After the success of the Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, and Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight games, the Phantom Thieves have returned once more for another foray into the Metaverse. In Persona 5 Strikers, the gang goes on a road trip across Japan, stopping those with rotten hearts from influencing others.
To stop these malevolent Monarchs, the group has to head into the Metaverse, stopping these rulers one by one. Because the Metaverse is a realm filled with distorted renditions of the real world, there are plenty of instances where things don’t add up. Here are a few of the moments where the Metaverse didn’t make sense.
9 Velvet Room Executions
For Joker to make more Personas, he has to head to the Velvet Room and speak to Lavenza. Here, she’ll let him fuse the masks he’s accumulated into something greater. While it’s excellent that she offers this service to the Phantom Thieves leader, it’s extraordinary that she must execute the former masks with such gruesome machinery.
In Persona 5, the twins used Guillotines, and in Persona 5 Strikers, Lavenza uses two Iron Maidens. While the benefits are well worth the Velvet Room Visits, it still doesn’t make the experience any less jarring.
8 Phantom Thieves Personas Reverting
For those who played Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal, you’ll remember that once you maxed out a bond with a certain confidant, their Persona evolved. Morgana’s evolution was an unmissable event that happened at a predetermined moment in the story as well. So why is it that the Phantom Thieves all have their base-level Personas again?
It’s understandable why Joker doesn’t have Sataneal; the Persona used to crush the base game’s final boss. Still, when the game ports over save data from these games, it’s a bit strange that players have to downgrade their party member’s inner selves initially.
7 Save Point Locations
One of the most important things a player can do when playing games in the Persona-verse is saving their progress. While saving in Persona 5 Strikers is easier than in Persona 5, it’s pretty odd that the team explains their change and thinks nothing of how conveniently they’re placed.
They’re often right by boss encounters, and while that’s great for the player, it’s another strange quirk of the Metaverse.
6 EMMA Working Like The Meta-Nav
There are several Metaverse changes in Persona 5 Strikers. One of these is the app that the team uses to traverse the Metaverse. While the Meta-Nav was a smartphone created with Igor’s influence that only the Phantom Thieves could access, EMMA is accessible by anyone.
While this creates the game’s main conflict, it’ll be hard to understand for players early on in the campaign. Only those who investigate further will learn why this is.
5 Futaba Hacking Cognition
On the team’s multiple trips into Jails, they find several barriers that only Oracle can deal with. To bypass security, Futaba hacks into the cognition and rewrites it. While this ability is helpful and impressive, it doesn’t exactly explain how this is possible.
How does one hack into another’s rendition of reality? For whatever reason, Futaba can warp the way the Metaverse works. It’s an awesome power, but it is often confusing and hard to rationalize. When the Phantom Thieves are running through a world where masked shadows attack you at any turn, it’s likely not at the top of the list of concerns.
4 Some Shadows Having No Distinct Form
When Joker and his team make contact with an army of shadows in a Jail, some of these shadows take on familiar forms. Pixie, Jack Frost, and other masks make a return in this sequel. While several of these enemies will take shape, others will remain in forms resembling humans.
They won’t brandish any special abilities and serve as damage sponges for Joker and the Phantom Thieves, with only basic attacks at their disposal. These types of enemies didn’t exist in Persona 5 or Royal during a battle, so it’s interesting to see them interact in an arena setting.
3 Chest Content Regeneration
When Joker and the Phantom Thieves venture into the Metaverse, they’ll find treasure occasionally. Just like in Persona 5, bonus items are hidden in treasure chests. A stark difference in this rendition of the Metaverse is that the chests’ contents can regenerate over time should Joker and his team avoid being noticed.
It’s hard to understand how a chest decides to refill with goodies depending on the situation. This would only make sense in the case of Treasure Demons, the game’s sentient resource caches. It’s another instance that’s shrugged off as a side-effect of the Metaverse.
2 Real World Stamina Regen
When navigating through the palaces in Persona 5 and Royal, Skill Points or SP were a finite resource. Once Joker and the Phantom Thieves had expended their supply for the day, they’d have to return to the real world to regenerate their supply. If they went back, they couldn’t return until the next day.
In Strikers, they can leave the Metaverse and return on the same day, replenishing their stamina in a matter of minutes. Were they always able to do this, or was Morgana lying about Joker needing rest after each trip to the Metaverse? Whatever the reason, it sounds like Mona has some explaining to do, as something isn’t adding up here.
1 How Sophia Senses The Jails
In Persona 5, Morgana was the guide throughout the Metaverse. He gave the team many tips and tricks on how to navigate the space. With the Jails, Morgana is as confused as the other members of the team. Thankfully, Sophia, Humanity’s Companion, joins the team with a trick to detecting the dungeons.
Sophia can ascertain their location by…scent. Strangely, an AI uses smell to find the locations of these distorted spaces. How she does so is a mystery, though it’s nothing if not inventive that she functions this way.
