A recent Atlus livestream focused on Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers and showed off a ton of information about the game, its setting, and how it works.
The entire stream is well over an hour and can be seen in the video above, but we’ve filtered out some of the major details for your convenience.
Fair warning: There are some small, minor spoilers for Persona 5 and Persona 5: Royal below. If you’ve not played those and want to go in completely in the dark, turn away now.
Persona 5 Scramble‘s Story
Persona 5 Scramble’s story, as we recently reported, is meant to be a direct sequel to the events of Persona 5 and its expansion Persona 5: Royal. It takes place six months after the events of Persona 5.
After getting together once more at Cafe Leblanc, the Phantom Thieves — including college-bound Haru and Makoto — are planning a summer vacation. What they get is dragged into a strange world ruled by the King, where shadows are stealing people’s desires.
Instead of the planned-for vacation, the Phantom Thieves set off across Japan to deal with new Palaces, reform society, and uncover the truth behind what’s going on.
There are a couple of new faces along for the ride as well. The red-haired girl first shown in the initial reveal trailer is an amnesiac named Sophia who controls an entity similar to a Persona. A public safety officer named Zenkichi Hasegawa will be making an appearance at some point, though it’s not clear if he’s an ally as well.
Another newcomer, Alice Hiiragi, is an important pop star who plays a vital role in the Shibuya section of the game.
Nothing more was said about Persona 5S‘s Confidant system or if it’s getting one or any kind of Persona-style simulation.
Persona 5 Scramble Gameplay
Persona 5S functions like a cross between an ARPG and a musou-style game. The Phantom Thieves will take on hordes of enemies and shadows, with huge set-piece boss battles, All-Out Attacks, and Show Time attacks. However, when you choose a Persona command, you’ll be taken to a menu where time stops. You can choose your action from a menu — not entirely unlike Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Position and skill type determine how a skill will evolve, and Atlus says carefully managing SP so you can exploit enemy weaknesses will be key, just like in the mainline Persona games. Guns are coming back as an important part of the Phantom Thieves’ attack strategy, along with the series’ staple buff and debuff system. New mechanics built around interacting with the environment and using special Phantom Moves.
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Though that’s just the tip of the iceberg, you can see everything in the video at the top of this article. Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers is 90% complete and will see a Japanese launch for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in February 2020. It’s confirmed for a Western launch as well, though it doesn’t have a timeframe yet.
Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more information on the game as it develops.
