It’s remarkable just how much Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers feels like Persona 5. Scramble is not Dynasty Warriors with a coat of Persona-paint, but rather a full sequel to P5 in all but name and battle mechanics.
Battles unfold in true Musou style. Hordes of enemies charge at you, and you must dispatch them in real-time using a combination of light, heavy and special attacks. But the flourishes of P5’s battle system have been integrated so thoroughly, that Scramble feels like it was designed from the ground up as a P5 action game, not a Dynasty Warriors clone.
All-Out Attacks, Enemy Weaknesses, Equippable Personas, Skills and Skill Points have all transferred. So you can, for example, ‘pause’ a battle to pull up Arsene’s Ehia skill from a menu, use it to knock down a pack of Pixies and prime them for an All-Out Attack.
Where Dynasty Warriors duplicates Hyrule Warriors’ and Fire Emblem Warriors’ combat felt soulless, Scramble’s has absorbed all of P5’s vitality. Turquoise HP hearts materialise above the shadow’s heads as you fight, your controllable character’s scowl tears through the screen as you hit an enemy weakness and intensified editions of the customary P5 sound effects support.
Omega Force and P-Studio have set all of this to remixes of P5’s already classic battle themes – a metal arrangement of Last Suprise is the standout. It’s a testament to just how much P5 has burrowed its way into gamers’ psyche in the three short years since its release that pangs of sweet nostalgia hit me on hearing them and the returning (unaltered) tracks.
Given its length and multiple distinct arcs, I, like so many others, played P5 over a couple of years and hearing the loping beats of Beneath the Mask again during a Scramble subway interstitial took me back to relaxing rainy days playing P5 between my newborn’s naps on paternity leave.
Yes, I am delighted to report that interstitials, the calendar system and overworld exploration all return too. I’ve based my thoughts on the demo of Scramble that’s available on the Japanese eShop which takes place across a couple of days and lets you explore Yongen-Jaya and a little of Shibuya Crossing.
My Japanese, however, extends to being able to order gyoza, a bowl of Tonkotsu ramen and a whisky highball, so I cannot begin to detail the plot for you. Still, it starts with Joker, Skull and Mona entering the Palace (?) of a corrupted idol and ends after an hour with them leaving (?) with an Android (?) named Sophia they met along the way. Yeah, I’m confused too. Being a short demo of the beginning of the game, I cannot tell whether Confidants return, but based on the level of polish I’ve seen so far, I hope and trust that they will.
Scramble just released in Japan, but Atlus has not yet divulged a Western release date. The wait will be excruciating. I guess I’ll use the time to sharpen my Japanese. Maybe I’ll learn how to order something a little more nutritious.
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