Persona 5 Tactica is the latest sequel in the Persona 5 series, and Atlus Games has made it, like none before it, a tactical role-playing game. This is a different genre compared to the other sequels we’ve seen and has stark differences between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal. That’s not all that’s different between these two sequels as we dive into what both games entail and how they have distinct characteristics and gameplay.
How Is Persona 5 Tactica Different From Persona 5 Royal?
To get things started, you first need to know a bit of background on both these games. Persona 5 Royal was the first sequel released for the main storyline game, Persona 5. It was followed by several different sequels over the past four years since its release, Persona 5 Tactica being the last of the bunch.
P5 Royal takes place from April to March of the following year, an 11-month duration in-game. This can easily be followed with the in-game calendar that will keep you up to date on what’s happening currently. One of the main differences between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal is basically their timeline.
Since Persona 5 Tactica is between the second and third semesters of P5 Royal, it can’t compare to P5 Royal’s extensive storyline; Content-wise, it is much shorter. Other differences include the genre of the games, difficulty level, art style, gameplay, and some additional features. You could also take into account the new characters that make up a big part of the storyline, namely Erina, Akemi and Kasumi from the DLC packs.
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Genre and Gameplay
The first and foremost distinction we should make between both games is the genre and corresponding gameplay. While P5 Royal is a JRPG (Japanese RPG), Persona 5 Tactica is a TRPG (Tactical RPG). But the differences between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal aren’t in name only.
Persona 5 Royal requires you to run around and explore different areas of the map while simultaneously completing quests. The battles are more focused around building up combos for an explosive finishing move but you need to be cautious of the strengths and weaknesses of many characters. While strategy is key in both games, Persona 5 Royal requires more prior knowledge of your opponents compared to Persona 5 Tactica.
If we look over at Persona 5 Tactica, it has a much simpler battle style. You’ll still be moving around the map looking for quests but the battles are somewhat different than its predecessor. In P5 Tactica, players will need to focus more on the status effects of their abilities. Replacing strengths and weaknesses in battle, Atlus Games added a status effect to every ability in P5 Tactica. Most status effects are movement-related and are vital in completing your finishing combos.
Difficulty Level
As observed by many players who had previously played Persona 5 Royal, they commented that the skill level required for both games was vastly different. This was a key difference between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal since the latter required more planning and had more spell interactions as well as finishers. This made it harder to set up the perfect finisher combo.
Persona 5 Tactica doesn’t follow the same trend. Its combat is quick and exciting, without too much pre-planning involved. The game as a whole does feel more tailored towards casual players who don’t need to read up on too many abilities in order to finish the game.
So keep this difference between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal in mind before playing either game since the difficulty disparity could catch you off guard.
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Art Style and Other Features
The last key difference between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal is the art style and some new features added to the former. The art style for Persona 5 Royal was a bit bold and humanoid, something you’d see in animes frequently. On the other hand, Persona 5 Tactica took on a more cartoonish approach, making the characters look very chibi-like. Short stature with large, round heads is what defines character art in P5 Tactica.
There are two main features we will talk about that were absent in Persona 5 Royal. The first is the rewind feature that allows you to go back one turn. The reason this isn’t absolutely broken is because the game’s NPC behaviour doesn’t really change regardless of what you do. So, whether you rewind a turn or repeat the entire battle, it won’t make a difference.
The other feature which makes up big differences between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal is that anyone can equip a ‘sub-Persona’ while in Persona 5 Royal, only Joker had this ability. Other than this aspect of character building, though, P5 Tactica is much simpler in comparison to P5 Royal since the only equipment to upgrade are guns.
New Characters in Persona 5 Tactica
We can’t end off the article without mentioning the new protagonist of Persona 5 Tactica, Erina. Erina is the newest character to link up with the Phantom Thieves as she leads them into battle against the Legionnaires, a group that remains dominant in the entire world. Erina is a freedom fighter and is available to play in Persona 5 Tactica.
The other two characters worth mentioning are Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa. They will be available to play and unlock through the DLC packs coming along with Persona 5 Tactica.
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Author’s Note
If you thought the introduction of Erina with the Phantom Thieves squad was the only new thing about Persona 5 Tactica, you were pretty far off. With tons of differences between Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 5 Royal, Atlus Games have really given the game its distinct personality. P5 Tactica would definitely be a recommendation from us, especially for casual players not looking to dive too deep.