Summary
Persona 5 Strikersisn’t a direct sequel to the acclaimedPersona 5in terms of gameplay, but it’s a pretty straightforward follow-up as far as the story is concerned. Just a few months after the original game’s end,the Phantom Thievesreunite for summer vacation and end up saving the world a second time during their road trip across Japan. Along the way, they add some new members – the AI Sophia and the police inspector Zenkichi Hasegawa. IfPersonafans are lucky, it won’t be the last time these two play a major role.
This was hardly the first time that aPersonaspin-off or rerelease introduced a new supporting character, but Zenkichi and Sophia are worth spotlighting nonetheless. Both of them revive classicPersonacharacter archetypes in refreshing ways, and they’re real standouts among the Phantom Thieves.Persona 5 Tacticaleakshave claimed they’ll play some role in an expansion for the strategy game, but there’s no hard evidence of that yet, so both characters are in limbo. Hopefully Atlus has some concrete role for them to play in futurePersonagames, whether that’s another spin-off likeTacticaor even a mainline game.
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Sophia’s Concept and Design is the Epitome of Persona
One could argue that Sophia isn’t a particularly originalPersonacharacter. She may be an AI, but that’s hardly anything new for the franchise; thePersona 3family of games features robotic Persona users already. Still, saying she’s unoriginal for that trait alone would be reductive. While Aigis is a physical machine, Sophia is a purely digital AI that lives in Joker’s smartphone, and unlike Aigis, she only imitates Persona use for most of the game, rather than having a real Persona. Her gradual development into an independent, thinking being is a lot likeAigis' Social Link inPersona 3, but the lessons Sophia learns from the various Phantom Thieves make for a stark contrast to Aigis' obsession with theP3protagonist.
This is altogether what makes Sophia aPersonacharacter worth reusing.Personais built on reusing ideas from the past, and Sophia reuses lots of past character concepts in canny ways that make her feel new. Sophia’s digital life makes her a much more modern take on AI than Aigis, and her search for purpose plays intoP5’s theme of rebellion more thanP3’s meditation on life’s value. There’s more that can yet be done with Sophia as the modern face of AI Persona-users, so even thoughPersona 5 Strikerswraps up her main character arc, hopefully it isn’t the last fans see of her.
As The Oldest Phantom Thief, Zenkichi is Persona’s Future
Similarly, whilePersona 5 Strikersgives Zenkichi a satisfying conclusion, it shouldn’t be the end of his adventures as a Phantom Thief. Zenkichi was a crucial addition to the Phantom Thieves in that he was the first adult Persona-user in generations. Fans ofthePersona 2duologymay remember having party members in their mid-20s, but ever sincePersona 3, the series has firmly focused on high schoolers. Zenkichi broke that mold as a middle-aged Phantom Thief. The tension between his job in law enforcement, his responsibilities as a single father, and his growing role among the Phantom Thieves resulted in one of the most memorable character arcs in thePersona 5games, and undoubtedly one of the most unique.
Zenkichi needs to appear in games afterPersona 5 Strikersto keep hope alive for future adult Persona users, perhaps even ones in mainline games. There’s some hope for that, especially afterPersona 5: The Phantom Xrevealed that it includes a middle-aged gyaru-turned-housewife among its Persona users, but Zenkichi remains the guiding light for adult party members, due to his proximity to the core games as part ofP5’s veritable sequel. There’s also a lot Atlus could still do with his character arc, since his return to the police force puts him at odds with the Phantom Thief ideals he holds. If he and Sophia aren’t inP5 Tactica, maybe some other spinoff afterPersona 3 Reloadwill give theStrikerssidekicks more to do.
Persona 5 Strikersis available now for PC, PS4, and Switch.
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