Persona 5 Strikers
What is Persona 5 Strikers? Well, even though it was made in conjunction with Koei Tecmo, it is not a warriors game. This is a fully fledged entry in the Persona series. I wouldn’t even consider it a spin off.
Taking place directly after the events of Persona 5 (not Royal, so no Kasumi here), we once again find ourselves in situations where we’re observing odd behavior from people. We soon find out that the Metaverse is back, and only the Phantom Thieves are able to figure out why.
The game opens up with Ren (Joker) heading back to Shibuya for summer break. While planning with the other Phantom Thieves what they want to do with their time together, Futaba brings up a new app called EMMA, an AI powered virtual assistant. They decide to all split up, and use EMMA to help them locate camping and barbecue supplies. While Ren and Ryuji are out on their task to grab the barbecue supplies, they witness the idol Alice Hiragi being adored by her fans outside a new boutique opening in Shibuya. On the surface this seems like a normal crowd of star struck fans. Alice gives the guys her “password” which allows them to friend her. Out of curiosity, they decide to try it out on their EMMA app, and next thing they know they’re dragged into the Metaverse. Upon entering the Metaverse they come across an odd object, and upon inspection it takes the form of a young girl calling herself Sophia. She claims to also be an AI, with the directive to be “humanity’s companion.” It’s at this point they begin to suspect something foul is afoot. Fast forward to the completion of this first dungeon, and it doesn’t disappear like the Palaces did in Persona 5. However all the people who were obsessed with Alice are back to normal. The crew is then approached by a Public Security officer who is aware they are the Phantom Thieves to enlist their help in finding other person of interests he’s been watching that have had a similar effect on people as Alice. To do so they must travel to another city. This is the main gameplay loop that progresses the story. They crew snags a retro RV and begin driving around Japan investigating into these occurrences and resolving them. What happens is a story that develops into a though provoking and emotional tugging ride. It asks the questions that Persona 5 asked: “What is it people/society desire?” and “What makes up the human heart?” However, it looks at it from a completely different angle.
While the game has some obvious similarities to Persona 5, as it’s a direct sequel, it does a lot to make it into its own game. Stikers definitely sinks into its own identity after the second or third dungeon, and while it takes a bit to grow on you, just let it happen. I was a little off-put by some of the differences at first, but you’ve got to let this game be what it is. In the end I’m wholly satisfied with the fact it was awesome and different then Persona 5, than were it mediocre to awesome and more of the same.
Every moment has the perfect soundtrack behind it. Every moment is immersive and charming. Once again Ryuji is my favorite character with many hilarious moments and those with raw emotion. Yusuke is also his perfectly weird self. One of the screenshots perfectly captures this. One of my least favorite characters from Persona 5, Haru, grew on me a lot here. I think it was the fact that you didn’t get that much time with her before, and she’s here for the whole game.
Let’s touch on some of the gameplay differences here as a wrap up. You can now enter and exit dungeons as many times as you want in a single day. This is nice because the dungeons are way larger, and the battles take way more of a toll on your SP and HP than before. When exiting you fully heal so you can take advantage of that to conserve items. Which helps a ton early game. The social links are gone, and you grow your Bond level for the group as a whole by fighting and doing side quests. And then obviously the battle system.
The battle system really helps build some individuality here. It completely lends to each characters personalities and strengths. For example, one of Haru’s special attacks is creating a tornado is psi energy, and it’s freaking awesome. Morgana turns into a bus to run over enemies. Yusuke can stand in a counter position, and unleash a blizzard of blades when hit. Ryuji can power up his weapon and rain pain upon enemies, dealing massive damage. If you lose a battle you’re allowed to change your party set-up and try again. In case you happened to bring in the wrong crew, or a sub-optimal one and just couldn’t hack it.
If you loved, or liked, Persona 5 you owe it to yourself to pick up Strikers. I clocked in about 45 hours when all was said and done. Outside of the first few hours where I had to shake off that this wasn’t Persona 5 and let it take it’s own identity, I wholeheartedly LOVED this game. Finally, the final boss battle was amazing. It was pure fun. I was smiling and on the edge of my couch cushion the whole time!
