1 and R1 buttons while in any character’s equipment menu to quickly switch to the next party member without having to back out to the main Equip screen. This allows you to change the entire party’s outfits in one go efficiently. The equipped costume will immediately appear on the character model in the menu, and the change will be active the next time you enter a combat area.

Special Features of DLC Costumes

Many of the DLC costumes offer more than just a new look. Equipping a full party with outfits from certain sets changes the standard battle music and the victory fanfare to themes from the game the costumes are referencing. This feature is a major draw for long-time fans of the Persona series and other Atlus titles.

For example, equipping the Persona 4 Golden Yasogami High uniforms will cause the regular battle theme, “Last Surprise,” to be replaced with “Reach Out to the Truth,” the iconic battle track from Persona 4. Similarly, the Persona 3 Gekkoukan High uniforms will change the music to “Mass Destruction.” These changes apply as long as at least one active party member is wearing a costume from that specific set.

Other examples include:

• Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight Set: Changes BGM to “Groovy.”
• Persona 4: Dancing All Night Set: Changes BGM to “Time To Make History.”
• Shin Megami Tensei IV Set: Changes BGM to the battle theme from that game.

This musical alteration can provide a refreshing change of pace during long dungeon crawls. If you want to revert to the default Persona 5 Royal music, simply unequip the special costume or switch to an outfit that does not have a unique BGM tied to it, such as the swimsuit set.