The Persona series has long been celebrated for its narrative-driven turn-based RPG experiences, earning well-deserved accolades throughout its history. Yet, the journey from Persona 4 to Persona 5, and the now ongoing wait for the yet-to-be-announced Persona 6, have been marked by extended development timelines. To keep fans engaged, ATLUS and their P-Studio development team have explored various self-developed and co-developed spin-off titles, diverging from their RPG roots. From the thrilling 2D battles of the ‘Arena’ series to the less memorable rhythmic adventures in the ‘Dance’ games and the action-packed ‘Persona 5 Strikers‘ collaboration with Omega Force, ATLUS has ventured into uncharted territories, while playing to developer strengths and often coming out on top.
One notable return to RPG gameplay was the Persona Q duology, introduced before the Nintendo 3DS reached the end of its lifecycle. These games featured a chibi art style and a narrative focus that provided distinct, often comedic experiences rather than a direct continuation of the main storyline. Furthermore, they embraced the tried-and-true first-person dungeon-crawling RPG mechanics that ATLUS had honed since the early 2000s with the Etrian Odyssey franchise. Now, with the release of Persona 5 Tactica, ATLUS brings us an evolution of the Persona Q concept. This latest instalment maintains a similar graphical style and narrative approach but introduces a fresh take on the franchise—a tactical RPG experience, a genre ATLUS has not extensively explored in the past. As I embarked on my playtesting journey, one question loomed: Is Persona 5 Tactica a step in the right direction for Persona spin-off games, or should ATLUS have stuck to their RPG roots? Read on to discover whether they have achieved success in this new endeavour.
Taking place against the backdrop of Persona 5’s main storyline, specifically before the graduation ceremony of some of the Phantom Thieves members, Persona 5 Tactica immerses players in what should have been a peaceful moment at Cafe Leblanc—a moment of respite following the intense year that these young, relentless heroes endured. However, as players would anticipate, the tranquillity is short-lived. A powerful tremor shakes the cafe, and upon its cessation, the entrance leads the group into a mysterious world reminiscent of medieval Europe. In this unfamiliar realm, the Phantom Thieves face a new threat: the Legionnaires, an antagonistic force led by several rulers, the first one introduced being Marie. The majority of the Phantom Thieves are captured, leaving the protagonist and Morganna narrowly escaping with the help of a newcomer, Erina. United with the rebels fighting against the Legionnaires, they embark on a perilous mission to rescue their comrades, unravel the mysteries surrounding the new characters, and, hopefully, find a way back to their own world.
For better or worse, the storyline of Persona 5 Tactica adheres to the established formula and tropes of Persona spin-off games, featuring game-exclusive characters, the protagonists being trapped in an unfamiliar world, and relying solely on their Velvet Room companion who is hampered in some way, in this case, Lavenza. While it may follow some familiar tropes, the narrative manages to capture much of the charm of the core game’s school life and Phantom Thief adventures. Prior knowing of the events of Persona 5 and/or Persona 5 Royal is highly recommended before diving into Persona 5 Tactica. The game assumes that players are well-versed in the events of these titles, providing only light touches on what happened prior. However, if you are wondering whether you need to play Persona 5 Tactica to embrace the Persona 5 experience then you probably don’t need to, with the Kingdoms and the Legionnaires existing within their own self-contained narrative bubble, offering an engaging story that can be appreciated independently.
When it comes to gameplay, Persona 5 Tactica doesn’t quite reach the level of perfection found in iconic tactical RPGs like Disgaea, Fire Emblem, or Final Fantasy Tactics… at least in the traditional sense of that a tactical RPG is. Instead, it draws parallels with Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids series, offering quick, more bite-sized encounters that revolve around smaller teams of party members and enemies. The game features systems for cover and attack interactions and focuses on goal-oriented missions rather than the more deliberate, painstaking approach of taking down foes one by one. While it doesn’t fully explore the depths of tactical complexity, it provides an enjoyable experience that retains some of the key elements from the Persona series, albeit with certain adjustments to suit its distinctive combat style.
Personas, the eponymous entities of the game, play a central role on the battlefield, with some intriguing twists. Each Persona user is confined to their base unit Persona, even the protagonist, who is bound to Arsene with their default moveset. However, every Persona, including those of the Phantom Thieves and the newly introduced playable characters, boasts a dedicated skill tree. This enables them to unlock basic stat boosts, enhanced versions of their base elemental skills, and the ability to access ‘Ma’ versions of these skills, dealing damage over a wide area. The spells aren’t merely about exploiting enemy weaknesses; they also affect enemy positioning and movement on the battlefield. Additionally, Persona Fusion returns, following the ‘Q’ series approach by providing every playable character with a weakened version of the Wild Card ability. This allows fused Personas from the Velvet Room to be equipped by any character, granting special stat boosts or access to elemental skills typically reserved for other characters. This flexibility proves invaluable since only three party members can engage in combat simultaneously, allowing you to compensate for any missing abilities in your strategy.
As mentioned previously, while Persona 5 Tactica may not adhere to the conventional tactical RPG mould, its bite-sized battles offer their own brand of enjoyment. Provided you don’t drastically reduce the difficulty setting, you’ll encounter satisfying challenges. The placement of your characters on the battlefield directly influences your attack options and vulnerability. Clever character positioning can unlock special combo attacks, and selecting the right attack in the appropriate location can render an enemy more vulnerable… or less ideally provide them more protection, and if so, hopefully not at the cost of your vulnerability. The game also introduces progressively unlockable quests with rewarding challenges, including missions that demand reaching the end of a level or defeating all enemies within a limited number of turns. In the quest type alluded to, success hinges on ‘One More’ attack opportunities and skilful maneuvering. While guides are available, there’s a unique satisfaction in spending 20 to 30 minutes brainstorming and problem-solving until that ‘a-ha!’ moment arrives. Although there’s a point of no return that requires you to restart the entire mission, Persona 5 Tactica is fairly generous in allowing players to reverse time and make another attempt at solving a puzzle.
Production quality-wise, the aesthetic style of Persona 5 Tactica, being more cartoonish and chibified in nature, can take some time to get used to. While this is the visual style used in Persona Q and Persona Q2, this was on a platform that had limited capabilities both storage-wise and performance-wise and aligned with the style adopted by most games on the platform. On a console with so many games favouring more realistic anime-style visuals, it is a bit weird, especially when staples such as the aforementioned sub-personas are barely portrayed at all. Once you get past its differences however, while not mind-blowingly amazing, the quality of design and animation is there, and they have run with the style and gone above and beyond what I originally expected.
In terms of music, the Persona 5 Tactica soundtrack is a mix of original tracks from the base game, several remixed tracks, a kick-ass opening theme featuring the song ‘Revolution in Your Heart’ performed by Lyn, and some original music. The assortment was great, with no half-assing of the music offerings simply because this is a spin-off game. The game’s full English voice cast also makes a return, with no sudden Persona 3 Reload-esque recasting, with new voice cast members Leeanna Albanese (Erina) and MacLeod Andrews (Toshiro Kasukabe) fitting in nicely among the original Phantom Thieves. For those who pick up the DLC, you can also enjoy Robbie Daymond and Laura Post reprising their roles as Adachi and Kasumi respectively.
Persona 5 Tactica is a unique Persona series spin-off title and I must commend ATLUS for not just replicating a pre-existing genre developed in-house or working alongside a secondary development team on what they do best (Eg. Arc System Works, Omega Force) and instead tackling on an RPG in a genre they haven’t touched upon in quite some time. Nothing genre-defining, but it was a fun experience with some clever ideas and integrations of Persona-esque tropes, and helped bridge the gap between Persona 6 – whenever that is in the words to be released, or at least announced.
A PlayStation 5 review code of Persona 5 Tactica was provided by Australian distributor Five Star Games to facilitate this review.
Developed by Sega and published by ATLUS (ATLUS West / Sega outside Japan), Persona 5 Tactica is now available to purchase digitally and physically on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series x|S and Windows PC, with the game available freely as of writing on Xbox Game Pass.
