I’ve all the time been skeptical of Persona spin-offs. How are you able to twist such wealthy video games into new shapes whereas sustaining the intricate particulars that make the collection so beloved? Well, in relation to the latest addition to the household, Persona5: The Phantom X, the workforce at Perfect World seem to have executed simply that – or, a minimum of, that’s how it appears on the floor. With fantastically animated cutscenes and a goosebump-inducing soundtrack, The Phantom X makes it clear early on that it isn’t eager to shake up the Persona system. What it does do, nonetheless, is infuse that already glorious base with the all too acquainted premium currencies of a mobile-focused gacha game. I’ve a more to play earlier than my remaining review, however no matter how close it involves recapturing the magic, there’s already a creeping sensation that this stroll down memory lane goes to make approach for countless grinding finally.
Despite being a Persona 5 spin-off, The Phantom X doesn’t centre round Joker and his crew – as an alternative, you’ll be enjoying as a contemporary protagonist, Nagisa Kamisiro (though you can still pick your own name), in an alternate timeline model of that story. A seemingly average pupil, Kamasiro’s life modifications when an cute owl known as Lufel calls on them to fight back towards the distress and hopelessness enveloping the world, and to show the tables towards the great despair that clouds the hearts of the public. Unable to refuse, Kamasiro learns to wield their inside Persona and travels to the shadow world to help filter out the collective unconscious, one monster at a time. If you’ve performed Persona 5, you’ll rapidly discover that The Phantom X is following its system beat by beat.
To fight off the aforementioned evil, you’ll bounce between fantastically recreated Tokyo neighborhoods and the monster-filled Metaverse, in search of out misbehaving fiends and infiltrating their minds whereas studying to grasp the collection’ trademark turn-based fight that facilities round elemental weaknesses. And as a result of Kamisiro is a teen, you’ll additionally need to steadiness learning, part-time work, and home life, too. With all of its apparent derivations, The Phantom X struggles to conjure contemporary concepts or instant pleasure in the shadow of a practically decade-old modus operandi, however it a minimum of manages to efficiently clone the Persona system, and that shall be enough for some.
Thankfully, the place the gameplay itself feels overfamiliar, the encircling forged of characters gives enough thriller and heat to maintain issues fascinating. Alongside Kamisiro, you’ll meet the baseball-loving Motoha Arai, your husband-obsessed neighbour Kayo Tomiyama, and cute schoolmate Tomoko Noge, to call a few. With energetic voice performing to back up their emotive and sometimes humorous dialogue, it’s clear there’s been an effort to present the NPCs a sense of self, or a minimum of those I’ve met thus far. It didn’t take me long to forge an emotional attachment to them. Morgana’s anthropomorphic owl counterpart, Lufel, is a specific standout, and I’m completely having fun with a operating gag about their considerably archaic vocabulary complicated the school-aged NPCs.
You’ll spend most of your days in Kamisiro’s footwear doing time-progressing duties like learning for college in native cafes, working on the Konbini for money, and shopping for groceries that you need to use to prepare dinner back at your home. I’m nonetheless scratching the floor on how integral these facet duties really feel in the scope of saving the world, although I’ve been having fun with making procuring lists and gawking at iconic Tokyo landmarks all the identical. Particularly, wandering via the bustle of Shibuya Scramble and recognizing its well-known pet mascot amongst the beaming digital indicators felt like a fantastic ode to a metropolis I’ve come to like in each actual life and video games.
Aside from being a typical teen, a lot of your time in The Phantom X is spent in battle, and your fight expeditions launch from the Metaverse app situated on Kamisiro’s cellphone. You can entry these challenges anytime from the overworld, however you’ll need to make use of a naturally refreshing currency known as Stamina to reap the rewards. Focusing on the mainline story missions will help maintain you on observe in phrases of issue, although you can even discover a selection of fight challenges as you please to stockpile loot and earn expertise, too. This is the place the primary hints of grinding come into focus however, mercifully, the fight in The Phantom X could be very moreish and simple to sink time into.
The Phantom X bases its fight system on Persona 5, that means it's turn-based with partaking reactive parts. When you roll up on a baddie, you’ll cycle via your get together one member at a time, selecting between melee assaults, ranged assaults, and particular Persona talents. Similar to Pokémon, the enemies you’ll face, in addition to the Personas you deploy, all have elemental strengths and weaknesses (like hearth or ice) that may be exploited for further injury. It’s a tried-and-tested system with enough range in its moveset to maintain battles contemporary, and even if you’re beginning to tire of it, the imagination-stoking enemy designs pull a good quantity of weight all through. What makes Persona fight really distinctive, although, is the collection’ daring interface design and legendary battle themes. I promise, no matter how many instances you’ve already heard Persona 5’s Last Surprise, it simply doesn’t get previous.
Sadly, no quantity of vocal aptitude from singer Lyn Inaizumi could make up for the sizable array of gacha methods and currencies you need to steadiness in The Phantom X. While there are characters and Personas you may unlock via the story, the quickest approach to bolster your workforce is to have interaction in the fortunate dip Contracts menu. In line with most different Gacha video games on the market, you may earn the currencies you need to tug by grinding, or cut to the chase and pop in your bank card particulars to get an on the spot enhance. I’m nonetheless solely about 10 hours into my playthrough, and I’ve not hit any apparent roadblocks, however I can see them coming. At my present degree, I’ve enough money to purchase well being gadgets, in addition to a plethora of distinctive currencies to improve my Personas, weapons and more. Plus, in relation to really partaking with the gacha spins, I don’t really feel just like the enhance they supply are massively essential to my success but. Inevitably, this gained’t final, although, and I can see cash-shaped hurdles on the horizon.
Outside of the inclusion of premium currencies, maybe my greatest problem with The Phantom X thus far is that it feels more like an uncanny reflection of Persona 5, fairly than a distinctive tackle its established lore. Other spin-offs like Persona 5 Tactica or Persona 5 Strikers really feel like sturdy additions to the collection that come at it from a fully completely different angle, whereas The Phantom X is more of a well-executed imitation. It’s to not say that I’m bored, and I’ve completely loved each its fight and attending to know the characters thus far. The first few chapters of its story are well-written, appropriately surprising, and do nicely to hook you into the world. But The Phantom X’s “do-over” tackle the story The Phantom Thieves simply isn’t offering a new enough expertise to warrant the quantity of time (or presumably money) I’ll need to invest to see it via when Persona 5 and its predecessors are available and really feel far more curated and interesting.
While I’m largely having fun with my time with Persona5: The Phantom X thus far, there’s nonetheless a lot to discover earlier than delivering my remaining review, like investigating the depth of the improve methods and the long-term impression of premium currencies as you progress. As a fan of the collection, it’s exhausting to look a present horse in the mouth in relation to contemporary Persona 5-related content material. But as of proper now, I’m simply not sure about how The Phantom X can deviate enough from the core materials to compel me to invest in it long time period – solely time will inform.