THE PLOT:
It's summer vacation, and Joker has returned to Tokyo to reunite with his old friends, the group formerly known as "The Phantom Thieves." With the defeat of both Shido and the God of Control, there's no more need for heroics, and the friends plan to relax and spend the month just enjoying each other's company.
But life intervenes. A wave of "changes of heart" has left the police suspecting the Phantom Thieves are once again active. Zenkichi Hasegawa, a police inspector, thinks otherwise. He approaches the group and makes a deal to shield them from arrest - if they can unravel these new incidents and find the real culprit behind them!
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| A police inspector approaches the Phantom Thieves with an offer they can't refuse.., |
CHARACTERS:
Spinoffs Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona Q2 reduced the rich cast to two-dimensional caricatures... Which makes it all the more joyous to see the cast back in form in this sequel. Each of the main characters gets a moment in the spotlight, thanks to a structure which connects each of them with one of the game's mini-bosses. This adds additional depth, even the ones the original game sometimes overlooked. Haru in particular gets more focus than in Persona 5, emerging as a surprisingly strong character. Meanwhile, Ryuji - generally just comedy relief - receives a strong dramatic moment midway through that's in-character while still acting as an effective contrast to his usual antics.
The new characters are also engaging. Zenkichi originally seems to be just a replacement for the earlier game's Akechi: the detective whom the characters are forced to work with to stay out of jail. As the story unfolds, he becomes such a well-developed character that I wouldn't mind seeing him return in another title. Friendly AI Sophia is possibly a bit too anime-tropey for my personal tastes, but she also receives several good moments - and all of the various mini-bosses are three dimensional characters whose pasts are explored by the narrative.
Voice acting is terrific across the board. In the original Persona 5, I didn't much care for Xanthe Huynh's overly-breathy Haru. Either the actress has toned it down or the improved material she's received has boosted her performance, but she's not only good here: She's arguably one of the game's standouts.
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| One of the game's boss battles. Yes, the enemies are still pretty weird... |
GAMEPLAY:
Like earlier Persona titles, gameplay is divided into two segments: the real world, and the fantasy world (here known as "the Metaverse"). Real world gameplay is similar to earlier titles. You control Joker, exploring bits of various Japanese cities while listening in on conversations and interacting with your companions and assorted NPCs.
In the fantasy world, however, Persona 5 Strikers is very different. The game is a crossover of sorts with the popular Dynasty Warriors series, and it replaces Persona's usual turn-based combat for real-time "hack-and-slash" battles against large groups of enemies. I'll admit that this made me wary of the game, despite its many good reviews. I'm not fond of hack-and-slash combat; and I had previously been left completely unengaged by Fire Emblem Warriors, a Warriors crossover with another of my favorite series.
Happily, once I adjusted to the hectic pace of combat, I was surprised by how intuitive and enjoyable this game's combat became. Persona battle tactics have been carefully merged with the frenetic Warriors "Musou" style, and the results succeed in feeling like Persona combat that's simply achieved in a different way. The basic rules still apply: You do extra damage for successfully ambushing enemies, but are at a disadvantage if they ambush you. Enemies have weaknesses that you can target and exploit, often resulting in battle-ending "All-Out Attacks." Baton Passes can be done at the press of a directional button. It's all accomplished so artfully that, long before the end, I stopped even thinking of it as being different.
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| The Phantom Thieves rise again. |
THOUGHTS:
Persona 5 Strikers is not just another Persona spinoff. This is no minor side title like the Arena or Persona Dancing games. This is a proper sequel, with a storyline that builds on Persona 5's while taking concepts and characters in new directions.
The story follows the structure of a road trip, with the group traveling in an RV from city to city. The result is a tour of some major Japanese locations, including Tokyo, Sapporo, Okinawa, Kyoto, and Osaka. It's no open world game - You only get to explore a few sections of each city. But those sections are meticulously recreated, as side-by-side photos of the game's locations vs. their real-world counterparts attest.
The "tour of Japan" aspect carries over to the "Jails," this game's dungeons. Each Jail is tied to a specific city, meaning that the fantasy world provides a distorted recreation of those same locations, merged with the Jail's theme. For example, after touring Sapporo's parks and shopping district, you enter its Jail... and go through those same locations, only now reinvented as an ice-covered winter wonderland. The effect is visually striking, and simultaneously eerie and engaging.
Persona 5 already boasted my favorite soundtrack of a series that's become known for its splendid soundtracks. The core songs from the earlier game return at appropriate moments: notably Life Will Change after the sending of Calling Cards and Rivers in the Desert for a key boss fight. Several new tracks have also been commissioned. They are in the same jazz/rock style, and a few of them are every bit as good as the original game's songs.
The script intelligently explores significant issues, from the effects of bullying to government corruption. Many of the game's villains are people who actually wanted to do good, or who were themselves victims of abuse or mistreatment, which makes the Phantom Thieves' adversaries more than the usual "Eeeviill" video game bosses. When the Shadow of one such character - a mayor who has been mistreating her staff - falls, she frets, "What kind of monster will... (take my place)?" Given the backstory we've already learned by this point, her cry is not without some justification.
Unfortunately, the series' tendency toward heavy-handedness remains in evidence. I was involved by the story throughout... but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to rolling my eyes at a few of the late-game monologues. Also, some of the series' overused elements are dutifully trotted out again here. Every significant female character seems to be in love with, or at least expresses interest in, Joker. Running gags have a tendency to run out. And yes, the group visits a hot spring for another round of the same allegedly hilarious hijinks that became tired long ago.
For Persona 6, I hope some of these elements are retired. I'd love for at least a couple members of the opposite sex to be romantically uninterested in the protagonist. I'd be very happy if the exploration of moral and sociological issues didn't have to end with After School Special style speeches. And I would be positively delighted if all future Persona games declared a moratorium on sitcom-level misunderstandings at hot springs!
Still, these are minor pet peeves that apply to the series as a whole. While they are no less annoying in this game than in previous ones, they are also no worse. Like frustrating mini games in Final Fantasy titles, these just seem to be blemishes that must be accepted when picking up a Persona game.
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| Joker returns, his flair for the dramatic fully intact. |
OVERALL:
I approached Persona 5 Strikers with wariness, after being underwhelmed by previous Persona 5 spinoffs and by previous Warriors crossovers. To my delight, it ended up being a full sequel that at all times felt like a proper Persona title, even while using a radically different combat style.
In its way, this is almost as good a game as Persona 5; and I would rate it every bit as much a part of the "core series" as any of the numbered entries.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Previous Game: Persona Q2 - New Cinema Labyrinth
Next Game: Persona 5 Tactica
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