Persona 5 Strikers Review After Finishing the Game — Does It Still Feel Like Persona?

ゲーム・エンタメ
2026.07.21

When I first saw Persona 5 Strikers, I was a little unsure about it.

I had already played Persona 5, and one of the things I loved about it was its turn-based combat.

Persona 5 Strikers looked completely different.

Instead of carefully choosing commands from a menu, Joker and the Phantom Thieves were running around battlefields, attacking large groups of enemies in real time.

My first impression was:

“Is this basically Persona 5 turned into a musou game?”

After finishing the game, my answer is:

Not really.

The combat is much faster, and the social-simulation elements are much smaller than in Persona 5.

But the characters, story, music, weaknesses, Personas, and overall atmosphere still made it feel unmistakably like Persona.

More importantly, I enjoyed the game much more than I expected.

For me, Persona 5 Strikers felt less like a disposable spin-off and more like:

one more summer adventure with the Phantom Thieves.

This review is based on my own full playthrough and contains no major story spoilers.

Quick Verdict

After finishing Persona 5 Strikers, I would especially recommend it to people who:

  • Have already played Persona 5
  • Want another story with the Phantom Thieves
  • Enjoy action RPGs but still want strategic combat
  • Like travelling around Japan
  • Care more about story and characters than romance or school-life simulation
  • Want to directly control different Phantom Thieves in battle

I would be more cautious if you:

  • Mainly enjoyed Persona 5 for Confidants and romance
  • Strongly dislike real-time action combat
  • Want Persona 5 Royal characters such as Akechi or Yoshizawa to play a major role
  • Expect another 100-hour school-life RPG

For me, the biggest strength of Persona 5 Strikers was not simply the action.

It was being able to travel around Japan with characters I already liked.

What Is Persona 5 Strikers?

Persona 5 Strikers is an action RPG that continues the story of Persona 5.

The Phantom Thieves reunite during summer vacation and initially plan to spend their time travelling together.

Of course, things do not go according to plan.

Strange incidents begin occurring in cities across Japan, and the Phantom Thieves become involved in another supernatural mystery.

Instead of spending most of the game around Tokyo, the group travels to several different locations.

That gives Persona 5 Strikers a completely different rhythm from Persona 5.

The original game felt like living through one school year.

Strikers felt like:

a summer road trip that slowly turns into another major Phantom Thieves mission.

That structure ended up being one of my favorite parts of the game.

Play Persona 5 First

Although Persona 5 Strikers can technically be played without finishing Persona 5, I personally would not recommend doing that.

The game assumes that you already know the Phantom Thieves.

It does not spend much time introducing:

  • Joker
  • Ryuji
  • Ann
  • Morgana
  • Yusuke
  • Makoto
  • Futaba
  • Haru

The relationships between them are already established.

That is important because one of the best things about Strikers is simply watching them interact again.

Small conversations were surprisingly enjoyable for me.

Ryuji still says exactly the kind of things I expected him to say.

Yusuke is still Yusuke.

Futaba still has her own strange energy.

Haru can still say something slightly frightening while sounding completely polite.

Those scenes work because you already know the characters.

If you finish Persona 5 and think:

“I wish I could spend a little more time with this group,”

Persona 5 Strikers is probably worth playing.

My Biggest Concern Was the Action Combat

This was the part I was most worried about before playing.

Persona 5 uses turn-based combat.

Persona 5 Strikers uses real-time action.

At first glance, there are large groups of enemies everywhere.

You attack, dodge, jump, use guns, summon Personas, and switch between characters.

It looks much closer to a musou game than Persona 5.

I assumed that meant combat would mainly involve repeatedly attacking large groups of enemies.

That was not my experience.

Yes, there are moments where you can wipe out a crowd of weaker enemies.

And yes, that feels good.

But against stronger enemies, blindly attacking does not work very well.

I learned that fairly quickly.

You Cannot Just Rush Into Every Enemy

One thing that surprised me was how easily enemies could punish careless play.

The Phantom Thieves move quickly and the screen can become very busy.

Because of that, I sometimes became too aggressive.

I would continue attacking because I thought:

“I can probably finish this combo.”

Then an enemy attack would hit me from the side.

Or several attacks would land in succession.

And suddenly my HP would be much lower than expected.

That made dodging much more important than I initially thought.

Against stronger enemies, I gradually started playing more carefully:

  • Watch the enemy
  • Attack briefly
  • Move away
  • Exploit weaknesses
  • Heal when necessary
  • Use buffs and debuffs
  • Do not stay in one place for too long

Once I started playing that way, the combat became much more enjoyable.

It still felt fast.

But it no longer felt random.

It Still Rewards Persona-Style Thinking

This was probably the biggest reason I ended up liking the battle system.

Even though the game is real-time, many familiar Persona ideas still matter.

Elemental weaknesses are extremely important.

Enemies may be weak to:

  • Fire
  • Ice
  • Electricity
  • Wind
  • Psychic
  • Nuclear
  • Bless
  • Curse

So I could not simply use my favorite character for every battle.

Sometimes I needed Ann.

Sometimes Ryuji.

Sometimes Makoto or Haru.

Joker is especially flexible because he can still switch between multiple Personas.

That means preparation remains important.

SP management also matters.

Persona skills can be powerful, but repeatedly using them can leave you with very little SP later in a dungeon.

So although Persona 5 Strikers looks like a much more action-focused game, I still found myself thinking about:

weaknesses, resources, party composition, healing, buffs, and Personas.

That is why the game still felt like Persona to me.

Controlling the Phantom Thieves Directly Was More Fun Than I Expected

One advantage of the new battle system is that you can directly control the other Phantom Thieves.

This ended up being one of my favorite changes.

In Persona 5, each party member has a distinct role.

In Strikers, those differences become much more visible because you actually control their movements and attacks.

Ryuji feels powerful and heavy.

Yusuke feels fast.

Ann can incorporate fire into her attacks.

Makoto’s attacks feel completely different from Haru’s.

Morgana can become the car.

That last one is as strange as it sounds.

At first, I mainly relied on Joker because he was familiar.

But I gradually became more willing to switch characters.

That made combat much more interesting.

It also made me appreciate some characters differently from how I did in Persona 5.

The Road Trip Across Japan Was My Favorite Part

If I had to choose one thing that made Persona 5 Strikers special, it would be the road-trip structure.

The Phantom Thieves travel across Japan during summer vacation.

According to Atlus, the game takes players through six different cities, with regional food, cooking, local locations, and story events built around the journey. Atlus West

That sounds like a small detail.

But for me, it completely changed the atmosphere.

Persona 5 is strongly associated with Tokyo.

Strikers gives the characters a reason to leave their normal environment.

You arrive somewhere new.

You walk around.

You see local shops.

The group talks about food.

Then another incident happens and the story moves forward.

I enjoyed these quieter travel scenes almost as much as the major story moments.

There is something enjoyable about watching characters you already know behave like a group of friends on vacation.

It made the Phantom Thieves feel more like an actual friend group.

The Game Feels Like a Summer Vacation With the Phantom Thieves

This is probably the easiest way for me to describe Persona 5 Strikers.

The main story is serious.

There are villains, supernatural events, and large-scale problems.

But between those events, the game often feels surprisingly relaxed.

The characters:

  • Eat together
  • Go shopping
  • Talk in the RV
  • Discuss regional food
  • Tease each other
  • Explore new places

Those moments do not necessarily change the main plot.

But I think they are essential to the experience.

Persona 5 made me like the individual characters.

Strikers made me enjoy seeing them simply spend time together.

That distinction is important.

Sophia Was Better Than I Expected

When Sophia first appeared, I was unsure what to think.

A mysterious AI-like character joining an already established group could easily have felt unnecessary.

Instead, she became one of the characters I liked most in Strikers.

Her main goal involves understanding the human heart.

At first, she knows very little about people.

That leads to some funny conversations.

But her role gradually becomes more meaningful.

She learns by watching the Phantom Thieves.

She sees:

  • Friendship
  • Pain
  • Kindness
  • Anger
  • Sacrifice
  • Trust

Because of that, her development feels connected to the central themes of the story rather than added only to introduce a new mascot-like character.

By the end of the game, I felt that she belonged with the group.

That surprised me.

Zenkichi Was Also a Strong Addition

Zenkichi was another character who became much more interesting than I expected.

The Phantom Thieves are mostly teenagers.

Zenkichi is an adult.

That creates a different dynamic immediately.

He has:

  • A job
  • Responsibilities
  • Compromises
  • Regrets
  • An adult perspective on justice

That made him feel different from the existing cast.

I also liked the fact that he is not presented simply as:

“the responsible adult supervising the teenagers.”

He has his own problems.

And he has his own character arc.

Without going into spoilers, I think he fits the story particularly well because Persona 5 often focuses on young people confronting unfair adults.

Zenkichi gives Strikers a chance to explore what happens when an adult knows that something is wrong but cannot simply solve it.

That made him one of the more memorable new characters for me.

The Story Was Better Than I Expected From a Spin-Off

Before playing, I did not expect the story to be one of the main reasons I would recommend Persona 5 Strikers.

I assumed the main attraction would be:

“Persona characters in an action game.”

But the story takes itself much more seriously than that.

The new incidents still connect to familiar Persona themes such as distorted desires, pain, justice, manipulation, and helping people who feel trapped.

At the same time, Strikers does not simply repeat Persona 5.

The Phantom Thieves have already experienced the events of the original game.

They are not the same inexperienced group anymore.

That affects how they react to victims and antagonists.

I liked that sense of continuity.

The characters feel as if they learned something from Persona 5.

Persona 5 Royal Players Should Know One Thing

I played Persona 5 content with Persona 5 Royal in mind, so one thing stood out to me.

Persona 5 Strikers does not meaningfully continue the additional Royal storyline.

In particular:

  • Goro Akechi is not part of the main playable group
  • Kasumi/Sumire Yoshizawa does not appear

If you finish Persona 5 Royal immediately before starting Strikers, that may feel strange.

I think it is better to approach Strikers as a continuation of the original Persona 5 story rather than expecting it to directly continue every Royal addition.

This was slightly disappointing for me.

I would have liked to see those characters acknowledged more clearly.

However, Sophia and Zenkichi were strong enough additions that their absence did not ruin the game for me.

There Is Much Less Social Simulation

This is probably the biggest difference from Persona 5.

Persona 5 has:

  • School life
  • Confidants
  • Social statistics
  • Romance
  • Daily scheduling
  • Part-time jobs
  • A large number of optional activities

Strikers is much more linear.

You travel to a new location.

You investigate.

You enter a Jail.

You complete the story there.

Then you move to the next part of the journey.

There are optional requests and conversations, but there is no full Confidant system.

There are also no traditional romance routes.

For players who considered the social-simulation side to be the best part of Persona 5, this may be disappointing.

Personally, I missed some of it.

But I also think recreating the full Persona 5 structure would have made Strikers unnecessarily long.

The faster structure works well for a summer-road-trip story.

Cooking Was More Useful Than I Expected

Cooking initially looked like a small side activity.

I quickly realized it was much more useful than that.

Many dishes restore HP or SP.

And SP recovery is extremely valuable.

I sometimes underestimated how quickly I would use SP in longer areas.

So I started paying much more attention to:

  • Ingredients
  • Regional shops
  • Recovery items
  • Recipes

Checking shops before leaving a city became a habit.

I liked that this also matched the travel theme.

You are not only buying generic RPG items.

You are picking up ingredients and local products while travelling across Japan.

It made the gameplay systems fit naturally into the story.

Boss Battles Made Me Use More Than Normal Attacks

Regular enemies can sometimes make the game feel like a straightforward action title.

Bosses do not.

Against a boss, I had to think much more carefully about:

  • Weaknesses
  • Party members
  • SP
  • Healing
  • Buffs
  • Debuffs
  • Positioning

There were times when a boss felt much harder than expected.

Changing my approach usually helped more than simply attacking faster.

That is one reason I would not describe Persona 5 Strikers as a mindless musou game.

It definitely contains musou-like elements.

But the RPG systems matter too much for that description to tell the whole story.

What I Liked Most

After finishing the game, these were the strongest parts for me.

1. Seeing the Phantom Thieves Together Again

This was the main attraction.

The game understands the personalities of the existing characters.

Their conversations feel natural.

2. The Road Trip

Travelling around Japan gives the story a completely different atmosphere from Persona 5.

3. Sophia and Zenkichi

Both new characters were better integrated into the story than I expected.

4. Action Combat That Still Requires Strategy

I was worried about losing Persona’s tactical side.

That did not happen.

5. The Music and Presentation

The menus, battle effects, music, and overall style still feel unmistakably Persona.

What I Did Not Like

The game is not perfect.

The Screen Can Become Too Busy

During large battles, there can be a lot happening at once.

Enemies, effects, attacks, damage numbers, and party members can make it difficult to see danger.

There were several times when I took damage because I did not notice an incoming attack.

I Missed the Social Elements

I understand why Strikers is more linear.

Still, I occasionally missed choosing who to spend time with.

Royal Characters Are Missing

As mentioned earlier, I would have liked some acknowledgment of Akechi and Yoshizawa.

Some Jails Felt Structurally Similar

The locations look different, but the general rhythm can become predictable.

Arrive somewhere.

Investigate.

Enter a Jail.

Progress through the story.

Move on.

I did not find this bad enough to stop enjoying the game, but I noticed the repetition.

Who Should Play Persona 5 Strikers?

I would strongly recommend it if:

  • You finished Persona 5 and want more Phantom Thieves
  • You enjoy story-heavy action RPGs
  • You want to travel around Japan with the cast
  • You like exploiting elemental weaknesses
  • You enjoy switching between different playable characters
  • You do not mind losing most of the romance and school-life elements

I would be more cautious if:

  • You have never played Persona 5
  • You strongly prefer turn-based combat
  • Confidants and romance were your favorite part of Persona 5
  • You expect Persona 5 Royal’s additional characters to return
  • You dislike fast action combat

Which Version Should You Play?

Persona 5 Strikers is officially available on:

  • PlayStation 4
  • Nintendo Switch
  • Steam

Atlus lists those three platforms for the game. Atlus West

I do not think the platform changes the core experience very much.

For a game with many conversations and longer story sections, the Nintendo Switch version has an obvious advantage if you like playing in handheld mode.

On the other hand, if you mainly play at home and care about smoother performance or shorter loading times, PlayStation or PC may be more attractive.

I would choose based more on how you normally play RPGs than on any major content difference.

Final Verdict After Finishing Persona 5 Strikers

Persona 5 Strikers was much better than I expected.

Before playing it, I mainly saw it as:

“Persona 5, but with musou-style combat.”

After finishing it, that description feels too simple.

The combat is different.

The social simulation is reduced.

There are no traditional Confidants or romance routes.

And Persona 5 Royal players may be disappointed by the absence of certain characters.

But the most important parts still worked for me.

The Phantom Thieves still felt like the Phantom Thieves.

The music still felt like Persona.

Weaknesses and Personas still mattered.

The story had more emotional weight than I expected.

And travelling around Japan gave the group a completely new atmosphere.

What I remember most is not defeating hundreds of enemies.

It is the feeling of watching a group of characters I already liked spend one more summer together.

That is why I think Persona 5 Strikers succeeds.

It is not Persona 5 again.

It does not need to be.

For me, it was simply:

one more worthwhile journey with the Phantom Thieves.

More English Articles

If you enjoy Japanese RPGs, action games, and game-related events, you may also enjoy these articles.

タイトルとURLをコピーしました