Vortex Gaming

Persona 5: The Phantom X (hereafter P5X), I actually didn't plan on writing a review. After its release on the 18th, as a fan of the Persona series, I just casually installed it on my PC after work to give it a try. But you know what? When I came to my senses, it was 5 AM on the 19th. I only realized it because a notification popped up telling me to claim new rewards for the next day.

A proper 'cross-platform' game has arrived. Not just superficially saying 'We support both PC and mobile, so we're a cross-platform game.' P5X has captured console-level content and visuals while adopting the characteristics of mobile game design and BM. It's like having the quality of a console game and the convenience of a mobile game.

Also important is that it really captures a lot of what made Persona 5 great. The visuals, combat, and basic game systems are familiar to fans of the original, and similar enough to be immediately recognizable. Even the event running alongside the launch is a collaboration story with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts from Persona 5. It's not just taking the shell of the original and turning it into a generic mobile game, but rather based on an understanding of the original.

Living Strategy, Light Repetitive Content

One of the most surprising and distinctive aspects of P5X is its 'strategy.' It's not the shallow strategy where you just match attributes or use the strongest character or two and spam any skill. It's a real strategy where you have to think and think again to build your deck and approach combat.

This is especially important in story mode and Mementos. When a powerful enemy appears, reading the information tab carefully becomes the main focus. Even monsters of the same type require different strategies depending on where they appear. Some monsters can even be cleared by simply performing the gimmick correctly, without needing to deal damage.

These gimmicks aren't even simple. You'll spend a lot of time reading and figuring out which characters and attributes to include in your deck. Some monsters even require you to retreat after realizing something is wrong, even after reading the information carefully.

And one more thing, this kind of strategy is also somewhat important in ranked content. However, this isn't about the monster's strategy that is important in one-time content, but rather the strategy that comes from the deck composition.

The focus is on how to combine the skills of your characters to deal the most damage to the monster, rather than figuring out how to counter the monster's skills. In other words, you can feel the joy of combos when you enter the battle after accurately understanding each character's skills and each Persona's skills.

If you just jump into battle without reading the skills, you will definitely experience a big difference in results, even if you use the same characters, similar growth, and the same combination.

How should I put it, usually strategizing in mobile games is simple. Matching reverse attributes or increasing combat power. This method is not wrong. It has the advantage of reducing fatigue from the mobile platform while achieving a sense of accomplishment. However, in this case, it is difficult to enjoy the pleasure of breaking through.

However, P5X boldly abandoned this ambiguity in some content. I put the premise as some because that's actually the case. It doesn't have a strong strategy that you have to think about in all content.

This is definitely considered the convenience unique to mobile. If strategy or combo composition was forced in all content, it could cause fatigue due to the characteristics of recent mobile live games. Especially in the daily repetitive content called homework.

Recently, users don't like mobile-compatible games that require too much time and effort for daily repetitive content. For this reason, automatic battles are often included as a necessity.

P5X clearly distinguished this by putting it where it should be and taking it out where it should be. In repetitive content, you can clear it without any problems just by running automatic battles, but in one-time or ranking-required parts, you have to think strategically.

The disappointing thing is that the advantage of this strategic breakthrough loses its light in Chapter 2 of the story, in the very late stages. You feel interested in the boss gimmicks, puzzles, and box picks in Chapter 1, and you get excited about the fun of the game, but Chapter 2 starts, and you are surprised by the more powerful boss gimmicks. However, as you go to the latter half of the Tenshukaku, this pleasure and excitement disappear.

The gimmicks that I had been reading information diligently, composing a deck, pressing the challenge button, and breaking one by one disappeared somewhere, and when I faced a strong enemy, the battle started right away. Even if you press the enemy's information with excitement in the battle that started like that, there is nothing. It's just a slightly stronger monster.

This is not just about the battle. The treasure chests that could only be opened with key picks are gone, and all treasure chests can be opened just by pressing the space key. In the meantime, the map is several times larger than Chapter 1, but the fun of attacking strong enemies disappears, so the game feels drastically simple.

All that remains on the simplified map is puzzles. The game that was shining with the fun of breaking through until just before disappears, and an ordinary game that only needs to match attributes appears in front of you. The problem is that this disappointing part appears suddenly. It feels like the game is suddenly less made. It's definitely the game I knew until somewhere in Tenshukaku, but suddenly some parts disappear, so I can't help but think that I put in a gimmick and stopped.

Of course, this is just some disappointment in the story dungeon. The strong enemies in Mementos still require various strategies. Since the content completeness of the game at the time of release is so high, the shortcomings that you encounter while playing the story mode with immersion and concentration are more disappointing.

Surprisingly high level of completion, and the scent of the original

P5X is a multi-platform game. But strictly speaking, the quality and completeness of the content is definitely closer to a console game. There is a reason why everyone who has played it says, 'It's a console game ported to mobile as it is'.

This is not just about bringing console-level visuals to mobile. There are plenty of mobile games with good graphics. Most of those games are also games that wear the mask of a multi-platform that supports PC.

P5X has brought the amount and quality of content that can be experienced in console or PC package games along with the visuals. With high perfection.

The game thoroughly shows the progress method and content flow that can be seen in console games. Many parts are like that, such as tutorials that naturally proceed in a long flow while playing the game, various story productions that increase immersion, such as cutscenes and dialogue scenes that divide videos and scenes, puzzles located throughout the map, and strong enemies that require strategy.

Not only that. There is a lot of content, and it is also diverse. The story is the main one, but there are also Mementos where you can feel the fun of attacking, basic material dungeons, attribute dungeons, limited ranking dungeons, quests where you can see sub-stories, city activities where you can raise parameters, and even event stories in collaboration with Persona 5. There is really a lot of content to enjoy.

As of the current standard, the fact that it shows the appearance of a completely single game except for the Door of Nightmares that is conducted in Paradise, which is the concept of a guild, and the Trial of the Sea of ​​Hearts where rankings are assigned is also one of its parts. In most of the main content, there is no need to compete with others, so you can enjoy the game at your own pace. The quantity and quality of the content are well prepared so that you can fully enjoy it as a single game.

There are even rhythm games, soccer, baseball, fishing, and capsule draws prepared so that you can fully enjoy the so-called 'bonsai game' time that comes after achieving a certain level of growth.

And if you want to enjoy these various contents properly and intensively, you can play through PC, and if you want to experience it more simply, you can play through mobile. Of course, in the case of mobile, there is a disappointment that the graphics level must be lowered to ensure smooth play.

Another disappointing thing is that the development of the early story is sloppy compared to the overall perfection of the game. As the game's immersion is high, most gamers have high expectations and focus on the early story, but a story that is not very exciting comes out. This is even more disappointing as the second story flows interestingly.

Personally, I think the big advantage and disadvantage of P5X is that it brought Persona 5 too well. Because it captured and melted the characteristic aspects of the original so well, it gave fans of the original the satisfaction of playing DLC, but on the other hand, it can feel too difficult for users who are new to it.

P5X has brought the characteristics of the original to the point of being surprisingly surprised in terms of visuals, such as the illustrations of the main characters, the unique speech bubbles that look like comic books, the main color sense of red and black, and the UI. From the perspective of a series fan, I am satisfied enough to enjoy the game.

The battle system is also the same. Overall, it flows similarly to Persona 5, so users who have played the original can proceed with the battle without much difficulty. I am familiar with the method of reading skills, using them according to the situation, and attacking one more time through weak attributes. And this is combined with the strategic aspect mentioned above to deliver high satisfaction.

However, on the other hand, for users who think of this as a normal mobile game and enter, this delicate battle system can feel like a barrier.

Even the characters' skills are not simple. There are many unique terms, and there are also the activation effects and conditions of the skills. If you don't press each term properly and check the activation conditions properly, you will never know what effect this skill has.

Of course, this will not be very difficult for those who have often played console games. However, it is not easy for gamers who have mainly played general mobile games to notice this without detailed explanation. This difficulty is combined with the lack of coherence in the early story, which can feel like an entry barrier.

Not perfect, but a well-made game

P5X is not a perfect game. There are definitely disadvantages such as the entry barrier for new users mentioned earlier, the lack of coherence in the first story, the optimization problem for mobile devices, and the translation problem that was fixed with the recent update.

Most of the major systems adopted by recent mobile games are also included. Daily and weekly content called 'homework', automatic and repetitive battles, character and exclusive weapon gacha systems, pass systems, etc. And these mobile convenience systems are nothing special. Everyone knows and has already experienced the system.

But the perfection of the game itself is high enough to cover all those shortcomings and obviousness. Persona 5, a well-made console game with a solid fan base, has been sufficiently and interestingly reinterpreted into a mobile game.

From the original battle system and unique visuals, the existing Phantom Thieves that can stimulate fans' nostalgia, to the new Phantom Thieves that blend well into the series, this is really drawn better than expected. At the same time, daily repetitive content such as homework, which is a characteristic of mobile games, is made simple so that it takes less than 10 minutes.

Here, I didn't forget the service for the fans. You can see that Joker was brought as the first pickup at the time of release, and that the Persona 5 collaboration story was presented as an event. In addition, a separate menu is provided so that you can watch the story of Persona 5 in video.

In this way, P5X has captured respect for the original, solidly designed content, and excellent visuals. Thanks to that, it is definitely a mobile feel, but it is a well-made game that gives you the feeling of playing a console game. It's enough to be called Persona 5's DLC.

웹진 인벤김수진 기자
2024-04-26