With Persona 5 Strikers due to release in a matter of days, fans and newcomers alike may be wondering about this new addition to the Persona series. The Persona series, and the Shin Megami Tensei franchise as a whole, has quite the history behind it that provides context on the release of Persona 5 Strikers.

Most importantly, however, is the question of how Persona 5 Strikers fits into the world of Persona 5. The original game was released in 2017, and the enhanced edition, Persona 5 Royal, released worldwide in 2020. What should players know about the original game before diving into Strikers?

10 Persona 5 Was A Huge Bestseller

When Persona 5 released in 2016 in Japan, and 2017 around the world, it certainly made waves. It was the fastest selling game in the series and within months, it was Atlus’s bestselling game within Japan. However, the game didn’t stop there. When it released worldwide, the Phantom Thieves continued to charm more and more hearts, and the game sold millions of copies. When Persona 5 Royal was released, it sold over a million copies, too.

The Persona 5 cast and premise has proven its popularity, and fans love coming back to the world of the Phantom Thieves. As such, there’s also Persona 5 spinoffs, such as an anime adaptation, and most recently, Persona 5 Strikers.

9 Persona 5 Also Has a Dancing Game Spin-Off

Persona 5 has been hugely popular around the world, and players love coming back to see their favourite characters again and again. Persona 5 Strikers is another opportunity for fans of the game and world to return and battle demons alongside Joker and the gang, but it’s not the only Persona 5 spin-off game.

In 2018, Atlus released Persona 5: Dancing In Starlight, a rhythm game where the game’s characters dance to remixes of songs from the Persona 5 soundtrack while players hit the correct button prompts on time.

8 No Confidant System

In Persona 5 and past Persona titles, there is a game mechanic where players spend time with friends and other characters in game to increase the power of Personas that can be used and summoned in battle. This was called the Social Link system in previous games, but in Persona 5, these are called Confidants.

In Persona 5 Strikers, there isn’t a Confidant system. Instead, there is a bonds system where spending time and completing requests fills a gauge. As that gauge fills, players gain bond points to spend on battle bonuses.

7 Strikers Takes Place After The Ending Of Persona 5

While curious players can jump right into Persona 5 Strikers without having played the original game, they may be hit with spoilers. Persona 5 Strikers takes place after the ending of the original game, so everything that took place in Persona 5 has already been wrapped up, and Strikers offers a new premise with the same Phantom Thieves.

However, it’s also important to note that Strikers does not take place after Persona 5 Royal, so characters exclusive to the Royal version of Persona 5 will not be showing up in Persona 5 Strikers. This also means that fans who have played the original game and not the Royal enhancement will be good to go and won’t be missing out on anything, or getting the Royal content spoiled for themselves.

6 All The Phantom Thieves Are Back

In Persona 5 Strikers, the cast of the game is largely the same as in the original game. Players control the main protagonist, Joker, along with three other party members, which include the rest of the Phantom Thieves, such as Morgana, Ryuji and Yusuke. There’s also a few other playable characters as well, but mentioning those would spoil the surprise.

Players can expect the same authentic and endearing relationship dynamics that held the Phantom Thieves together in the original game to shine here too. The character dialogue and interactions here are on par with the endearing moments from the original game.

5 Demon Negotiation Is Gone

In Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, players could corner and speak with the demons they were fighting in battle as demand items, money, or that the demon join their team. If they wanted the demon to join them, they would have to enter a negotiation phase, where the demon would ask questions and the player had to pick the ideal answers to get on the demon’s good side.

This isn’t how demons are acquired in Persona 5 Strikers. Instead, after enemies are defeated, they may drop a mask, which players can use to get the Persona. This is similar to the system of acquiring Personas in previous games, such as Persona 4.

4 The Phantom Thieves Go On A Road Trip

In the original Persona 5, players spent their time exploring and living their daily life in Tokyo, getting to know the areas of the city and various characters with whom they could develop their relationships and even expect romance. Players could even get a part time job, helping boost their stats and abilities when it came time to fight demons.

In Persona 5 Strikers, players will be going on a road trip with their friends instead. There isn’t as much of a focus on open world exploration, and instead, Strikers has different gameplay and narrative focuses.

3 Dungeons Were Palaces In Persona 5

In Persona 5, Joker and the Phantom Thieves headed into the Metaverse to take on the Palaces of their enemies. Palaces were essentially dungeons where they had to fight enemies called Shadows, and retrieve the Treasure, to complete the Palace. This concept is changed a bit in Persona 5 Strikers, but it’s mostly the same.

In Strikers, players instead explore dungeons called Jails. They function the same as Palaces, with players having to use stealth to get around. Players can also launch surprise attacks to ambush enemies, which is the same as in Persona 5.

2 Persona 5 Had Differently Paced Gameplay

The mainline Persona games combine dungeon exploration with social simulation and turn based combat. Players spend their time in the “real world” where they hang out with friends, attend school, go fishing, and then they fight enemies in dungeons with different settings. Each enemy encounter in the dungeons starts a turn based fight, similar to other turn based JRPGs.

In Persona 5 Strikers, gone is the turn based gameplay. Players will still be exploring dungeons, but the combat is more focused on real time action than in Persona 5.

1 Strikers Is More Of An Action RPG Than Hack And Slash

As mentioned, Persona 5 has turn based battles where players take their time selecting commands for each character. As such, it’s definitely a game where strategy in combat matters more than reflexes. Going into Persona 5 Strikers, players may assume that the gameplay will be vastly different, but that’s not entirely the case.

Persona 5 Strikers is technically a “Warriors” game in that it’s a crossover with Koei’s Dynasty Warriors series, which is known for being hack and slash combat where players cut through hordes of enemies in frenetic combat. However, in Strikers, players can select Persona abilities from a menu while fighting, mixing action combat with turn based combat to create a satisfying hybrid sure to please fans of all tastes.

NEXT: Persona 5 Strikers Complete Guide And Walkthrough