So, given the close western release I decided I might as well write a review. As I played the JP version back at launch. My command of Japanese is quite good, while it is not a way of accurately showing how good someone’s Japanese is, I have passed JLPT N2. I understand most of the written and spoken content in Yakuza and Persona. So, when I talk about the story, I do understand the main plot and have a good gist of what is happening, there may be the odd thing I miss here and there.
However, I do understand the main plot points fully, although I will not go into the story too much due to spoilers, I will however comment on the general outline of the plot. Just remember that P5 Royal is effectively retconned in strikers. I came into this as a big fan of Persona 5 and the franchise in general. The trailers of strikers looked amazing, the gameplay looked the most varied for a musou and that it was a genuine passion project. It indeed is all that, however that does not mean it has no flaws, although all the flaws come from great intentions.
Story
The Phantom Thieves are back, and that feels wonderful. However, the plot to strikers is quite a familiar affair but overall, I would say it is worse than P5 and might be the worst Persona story out of the ones I have played and completed fully (4-5). G-men take a surprisingly big role in the plot, and the whole story circles around the Phantom Thieves real identity already being known.
As the protagonist returns to see everyone after the end of 5, strange things begin to happen, which the PT are blamed for, their identity is uncovered by the government. While strange things happening as the protag comes onto the scene is a staple part of almost, if not all of the persona stories, it happening to the same group of people again feels a bit too convenient. The G-men suddenly knowing all the identities of the PT also feels just a bit too coincidental and clearly happens just for plot, but as an anime game I guess this is to be expected. It is also odd as the true ending of Royal semi alludes to it, but royal is clearly retconned in this.
The main events unfold in strikers due to a phone app seemingly having mysterious powers that if you know the key word for the affected area, will transport you to the metaverse. The PT effectively get forced into helping the G-men to clear their names, as they are suspected of committing the recent strange happenings. As the plot progresses however, things get more and more farfetched and off the rails, turning into this big grand conspiracy.
You end up travelling to mysterious labs and other varied locales throughout Japan. Things get out of hand fast and the story just did not connect with me at all. Whether it does for you, or whether you can look past its flaws is completely subjective.
Gameplay
This is where the game shines, it is ultimately a double-edged sword but I cannot praise the combat enough. Borderline everything possible that could be translated from P5 is present in real time, I am a turn-based purist when it comes to the Persona games and a lot of RPGs as bar a few exceptions, I feel like most real time combat systems are shallow and have no depth. P5 Strikers’ combat however, I hope shapes the future of P6’s combat, as this is the most perfect transition that could have happened in a shift to real time for the Persona franchise.
You have the general musou combat which is fine, however you can also perch on lampposts and other props and jump down, as well as teleport around the map using phantom dash with ease if there are the necessary environmental props present. There are many gimmicks unique to each area. You have your gun; you have your Persona, and you have your SP bar.
All the enemies have their own elemental affinity and weaknesses just like in Persona 5, and your multiple Personas have their own skills exactly like 5. Meaning yes you can mash; however, you should be playing this like a Persona game, you should be attacking their weaknesses. For maximum damage, it flows very naturally and within the first 10 minutes of combat you will realise that you are playing it exactly as you would Persona, just in real time with a musou flare.
All out attacks are also present, an all-out attack is a special technique that is usable in combat after knocking down one enemy, which you do through exploiting the elemental weaknesses. In Persona 5 you had to knock down all enemies, however for a real time musou game one enemy makes a lot more sense. All Out Attacks offer a great way to finish off enemies in the heat of battle since they cause splash damage and do not consume HP nor SP. There are many ways to perform an all-out attack, for example Certain enemies have multiple gauges and you need to remove each of them to trigger a hold up.
Assessing the many enemies’ weaknesses and the appropriate attributes to weaken it. The enemy’s gauge will eventually deplete and will prompt a 1MORE. Take advantage of 1MORE until it’s weak enough to take an all-out attack. You also have showtimes, and the many other systems that Persona 5 players will be familiar with.
You also have another new addition to the formula in the form of master arts. Master arts are effectively unique moves you can unlock as you progress with that character, which helps keep the game somewhat fresh as you go through its HUGE campaign.
There are likely other minor things I am forgetting to mention, as there seriously is quite a lot of nuances to the combat, it is not overly complex, or particularly deep, but it is deep enough. It also makes every character interesting and distinct to play, you will definitely end up filtering through them all and find your favourites.
Outside of the combat there are quite a few other things to mention. Each area in the metaverse is generally quite unique, you will find yourself using stealth at times, just like in P5, there are also 2D platforming style shifts which are so stylistically done it is amazing. There are hidden chests and other items in each area which is chopped up into multiple sections. There will be certain types of enemies you need to hunt down and so on. You will find the mix of platforming, stealth, combat and general exploration mix so amazingly well, that there will be times you will forget you are playing a musou game.
Each area has its own hub in the real world where you can buy items and weapons, obtain side quests which can give you some quite good rewards. There are also a few cameos here and there. The velvet room exists, you can still fuse personas and the personas you take with you into battle are quite vital. I could go on for quite some time about the gameplay as there is so much to love here and it is a wild ride, however it is time I get to some caveats.
Each area is treated exactly like a dungeon, meaning while each area is visually unique and has Its own gimmicks, they all follow a repetitive structure, you will have key objectives to achieve, some may take you multiple game days to achieve, once you achieve each one you get thrown back out, then you will go back in rinse repeat, until you reach the boss.
In similar fashion to 5, you choose when you want to take on the boss of that metaverse. Once done you move onto the next one. This is where things get repetitive, and start to fizzle out quite fast, while a lot has been done to match each area unique, some are quite boring and poorly done in comparisons to others and feel like padding. Throw in the repetitive structure of each area and the repetitive side quests and things start a somewhat downward slope.
While the gameplay is great and has a lot of freedom, there is only so long the story, which is poorly paced in my opinion, and doing the same thing over and over again can continue before feeling fatiguing. I imagine everyone’s mileage out of it will vary but I think at some point everyone will be feeling like they want it to end before the final act.
Boss Encounters
Another aspect of the gameplay that is outstanding is its bosses. I will not go into any spoilers but what I will say is every boss is unique, has its own flare, theme, and gimmick. While some bosses may not stand up as high as other boss fights, they are all very solid in my opinion and are fitting climaxes for each metaverse. They are very memorable and are one of the games many high points.
Graphics
This is where one of the games weak points is in my opinion. Due to a different engine, the overall renderer and probably shaders, the graphical quality feels a bit off. Make no mistake it has the art style of 5 for the most part and looks like a P5 game but you can tell this is a different engine, which it naturally had to be. What I call the numbers game however is off.
Texture resolution is a bit low, there is no AA or AF, the game is a bit blurry and has a ton of aliasing, it is a very noisy image. In motion it is not too bad, but it sticks out quite a lot in cutscenes, or if you stand still. I would have to say the models are also a big step down from Royal, at least in my opinion. Maybe if the PC port is good (of which I have little faith), a lot of the issues could be cleaned up.
Presentation
The game has STYLE as expected, if you thought 5 was good, P5 Strikers is at least as good. Every menu transition, every sound that plays, every inch of the UI, every screen that appears, unique to each menu. I could write paragraphs of continuous praise.
If like me you found the UI and presentation flicking through the menus etc in P5 as an unrivalled experience, you will find this the same. There is no game that is presented as well in these aspects as P5 and P5 Strikers that come to mind. The soundtrack is also fantastic and maintains the high standard that P5 set. I’ll sometimes flick through the menus just for the slick animations and strong visual design.
Conclusion
Persona 5 Strikers is fundamentally great and is a legitimate sequel to 5, do not let the fact it is a musou fool you. It takes the Persona formula and translates as much as it can into a real time formula perfectly. However, it has also carried over some of the problems with Persona 5, I personally did not have a major issue with the length of P5 although I will admit it was a bit too long.
If you had issues with the length of P5, I think you will find them here again in P5 Strikers. It has the same pacing issues; the story is nowhere near as engaging as its predecessor and is poorly written in my opinion and it overstays it is welcome. Making its fantastic well thought out gameplay and generally well-designed locales feel very stale quicker than I would have liked.
It is a game I recommend to any Persona 5 fan, and I think anyone who has not played P5 can jump into it and have some good fun. It is the best Dynasty Warrior spin-off game ever made for me. It is important to know however, that it is an exceedingly long ride that will likely become fatiguing for a lot of people, which is a shame as there is a genuinely great game here.