Just like Persona 5, Persona 5 Strikers is a story-driven RPG. Despite what you may have heard, it is not a wall-to-wall action game similar to something like Dynasty Warriors. Just like Persona 5, it has exploration in both the real world and the realm of the mind. It has long stretches of dialogue, cutscenes, and character bonding. It's basically a sequel, and the only major, immediate difference is that it trades in turn based combat for real-time brawls.
We recently attended a digital preview event for Persona 5 Strikers, and while we didn't get to go hands-on, we did get to see around 30 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay. The footage was taken from early in the game's story (more on that in a minute), and our first impressions are very positive. In short, Persona 5 Strikers looks like a lot of fun.
Now then, the story. It's important to note that Persona 5 Strikers takes place after Persona 5 — not the superior Persona 5 Royal. As such, the events of Royal never happened in the world of Strikers. It's a real shame considering how fantastic Royal's additional plot elements and characters are, but that's just the way development of these games has panned out. Can't win 'em all.
Having said that, it looks like there'll still be a lot of story to look forward to. This is still very much a Persona title in that characters are always yapping to one another and reiterating specific plot points. There was a lot of dialogue in this demo — all fully voiced in English by the exact same actors — and the narrative itself has us intrigued.
The short version is that The Phantom Thieves are on a road trip across Japan. You'll visit different Japanese cities and other locations, each with their own set of problems. In the demo that we saw, our stylish heroes were tracking down a woman named Alice, who was apparently stealing the desires of ordinary people.
The demo ran us through a seemingly large chunk of Alice's mind palace — a distorted Japanese city complete with creepy carnival-esque decoration. It was quite a, er, striking environment, with bright, almost neon colours popping off against a muted grey and black city skyline. This was a much more open palace than the ones found in Persona 5, though. Whole streets were fully explorable, and there was a lot of verticality to the level design, with Joker able to jump across rooftops and take part in a number of platforming sections. It was all surprisingly fluid and dynamic.
Basically, this was a big old dungeon. And like any Persona dungeon, there were shadows creeping about. Just like in Persona 5, Joker could land a surprise attack on patrolling enemies, which would result in a dramatic advantage at the beginning of combat. Likewise, if Joker was spotted, security would increase, and know-it-all cat-boy Morgana said something about having to retreat should the security level max out. Again, just like in Persona 5.
Right, onto the combat itself. Upon encountering an enemy, the camera pulls back and a bunch of shadows burst into life. You can start hacking and slashing immediately, with Joker pulling off some wide-sweeping swipes with his trusty dagger. This is where the Dynasty Warriors comparison comes into play — but there's more to the combat system than just mashing square.
In fact, fights remind us of the hybrid battles in Final Fantasy VII Remake. You have full control over your character's movement and attacks, but you can also pause time whenever you want in order to summon your persona. You can then target enemies with skills, exploiting their weaknesses in classic Persona fashion. Knock all of your opponents down and you can even trigger an all-out attack.
It's hard to get a proper feel for combat when you're not actually playing the game, but we thought that the action looked enjoyable. Joker moves fast and his evasive dodge seemed a little erratic, but again, it's difficult to really pass judgement without trying it ourselves. The bottom line, though, is that the core of Persona's combat is still here. Hitting weaknesses with physical abilities or spells is still the overall goal — it's just that things are much more involved.
Although three of his allies joined Joker during these fights — Ann, Makoto, and Haru — we didn't get to see how they played. The demo stuck with Joker throughout, leaving the rest of the Thieves to be controlled by the AI. Speaking of which, the teammate AI seemed rather competent, and it looked as though you could issue set commands to your allies in order to rack up combos.
All in all, as massive fans of Persona 5, we're really looking forward to getting our hands on Persona 5 Strikers. Our big takeaway is that this isn't just some basic hack-and-slash spin-off — it's a full-on action RPG with intricate level design and a cool looking combat system. Very promising.
Comments (33)
No really into these Dynasty Warriors type games, but seeing as it involves the Phantom Thieves, and it looks like it may have an intriguing story, I'm willing to give this game a try... plus not got lie, it does look pretty fun.
So this is an unpopular opinion, but I just couldn't get into P5. I played for like 15-20 hours and felt like I was not let off the leash to do what I wanted. As someone who likes JRPGs, it just felt especially restrictive. Did I not give the game enough time to really come into its own or is that just how it plays?
Honestly loved Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity, so another Warriors game that's a sequel to a game I'm interested in!? Heck yeah I'm playing this!
After I waste 100 hours of my life playing Persona 5
@TBubs311 The opening portion of the game is very heavy on tutorials and hand-holding. But yeah, it gets less like this as the game goes on.
That said, there are still story points where you're stuck doing certain things with your time, which can still feel restrictive. It's basically one of the most common complaints about Persona 5.
But you do still get a lot of free time over the course of the game — it's around 100 hours in length!
Also worth mentioning that Persona 5 Royal addresses this issue to some extent. You generally have much more free time in that version of the game.
Question for Persona fans. I have both Persona 5 and Royal on my to play list. Should i play both or just Persona 5 Royal ?
Lately Omega Force have been getting better with the game licenced to them. The Hyrule Warriors stuff is pretty good too.
Sounds amazing, honestly. I really enjoyed my time with the Japanese Switch demo. This game feels like what I wanted from Age of Calamity: a canon sequel (or prequel, in the case of AoC) that fleshes out the scope of the experience compared to other Warriors games.
@Gaming365247 Strikers follows from original Persona 5 canon, but I don't think you'll miss any context by going with Royal. Royal has better graphics, more fleshed-out mechanics, more stuff to collect in dungeons, new social links, a good deal more late-game content, an expanded OST... honestly, if you have access to both, just get Royal. It's the better version in every way.
@TBubs311 It admittedly takes the game a LONG time to open up. You're given a bit more freedom after the first dungeon, but it took awhile before I felt like I had more free time to do my own thing. Although it's worth mentioning that long story stretches that lock you into a linear sequence of events happen throughout the game. It is a story-driven linear JRPG, after all.
I really want the game but I might wait for a sale. I’m burnt out on warriors games but I will get this at some point. Gotta take a break from certain genres so they’ll feel fresh.
@Gaming365247 Royal is the definitive version. But it depends on how much time you have in the real world. Both are about 100 hours or 70.
Really looking forward to this. And of course, Makoto is still best girl.
I am so excited for this!! Look at all my babies in that last screenshot. Just chillin', lookin cool as F##k. Can't wait to get back into this universe with them. Yay!
It's decent you can do the social stuff and then you hack and slash for a bit!
Best of both worlds.
Really looking forward to this and NieR Replicant. Not sure if they'll be day one purchases or not.
@Gaming365247 Royal, definitely. Vanilla P5 is a masterpiece, but Royal kicks it up to 11 with the content and improvements.
This is the one Dynasty Warriors esque game I'll actually play. Sounds great and much more interesting than the usual template for these kinds of things. Reminds me I need to get P5R as well though!
@shogunrok Is it confirmed that this won't use any of the new characters from the Royal?
@Jaz007 Yep, it was already in development before Royal was released. Has no ties to the additional content/characters of Royal whatsoever.
So this has nothing to do with football? (Soccer to my trans-Atlantic friends)
I really need to play Royal, I beat Persona 5 a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I might play it on PS5 and see if there are any wee improvements to load times and such. As for anyone feeling that Persona 5 is too restrictive in how you spend your time, just play Persona 2, 3 or 4! They’re a whole lot more open which brings its own set of problems but might be more up your alley.
I prefer the Japanese name, but I'm looking forward to this. I've recently finished Persona 5 and I've been tempted on several occasions to get Royal. I just really like the world and characters.
Weird this doesn't follow on from the definitive version in Royal...
All of the P4 spin offs follow from golden right?
@nessisonett Persona 2 is a clunky nightmare of a game.
I'm working through Royal slowly with my nephew. He wants to play P5, and I want to see the new content, so I figure it works out well.
@Ralizah Eternal Punishment is both fantastic and fixes most of the issues with Innocent Sin.
@nessisonett OK, fair enough, I bailed after Innocent Sin. Does it have better dungeons? A superior demon negotiation system? Faster combat? I'm intrigued.
@Ralizah I've never really noticed a difference between Royal's and P5's graphics.
@Ralizah The dungeons aren’t fantastic but then again, neither are 4’s dungeons. The rumour system is massively improved and really quite fun though. The game is way way harder than Innocent Sin which makes it more fun imo but that’s subjective due to it having more of a focus on exploiting weaknesses and properly preparing for bosses. Negotiation’s baffling as usual but manageable. Honestly though, the plot is probably better than most of the other wider MegaTen games which makes it totally worth it. I would say though that it looks like Iwakura are finally actually getting round to finishing off the English patch of the PSP version so I might play that once it’s done instead of going back to the PSX version for my next playthrough.
@Nepp67 Royal has better lighting in some environments, sharper environmental textures throughout, and some environments where background elements have been replaced with more complex ones. It's all fairly subtle, of course, but I'm sure you can videos online directly comparing the visuals of the two games.
@nessisonett Hmm. Design-wise, P4's dungeons are boring (LITERAL hallways), but it's still fun enough mechanically to run through them. Innocent Sin's combination of tedious dungeon design and a sky-high encounter rate really wears on me. Although it's a definite improvement on P1's confused labyrinths.
I don't really want to run through IS again. Can I play EP and enjoy it if my memory of IS is a tad foggy, or are the two games intimately connected plot-wise?
@Gaming365247 I wouldn't say it's essential to play both. There are some developments in Royal that hit a little harder knowing how the original plays out, but otherwise Royal has just about the entire vanilla experience plus more.
It also has a ton of quality-of-life improvements that make it more enjoyable and less restrictive than the original. In the end the decision depends on how much time you want to commit. It took me ~180 hours between the two of them. If you want to do the same, go for it. If you're not sure, just Royal is fine.
The fact that the game has a hybrid combat system similar to FF7 Remake makes me even more excited. Sounds like it has more depth than a DW game and I appreciate that.
@Ralizah EP is a direct sequel but I’d say that a foggy memory is enough. It’s kinda an alternate universe and all that entails but it gets pretty mad and interconnected as per usual as it goes on. I think you’d be fine as long as you probably read a synopsis on the wiki beforehand. You’ve done the grunt work already!
@ShogunRok I think that's still a little odd, considering they were probably planning Royal around the same time.
Generally, I think Atlus has slightly botched the P5 spinoffs a bit compared to P4, between the dancing game coming first and now Strikers not being in the same canon as Royal. Still good games, but I think putting out Royal before anything else would have been the best move, even if it may have been "too soon" for a re-release.
inb4 we get Strikers Royal in 2024.
February cannot come quick enough!
@Alexface Strikers was already deep in development when Royal was announced, so that's why Strikers has zero Royal content.
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