With the ability to switch control to any of your party the game’s variety of attack is even wider than Hyrule Warriors and, when all the game’s systems are turning in unison, genuinely enjoyable.“ Persona 5 Strikers” is an epic, addictive, 30-hour JRPG about why people are such enormous assholes on the internet. This leads to some cute character interactions, and the potential to increase your bond with another Phantom Thief, but there are no time limits or schedules to juggle, which adds to the sense of superficiality.Įxploring dungeons works similarly to Persona 5, with (very) simple stealth and puzzle obstacles leading into a fight that operates in the typical Dynasty Warriors fashion, except with lots of personae and Jack Frost demons.Īlthough mashing the light and heavy attack buttons is the core of what you’re doing each character has their own persona (you can still collect additional ones, just not as many as the regular games) with their own special attacks, spells, and elemental affinities and weakness. It doesn’t help that the social link system of the main games is here reduced to simply chatting together in groups. But the subtler points, which also deal with Persona’s usual themes of rebelling against authority and learning from and atoning for past mistakes, struggles to break the surface. The idea at the heart of the narrative is how people’s personalities are moulded by both events and the people around them, often in the context of modern social media and technology. But while it’s not as dumbed down as the Persona Q sub-series, the writing and concepts are notably more simplistic than Persona 5 itself, relying on obvious (and sometimes borderline offensive) clichés and superficial characterisation, especially in the way that most villains are nothing but a one-dimensional personification of a particular vice. More experienced and more mature than they were last time, the Phantom Thieves are presented with ordinary people in similar situations to they were last time, making it easier for them to empathise with and help them.
It’s junk food gaming through and through but, compared to some of the lesser entries in the series, at least it’s Five Guys rather than a salmonella-tainted street vendor. Persona 5 Strikers has the same developer as all the other Dynasty Warriors games and the same mindless button-mashing gameplay, where you take out hundreds of enemies in a single combo – often without expending a single conscious thought. It may not have the Warriors name in the title (even Hyrule Warriors had that) but this absolutely is Persona x Dynasty Warriors, a chalk and cheese crossover that works better than you’d expect… within the normal constraints of Dynasty Warriors’ limited competency. The most unlikely Dynasty Warriors crossover so far is also a direct sequel to Persona 5, with a story by the original creators.Ĭonsidering the slow but steady rate of improvement in the Dynasty Warriors series, and its spin-offs, we look forward to praising one as a genuinely great game somewhere around the space year 2042. Persona 5 Strikers – the gang’s all back (pic: Atlus)