VXMasterson
2020
A fun action RPG with a dash of the turn-based spirit of Persona, Persona 5 Strikers is a worthwhile sequel to Persona 5/Royal. And for context, it is not a Musou game, it is a Musou inspired action RPG. Before the game released in the west, I heard many say not to expect strong characterization.
This could not have been further from the truth. P5S takes the lessons the cast learned from the prequel and has them apply what they learned, really emphasizing one of P5's secondary themes: empathy. Numerous antagonists are revealed to have been taken advantage of and only ended up in their position due to the temptation of power, and our heroes free them from their prisons (literally) by appealing their hearts as opposed to forcibly changing their cognition so they feel guilt.
The music is the best in the series.
Sophia and Zenkichi, despite being rehashes of previous characters in the series, are fantastic additions to the cast and I would adore seeing them in the future.
Now some cons. The final boss story-wise was a letdown, but contextually made sense. I don't mind the loss of Confidants or the passage of time, but the constant leaving and re-entering of Jails to heal was annoying. The plot does recycle some elements from the prequel. While it's not a 100% rehash, I expected better from Atlus. Nothing deal breaking though, I still greatly enjoyed the story.
Many say this game cannot be a sequel to Royal, but mind you Royal does not end significantly different enough from the original Persona 5. The events more or less play out the same, either ending can lead to Strikers. If you like the Phantom Thieves, I highly recommend this game, but do not play it unless you get either of Persona 5 Royal's endings.
This could not have been further from the truth. P5S takes the lessons the cast learned from the prequel and has them apply what they learned, really emphasizing one of P5's secondary themes: empathy. Numerous antagonists are revealed to have been taken advantage of and only ended up in their position due to the temptation of power, and our heroes free them from their prisons (literally) by appealing their hearts as opposed to forcibly changing their cognition so they feel guilt.
The music is the best in the series.
Sophia and Zenkichi, despite being rehashes of previous characters in the series, are fantastic additions to the cast and I would adore seeing them in the future.
Now some cons. The final boss story-wise was a letdown, but contextually made sense. I don't mind the loss of Confidants or the passage of time, but the constant leaving and re-entering of Jails to heal was annoying. The plot does recycle some elements from the prequel. While it's not a 100% rehash, I expected better from Atlus. Nothing deal breaking though, I still greatly enjoyed the story.
Many say this game cannot be a sequel to Royal, but mind you Royal does not end significantly different enough from the original Persona 5. The events more or less play out the same, either ending can lead to Strikers. If you like the Phantom Thieves, I highly recommend this game, but do not play it unless you get either of Persona 5 Royal's endings.
2022
TL;DR: The game is mid.
I liked the music, combat, art direction (the portraits' expressions were great and I hope Atlus keeps that), cast, and the story was okay. A verbal protagonist was such a refreshing change.
But the dungeon design really kills it. For starters, you couldn't toggle running until three months after the game released when Atlus patched it. You needed to unlock a skill and then manually open a menu to use it every time. And the dungeons were just corridors and repetitive locations. 2 docks, 3 subway tunnels, and the "totally optional but required for the true ending" dungeon became so tedious. I reached the final dungeon and I just don't want to finish the game. These teleporting puzzles aren't fun. I will someday, but not soon.
I liked the music, combat, art direction (the portraits' expressions were great and I hope Atlus keeps that), cast, and the story was okay. A verbal protagonist was such a refreshing change.
But the dungeon design really kills it. For starters, you couldn't toggle running until three months after the game released when Atlus patched it. You needed to unlock a skill and then manually open a menu to use it every time. And the dungeons were just corridors and repetitive locations. 2 docks, 3 subway tunnels, and the "totally optional but required for the true ending" dungeon became so tedious. I reached the final dungeon and I just don't want to finish the game. These teleporting puzzles aren't fun. I will someday, but not soon.
2013
The first Pokémon game I was ever disappointed with. This isn't a unique opinion but everything started going downhill from X & Y. This marked a turn in the series where the games got progressively more hand-holdy, which is insane considering Pokémon was already "Baby's First JRPG." Mega Evolution began this trend of gimmick forms replacing new Pokémon, with Kalos only introducing 72 new Pokémon.
The story and characters were very underwhelming. The manga adaptation is pretty good from what I've read.
The story and characters were very underwhelming. The manga adaptation is pretty good from what I've read.