Persona 5 Tactica Review (PC) | Good, But Not Revolutionary

Ah, Persona 5, the game that never ends. Apparently Atlus thought that the 100+ hours of JRPG/life sim hybrid gameplay of the main game weren't enough for you to really get to know its cast of main characters! They've been busy cranking out spinoff after spinoff (all of them canon, of course) sending Joker and his gang on all sorts of new adventures in all sorts of genres including Musou-likes and rhythm games, turning Persona 5 into a sub-franchise of sorts in the process.

The latest entry in this sub-franchise, Persona 5 Tactica , attempts to translate Persona 5's mechanics to grid-based tactics RPG gameplay and recapture everything that was compelling about P5's original story premise in a new plotline. And it mostly succeeds at what it's trying to do, though it falls short of some of its spinoff siblings.

Persona 5 Tactica

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Persona 5 Tactica: The Bottom Line

• Tactica's story is an interestingly presented character study
• ...that entirely hinges on whether you find the character it's studying likable.
• The overall plot is enjoyable, but predictable.
• The tactics gameplay is simple on the surface level, but surprisingly intricate.
• Triple Threat is both extremely powerful and extremely satisfying to use.
• The puzzle sidequests are a nice change of pace.
• New enemies and map elements are few and far between.
• The difficulty curve is more of a flatline.
• Loadout customization is oddly limited.
• Persona fusion is somewhat frustrating to deal with.
  

Sights & Sounds

The first thing most Persona fans noticed about Persona 5 Tactica when it was first revealed was its art style, which looks like a middle ground between Persona Q's chibi style and Persona 5's more realistic anime aesthetic. The result... certainly takes some getting used to, and the 3D models especially look jarring at the best of times. I suppose concessions had to be made for the Switch version?

However, most of the storytelling actually happens in visual novel-esque cutscenes with 2D character sprites and the occasional CG artwork insert. And while full 3D animation like in P5 would certainly have been nice I actually think that this art style looks much better in 2D! The cutscenes are good enough to convey the story either way, so I really can't complain too much.

The soundtrack I'm a bit more torn on: Compared to other games in the series the music in this game is just kind of fine. Not bad by any means, but I couldn't name any real standout tracks, even among the ones with vocals, which is a real shame considering the series' streak of excellent soundtracks. It doesn't help that some tracks in the gameplay sections aren't quite suited for being looped for long stretches of time and can get grating after a while.

Breakfast At Leblanc's

Tactica's plot is basically a self-contained episode set sometime between Persona 5 (Royal, if you want to be pedantic) and Persona 5 Strikers. Joker and the gang are hanging out at Café Leblanc, discussing their graduation plans, when they are suddenly transported to a new and unfamiliar version of the Metaverse where a variety of Kingdoms and their cartoony citizens are being ruled by cruel tyrants.

Naturally Joker and his friends, being who they are, won't stand for that! So they join up with the leader of the resistance, Erina, rescue an odd politician with memory loss called Toshiro Kasukabe, and fight to liberate the kingdoms from their megalomaniacal oppressors.

If you were worried that the Phantom Thieves would suffer some Persona Q-style flanderization in this game you really didn't need to be: They're still the same lovably rowdy, yet nuanced characters you said goodbye to at the end of Persona 5. However, Joker and the gang actually take a bit of a backseat in this game in favor of its two new additions to the cast, Erina and Toshiro.

Toshiro Kasukabe And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

In fact, most of Tactica's plot centers on Toshiro. So whether you'll enjoy it largely hinges on how interested you are in a creatively presented character study of a troubled young Japanese politician, contrasted with the Thieves' personal struggles. Sounds promising to you? Then you'll probably have a good time! Not interested in hearing about an everyman's life story? Then this probably

That said, the overall storyline still felt a bit too formulaic to me either way, at least by Persona standards. If you've played any Persona game before (and I sure hope you have if you're playing a spinoff to one) you'll be able to predict most of the major plot beats and twists far in advance. There were many cutscenes in the game where I was waiting for the characters to get to the point already so I could get back ot the more interesting part: the gameplay.

The Cover Story

So, does the Persona 5 gameplay we're familiar with translate well to a grid-based tactical RPG framework? Well, kind of. In a Ship of Theseus sort of way, maybe? Let me explain.

P5T's gameplay is divided into various missions, where you send 3 characters (or units, since we're getting tactical here) into a grid-based battlefield. There they need to achieve various objectives like defeating enemies, reaching target squares or surviving for a certain amount of turns. The usual fare for grid-based tactics games, basically.

Whenever it's your turn you take direct control of each of your units and get to move them about freely within their individual movement range. Once you've moved every unit to where you want them to be and had them take their turn by using a melee attack, ranged attack or Skill it's the enemy's turn.

There's also a simple cover system: Any unit that is next to a wall or obstacle takes less damage, regardless of where they're shot from, and no damage at all if the attacker doesn't have line of sight. No need to worry about Xcom-style accuracy in this game either, if an attack can connect it will connect.

Triangular Strategy

Sounds fairly basic so far by tactics game standards, right? However, much like in P5, things get more interesting once the One More system comes into play. Though it works slightly differently here.

For one, elemental weaknesses are completely gone! Instead, when a unit hits an enemy that is not considered in cover with any attack they'll down that enemy and get another turn. On top of that, downing an enemy enables the defining feature of P5T's combat: Triple Threat, a replacement for All-Out Attacks that deals massive damage to all enemies in the space between your units.

Since elemental weaknesses aren't a thing anymore Skills needed a new raison d'être, and they got it in the form of ailments. Every Skill is now guaranteed to inflict an ailment that can have a variety of effects, like stealing movement range, knocking enemies away or freezing them in place. More importantly, any enemy that is affected by an ailment is vulnerable to being downed regardless of whether they're in cover!

Thanatos Speed Chess

All of this amounts to a combat system that feels more like a puzzle game than a tactics one at times, and the solution is always fairly similar: Down a nearby enemy with a combo, spread out your units as far as possible and wreak havoc with Triple Threat until the enemy forces are no more. And it's actually extremely satisfying to pull off! Seeing half the map and all enemies in it covered by your red triangle of death before you pull the trigger never really gets old.

Tactica's optional side missions actually lean into the puzzle element even more, often giving you a map to "solve" within a limited number of turns. Early side missions reinforce the central rules of the combat systems, which in turn makes you even more efficient at laying out your Triple Threat triangles. Later side missions, meanwhile, are real headscratchers that put your knowledge of them to the test.

However, though this puzzle formula is pretty compelling enough in itself it can still get stale after a while unless new elements are introduced, and this is where Tactica falters: You'll be fighting the same enemies on the same types of terrain for the first 10 hours or so, and although new enemies and map elements do show up eventually they're not quite varied enough to keep the gameplay fresh for the whole 30-hour adventure.

It doesn't help that the enemy faction doesn't really give you any pushback in your puzzle-solving. Even on the hardest difficulties I rarely felt that they were an actual opponent to consider in my moves. Instead, enemy units are more like glorified checkers pieces that occasionally chip away a fraction of your units' health before you flip them over.

The Velvet Armory

Between each mission you get the opportunity to do some prep work, which mainly consists of two things: Upgrading your characters via their skill trees, and fusing Personas in the newly renovated Velvet Room.

Much like in the Persona Q games every character in Tactica has a permanent main Persona and a sub-Persona which can be switched out at will. Every main Persona can be upgraded in that character's skill tree with skill points you earn after every mission, giving them new active and passive Skills and further cementing their role in the group. For example, Ryuji will still excel at getting physical with the enemy, while Morgana grows into being a potent Triple Threat enabler.

Sub-Personas, meanwhile, are a lot simpler than the Personas you're familiar with. Each of them gives the character that equips them a significant stat boost and up to two Skills, one inherent and one inherited from Persona fusion. Only being able to have two Skills on a Persona severely limits your customization options and forces you to be a lot more careful with your Fusion decisions.

Especially since Personas and money aren't nearly as easy to come by in this game as they were in Persona 5. Instead, Tactica only rewards you with a handful of each at the end of each mission, which isn't nearly enough to equip your whole squad with the best Personas and equipment available to them unless you replay missions.

I was able to get by just fine only playing each mission once, but being so resource-starved for long stretches of the game is still frustrating. Especially when you lose some of your resources to a failed fusion, which seem to be far more common in Tactica. The Velvet Room interface is also lacking the quality-of-life improvements made in Strikers like being able to see potential fusions with Personas in your Compendium at a glance, making Persona fusion in this game an altogether more annoying experience.

Verdict

Overall, Persona 5 is a fun enough tactics spinoff, but doesn't quite reach the same heights as the rest of the franchise. Its gameplay has plenty of interesting and unique ideas, and the core gameplay loop is undeniably satisfying, but it's held back by lacking gameplay variety and a too-flat difficulty curve. And although the story is by no means bad it's not especially outstanding either.

I know all this sounds harsh, but at the end of the day I really did enjoy my time with Tactica! So if you want to hang out with the Phantom Thieves some more and experience some novel tactics RPG gameplay while you're at it you'll probably like this game as well. That said, if either of those things don't appeal to you then you won't be missing out on much by skipping this one.

Rating: 79/100

Persona 5 Tactica

• 

  $59.99 $34.99

Here you can buy Persona 5 Tactica!

Without any extra charge, you can support EarlyGame through the link! This won't cost you anything extra, and we still get a small commission. It's a win-win situation for both parties! Keep in mind that the article price may change.