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When did strategy RPGs get so stylish? Persona 5 Tactica is a spin-off game you won't want to miss

4K View2023-11-22

Persona 5 Tactica

9.4

TacticalStrategyRPGAnimeSimulationStory Rich

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SHOULD I PLAY PERSONA 5 TACTICA?

Play it if you enjoyed Persona 5 and have any interest in strategy RPGs. Persona 5 Tactica is stylish, charming, and has absurdly addictive tactical battles. The chibi art style won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s a fantastic-looking game with even better gameplay. If you haven’t gotten around to playing Persona 5 yet, you might want to avoid this—it has a few major story spoilers—but if you’re willing to deal with that, you should have no issues following the plot. You can get a closer look at Tactica in our video review!

TIME PLAYED

I spent nine hours with Persona 5 Tactica. That wasn’t enough to get to the end of its 30+ hour story, but it did give me a good feel for its gameplay loop. Instead of tackling one battle at a time, I typically fought through several waves of enemies before retreating back to my home base. Once there, I could unlock new skills, upgrade my weapons, or fuse new personas in the Velvet Room. Overall, the pacing was pretty satisfying. I never had to wait too long to get back to my base, and once I was there, I was able to get back to the action pretty quickly.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT PERSONA 5 TACTICA?

• Fast-paced tactical battles. Tactica leaves behind Persona’s traditional turn-based combats and replaces it with streamlined strategic battles that reminded me of the XCOM series. I was limited to using just three units in battle, but I could utilize them in countless ways. In addition to personas and guns, my characters could use the environment to their advantage as they took enemies down.

Knocking down an enemy gave me a bonus move called One More. If I played my cards right, I could actually chain these extra actions and tear through enemies before they ever had a chance to attack. This approach to combat felt a little like solving a puzzle. It was always incredibly satisfying to pull off a few One Mores in a row.

• Ridiculously slick menus. Tactica has a different style than Persona 5, but the menus and UI are as sleek as ever. Every time I successfully completed a battle or switched from one menu to another, I was treated to a spectacular visual display. Sometimes the menu animations would drag on a little too long, but when a game looks this good, it’s hard to complain about it.

• Tons of options for character customization. Tactica’s roster is filled with familiar faces, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much control I had over each character’s playstyle. Not only did I have access to a skill tree, but I was able to equip units with two personas at once, which gave them access to a wider arsenal of moves.

Enemies dropped personas at the end of each battle, but I could also fuse new personas in the Velvet Room. During this process, I could have personas inherit passive skills or attacks from other units. I had a ton of fun forging powerful new personas and experimenting with different skill sets.

• Fantastic music. Every game in the Persona series has a spectacular soundtrack, and Tactica is no different. The score includes several songs from the original game, but there are plenty of new tracks to enjoy as well. It’s a terrific mix of jazzy tunes and upbeat power rock. Whether I was fighting random enemies or taking on a powerful boss, the soundtrack always left me feeling pumped.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT PERSONA 5 TACTICA?

• Not enough variety. I loved how speedy Persona 5 Tactica’s battles were, but after a while, it started to get a little repetitive. I felt like I was fighting the same handful of enemies over and over again. Sometimes there were obstacles that made maps more interesting, but most of these challenges were also used repeatedly. I never got bored with the game, but a little more diversity would have gone a long way.

• It’s really easy. Tactica is packed with features that make most battles a breeze. The team navigator, Futaba, regularly refilled my party’s HP between turns. If a unit did fall in battle, I could quickly replace them with another unit. I appreciate that these features make the game friendlier to inexperienced players, but it never felt very challenging. If you’re a strategy RPG expert, I strongly recommend playing the game on the highest difficulty level.