Persona 5 Strikers: More Fun With The Phantom Thieves

 I had been counting down to Persona 5 Strikers as soon as I heard about it. I love the Persona series and really enjoyed Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. Strikers is an entirely different style of combat from its predecessors and it is a sequel to Persona 5. Described as an action game akin to Dynasty Warriors, many of us thought that is what it would be. It turns out Strikers is so much more than that with the combat style. So let's dive in! 

We're ready to start this adventure!

Strikers is set six months after the events of Persona 5 with Joker returning to Tokyo to spend Summer vacation with his fellow Phantom Thieves on a camping trip. It was so nice to see familiar faces like Sojiro who I would refer to often as Coffeee Dad as well as Makoto's sister, Sae. Joker and friends use an app called EMMA (think Alexa) to figure out what supplies they need for their trip. The casual outfits for the Phantom Thieves are quite stylish that fit each character's personal tastes and fit the Summer vacation vibe. 

The gang is back together again!

When Joker, Morgana, and Ryuji go to Shibuya to buy what they need on their list, they run into a rising star idol, Alice who gives them a card and tells them to put the keyword Wonderland into the EMMA app for a special event. When the keyword is entered, they end up in an alternate version of Tokyo and find out it's called a jail and they encounter Alice's shadow who is a ruler in the jail known as a monarch. Shadow Alice drops them to a dumpster below where they meet a sentient A.I. named Sophia who helps them fight the shadows and escape. This is where the story and action of Strikers really begins. 

Joker meets Sophia. 

Strikers isn't turn based and is more of an action based hack and slash that is incredibly fun. You can't just mash buttons however. Planning out strategies and switching out party members to target the weaknesses of enemies is how to get through battles smoothly. The way Joker gets his personas is different too, picking up masks in the various jails. The Velvet Room is in Strikers as well and it is here that Joker can fuse personas to make more powerful personas. There are eight jails in the game and each one has its own theme and each monarch feels a bit familiar as it references some of the issues and shadows they faced in Persona 5. The nice thing about the jails is that unlike Mementos, you can leave and not be tired. You can leave and replenish your health and magic and go back in as many times as you like. It makes level grinding a lot easier and with the great design of the combat system, it doesn't feel like a chore. 

Battling shadows in a jail. 

Another thing that is different is the bond skills. As the Phantom Thieves have their adventure, they get a certain number of points that can be used in the bond skills menu to enhance the skills and stats of everyone ranging from things to SP boosts and increasing luck. You get up to 30 bond points and you earn them from fighting shadows in jails, completing requests, or finishing important moments in the story. 

Everyone benefits from the bond skills. 

The road trip with the Phantom Thieves is amazing because it feels like a Persona game, but it also feels like its own thing with a stripped down calendar that is an entire Summer vacation rather than days spread out over a year. It's fantastic getting to see various locations in Japan because it really feels like a fun road trip with friends. Each place you visit is beautiful with its own unique style and has its own Phantom Thieves hangout event. I had a great time doing things like enjoying a beach day or watching the fireworks. It reminded me why I loved all of these characters and getting to share another adventure with them was wonderful. 

Having a fun vacation together. 

Doing the main story is not the only thing you can do in Strikers. You can also do requests which reward you with a variety of items and unlock access to more weapons and armor from the shop. With some of the requests you get asked to fuse a certain type of persona with certain abilities. The reward for these vary ranging from increasing your bond skills to unlocking skill cards. It is worth your time to do these because they help with level grinding and if you want to unlock new game plus it's vital that you do all the requests including the ones that pop up after you finish the main story. 

Do the requests for good rewards. 

My favorite thing to do that is another great addition to the story is cooking. You can buy ingredients and learn recipes from the locations you visit and cook for the Phantom Thieves. Cooking is a lot of fun and each meal does different things like replenishing SP and increasing agility. It's another great thing added to the game, cooking for your friends and having moments of enjoying meals together. 

Yes, you can cook in the game. 

I loved all of Strikers. It nailed the combat system perfectly while telling a great story. It felt like a nice addition to the Persona 5 universe and the Persona series. The story itself is interesting and if you played Persona 5 and Royal you will recognize the references that are mentioned. The voice actors returned for this game and did an amazing job bringing the characters to life making it feel like visiting with old friends. There are definitely some familiar themes with each monarch and jail, but in Strikers it works because of the way the story is written creating its own unique style while keeping the spirit of the Phantom Thieves throughout the entire game. Sophia became a favorite character for me because of her exploration of what it means to be human and having some thoughtful conversations with Joker about all of it. I loved the back and forth between the two as Joker helps Sophia to understand what friendship, kindness, and being true to yourself can do for the individual and others in life. When it comes down to it, Sophia is the heart of Strikers and that's what makes the story itself so special. That camaraderie shines in every aspect of the game making Strikers an incredible adventure and the best road trip ever.

Best road trip ever!

*Persona 5 Strikers is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows

*Join our community on Twitch as we enjoy games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Doraemon Story Of Seasons

 I like Doraemon and I love the Story Of Seasons games because I love the Harvest Moon games especially Harvest Moon Back To Nature. Doraemon Story Of Seasons mixes Doraemon and Story Of Seasons together in a charming game for everyone. The game starts out with Nobita having a nice dream about relaxing in a pretty wooded area with his pal Doraemon. Right away I noticed the beautiful watercolor artwork of the game and was enchanted by it. 

Nobita and Doraemon relax. 

From there, the story shows Nobita and Doraemon finding a strange seed and they decide to plant it. The tree grows quickly as if by magic and opens a portal that transports them to another world in a little village called Shizen Town. Doraemon discovers that his gadgets are missing and these are needed to help Nobita and his friends return. They decide to stay in Shizen Town until they find all the gadgets so they can go home. This is where the true gameplay of Doraemon Story Of Seasons begins.

Nobita and friends in another world. 

Nobita and his friends meet the villagers of Shizen Town who offer to help them as long as they help to develop the town. The mayor of the town insists the kids all have to work and respect their elders. Each one of Nobita's friends finds a job in town and Nobita of course gets to work on a farm. The gameplay is simple because the majority of it revolves around Nobita taking care of the farm like it's his own and growing crops to sell. He can also take care of animals on the farm such as chickens, cows, and sheep. 

Nobita on the farm. 

Farming isn't the only thing Nobita can do. He can make friends with the villagers by giving gifts that they like and as his friendship improves with each person, they give him gifts as well as helping him out with certain tasks. One thing that unlocks early is fishing because one of the villagers gives Nobita a fishing rod. Nobita can go fishing in rivers, lakes, and two beach locations. There is a variety of fish to catch and you can catch them at varying times of the day and evening. Fishing is not terribly challenging and is a lot of fun and a good way for Nobita to make a little extra money in the game. 

Nobita gets a fishing rod.

As Nobita runs around in the woods and all over town, he can also catch insects to sell and to give as gifts to certain characters. You can also check the collection in the user interface to see what types you have caught  and there are a few quests that the villagers offer to Nobita where he has to catch a specific type of insect. Fishing and bug catching are two of the activities that don't use any energy so I could run around until the wee hours of the morning rounding up all the things. 

Bug catching is a fun time. 

One of the things that is necessary, but takes energy is mining. In order to build, upgrade, and improve buildings and things on the farm Nobita needs several materials ranging from different types of wood to ore. This also applies to improving his farming equipment for more efficient farming. To keep Nobita's energy up, he needs to bring food or energy potions from the clinic so he can keep going. Sometimes, it can feel a bit frustrating with just how much energy it takes to do things because a minute in the game is one real world second so it kept feeling like I would run out of time and energy before I could do everything I wanted to do during one Story Of Seasons day. I was still enjoying myself because of the lovely artwork and genuinely liking all of the characters. 

Nobita in the mines. 

There are festivals throughout Doraemon Story Of Seasons which are a nice break from all the farming and foraging. Each festival celebrates the season like a Spring harvest contest, a Summer split the watermelon contest, an Autumn sheep contest, or one of my favorites, a Winter treasure hunt with your dog. This also gives Nobita an opportunity to get to know the villagers, give them gifts, and have fun. 

Nobita celebrates a Spring festival with everyone. 

That's not to say that Doraemon Story Of Seasons doesn't have a few issues. Some of the things that are required to be built take a very long time to grind for because of how much material is needed and some of the pricing for it is incredibly expensive. Nobita runs out of energy very quickly which can be managed with food, energy potions, or taking a nap for a couple hours. However, in the first year of the game it can feel quite frustrating trying to do things and being hamstrung by the energy drain each thing requires. There's a reason I did a lot of fishing and bug catching. Those are the only two things that did not take any energy at all and helped earn money while waiting for crops to grow. The other thing was the animals. I loved having cute animals on my farm, but the mechanic of having Nobita push them in and out of their buildings so they could get fresh air was tedious. They also never moved from the spot and just stood there which was a little weird. That changes when you get the bell which is great, but you get it so late in the game that it hardly makes a difference. There's a reason I only had a couple of animals in the game. I had things to do and I didn't want to be tied down to having to push animals in and out of the barn. Having to constantly check the map to see where villagers were in town was helpful, but not always because by the time I got there they had moved to another area and then I would have to check the map again to locate them. One of Doraemon's gadgets helps with that, but again you get it so late in the game it feels like it doesn't matter.

That's another thing too. The amount of time it takes to get Doraemon's lost gadgets is a tad infuriating because it can make the game feel like it's dragging on a bit. I feel that in this regard Stardew Valley does a better job with your tool upgrades and the fact that the animals let themselves out. There's also a better balance with the stamina bar compared to Doraemon Story Of Seasons. In spite of all of that, I found myself appreciating the beautiful environments each season, being excited about finding new fish and bugs, having fun at the festivals, and learning about all the people that lived in Shizen Town. 

Nobita builds a snowman.

There are a lot of things to see and do in Doraemon Story Of Seasons and it is absolutely story heavy because of the crossover of the two. There is no romance in the story because Nobita is a child, but it does show lessons about love of family and friends that are sweet, thoughtful, and teaches some great lessons about cooperation and helping those in need to young people who may play the game. While it can feel uneven with the gameplay in places, Doraemon Story Of Seasons has a lot of charm and heart that do shine through with the characters and the story. The artwork does stand out and the music in the game is lovely. It's not perfect and it may not be a standout title among the other Story Of Seasons games, but it does offer a lot of good. 

Nobita enjoying the beautiful view. 

*Doraemon Story Of Seasons is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Microsoft Windows

*Join our community on twitch as we enjoy games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer