Hands on with Persona 5 Tactica

Persona 5 Tactica is an upcoming tactical RPG set in the world of Persona 5 featuring some of your favorite mechanics from the turn-based RPG, such as All-Out Attacks and One More follow-ups. Fans of the Mario + Rabbids games, Fire Emblem, or other tactical RPGs will feel right at home with Persona 5 Tactica. Utilize cover and your range to play cautiously and effectively in battles!

One More attacks are a great way to extend your turn and squeeze as much effectiveness out of your turns per character as possible, enabling bigger damage combos. The new variant of All-Out Attacks, now called Triple Threat attacks, are AOE attacks triggered similarly to All-Out Attacks in the regular Persona 5 game. Down an enemy, surround them, and unleash a devastating attack to obliterate enemies caught between your party members.

In addition to mechanics brought over from Persona 5’s traditional turn-based combat system, there are some new things to keep in mind while playing. All party members keep their default Persona, such as Joker and Arsene, but you can now equip a “sub-Persona” to enable the use of skills from other Personas. Joker is not the only one limited to this, however, so you can experiment with your other party members and new skills they could not previously access. Additionally, being KO’d in battle doesn’t mean you’re down a party member.

I haven’t mentioned Baton Pass yet because it has been reworked in P5T. Instead of the previous use, switching which character is attacking during a “One More!” situation, you now can switch a downed party member with one in your backline! Extremely handy since you are limited to three party members at a time, and Joker is not required to be in the party. You are allowed a number of Baton Passes dependent on difficulty, with Easy/Normal giving you three, Hard giving you two, and Merciless giving you one.

If you’re a tactical RPG fan, you may be familiar with height advantage/disadvantage, and I can say that those mechanics are in this game too! If you are on a mission with elevated platforms, you can climb them and gain a resistance to all ranged attacks from a lower level than you. Make sure to take advantage of this whenever possible. Don’t forget about other stage objects like exploding barrels to knock enemies down.

Persona 5 Tactica offers a fresh blend of combat for fans of the franchise, but something familiar for newcomers coming from other Tactical RPGs that I think will entice fans of both sides. Encompassing new gameplay mechanics while seamlessly intertwining existing ones from the traditional RPG style Persona is known for, it makes you think about how to most effectively use your resources to overcome obstacles.

Combining these new combat mechanics with the usual banter we’ve come to know and love from the Phantom Thieves, as well as new music, this is shaping up to be a great entry to the lineup of Persona spin-off games.