Persona 5 Strikers surprised me in more ways than I could've imagined, holy hell this is so peak. I'll start by saying I got this game in 2021 when it released and played till like the early mid-game, and then dropped it till 2024. For some reason, the game didn't really resonate with me, maybe because I was in a persona burnout after binging all of the main games the year prior. I was not a fan of the combat and I didn't like any of the systems, it was looking to be a game that I never returned to.

Luckily, I decided to go on a SMT & Persona binge this year after playing Persona 3 Reload, and I'm thankful that I did because this game was great and changed all of my opinions on it. The gameplay is great (coming from someone who really only plays turn-based combat), the story is great, and I love the new additions to the cast.

Let's start with the story. It's great. It's very reminiscient of OG Persona 5, taking down celebrities that are abusing their power to get what they want. This stems from some type of trauma, but this system doesn't really peak until Sapporo. After Sapporo, the rest of the game is great. There are many twists that make me more invested into the story, and although I kind of predicted the final reveal, I was kind of blown away. Overall, this game has a great story, and if you can get past the first couple of hours, you will have a blast with this game.

Characters. There are some new main characters and new villains. The two new characters, Zenkichi and Sophia are great, and written really well. Despite this being a relatively short game when compared to P5R, the game does great in giving both of these characters development to make me love them just as much as the Phantom Thieves. The game also bolsters a solid list of antagonists, and although I don't really care for some, there were a couple that I could sympathise with. A great cast of characters that enhances my enjoyment of the game.

The gameplay. I will say that I initially hated the gameplay. I couldn't get into the action combat and using the surrounding environment to my advantage, but my opinion has drastically changed. I adore the combat. I love using random objects in the environment to deal more damage, like dropping chandeliers on enemies, to spinning on a lamp post, to driving a shopping cart into a horde of enemies, it's really great and immersive, and incorporates the environment into battles. I enjoyed learning different combos that allowed me to deal more damage, and I even enjoyed the spin they took with persona abilities and follow-up attacks. Although I was down on the combat initially, this game made me enjoy action combat a lot more.

I need to talk about the music. The game takes Persona 5 music, but then makes it better (with a couple of exceptions), on top of several original songs that I enjoy greatly. The Strikers version of Last Surprise IS A BOP, it slaps and I actually rate it better than the original. My favourite OST is definitely Singularity, I get so many chills from this song and it honestly is great. There are a bunch of other songs I love, like some of the Jail themes, but this game is packed full of great songs that we would be here all day if I mentioned all of them.

In terms of the dungeons in this game, I didn't mind them. Although a majority of them were single paths to a desired goal, some of them were big-open areas in the city with a bunch of enemies to destroy. I enjoyed how the game made use of its terrain by making the player get on rooftops and into sewers to explore what each area had to offer.

I greatly enjoyed this game, and was pleasantly surprised by the 50 hours of gameplay I got out of this game. I recommend that others give this game a chance, and to enjoy your time with it like I enjoyed it.