The Phantom Thieves are back in Persona 5 Strikers, but they weren’t able to bring every one of their old friends along for the ride.
While there are plenty of good reasons for this, such as Strikers’ plot moving our heroes out of their hometown and taking them on the road, this doesn’t change the fact that a number of fan-favorites are missing from the sequel.
10 Goro Akechi
A major figure in the original Persona 5, who received an even more complex role in Persona 5 Royal, Goro Akechi, ‘The Charismatic Detective,’ was a fan favorite.
His friction with the Phantom Thieves, and with Joker, in particular, motivated a lot of the original game’s story, and gave fans a ton of examples of their oil-and-water chemistry. While his fate seemed pretty much sealed in Persona 5, Royal gave Akechi a bit of a different path. Sadly, no more mention of Akechi happens in Persona 5 Strikers.
9 Tae Takemi
Tae Takemi is the back-alley doctor that sells you useful items in Persona 5, along with a winningly-dark personality to go with her punk rock fashion. Her responsibility for people’s lives, and her gallows humor, made her a warm presence (as well as a useful confidant) in the original game.
She is referenced in Strikers, with a note on her clinic door saying she’s closed for the summer and attending a conference. While it’s good that the doctor is still working and making her way up in the medical world, it’s a shame she doesn’t show up in person.
8 Takuto Maruki
Maruki, the Phantom Thieves’ guidance counselor in Persona 5 Royal, had a very complicated relationship with the protagonist in that game. Without going into any spoilers, he has a lot to say about cognition and people’s minds, which made him a fascinating counterpoint to Joker and the rest of the Thieves.
Sadly, he’s nowhere to be found in Persona 5 Strikers, presumably to not confuse people who played the original Persona 5, but not Royal. Whatever the reason, Dr. Maruki’s welcome perspective on Strikers’ jails and monarchs is unfortunately not part of the sequel game.
7 Sumire Yoshizawa
Another new character that was introduced in Persona 5 Royal, Sumire has a unique connection to Joker and Royal’s new events. While that game does give her a complete and full arc, she is another presence that it could have been fun to have within the events of Persona 5 Strikers.
Strikers is a musou game, after all. The Dynasty Warriors franchise usually has hordes of playable characters, so it does feel like a missed opportunity to not get as many Phantom Thieves as possible in on the action.
6 Ichiko Ohya
Ohya is a reporter with a bit of a messy professional image in Persona 5. Her confidant gives Joker access to rumors and scoops that are extremely helpful when infiltrating the game’s palaces, and her crooked path toward pursuing justice is a nice narrative parallel to that of the Phantom Thieves themselves.
She’s also nowhere to be seen in Strikers, despite her job possibly giving her an excuse to show up anywhere and everywhere while hunting down her big scoop. There’s no mention of her in the game, either, so we have to assume she’s working hard on something unrelated.
5 Lala Escargot
Lala Escargot is the bartender at Ohya’s favorite bar, Crossroads (because Ohya’s confidant is The Devil. And the devil meets people at crossroads). Lala is a kind, well-meaning, and funny presence in the game, and can even give Joker a job at the bar to improve his kindness.
There isn’t really a reason for Lala to have been in Persona 5 Strikers, but it still might have been a nice treat to see such a kind, uncomplicated presence during so many adventures and world-saving battles.
4 Toranosuke Yoshida
Another confidant from Persona 5, Toranosuke Yoshida, also called “No-Good Torah,” is a down-on-his-luck politician who slowly gets his groove back, thanks to Joker’s encouragement. His return to prominence and rise to political stardom is one of Persona 5’s easiest Confidant stories to complete, though there is a stricter time limit on it compared to others.
The story of Persona 5 Strikers has plenty of political intrigue, but No-Good Torah never returns to help the Phantom Thieves out during their continued misadventures.
3 Caroline and Justine
The two eyepatched wardens that encourage/neg Joker throughout the majority of Persona 5 are sadly no longer your wardens in the Velvet Room in Persona 5 Strikers.
There is a clear story reason for this, related to the ending events of Persona 5, so it’s understandable why these two terrifying spirits are absent, and it’s probably for the best that the story doesn’t walk back its own progress just to get them back ons creen. That said, their stark personalities are still sorely missed.
2 Igor
While we’re talking about the Velvet Room, another missing character is Igor. The proprietor of the Velvet Room, who is a constant presence in every main Persona series title, oversees the Velvet Room and helps the protagonists awaken their powers.
Apparently, he felt like Joker had done all the growing he needed to do, because he does not show up in Persona 5 Strikers, abdicating his Velvet Room duties to an assistant instead. This is likely due to Persona 5 Strikers being technically a spin-off, and thus beneath Igor’s interest.
1 Jose
Jose is a charming little egg boy who drives around in Mementos in Persona 5 Royal and who operates a shop for players to use. Since The Phantom Thieves never venture back into Mementos in Strikers, it stands to reason that they never find their way back into this sweet kid’s shop.
Still, with all the wild locations the Phantom Thieves do wind up in during the events of Persona 5 Strikers, sweet, friendly, kind Jose could have parked his car somewhere a little closer to our heroes.
NEXT: Persona 5 Strikers: 10 Best Bond Skills, Ranked
