Persona 5 Tactica Review

ign.com:

Persona 5 Royal is the kind of complete experience that left me wanting for nothing, and so I have some mixed feelings about its spinoff games. And Persona 5 Tactica, which moves the groovy action to a satisfying grid-based combat system, doesn't fully succeed in making me feel the way the original, epic JRPG did. But still, it's nice to get to see some of my favorite characters again. And Atlus' combat designers have shown that their skill at making fast-paced, punchy battles that reward clever planning translates nicely to the turn-based tactics genre.

The art style took a little bit of warming up to, as well. The entire cast has been partially chibi-fied, if that's the correct term – though Morgana, hilariously, doesn't really look much different. That threw me off at first, but eventually I more or less stopped noticing. The art direction is definitely very Persona 5, from the menu screens to the mysterious, sprawling Kingdoms that take the place of palaces this time around. Leblanc looks a bit too bright and cheery; I barely recognized it. But all the new friends and foes show off the sort of zany imagination I've come to expect from this universe.

And of course, you can't call yourself a Persona 5 game without a hard rocking, energetic, jazzy soundtrack. Composer Toshiki Konishi pulled me back into those immaculate vibes immediately with toe-tapping new tracks for hanging out at the hideout, investigating strange new worlds, and general ass-kicking. Vocalist Lyn Inaizumi is back as well, with some memorable performances, including a new boss fight track. These jams aren't quite on the level of "Beneath the Mask" or "Rivers in the Desert" from the main game. But what is, right?

Overall, I was impressed with Altus'