With how perfect of a fit the tactics genre is forPersona, it’s a wonder that it took this long to get a title likePersona 5 Tacticain development. ThePersonaseries is no stranger to spin-offs, even though some of the spin-offs themselves might inhabit some unexpected genre territory.Persona 5 Tacticarepresents an opportunity to combine new genre gameplay with some of the more critical aspects of the series that have been conspicuously absent from other recent spin-off titles. Namely,Tacticacan learn fromPersona 5 Strikers' misstep with the BOND system and reincorporate the corePersona 5Confidant system.
While the BOND system could be considered a streamlined version ofPersona 5’s Confidant systemto match with the more action-heavy gameplay ofPersona 5 Strikers, it neglected the importance that the social systems and character interactions have for fans of thePersonaseries. It could be argued that, withoutPersona’s trademark social systems and Confidants, the franchise doesn’t have much to set it apart from other JRPGs or avoid being compared to “Pokémon with demons”. Not only shouldPersona 5 Tacticainclude a fully-realized version of the Confidant system, there’s a strong precedent within the tactics genre to show how perfect of a fit it would be.
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Persona 5 Strikers' BOND System Was Functional But Not Up to Series Standard
Persona 5’s introduction of the Confidant system can arguably be described as the best version of the franchise’s Social Links, providing bonuses to players who invest time in completingPersona’s real-world social activities with party members before venturing into the Metaverse. The series has always mixed the traditional dungeon crawling of JRPGs with slice-of-life social interactions and life-sim gameplay, butPersona 5’s Confidantsprovided the best balance of these systems yet while also incentivizing players to fully immerse themselves in both halves of the title’s core gameplay loop. And whilePersona 5 Strikersmight be the best example of aDynasty Warriors-like spin-off that retains its property’s core DNA, the BOND system missed the mark.
The BOND system did provide players with bonuses for completing Requests, interacting with party members, and completing missions, but these were all essentially automatic rewards for players who completed the title’s story. Certainly the more streamlined, action-heavygameplay ofPersona 5 Strikerscalled for its other systems to receive the same treatment, but removing the social component to the bonds formed with party members cheapened the rewards by comparison. WithPersona 5 Tacticabeing a spin-off that still sits firmly in RPG-territory, there’s plenty of cause for Confidants to return in full rather than a BOND system-style variation.
Fire Emblem’s Template Proves Confidants Could Work in Persona 5 Tactica
When considering how a Confidant system could work within the confines of a tactics-based RPG, there’s already an excellent example inFire Emblem: Three Houses. TheFire Emblemseries dabbled with social links and bonds between combatants on field since its Game Boy Advance days, and the Support Relationship system finally came to be fully realized first inFire Emblem: Radiant Dawnthenexpanded more fully inFire Emblem: Awakening.Fire Emblem: Three Housestook the Support Relationships one step further by adding in the social component between missions, and as a result it stands as one of the best games in the entireFire Emblemseries.
IfPersona 5 Tacticawere to adopt a similar gameplay loop toFire Emblem: Three Houses, there would be plenty of room for the Confidant system to make its triumphant return. Players could engage in missions and fight alongside members of their party to strengthen their bonds, then level up their Confidant ranks between missions in the social hub by completing recreational activities a-laPersona 5.Fire Emblem Engagefelt like astep backward fromThree Houseswithout its distinct social systems, andPersona 5 Tacticahas an opportunity to fill that vacuum by bringingPersona 5’s Confidants back in earnest.
Persona 5 Tacticawill launch November 17th for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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