It’s just so cool that this exists. Feels like a holiday experience for the phantom thieves but also very much a fleshed-out follow-up to the original’s game events where the two new main characters Sophia and Zenkichi have such beautifully realized emotional arcs.

The levels of intensity this got into narratively really felt so earned and just reminded me of how immersive the Persona games can be once the stakes start to amplify because it truly evokes a deep spirit within each member of the thieves that highlights their growth. This is especially portrayed once the members come to terms with the antagonists' traumas that form the root of their detailed, if slightly unevenly laid out, jails.

I do miss the balance of the social links, however, Strikers still retains so much of the characters’ charm (BEST VA CAST EVER FR) in its breather moments including an amazing sequence that shows a maturation for the phantom thieves as they truly interact with the impressionable impact they have on the youth.

Conceptually there’s a super interesting exploration of artificial intelligence in working with the cognitive world as well as both its befriending and manipulative sides. It did take me a while to used to the hack and slash combat (Nier: Automata becoming a huge favorite probably helped a lot with this) that is prevalent with these warrior games, however, once I did I felt super satisfied with how seamlessly the elements from the Persona games were able to work here (even if it drained my SP a lot lol).

And god the sound team does not miss, love all the Strikers versions of the original songs while Daredevil, Singularity and Counter-Strike are absolutely new all-timer tracks.