I’ve been waiting all year for a solid tactical role-playing game. In the end, Fire Emblem Engage was a shallower Three Houses and did not live up to its title.
(Yeah, buddy, Engage was released this year.) The reboots of the Advance Wars also completely bored me.
Even though Persona 5 Tactica wasn’t really intended to take the place of Marvel’s Midnight Suns (please go play that game, just…please!), the few hours I’ve spent with it have been enjoyable.
Building on your passion for Persona 5 and its Phantom Thieves, Persona 5 Tactica is an RPG focused on tactics.
You already know most of what to expect if you’ve played Persona 5 / Royal / Strikers: personas, fusing personas, coffee, curry, a cast of endearing characters, and a dope soundtrack. The combat and the setting are new.
Unlike Persona 5’s turn-based RPG battles or Strikers’ 1 vs. 100 hack n’ slash action, Tactica adopts a strategic approach with a distinctive flavour and flair that will be recognisable to fans of Persona 5.
Like any other tactical role-playing game, Tactica’s combat takes place on a map divided into tiles.
Your units can move a limited number of tiles, but they can also take advantage of a map’s specific layout to burst through barriers, demolish explosive barrels, and eliminate any enemies that might be in their immediate vicinity.
Every unit has a melee weapon that can push opponents out of cover and a gun that can knock down opponents, giving them a “one more” or second attack phase.
Personas are monsters that you can summon that have the ability to either support your allies or debuff your enemies’ status.
What I didn’t like about Advance Wars and Fire Emblem Engage, I believe, was how simplistic their combat systems were.
They both used a “rock, paper, scissors” mentality that rendered fighting pointless. With a plethora of Persona 5-specific mechanics tailored to the strategy RPG format, such as triple-threat attacks, Persona status ailments, and “one more” attacks, Tactica features fights that demand a little more mental fortitude to overcome.
For this reason, the quest feature of the game is currently my favourite feature. Quests are brief combat scenarios that, in place of story-advancing missions, require you to defeat every enemy while adhering to strict team composition, turn limits, and map layout guidelines.
In just two turns, I had to battle two groups of enemies with high health that were encircled by impenetrable barriers for my first quest.
Although it appeared simple at first, I had to consult my Persona 5-enjoyer knowledge base and the game’s tutorial menu more thoroughly to determine the best course of action after a few mistakes.
To create the conditions required to win in the allotted time, I had to consider ally placement and persona ability usage very carefully. I adore solving puzzles in video games like that.
I loved Veiwfinder and Cocoon so much because they gave me that “good brain scratch” feeling, and some of that is present in the portions of Tactica that I have played so far.
The Phantom Thieves are thrust into a new cognitive realm in Tactica, where they must battle an oppressive, tyrannical bridezilla with the aid of a rebel army of freedom fighters who strongly evoke revolutionary France.
The game’s chibi art style, absurd villain design, and themes of revolution and violent resistance to oppression—themes that are incredibly relevant in today’s world—combine to create an immersive experience.
The newest member of the Phantom Thieves, Erina, once possesses a spear that can change into a banner that says, “Si vis pacem, te ipsum vince,” which is roughly translated to mean, “If you want peace, overcome yourself.” Yes, this game is definitely very much me.
A screen grab from Persona 5 Tactica showcases two fresh protagonists, one of whom is Erina, a purple-haired woman who says, “When you refuse to stand up to injustice, you become complicit,” in a text bubble.
In 2023, a BAR is “When you refuse to stand up to injustice, you become complicit.” Picture: Atlus
I liked how much Tactica relies on the stories that came before it, as opposed to treating its original property as if it never happened, as other spinoffs frequently do.
I was happy to see a new character who was already up to speed because I had anticipated that the game’s plot would spend a fair amount of time educating the new characters on what a Phantom Thief is.
I really liked how the Phantom Thieves themselves recognised how time had passed and each character’s unique situation. One of the thieves, Makoto, is about to graduate, but Joker has to go back home.
Even though Futaba has recovered from being a recluse, he still feels uncomfortable around strangers. Like Strikers before it, Tactica has given these characters the opportunity to develop rather than languish in a state of suspended disarray.
I should be displeased with Atlus for its unwavering insistence on sticking with Persona 5 remakes, re-releases, and genre reboots while refusing to even allude to anything remotely Persona 6-shaped.
I’ll wait a little while longer, though, if it continues to produce excellent not-quite-sequels like Persona 5 Tactica for example.