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Hello everyone, and welcome to the long-awaited Page 90! Once again, I’m sorry for not being able to finish this in time last week, though I still managed to post the first Journal Addendum, meant to add more to a previously completed Page; this one finally updates Page 4 (How I got into Pokémon Glitches), and you can have a look at it here!
Plus, if you’re a fan of vintage technology (especially computers), you’ll be glad to know that I’ve finally released the first episode of the GUI Wonderland Series, where we’ll explore the evolution of Graphical User Interfaces and Operating Systems! This time, we’ll be talking about the Xerox Alto and its games. You can read it here!
Thus, let’s review my last week (or two weeks, as we’re actually missing two weeks of retelling); EmeraldDM8 and I started playing Palworld, and even if I wasn’t too sure about it at first (I’m not a fan of the survival aspects of the gameplay), we managed to easily dispel my doubts! You see, he and I are playing on our own cozy little save, and I was surprised to see that you can customize most of the rules and settings of your world, and if you want you can make it less punishing; with some quick adjustments, I was finally able to enjoy my favorite part of the game, the Pals! Let me reassure you by saying that I’m the kind of player who wants to befriend Pals and free them from evil humans (is that a bit like Team Plasma in Pokémon? Maybe, but only partially), so I’ve not taken part in all the “Pal slavery” you see online; luckily, the game allows you to do what you want, so EmeraldDM8 and I have had a lot of fun setting up lovely bases for our Pals! At the moment, my favorite Pals are Melpaca (which I called “Melffy”, after a Yu-Gi-Oh archetype), Pengullet (“Smol Boi”, because mine is small and male XD), Foxparks (“Firanui”, my assistant chef, after my currently favorite deck in Yu-Gi-Oh, called Shiranui), and Jolthog Cryst (“Yuki”, which means “snow” in Japanese, who EmeraldDM8 saved from an enemy camp, where she was locked up, and now she is my personal pocket fridge cooler). There is also Gary, the local NPC who keeps asking us to help save his family, but he seems happy enough, so we’re not too worried about it. I would love to keep going on about it, but I should really stop it here before this becomes a Palworld Page, don’t you think? 🙂
On a different note, I’ve also continued Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and it keeps being exhilarating as usual! You’ll see more about it in its own Page though, or I’ll risk ending up writing a whole essay about that as well.
Anyway, enough chatter! It’s finally time to talk about the sequel to the original Persona 5 we saw back in Page 50, as we delve into…
| Persona 5 Strikers |
|---|
This is an Action RPG title published by Atlus, released in 2020 in Japan for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers (and it was translated into English in 2021); in 2021 it also received a worldwide port on Steam. As with many similar games, I played it on my Nintendo Switch and EmeraldDM8 played it on Steam, and after watching him play it, I admit that I kind of wish I’d done the same.
The story follows on directly after the original Persona 5 game, avoiding all story mentions and additions found in Royal, thus players who haven’t played the extra parts in that won’t see spoilers; four months after the events of Persona 5, the protagonist (whose canon name is usually Ren Amamiya) and Morgana come back to Tokyo to visit their friends and to spend the summer holidays with them. In order to celebrate their reunion, they suggest going on a camping trip, and they leave the decisions for where to go and what to do to a new and popular AI assistant and social app, called EMMA; too bad that, after going to bed, Ren gets called to the Velvet Room by Lavenza, who warns him of an incoming disaster (it should be noted that, whilst I’m not massively versed in Persona spin-offs yet, EmeraldDM8 has let me know that the lack of Igor in this game isn’t that uncommon, as it’s rare for him to appear in spin-offs). Shortly after, we’ll be able to witness what that disaster might be; an idol, Alice Hiiragi, is using EMMA to transport people to a virtual recreation of Shibuya (which, instead of being referred to as a “Castle”, is called a “Jail”, although they are similar in concept), and robbing them of their will and dreams (which the game dubs “Desire”). Understandably, our protagonists decide to try and stop her; during their attempt, while they’re in the Jail, they meet an amnesiac AI, called Sophia. At first, they’re unsure what to do with her, though, soon enough, enemies attack, and it’s revealed that she is a “Persona user”, just like our protagonists; plus, we can also see that her only memories entail her being “humanity’s companion”, and this fact makes her decide to go with them and aid their cause, as both a fighter and navigator.
As we progress through the story, we’ll see that more and more people all over Japan are using EMMA for their own twisted cause; thus, the Phantom Thieves’ trip will take a serious turn, and it will be their job to save the day! Why is EMMA capable of creating Jails and stealing Desires? Will Sophia remember who and/or what she is? Will the Phantom Thieves be able to relax during their summer holidays? Only time will tell.
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room; unlike the original Persona 5, as well as Royal, which both took the form of a JRPG, Strikers is instead an Action RPG Hack-and-Slash Musou (a mouthful, I know), mixing action elements (some of these make it almost resemble a Dynasty Warriors game, such as the presence of dozens of small-fry enemies surrounded by a few strong ones) with the usual Persona gameplay elements. Luckily for us, it doesn’t end up being too similar to Dynasty Warriors (forgive me if you are a fan of that series, but that gameplay can get pretty old incredibly fast), though it does still bear somewhat of a resemblance to it.
We can choose our own party of 4 characters (Joker and 3 others), who will be able to battle with their own skills and attacks, and can also call their Persona forth when needed; as you may have expected, you can either obtain your Persona from battling or by fusing them, just like in the other games of the series, thus you won’t be limited to your staring one, Arsène. Unfortunately, though, this doesn’t apply to the rest of the cast, who will keep their base Persona for the entire game (which somewhat implies that this Ren didn’t complete any of the social links in 5 👀); this makes their gameplay the same from start to finish, although you can spice it up a bit by unlocking a couple of additional combos. While it’s not anything too tragic, it meant that the gameplay I experienced in the first hours of the game wasn’t so different from what I got during late-game, and I reckon that this might put some people off (such as EmeraldDM8, sadly…). It didn’t put me off, as I’m more of a fan of this kind of gameplay, though I still wished they added more unlockables.
EmeraldDM8’s Note: There is a part of me who really wants to enjoy these kinds of games, as I’ve played some in the past that I’ve had fun with, but the gameplay becomes really stale to me far too quickly, and I think this is where the main issue comes from; you see, one of my favourites of this kind of game is Fire Emblem Warriors, but what is the big difference between them? I think the answer is the characters. You see, in Fire Emblem Warriors, you’re unlocking new characters basically every map, giving you an opportunity to try out something new and spice up the otherwise repetitive gameplay, whereas in Strikers, you’re given all but 1 of the playable characters immediately, and won’t get that other character for quite a while, and with the size of the Jails, I found myself having tried out, and subsequently gotten bored of, every character’s gameplay by the end of the first one. Still, I don’t think the answer is to simply increase the amount of playable characters, as whilst it would obviously be really cool to see more characters (presumably ones from older games), I’d like to point toward the second Fire Emblem Warriors game, Three Hopes, which, whilst very different from both other games I’ve mentioned in many aspects, ultimately shares the same base gameplay, but also includes the same issue Strikers has; you have pretty much every character you’re going to get from the start. Yes, you get a few as you go, but there are so many battles between them that everything grows stale, and so I think the answer lies in not only having diverse character gameplay, but also spreading the unlocking of them out in a way that really spices up the gameplay whenever it begins to grow stale.
So, how would I suggest fixing this? Well, there are a few options; the most obvious answer would be slowly giving the player access to each of the characters over a long period of time, but I actually think a more satisfying answer for fans of these characters (as they likely wouldn’t want to wait in order to play as their favourites) would have been to include a way to unlock the promoted Persona for each of the characters, with the promotions potentially adding a few new combos and Skills, which would, in turn, open up the door to a whole array of new ways to enjoy that character. This way, not only does it help to keep the gameplay somewhat fresh, but it also rewards players for taking the time to actually play with their favourite character. Either that, or give us more than just 4 unlockable skills per character, most of which are already unlocked by the end of the first dungeon. Seriously, why are there so few of them?
Blisscast’s Note: … Okay, apparently it is maybe a little bit tragic, at least according to EmeraldDM8. 👀
Alright, let’s assume that you’re like EmeraldDM8, and the gameplay just doesn’t do it for you; what will keep you glued to your chair? The answer to that question is the Story; if you are already a fan of Persona 5’s story, then I’m certain you’ll find this one simply delightful. As usual, the story was engrossing from start to finish, and I was looking forward to progressing through the dungeons to see what would happen next! Apart from our usual friendly cast of characters (which I can’t help but adore), what made this story special is its unique take on a topic that is so common nowadays, AI; while it’s surely an exciting technology, that doesn’t mean that it can only be used for the greater good, and I found that the contrast between EMMA and Sophie was really spot-on, and did a good job exploring the conflict behind the technology. For real, it was a truly exciting and deep read, and I’m sure that if everyone who uses AI reads it too, the world would be a better place. 🙂
Before we move on, though, I’d like to give some amazing news to all Haru fans out there; whilst in the original game she didn’t have much of a personality, now she has one (and it’s hilarious, too)! You see, Haru has managed to turn from a quiet, basically nothing character into one of my absolute favorites because of how casually savage and destructive she is. 👀 No, I’m not joking, she truly delivers some of the most witty and dangerous-sounding lines, all with a bright and peaceful smile on her face. To steal from my newly-recovered passion for Yu-Gi-Oh!, she’s definitely the sort to look like she’d play a cute deck like Madolche, but then bust out a Galaxy-Eyes deck or something sorry, been playing too much Yu-Gi-Oh recently. 👀 Or, to reference Pokémon, she looks like she’d use adorable Fairy Types, only for suddenly her ace to be a Garchomp, and she simply smiles sweetly as it completely slaughters your entire team. An amazing character, don’t you say? 🙂
Let’s get back on topic now, shall we? Another aspect I personally adored was the trip itself; I was able to go sightseeing throughout Japan along with the Phantom Thieves, and it’s incredible how they managed to make it “educational” as well! Unfortunately for my wallet, this added yet more places to my “list of marvelous Japanese locations to visit one day”, and I’m looking forward to the day I’ll finally manage to go to those cities; I can already imagine myself pointing at everything I see and saying: “OMG! The Phantom Thieves were here too! 🥺💕”. Plus, as EmeraldDM8 pointed out to me whilst he was looking over this blog, this game weirdly visits several places we’ve seen in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, such as the 3rd City they visit, “Sapporo”, actually being the location where Saejima’s storyline takes place in Yakuza 5, and then they also visit the wonderful Dotonbori, part of Osaka, a place we go to in Yakuza 0, 2, 5, 7 and Gaiden (and the location of my favorite takoyaki stall). Hopefully, my trip will happen before I retire…
Aside from what I’ve already mentioned, another amazing aspect this title retains is the music; Lyn is back to sing some new and catchy jazzy tunes, and we can listen to them to our heart’s content! I’m currently listening to them while writing this blog and, just like the songs found in Persona 5, I’m sure these will brighten your day. I recommend you give them a listen when you finish reading this!
Thus, the question must now be asked; was this a good sequel to my beloved Persona 5? To be honest, having played Persona 5 Royal, I was sad when I found out that characters such as Kasumi and Akechi weren’t in it, and I was worried it would ruin my experience with the game; luckily, Strikers managed to make me love almost every second I spent on it, and it also made me want to adopt my very own Sophia (… Huh? N-No, of course I wasn’t wondering whether there’s a Palworld mod to add Sophia to the game! Wh-What made you think that?! 👀), so I’d say it ultimately was a wonderful experience! I recommend you give it a try if you were dazzled by Persona 5’s storyline and miss its marvelous cast, as I’m somewhat certain that you won’t regret it!
Thank you for reading, and I hope I’ll see you in next Thursday’s Journal Page, or anywhere around the site!
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References
- Wikipedia: Persona 5 Strikers – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_5_Strikers
- Megami Tensei Wiki: Persona 5 Strikers – https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Persona_5_Strikers
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