"Persona 5 Tactica: a decent tactical role-playing game, but nothing more
14.11.2023
Translation: machine translated
"Persona 5 Tactica offers the gameplay and storyline you'd expect from the franchise, but I'm not any more excited than that.
The Persona series is a spin-off from Shin Megami Tensei. Or at least it used to be. Declined into several genres, Persona 5 is now almost a series in its own right. After an anime, a rhythm game, a dungeon crawler and a beat'em up, here comes the strategic RPG Persona 5 Tactica, seven years after the original game.
The storyline: one kingdom can hide another
Persona 5 Tactica takes place towards the end of the main game, not the Royal Edition. Joker and the other Phantom Thieves are transported to a strange dimension, reminiscent of France during the Revolution. Queen Marie oppresses the people, and in fact subjects all the Phantom Thieves to brainwashing, except Joker and Morgana. These two then meet a woman, Erina, the leader of the group of rebels that Marie wants to crush. She explains that they are in a metaverse called The Kingdoms. The plural mark is already a clue, since other kingdoms are visited over the course of the game.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
Of course, Joker and Morgana want to save their friends. As their goal coincides with Erina's, they form an alliance. During a campaign to free them, they meet Japanese politician Toshiro Kasukabe. Kasukabe claims to have amnesia and is unaware that he is in the metaverse. In real life, Toshiro is running for Prime Minister. The story continues...
I don't want to reveal too much about the convoluted plot full of twists and turns, as usual with this licence. I've only played a dozen hours, so I can't give a definitive opinion on the story. For now, it's fine, but nothing more. A lot of things seem obvious, and you suspect what's coming next. The story hasn't captivated me so far. The central themes revolve around exploitation, oppression and the resulting desire for freedom.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
The characters in Persona 5 are now firmly established and all work well together. The new kids, Erina and Toshiro, round out the gang well and a fun dynamic is quickly established. But the characters and story are sometimes a little too simplistic for me and I'd like more depth.
You can totally play Persona 5 Tactica without knowing the original game. The story isn't particularly complex and has few links with the first opus. The characters will be unfamiliar, however, and you'll identify with them less if you haven't played Persona 5. If spoilers don't scare you, check out a summary of Persona 5 for a better understanding.
Good gameplay in line with the original
The RPG gameplay of Persona is perfectly suited to a tactical role-playing game. The development team at P Studio aren't reinventing the genre. Battles are turn-based, with the first move generally falling to you. All that's left to do then is position your characters, carry out hand-to-hand attacks, fire guns or call on your Personas. These representations of the characters' personalities are what make Persona so magical.
Phantom Thieves take cover behind crates, barrels and the like to take no (or less) damage from generic attacks. The battlefields aren't flat; you can access higher levels using ladders, among other things. You'll be able to turn these level differences to your advantage.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
As in the base game, you can alternate between your three active characters until they have played their turn. You can swap a character during a fight with those in reserve, even if one of them has run out of lives.
The "One More" attack from the original game is back. If your character deals critical damage and sends their opponent to the mat, they get a bonus attack. This is particularly important in the "All Out Attack" version of the original game, called "Triple Threat" here. Surround the downed character with your three active characters to inflict huge damage in the middle of the triangle thus formed. At the end of the fight, you'll get experience points, money and new Personas.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
Between battles, you chat to your allies, buy weapons, distribute skill points and equip your characters with weapons and Personas. You read that right: each character can accumulate Personas. This opens up a whole new world of combat possibilities. There's a return to the main game's Velvet Room, where you can merge Personas to create a more powerful one.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
You can replay missions you've already done. Side quests offer special objectives: these missions require more organisation than the main quest and are significantly more arduous. In fact, there are five levels of difficulty. As I'm no tactical genius, I played the game in normal mode. The main missions aren't too hard, and none of my characters ended up knocked out. The higher difficulty level is really harder, too much for me. I would have liked a more subtle progression. At my level, I fall through the cracks.
All in all, the gameplay is enjoyable, but Persona 5 Tactica doesn't revolutionise anything.
Incomprehensible art direction
The Persona series draws heavily on visual novels (video game novels) and this feeling is further reinforced in Tactica. Most of the time, up to four characters are chatting in front of a fixed background. In short, it resembles a visual novel in every way.
Source: Capture d’écran : Kevin Hofer
The characters have a more childlike look than in the original, with a chibi feel. This won't necessarily appeal to everyone. Given the serious subjects of exploitation and oppression, this childish style seems out of place.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
The classic visual novel style is abandoned in some scenes: at times, characters fade into the background instead of speaking in the foreground. In itself, this isn't a big deal. I like the play with forms of expression. But I still haven't understood the logic behind these changes, which seem arbitrary and incoherent to me.
I actually had the same feeling with the dubbing. It's OK in itself, the dubbing artists do a good job. But not all the texts are dubbed, not even those in the main story. I don't understand it at all, and I suspect publisher Atlus didn't dub everything out of cheapness.
The combat graphics are completely obsolete. Seven years ago, when the original game was released, the presentation would have been satisfactory. That's no longer the case today. But I don't have too high an expectation of graphics in tactical RPGs, so I'm fine with it. You just have to be aware of it.
Source: Capture d’écran : Atlus
At first, navigation is confusing. In HQ, the Velvet Room changes location between missions and in the combat preparation menu. It took me 15 missions to find my way around the different situations. More consistency would have been welcome.
Correct, without more
If I had to give Persona 5 Tactica a score, I'd give it a good 7.5/10. I liked the gameplay and the combat. The storyline is nice even if it didn't captivate me. I haven't finished the game, perhaps a good surprise awaits me.
Among the disappointments, I note the art style and dubbing. I don't fundamentally mind the childlike features of the characters, but they contrast with the heavy themes of oppression and exploitation. Perhaps this choice becomes more understandable as the game progresses. The design and dubbing are also inconsistent. The game isn't a graphical success, but I didn't expect much more from a tactical RPG.
If you're a fan of tactical RPGs, the Persona series or both, Persona 5 Tactica is for you, go for it!
Persona 5 Tactica is available from 17 November on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC. The PC game was made available to me by Atlus.
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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