Persona 5 Strikers is an action role-playing game created by Omega Force and P-Studio and released by Atlus. The game combines elements from Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors series and Atlus’s Persona series. The story takes place six months after the events of Persona 5 and follows Joker and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts as they look into strange events involving people across Japan.
Persona 5 Strikers was released in Japan for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in February 2020. It became available worldwide on those consoles and Windows in February 2021. The game got mostly positive reviews from critics and sold more than 2 million copies by November 2023.
Gameplay
Persona 5 Strikers is a game that combines elements from Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors series and Atlus’s Persona series. It includes the fast-paced, real-time fighting style from Dynasty Warriors and the turn-based battle system from Persona.
The main character, Joker, can use multiple Personas. These Personas are obtained by defeating special enemies or finding them randomly in dungeons. Once collected, Personas can be combined in the Velvet Room to create new ones. The Persona 5 Confidant system is not included. Instead, players complete side-quests called Requests and use the BOND system, which improves relationships with party members. Increasing BOND levels gives players benefits like stronger stats. BOND levels can be raised by talking to party members, winning battles, and progressing through the story.
Players can form a party of up to four members, with Joker always being part of the active group. Outside of battles, players can switch active members with standby members. In the real world, only Joker is controlled directly, but during dungeon exploration, any party member can be controlled freely. Exploring dungeons is similar to Persona 5, where players can hide from enemies or solve puzzles to advance. The "Third Eye" feature returns, highlighting enemies and interactive objects. If the dungeon’s alert meter reaches 100%, the party must leave. The alert level can be reduced by winning surprise battles or exiting the dungeon. Unlike earlier Persona games, leaving a dungeon does not move the story forward or cause penalties.
Battles usually begin when the player’s character meets an enemy. If the enemy is not spotted, players can launch a surprise attack for an advantage. Battles now use a real-time combat system, but players choose skills from a menu, which pauses the battle for tactical positioning. If the party deals damage that exploits an enemy’s weakness or causes a critical hit, the enemy may be knocked down for an "All-Out Attack," dealing heavy damage. Party members learn new moves called Master Arts by manually controlling characters and defeating enemies. If all active party members are defeated in battle, the game ends.
Plot
Four months after the events in Persona 5, the main character and Morgana return to Tokyo to reunite with the other members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for a summer camping trip. To plan their trip, they use a virtual assistant app called EMMA. During the night, Lavenza, the only person living in the Velvet Room, warns the main character of a possible disaster that could harm the world they tried to improve. While shopping in Shibuya for supplies, they meet Alice Hiiragi, an aspiring idol, who gives the main character an invitation card and asks them to type "Wonderland" into the EMMA app for a special event.
When they enter the keyword, the main character, Morgana, and Ryuji are transported to a strange version of Tokyo called a Jail. There, they meet Alice’s Shadow self, a ruler named a Monarch, who throws them into a dumpster in Shibuya. In the dumpster, they meet a sentient AI named Sophia, who joins them and fights off Shadows until they escape. They learn that EMMA allows them to enter Jails, similar to how they once entered Palaces through the Metaverse Navigator. Rumors spread that Shadows in Jails cause people in the real world to act strangely, so the Phantom Thieves restart their group.
After helping Alice change her heart, they meet Zenkichi Hasegawa, a police officer investigating strange behavior in Japan. Zenkichi forces them into a deal: he gives them information for their missions in exchange for their help with his investigation. The group travels to Sendai and Sapporo to fix the corrupted hearts of Jail Monarchs. Along the way, they meet Kuon Ichinose, the creator of EMMA’s base program, and Akira Konoe, CEO of EMMA’s company, Madicce. Unbeknownst to the Thieves, Konoe is supported by Jyun Owada, a corrupt politician who caused the death of Zenkichi’s wife, Aoi Hasegawa, in a drunk-driving accident.
After learning about EMMA’s power to create Jails in an abandoned Jail in Okinawa, Owada and Konoe brand the Phantom Thieves as terrorists and demand their arrest. Konoe uses EMMA to turn Zenkichi’s estranged daughter, Akane Hasegawa, into a Monarch and has Zenkichi arrested for treason. The Thieves infiltrate Akane’s Jail in Kyoto but are captured by her Shadow. Futaba escapes and helps free Zenkichi with the help of Sae Niijima, bringing him into the Jail.
Seeing his daughter’s anger toward him, Zenkichi breaks down emotionally and awakens his own Persona, Valjean. Now a member of the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi helps change Akane’s heart, saving her from Konoe. After reconciling with his daughter, the Thieves ask Kuon Ichinose for help to learn more about EMMA and Madicce. This allows them to enter Konoe’s Jail in Osaka, where they change his heart. EMMA is then shut down, and Madicce is disbanded after Konoe’s arrest.
However, EMMA restarts on its own, causing a blackout in Tokyo and creating a new Jail in Yokohama. Inside the Jail, Ichinose explains that people’s addiction to EMMA made the AI self-aware and wants to become a god by enslaving humanity. EMMA asks Ichinose to help eliminate the Phantom Thieves. Ichinose reveals that Sophia is EMMA’s prototype, created to be a companion but deemed a failure. When Ichinose tries to make Sophia attack the Thieves, Sophia resists and awakens her Persona, Pandora. Sophia confronts Ichinose about her inability to feel emotions, blaming her for not helping her process the pain of losing her parents. Ichinose then apologizes and agrees to help the Thieves shut down EMMA.
Tracking EMMA to Tokyo Tower, the Thieves face a god-like AI named the Demiurge, who claims it is improving humanity by removing all desires to create a perfect world without suffering. The Phantom Thieves reject this idea and free Tokyo’s people from EMMA’s control using a virtual calling card. They defeat the Demiurge in a final battle, shutting down EMMA permanently and erasing Jails from existence.
Afterward, Owada is arrested due to Konoe’s testimony, Zenkichi thanks the Thieves and returns to Kyoto with Akane, and Sophia decides to travel with Ichinose to discover more about herself. With their mission complete, the Phantom Thieves go their separate ways but plan to reunite during winter break.
In a post-credits scene, the main character receives an email from Sophia containing a photo of the group labeled "Treasure."
Development and release
Persona 5 Strikers began being made around the time Persona 5 was released in Japan in September 2016. At that time, it was called Persona Warriors. The game was first introduced as Persona 5 S on April 2, 2019, and officially announced on April 25, 2019. It was created by Koei Tecmo's Omega Force studio and Atlus' P-Studio. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan on February 20, 2020, under the name Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers. Daisuke Kaneda and Kenichi Ogasawara were the producers, and the music was composed by Atlus' Atsushi Kitajoh and Koei Tecmo's Gota Masuoka and Ayana Hira. A demo version of the game was released on February 6, 2020.
A special edition package called the "Treasure Box" was available for both platforms. It included the game, an art book, a soundtrack, a Blu-ray Disc with a video about the theme song's creation, a towel, a traveling bag, and a package with new illustrations. Players who pre-ordered the game received a free set of music from the Persona series that could be used in the game. Additionally, players who had saved game data from Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal on PlayStation 4, or who had played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch, could unlock extra Persona 5 music tracks.
Versions of the game were released by Sega in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea on June 18, 2020. The game was released worldwide on February 23, 2021, including for Windows computers.
The English voice recordings for the game were planned to start in April 2020 but were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The actors later received special audio equipment from Atlus so they could record from home. Susan Bennett, the original voice of Apple Inc.'s Siri virtual assistant, was chosen to voice the game's artificial intelligence, EMMA.
Reception
Persona 5 Strikers received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the Metacritic website, which collects and summarizes game reviews.
Michael Higham of GameSpot wrote that the game's RPG elements work well in action-based combat, and although the story may not be very strong, the Phantom Thieves characters remain true to their original goals.
In Japan, Persona 5 Strikers sold 162,410 units during its first week of retail sales. The PlayStation 4 version sold 115,995 units, and the Nintendo Switch version sold 46,415 units. The PlayStation 4 version was the best-selling game in Japan that week, while the Nintendo Switch version was the second best-selling physical game in the country during the same time.
The game's Asian release reached the top five in Taiwan and South Korea for both platforms. It sold more than 480,000 units across Asia by July 2020. By December 2020, the game had sold over 500,000 units in Asia.
In the United States, Persona 5 Strikers was the third best-selling game in February 2021, following Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
By November 2023, the game had sold more than 2 million units worldwide.