After the antagonist of the first story arc enters the scene, the narrative is temporarily paused and Persona 5 Strikers begins introducing players to their action piece. To a large extent, the game is really about fighting a ton of opponents at once – just like any Dynasty Warriors release.
You can take control of the whole, with the exception of Futaba, the Heart Thief Gang (and freely switch between four of them at once), as well as two newcomers – a girl who is a living embodiment of EMMA artificial intelligence, and another character whose personality is better not reveal to avoid spoilers. All heroes have unique skills that are divided into several types at once. You will find different combinations of simple attacks, special passive and active abilities that attack and support the skills of the people themselves, as well as several separate mechanics for each of the team members.
At the same time, the variety in the combat system is not at all nominal – Omega Force looked with surprising meticulousness at everything that the original Persona 5 offered, and tried to implement the maximum number of systems from the now cult RPG Atlus. In other words, familiar elements are present here in full size – skills are divided in elemental directions, they can impose status effects, a combination of correct attacks hi to activate special technical damage, and buffs and debuffs remain one of the most important keys to victory in a difficult battle. If the heroes of Persona 5 could use firearms in battle, do not doubt that in Persona 5 Strikers you can cover the Shadows with fire with the same efficiency.
At first, the variety of attacks in Persona 5 Strikers is somewhat discouraging. The project offers an extremely slow, thoughtful and easy-to-learn tutorial, introducing the basic principles of the gameplay. Talking about, for example, how to sneak up on opponents to catch them by surprise, or how the collective All Out Attack works (surprise – the same as in Persona 5). But the game is in no hurry to explain many things, at best it only briefly mentions the presence of a particular system.
Yusuke Kitagawa, armed with a katana, for example, is able to counterattack enemy attacks. Having made an attack in the correct frame range of the enemy animation, the character completely cancels the damage directed at him and inflicts his own blow, which can be continued into a full combo. This is a simple but very entertaining system, reminiscent of Devil may cry… However, mastering it in the heat of battles with hundreds of Jack Frosts is almost impossible, as your attention will be sprayed on many other variables, as well as a bright explosion of colors.
Perhaps the full combat system of Persona 5 Strikers begins to unfold precisely in the battles with bosses. Periodically, the game dilutes clashes with ordinary opponents with battles with especially strong enemies. Most often, this is dictated by the plot context – the heroes met a particularly strong Shadow, or the time has finally come for an open confrontation with the owner of the Prison. Bosses are most often distinguished by their large size and extended number of attacks, and their damage is much superior to anything that ordinary monsters can threaten you with. The combination of these factors makes you refuse to mindlessly pressing all the buttons of the gamepad at once and forces you to carefully monitor the enemy’s animations, his weaknesses, status effects, and behavior patterns. Here, a variety of tactics and mechanics are used – Persona’s abilities are used to destroy the shields of bosses, the limited health of your party members pushes you to carefully analyze their actions, and clever positioning can easily become what separates you from stylish victory in favor of awkward defeat.
Interludes between battles, however, can seem a little bland. Unfortunately, the Prisons from Persona 5 Strikers rarely boast a thoughtful elaboration of the level of the Palaces from Persona 5, but rather are small arenas connected by various passageways. You can’t scold the artists – the locations look bright and have a unique identity, but the process of their development sometimes gives off a secondary quality. In order to open the gate, you need to activate three different levers located on three different parts of the level. Do you want to turn off dangerous enemy searchlights? Please collect three magic spheres. On the other hand, it is worth noting that the authors diligently dilute some areas with some special activities, such as a simple puzzle or a simple puzzle tied to navigating the intricate corridors.
