#Persona 5 strikers rating series

In Persona 5, when you met a villain’s Shadows (their other selves and evil desires), it just felt like you were talking to the regular version of the villain. Things are still wrapped up pretty neatly: a boss fight and a single dialogue exchange changes this person’s attitude completely, but at least the groundwork is laid for them to be three-dimensional people early enough that it still plays. Since you’re not using the Metaverse to brainwash these Monarchs, only to undo the brainwashing they’ve been doing, it doesn’t feel like you’re magically hand waving away their evil the change comes from dialogue and a genuine character arc. You see the idealism they had, and the trauma that took that away. But there’s also steps taken to humanize these Monarchs. The basic setup is that they’ve all been using the Metaverse to brainwash people into becoming their fervent worshippers-for example, a novelist looking for diehard fans or a politician looking for evangelical supporters. Here, rather than the cartoonish Palace rulers, you’re fighting lower-level baddies called Monarchs. I only bring this up because Persona 5 Strikers addresses a lot of my issues. Especially for the side characters (but for some of the main ones as well), it robs them of their arc, as their stories don’t resolve through personal growth they just endure a bad situation until magical brainwashing powers make it go away. So not only does that make all the time spent in the villain’s head feel like a waste, it makes it harder to get invested in the good guys’ stories because the setup always feels so absurd. In order to justify the brainwashing you’re doing, the villains are all cartoon caricatures one-dimensional, over-the-top embodiments of evil that are just impossible to take seriously. Not necessarily the moral ambiguity of it (though I would’ve liked more time devoted to that), but the way it ripples and affects the rest of the story. One of my biggest problems is with the brainwashing that the main characters use to resolve problems. I love everything about it except for the script, but the issues I have there are pretty major. I should be upfront: I’m not the biggest fan of Persona 5. Given the way Persona 5 took the world by storm, a spin-off was inevitable. They’re generally seen as a little fanservice-y and lacking the depth of the mainline entries, instead reducing the characters down to tropes and catchphrases. Players were becoming more and more attached to these characters, so various spin-offs were made to capitalize on that affection, usually crossing the characters over with each other.

#Persona 5 strikers rating series

After the series exploded in popularity with 4, spin-offs became a regular fixture, especially given the introduction of social and dating sim-type elements around that same time. The Persona spin-offs have a spotty track record.