Atlus has released new details regarding the story, characters, and gameplay for the upcoming and highly anticipated Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.
Persona game developer Atlus has dropped two detail-packed videos on their YouTube channel featuring exclusive information about the upcoming Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers. A livestream of the game showed off early battle footage; while a new "Morgana's Report" video disclosed details about new characters and plotlines.
Story
As previously announced, Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers is a direct sequel to Persona 5. The story takes place six months after the events of the parent game. The game kicks off with a Phantom Thieves reunion at Cafe Leblanc, with Joker reunited with his friend and ready to spend summer vacation with them. However, their plans are interrupted when an unexpected incident brings the return of Palaces.
Some details about current characters have been revealed, such as confirmation that Haru and Makoto will be university students at the time of the game. Whether or not other confidants from Persona 5 beyond the Phantom Thieves will return is still a secret.
Characters
Two new characters have been revealed. First, there's Sophia (voiced by Misaki Kuno), an adorable young girl with red heart-shaped pigtails. When Joker meets Sophia, she reveals she's lost her memories. Upon disclosing that she wants to befriend humans, Joker and the Phantom Thieves befriend her and vow to help her regain her memories. She becomes a Phantom Thief, taking on the alias "Sophie", and battles using a yo-yo and a blaster gun.
Next, there's Zenkichi Hasegawa (voiced by Shinichiro Miki), who's a police officer investigating and pursuing the Phantom Thieves. Not much other information has been revealed about, other than that the Phantom Thieves have to watch out for him.
Gameplay
As this title is a collaboration between Atlus and Koei Tecmo's Omega Force, the latter known for their work on the Dynasty Warriors series, gameplay will take place in real-time, rather than turn-based combat, and allow the player to control all the members of the Phantom Thieves (minus Futaba). The "Baton Touch" system will allow players to instantly switch between characters during combat. The new "Phantom Move" also enables players to quickly move and hide behind objects, such as traffics or streetlights, and use them to attack opponents.
When fighting, players will need to be extra mindful when using their personas and keep an especially watchful eye on their SP. Depending on how much SP a player has available, they can use their persona to take down a large area of enemies at once. The game will also feature special "SHOWTIME" moves that are unique to each persona.
The game will also include familiar mechanics of befriending and fusing personas.
Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers is set for release on February 20, 2020, for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan. No Western release date has been announced yet.
Source: Persona Central