I Was Wrong About Persona 5 Scramble

When Persona 5 Scramble was announced for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch I made a video trashing the game. Fast Forward to today and I’m actually having the redact those statements, because I played Persona 5 Scramble and I love it so far.

OK pause for a sec.

When I made my initial video about this game I was upset. Upset that we weren’t getting a port of the main Persona 5 game on the Nintendo Switch, and I’m still a bit bothered by that. Also, I was taken aback by the fact that the gameplay shown in the initial trailer looked strikingly similar to the warriors games. Since musou games tend to be among my least favorite titles, it’s easy to correlate where my animosity towards Persona 5 Scramble came from.

http://a8h.951.mywebsitetransfer.com/2017/12/game-review-persona-5/

Upon sharing my opinions on the game, I remained mostly distant from it till seeing a video based on the PS4 demo by ShadowEliteHD. In said video, Shadow was able to convey just enough to get me interested enough to play it, and so I did. Downloading it to the Switch was a piece of cake since the console is region free and the demo happens to currently be available exclusively on the Japanese eShop.

So what was it like?

Well to start with, Scramble isn’t what I’d consider to be a musou game. It’s more of a blend between Persona and an action game. Yes there are lots of enemies to defeat as you progress, but it’s not like the mindless buttonmashing-fest that you find in most musou games. The game uses the same rock, paper, scissors balancing system present in the main games. It also has sections which are played outside dungeons filled with dialogue as well as the ability to explore the town. Yup this is a persona game alright, so expect lots and lots of dialogue to immerse yourself into.

It’s basically a sequel

What’s more, we get an all new character in the form of Sophia, a new Ai character who meets the protagonist prior their trip in another world of Shibuya. Sophia isn’t the only new playable character though. She’s joined by member of the Tokyo Public Security Bureau, Zenkichi Hasegawa. These two new characters will join the Phantom Thieves in this new adventure and they can be slotted into your party of 4 just as you’d do in the mainline games. Since each character has strengths and weaknesses, you’ll likely find yourself swapping them around as you play, or you’ll do as I’ll do and just create a waifu squad for the entire game (Futaba, Ann, Sophia and of course, Makoto).

Persona 5 Scramble is also a much more vertical title since characters move freely around the battlefield and maps, with the ability to spring to ledges and jump freely. There’s even environmental artifacts which can affect the battles or exploration.

All of this put together has greatly increased my interest in this title and I’m actually now looking forward to playing it on both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. The main difference so far between the two seems to just be frame rate and resolution, but I’ll be able to say if there’s more whenever I’m able to get fully copies of the game in hand.

Persona 5 Scramble releases on February 20, 2020 in Japan with no official release date for the west yet.

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.