Persona 5 Strikers

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Persona 5 Strikers is an Action-RPG released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game is a direct sequel to the story in Persona 5, but with gameplay that marks this as more of a spin-off. While this game was developed by Omega Force, best known for the “Warriors”-style musou Action Brawler games, what they have created in Persona 5 Strikers is something different that combines elements of the musou style of game with Action-RPGs, 3D Platformers, and even some Stealth elements. The result is something wholly original that nevertheless retains the core spirit of Persona 5 thanks to its strong characters, presentation, and key thematic and gameplay elements.

Of course, as of this writing, Nintendo Switch owners still have not received the original Persona 5 or that game’s enhanced version, Persona 5 Royal, which means that one question many will have coming into Persona 5 Strikers is how important it is to know the first game’s story going into this game. In short, you can pick up the gist of what’s going on in this game even if you’re a Persona newbie, but you’ll be missing out on a lot of the setup of these characters and their world that was explained in Persona 5, and you’ll be spoiled for some plot events that happen in that game too. In short, you can certainly play this game before Persona 5, but if at all possible it’s recommended that you play that game first, even though the two games play very differently.

And make no mistake, this is a very different game from Persona 5, but the presentation here does an excellent job of making this still feel like it’s right at home next to the turn-based RPG it follows. Character models and animation here are excellent, locations are imaginative, and the game menus are just as full of personality, life, and color as you would expect from something bearing the Persona name. Persona 5 Strikers has some phenomenal artistic design oozing out of just about every part of the game, making it visually very… er, striking… much as the Persona games are known for.

Of course, when it comes to presentation, visuals are only half the story, and you can’t talk about a Persona title without also mentioning its superb voice acting, and its phenomenal soundtrack. This game’s soundtrack provides a combination of original Jazzy pop themes in the same style as what was seen in Persona 5, as well as remixes of themes from Persona 5. Players can also opt to bring numerous songs from throughout the series into this game by purchasing the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game or the game’s Legacy BGM DLC. As for new music, some noteworthy tunes here include What You Wish For, Daredevil, Love Te Wonderland, Strikers, Perturbation. In short, this game doesn’t just have visual style, it sounds quite stylish as well.

On a technical level, this game is not without its flaws – there’s some nasty aliasing going on here (apparently present in every version of the game), and there are also occasional load times interrupting the flow of gameplay. The Nintendo Switch version of the game also drops the framerate down to 30FPS from the PlayStation 4’s 60FPS. However, the game still plays with a 900P resolution in docked mode, the same as the PlayStation 4 version of the game, and it plays at 720P in portable mode, which is pretty good considering the overall high quality of the visuals on display here. On balance, I’d say this is an excellent port, one that stands up well against the versions of the game on more powerful hardware.

As for the gameplay, Persona 5 Strikers has an interesting mix of elements. Individual battles play out a bit like musou battles, but these battles are encounters that happen within more traditional JRPG “dungeons”, for lack of a better way of describing them. Players start an encounter by running into an enemy, and can even gain the upper hand early by performing a sneak attack, with plenty of vantage spots in the maps that allow the player to ambush enemies. These levels are also three-dimensional in their layout, allowing players some ability to explore them in three dimensions, although this part of the game doesn’t go quite as far as I’d like.

Interestingly, at any point, battles can be frozen in time to consider a magic or ranged attack, giving players more capacity to make strategic decisions during combat. There are also numerous characters to swap between, each with their own unique attacks, abilities, and paired Stand-eque “Persona”. And players are given plenty of ways to upgrade their character, both via traditional RPG upgrades like equipment and abilities, as well as passive team upgrades, and the ability to collect, upgrade, and combine multiple Personas, swapping between them freely during battle. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of elements at work here, and players have plenty of inventive mechanics to play with as they grow their characters.

As for the negatives, the multitude of different mechanics can be a bit confusing at times, and the gameplay does often feel like button-mashing (although tougher battles require more careful use of dodging and abilities). Also, the first few hours of the game are very linear and slow-paced, although I do understand this to some extent – there are a lot of gameplay elements the game needs to introduce to the player. And of course if we’re talking about negatives, I have to once again mention that this game’s strong ties to Persona 5’s story make it all the more frustrating that Persona 5 still isn’t available on Nintendo Switch.

Still, while it certainly has its share of issues, Persona 5 Strikers is a wonderful Action-RPG, with imaginative gameplay, a spectacular presentation, and an overall mix of elements that’s not quite like anything else out there. If you’re a fan of Persona 5, you should absolutely consider this game a must-buy, even though it plays very differently. And if you’ve never played Persona 5, it still may be worth getting, as long as you’re okay with playing catch-up on the story elements of the first game. It’s such a wonderful Action-RPG that even Persona newbies should still enjoy it.

tl;dr – Persona 5 Strikers is an Action-RPG that acts as a sequel of sorts to Persona 5, albeit with new action-focused gameplay that combines elements of RPGs, musou-style Action-Brawlers, Platformers, and even some Stealth elements, all while retaining Persona 5’s fantastic, stylistic presentation. This game juggles a lot of different elements, and manages to balance most of them quite well, making for a truly unique experience, albeit an experience that’s likely to be best appreciated by those who played Persona 5. If you haven’t, this game is still good enough to consider trying.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Action-RPG

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