I just wrapped up a full playthrough of Persona 5 Strikers, and as someone obsessed with optimization, I’m eager to break it down. In this review, I’ll cover what worked, what didn’t, and how this spin-off compares to both traditional Musou games and the mainline Persona series.
Overall Impressions
Persona 5 Strikers blends Atlus’s style with Koei Tecmo’s Warriors formula. From the opening theme, “You Are Stronger”, the game bursts with energy. Its greatest strength is seeing the Phantom Thieves in full action—no turn-based pauses, just real-time combat. Compared to other Warriors games, Strikers feels tighter thanks to Persona skills that freeze time and let you plan bursts of damage. However, it struggles with camera sensitivity and a capped 60 FPS, which feels restrictive on powerful PCs. Despite these quirks, it’s a refreshing twist on both genres.
Gameplay Mechanics
Strikers thrives as a hack-and-slash RPG. You chain light and heavy attacks into combos, dodge and grapple foes, and use Persona skills to freeze time. Combat deepens with elemental weaving, such as Ice or Elec spells for crowd control. Two standout systems enhance gameplay: the Bond System, which replaces Social Links with passive boosts, and hybrid Persona management, which lets you craft versatile eight-skill decks. This flexibility rewards both casual fans and speedrunners.
Still, flaws remain. Camera sensitivity feels blocky even at max settings. Stylish UI animations, though sharp, can slow menu navigation during fast runs. Veteran players may adapt by memorizing layouts and refining inputs, but newcomers could struggle. Even so, the mix of combat depth, deck-building, and dynamic action makes Strikers stand out.
Story and Characters
The story begins right after Persona 5 Royal. The Phantom Thieves—Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru—are on summer break when a new mission emerges. Citizens are trapped in Jails spread across Japan. Sophia, an AI companion with playful curiosity, joins the team, while police officer Zenkichi adds tension with his doubts.
Character dynamics shine in downtime segments. The Thieves bond over ramen, roadside stalls, and fireworks. Each Jail introduces a Monarch whose design and theme reflect its real-world setting, showing corruption’s grip on daily life. The balance between new arcs and familiar characters surprised me—everyone gets meaningful screen time.
Visuals and Graphics
Strikers borrows Persona 5’s bold color palette—scarlet reds, deep blacks, and neon highlights—but translates it into 3D environments. Real-world Japan segments look bright and welcoming, while the Jail dungeons lean into surreal distortion. Occasionally, character models feel a small step down from Royal’s polish: facial animations can be stiff, and some textures look flat up close. Still, the anime-style cutscenes are gorgeous, and the frequent pre-rendered 3D movies add cinematic flair without overstaying their welcome. The slick UI and menu transitions maintain Persona’s trademark flair, even if they slow you down when you need to restock fast.
Sound and Music
If Persona 5 Royal’s soundtrack was memorable, Strikers doubles down with new tracks that blend rock, jazz, and electronic beats. “You Are Stronger” sets the tone at the opening, and each Jail has a unique anthem that fits its setting—from techno pulses in an airport Jail to Latin-infused rhythms in a Spanish-themed district. Voice acting is solid in both English and Japanese, though I recommend the Japanese cast for full emotional impact—just be mindful that you might miss dialogue if you’re locked in a heated boss fight and dialogues pop up on screen. Sound effects for slashes and Persona skills feel punchy, reinforcing the sense of power.
Difficulty and Replayability
Strikers’ difficulty modes map oddly to typical labels: Easy plays like a normal mode, Normal feels like a Hard setting, and Hard is downright brutal. Bosses can toss you from full HP to zero in seconds if you neglect timing your dodges. Still, the game encourages replay through post-game requests, Jail revisits, and challenge arenas. I clocked multiple speedruns of shorter Jails, shaving seconds off my best clears by refining combo routes and Persona rotations. If you love chasing perfect runs, you’ll find plenty to master here.
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
Persona 5 Strikers—known in Japan as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers—is the first full Atlus-branded Musou collaboration, co-developed by Atlus and Omega Force, the team behind Koei Tecmo’s Warriors series. Released worldwide on February 22, 2021 under Sega’s publishing label, the game blends fast-paced action with Persona’s signature style. Composer Toshiki Konishi contributed seven new tracks alongside Shoji Meguro, ensuring the soundtrack feels both fresh and true to the series.
Final Thoughts
Persona 5 Strikers isn’t flawless—camera quirks, locked frame rate, and menu pace hold it back from perfection—but it confidently fuses two beloved genres. For speed-focused players, the hybrid combat system and flexible Persona deck open room for serious optimization. Fans of the Phantom Thieves will adore the fresh story beats and summer-vacation camaraderie, while newcomers can dive straight into stylish, high-energy action. If you’re craving a hack-and-slash that values strategy as much as spectacle, Strikers deserves your time.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
