Persona 5 Tactics – Analysis

Persona 5 Tactics is the latest spin-off inspired by the famous game Persona 5 created by Atlus which brings back the vigilante Phantom Thieves in a new journey that adopts turn-based strategy RPG gameplay for the first time.

The history of Persona 5 Tactics takes place during the Persona 5 timeline, where the Phantom Thieves on a visit to Café Leblanc are transported to a new reality called the Kingdom that is governed by an authoritarian and oppressive system. Together with Irina, the new playable character leader of a rebel army, they decide to join forces and confront this regime.

From the opening of the game it becomes clear that it is not necessary to play the fifth title in the franchise, especially because there are no connections with the current story. Still, I recommend playing Persona 5 to be aware of the characters’ growth to date, as well as the abilities of their fellow Personas.

As far as the narrative is concerned, the Atlus continues to focus on political issues but, this time, around dictatorships that affect society in general, something that does not come by chance, as countless conflicts are taking place in various parts of the world. The themes here were operated more lightly, but manage to reach the status of their predecessors largely due to the way they present and develop the new characters and their antagonists. There is still room for the traditional humor present in the franchise, preserving the jovial spirit of the vigilantes. One of the weaknesses that I can highlight in the argument is that due to its extensive dialogues, they sometimes end up becoming uninteresting. In my opinion, some of the dialogue could have been removed, focusing on the main narrative.

Much of the adventure takes place inside Café Leblanc – hub – where we can prepare our team before proceeding with the missions. Preparation involves purchasing weapons, fusing and equipping Personas, talking to characters or completing secondary missions to receive skill points that serve to improve the characters’ skill tree. Having these options organized in one place makes them quite intuitive, especially for new players who won’t need to visit different locations.

During combat, we have a turn-based strategy RPG with scenarios made up of grids in which we will move our team and use the qualities of the protagonists and the advantages of the scenarios to defeat the enemies. On the field, the game allows us to use a maximum of three characters from our team. Each of them has its own range of movement, but there is a stimulating flexibility that allows us to move whenever we want before triggering the action we want, which gives us space to better choose our positioning, as well as carefully study our next move. invested.

Inside the Velvet room we were able to fuse weapons with Personas to create special weapons.

Certainly inspired by Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, it is essential to take advantage of the space and decoration around the scenes to protect ourselves from attacks, prevent damage and quickly reach enemies. The idea of ​​cover is to catch the enemy off guard so we can attack and gain an extra turn, in this sense, if we choose to position the characters in a triangle format, we trigger a devastating combined attack that almost always suppresses the enemies within that triangle. On the other hand, enemies also benefit from the same mechanics when it comes to extra turns, which can give rise to a twist in the game, which means we must coordinate our games well to avoid risky situations.

The characters in combat also have firearms with them, which are an essential resource for hitting enemies from a distance. We can still use the magical abilities of our alter egos (Personas) that can be used against an enemy or in the entire area around them. Among the new features, a special ability was added to each character, which despite being pleasing to the eye when invoked, proves to be of little relevance in terms of damage. Furthermore, here everyone can equip a sub-Persona, a complementary novelty that brings different combinations of elemental skills and extra advantages to each person.

The Chibi style was first applied in the games Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth.

As for challenge, missions related to the main campaign rarely introduce innovation until the end. Most require us to defeat all enemies or reach a specific point without losing characters. The ambition of this title comes to the fore when we unlock the secondary missions that, in addition to being rewarding, operate like puzzles with severe rules that make us pull our brains.

It is evident that this game does not make any changes to the SRPG formula, noting that it sought inspiration from other works without crossing the line of simplicity. But it is still curious how the Atlus transfers ideas from Persona 5 to the Tactica system without losing the series’ identity as it did with Persona 5 Strikers.

As you would expect, the visuals of Persona 5 Tactics are the most dominant aspect, especially when we talk about its interface and the effects that continue to be highly appealing and interactive. In contrast, the choice of Chibi models to represent the characters, in my opinion, was not the most assertive choice, in a way they appear too stylized and end up not matching the density of the main theme – living under a dictatorship. I also missed varied scenarios and would have liked to have seen different themes invading Café leBlanc’s decor when we changed worlds. Regarding the soundtrack, Toshiki Konishi did an extraordinary job. Throughout the game we are accompanied by a range of music that matches the essence of the events, whether in calmer or more energetic moments.

Persona 5 Tactics despite not having the spin-off density Persona 5 Strikers, manages to be a good SRPG in what it presents. The story and characters maintain the level we are used to. On the other hand, it is not a game that challenges you at all times or that forces you to constantly develop tactics. It is certainly recommended for fans of Atlus and a good starting point for players who initially want to embark on a simple turn-based strategy RPG.