Though the franchise's success in the west may have begun with Persona 4 Golden, it wasn't until Persona 5 that Persona truly achieved worldwide recognition. Joker's journey in modern-day Tokyo is as engaging as it is long, and it offered so many improvements over the games that came before. Its presentation was far more refined and memorable, and the jazzy soundtrack and audio flourishes quickly get stuck in players' minds after long play sessions. Nothing was revolutionized, but everything was tweaked, including the otherwise repetitive combat system.
Persona 5 deploys a typical turn-based gameplay loop to give each unique Palace a level of challenge. As the leader of the Phantom Thieves, players can Hold Up enemies to shake them down for money or items, as well as attempt to recruit them, but the subtle differences between Persona 4's battles and how its sequel handles confrontations aren't enough to keep it from feeling outdated. It seems that Intelligent Systems got much of its inspiration for Fire Emblem: Three Houses from Atlus' star IP, but it doesn't compromise its stellar strategy RPG roots. It's a startling reminder of Persona 5's biggest shortcoming, and shows that change is not only possible, but needed.
The Problem with Persona 5's Combat
Persona 5 Strikers was the revision the franchise needed on a combat level, as it wielded an effective action-based system. There had to have been a thirst for change for it to even exist, and the release and acclaim of Fire Emblem: Three Houses shows that Atlus doesn't have to uproot the essential philosophy of Persona to implement something new. Persona 5 feels fresh, exciting, and visually entirely new, but the turn-based battles that lack time sensitivity feel like a substantial break from the innovation. Turn-based combat needs mechanics that keep it compelling, as Octopath Traveler and Final Fantasy's ATB format shows.
Persona 5 struggles with the same issue as Dragon Quest 11 in that there simply aren't enough new changes to keep it from getting stale. Turn-based mechanics were a result of hardware restrictions and have since become commonplace because it's such a reliable way to present conflict, and franchises like Final Fantasy and Ni No Kuni are moving away from it in favor of something more fluid. Persona shouldn't necessarily change its approach entirely, but its core design can facilitate a wide berth of other combat systems. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is solid proof of this fact.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Could Be Persona's Guiding Light
Whereas previous Fire Emblem games are more linear and rigid in the way they tell their stories, Fire Emblem: Three Houses grants players a level of customizability over their story as well as characters and abilities. Set at the gorgeous Garreg Mach Monastery, it allows players to roam the school grounds, interacting with side characters, attending classes, and taking part in extracurricular activities to ensure that Byleth is in peak condition for battle. Its calendar is clearly inspired by Persona's downtime design (though it will skip through the week to speed up play), and taking the time to invest in relationships outside the field of battle is critical to the game's expertly-crafted progression.
The differences between Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Persona 5 come at the way combat is presented. Whereas Three Houses has one big battle take place at the end of each month, Persona 5 presents a dungeon to be completed at the player's leisure, within reason. The time each takes to complete is similar, though, but Fire Emblem: Three Houses has the more engaging battles due to the time pressure on the player that can't be negotiated with. It's evident that Persona's design can house plenty of combat systems, and Fire Emblem is all the proof Atlus needs to show that it needs to change its approach moving forward.
Persona 5 Royal is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
