Wish I could say the fact that Persona 5 Royal completely exceeded my expectations is a factor with how disappointing Persona 5 Strikers turned out to be, but that’s not really the case. I went into it expecting a good mindless hack and slash action RPG with a story that will at least be not bad, yet even that was too much to ask. And while I didn’t hate the title and even occasionally enjoyed it, I’m not sure who the audience for this game is supposed to be.
Persona 5 Strikers is a curious title. It’s far from the first Persona game to be a story continuation of some kind – Persona Q, Dancing All Night or Arena games are all considered canon. But it is a direct canonical sequel to Persona 5 (and Royal) to the point where it was marketed as P5 2 in some promotional materials. The title was developed by Omega Force, best known for their Dynasty Warriors games (usually called musou games, from the Japanese title for the series), so it’s a hack and slash with elements of an action RPG instead of a turn-based RPG. While I’ve played and enjoyed only a couple of the Dynasty Warriors titles in the past, I do know that usually their titles are about territory control over big maps with lots and lots of enemies on screen. This game doesn’t play like that.
Instead, Persona 5 Strikers tries to employ an approach closer to how P5 worked. You still have a stealth aspect and an ability to hide and ambush shadows. Shadows are still patrolling the levels in very small numbers only to reveal more of themselves once the battle starts and battles still work as a separate game mode, with a clear boarder you can escape from and a post battle results screen. Locations are also still operating on the Persona logic of certain activities available in the real world and combat taking place in another layer of reality, with several such dungeons available across the game. Magic spells, Persona usage, collection and creation is retained, as are minor aspects of the social life.
But then the rest of the mechanics are swapped for an action game. Fights are hack and slash and you can juggle dozens of shadows in the air at once. You can jump, have air combos and more movement options. Time management aspect is completely gone and time only advances via story, meaning that you can usually enter and exit dungeons at any point with no downsides. A lot of systems are simplified and the only mechanical aspect of social life is represented via a system of permanent upgrades for you and your team. Every character has their own fighting style and strategy… Although, you will simply mash buttons most of the time as that’s how these games tend to work.
It’s nice to have a somewhat mindless hack and slash now and then, but Persona 5 Strikers doesn’t feel that good. I like how you can quickly dash across the battle area and perform cool special attacks, but everything about the combat in the game feels sluggish. Like – there’s a dedicated dodge button, but it works half the time, often with a delay… until it decides to works perfectly fine. Or how some contextual actions tied to one single button are usually prioritized in a smart way, except when they misfire and instead of an All out attack you’re suddenly riding a skateboard. I didn’t expect Platinum Games combat, of course, but even Tokyo Xanadu eX+ had a better one and that game is far from being fun.
All of which then ties to just how dated the design of the game feels. Even Persona 3, for how frustrating some of its design decisions were, feels far friendlier than this title. There are so many pointless loading screens for every little thing. Some side quests require you to talk to a person, then need to go back to your car with a loading screen, accept the request, exit the car with a loading screen, go talk to another person in another location with a loading screen, who gives you another request, so you load back into the car to accept the request, to then go into a dungeon with a loading screen, to then start playing the dungeon with a loading screen or a long cutscene, to then do menial tasks for the request… And if you think just confirming that you’ve completed said requests requires less steps you’re mistaken. It’s stupid how much stuff is inconvenient in ways I’ve not seen since Playstation 2 days.
Then again, even the audio and visual aspects of the game are such a downgrade. Visually the game isn’t bad, but it doesn’t have that same bold striking vision that P5 has. While the music is… There are a couple of good new tracks, but the rest are either bland or horrible butt rock arrangements of tracks from P5, that sound as if they were composed and performed by a 50 year old rocker dude who thinks he’s very cool.
The story is pointless, as in most ways it’s a revisit of the exact same main plot idea from P5, but much worse. New characters aren’t particularly interesting, but that’s not the the issue. The sad thing is that the returning cast feels… How do I even describe it… You know how in the 80s and 90s there were TV shows based on movies and they would often have the characters from the movie and same premise, but everything was simplified and every episode had to maintain the status quo and there was no overall story progression? Characters feel like that – like they were simplified down to their most basic aspects. As if they regressed from who they were at the end of P5 (even if you’ve ignored going through their personal stories). Or here’s another status quo – the protagonist never tells anyone about the Velvet Room, even though everyone personally experienced it, seemingly just because “that’s how it was in P5 for the most part”. I know it might be weird to get hung up on the story and characters in a musou game, but it’s also a Persona game. You know, a game with a good story, where personal relationships aren’t just important for said story but are also its defining gameplay mechanic?
So I simply do not see the audience for this game. It’s not a good hack and slash – it’s decent enough to be sometimes enjoyable, but not fantastic. The story sucks and feels like an average fanfiction about the characters you grew to like, rather than a sequel. It’s not as stylish or cool sounding as main Persona games. It has no substitute for the fun turn-based aspect of the main game, but is also not mindless and silly enough to be entertaining in the way a Dynasty Warriors game can be. I did finish the game and there were moments where I found myself enjoying the silly spectacle on the screen, but I can’t say that it was worth it. Might be for you, if you find any of what I’ve described alluring. And I do hope to see an action oriented spin-off for Persona someday. Just, maybe do it with Nihon Falcom next time, Atlus. Anything but this.