Both seasoned and inexperienced fans will enjoy Persona 5 Tactica

One of the finest strategy games of the year seems to be Persona 5 Tactica, which lets you relive the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in a brand-new narrative.

We Persona lovers certainly have it easy, don’t we? 

Sega and Atlus released Persona 5 and Persona 4 for the Nintendo Switch and other next-generation consoles less than a year ago.

Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica are still in the works and should be out in the next six months. You’re in for a treat, I promise! I was able to stop by Sega’s stand at Gamescom this year to have a peek at P5T.

To begin with, I always enjoy going back and revisiting The Joker and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. You can see how much we like this old crew by reading our reviews of Persona 5 Switch and Persona 5 Strikers, respectively.

In light of this, we are even more excited about the fact that we are getting a brand-new game that is set in the same timeline as the events of the first P5.

I played mission six and finished the tutorial during my time with the game, so I can’t tell too much about the plot other than that the motley bunch is taken to an alternate planet where a war is raging.

With the little amount of game time I had, I don’t believe I need to talk about the characters too much, nor could I, but you can expect to see all of your favourite Persona 5 characters here, each with a unique fighting style. Yes, they have their favourite identities as well; otherwise, it wouldn’t be much of a persona game.

Because P5T is a tactical role-playing game, as its name suggests, it has a grid-based map that appears when you’re in conflict.

Enemies and barriers on the map provide excellent cover, reducing the amount of damage you take. You can combat with three different characters, and in order to advance, you must eliminate every enemy.

Your chances of receiving some nice rewards increase with the speed at which you do this. The game challenges you to finish a combat in a certain number of turns once it begins.

Persona 5: Tactica preview: fighting and the battle grid

You can move your characters throughout each turn to attack, get into position, or even skip a turn if you believe it would benefit your present plan more.

Naturally, it involves a little more than just striking or firing at your adversaries. Similar to you, they are able to hide under cover, which reduces, if not eliminates, the harm you may inflict on them.

To get around this, you may send one of your characters to hit them out of cover if they’re within your movement range, leaving them open to attack from the other members of your party. Additionally, if you knock them down in the following hit, you’ll immediately earn another chance.

I really enjoy the dynamic in the fights because, in addition to making you feel fantastic when your strategy and plan work together, it also makes you attempt to stay one step ahead of your opponents,

who may turn the tables on you and employ the same moves if you’re not cautious. Even after only 20 to 30 minutes of battle in P5T, I can immediately see how much of a great resource it is.

The Persona 5 characters that I have battled with are, naturally, Morgana and Joker (great news!).

They are definitely a force to be reckoned with in Tactica when combined, but I’m eager to see how characters like Persona 5’s Ann and Futaba fare.

The nine-minute cutscene/introduction to the game makes it evident that the group is still hilarious, and I can’t wait to learn more about their backstories and engage in some fantastic banter with them all.

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The specific attacks you can do are contingent upon the character you are using. Like any tactical game, it’s all about striking a balance.

While some of our heroes can only fight up close, others can also strike from a distance. The fighting is really fantastic, and I have no doubt that the complete release will further solidify my thoughts on the fights.

Unfortunately, because I was only able to spend time in combat settings, I don’t have much to say about how things are outside of conflicts. Outside of battle, though, you may discover this new parallel reality and acquire additional Joker avatars.

It couldn’t help but wonder whether romance is in the works; maybe we can carry on from where we left off in the first P5 game.

The game’s stunning graphics are complemented by an excellent Xbox Series X performance. Regretfully, I have only played the Xbox version of P5T; therefore,

I am unable to comment on how the game functions on the Switch. There will be a lot more information available when Persona 5 Tactica is fully released, including information on how well it plays on the Nintendo system.

Preview of Persona 5 Tactica: Panther launches an assault

All things considered, Persona 5 Tactica appears to be a fantastic addition to the Persona series and one of the greatest games of 2023. Even if the plot follows P5 concurrently, it’s obvious that both new and seasoned fans are welcome here.

Really, it should be enough to convince you to keep an eye on P5T as it approaches release if you enjoy a decent tactical game.

Use our Persona 5 Makoto and Persona 5 Yusuke tutorials to familiarise yourself with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts if you’re new to the Persona 5 realm.