How could I not take the opportunity to spend another 100 hours with these kids? And on a cross-Japan road trip too? Say less. You’ll cheer when they get their big damn hero moment. And they’ve grown from when we last met them, showing empathy to their adversaries. They’re so well-written, realistic-sounding and mature. Put the Phantom Thieves in damn near anything, and I’ll show up. 1,000 format that still makes you feel like you’re playing a Persona game. The charming characters, the story, the vibrant menus, and the music combine with a new combat system that disposes of turn-based, RPG-style fighting in favour of a more frenetic, real-time, one vs. Just about everything I loved about both Personas 5 and Royal is transplanted into Strikers. With Persona 5 Strikers, which is arriving worldwide February 23, I’m well on my way to adding another 100 hours to my running total. As a stand-alone title, the actual gameplay is easily good enough to carry it.Is this a mirage or a chance to fulfil my mission?īetween Persona 5 and its Royal variant, I’ve sunk over 200 hours into the Atlus role-playing game series that pits Japanese teenagers against malevolent, would-be gods. The JRPG mainstays like elemental weaknesses work surprisingly well with the Musou gameplay, and every character feels distinct enough that some work is required to play them effectively. Nonetheless, it’s such an enjoyable game that I’d still recommend it. Hell, there’s maybe two hours of plot and tutorial before you really get started in the first dungeon, and Strikers focuses more on reintroducing characters to those who know them than on bringing newbies into the world. There are also a whole lot of callbacks, references, and cameos that will leave newbies cold. The flipside is that this is extremely plot heavy, with lengthy segments between dungeons. The gameplay mechanics are all top-notch and I have no doubt you’ll enjoy them if you have any love for hack-and-slash or fast-paced action RPGs. If you’re new to the series, it’s a bit of a harder sell. It feels like a shorter, bonus Persona adventure with a different combat system, rather than Persona characters being shunted into a different game. If you’re a Persona 5 fan, the only reason not to pick this up is because you haven’t finished that game yet, and that’s a perfectly valid reason because spoilers. Returning Persona 5 mechanics like the Baton Pass and One More expect you to swap characters frequently in a single battle, and enemies being weak to different elements means it’s best to bring certain characters to certain areas. Equally, Strikers doesn’t really expect you to stick with a single character. Some arenas are a touch small, and it’s relatively easy to lose track of what’s going on. And then there’s Haru, who can extend the duration of every single attack she makes by holding the button down, ramping up the damage as she goes.Īt first, it’s… honestly kinda tricky to get to grips with. Ann is more of a black mage, but her whip gives her some very wide-reaching basic attacks that can clear out trash insanely fast. Joker is a jack-of-all-trades being able to use any Persona means that he’s rarely at a disadvantage, and he can close gaps quickly and hit hard. This doesn’t have the huge breadth of characters of most of the Warriors games, but every single character is distinct and has a unique playstyle. Branding themselves the Phantom Thieves, they use these Personas to explore the Metaverse - a cognitive world where people’s twisted notions and worldviews take physical form - and change the hearts of criminals that the law can’t or won’t touch. A group of students awaken to mystical powers that are fueled by their rebellion and take the shape of religious icons and mythological beasties. Please, Atlus?īut just to catch you up, here’s a (very) rough, spoiler-free outline. As such, this is a dangerous place to jump in if you haven’t played the original game… which, uh, hasn’t been released on PC. Hell, some of the biggest plot twists from its predecessor are outright stated. It’s set roughly six months after the events of that game, and you can infer a lot of spoilers from the dialogue and situations. One thing that makes Persona 5 Strikers a little tricky to talk about (and, in part, recommend) is that it is definitely a direct sequel to Persona 5.
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