P5X's Galaxy-Brain Fix for the COOP 'Conjoined Twin' Controversy: Just Delete COOP Entirely. Players Are Fuming

P5X has done it again — and this time, it's not a powercreep scandal or a gacha meltdown. The devs have found a galaxy-brain solution to the long-standing COOP 'conjoined twin' controversy: just... remove COOP for new characters entirely. You read that right. The COOP (Confidant) system — arguably THE defining feature of the Persona 5 franchise — has been gutted by the game's own developers.

For context, the 'conjoined twin' (连体人) controversy stems from P5X's COOP storylines awkwardly forcing male and female characters into paired narratives, essentially railroading romance where players didn't want it. Players had been complaining for a while, and the devs' previous 'fix' was already shady enough — they quietly changed romance COOPs into friendship COOPs, deleting love routes without announcement. Now they've escalated: newly released permanent 5-star female characters simply don't get COOP content at all.

But what truly set the community on fire was the glaring double standard. A highly-upvoted comment broke it down perfectly: P5's COOP system is the franchise's beating heart — it's where you build bonds with characters through 5-10 story segments covering romance, friendship, rivalry, and mutual support, while also gaining meaningful combat buffs. Stripping that down to generic side quests with fewer cutscenes, shallower writing, and no power progression? What's even left of Persona 5 at that point?

One player captured the sentiment perfectly: 'I played P5 basically as a dating sim — I couldn't care less about combat. Now they're deleting the main content?' This resonated hard, with another reply saying 'Same! I dreaded every palace crawl, just let me walk around Shibuya.' It's clear that for many Persona fans, the daily-life social simulation IS the game.

The spark that ignited the powder keg was the blatant favoritism in COOP treatment. The previous limited 5-star YUI already had a notoriously lazy COOP — while other characters got date scenes at different locations, YUI got nothing, no romance route, and visibly less content. Then the next permanent 5-star female character got zero COOP whatsoever. Meanwhile, launch-era male 4-star characters are having COOP content ADDED retroactively, and popular female 4-stars are being shoehorned into other characters' COOP stories. Players called it exactly what it is: 'Peak comedy.'

One comment hit the nail on the head: 'Do ATLUS and Perfect World actually think P5's popularity comes from its dungeons? The entire urban gameplay loop revolves around spending action points to progress COOP. No COOP means what — endless part-time jobs?' This nails the core issue: P5 was never about the combat; it was about the social bonds and slice-of-life character interactions.

A few voices tried to play devil's advocate, arguing that 'you can't expect every character to have COOP when the roster keeps growing.' But a devastating rebuttal shut that down: 'Cool, then tell Riot to delete Summoner's Rift — balancing all those new champions is too much work anyway.' The analogy lands perfectly — COOP isn't a bonus feature, it's the foundation.

Some players also drew parallels to last year's infamous 'Girls' Frontline 2' (少前2) drama, where that game gutted its storyline content in the name of 'lightweight design.' One commenter asked point-blank: 'Isn't this the exact same playbook? Did Yu Zhong (羽中, GFL's director) secretly join Perfect World?' — referencing how story cuts became a meme in the gacha community.

As of writing, P5X's official channels have made no formal response to the controversy. But one thing is painfully clear: when a game literally themed around 'bonds' decides the best way to handle bonding-related criticism is to delete the bonds, player trust evaporates at terminal velocity. COOP IS Persona 5 — not the dungeons, not the combat. Hopefully the devs figure that out before it's too late.