In a Persona 5 Tactica review, the reviewer must determine how to judge a spin-off: by its own merits, or its place in the franchise?
The original Persona 5 launched in 2016.
Since then, the series has spawned a rhythm game in Dancing in Starlight (2018), an updated re-release in Royal (2019), a hack-and-slash brawler in Strikers (2020), and now an XCOM-style turn-based strategy game in Tactica (2023).
After seven years, the high school protagonists would have graduated from college by this point. Instead, they remain eternally trapped in their single year of Persona 5.
This might seem small, but it is an underlying issue that forms the single biggest issue with Persona 5 Tactica.
The Phantom Thieves are beloved. In Tactica, the original cast reprise their roles and are just as charming as always.
But they are completely superfluous and unnecessary in this story.
Persona 5 Tatica review: the plot is the weakest it’s ever been
There are ten members of the main cast: the eight Phantom Thieves, the rebel leader Eri, and the amnesiac politician Toshiro Kasukabe.
There’s a reason to describe them as such. That’s because in the actual events of the plot, the Phantom Thieves function as one eight-headed protagonist that moves through the narrative without any story of their own.
Make no mistake: the plot is entirely about Eri and Toshiro. In fact, a glaring weakness of Tactica is that you could remove the Phantom Thieves entirely. Worse, not only would the story still be coherent, but it would also arguably be better.
The Phantom Thieves are all at the end of their original storylines. This means that they have no character development in this game. They have no conflict, no growth, no questions, and no drama.
As a result, they just mill about every scene, interjecting commentary like the noisiest audience at the movies. They just react to the drama of Eri and Toshiro, the actual protagonists of the story. But since there are so many Thieves, this means every scene gets bogged down with extraneous dialogue.
This problem is only exacerbated by the game’s structure. Persona 5 Tactica alternates between gameplay sections of short missions and extensive cutscenes of prolonged chatter.
Gameplay is the primary redeeming factor
Persona 5 Tactica is a perfectly solid, functional strategy game. Its grid-based, turn-based combat will be familiar to any XCOM or Mario + Rabbids players.
It’s overall quite easy, without much depth or difficulty.
Despite that, the gameplay is satisfying with wonderful animations, and the optional challenges do enough to stimulate the brain.
There isn’t too much variation or iteration on the core gameplay, but that isn’t much of an issue since the game isn’t too long and so the gameplay doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for the plot. The entire last quarter of the game feels like an obligation without much emotional weight.
Mild spoiler alert, but just barely. At this point, fans should fully expect to have to deal with an evil god hell-bent on removing free will from humanity in a Persona title.
The game’s length is perfect for its gameplay, but the plot becomes a chore by the end.
The pricing and Day 1 DLC show a predation on fans’ nostalgia
That shortness of length and weariness of plot come to a head with the biggest issue of Persona 5 Tactica: its price.
At 80 USD, the spin-off is going for major release full price. That is, to be charitable, ambitious. That high price tag seems to come from the Persona 5 brand, which Tactica unfortunately can’t return in terms of giving value to the franchise.
This is perhaps best shown by the Day 1 DLC.
Repaint Your Heart is 20 USD for a short story campaign that takes place before the events of Tactica. It stars Joker, Crow and Violet, known to fans as the Royal Trio for their prominence in Persona 5 Royal.
However, unlike the rest of the Thieves, Crow and Violet are at their characterization roughly halfway through Royal, rather than at the end when they’re at their most interesting.
So you get an expensive Day 1 DLC pack which capitalizes on fans’ existing love of the characters, but fails to show the characters at their best.
It is a microcosm of the central flaw of Persona 5 Tactica: the spinoff devalues its source material by using them for marketing appeal, nothing more.
Persona 5 Tactica review: Conclusion
In conclusion, Tactica has many strengths, but ironically its biggest weakness is its relation to Persona 5.
Its gameplay is solid (but not as dynamic and eye-catching as Persona 5). Its plot and new characters are fine (but bogged down by the Phantom Thieves). The music is nice (but not as fantastic as Persona 5, Royal or Strikers).
But it’s overpriced. It has a similar price tag to both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers, but is definitely lesser than either of those predecessors.
Be it for hardcore Persona 5 fans or new players looking for a fun strategy game, the advice is the same: wait for the price to drop.
As is, Atlus is looking to steal from your heart.
