“Persona 5 Strikers” test: Stylish batting

She has appeared on the blog multiple times as a fan of the JRPG series “Persona”. In order to play “Persona 4 Golden”, I have purchased an add-on PlayStation Vita. Also I tested “Persona 5” here on the blog – The improved version Persona 5 Royal too, of course. A new branch is now available: Persona 5 Strikers. However, this is not an RPG, but a hacking and slashing game in the style of the “Dynasty Warriors” series. In my test, I’ll tell you if the jump to a new genre has worked.

In Persona 5 Strikers, you will enter the field with old and new characters against hundreds of legions of opponents. This is the typical pattern for “Dynasty Warriors” and its offshoots, also known as Musou games. The developers of Omega Force are also known for their role in this genre of games – in addition to “Dynasty Warriors”, they have also adapted the game’s principle for “Hyrule Warriors” with characters from Nintendo “The Legend of Zelda” Piece: Pirate Warriors. Now “Persona 5 Strikers” Is the next step.

Persona 5 is now particularly well known for its powerful story. This is where “Persona 5 Strikers” comes in and offers a lot of what I loved about the main game: the characters are loved more than ever. Morgana, Ryuji, Ann and Co. They are all part of the party and can be added to your team of four. You can also see visually that in addition to Omega Force, Atlus’ P-Studio also worked directly on the development. The visual style is 100% “Persona 5,” which extends to the smallest detail of menus and transition animations.

Persona 5 Strikers is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4. I tested the game with backward compatibility on PS5. Here the game runs smoothly, but of course it is clearly recognizable as a title from the last generation. Technically speaking, however, the Persona chain wasn’t really a standard-setting franchise. Instead, it is the exquisite artistic design that also makes the new branch so eye-catching. Anyone who likes to watch cartoons from studios like Madhouse would get excited quickly.

However, the turmoil in “Persona 5 Strikers” sometimes ends with a lot of visual chaos for my tastes. As much as I love the deliberately heavy and varied design: It happened more than once that when I was fighting against hordes of enemies, for a little while, I had no idea where my character ended up. At such moments, only a small knock on the keys will help. Even if the button is included, tactics are also required in fights. Moreover, opponents can be “tamed” as characters and also merged with each other. This happens again in the Velvet Room, a kind of forgetting that has always played a role in earlier parts of the series.

The soundtrack deserves special acclaim, as “Persona” fans probably expected. Here you can hear all of the new tracks and remixes of the songs on Persona 5. A mix of electronicka, rock and jazz that sticks to the ear and is also great outside of the game. On the other hand, the sound effects are well-known and similar to those of “Persona 5”. Thankfully, so are the excellent English-speaking voice actors who voice their voices for both old and new characters.

The relationships that play a major role in “Persona” do not exist in the classic sense of “Persona 5 Strikers”. There are only secondary missions from some of the characters that you can perform. The visual elements of the novel are preserved, and some cut scenes may take a good 20 minutes, but the “high school simulator” is gone. So you no longer wander freely around town doing jobs, studying at the library, or looking for your classmates.

Overall, it’s a pity that Persona 5 Strikers doesn’t offer much space to explore. Outside of combat zones, there is little you can graze on. At least there is a lot of variety. Because the new game isn’t limited to one region of Toyko, but it leads you all over Japan. However, in battles, you have very little time for sightseeing, because the hordes of opponents overwhelm you. As in the main game, you must send the right person onto the field in order to win. It works on the principle of rock paper scissors.

For example, the object is then resistant to ice, but susceptible to fire, etc. During the battles, you will be accompanied by up to three AI buddies, they actively participate and also contribute to the comments. Overall, it should be noted that character development is somewhat weaker than that of full-fledged JRPGs from the series. The main story is basically a modified version of “Persona 5” and most of the characters on your team already know each other, so there is less dynamic in relationships.

However, playing “Persona 5 Strikers” feels like you are meeting an old friend again: You may have lost sight of something and the chemistry wasn’t quite the same, but you could still do well together. Especially since “Persona 5 Strikers” is much better than other brands, such as “The Legend of Zelda” or “Hyrule Warriors”, here you master the balancing process to adapt Musou’s gameplay in terms of its roots in RPG and its unmistakable visuals on the other conservative style. .

New characters, like AI Sophia, are welcome additions to the cast. A little fun for Apple fans: Siri’s English voice, Susan Bennett, spoken by EMMA’s digital smartphone assistant. Kind of random, but for this kind of spray you just have to love the Persona series. Boss fights are also being highlighted again, even if the images here don’t always fit into a fist, as was the case in “Persona 5”.

“Persona 5 Strikers” is a comprehensive title. You can’t get close to 100+ hours of “Persona 5 and Person 5 Royal,” but you can plan in 30 to 40 hours, depending on how many secondary tasks you take with you. Anyway, I really liked this Musou game, even if I didn’t feel warm with these team fights by Omega Force. Fortunately, “Persona 5” DNA is prevalent here, so I would definitely recommend fans of the series to play this title as well and spend more time with the fake thieves.

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