My last issue with Persona 5 Strikers is that there are a couple of quality of life tweaks that would go a long way to improving the game.
If you poured as many hours into the last game as I did, seeing your hard work overlooked leaves a bit of a bad feel. Instead of assuming that you got to bestie status with your party members, unlocking their ultimate Persona, the game lumps you with the default throughout. Both are excellent and Sophie in particular will melt even the coldest goddamn heart.Īs with these forgotten relationships, the maxed out Personas from the main game have also disappeared.
Instead, your new characters Sophie and Zenkichi step up to the plate to steal your heart. Likewise, your friends from Persona 5 Royal never existed in this universe, so if you’re looking forward to catching up with Kasumi, you’re out of luck. If one of them was your girlfriend by the end of the last game, they’re no longer aware of it, which feels a bit disingenuous. Gone too are your maxed out friendships with your party members. Gone are your friends from the last game - the weapons dealer, medic and journalist who helped you attain stronger personas - along with the other NPC confidants. However, this lack of focus is also to the game’s detriment. There are activities and side missions restricted to each city, but it’s pretty obvious when you’re about to move on, so you can relax and just enjoy the trip.
This is not a problem in Strikers, and you can happily see the whole thing without a walkthrough or guide. Those of you who like completing these games to 100% know the feeling of checking a walkthrough every 10 minutes to make sure you’re seeing the right person at the right time, on the right day, saying the right things to max out your relationship stats. Persona 5 Strikers also has the bonus of not being a race against the constant march of time, as the main releases always have been. It felt just like I was back travelling around Japan, albeit with a slightly different set of friends this time. Sapporo looks and feels like Sapporo, and I got a giddy kick out of seeing the Glico man on Dotonbori Street. Although you don’t quite get to go where you want in each city, you do get to see some really cool places that are pretty true to the cities they represent. In a nutshell, Strikers is a road trip around Japan with your friends, and the game excels in this regard. You can do it, but that doesn’t mean you should. That’s as nonsensical as trying to play Final Fantasy X-2 before Final Fantasy X. Although you can play this as a standalone adventure with no knowledge of the series, you do yourself a massive disservice if you do this. The most compelling reason to pick up Strikers is the chance to hang out with your friends one more time. It’s basically like Makoto before and after she meets Johanna. It’s the same soundtrack you know and love, but now with extra metal. A couple of the tracks have been slightly reworked, meaning that Rivers in a Dry Land now slaps like never before. The writing is as engaging as ever, and the music in Persona 5 is and always will be exemplary. While the gameplay is significantly different, as a sequel it’s excellent and I have absolutely loved getting to kick back and hang out with the original Phantom Thieves once again. It’s action-packed, but it’s not as big a challenge as in Persona 5, thanks to the forgiving way you can jump in and out of Jails at will, giving your party a break to replenish their HP and SP. You’ll be diving into city-sized Jails this time, instead of Palaces, facing off against Monarchs instead of Rulers.
0 kommentar(er)
