This one is quite striking

I absolutely loved Persona 5. I’ve been a big fan of the series for a nice long while now, and when I get to have more Persona in my life, I’m always down for it. While I have played my fair share of Musou games, I always found myself gravitating towards the spin-off iterations like One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, and Dragon Quest Heroes. Well, you take a beloved JRPG franchise, throw in rooms full of shadows and other creatures, and have the Phantom Thieves cut them down, I’m all in. It could have been a simple “Warriors” game, but what actually happened is a full-on sequel to Persona 5 with mechanics that make it feel like a Persona game without the actual turn-based combat. What I got was impressive to say the least.

Persona 5 Strikers takes place after the events of Persona 5. The Phantom Thieves get back together for a nice hiking/camping getaway across Japan and end up in yet another adventure. With a new app on their phones that transports them back to the dark world of the Metaverse, they don their masks once again to stop this new evil presence.

Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $59.99

Obviously, the first thing Persona fans will notice is the combat. While not turn-based, it has so many elements of Persona in it, and feels like a nice variation. There is the standard two button attack scheme here, but players can use their Personas to attack with different elements to exploit weaknesses, stun enemies, and pull off some devastating combos. The All Out Attack is even here, and using these abilities can be crucial for taking down the bigger enemies in fights. Sure, this is a Musou game and players are going to run into the armies of standard enemies that go down in three hits, but this game changes it up enough for it to be much more than a mindless button masher. In fact, I would compare this game more to the Kingdom Hearts series. I was never in a giant map with hundreds of enemies on screen, I was able to use the environment to maneuver and attack while still pulling off magical attacks all the while looking as flashy as I could.

There is a calendar cycle in Strikers, but it is not overbearing or deadline important like the JRPG games, players are even free to come and go as they choose in the Metaverse dungeons. While social links aren’t implemented, the fusion and Velvet Room make a return and allow players to craft their own Personas just like in the JRPG. There is a good amount of options here for the players that want them. While it is never a mandatory thing, it will definitely help out in the long run. Players create their own party to take in and can change them out when getting ready for a dungeon. Knowing who to take due to the element and abilities they have can also help in a big fight. The game even pauses a bit when selecting things during fights, so it’s not non-stop action all the time and there is some strategy involved. This is all done very well with the mechanics in place.

The story is straight up Persona 5 – 2. It is a full-on sequel to the first game with all the characters returning all fully voice acted and done in a spectacular way. One thing they didn’t skimp on are the cutscenes and presentation. The music, voice cast, and overall look of Strikers is still oozing with style.

The only issues I seem to have with the game are the usual things that eventually happen with Musou games, the combat will eventually get repetitive. It always happens, even with the abilities and mechanics in place here. In the grand scheme of things, players will see all the animations within the first three hours of the game, but it is still a fun time. The other small thing I noticed was that first time players of this series will be slightly lost. This game plays out like the player has already played the first game to completion, and considering that this game is on multiple platforms that Persona 5 proper wasn’t, it does feel a bit off.

Regardless of the issues I had, Persona 5 Strikers is still a fantastic sequel, Persona game, and Musou game. It really is impressive the amount of content they jammed into this game, and the fact that they added way more to the mechanics than I thought they would was a great breath of fresh air. Musou fans will get a ton of enjoyment out of this title and fans of Persona 5 have their sequel that is most certainly worthy of the title.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.