Persona 5 Strikers took its Persona 5 cast through a whirlwind of settings, making use of its nuanced Dynasty Warriors-like combat across a bevy of dungeons. The title's gameplay and environmental versatility points toward potential for continued Striker spinoffs within the Persona franchise.
Persona 5 Strikers demonstrated an aptitude in its musou-style gameplay, making its hack-and-slash combat feel distinctive among party members through the use of their respective weaponry and Persona skills. This blend allowed for the mashing of two opposing styles, making its combat feel flashy and fluid while retaining the series' slower, strategic staples through its emphasis on elemental affinities and status afflictions. The strengths of the Persona 5 Strikers battle system points toward future viability in spinoffs of the same nature, while its neat spin on setting and exploration could bolster their success.
A Persona 5 Strikers Spinoff Could Have Potential Across New Casts, Locations
Persona 5 Strikers constructed its narrative around its core gameplay and exploration loops; the Phantom Thieves' travels across various Japanese vistas allowed for a wide breadth of settings. Leaning on the P5 cast's excursions through a road-trip made it so that no setting overstayed its welcome. Getting to explore the bustling streets of Sapporo after arduous encounters in Mariko's ice-entombed dungeon, for example, served as a necessary moment of respite while building upon the world in a way that imparted real knowledge of Japanese cuisines and culture. Other features helped to further this, like Joker's ability to craft recipes based on the delicacies that each locale is known for.
Further spinoffs from Persona 5 Strikers could work from these foundations, making use the same traveling format across different regions; with the strengths of its combat and setting variance, future spinoffs from P5S could rely on new casts entirely. Given the increased accessibility of past Persona titles as a result of the recent Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden ports, a Strikers title moving backwards in the franchise could be quite a successful tie-in. A Strikers title based on Persona 4's crew, for example, would have astounding versatility in setting; keeping the road-trip theme of P5S, the P4 cast could travel beyond Inaba, taking further inspiration from Japan's more rural Yamanashi Prefecture by including eye-catching vistas like Mt. Fuji.
The music of Persona 5 Strikers, complete with some fantastic dungeon and boss themes featuring vocalist Lyn Inaizumi, points towards future spinoffs doubling down on their respective soundtracks as well. In this way, a potential Persona 3 or Persona 4Strikers title could bring much of the nostalgia of their music to the mix, cementing their potential as worthy endeavors. Though it is less likely, a Strikers title featuring the crews of the original Persona or Persona 2 duology could help bring their characters back into the limelight following the Persona series' 25th anniversary, with the prospect of cameos making more sense through the title's focus on travelling.
Seeing humanity's companion Sophia interact with a character like Persona 3's Aigis, or the police inspector Zenkichi getting to speak with Persona 2: Eternal Punishment's Katsuya could make for some interesting development while allowing the two endearing characters from Persona 5 Strikers' story to get more screen time. Though their arcs wrapped up well within P5S's narrative, their nuanced designs and strengths both in and outside combat could prove advantageous in a new Strikers title, allowing them to lend their aid beyond the Phantom Thieves cast. Whether a new Strikers game was to follow the events of the original or branch out to a new set of characters, its creative use of gameplay and environments set a worthy precedent for continued success.
Persona 5 Strikers is available now for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
