What is Persona 5 Strikers?
Unlike its predecessor, Persona 5 Strikers is a real-time action role-playing game. Playing closer in style to ‘Warriors’ types of games, such as Dynasty Warriors, or Hyrule Warriors.
Persona 5 Strikers is centered around the Phantom Thieves unraveling the mysterious return of the Metaverse, while on a summer road trip across Japan.
Just typical summer break stuff.
Is Persona 5 Strikers a sequel?
Yes, Persona 5 Strikers is a sequel to Persona 5. The game takes place over Summer vacation, in the August after the protagonist, Joker, returns home following the events of Persona 5.
However, as to which version of Persona 5 Strikers is a sequel to is relatively ambiguous.
While the game does nothing to dissuade the idea that Strikers is a follow-on from Royal, rather than base Persona 5, there is little to no reference to any aspect of Royal content in Persona 5 Strikers.
Can I play Persona 5 Strikers first?
As Persona 5 Strikers is a sequel, it’s highly advisable to play Persona 5 first. However, if you are familiar with the premise of Persona 5, and the cast of characters, nothing significant is lost narrative-wise by jumping into Strikers first. In fact, Strikers does a good job a recapitulating the major developments from the base game.
However, should you still plan on playing Persona 5, or Royal, it may be best to avoid Strikers for now, as you will get several endgame plot points spoiled for you.
Is Persona 5 Strikers canon?
Persona developers, Atlus, aim for all of their games to be considered canon (with a few notable exceptions). So yes, the events of Persona 5 Strikers are canon in the Persona universe.
Is Persona 5 Strikers good?
Persona 5 Strikers is a great extension to the world of Persona 5, being the best recent example that I can find of a well-known game series pivoting its gameplay formula for a spin-off so effectively.
It’s a wildly fun game that I’d highly recommend.
With that being said, the narrative of Persona 5 Strikers is probably the weaker side to the game; being a fairly predictable story with no major plot twists.
The main attraction story-wise is getting the chance to spend time with the Phantom Thieves again. The Team is back in action once again, and this time they’re well accustomed to the powers of the Metaverse. This means no more jokes at the expense of Haru’s screen time.
Unfortunately, the Phantom Thieves are pretty static characters this time around. They aren’t given any opportunity to grow as characters; they’re the same as when we last saw them and that’s how they stay.
If you weren’t a huge fan of them or their dynamic during the original Persona 5, then I doubt there’d be much to change your mind here.
Instead, the main focus is on the two new additions to the narrative: Sophia, an Artificial Intelligence and the newest member of The Phantom Thieves, and Zenkichi, a member of the Public Security Sector of the police.
These two are the characters to receive the vast bulk of the character development. They work well with the cast of The Phantom Thieves that we had already come to know.
Sophia and Zenkichi’s involvement in the story is excellent. They feel like genuine additions that feel needed to the narrative that is being told; each of them grows and changes organically.
I love every moment of screen time they receive – especially Zenkichi.
The combat gameplay of Persona 5 Strikers is the biggest draw to the game, as well as its defining feature.
The game pivots from its predecessors turn-based combat roots, instead opting for Warriors-style real-time action.
In typical Warrior’s fashion, you face daunting masses of enemies at once in real-time action.
Luckily, it’s not just Joker that takes the helm in Strikers.
You’re able to take control of any of The Phantom Thieves, as well as switch out with your team members during combat.
Each member has a unique moveset, that changes the way that you can approach combat scenarios. Some characters, such as Ryuji and Haru, have a much greater focus on brute force. Whereas, Ann deals less in the way of melee power, but has huge magical strength through her Persona.
The Persona summoning mechanic feels like it was made for a system like this. In fact, all of the mechanics from the original Persona 5 are perfectly integrated into this new genre. From regular melee attacks, Persona summoning, and even gun usage.
Chaining melee attacks together with Persona attacks, then into a Baton Pass to another character to follow-up with an elemental attack that exploits the enemy’s weakness and finishing up with an All-Out Attack is super satisfying.
Seeing how quickly, or how flawlessly you can end fights is an amazing part of the game’s combat.
Showtime attacks from Persona 5 Royal do make a reappearance. However, they’re much less flashy in Strikers that either deal a large amount of damage to a boss enemy or act as a screen nuke for waves of enemies.
The shift from turn-based to real-time action doesn’t feel forced in the slightest. It feels so right; like it’s the way a full Persona title could be designed.
There are a couple of issues that I have with the combat of Strikers and to be honest, it has little to do with the combat itself.
I feel that the camera can be a little too close at times, it can be a little difficult to follow what’s going on in a fight. At other times, the camera can get stuck on walls or barriers which can easily disorientate you.
There can also be a lot going on on-screen at once. While it’s great that the game maintains the flashy presentation of the original Persona 5, sometimes that works to its hindrance, where so many attacks are happening at once that it’s hard to tell what’s friend and what’s foe. This also isn’t helped by the issues with the camera either.
Outside of the combat itself, there are a few other features in Persona 5 Strikers that add to its enjoyment: Requests and Bond Levels.
Requests are this game’s iteration of side quests that are a staple in any RPG. There were Requests in the base Persona 5, but these centered exclusively around defeating a specific person’s Shadow in Mementos.
In Persona 5 Strikers, these requests have seen a huge improvement.
Outside of defeating specific Shadows, requests now also ask you to collect specific items in the dungeons you visit, as well as requests that challenge you to reach a certain part of a dungeon without raising the security level.
This variation made the experience much more enjoyable and encouraged me to complete as many as I could because they didn’t feel so rinse and repeat.
Bond Levels are a soft replacement to the abilities you could receive by improving Confidant ranks in the base Persona 5.
After completing actions as a Team or special requests from party members, you’ll gain Bond points. These points can be spent on buffs for you and your party. Through Bond Levels, there’s a lot open to you: you’re able to improve stats, unlock new skills, increase the effectiveness of buffs or debuffs in battle, or increase the chance to gain a new Personas from battle.
This is a great way to allow players to grow their abilities based on their own preferences and incentivizes them to engage with the side content of the game.
Additionally, effectively increasing certain Bond Levels greatly reduces the need to grind to improve the Personas you enroll into your party, allowing you to build the party composition that you want ready for any encounter.
There are fewer Persona options in Strikers than in the base game. Although, this isn’t too much of an issue, as the selection available is still pretty sizeable and gives you plenty of options.
The efficiency of fusing Personas has been improved too, making for a more streamlined experience. Every time you wish to fuse a new Persona, you’re given the list of the Personas you’re able to create. Rather than needing the required Personas in your active party, you can fuse them at any time for the fee needed to summon the Personas needed, and as long as there is space in your Persona stock to hold the Personas needed.
There’s also a change in how you initially obtain new Personas. Rather than the negotiation system that was used in Persona 5, each time you defeat a shadow, there is the chance for it to drop a Mask.
I think a lot of consideration was put into the development of Persona 5 Strikers around how to more efficiently spread the players’ time.
In a slowly, turn-based situation, having more time and needing to consider your options more can be the right approach. Whereas, in an action RPG where you don’t often have the luxury of time to think, you need to be able to create the best weapon of war you can.
Persona 5 Strikers allows you to get the power you need behind you so quickly that it helps create and maintain a fun and enjoyable, yet often challenging experience for all of its players.
The game has also received a pretty noticeable boost to both it’s appearance and its performance.
Persona 5 Strikers is designed with more powerful hardware in mind. The original Persona 5 was designed to run on the PlayStation 3, but that limitation doesn’t exist here.
Persona 5 Strikers have more detailed and higher quality character models; the lighting and shading has also seen an improvement too.
The greatest improvement is that higher frame rate that Strikers runs at in comparison to both Persona 5 and Royal.
With Strikers have that great focus on larger-scale combat, a higher frame rate helps to boost the spectacle each battle.
How long is Persona 5 Strikers?
Persona 5 Strikers is a considerably shorter experience than its predecessor. However, I was able to finish the game’s main story in just over 40 hours.
If you’re looking to complete Persona 5 Strikers completely, earning all associated achievements, you’ll be looking at closer to 80-90 hours.
Is Persona 5 Strikers worth it?
You can currently find a copy of Persona 5 Strikers for around USD$20-25 or GBP£25-30, maybe less at your local retailers especially if you buy pre-owned.
So, if you were a fan of the original Persona 5, or the expanded version of Royal, then it goes without saying that the Persona 5 Striker experience is worth it.
If you’re more on the fence, then it may depend on what your priorities are with new games you purchase.
If you enjoyed playing the original Persona 5, or liked the concept but wanted a more high-paced experience, then Persona 5 Strikers is a game you should definitely give a try.
However, if you’re better persuaded by a game with a strong narrative, then Persona 5 Strikers may not be the expansion you’re looking for.
Persona 5 Strikers Rating
Persona 5 Strikers is an enjoyable return to the world of Persona 5. It’s great to spend time with this cast of characters again in a wildly fun new format, but it isn’t the story that you’d want to return for.
Positives
- Fun and engaging combat.
- Fluid and controllable movement.
- Variety in play styles.
- Diverse areas with options to explore.
- Varied and enjoyable side quests.
- Improved performance and graphical appearance.
Negatives
- Weaker story than its predecessor.
Time Logged at Point of Review: 42 Hours
Played on: PlayStation 4
Available on: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Steam
I hope you found this review helpful in deciding whether to give Persona 5 Strikers a try.
Have you played Persona 5 Strikers? If so, what did you think of it? Do you agree with my review, or do you feel differently? Let me know in the comments.
If you want to see more of our reviews and more of our thoughts on the Persona 5 series, you can find links to them below:
