It's an acceptable game but there's just... a lot of weird system things that bug me.
Story's nice. That the Monarchs are, like, relatable to the Phantom Thieves is nice (though some of the aspects are clunky. P-Team!), and Sophie is absolutely adorable.
The gameplay kind of suffers from trying to mash a phantom thief stealth game with a musou game, though it's at least tolerable unlike, say, Persona Q2. There's certainly annoyances, like having to leave a Jail completely to restore your HP and SP despite that not really being needed (the calendar system is basically aesthetic), but I don't want to completely tear my hair out.
Probably the WORST thing is the fusion system. It's an inferior version of Shin Megami Tensei IV's, where all the fusion options are laid out in a list and you have to sift through them to find the ones you want. There's no sort options or filters, so trying to create cool fusion chains from scratch is a pain in the ass, and with every Persona listed out it feels far more artificial and checklist-y, even if on a technical level it isn't that different from regular MegaTen fusion.
I don't feel like there's too much more to say beyond that. If you like Persona 5 and wanna follow the exploits of the Phantom Thieves, I wouldn't discourage against picking it up - it's a decent enough game and the story portions are nice, if not award winning. Just don't expect as smooth of an experience as Persona 5 Royal.
(also this game managed to make ice block puzzles even more annoying than normal, which is impressive)
Story's nice. That the Monarchs are, like, relatable to the Phantom Thieves is nice (though some of the aspects are clunky. P-Team!), and Sophie is absolutely adorable.
The gameplay kind of suffers from trying to mash a phantom thief stealth game with a musou game, though it's at least tolerable unlike, say, Persona Q2. There's certainly annoyances, like having to leave a Jail completely to restore your HP and SP despite that not really being needed (the calendar system is basically aesthetic), but I don't want to completely tear my hair out.
Probably the WORST thing is the fusion system. It's an inferior version of Shin Megami Tensei IV's, where all the fusion options are laid out in a list and you have to sift through them to find the ones you want. There's no sort options or filters, so trying to create cool fusion chains from scratch is a pain in the ass, and with every Persona listed out it feels far more artificial and checklist-y, even if on a technical level it isn't that different from regular MegaTen fusion.
I don't feel like there's too much more to say beyond that. If you like Persona 5 and wanna follow the exploits of the Phantom Thieves, I wouldn't discourage against picking it up - it's a decent enough game and the story portions are nice, if not award winning. Just don't expect as smooth of an experience as Persona 5 Royal.
(also this game managed to make ice block puzzles even more annoying than normal, which is impressive)
Reviewed on May 10, 2021