Musou games are often characterized as laidback action games, mostly for emphasizing visual flair and excitement over systemic complexity. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a prime example of this: pure simplicity in action with plenty of visual flair to back it up. Combat’s never really challenging, as in this particular case, players are moreso interested in that origin story. However, Persona‘s version of a Musou experience is drastically different in comparison. While Persona 5 Strikers combat borrows plenty of its DNA from its Musou-based foundation, it’s far more systemic and mechanically complex in action compared to other Warriors spin-off games.
Defining aspects from Persona 5‘s battle system punctuate and expand the combat in Persona 5 Strikers to a far more ambitious version of Warriors-style gameplay. Arguably, Persona 5 Strikers resembles its source material moreso than the Musou-style games that Omega Force is known to produce. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but for fans expecting a more laidback Persona 5 spin-off are going to find that the combat in Strikers is far more engaging than anticipated. In fact, Persona 5 Strikers requires far more optimization of its ARPG-like systems to both get the most out of its satisfying combat, and also not be obliterated by its surprising difficulty.
Players jumping into Persona 5 Strikers for the first time, regardless of whether they’ve played Persona 5 or not, will find a very different Musou-style game. Mashing attack, stringing together combos, and using flashy finishers are certainly part of Strikers‘ combat, but pure offense will not win fights. In fact, just spamming attack on enemies will almost certainly lead to failure, as enemies will utilize spells and special attacks that can melt health at lower levels. This is where Strikers‘ similarity with Persona 5 proper comes into play. Players need to exploit enemies’ weaknesses, utilize Once More, Showtime Attacks, and more to come out of fights on top.
Those who have played Persona 5 will find these systems functionally similar, but with the action RPG framing of Strikers‘ gameplay, combat becomes much more tense. Targeting weaknesses in turn-based combat gives players plenty of time to strategize, but Persona 5 Strikers requires a lot of thinking on the fly. That’s not to say combat becomes too difficult. Once players get in the groove and familiarize themselves with the pace of battle, it becomes an incredibly satisfying blend between Persona 5‘s RPG systems and Warriors frantic action. Obliterating bosses by targeting weaknesses, swapping characters, and overwhelming them with strong magic is incredibly satisfying.
However, much like Persona 5, SP and item management are significant portions of Persona 5 Strikers‘ dungeon crawling. Keeping items, health, and SP stocked at all times is essential, even when players are engaging with combat optimally and not taking much damage/using too much magic. In all fairness, players can hit a checkpoint and return to the real world to regain HP/SP for free. While Persona 5 Strikers does implement a calendar-based system, days don’t need to pass when players exit the dungeon, so they’re usually free to return and restore health. That being said, some dungeons prevent returning to the real world, so stocking up on supplies is essential.
There’s even level-grinding and experience progression in Persona 5 Strikers, though comparatively far less complicated when looking at Persona 5. Like its source material, Joker can summon and infuse Personas in the Velvet Room just like in Persona 5. Additionally, as players continue through the game’s story, various events will trigger “Bond” experience among the Phantom Thieves to spend on increased damage/defense/magic/etc. It’s a simple but effective injection of RPG elements from Persona that doesn’t conflict with the pace of Strikers‘ action-RPG gameplay. Fans of Persona and Warriors games will find a lot to love from both sides of the scale.
On one hand, those expecting a more laidback Musou/Dynasty Warriors-style experience will find Persona 5 Strikers is a bit more complex than that. On the other hand, the various RPG-like elemental affinities and progression systems based on Persona 5 are never too overbearing in Strikers. Players are still rewarded for hammering attacks and combos on enemies, having strong reaction time and dodging, but they’re also rewarded for analyzing/exploiting enemy weaknesses. Credit is certainly due for Omega Force in balancing the inspirations of Persona 5 and Dynasty Warriors together in a way where they don’t interrupt each other’s momentum.
Putting aside any of the story reasons and fondness for Persona 5 in general, players will still find a lot to love from Persona 5 Strikers. Combat in particular is an incredibly familiar but exciting twist on the turn-based combat from the original game. Neither sacrifices too much from Persona 5 or Dynasty Warriors to create a surprisingly satisfying, and nominally challenging action-RPG that serves as a worthy follow-up to Persona 5.
Persona 5 Strikers releases on February 23, 2021, for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
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