The intriguing urban and paranormal world of Atlus meets the Koei Tecmo hordes: we discover the result in the Persona 5 Strikers review
We wouldn’t even know how to start: Persona 5 Strikers, or “Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers” in the motherland, is as easy to love as it is difficult to analyze in a review. There are many things to talk about, but the ritual clarification must be made. If you are expecting a simple spinoff of the various Musou/Dynasty Warriors with an Atlus themed coat of paint, you are definitely off road. In reality we could define how much we have in our hands an action RPG capable of keeping intact the camaraderie, characters and conversations of the eternal third-party Sony exclusive.
To be fair, the appetite for a port of the original game – of which this serves as a true canonical sequel – has snaked among Nintendo fans since the arrival of Joker in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but both the purists of the Big N that those less accustomed to Atlus’s adventures might need a little reminder. In a nutshell, the basic idea behind the spinoff of Shin Megami Tensei is that of a sort of hybrid between Pokémon (for basic mechanics) and Kingdom Hearts (for themes), only with a more adult audience to give it spice. This time, however, even the fights boast the rhythm of Kingdom Hearts.
Under the mask
Let’s talk a second of Persona 5 Strikers at the level of plot, before delving into the heart of the review. We are dealing with a sequel, and we have already said this, but we should make a clarification. Some sequels like to allude to the previous game, which in the most unfortunate cases boasts a plot full of twists and turns. We have good news for you: although the original title falls into the category we mentioned, the game we talk about today – at least in the opening bars, which our screens will stick to for safety – prefers stay vague.
Suffice it to say that the cheerful brigade of students seen in the original (i.e. the protagonist plus Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Haru, Futaba, Makoto and the cat Morgana as a mascot) met during the summer holidays at the end of the school year. , but the mass hysteria for a model forced them to resume their raids. THE Phantom Thieves, with the addition of the artificial intelligence Sophia, they will once again have to access the Metaverse – a different existential plane, based on the collective consciousness – to convert the impure of heart. In reality, social criticism continues to permeate the narrative sector as always, but we would prefer to stop here.
Wake up, get up, and get out there – Persona 5 Strikers review
Persona 5 fans, with Strikers, will find themselves at home more than they would have expected, as you will understand by reading the review. With the involvement of Koei Tecmo’s flagship development team, Omega Force, of course the gameplay puts traditional turns aside in favor of gameplay hack ‘n’ slash. It would be natural to make comparisons with the various Warriors, but in reality the hordes of enemies come in more discreet numbers (by Koei Tecmo’s standards, at least), making the transition at least a little more digestible for fans of the Atlus series.
The frenetic pace of the clashes allows you to reduce many enemies to shreds, but the strategic touch of the original title – between stealth movements and the various Personae – always takes precedence. When, exploring the multiple dungeons, it is the enemies who attack first, it is possible to receive a lot of damage, unless our group starts the dances with a well-aimed sneak attack (starting from piers, street lamps, corners or other) . We are certainly not facing a button masher, or at least not this time.
Rivers in the Desert – Persona 5 Strikers Review
In Persona 5 Strikers le combo are the ones you might well imagine reading the review, if you know the Koei Tecmo output just enough. You don’t just get by on continuous pressing of the Y key, though; The attacks that make use of your Personae, ranged shots aiming the gun with L and special attacks with X provide variety to the combat. wide range of action (or cure, as appropriate).
Joker (whose name can be entered during the first tutorials, but we opted for the canonical Ren Amamiya) is the only one who has more Personae with him. Using it in tandem with the other protagonists (interchangeable during the clashes) however opens up the potential for ever new strategies. Specifically, the strongest individual enemies and bosses of each Prison (dungeons) boast very specific elemental weaknesses, which make surprise attacks and team building even more vital. Sometimes, in one of the many parallels between this series and The World Ends With You, it is also possible to throw vehicles at opponents.
The Whims of Destiny – Persona 5 Strikers Review
Obviously, in Persona 5 Strikers the attacks that exploit the Personae must be sipped, as we learned in the review phase. These moves, however powerful, are in fact linked to one bar easy to empty. As a result, some of the starting bosses – even on normal difficulty, although you can tweak to your liking at almost any time – can prove frustrating given the ease with which you run out of magic points (or SPs, using the game’s terminology). . Of course, this is a “problem” that only affects the first few sessions.
After a few Prisons, in fact, you learn how to cook and create tools with which to recover health and SP points, avoiding the player the need to stock up on both yen and the aforementioned tools with which to spend their savings. In this way, you can face enemies safely, knowing that you have a good supply of tools in your inventory with you. As in any good role-playing game – action or otherwise – that is respected, therefore, very soon the uncertainties of the first games soon give way to knowledge of the various tricks with which to simplify your life, controller in hand.
Interrogation Room – Persona 5 Strikers Review
Speaking of customization and upgrades to your various Personaes, you can take a look at the Velvet Room from the menu between battles (or through the portals seen in the dungeons). Here you can spend yours Person points (PP) to level up and unlock new creature types by combining the types you already have. This is a much more direct and simple version of what is seen in the main episodes of the franchise. This, unfortunately, also brings with it a side effect that Koei Tecmo – in their fidelity to the original game – may not have considered.
Simplification in fact also raises the grinding, essential to avoid finding yourself short of the resources necessary to afford weapons, equipment and so on. To be fair, in Persona 5 Strikers the phenomenon also occurs quite early. In that sense, we must reluctantly acknowledge that the development team could have found a better balance to prevent players from returning so often to the early areas. This is not an excessive flaw, given the huge variety of dungeons available. Perhaps right in the face of one so impressive countryside, however, to put the player in awe would be inadvisable.
I swear by my bones – Persona 5 Strikers review
The other Persona 5 Strikers problem, if you like, is there camera, which during the review phase was able to give us some headaches. It is not something capable of really making us turn up our noses, of course, but during the most heated clashes it is possible to struggle to follow the action. Of course, in true Kingdom Hearts fashion, there is the possibility of hook up to a specific target, but with all the (masterful) plays of light around us it is not difficult to get lost. As in a game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, irony wants. Of course, this contributes to the slow pace (but mostly in a very reasoned way, framing permitting) of the early game sessions.
Wanting to provide a comparison to you readers, we could call this title a spiritual successor to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. The “daily” progress of the plot, the frenetic fights, the occasional reconnaissance and / or stealth sidequests and the game’s ability to capture the attention of its audience (both newbies and not) succeed in trying to escape from the “caciarone” conventions of the Warriors series to give birth something entirely new. It is then up to you to decide how much of this makes the game more or less attractive for your gaming palate.
A New Beginning – Persona 5 Strikers Review
Of course, the small gaps in Persona 5 Strikers we’ve listed so far seem suddenly almost insignificant when compared to what good the game can achieve. It is about a very difficult balance, in a sense. Satisfying fans of the actual RPG series, while giving a hack ‘n’ slash touch to those who approach this sequel for this very reason, is not easy. However, for the most part, this title he can. There is a lot of fat-rich history outside the bosses to deal with, including many really well-written conversations.
The new characters are also noteworthy, especially artificial intelligence Sophie and Inspector Zenkichi Hasegawa, to get to know as the narrative unfolds. The action, although sometimes repetitive, nevertheless remains very accurate. Between exclusive special moves, stealth moves around the battlefield and some bosses that are truly a joy to take down, rarely this title leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Even the most reasoned diversions and the most frenetic moments of action are balanced, thanks also to the more marked strategic elements.
To Another World – Persona 5 Strikers Review
We are nearing the conclusion of the Persona 5 Strikers review, and so it’s time to judge it graphics. All the action and all the narrative twists come up Switch in a port that does spectacularly well. This is a really beautiful game to watch, and beyond a noticeable lack of anti-aliasing we still haven’t encountered a framerate drop that was one. Really a gem, from this point of view; both in fixed mode (from which every single screen you see here comes from) and, above all, in portable mode. Kiss from a chef!
Ditto with potatoes from the point of view of sound. There will also be a reason, on the other hand, if one of the aspects that most thrilled Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players at the idea of Joker joining the roster was the arrival of the musical repertoire by Atlus. Not only does Koei Tecmo’s occasional remix (as the Warriors tradition dictates) fails to …