When Persona 5 (hereinafter referred to as P5), the spin-off mobile game "Persona: Phantom of the Night" (hereinafter referred to as P5X), was released not long ago without warning, my mood could be said to be quite complicated. As a fan of the Persona series, I am quite worried that P5X is just a skin-changing mobile game. After I actually traveled for a while, this worry was still a lot. Although the game has undergone many mobile game changes, P5X still retains the core gameplay and style of P5 as much as possible.

Retain the original flavor of P5

When I first entered P5X, the urban neon lights and character silhouettes jumping on the login interface once made me feel like I was playing P5. And this illusion will appear many times in the subsequent game process. Because P5X's level of restoration to P5 can be said to be quite high at the gaming display and system level.

One of the biggest features of the Persona series is its distinctive style of art and music, and these have been inherited in P5X. Whether it is the personality UI, the precise restoration of classic landmarks such as Shibuya in P5, or the classic DNA-engraved tracks such as "Life will change" and "Beneath the Mask" that sounded in the game, it can make P5 players feel a familiar smell and bring quite a surprise to players who have never been exposed to this series.

Of course, this feeling is largely due to the excellent quality of P5 itself. According to the official information, ATLUS deeply participated in and supervised the game's production, while controlling the overall direction of the game. The original characters in P5X are also personally handled by the main artist Seiji Shima, who designed a series of popular characters in P5. Under the control of these bigwigs, the view of the game is worthy of recognition. At least this time, the new protagonists and companions specially designed for P5X will not feel inconsistent in this world. The new battle song brought to P5X by Lyn, the singer of P5 music, is also quite in line with the original temperament of P5.

In terms of core gameplay, P5X also inherits the "Persona" series of campus + different world dual track mode. Players spend a rich campus life as a high school student during the day. Answer the questions asked by the teacher in class, work after class, watch movies with friends, and improve your five-dimensionality through various activities. All the places and activities that appear in P5 will appear in P5X.

At night, the protagonist and his partner will transform into a thief in the other world, sneak into the gorgeous palace to defeat the shadows, solve puzzles, and steal the heart of the palace owner to repent. The P5's combat system has also been restored in P5X. The attack weak click to knock down the enemy and can do the One More again, and the gorgeous total attack after knocking down all enemies. These classic elements are reproduced in the game.

Total attack!

Old place, new story

Although the overall framework of the game is based on P5, P5X did not copy the P5 game system and plot, but made many changes to the game rhythm of the mobile game based on it.

The biggest change among them is naturally the original plot. In P5X, the protagonist of the player operation is a sophomore high school student studying at Yu Jijiu Academy. Because of a certain incident, he awakened the power of the personality mask "Yanoshik", and eventually became a member of the monster thieves group, embarking on a brand new adventure.

Although it is an on-campus game on the surface, the P5 core is quite profound. The existence of the Strange Thieves Group is to steal the evil desires of those big men in this materialistic world to make them regret it, and ultimately achieve the goal of changing the world. In this process, the game has vividly reflected and thought about Japan's increasingly sharp social problems.

Such a kernel seems to be reflected in P5X. Society in P5X has fallen into a vicious circle of "low desire". Because of his strong "desire", the protagonist awakens the ability of the personality mask and becomes a member of the Strange Thieves Group. Players familiar with Japan's recent history will definitely see that the P5X's narrative is directed at the current "low desire society" in Japan and attempts to discuss these issues in a magical realist way. However, considering the fragmented gameplay habits of mobile game players and the relatively mild size of mobile games, whether P5X can portray a grand proposition like a regular work will not be concluded until the game is officially operated for a period of time.

In the first beta version I have played, many plot cutscenes have not been completed. The overall pace of the early game plot is much faster than that of P5. P5 spent a few hours introducing the gameplay and world view settings, and P5X was all over the first half hour. The characterization of characters, especially villains, is not as detailed as the regular ones. The villain looks a bit like a "tool guy". His appearance in the plot is quite abrupt, and the conflict with the protagonist is also a bit of a forced act. In P5, the game spends a lot of writing to portray the villain's character and describe the grudges between them and the protagonist group. But the lack of this link in P5X naturally made me lose a lot of emotional connections. But after all, it is an early version, and it is still quite easy to see whether the subsequent official version and subsequent plot will change.

But in the character portrayal, P5X is still remarkable. Most of the partners appearing in the game have distinct personalities and images, such as athletic girls who are careless on the surface but are actually quite sensitive on the inside; a cold senior who looks elegant and intellectual. Especially the classmate Akai Soha whom I met at the beginning of the game. To help my friend's unrestrained personality, it can be said that it is quite worth my appetite.

For many players, the greatest charm of the Persona series lies in the ability to be with personalized partnersWe have experienced a rich campus life and gained an unparalleled sense of immersion. The experience of fighting side by side with my partner is like a wonderful second life together. At least facing the new partner in P5X, I can still feel this way.

You have to keep a part of it before you know you are playing a mobile game

As a long-term mobile game, P5X has strengthened the depth of character development in many dimensions. The protagonist and his personality masks, partners, and weapons are all places where players need to find ways to improve. There are also many common ways to develop mobile games such as upgrading, strengthening, and breakthrough. It can be predicted that the time and energy consumed to develop a perfect character will be much higher.

In addition, if you are a loyal fan of P5, you enter P5X with the idea of having a brand new adventure with JOKER and the president. So unfortunately, at least in the current version, this wish cannot be realized. Since P5X uses a brand new script, the popular characters in the original work have very limited roles in the main plot of P5X. They will only fight side by side as teammates and players in battle, but they will not be in a key position in game content full of "P5 flavor" such as "daily working" and "five-dimensional cultivation". It is a pity. Maybe they will appear in the official version of the plot in the future, but now we can only express our expectations.

However, in the specific gameplay part, P5X's many changes to the mobile platform in terms of gameplay design are surprising.

Many P5 players will be quite confused about one problem, that is, there is not enough time. Players need to work and learn to improve the fifth dimension in the limited time after class, and have to establish good relationships with more than a dozen companions, and have to take time out of time to go to another world for a walk. It forced players into time management masters alive.

P5X is much more relaxed in time allocation. After-school time is divided into three time periods after school, evening and evening. The three time periods can do up to five things. Whether it is working to make money and improving attributes, or dating a favorite companion, there are more diverse and relaxed choices. In the original work, Jokers who are struggling with who to go out after school every day can jump between their fleets repeatedly in P5X.

In addition, the impression space and palaces in the game can also be entered and exited at will, no longer consuming players' time. But instead, players consume their mobility when doing daily activities, while exploring in impression space will consume their physical strength. This change seems to be closer to traditional mobile games, but whether it can be favored by players depends on your opinion.

Not only that, the palace exploration of P5's highlight has also changed a lot in P5X. First of all, it is to change the palace exploration process. The locations that complete the main line will be provided to the player in the form of road signs, so that the player will not be stuck in the main line like a headless fly.

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While accelerating the pace of exploration of the main line, more content is filled in the branches of the palace, and the volume is even greater than the main line. When I basically completed the main task of the first palace, I found that the exploration level of the entire palace had just reached 30%. In addition to the main plot, there is also a vast maze waiting for me to explore. Among them are both rewarded treasure chests hidden behind puzzles, as well as powerful elite monsters waiting for players to challenge.

Not only that, the map of Impression Space is much larger than the original, and to some extent it undertakes the function of "daily copy" in other mobile games. The impression space is full of various challenges and high rewards. But participating in these challenges requires physical energy. Although I have not experienced the following content in this test, just the ununlocked map can already see that this place will be a "hepatic black hole".

At the same time, the P5X has also made changes in many details. For example, after entering the palace's lounge, the entire team will automatically fill up; the One More attack is no longer freely operated by the player, but becomes a skill; after knocking down all enemies, in addition to the all-member total attack, a "Highlight" attack is added that only attacks one person but can cause higher single-body damage. These changes have weakened the player's strategic space to a certain extent, but at the same time accelerated the pace of battle, which is a mobile game-like trade-off.

Conclusion

As a spin-off mobile game, the super high quality of Persona 5 has laid a solid foundation for Persona: Phantom of the Night. Compared with the superficial world of many mobile games, based on the background of the real world and the familiar campus life can bring players a stronger sense of immersion. To a certain extent, the Persona series fulfilled the "heroic dream" of many people when they were students. Although I only experienced part of the content of the first palace in this test, the quality it showed was enough to make me expect a lot of expectations for the official version of the game.

Before the arrival of Persona 6 in the dream, Persona: Phantom of the Night can alleviate the "P addiction" of enthusiasts to a certain extent. Old players can feel the familiar taste in this game. For those players who have never felt the charm of the Persona series, P5X is also a choice to get involved in this classic series.