Persona 5 Strikers (NSP, XCI) ROM + 2 DLCs

Persona 5 Strikers is an action role-playing game developed by Omega Force and P-Studio and published by Atlus. The game is a crossover between Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors franchise and the Persona series developed by Atlus. The game’s narrative is set half a year after the events of Persona 5 and follows Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts as they investigate a series of mysterious events involving people across Japan. Persona 5 Strikers was released in Japan for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in February 2020, with a worldwide release for those consoles and Windows in February 2021. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over 2 million units by November 2023.

GAMEPLAY

Persona 5 Strikers is a gameplay crossover between Koei Tecmo’s hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors series and Atlus’ role-playing game Persona series. It features elements from both franchises, such as the real-time action combat of the former with the turn-based Persona-battling aspect of the latter. Joker, the game’s protagonist, is able to wield multiple Personas, which are gained through random drops or by defeating named mini-bosses in dungeons. These Personas can then be brought to the Velvet Room, where they can be fused to create new Personas.

The Confidant system from Persona 5 is absent. In its place are Requests, a form of side-quests, and the BOND system, where increasing its level can grant players bonuses such as stat increases. The BOND levels can be increased through interacting with party members, winning battles, and progressing the story throughout the game. Players can form an active party of a maximum of four members, with Joker being the only character not removable as an active party member.

Outside of battle, active party members can be swapped with standby party members. Players can only control Joker in the real world but can control any party member freely when exploring the story dungeons. Exploring dungeons is similar to Persona 5, where players can use stealth to avoid enemies or may occasionally face the need to solve puzzles to progress. The ‘Third Eye’ also makes a return from Persona 5, where it highlights the enemy’s strength and interactive objects. Should the alert meter of the dungeon reach 100%, the party is forced to leave the dungeon. The Alert level can be lowered by winning battles that are initiated with surprise attacks or by leaving the dungeon. Unlike previous entries of the Persona series, leaving the dungeon does not progress time and there are generally no demerits in leaving the story dungeons.

Battles are mostly initiated when the player character comes into contact with the enemy, where they can launch a surprise attack to gain a combat advantage if the enemy has not spotted them. Battles are also now in the form of a real-time combat system. However, players will use a command-based skills menu when using Persona skills. During the time in this menu, the battle will pause to allow tactical positioning of the Persona skills. If the party deals critical damage or deals damage that the enemy is weak to, the enemy may be knocked down for an ‘All-Out Attack’ which deals a large amount of damage. All party members can obtain new moves, known as Master Arts, by controlling the characters manually and defeating enemies. If all active party members are knocked out in battle, a game-over occurs.

PLOT

Four months after the events of Persona 5, the protagonist and Morgana return to Tokyo for a reunion with the other Phantom Thieves of Hearts to spend their summer vacation together on a camping trip. To determine the camping preparations, they use a popular virtual assistant app called EMMA. While going to Shibuya to buy the necessary tools, they pass by an aspiring idol, Alice Hiiragi, who gives the protagonist an invitation card and requests them to input “Wonderland” into the EMMA app for a special event she is holding.

Upon entering the keyword, however, he, Morgana, and Ryuji are transported into a mysterious alternate version of Tokyo called a Jail. They encounter Alice’s Shadow self: a ruler called a Monarch. Alice’s Shadow has the protagonist, Morgana, and Ryuji thrown into a dumpster below Shibuya, where they encounter a sentient AI named Sophia. Sophia joins the party and easily fights off the Shadows in the dumpster until they find their way out. After they escape, the protagonists, Morgana, Ryuji, and Sophia learn that EMMA enables them to enter the Jails similarly to how they used to enter Palaces via the Metaverse Navigator.

Additionally, rumors circulate that Shadows have attacked people in Jails, which causes them to behave abnormally in the real world. As such, Joker and his friends re-establish the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. After changing Alice’s heart, they are approached by Zenkichi Hasegawa, a police officer investigating the sudden bizarre behavior changes in people around Japan, with the Phantom Thieves as the prime suspect. Zenkichi blackmails them into making a deal with him: he will provide them with information necessary for their heists, and in exchange, the Phantom Thieves will help him with his investigation, which they reluctantly agree to.

Accompanied by Zenkichi, the Phantom Thieves travel to Sendai and Sapporo, changing the corrupted hearts of the Jail’s Monarchs. During their trip, they encounter Kuon Ichinose, an eccentric AI expert and creator of EMMA’s base program, and Akira Konoe, founder and CEO of EMMA’s current parent company, Madicce. Unbeknownst to the Thieves, Konoe is supported by Jyun Owada, a corrupt politician and supporter of former politician Masayoshi Shido; he was also responsible for causing the death of Zenkichi’s wife, Aoi Hasegawa, in a drunk-driving incident.

After infiltrating an abandoned Jail in Okinawa and learning of the origins of EMMA’s Jail-creating powers, the Thieves are branded as terrorists by Owada and Konoe, who both call for their arrest. To stop the Phantom Thieves, Konoe has EMMA turn Zenkichi’s estranged daughter, Akane Hasegawa, into a Monarch and has Zenkichi arrested for treason due to his deal with the Thieves. Joker and the Thieves infiltrate Akane’s Kyoto Jail but are captured by her Shadow. Futaba manages to escape and brings Zenkichi—who was freed with the help of Sae Niijima—into the Jail.

Upon seeing his daughter’s resentment towards him as a result of his being unable to bring Owada to justice, Zenkichi experiences an emotional breakdown and can summon his own Persona, Valjean. Now a member of the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi helps the group change Akane’s heart, saving her from Konoe. The Thieves then request help from Ichinose to gain more information about EMMA and Madicce, eventually allowing them to enter Konoe’s Jail in Osaka. After successfully changing Konoe’s heart, the EMMA app is shut down, and Madicce is disbanded following his arrest.

KEY FEATURES

• Immerse yourself in the stylish world of Persona with an all-new story.
• Experience explosive combat with dynamic team control.
• Embark on an epic road trip and battle your way across Japan.