AsPersona 5 Tacticafollowed a slew of otherPersona 5spinoffs, it’s no surprise that it came with fan apprehension. The fatigue over the Phantom Thieves' many appearances had been growing up to its release, and despiteTactica’s new grid-based combat, there were some who felt wary of yet anotherPersona 5-centered story. UnlikePersona 5:Dancing in StarlightorP5 Strikers, however,Persona 5 Tacticamanaged to surprise in its sense of the auxiliary. With the Phantom Thieves being less of the main presence and more of a supplement to Toshiro’s story, the game’s approach makes one wonder if future Persona spinoffs will consider the same.
Spinoffs have been a fixture of thePersonaseries for quite some time now, at least in the context of its modern releases. ThePersona 3,4, and5parties have been introduced to all sorts of contexts outside the series' quintessential turn-based combat, from the combo-driven 2D fighting gameplay of theArenagames to the action-packedmusou genre adopted byPersona 5 Strikers. While these spinoffs have been successful in their experimentation with different genres, their approaches to story can be a bit trickier by comparison; utilizing the strengths of their beloved casts is one thing, but leaning too heavily on fanservice can work to the opposite effect.
How Persona 5 Tactica Focuses Outward Rather Than Inward
The Obstacles of Recurring Casts in Persona Spinoffs
When featuring an already established cast of characters, it can be hard to consider how they might tread different water. Putting them in new plot contexts is, on one level, conducive to this, but making their personalities and party dynamics feel fresh can be another obstacle altogether. This is one of the reasons that thetimeline of thePersonaspinoffscan get a bit tricky, as their canon nature needs to consider not just the fate of certain characters in their respective mainline stories, but how they might act in that present moment (i.e. in the case of Akechi, whose appearances are a bit of a personality regression), thus not allowing for as much deviation.
Persona Spinoffs Recycle Character Tropes and Party Interactions
Now, this isn’t to say that past spinoffs haven’t sidestepped this effectively. ThePersona Qgames work so well because they enable cross-party interactions, whileArena Ultimaxis an opportunity to see thePersona 3crew in adulthood, showing how they’ve grown after the events of their mainline appearance. But in some moments, these spinoffs feel like a retread of what’s already been done, leaning a bit too much on established jokes or character archetypes. Akihiko’s obsession with protein orPersona 5’s Makotocracking down on the party for studying can become a bit grating as a result, feeling less like a “remember this” moment and more like a continuation of the same tropes.
Persona 5 Tactica Puts the Spotlight on Someone Else’s Story
WhileP5 Tacticadoes fall into some similar trappings, it feels refreshing in the sense that, though the Phantom Thieves are the playable cast of the game, they aren’t really the focus. Having Toshiro’s past be a consistent throughline makes it so that he and Erina are the most integral to the plot, and whilethe Phantom Thieves are there to offer support, they aren’t the ones necessarily driving the story forward. Though there are, of course, some cute dialogue moments between the Thieves, many of their references to the events ofPersona 5are given a second wind through the lens that Toshiro offers. When characters like Yusuke and Futaba relay events fromP5, they do so with intention, showing how their past struggles mirror Toshiro’s current plight, a testament that they can be overcome.
Fanservice in games isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and there’s plenty of room for it inPersona’s future spinoffsconsidering how beloved its mainline casts are. Still, it can be argued that the series' spinoffs are particularly effective in moments when they focus outward rather than inward. Already, they do an excellent job of showing how transferable the series' main gameplay tenets are to other genres and contexts, but really leaning into the new characters and stories they present is a way to keep their recurring casts present without stealing the show entirely.Persona’s characters are undoubtedly a crucial part of the series' spinoff identity, but sometimes they shine best when they are ancillary, working as a part of someone else’s story rather than a repeat of their own.
