Persona 5 was probably one of the best RPG's I've ever played. Last year's Royal version only reinforced how great it was. Persona 5 was also the first persona game I played and it led me back to playing P3 and P4Golden both great games in their own rights but Persona 5 was clearly the full culmination of the persona vision I feel. From characters and music to story and raw style that the game had, Persona 5 just pushed all my buttons.
From the moment I booted up Persona 5 Strikers all those wonderful characters and moments returned in an instant. Strikers is a direct sequel to Persona 5 (not Royal though), and returns the loveable cast back together for a summer vacation. What's great about Strikers unlike other Persona games, is that because the game is a sequel they don't need to spend a couple of hours of building up to the "gameplay" moment. In the other Persona games a lot of introductory time is spent introducing you to the normal version of the world, usually this means your school, your living situation, and some of the support cast. But Strikers doesn't need to do any of that, because all of it was set up in the first game. This means the game starts quickly, you have a quick meeting with your friends to decide what the plan for summer vacation is, then you encounter the main baddie, and boom you are in the game back to your phantom thievery. Though things are quite a bit different this time around.
First off the story is brilliant and the only way I can think of showcasing this is to talk about the first 20 minutes of the game, so if you DONT WANT ANY SPOILERS DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING!!!!!
What's great about this introduction is that even though the build up is quick, you already see everything coming because of the first game. But even though it's obvious to the player what's happening, you still feel that rush of excitement, because you are excited to be on a new adventure with these characters again. In much the same way I felt about playing the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I didn't care that I mostly new the story, I was happy to be doing something new with characters I already know and love.
Anyway back to a little more spoiler...
Okay so combat is much more like a typical Mushu-game or Dynasty Warriors-type game than I expected upon hearing the reviews. There are some gimmicks, but it's still very much a kill-1000 mooks and a couple of mini-bosses type of thing. Attacks are very responsive, but defense is kind of a pain in the ass because the dodge button is R2 for some fucking reason and i hate it. I have take too many hits because I'm trying to use circle to dodge like a normal person but nope, dodge is Rfucking2.
Anyway some of the extra things that Strikers does to add the Persona flair to the game is.....well using your persona. By holding R1 you can pause the action and bring out a persona to use some sort of spell, like healing or a type-damage based attack much like from the first game. These attacks cost your mp so you can't spam them, but they do pretty much what they did in P5. If you use an attack that an enemy is weak to, it will knock them down and you can do an "all-out attack", again like P5, however these attacks are just AOE attacks that brings the whole group together. They do good damage and I think you're invulnerable during them so these will end up being the bread and butter of the game later on most likely.
Though i have mutiple characters in the group for this first intro sequence, I couldn't seem to swap away from controlling Joker. I don't know if I'm just stupid and coudln't figure the button out, or if they simply aren't letting me do that yet, or if you actually are stuck only controlling Joker (but I doubt it).
The combat arena's also have environmental objects that can be used. You can jump on a light pole, for example, to briefly escape the action and to also launch a special attack using the pole.
Exploration is mostly the same as well, chests, hidden spots to jump into for secrets....also in chests, and much the same that the palaces had in the first game. It's not expanded exploration or anything and I'm fine with that because I thought the level of exploration fit with that Persona was and it still fits here.
All in all, I think this is going to very much end up as a great highlight for 2021 and if you are Persona fan I would still get this even if you aren't a Warriors fan, because there is enough of the Persona-ness to it that I think does overcome the Warriors part enough to distract.
From the moment I booted up Persona 5 Strikers all those wonderful characters and moments returned in an instant. Strikers is a direct sequel to Persona 5 (not Royal though), and returns the loveable cast back together for a summer vacation. What's great about Strikers unlike other Persona games, is that because the game is a sequel they don't need to spend a couple of hours of building up to the "gameplay" moment. In the other Persona games a lot of introductory time is spent introducing you to the normal version of the world, usually this means your school, your living situation, and some of the support cast. But Strikers doesn't need to do any of that, because all of it was set up in the first game. This means the game starts quickly, you have a quick meeting with your friends to decide what the plan for summer vacation is, then you encounter the main baddie, and boom you are in the game back to your phantom thievery. Though things are quite a bit different this time around.
First off the story is brilliant and the only way I can think of showcasing this is to talk about the first 20 minutes of the game, so if you DONT WANT ANY SPOILERS DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING!!!!!
You return to Cafe Lablanc to reunite with your friends for summer vacation. During this meeting everyone debates on what the group should do over the summer. Many activities are discussed and most of the normal character banter returns (Ryuji and Ann still aren't getting the best grades and Yuske still is obessed with artistic beauty). The set up here is great, because it's like you are putting on a favorite pair of shoes, comfortable and reliable. All the voice actors have returned so there is nothing to take you out of this continuation of the story as if you never left in P5. During this group meeting Futaba uses a SIRI-like app on her phone called EMMA, which promptly finds a store and shopping list for the groups aforementioned camping trip. Futaba explains that EMMA is a hot new AI that has become insanely popular (there is even a brief news annoucement regarding the company on the train ride here during the intro), and people everywhere are using it on their phones. She prompts the whole group to download the app which they do.
In the morning you meet up with Ryuji to do some of the shopping required for the camping trip, but Ryuji forgets where the store is. Morgana suggests asking EMMA which he does and the AI tells Joker and Ryuji where to go. But it also points out that there is a local event happening in the area in which some new Pop-Idol will be attending. Ryuji flips out with excitement and you go off to get a look at this crazy new popstar. Turns out the pop star is named Alice Hiiragi, and she's opening a store where people can enter "her world of desire". From a mile away you already know she's the first bad guy, the foreshadowing couldn't be any thicker. During this event Alice hands out a few welcome cards to offer fans special deals in her "world", of course Jokeris randomly handed one of these cards and the game is quick to show you what's on the card.
The card is in Japanese, except for the word "Keyword". Again if you are familiar with P5 you know that the group had to use Keywords to navigate to the various palaces in the metaverse. Strange....because the meta-nav is gone, removed after you save the world in the first game. Oh but wait, the card says the "keyword" is to add friends via that new EMMA AI. Ryuji is hyped and urges Joker to enter the keyword into EMMA and wouldn't you know it? METAVERSE TIME!!!
In the morning you meet up with Ryuji to do some of the shopping required for the camping trip, but Ryuji forgets where the store is. Morgana suggests asking EMMA which he does and the AI tells Joker and Ryuji where to go. But it also points out that there is a local event happening in the area in which some new Pop-Idol will be attending. Ryuji flips out with excitement and you go off to get a look at this crazy new popstar. Turns out the pop star is named Alice Hiiragi, and she's opening a store where people can enter "her world of desire". From a mile away you already know she's the first bad guy, the foreshadowing couldn't be any thicker. During this event Alice hands out a few welcome cards to offer fans special deals in her "world", of course Jokeris randomly handed one of these cards and the game is quick to show you what's on the card.
The card is in Japanese, except for the word "Keyword". Again if you are familiar with P5 you know that the group had to use Keywords to navigate to the various palaces in the metaverse. Strange....because the meta-nav is gone, removed after you save the world in the first game. Oh but wait, the card says the "keyword" is to add friends via that new EMMA AI. Ryuji is hyped and urges Joker to enter the keyword into EMMA and wouldn't you know it? METAVERSE TIME!!!
What's great about this introduction is that even though the build up is quick, you already see everything coming because of the first game. But even though it's obvious to the player what's happening, you still feel that rush of excitement, because you are excited to be on a new adventure with these characters again. In much the same way I felt about playing the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I didn't care that I mostly new the story, I was happy to be doing something new with characters I already know and love.
Anyway back to a little more spoiler...
Joker, Morgana, and Ryuji notice that they are in their Thieving outfits, and in the distance is a large palace designed much like Alice's outfit in the real world. It's very Alice in Wonderland themed which is a fun theme and fits with the games style. The group watches as a couple of other people who got cards from the crowd are also in the metaverse and are approached by shadows who walk up and rip out their "desires/hearts". A large group of shadows decends upon our heroes and combat begins.
Okay so combat is much more like a typical Mushu-game or Dynasty Warriors-type game than I expected upon hearing the reviews. There are some gimmicks, but it's still very much a kill-1000 mooks and a couple of mini-bosses type of thing. Attacks are very responsive, but defense is kind of a pain in the ass because the dodge button is R2 for some fucking reason and i hate it. I have take too many hits because I'm trying to use circle to dodge like a normal person but nope, dodge is Rfucking2.
Anyway some of the extra things that Strikers does to add the Persona flair to the game is.....well using your persona. By holding R1 you can pause the action and bring out a persona to use some sort of spell, like healing or a type-damage based attack much like from the first game. These attacks cost your mp so you can't spam them, but they do pretty much what they did in P5. If you use an attack that an enemy is weak to, it will knock them down and you can do an "all-out attack", again like P5, however these attacks are just AOE attacks that brings the whole group together. They do good damage and I think you're invulnerable during them so these will end up being the bread and butter of the game later on most likely.
Though i have mutiple characters in the group for this first intro sequence, I couldn't seem to swap away from controlling Joker. I don't know if I'm just stupid and coudln't figure the button out, or if they simply aren't letting me do that yet, or if you actually are stuck only controlling Joker (but I doubt it).
The combat arena's also have environmental objects that can be used. You can jump on a light pole, for example, to briefly escape the action and to also launch a special attack using the pole.
Exploration is mostly the same as well, chests, hidden spots to jump into for secrets....also in chests, and much the same that the palaces had in the first game. It's not expanded exploration or anything and I'm fine with that because I thought the level of exploration fit with that Persona was and it still fits here.
All in all, I think this is going to very much end up as a great highlight for 2021 and if you are Persona fan I would still get this even if you aren't a Warriors fan, because there is enough of the Persona-ness to it that I think does overcome the Warriors part enough to distract.
