Couldn’t Wait, I Bought Persona 5 Strikers

No, I haven’t passed Persona 5 Royal yet. That is still in the works and will be for a while. Finishing the game before moving on to Persona 5 Strikers was truly my intention, as I had pointed out in a post earlier this month. But knowing my gaming habits and how I function as a gamer, a chilling realization came to mind as the release date of Persona 5 Strikers approached. If I waited until I completed Persona 5 Royal, chances were very good that I would not play Strikers at all in 2021 and possibly part of 2022. So rather than be deprived of a game that I had long looked forward to (even when no English port had been announced), I made the decision that I was not going to put Persona 5 Strikers on hold.

If you’ve been following this blog regularly, I have not been shy about my admiration for Persona 5. Put “Persona 5” in the search box on the website and you’ll see what I mean. In my opinion, I have not played a better role-playing game since it was released. It is the complete package of an RPG with modern style, grace, and spunk that is unmatched. But Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal is an extended game and one I had to start over again after progressing more than halfway through it. Had I not lost 100 hours of progress, I would have beaten the game before Royal even launched.

Being that it wasn’t likely I would conclude Persona 5 Royal anytime soon and I already experienced most of the Persona 5 story on my first playthrough, I felt totally fine with spoiling the ending to understand the premise of Persona 5 Strikers. From there, I found the Deluxe Edition of the game on CDKeys.com for a great price and pre-ordered it on Thursday. By Thursday night, I was playing the Persona 5 sequel on Steam.

I’ve been getting into the Koei Tecmo “one versus many” games lately so I’ve been playing Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends on PC and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on the Nintendo Switch. They are both excellent games and I can see why these types of games are so popular. Taking on a whole bunch of enemies at once and clearing them from the screen with a variety of attacks, combos, and special moves is an absolute treat. This style fits Persona 5 Strikers like a glove and I can confirm from my own experience with the game that it is something special. While the fighting screams Koei Tecmo, everything else is pure Persona 5. We’re talking about the menus, interface, music, dialogue options, walking around the city, etc. I am very early into the new title, but this Atlus/Koei Tecmo collaboration produced something that left me very impressed.

In my limited time with the Persona 5 Strikers’ battle system, I was blown away. If I had this battle system in Persona 5 Royal, I definitely would never finish the game because I would be grinding non-stop. The battles are fantastic and pulling off Persona abilities within the live action format with a joy to behold and execute. Regardless of how good the story is, I know that for me, the battles are going to be star of Persona 5 Strikers. They are incredibly well done from what I’ve played so far.

Next month, I will be uploading a gameplay video for Persona 5 Strikers on the TVGA YouTube Channel so be on the lookout for it. I’m glad that I went with my instincts and did not delay in purchasing this game. The reason why I trusted that there were no major bugs or glitches to worry about was because none were being reported and the game had already been out in Japan for more than a year. But I’m very thrilled with my decision and glad that I am playing Persona 5 Strikers now rather than later.

Have you ever had a game that you intended to wait to purchase, only to end up buying it when it first came out? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

-TVGA
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